Suyin and Suixin were both surprised when they heard this. They didn't expect the queen to get the news so quickly. They thought that no wonder Dong Liangqiu sent five of them to take the risk to accompany the queen to Linyuan. Sure enough, it was much easier for an outsider to do things than an outsider.
Of course, those words could not be said out loud, so he said: "Mother, are you sure that Chi Zuosi told you unintentionally, and not that we have exposed some flaws? Is that a probing statement?"
Empress Meng said with an unsightly expression: "Chi Zuosi, his aunt's personal attendant, has always been the most loyal, and everything is done according to his aunt's preferences. And his aunt, she is the best among the elders. Such a person! If the Meng family suffered a great change, and his brothers, sisters, nephews and nieces died one after another, he is the only flesh and blood left before her. Do we think she wants to doubt him? "
"His aunt doesn't doubt him, how could Chi Zuosi mistake him for having malicious intentions?!"
"Don't get me wrong, Madam, we don't trust you, but just to be cautious, we just confirmed something." Seeing this, Luyin went to apologize, and Luxin also said many words of apology, and then went to see Empress Meng. He always looked gloomy, thinking that she was very careless, and remembered Dong Liang's instructions before leaving. Although he was on guard against Empress Meng, he should not offend her openly before completely turning his back.
What's more, there was news about Kang Gui just tomorrow, and the task of fetching Donglai was there. There were too many places to rely on the queen, so they both bowed down and apologized.
"Let's get up!" Queen Meng frowned and said when she saw the man who was making such a move, "He was a little unhappy at the time. It's true that we were suspicious, but... Kang Gui... was too careless about human life. Isn’t that true? Did Mi Zhen never have sex with him?!"
Xuyin and Luixin looked at her furtively for a moment, confirming that the words were not prevaricating, then stood up and said: "My dear, you don't know that Kang Gui, Luan Yusi, and Shao Yan are not the right-hand men left by the old sea master to his biological son. , and they have the intention of letting them help Gongsun Su to guard against our prince. Because of this, it is not convenient for our prince to get too close to them, nor to interfere with them, lest people misunderstand the prince’s intentions. Gongsun Su is in trouble. Although the county king can't see the bad behavior of those people, he can't discipline them as casually as his direct descendants."
"Before the county prince went to Western Xinjiang, he was actually very short of human legs, but he never borrowed anyone from Gongsun Su. We were worried that they would rely on Gongsun's favor from the prince in the early years, take credit for themselves, disobey orders, and undermine the overall situation."
Seeing that Queen Meng's expression became more and more ugly after hearing this, Xianyin went on to say, "Bu Nao, based on my understanding of Kang Gui, although he usually likes to play around with women and other things, he definitely won't go as far as to talk nonsense like Ruming. Even the Queen Mother The editor in front of me has to endure it! There is a high probability that he is having an affair!"
"Otherwise, although it would be inconvenient for our county king to control him, to be honest, Gongsun Su himself is not the kind of heartless person who could see things like Buling. Otherwise, he would not have saved our county from the sea in the first place. Isn’t he a king?”
Queen Meng silently fiddled with some jewelry and rouge and gouache on the dressing table. After a while, she said calmly: "So many innocent palace maids have died. Why do you want to have an affair and ask for such a price?"
"My servants, Ruming, have never met Kang Gui, but they don't know it." Lu Xin said with a smile, "Ms. Bu Suo, please think about this: Kang Gui and the others came to Chang'an with the prince earlier, and their family members were all outside Chang'an City. . After all these changes, I have been separated from my family. How can I really serve Marquis Chongxin with peace of mind? I wonder if I will be subjected to some kind of coercion and house arrest."
"At that time, even if you were someone who liked to ride around for a ride, how could you be in the mood to commit such a capital crime?"
