After the rebirth, I was picked up by the prince

Song Yaoxu put the battle report on the desktop in Qi Zizhen's room, and he seemed to have a headache.

"This is an urgent battle report that was sent just before the next court. Most of the ministers in the court are in peace, and only a few people proposed to fight. Before the conclusion is reached, the father said that this matter will be discussed tomorrow."

However, the war is changing rapidly, how many tomorrows can the soldiers on the frontier have?

He sighed again, sat across from Qi Zizhen and continued, "Besides, you just finished the sacrificial ceremony yesterday, and you sent the battle report today, which is also very unfavorable to you."

Qi Zizhen nodded, but didn't answer right away.

According to his memory, a small war will indeed break out this year, but the start of this war is only a sudden harassment of the border, and there was no such thing as a city being taken away in the previous life.

And he remembered that the time to start should be mid-autumn.

Why has there been such a big change in this life?

Did everything he did in this life have any influence on it?

Qi Zizhen couldn't figure out these two questions for the time being.

But the only thing that is certain is that Song Yaoxu still has to fight this battle, but more thorough preparations are needed before that.

He roughly understood the current situation, and simply said to Song Yaoxu: "This matter must be settled as soon as possible. Your Highness can go to the emperor today and ask to lead troops to the expedition."

Song Yaoxu frowned lightly, with some concerns: "Will this be too reckless?"

But Qi Zizhen said firmly: "It is to be reckless, the more reckless the better, so that Guan Wangyimai can relax his vigilance."

After the previous time in Jixian Tower, he was completely on the opposite side of Song Jiqi's lineage of Guan Wang, and Guan Wang must know that Song Yaoxu's changes during these days were all related to him.

If Song Yaoxu analyzed the pros and cons of this battle report before requesting an expedition, it would likely arouse the vigilance and suspicion of the King Guan, who would do everything possible to obstruct it.

On the contrary, if he put on such a reckless posture, Guan Wang might mistakenly think that he was too eager to change and failed to see his real situation. Maybe in the end, Guan Wang would help Song Yaoxu in the expedition.

It didn't take long for Song Yaoxu to understand the stakes, nodded in response, and went directly to the imperial study room to see him after lunch time.

In the end, Emperor Hongchu sent Song Yaoxu back on the grounds that the matter was of great importance and more consideration was needed.

Considering Emperor Hongchu's character and attitude in political affairs, Qi Zizhen could only ask Song Yaoxu to wait until the next day in court before requesting to fight in public, and prepared a statement draft for him that was obviously overly optimistic about the situation.

Maybe he was really deceived by Song Yaoxu's performance. At the end of the morning court that day, Guan Wang, who had pretended to be neutral, also agreed to let Song Yaoxu lead the army.

The name is to give the prince a chance to exercise.

Most of the old foxes present understood that this battle was definitely not something that could be easily resolved by a small fight, and the King Guan clearly wanted to push the prince into the fire pit.

However, the prince himself insisted on going to war so stubbornly, and most people still chose to protect his life. Only a very few officials persuaded the prince not to go to the war even if he fought.

A morning court was coming to an end in such a tumultuous manner. Emperor Hongchu, who had always only listened to the opinions of the loudest party, was in the middle of it this time. He decreed that Prince Song Yaoxu would lead the troops to Jiuyou County to garrison in two days.

It means agreeing to the prince's expedition, but still defending instead of fighting.

Qi Zizhen was not too disappointed with this result.

Jiuyou County is a small county on the northwest border of the Ling Dynasty. It borders Wumeng Kingdom and two other countries. It is the only city that is still connected to Wumeng Kingdom except for the two cities that have been captured.

If they go to Jiuyou County to garrison, at least they will show that they are not afraid of going to war on the surface, and they can also wait for the opportunity to lure the enemy and regain the lost ground.

It's just that he still needs to find an excuse to allow him to follow the expedition.

It just so happened that the people in the capital had already heard about the turmoil on the border, and the first thing many people thought of was the sacrificial ceremony that was just completed two days ago.

Right after the sacrificial ceremony ended, there was turmoil. Even though there was a grand occasion of singing birds at the ceremony, the words that the master of the pagoda ordered the evil star gradually began to spread.

Qi Zizhen colluded with Ning Qingwei, affirming some of the people's guesses, but also said that as long as he goes out with the army and shows a fierce spirit on the battlefield, it will help him better protect the national destiny in the future.

So Emperor Hongchu made another decree that Qi Zizhen should be the accompanying star officer and military adviser.In order to assist the prince to go to support the city defense, Emperor Hongchu gave Song Yaoxu the power to choose his own lieutenants.

According to Qi Zizhen's suggestion, Song Yaoxu chose Tang Leyuan and a general who had opposed him in the court.

The matter of the expedition was decided accordingly, and after the imperial court one day before the expedition, Emperor Hongchu, who had always seldom cared about his sons, specially went to the bedroom of Song Yaoxu in the East Palace to have a long talk with him.

However, what Qi described to Ling Zhen didn't expect was that after the long talk between Emperor Hongchu and Song Yaoxu, he specially asked him to go to Song Yaoxu's bedroom, as if he had something to say.

"Father is waiting for you in the room, it shouldn't be a bad thing."

