bastard returns

The outline of the figure looks like a beautiful woman with a high bun. Even though her face is hidden behind a screen, she may be sitting next to the emperor majesticly. It must be the Empress Dowager Xia who holds great power. .

At the same time, Emperor Xia's reaction was naturally noticed by Ning Yuan, and for a while, he believed the rumors of the discord between the emperor and empress again.

Today Emperor Xia just called Sikong Xuan into the palace for an audience. He didn't look like he was going to discuss things in the palace immediately. Instead, he chatted with Sikong Xuan for a few words and began to introduce the civil and military officials in the palace. The two countries are still at war.

Sikong Xuan had already been taken care of by Concubine Shu Hui, and she answered all these entertainments fluently. Among them, many officials wanted to get some information about Da Zhou from Sikong Xuan while greeting him, but Sikong Xuan calmly and perfunctorily dismissed them all. In the past, those people looked at Sikong Xuan, King Xi, who looked young, but he didn't seem to be easy to fool, so they all shut up.

Although Ning Yuan accompanied Sikongxuan to socialize, most of his attention was on the Empress Dowager Xia behind the screen. It was strange that, except for the sentence "flat body" at the beginning, this Empress Dowager never said anything. He opened his mouth, as if he was not willing to talk to Sikong Xuan, the envoy of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

After most of the powerful officials in the court hall had greeted Sikong Xuan, Emperor Xia finally brought the matter to the point, "King Xi came here this time, I think your majesty should already know the meaning of this dynasty."

Sikongxuan smiled, took out a sealed book and said, "This is written by the emperor himself. According to the emperor's intention, he naturally hopes that the two countries can turn their wars into friendship. Please read it yourself." Sikongxuan finished speaking, Handing the letter to the eunuch on the side, the eunuch immediately presented the letter, the emperor was about to reach for it, when the Empress Dowager Xia behind the screen spoke again, "Show the letter to the Ai family."

Emperor Xia's outstretched hand froze for a moment, and after a while, he actually took it back, and the eunuch also took the envelope and walked around behind the seam, and saw the Empress Dowager Xia tearing open the seal of the envelope, shaking out a piece of letter paper from inside , Check it out carefully.

Although Emperor Xia was still sitting upright, his expression was very unnatural, and the officials below were also silent. Ning Yuan understood this time. First, through her hands, Emperor Xia was restrained to death.

After a while, Empress Dowager Xia's voice came out peacefully, "Dare to ask His Royal Highness Xi Wang, what is written in this letter is the sincerity of Da Zhou."

"This letter was written by my father himself, so it naturally expresses my father's intentions." Sikongxuan said, "Although I haven't read the contents of the letter, I have heard my father mention some of the money and food listed in the letter." The number is already the maximum number that I, Da Zhou, can give, and it is enough to show the sincerity of my father's wish for a good relationship between the two countries."

Sikong Xuan was right. For hundreds of years, every time the Great Xia sent troops to the Great Zhou, what they asked for was food and other resources. Now that the two countries are at war, if the Xia people want to retreat, the best way is not It is nothing more than a large amount of food promised.

But now, listening to the Queen Mother Xia's tone, it seems that she is not very satisfied with the conditions in the letter.

"Sincerity? As far as the materials listed in the letter are concerned, as long as the soldiers of the Great Xia can come to the capital of Huajing, I believe that it will not be just this little. With such benefits, you want me to wait to retreat. Your Majesty's abacus , Really played well." The Empress Dowager Xia's tone was a little cold, and her words were very blunt, making Sikong Xuan and others frown.

"Mother, these words seem too abrupt, we..." Emperor Xia seemed to want to speak, but was suddenly interrupted by Empress Xia, "Emperor, you have to remember that as the king of a country, the ears should not be too loud. Ruan, whether it is the policy of governing the country or the way of life, we all pay attention to a "decision". This battle is related to the rise and fall of our dynasty for hundreds of years. If you are indecisive, you will only let others take advantage of it. Do you understand? "

Xia Di pursed the corners of his mouth and didn't speak any more.

"Hearing the Queen Mother's words, it seems that your country's army will really come to Huajing City one day." Although Sikongxuan's expression is respectful, his momentum is not weak at all, "If you really have such confidence in your country's army, Queen Mother, why bother?" I came here to send a message to want peace talks between the two countries. Although my military strength in Dazhou is indeed slightly inferior to that of Daxia, I am also at a disadvantage now, but there are many loyal people who are willing to throw their lives for the country. It is unknown, even though the Empress Dowager is full of confidence, she still has to worry about whether there will be a day when the ship capsizes in the gutter."

"Okay, I didn't expect His Royal Highness King Xi to be so eloquent despite his young age. In this way, the Ai family really needs to carefully consider your Majesty's proposal?" This time, since I sent a letter to Your Majesty to discuss the peace talks, what I am asking for is not food and supplies, otherwise I can write a letter to Your Majesty directly, so why bother to invite King Xi to come and talk." After finishing speaking, she unexpectedly With a movement of her finger, there was a "stab" sound, and the letter was torn in half by her.

Sikongxuan's face turned gloomy in an instant. The Empress Dowager Xia's actions simply did not take Da Zhou into consideration at all, but since this is the imperial court of Yanjing, he suppressed his anger and said, "Then according to the empress dowager's intention, after all I want to talk about something."

