His Majesty And Ministers

The news of Xirong's entry into the customs was sent to the palace in the early morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year.

In the middle of the night, when it was nearly Yin time, the soothing incense made by Gu Hong was lit in the bedroom, and Jing Ye slept soundly.

Ye Maoji stepped into the hall, carefully lifted the curtain, the bed collapsed and Lu Baizang opened his eyes and waved to him.

Gu Hong also opened his eyes, put on his clothes and got up, and followed Ye Mao out of the sleeping hall to the front hall.In the hall stood the post envoy who was brought in by the palace people.

The post envoy knelt down on one knee, his temples and shoulders were covered with snow, and he said in a hoarse voice, "Urgent report from Bixueguan! The [-] enemy troops from Xirong invaded Nanyang City ten days ago..." while presenting the battle report.

Gu Hong took it and glanced at it hastily, and ordered the palace servants to take the post envoy down, and returned to the bedroom with the battle report.

Jing Ye had already woken up, and was leaning on the jade pillow to talk to Lu Baizang, when he heard the sound, he turned around and asked, "What's wrong?"

Gu Hong sat on the bed, pressed the quilt for him, and said, "Xi Rong has entered the Bixue Pass."

Jing Ye was surprised: "When?"

Gu Hong said: "Ten days ago."

Jing Ye frowned, took the report from Gu Hong and read it.

The report is very short, only some simple casualty statistics and the time of the enemy's surprise attack.

too suddenly.

Now the imperial court and Xirong are like a sick adult and a young man who has not yet grown up. It is hard to tell which of the two has more advantages.When Jing Ye's father was in power, he married an eldest princess in exchange for a ten-year truce between the two sides.

It's a pity that the princess died of a serious illness half a year ago, and there was chaos within Xirong. Unexpectedly, in only half a year, Xirong sent troops to occupy the Bixue Pass.

After reading the last word, Jing Ye raised his head and said, "Ye Mao?"

"Your Majesty." Eunuch Ye waited outside the curtain, knowing that he would not be able to sleep tonight, "But do you want to change?"

Jing Ye said: "I'm going to the Hall of Supreme Harmony. If I continue to deliver the decree, it will be pushed forward by half an hour today."

"Yes."

Ye Mao bent down and stepped back.

It was halfway through Yinshi, and the Hall of Supreme Harmony was brightly lit. Jing Ye sat on the dragon chair and rubbed his temples, watching the ministers discussing in low voices.

"Your Majesty." The Secretary of the Household Department took a step forward and said with a bow, "I think peace talks should be the main thing."

There was a commotion among the ministers, and the Minister of the Household Department continued: "The imperial court has only advocated integrity not long ago, the treasury is short of money, and the people are already overwhelmed. At this time, we have to fight rashly. I am afraid that there will be vacancies in the rear, and money, food, and grass will be a big problem."

Jing Ye frowned in thought.

The Secretary of the Ministry of War came out and said: "I think it is not the case. The entry of Xirong this time clearly intends to invade our land in the Central Plains. If we do not cater to it, I am afraid that we will lose our power and humiliate the country without knowing it. We can only fight to promote the country's prestige."

The military officers all said yes, and many civil officials also agreed.

The Minister of the Ministry of Households was determined not to go to war, obviously because he suffered a big loss in money and food, so all the ministers started to make trouble again.The two prime ministers, Mr. Gu and Mr. Qin, stood aside, one watching with a smile on the sidelines, and the other squinting. They seemed to be deep in thought, but in fact they were not awake.

Jing Ye listened to this and that, and finally said: "My dear friends, please be quiet for a moment."

The officials are silent.

Jing Ye looked at Old Prime Minister Gu: "There are different opinions, what does Prime Minister Zuo think?"

Holding the sapphire wat in both hands, Old Prime Minister Gu slowly took a step forward, his voice was old and powerful: "The current situation is not as good as it is said, but it is not as bad as it is said."

He turned around and looked at the ministers: "Guys, do you still remember the situation when Xi Rong knocked on my Jade Blood Pass 11 years ago?"

All the ministers were silent, and the Minister of the Household Department was silent.

Old Prime Minister Gu sighed, turned around and saluted Jing Ye, and said, "Your Majesty, let's fight."

"I don't agree." Lu Baizang said with a downcast face.

"The ministers have agreed to leave in four days." Jing Ye said.

Lu Bai hid his face and said, "Do you know how far it is from here to Bixue Pass?"

Jing Ye said: "I'm afraid this battle will be difficult, I want to fight."

Lu Baizang looked at him, turned his back on his back, and didn't speak.

Jing Ye looked at the gauze curtain above, thought for a while, then leaned over to hug him, and said softly, "I'm tired, go to sleep."

