female concubine

In Gen Yue's palace, Sun Hongda and several imperial physicians worked together to administer acupuncture, and it took half an hour before he came out of the palace.

The crown prince came from Da Nei and anxiously walked around the gate of the palace. When Sun Hongda came out, he was grabbed by him, "How is your majesty?"

"The officials are rushing to attack the heart, causing shortness of breath and causing angina pectoris. Your Highness, please rest assured that the minister has given acupuncture to dredge the Qi and blood for Your Majesty. It will be healed after a few days of rest."

"Hurry up? Isn't Your Majesty always well? How could that be?" The crown prince frowned. The local military newspaper was still in the hands of Wei Kai on Jingji Road.

"Your Highness, the officials have called you in."

The emperor looked at the wrinkled military newspaper with trembling hands, the crown prince walked in with eager steps, and immediately trotted closer with his hem up, "Daddy's body is even tighter, so the doctor Sun..."

"I'm fine." The emperor calmly put the general newspaper down on the edge of the couch.

Just in front of the prince, "In the middle of May, we fought the enemy in Qingzhou. Our army was defeated. The horse army was almost wiped out. The 30 people lost more than [-]. Xiao Xianrong, the deputy marshal of Hexi soldiers and horses, and the king of Chu died in battle."

The crown prince was so frightened that he backed up again and again, and immediately knelt down trembling and bowing his knees.

The emperor's eyes were ruddy, "Why, does it have something to do with you?"

"No!" The crown prince quickly vetoed, "It's just that the coach is my uncle, he was defeated, and my minister..." Wei Kai was too scared to speak.

The emperor lowered his hand, clenched his fist and tightly clenched the military newspaper under his palm, "Your brother is dead, now, should you rest assured?"

"Your Majesty, minister," Wei Kai raised his head, with tears in his eyes calmly, "is your majesty suspicious of me?"

The emperor closed his eyes, and after a long silence, he opened his bloodshot eyes and stared at the prince, "You and I are both sinners of the Wei family!"

"Your Majesty, my subject..." The Crown Prince shook his head and crawled to the emperor's bed.

[Once the war starts, if I go out as a general, he will definitely try to let me die on the battlefield. If my deeds are revealed, he will definitely shirk my crime or even blame others. Therefore, I want to make a bet with my life with Your Majesty, betting on His Majesty's Can Saburo be qualified for that position, and can he be worthy of the ancestors of the Wei family? 】

The emperor firmly pressed the crown prince's head, bent down and said in a low voice, "I'm really sorry for your mother!" Then he sighed and threw Wei Kai away, "Let the Privy Council deploy another talisman, and the local army will report it at dusk." It will be delivered, and you send someone to intercept it so as not to disclose it, Shen Yi'an is the commander-in-chief of the three armies, you must not change his commander before the battle, and save his life until the war is over."

Wei Kai lay on the ground trembling and asked: "Who should be sent to lead the army...Please show me your Majesty."

"Let," the emperor turned his head and looked at the crown prince with hatred, "Xiao Xianfu leads the army."

"Yes." Wei Kai trembled again: "It is not filial to make Daddy worry about it, it doesn't matter how Daddy punishes him, please take care of your health, Daddy."

The emperor leaned back, leaned on the pillow and let out a long breath, "Get up."

"Yes." The crown prince got up from the ground tremblingly.

The emperor lowered his eyes coldly, "I will only save you, this is the last time."

Wei Kai folded his sleeves and bowed backwards out of the bedroom. When he turned to leave, all the fear in his eyes turned into ruthlessness and disappeared.

--------------

At dusk, the fast horses in Gyeonggi were intercepted by a group of military officials wearing cross-cornered handkerchiefs before they entered the city.

It was not the emperor but the prince of Jianguo who summoned the prime ministers of the two governments. The military report was taken out, which shocked all the ministers.

"Does His Majesty know?"

The crown prince nodded, "The imperial physician was urgently summoned before noon, you should have guessed it." Then he took out the edict, "This is an order issued by His Majesty himself, let Xiao Xianfu lead the army, and I have already sent the prime minister to fetch the military amulet. "

"Even if such a big matter is kept secret, how many days can we keep it hidden?"

"It's good to keep it a secret for one night. The most important thing right now is to stabilize the hearts of the people, and we can't mess ourselves up."

