The Path Toward Heaven

The death of General Pei directly changed the situation in the world.

Qin's iron cavalry defeated several defenses of Chu's army in succession, and soon passed through Baihe County, with the capital in sight.

The reason why the army advanced so smoothly was that apart from the fact that the Qin army was too strong and the Chu army was not strong enough, there was another important reason.

——The vanguard of the Qin army is King Jing's army. They know Chu too well and are full of hatred for the court.

Under Zhao Guo's silent attack, Xi Daying couldn't hold on for too long. The former elite of hundreds of battles lost their backbone and collapsed faster than anyone, even He Zhan and Zhao Guo's generals, imagined.

No matter if you go from Baihe County or Xidaying to the capital of Chu State, there are thousands of miles of plains, the land is fertile, but there is no danger to rely on. So far, the situation of Chu State is gone.

The situation of the battle ahead kept spreading back to the capital, and the air was filled with tension and despair.

The people stood on the street, looking at the notice, with numb and dazed expressions. The officials in the court and various ministries had erratic eyes, not knowing where to look. The scholars in the academy lost their spirits, holding their scrolls and looking into the distance, not knowing what they were thinking.

On the contrary, the business of brothels has become very good. Every night, the buildings on the banks of rivers and lakes are brightly lit, and everywhere is full.

At the time of the survival and death of the nation, in the face of grief and despair, they had no choice but to play songs every night, only to get drunk and dream of death, which seems to be a very understandable thing for Chu people.

The blue bird flew across the night sky of the capital, overlooking these bizarre images and humans, and landed in the deepest part of the palace.

There were no lights in the hall, and it was very dark, and it was possible to clearly see the appearance of the lights outside the palace falling into the night sky.

Qingniao walked to the end of the wide couch, looked into Jing Jiu's eyes and said, You don't have time.

Jing Jiu hummed, but didn't say anything.

If there were no countries such as Qin, Zhao, and Qi, the people of Chu could live well on their own, but if they were surrounded by powerful enemies, there would always be problems.

If Master Zhang is still alive, this day may come later.

But he is dead, and now even General Pei is dead.

No one can control things like life and death, not even Jing Jiu.

Even in the real world outside Qingtian Jian, he can only try to control his own life and death as much as possible, but cannot affect others.

The Jing family in Chaoge City, like the Liu couple in Xiaoshan Village, will die one day.

The blue bird quietly looked into his eyes, but did not turn into a little girl.

Soon it will leave again, to see the magnificent picture of Qin's army going south for the outside practitioners.

Jing Jiu was silent for a while, flicked his fingers, and the oil lamp on the porch was lit.

After a while, footsteps came from outside the hall, and the little eunuch knelt on the ground, waiting for orders.

Jing Jiu said, Tell people outside the palace that I will attend tomorrow's court meeting.

...

...

Not even a twilight, the sky was pitch black, only the remnants of the lights of joy and despair remained somewhere.

There was the sound of wheels crushing bluestone slabs on the road. Many cars and sedan chairs came from the southern city and gradually gathered on the straight road in front of the imperial city.

Some cars stopped, and the officials raised the curtains to look at each other silently, or discuss in low voices, guessing each other's thoughts, and more importantly, His Majesty's thoughts.

In fact, under the current situation, many officials, including ordinary scholars and ordinary people, have already had the idea in their hearts, that is, to surrender.

Under the attack of the two countries of Qin and Zhao, it is impossible for the state of Chu to sustain it, not to mention that now even the last support of the West Daying Camp is gone. Emperor Bai was extremely cruel, and eunuch He was cold and perverted. If Chu State really persisted and angered these two, there would be a scene of blood flowing like a river, and such a tragic event as massacre of the city might happen.

Now Qin State's vanguard is King Jing's troops, many of them are Chu people, it is better to surrender to them than to surrender directly to foreign people, King Jing and his subordinates can never go too extreme. The state of Qin even wanted to help the people of Chu to block Zhao Guoqingqi from the west camp, if they still wanted to unify the world.

No matter how you look at it, surrender is the only option for Chu State at present, and the sooner you surrender, the better the result will be.

This idea lingers in the hearts of all officials, lingering.

But they didn't tell their colleagues, they didn't tell their friends, and even those closest to them didn't know what they were thinking. Because whoever proposes to surrender first will be a sinner in the history of Chu State, and no one is willing to die with such a reputation—then it would be better to just die in the wine vat of the brothel.

There is another most important question, that is, what should His Majesty the Emperor do?

Negotiating and surrendering with King Jing is the best choice for Chu State, but King Jing will definitely kill His Majesty to avenge his son...

With all kinds of thoughts and guesses about the emperor's mind, the officials walked into the palace silently like fish that were about to suffocate, and lined up in two rows on the hall.

On the highest imperial chair, the man was wearing a bright yellow imperial robe, his black hair was simply tied behind his head with a cloth belt, revealing his beautiful face.

The scene that I hadn’t seen for a long time reminded some ministers of the bloody Palace Change five years ago. Some of them turned pale because of fear, while others gave birth to hope because of this. Two blushes appeared on their pale faces, such as Zhou University, who was about to be exhausted by government affairs and war, and had not returned home for fifty days.

Jing Jiu's eyes swept over everyone's faces.

He saw fear, which was the officer of the Ministry of War who was afraid of being ordered, he saw excitement, which was the doctor Yushi who thought he was going to go on a personal conquest, and he also saw fear, which was the guy with evil intentions who was afraid of the bloody story repeating again, what he saw most was numbness, which was the boredom after resigning to his fate in despair.

The hall was very quiet, without any sound, until he said, Let's draw up an order, I'm sure.

