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Princess Jiahu must be still in a deep dream. They said they were running for their lives. The situation was so urgent that Yuan Yu didn't even take Xiao Hei with him, not to mention Da Bai who had just given birth to a litter of cubs. If they really took them with them, there would be a long line of short-legged people following them.
Besides, he is on the run, and it is not safe for the dogs to stay with him. It would be better for them to seek shelter with dog friends in the capital so that they will not be implicated.
But since the other person had come from far away in the middle of the night, he couldn't be too unkind and just give the lie, explaining that Dabai was weak after giving birth and had been handed over to a good friend for care.
Jiahu's face fell in disappointment, but he still greeted a few people and led them into the gate.
The news that the Uighurs secretly took care of the group was naturally unknown to the Great Zhou, otherwise they would have torn their face with them. But the Turks were sure that even if the Great Zhou wanted to continue to maintain its alliance with the Uighurs, it was powerless at the moment, so they seized this opportunity to start a war.
The Turks were coming fiercely and wreaking havoc in the border towns. Seeing that the Uighur soldiers could not resist for a while, Yuan Yizhi sent a letter to the Khan as soon as he entered the pass, saying that he was willing to lead his troops to fight with the Uighurs and work together to drive out the enemy.
Lu Shiqing did not object to this.
Regardless of the private kindness of the Uighurs to a few people, from the overall perspective, once the Turks, who once had an army of millions, replaced the Uighurs, there would never be peace in the northern border of the Great Zhou.
This battle was actually fought for the Great Zhou.
Yuan Yizhi led his army to attack, and three days later, the situation at the border improved slightly.
Seeing that they could not take this hole, the Turks quickly shifted their sights and turned their heads to seek a weak point to break through. In order to prevent the tiger from leaving the mountain, Yuan Yizhi stayed in the border city without wavering and sent a letter to inform the surrounding areas to pay attention to defense.
However, the Turks continued to send new soldiers, attacking from all directions, leaving the Uighurs so confused that they had no idea how to defend themselves. By the time they finally figured out the enemy's tactics and found the point they really wanted to bite, it was already too late.
The next day, the Uighur defenders were defeated and the border town fell.
The Turks were good at war and were cunning, so it was no wonder that the Uighur royal court was unable to resist. After all, it took them and the Great Zhou half a year to completely drive the enemy out of the country, not to mention that they were fighting alone at the moment with such a weak force.
This fall was a step-by-step defeat.
Lu Shiqing originally did not participate in the war, but stayed at the border to pay attention to the movements of the Great Zhou court. Now that he saw that the war situation with the Uighurs was getting tense and Yuan Yizhi had to rush north to provide assistance, he had to put aside the matters at hand for the time being.
Yuan Yi is not that young after all. After killing King Ping, he had to deal with the pursuers all the way, during which he suffered many minor injuries. He has been exhausted for a whole month. If he continues to rush around, there is no guarantee that nothing will go wrong.
He stopped the army before it set out and offered to lead the Uighur soldiers deep into the north on his behalf.
Seeing that her father was so tired that he could fall asleep on the horse, Yuan Cixian did not stop Lu Shiqing, but only asked him to be careful. As for the Great Zhou, she would take care of it.
*
After Lu Shiqing left, she quickly took over the secret report from the south.
Previously, my father had fought and wiped out Prince Ping so quickly that Nanzhao was caught off guard, and it seemed that they had lost the opportunity to launch a large-scale attack on Dazhou. However, since Xiju had sent assassins to take advantage of Lu Shiqing's misfortune, it meant that he still intended to intervene in this chaos. Therefore, she could not take it lightly.
She sorted out the letters from the past few days and found one good news and one bad news.
The good news was that after Zheng Zhuo and his group quietly hid in the Uighurs, he pretended to pursue them in the direction of southern Yunnan for several days, giving the remaining pursuers a wrong idea and successfully diverting their attention, directing the "Tibetans'" disaster to Nanzhao, thus eliminating the suspicion of the war-torn Uighurs.
The bad news was that Xi Ju really did what she worried about and sent people to spread rumors in Da Zhou, saying how Zheng Zhuo and Lu Shiqing were in cahoots and how they deceived court officials and the emperor.
The rumor spread to the capital, and the court was quickly calmed down by Zheng Zhuo's officials. However, the old emperor, who was already worried, became mad and ordered Zheng Zhuo to stop chasing and return to the capital as soon as possible.
The old emperor was deeply shocked by the betrayal of his long-favored minister. Yuan Cixian guessed that he was probably a little out of his mind. At this time, he didn't care who was wronged or not. He would kill anyone who might threaten him. The so-called summoning Zheng Zhuo back to the capital was to prepare to send someone to kill him on his way back. At the same time, it was very likely that he also controlled his mother, Xue Cairen, who was in the harem.
After all, to Emperor Huining, wives, concubines, and children were nothing in front of imperial power.
However, Yuan Cixian believed that Zheng Zhuo had guessed the old emperor's intentions, and in order to prevent the previous plans and sacrifices from failing, he would take ruthless action. Before the situation became irreversible, he sent people to get rid of his father first and help his mother escape danger.