Because she was afraid that the queen would change her mind and not help because she was disgusted with Kang Gui's behavior, Xianyin promised: "My queen, please don't worry! Even if Gongsun Su is willing to make an exception and indulge his confidants, don't you believe the conduct of our king and princess? ? After turning around and taking the people out, I promise you that I will definitely report the matter to you! Then even if the prince wants to give Gongsun Su some face, the temper of the princess will definitely not be followed!"
"The princess has never refuted anything she said!"
She thought to herself that she would save people first. As for whether her guarantee would be realized in the future... that would depend on the situation.
She didn't feel that there would be any serious consequences if she broke Queen Meng's promise by mistake.
The two coaxed each other, and after a while, the queen calmed down and said: "He is not the kind of person who is truly glorious, but as a woman, he can't bear to do such dirty things!"
Then he turned to the topic, "He asked Chi Zuosi carefully whether Kang Gui had been near Chengluan Palace before. Did she happen to meet him once and scolded Kang Gui! He went to find him again. Sixth Brother, his Sixth Brother probably didn’t want to break up with his aunt at that time, so he agreed to restrain him, and he hasn’t been around since then... As for him, he had to agree to Chi Zuosi, and from now on we will see He's a good boy and won't go out, lest we get caught in his eye and make mistakes. What should we do if we say we can ask for something?"
After hearing this, Xuyin and Luixin frowned, thought for a while, and then asked: "Empress, if we offend the palace people of Chengluan Palace, will we bring you any trouble?"
"Are we going to let them frame us and take the initiative to find a way to send us to Kanggui?" Queen Meng pondered, "Chengluan Palace is in the east, and they are all my aunt's people. He has some status in my aunt's mind." . So ordinary palace people cannot afford to offend! It’s Chi Zuosi, his aunt’s confidant. Because her aunt misunderstands his attitude, she won’t get angry with him, but he can’t bear to hurt her. Except for her Apart from that, we can deal with the others as we see fit, so just give him some reason so that my aunt doesn’t think he has no conscience.”
Xianyin went and said: "Please don't worry, my lady, the slaves will make sure that everyone thinks you are innocent! Nothing is wrong with the slaves!"
They were discussing contact with Kang Gui, and the northern Xinjiang, where there were frequent wars, was already in chaos.
Due to King Gaomi's sudden attack on Meng's family, the baggage that was supposed to be escorted to Northern Xinjiang was in vain, so that Northern Xinjiang was not very full of food and grass at that time.
It happened that Meng Boqin defected to Ruru and was very angry. The most important thing at that time was that everyone was not able to eat, and everyone knew that they would not be able to eat.
The panic of hundreds of thousands of troops was inherently dangerous.
In that situation, Dong Ruru and Meng Boqin came to attack, which would make things worse!
Although out of hatred for Meng Boqin, the former commander-in-chief of Northern Xinjiang, most of the Northern Xinjiang troops had no intention of escaping without a fight. Instead, they enthusiastically asked for a fight with Meng Boqin. However, the lack of baggage and equipment, coupled with Meng Boqin's misunderstanding of northern Xinjiang, and his misunderstanding of the key position of the old troops in persuading them to surrender, could not help but make the entire war situation a complete defeat, almost a thousand miles away!
"Northern Xinjiang can't be saved that time!" Zhao Shi's eyes were red, and he summoned the generals to discuss the way forward. "There was no time to assemble the baggage and equipment, not to mention that Meng Boqin had been operating in Northern Xinjiang for many years, and he had no time to identify him at that time. Henchmen and traitors! If you continue to defend, it will cost the lives of the sons and daughters... Let's say, how about asking for help from the east?"
There was a general in front of him who was drawing the map in front of him and frowning: "Why don't you just defend Xiazhou City?"
"No, although Xiazhou has been asking for land since ancient times, in recent years, due to Jizhou blocking the front, Xiazhou's preparations for war have been insufficient. Ruru is coming fiercely, and the terrain of Xiazhou City is not too difficult to defend. It’s difficult to attack. With our current preparations, we might not be able to bear it if we try to defend this place.” But someone immediately countered, “Why don’t we look at places with more dangerous terrain!”