Song Yaoxu had already withdrawn from the room, and there was still some concern in his eyes.

Qi Zizhen didn't meet Emperor Hongchu very often, and Song Yaoxu didn't know why his father suddenly summoned Qi Zizhen alone.

Qi Zizhen was calmer than him, and said softly: "Your Highness, don't worry, I believe Your Majesty will not be an unreasonable person."

Hearing that he himself said so, Song Yaoxu could only smile and said nothing, watching him walk into the room.

In the bedroom, Emperor Hongchu was standing in front of the Bogu rack, looking up at the high-hanging ink plum painting.

Qi Zizhen walked a few steps behind him and saluted respectfully: "See Your Majesty."

Emperor Hongchu seemed to have just noticed the movement behind him, turned around and said softly: "Qi Zizhen, right? Let's get down."

Qi Zizhen obediently thanked him, then slowly got up, and stood on the spot with lowered eyebrows: "I don't know why Your Majesty summoned the minister?"

"It's not an important matter." Emperor Hongchu smiled and waved his hands, "I just want to chat with Young Master Qi. There are no outsiders here, so Young Master Qi doesn't have to be so cautious."

Qi Zizhen couldn't figure out the truth or falsehood in Emperor Hongchu's words, so he stood there silently.

Emperor Hongchu didn't seem to care, he turned around and looked at the painting of plum blossoms on the shelf again, and stood with his hands behind his back: "Mr. Qi, have you ever seen this painting in Jin'er's room?"

He asked casually, as if he was really just looking for a topic to chat with him casually.

Qi Zizhen took a cautious attitude and answered honestly: "I had the honor to take a look in Your Highness's room before."

After hearing this, Emperor Hongchu chuckled, and said in a calm tone: "I think that this painting was drawn by Prince Guan himself and given to me."

Hearing this, Qi Zizhen was slightly taken aback.

However, Emperor Hongchu seemed to be immersed in memories, he stepped forward and raised his hand to gently stroke the red seal on the corner of Mo Meitu, only to see the words "Liguang 34 years" vaguely printed on it.

Qi Zizhen vaguely remembered that the first emperor Liguangdi died in the 36th year of Liguang. Because the former prince died of a sudden illness, Liguangdi passed the throne to Emperor Hongchu when he was dying.

And it happened that when Emperor Hongchu's eldest son, Song Yaoxu, was born, he changed his year name to Hongchu from the 36th year of Liguang, which was the first year of Hongchu.

Fast forward 20 years now.

Emperor Hongchu also seemed to be very emotional: "I still remember that I also drew a picture of ink plums that is exactly the same as a gift to King Guan. I think I and King Guan were the closest brothers back then."

"It's a pity, the third brother has changed, and he has become more and more powerful."

Qi Zizhen suddenly raised his eyes and looked at the smiling face of Emperor Hongchu: "Your Majesty..."

Emperor Hongchu shook his head, interrupted his next words, and continued: "Actually, I know what the third brother has done these years. I just don't want to turn against the third brother."

"I originally thought that as long as I was his puppet emperor, at least he would treat my children better, so I never interfered with his words in the court.

"I always thought that the third brother would take some old feelings into consideration, but only recently did I realize that he has really changed. He can no longer tolerate even a single unstable factor in his eyes."

Speaking of this, Emperor Hongchu walked slowly to the desk, looked at the ink bamboo painted by Song Yaoxu, and suddenly changed the subject again: "Actually, what Jin'er said in the court hall is what you asked him to say on purpose. Right, you have already had scruples about King Guan, right?"

Qi Zizhen nodded to Emperor Shanghongchu who seemed to be able to see through everything, and said, "As Your Majesty said."

Emperor Hongchu smiled, with unknown meaning: "You are a good boy. Unfortunately, I chose the wrong person."

Qi Zizhen's eyes remained unchanged, and after hearing what he said, he fixedly met his gaze, and said flatly: "You can't be wrong, I believe that His Highness will one day become a truly mighty king."

"This is the oath made by the minister to His Highness, and it is also the promise made by His Highness to the minister."

His tone was sonorous and powerful, as if as long as he confirmed this matter, he would move forward without hesitation, not afraid of any wind and rain on the way.

Emperor Hongchu looked at his rock-like firm gaze, and finally smiled after a long while: "Hahaha, good, ambitious! Jin'er meeting you in this life is also his chance."

After the previous conversation, Qi Zizhen's posture became neither humble nor overbearing, and his back was straightened. For a moment, he was like the ink bamboo in Song Yaoxu's painting, standing upright and indomitable.

This is exactly what Emperor Hongchu hoped to see.

For the past 23 years, he has ignored political affairs and allowed himself to be manipulated by the king.But this time, he was willing to let the juniors give it a go.

He took out a kit from his bosom and handed it to Qi Zizhen: "Since that's the case, I will leave this to you. I hope Young Master Qi will not disappoint me."

Qi Zizhen took the kit respectfully, but inadvertently felt the shape of the objects in the kit, was taken aback for a moment, and looked at Emperor Hongchu in surprise.

Emperor Hongchu still maintained a gentle smile: "The other half was handed over to Jin'er when I was in the court, so you can go boldly."

"Northwest, will be your battlefield."