"Duke Wei died of illness, and even Marshal Xiao was killed by him in battle. Who can beat this Wei Mu Shanxi..." Some officials retreated.

The Crown Prince turned cold, "Your Majesty still has an order, who dares to cede the land and negotiate a peace, ransack the family and exterminate the family!"

---------------

A general in front of Gen Yue Yanghua Gate wanted to break in.

"Please inform Your Majesty for me, Captain Yunqi Xiao Yunze is asking to see you."

"The officials are not feeling well today and no one will see them, so Lieutenant Yunqi shouldn't embarrass the officials."

The second uncle suddenly received an order to lead the army to go out. If there hadn't been a major incident on the front line, how could the emperor have used the second uncle again? His father was far superior to the second uncle in military affairs. Xiao Yunze knew about the murder of the Xiao family and the enemy commander Then he guessed the worst result.

"Officials, Captain Yunqi has been kneeling at Yanghuamen for an hour."

The emperor propped himself up from the couch, Zhao Ci waved his hands quickly, and several palace servants walked closer with their clothes bowed and small steps.

The emperor spread his hands, closed his eyes and said, "Let him go back."

"Didn't the officials see him?"

"I know what he wants to do, tell him, I agree."

"Yes."

It was night, and one hundred thousand soldiers and horses were mobilized near Gyeonggi, and the army marched out overnight. The sound made many people in the imperial city get up in panic, and several lights would light up again.

[The sound of swords and soldiers colliding on the battlefield rang like thorns, arrows rained down, horseshoes trampled on corpses, blood flowed into rivers, and the fire blazed. Suddenly a red figure appeared in the fire...]

Xiao Youqing was awakened by a sound of movement, and the night guard girl gently pushed the door open, blew on the fire and asked, "Did the girl have a nightmare again?"

Xiao Youqing got up from the couch, walked to the mirror and sat down. The people in the scene burst into tears, their eyes were red and swollen, "Would it be..."

"Bah, bah, how could it be?" Xichun put a thong on Xiao Youqing's shoulders, "Maybe it's because His Majesty not only wants to recover the border towns, but also conquer the Xia Kingdom westward, so he sent Mr. Lang to increase his troops."

Xiao Youqing understood the emperor's thoughts very well, if it was not a last resort, how could the Xiao family be allowed to take over the army again? How could Xiao Erlang be allowed to lead another imperial army when his father already brought an army under his grandfather's command.

In the morning of the next day, the calamus and wormwood that hung during the Dragon Boat Festival were still there, but they had become dry and wrinkled after more than ten days of sun exposure. The children in round-neck robes with narrow sleeves circled around their mothers.

Xiao Youqing squatted down and straightened the robe with dark lines on his body. The child stared at the pendant hanging on the mother's earlobe with round eyes, and stretched out his little hand curiously to poke it lightly, and then laughed innocently. stand up.

Xiao Youqing touched the child's chubby face, "You are so kind, you don't understand anything, so you don't have to think about anything, you don't worry about it, you don't miss it, you can cry when you are sad, and you can laugh when you are happy."

"Girl." A man dressed as a servant entered the back house, "A letter from the northwest."

Xiao Youqing raised her head, ordered someone to take the child away and then received the secret letter from the man. Since the king of Chu went out with the army to the prince to supervise the country, bad news followed one after another.

There was a sudden sound of pushing a lamp to the ground in the study, and the female envoy who entered was so frightened that she dropped the plate in her hand and hurriedly approached, "Girl!"

In the afternoon, the news of Gyeongju's disastrous defeat spread in Beijing. Xiao Xianrong, Deputy Marshal of Hexi Army and Horse, died in battle, along with several commanders and commanders of the capital who died in battle. The news shocked the government and the public. The property is ready to move south.

The emperor returned to Da Nei from Genyue last night, but he still let the crown prince supervise the country because of his physical discomfort.

The news of King Chu’s death in battle quickly spread to the palace of King Chu, and the whole palace exploded. The steward and Princess Chu fell down one after another. The little six didn’t believe the news, so they led little Zongren and stood on the steps of the courtyard to reprimand him , "You want to see people when you live, and you want to see corpses when you die. Besides, there is a county prince in our palace. If I hear you chewing your tongue again, I will whip dozens of lashes before you sell it."

"Yes."