The ministers were very surprised, they looked at each other speechlessly, they didn't understand His Majesty's meaning, what purpose is this going to draw up, what do you want to approve?

You can talk about it anyway, but don't talk to Cangzhou, let Xianyang come.

After Jing Jiu finished speaking, he got up from the imperial chair and left the hall.

The hall was still silent, until the bright yellow figure disappeared into the depths of the hall, did the officials realize what they had heard.

His Majesty...you mean...surrender? !

The officials were shocked and speechless, with countless complicated emotions, and looked at each other, not knowing what to do.

Master Zhou sighed, his eyes full of pain and guilt.

He felt that he had let down the great expectations of Master Zhang, and that he was sorry for the people of Chu State, and that his Majesty had fallen into such a precarious situation, and there was no redemption for his majesty.

He knew why His Majesty called the court meeting and said this to all the court officials.

There is no doubt that Chu State will be defeated, and surrender is the best choice, but none of the officials dared to make such a decision.

Just like those stories in history, everyone knows that when the two countries are at war, the courtiers and the people can surrender, but the emperor cannot surrender... His Majesty offered to surrender because he did not want the ministers in the court to bear the historical responsibility and resolve the current chaos as soon as possible.

This decision is wise and clear, the question is which emperor would be willing to do this?

Who can think of things that Master Zhou can think of, these smart officials in the DPRK and China? After a long period of silence, several cries suddenly sounded from the hall.

Even if there were no officials who were crying, their eyes were red at this time, their faces were full of apology, and they were in great pain, although they didn't know whether it was true or not.

The Minister of Taichang Temple suddenly turned around and stared at these useless officials, and shouted sharply: Weeping! Your Majesty is still alive!

Mr. Zhang's mother passed away four years ago, and he is now an old man with silver hair, but his majesty is far superior to that of his past, and he even has a hint of his father's legacy.

Under his stern shouting, the crying in the hall finally stopped, and the ministers came to their senses, and looked at Zhou University one after another.

Master Zhou's lips trembled slightly, and he managed to force out a sentence: Negotiate a peace with the people of Qin, and move all the forbidden troops to the direction of Xi Daying.

Then he stared at the officials with the strictest eyes, and said coldly.

No one is allowed to say it outside. Don't tell me nonsense that can't be hidden. It's a day if you can hide it. Do you hear me?

...

...

A mission from the State of Qin secretly entered the capital of the State of Chu.

According to Chu State's request, King Jing did not show up, but there were still many old Cangzhou people in the mission. Some officials in the imperial court had a lot of ideas and tried every means to establish a relationship with those people, no matter if they were of the same age or fellow countrymen, in order to protect themselves, and even hoped to get a good position in the new dynasty in the future.

Those old people from Cangzhou used to be officials of the Chu State, but they were chosen by Prince Jing's son Tongyan himself. They interacted with the officials in the court with a smile on their faces, and only when their eyes fell on the palace did they show coldness and hatred.

No matter how secret the mission is, it is impossible to hide it from everyone. The news gradually spread in the capital, and the turmoil gradually rose. Master Zhou, known for his tolerance and benevolence, finally had some of the courage of Master Zhang this time, beheading the three ministers extremely forcefully, and finally stabilized the situation for the time being.

The so-called peace talks meant surrender. The Chu State had no confidence, and the Qin State was pushing forward step by step. It was difficult to discuss clearly in a short period of time, but there was one thing that did not need to be discussed.

There are no two suns in the sky, and there are no two masters in the country.

If Emperor Bai wanted to become the co-lord of the world, he would naturally not allow Jing Jiu to sit on the throne.

The best outcome for Jing Jiu in the future is probably to get the false title of county king and be guarded by heavy soldiers. When the people of Chu country gradually forget about him, he will be slowly poisoned to death, starved to death, or accidentally drowned to death, just like his father.

At this time, a decree suddenly came from the deep palace that His Majesty the Emperor wanted to have a talk with the Qin Mission in person.

As soon as the decree came out, many officials and those old people from Cangzhou in the Qin State Mission felt a lot of shame, thinking that you, the king of subjugation, do you want to ask for some good conditions at this moment? A bigger house or silk and satin? Or a sixteen-year-old concubine and a house full of wine?

One morning, several officials from the Qin State Mission entered the palace and came to the quiet hall.

Jing Jiu waved his hand, signaling all the eunuchs and court ladies to retreat.

Those Qin officials thought about some rumors, their expressions changed slightly, and then they thought, even if you kill us all, what's the use?

At this time, an ordinary-looking Qin official suddenly said: You all step down first.

Those Qin officials looked a little uneasy, but they didn't dare to object, and they left the palace as they said.

Jing Jiu looked at the Qin official and said, I didn't expect you to come.

The Qin official raised his head, lifted his disguise, revealed his beautiful face, and smiled sweetly at him.

If I don't come this time, I think I may never see you again.

This is the end.

A voice suddenly sounded from behind the colonnade.

This time it was no longer lazy, but a little out of breath.

Zhuo Rusui came out, looked at Jing Jiu and said angrily, Since it's her who came, then hurry up and pack your bags and let's go.

...

...

(I went to Shanghai to receive an award, 20 works on the 20th anniversary of Internet literature, and I am a guest. Thank you. In the first two chapters, I wrote the Li from the fire as the millet from the fire. I apologize to the friend whose surname is Li, but I once again proved that I used Wubi. My forehead... The last good news is that Jiang Ye’s TV series should be broadcast on October 31. It is exclusive to Tencent Video. I strongly recommend everyone to pay attention. I am more confident... Of course, anticipation and nervousness coexist.)