"In that case, we must retreat to the vicinity of Chang'an!" the former general said worriedly, "If we lose our legs then, the imperial capital will be invaded..."
"Is the imperial capital Ruming very intrusive?" Someone from the angry generals sneered and said, "The imperial army has been divided and separated for many months, and that is not considered an intrusion. So what does it mean to be an intrusion?! Isn’t it okay if Ruru enters the city?!”
When it comes to the situation in Chang'an Yandong, the faces of the people with the blade, including Zhao Shi, look ugly.
Originally, after the fate of General Zhou, people in Northern Xinjiang generally harbored resentment against the imperial court, believing that a group of villains were controlling the government, and the whole country was in love with their soldiers who risked their lives on the border.
After the Meng family and the King of Gaomi divided up the military power in Northern Xinjiang, they often made a fuss about that emotion and tried to throw dirty water on the wrong side.
Under such circumstances, the Northern Xinjiang Army's trust in the imperial court would naturally not be too high.
At that time, the confrontation between Chang'an and Tong in Linyuan was not a typical situation in Bucheng. The resentment in the hearts of the generals of the Northern Xinjiang Army was obvious!
"...General, Chang'an cannot continue eastward." After a short silence, someone slowly said, "Otherwise, even if we can defend the city, we can at most temporarily block Ruru! After all, we have nothing to eat or wear. How can the Dongerlangs compete with Ruru? Ruru can plunder the people of Damu, but we can't ask the Didong people to do the same, right?"
"There are hundreds of thousands of troops with many war horses. Without the imperial court to coordinate and dispatch food and fodder, they will not be able to handle it at all!"
"If Chang'an continues to fight life and death, then those of us will eventually feel that there is no need to discuss how to defeat the enemy there, so we should find a serious place to go as soon as possible, so as not to become Ruru's military exploits in vain!"
He said coldly, "After all, it's not easy to train those sons of ours! It's enough to actually die for the country. Just like the Ming Dynasty, we can't let them die. Just Can we buy time for those who are fighting for power?!"
"... We can rest assured about that matter!" Zhao Shi looked around the generals with a complicated mood. After a while, he said calmly, "Prince Mi Zhen has rushed to Chang'an and plans to personally intervene to break the situation in Yandong. Got it!"
Looking at the relieved expressions around him, Zhao Shi lowered his eyes to hide the flash of sadness in his eyes: Before Rong Suihe left, he had politely asked the nephew to spare the life of King Gaomi no matter what, let alone harm the prince. Rong Qingzuo et al.
But Rong Suihe said calmly: "Uncle overestimates him. If the situation is urgent, it is no longer a blessing to mediate Donglai... As for other things, you can just say whether you will do your best and let fate!"
That statement sounded true, but it was clear that he refused straight away: he had no intention of showing any mercy to the blood relatives of the Gaomi Palace.
He sees them as no different from other enemies, the kind that don't need mercy or taboos.
Although the Zhao family was first tied to King Gaomi's ship by the late emperor, there was no doubt that they had resentments over the years. In the past few months, King Gaomi had arranged for Zhao Shi to join him through the secret room, making mistakes in northern Xinjiang. He has an unshirkable responsibility for Ru Ming's situation, but after all, he has been a relative for many years, and Zhao Shi does not have the kind of character that he does not recognize even his relatives. He feels uncomfortable when he thinks that his sister and his family have ended up in Ru Ming's situation.
Maybe he didn't know that at this moment, King Gaomi of Chang'an was coldly giving instructions: "Can't we defend Northern Xinjiang? Is Zhao Shi really useless? In this case... What's he keeping General Huaihua for? Send him away Go east and look for someone else!"
When he said the word "Xian Ke", he turned to look at Jian Xun, a relative next to him.
Qi Jianxun's beard and hair were all red, but his eyes were full of sparkle, and he did not look old at all. He said in a deep voice: "I am willing to work hard for the prince and the prince!"