After Emperor Huining died, no matter how doubtful the court officials were, facing the princes who were unable to shoulder the heavy responsibility, most of them would have chosen to push him to the throne. The only shortcoming was that there was no legitimate edict, which might give people a reason to criticize him in the future.
As expected, two days later, Yuan Cixian received the news that Emperor Huining had passed away in the Purple Palace. Because of his sudden death, he had not yet made a will. Zheng Zhuo was still on his way back to Beijing. There was no one in the royal family to take charge of the situation, and the situation suddenly became chaotic. In the end, it was the empress who stabilized the situation, began to prepare for the old emperor's funeral, and summoned court officials to discuss which prince would inherit the throne.
The situation in the Great Zhou Dynasty was very special. First, there was no will, second, there was no crown prince, and third, there was no prince in the court who was a direct descendant. That night, two differences arose: most court officials supported Zheng Zhuo, but a group of people chose the thirteenth prince Zheng Hong, who was born to the queen.
Yuan Cixian frowned slightly when she saw this.
Due to the rumors spread by the secret agents, time was running out and Zheng Zhuo did not have time to return to the court. Meanwhile, the court officials were not completely loyal to the emperor. Faced with the death of the old emperor, some people secretly planned to establish a puppet young emperor so as to take the opportunity to expand their power.
What’s more important is that the person who presided over this matter was Queen Liang.
Although the queen usually seems to be quite aloof from the world, once she is in the harem, no woman is truly selfless, innocent and naive. Zheng Zhuo is famous for his filial piety. After he ascended the throne, he did not break the rules immediately and honestly respected Queen Liang as the queen mother. But after a long time, who knows if he will let Concubine Xue take the throne
The queen must have such concerns, and she must have hoped that Zheng Hong, who was raised by her, could ascend the throne. Not to mention the queen mother ruling the country, at least she would have someone to rely on for the rest of her life.
Yuan Cixian's heart began to beat fast. For some reason, she felt uneasy.
She immediately found her father who was recuperating in the city due to an injury and discussed the matter with him. But Yuan Yizhi disagreed: "The Sixth Prince has been paving the way for many years and has a foundation in the court, but the Thirteenth Prince has nothing. It is impossible to finalize this matter with just a few court officials and the Queen with ulterior motives. The court officials under the Sixth Prince will suppress this dispute no matter what."
Yuan Cixian knew that her father's analysis was rational.
But perhaps in the dream, the one who finally ascended the throne was the Thirteenth Prince. When he and Zheng Zhuo were put together, she couldn't help but feel worried. It's not that she doesn't like Zheng Hong, but such a young child, if he ascends to the throne, he will mostly be treated as a puppet, and it is really difficult for him to take the responsibility of reviving the Great Zhou. Moreover, this life is not like the previous life. With Lu Shiqing's current situation, it is difficult for him to return to the court to assist him.
Yuan Cixian became more and more uneasy as he thought about it, and said, "Father, Xi Ju spread rumors, forcing His Highness the Sixth Prince to take action against the Saint early. There must be a deeper purpose. I can't figure it out for now, but as long as he survives, we have one more day to fall into a passive position. What I mean is, can we take the initiative with our trump card in hand?"
The killer weapon she was talking about was King Nanzhao.
At the beginning, Yuan Yizhi helped Lao Wang fake his death, and then smuggled the "corpse" out of the city and placed him in southern Yunnan.
Yuan Yizhi frowned deeply, "The old king of Nanzhao experienced a false death and suffered a great trauma. His body is recovering very slowly. I am afraid that he has barely recovered now. Zishu's original plan was that when there was chaos in our Great Zhou, Xiju would get restless. When he left the imperial city and headed north, he would arrange for the old king to attack Nanzhao. Meanwhile, the Sixth Prince would hold Xiju back."
The situation in Nanzhao was truly unprecedented. A surviving king had to fight back to regain the throne.
Yuan Cixian asked: "If Xiju does not leave the imperial city, will the old king have a chance?"
Yuan Yizhi shook his head in certainty: "In the past few months, Xiju has been trying hard to eliminate dissidents. If Lao Wang returns alone, I'm afraid he will be killed by his son for real."
She frowned and said, "Then force Xi Ju to leave the imperial city. Take what he wants most and force him to leave the imperial city."
Yuan Yizhi met her gaze: "Ci Xian, you want to..."
She nodded: "I want to go south to lure him. He wants to get rid of Shi Qing as much as he wants to catch me. You can't do this, and my brother can't do it either. Only I can."
"Nonsense!" Yuan Yizhi scolded, "Don't say that father doesn't think that the Sixth Prince is in trouble right now. Even if he is really in trouble, it shouldn't be a girl like you who steps forward to help him!"
She pleaded, "Father, if the Sixth Prince fails to ascend the throne, all our efforts and all the infamy we have endured will be in vain. I don't want to disappoint Shi Qing. Yuan Shu and Yuan Zhen are still breastfeeding, I won't let anything happen to me, I am sure I can get away with it!"