"There is no big condition for Aijia, so it's okay to say it." The Empress Dowager Xia said lightly: "As long as your country can cut off Yanzhou's love, then don't say that I will withdraw my troops immediately, and even pay your country a large amount of silver and rare treasures." Mineral materials, how about this proposal?"

Sikong Xuan's eyes widened immediately, even Ning Yuan was taken aback, they wanted Yanzhou, they were so angry.

Although Yanzhou was quite barren compared to other states and counties in the Great Zhou, it occupied a vast area. Not to mention that Sikong Xuan could not make a decision on this condition, even if the Emperor of Zhou was here, he would definitely not be able to agree to it.

Sikong Xuan was about to shake his head and refuse, but Ning Yuan pulled his sleeves calmly. Ning Yuan lowered his voice and whispered a few words in his ear, Sikong Xuan nodded, and said: "This matter is of great importance, it is no longer The scope of my discussion is still waiting for me to write a letter to inform Father about this matter, and then Father will decide."

"Alright, this matter is indeed not up to you, my lord. Aijia's offer of conditions now is just to say something plain, to give you some guidance. This time, it is up to you to decide whether it is a war or peace, Aijia I'm waiting for the news from Huajing here, I hope the prince won't make Aijia wait too long." After saying this, the Empress Dowager Xia softly said "Back to court" and raised a hand randomly.

Seeing this, the old eunuch beside her immediately supported her hand and helped her out of the screen.

Only then did Ning Yuan see the real face of the Empress Dowager Xia. Although she was only profiled, she could still see that she was extremely young. She seemed to be under thirty. After leaving Zhucui, she acted like an empress, seeing him coming out, all the courtiers including Emperor Xia bowed and saluted, and after calling Qiansui three times, they sent her out of the hall.

As soon as the Empress Dowager Xia left, most of the courtiers immediately ignored Emperor Xia and began to walk out of the court hall on their own, as if the Empress Dowager's "retire from the court" just now was the real "retire from the court".

Of course, there were still many officials still waiting in the hall, waiting for Emperor Xia's order. It could be clearly seen that most of the people who stayed in the hall were civil servants, and those who went out first were mostly generals.

Emperor Xia looked at the backs of those who left first with a cloudy expression, then waved his sleeves, and the officials who were still in the hall retreated slowly after shouting long live three times.

Sikong Xuan was also about to leave, but was stopped by Emperor Xia, "Your Highness is a visitor from afar, how about visiting the Imperial Garden with me."

The imperial garden of the Yanjing Imperial Palace is naturally not as colorful as the Huajing Imperial Palace, but it is better than a spacious one. In the current season, there are bright yellow flowers blooming in the imperial garden, which is dazzling at first glance.

"The name of this flower is Yutangjiao. Because it is easy to feed and has a beautiful color, many of them were planted in the imperial garden. This flower was not native to Daxia, but flowed in from Dazhou many years ago with trade." The young Emperor Xia had already changed into casual clothes, and walked side by side with Sikong Xuan in the garden, with a more relaxed and natural look on his face, "But I heard that this flower was not called by this name in Dazhou. I don't know how people in Zhou called this flower?"

"Your Majesty has stumped me. I don't know this flower." Sikong Xuan shook his head in embarrassment, and couldn't help but look back at Ning Yuan.

Ning Yuan pursed his lips and said with a smile: "In this case, the name in Dazhou is Jin Yuhua."

"Jinyuhua?" Emperor Xia nodded after hearing this and said, "Like gold and jade, this name also has its place, and it is similar to Yutangjiao."

Ning Yuan said again: "Your Majesty made a mistake. In Dazhou, the name of this Jin Yuhua was not based on its appearance."

"Oh?" Emperor Xia raised his eyebrows, his eyes fell on Ning Yuan for the first time, and looked at his official uniform, "I think you should be King Xi's adjutant."

"My next official, Ning Yuan, head of Huajing Confucian Academy." Since Emperor Xia asked, Ning Yuan declared his family name and saluted.

"Although Mr. Ning is my adjutant this trip, I have known him for many years, and we have long been a teacher and friend. Mr. Ning has a lot of talents and has taught me a lot." Sikong Xuan stood on the sidelines for Ning. Yuan said something nice.

Emperor Xia nodded, and said to Ning Yuan: "Just now you said that Jin Yuhua's name didn't come from its appearance. Could there be some mystery here?"

"Xiaguan grew up in Jiangzhou since he was a child. This flower is usually invisible in the flower gardens of ordinary people's homes. Only a little grows on the banks of the river in the suburbs. The name of Jinyuhua is also chosen by the common people, not because the flower is like gold. Siyu grows beautifully, but because the flower is gorgeous in color and has a long flowering period, but the nectar is so little that even the bees ignore it, and there is no fruit after the flower fades, so the common people call it "Jinyu", which means It is a metaphor that this flower is gold and jade, its appearance is glamorous, and it is superior, but it is a typical appearance that is not useful, and it is just strong on the outside, and although the name sounds nice, it does not represent any good intentions."

As soon as Ning Yuan finished speaking, Sikong Xuan frowned, and unconsciously raised his head to look at Emperor Xia. Sure enough, the young emperor's complexion also became very ugly.