There hadn't been a word for a long time, Jing Ye was a little sleepy, and couldn't help but gradually closed his eyes.

In the haze, it seemed that someone's hand came over and interlocked his fingers.

In Yang Mansion, in Mrs. Yang's room, Gu Mei was clumsily embroidering mandarin ducks with a needle and thread.

Gu Mei couldn't bear it, and said in a low voice, "What are you laughing at?"

The servant girl was about to open her mouth, but the girl who was serving Mrs. Yang's nap over there winked at her and fell silent.

Gu Mei embroidered for a while, finally couldn't sit still, put down the embroidered cloth, tiptoed to Yang Yuying who was tangling with the maids, and said softly: "Let's go out to get some air."

Yang Yuying nodded, put down the thread, and walked out with her slowly.

The two of them wandered in the corridor outside the house.

Gu Mei said: "I heard from Ling'er that Auntie is interested in preparing for your marriage?"

Yang Yuying nodded and sighed, "Looking at her words these past few days, I'm afraid it's true."

"The Feng family's...?"

"Yes."

Gu Mei considers herself to be a person who takes pleasure in time, but at this time she couldn't help but smiled wryly: "I still remember how we swore when we were young, that we would be heroes in the makeup team, but now we can't escape the word "marrying a female college."

Yang Yuying thought of Feng Ling whom she saw in Feng's mansion. She was handsome and modest, and the Feng family was well-known for generations. Normally, no matter how many daughters in Beijing could ask for such a marriage, they would not be able to come, but...

The two sisters remained silent, but when they saw Yang Ziran in official uniform walking towards him, Yang Yuying smiled and said, "Second brother."

Yang Ziran stopped and said with a smile: "Hey, Miss Gu family, you can go to the Three Treasures Hall if you have nothing to do."

Gu Mei stared, Yang Yuying smiled and said, "Brother is going to court early today."

Yang Ziran said: "There is an urgent report from the border. Your Majesty summoned all the ministers to enter the palace at Yinshi, and only then did he leave the court."

Yang Yuying said: "Border Pass?"

"Yes." Yang Ziran stroked the tassels of the jade pendant, frowned and said, "There is going to be a war."

Gu Yun returned to the mansion with Prime Minister Gu, first went to the small courtyard where Qi Lan and the Bai family were housed.

As soon as he entered the courtyard, he saw Bai Shi standing aside, smiling wryly and weeping, while Qi Lan was still sitting there, stroking the intermittent piano music.

Gu Yun looked at him, walked over slowly and said, "Alan."

Qi Lan looked up at him, pressed the strings with a smile and said, "Did you hear that? This piece..."

His expression became dazed again, "Yu'er likes her very much..."

Bai's tears welled up like a spring.

Gu Yun sighed lightly, leaned down, pointed at Bai Shi and said to Qi Lan, "Lan, look, who is that?"

Qi Lan glanced at her in a daze, then turned around and lowered her head, "I don't know her."

Bai Yu's complexion was pale, and she stepped forward a few steps and said, "Brother Lan, look at me."

Qi Lan raised her head and looked at her fixedly: "You...I..." Suddenly her pupils shrank, she hugged her head and trembled.

Gu Yun hurriedly held his shoulder and said, "It's okay, don't worry, think slowly."

"Yu'er, Yu'er..." Qi Lan wept while shaking, "I'm incompetent...I'm incompetent..."

Bai Yu looked at him, took a few steps back, and said, "Brother Lan, Bai Yu is waiting for you." As he spoke, he wiped away his tears, turned around and left step by step.

Qi Lan looked at her back, tears streaming down her face, but she couldn't speak.

Gu Yun sighed, leaned over, and gently put his arms around his shoulders.

Four days later.

In the dormitory, Lu Baizang held Jing Ye's hand and rubbed his fingers one by one.

Jing Ye got hairy from being touched by him, and said, "What are you doing?"

Lu Baizang smiled with incomprehensible meaning: "If you miss me in the barracks then, use it..." He leaned into Jing Ye's ear as he spoke.

After hearing what he said, Jing Ye turned red from ears to cheeks, slapped his hands hard and said, "Get lost!"

Lu Baizang looked at him quietly, with gentle and deep eyes.

Jing Ye looked back at him, sighed slightly, and turned his head away.

A long kiss.

Jing Ye said, "Wait for me to come back."

An hour later, the army outside the city gate was ready to go. Jing Ye got on his horse and looked up at the city wall. Gu Hong was staring at him with his head down.

Li Tingqiu hurried forward and said: "Your Majesty, the time has come."

Jing Ye withdrew his gaze, reined in his horse and turned to the front, saying, "Let's go."

The army started to move in response to the order, and headed southwest with billows of smoke and dust.