The imperial doctor has been away for a long time, and the people on the couch still refuse to eat anything, Xichun frowned anxiously, "Miss, this is not the way to go, how can it be possible with my uncle's intelligence..."

Xiao Youqing closed his eyes and glanced over his head, tears flowed from the corners of his eyes. This war not only brought mourning to the families of the soldiers who died in the battle, but also caused great changes to the Chu Palace. A child of one year old is like the sky falling to a woman.

"Girl, Yushi Zhongcheng is asking to see you." Xi Qiu gently opened the door and said.

"Censor Zhongcheng, which Yushi Zhongcheng?" Xi Chun asked with his head sideways.

"It's Young Master Jiang. After returning to Beijing from Fengxiang, he made an exception to take over as the censor due to meritorious service. His Majesty personally appointed him as the censor Zhongcheng this morning."

According to the system, the Taiwan admonisher cannot be appointed by someone related to the prime minister, and the prime minister cannot be nominated or recommended. Jiang Luochuan is the son of the prime minister. Director.

Xiao Youqing opened his eyes and forced himself to get up, "Help me up."

----------

The imperial court explicitly forbade the private cremation of corpses, and ordered the corpses of the generals to be cremated and transported back due to the hot weather. The corpse of the King of Chu belonged to the royal family, so the whole corpse was put in a coffin and was not cremated.

At the end of the month, Xiao Xianrong's body and the remains of the King of Chu were transported back to Kyoto, one to the north and the other to the south.

The jade chariot came out of Da Nei, and the guard of honor stopped in front of the stone lions at the gate of the Chu Palace. This was the first time the emperor visited in person after the Chu Palace was built.

When the news came back, he believed it but didn't believe it, until he saw that the body in the coffin had been burned beyond recognition, and the body had begun to rot, and there was a stench all around, and the accompanying servants all lowered their heads and dared not look directly at it. All the slaves tied white ropes around their waists and wailed.

[I ask my father to let her go because she is the daughter of the wife of the county. When a woman is married and obeys her husband, my father knows everything about fear, and my son is willing to sacrifice his life for her to be considerate. 】

Zhu Qishan Wenjia was burnt incompletely, black and yellow. The emperor, who was indifferent to the news of his death, suddenly turned red for some reason, and asked tremblingly, "Where is Princess Chu?"

The little six sons lying on the ground replied to the emperor: "If you want to return to His Majesty, when the coffin was brought back, the princess... cried and fainted several times, and she still hasn't woken up yet. The villain will call..."

"No need." The emperor raised his hand, then lowered it, and slowly approached the coffin, with trembling hands at the side, exhaled a deep breath, and led the original team away from the Chu palace in a daze.

After the emperor left, the Ministry of Rites, Taichang Temple and Zongzheng Temple took over the funeral of the King of Chu, and they all knew to convey the will when they went to the interior. Prince."

----------

In the vertical arch hall.

"Your Majesty, the body of King Chu has been inspected by the minister, and the age and body shape are all consistent. The minister found it in the hands of the prince." The encoffining officials of the Taichang Temple made a piece of the original red and black because of fire. A mass of sticky matter is placed on a piece of silk cloth.

The emperor immediately widened his eyes.

[The King of Chu got up and walked forward to take back the golden talisman on the imperial table. Just as he stretched out his hand, the concentric knot in the round neck robe fell to the ground. .

Seeing this, the emperor asked suspiciously, "What is this?"

The King of Chu picked it up carefully and brushed off the dust on it, then bowed and replied, "It's just a sympathetic knot."

The emperor narrowed his eyes, "Does the concentric knot need you to be so nervous?"

"It was woven by Fa's wife with black silk and presented to the minister. To the minister, it is more precious than life."]

The emperor's eyes turned red again.

"It's just that I found out that apart from the burns on the prince's body, there are..."

"What else?"

"There is also a blunt injury. From the burn wound, it doesn't look like Xia Bing's weapon. It looks like my gourd hammer that pierced the armor."

The emperor suddenly raised his head and looked at him coldly, causing the inspectors to kneel down and bow their heads in fright, "I just speculate that my army in the court of horses is not equipped with golden hammers, and most of the people who use hammers are from Xixia."

The emperor narrowed his eyes and looked down at the abandoned imperial edict on the table, and immediately crumpled it into a ball, and said indifferently, "The king of Chu died for his country and was buried with him in the imperial tomb."

The official kowtowed, "Yes."