Seeing the father and daughter arguing fiercely, Shi Cui stood up and said, "Madam, let me go."
Yuan Cixian suddenly turned her head to look at her.
"Since it's just a bait, why do we have to use real weapons?" She said with a scorching gaze, "Whether you go or I go, Nanzhao may be suspicious. In this case, it's better for me to do it for you. I know everything about you and won't be easily exposed."
Seeing that Yuan Cixian seemed to be about to refuse, Cao An also stepped forward and said, "Madam, Shi Cui is right. I will go with her so that she can take care of me along the way. We just need to buy more time for Old Wang, which is not difficult." He smiled and said, "Three cobblers are better than one Zhuge Liang. Although Shi Cui and I are not as smart as you, we are not bad at all. You just said that you are sure to get out of this unscathed, and we are sure too, right, Shi Cui?"
Shi Cui nodded desperately.
Yuan Cixian shook her head and said coldly, "I don't agree. None of you can do it for me. Just ignore what I said. I will think of another way to lure Xiju out."
After she finished speaking, she walked out of the room with a cold face. After nightfall, she sat at her desk with a lamplight, analyzing the situation in Da Zhou while trying to find a way to lure Xi Ju. In the second half of the afternoon, she could no longer hold her eyes open and fell asleep on the edge of the table.
Feng got up at night and came to see her. Seeing that she was not wearing any clothes, she hurriedly asked someone to carry her back to the bed. After she came out, she saw Yuan Yizhi standing by the door and asked her in a low voice, "Are you finally willing to sleep?"
Refers to Yuan Cixian.
Feng nodded and followed him out, sighing, "Has Shi Cui set off yet?"
Yuan Yizhi said, "Cao An left with her overnight. I left some people in the south who will lend a helping hand."
*
When Yuan Cixian woke up the next day, Shi Cui and Cao An had already left the Uighurs, and it was unrealistic to bring them back.
She sat in the room, holding Yuan Shu and Yuan Zhen for a long time before she finally pulled herself together. Now that things had come to this, it was futile to feel bad, and she could only believe that they could protect themselves.
After spending the whole day in such a depressing state, at three o'clock in the morning, Yuan Cixian was again entangled in dreams.
This was a scene she had heard of before. On the Lu Bridge, fists rained down like a dense rain, hitting Zheng Zhuo so hard that he could not stop groaning.
But this time, the dream did not stop abruptly. She heard the sound of fists stop after a long time, and amid Zheng Zhuo's rapid breathing, the owner of the fists finally gritted his teeth and said, "Fight back."
She trembled slightly. This voice was too familiar.
It’s Lu Shiqing.
Sure enough, it was only him.
Zheng Zhuo smiled weakly: "What hand? I didn't protect her well, so I deserve it."
Lu Shiqing didn't speak for a long time.
Zheng Zhuo continued panting, "Before you returned to the capital, I had already rescued her from prison. According to the letter you sent back, I was going to send her to your hometown in Luoyang for resettlement. But the saint was watching her too closely. After discovering something, he hung the bodies of her father, mother, and brother at the Yanxing Gate to threaten her and lure her back... She couldn't just leave, so she turned back halfway and wanted to bury them."
"She was very calm and smart. She didn't act rashly at all. She borrowed my manpower and made a thorough plan. But I didn't expect that her sister-in-law would betray her..."
Then, both men fell silent.
After a while, Lu Shiqing laughed at himself: "I have no right to hit you, if it weren't for me..."
Zheng Zhuo interrupted him: "If her fiancé was you, you wouldn't have left Beijing to support the Uighurs. Zishu, does she like you too?" He smiled bitterly, "You should have told me earlier..."
As if because Lu Shiqing didn't answer, he continued, "It's hard for anyone not to be moved by a girl like her." He let out a long sigh, "Zishu, the Yuan family has been defeated, and I've been exposed. The saint has already intended to imprison me, but for the sake of face, he doesn't want the world to laugh at him for being betrayed by his son again, so he plans to wait until the Yuan family's limelight has passed before secretly dealing with me. The Great Zhou... can only be handed over to you."
He said with a relaxed smile: "Don't protect me, you can't protect me, just let me be free. But don't worry, I don't like her that much. Even if I saw her before you, I won't take the lead. You can stay there for a few more years and avenge her."
When he said this, he seemed to start walking, but after a few steps he stopped and said, "Oh, by the way, she left a note. I thought it was for me at first, but now it seems that it might be for you."
Lu Shiqing finally spoke: "What note?"
Yuan Cixian didn't hear any more talking for a while, and thought that Zheng Zhuo might have taken out the note and showed it to him.
Then, she heard Lu Shiqing coughing violently, followed by a muffled "bang", as if he could not hold on and his knees hit the bluestone slabs.
She felt upset and wanted to help him, but she couldn't jump out. When she opened her eyes and woke up anxiously, she found that she was already in tears.
At the same time, there was an urgent knock on the door: "Madam, something happened in Daming Palace!"
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