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Upon hearing that the news was not from the southwest but from the northwest, Lu Shiqing frowned slightly and motioned for him to speak.
Zheng Zhuo said: "The Uighur Khan Duolanchuo was assassinated in the palace the night before yesterday. He is now seriously injured and unconscious, and his life is in danger."
"source?"
"This is a letter sent back by my spy in the Uighur Khanate at an urgent speed of 800 miles."
"Besides you, how many other people know about this?"
"The Uighur royal family has not made any moves so far, and the people are also peaceful. Duolanchu's subordinates should have blocked the news. But since I know about this, I'm afraid there are other people in the Great Zhou who know about it."
Lu Shiqing shook his head: "That's not necessarily true."
"What do you think?"
"If Duo Lanchu was really so seriously injured, how could he have concealed it from the eyes of the royal family? How could your spies have received the news at the first moment and successfully passed it back to Chang'an?"
"You mean," Zheng Zhuo seemed to understand, "Dolanchu may not have been assassinated, or he only had some minor injuries?"
After asking, he thought for a moment and asked in confusion, "What was his purpose in deliberately giving me the news?"
Lu Shiqing fell silent after hearing this. He walked to the window with his hands behind his back, then walked back again. After walking back and forth twice, he asked, "If Duolanchuo dies, who will be the next leader of the Uighur Khanate?"
"His son Pei Li."
"What is the key difference between Pei Li and Duo Lanchu in foreign policy?"
"In the early years, when my second brother had not yet wiped out and expelled the Turks, Duolanchuo advocated being close to Zhou and keeping away from the Turks, while Peili supported being close to the Turks and keeping away from Zhou."
"That is to say," Lu Shiqing smiled faintly, "if Pei Li comes to power in a short period of time, it is very likely that the Turkic people, who have been dormant for a short time, will make a comeback."
Zheng Zhuo suddenly raised his head and said, "You mean, Duolanchu is not seriously injured at all, but just wants to use this news to remind me that the Turks have encountered an opportunity to revive?"
Lu Shiqing narrowed his eyes slightly, and after a moment of silence, he nodded.
"If that's the case, why did he only alert me? This matter concerns the survival of the Great Zhou. My father is still alive, and I have limited power. There is no reason for him to bypass my father and cooperate directly with me."
"Because the pro-Zhou Duolanchu has also begun to hesitate and stand forward." Lu Shiqing said firmly, "The Great Zhou is no longer the Great Zhou with millions of soldiers who slaughtered all the Turks in a blink of an eye. Now even the tiny Nanzhao can threaten our southern border time and time again. Duolanchu has long lost confidence in the saint. He is pinning his hopes on the next monarch of the Great Zhou and is testing whether you have the ability."
Zheng Zhuo's eyes flickered slightly, and he said, "But Duolanchu doesn't know me. Why did he choose me so hastily?"
"Because he has no other choice." Lu Shiqing pondered for a moment, "If I'm right, the so-called resurgence of the Turks that he is worried about is the work of your second and third brothers. There may be problems in Yazhou."
He raised his eyes when he said this: "Azhuo, this is a danger, but also an opportunity. We have been building the dark beams for so many years, it is time to build a tall building."
*
After discussing with Lu Shiqing, Zheng Zhuo immediately ordered the scouts in the southern region to go to Yazhou for an in-depth investigation. However, the place where the Second Prince was sent was truly far away, an isolated island, and it was extremely inconvenient to travel. On the one hand, they had to avoid the spies planted in the sea by various parties in the court who were also concerned about the Second Prince. It was more than half a month later when they received the news.
At this time, Dolanchu, who was rumored to be "seriously injured in an assassination attempt", had recovered and began to rule the country again.
After a while, in early December, war broke out in the Uighur Khanate. The Turks, who had been expelled and wiped out by the Great Zhou and the Uighurs, retreated to the wilderness, and withdrew from the stage of history for several years, suddenly made a comeback, using the northeastern Mohe as a passage, deployed 300,000 troops on the Uighur border, and invaded in a large scale after a show of force.
The news spread, shocking the four regions. Emperor Huining urgently summoned all the ministers to the palace to discuss matters, and the fire in the Xuanzheng Hall was not extinguished for a day and a night.
The next morning, Yuan Cixian woke up and saw that the mattress beside her was empty and tidy, without a single wrinkle, so she knew that Lu Shiqing had not returned all night.
The news had not reached her yet, but she was not completely clueless. The only possibility that could have kept Lu Shiqing in the palace for a whole day and night, unable to even bring a message out, was that Emperor Huining was presiding over the closed-door meeting of the ministers. And the only possibility that could have caused such a turmoil in the court was nothing more than a war that was closely related to the Great Zhou.
However, in a chaotic world, there is no peace anywhere. She did not dare to draw a conclusion as to where the war had broken out. The only thing she could be sure of was that this time the war had nothing to do with Nanzhao. Xiju relied on the Great Zhou to ascend to the throne, so it was impossible for him to cause trouble at this time.
She was thinking about it secretly. When she was having breakfast, Xuan asked her what Lu Shiqing was busy with in the palace, but she just smiled and said that he brought a message back last night, saying that he finished his official business too late, and the palace had locked the door, so he had to stay overnight in the outer palace.
But Xuan was not stupid. Seeing that she had to force herself to eat breakfast and looked absent-minded, she naturally thought that something big might have happened. However, since Yuan Cihan didn't mention it, she didn't ask too much, lest it make her feel more worried and hurt her health.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law forgave each other, and no one mentioned Lu Shiqing again until dusk, when Yuan Cixian could no longer sit still and decided to call Cao An to ask him about it.
Actually, she was just trying to find him. He was in the mansion, so he naturally couldn't know what was happening in the palace. But since last month, probably because her belly was getting bigger and bigger, Lu Shiqing stopped talking to her about government affairs, so that in the past month, she knew almost nothing about the court. So she wanted to find out from Cao An what he was busy with recently, so as to make a guess.
However, before she had time to send someone to call Cao An, a servant reported that Lu Shiqing had returned, so she waited obediently in the house.
It was the coldest time of the year, with a biting frost and a biting wind. It had already snowed in Chang'an, and looking at the overcast sky, it seemed that another snow would come soon.
When Lu Shiqing returned, his body was covered in frost. Afraid that Yuan Cihan would catch a cold, he took off his dew-soaked cloak outside and went in wearing only a light fur coat. Before entering her room, he warmed his hands by the charcoal stove.
Yuan Cixian waited for a long time before she saw him rushing over. She immediately stood up from her seat, waited for him to come to her, reached out her hand to stroke his brow, wiped off the white frost on it, and asked him, "Are you cold?"
Lu Shiqing choked. He thought that her first question would be what happened in the court.
He stretched out his newly warmed hand and held hers: "You're not cold." It was as if he was asking her to touch it.
Yuan Cixian glanced at him and said, "You are just trying to do this at the last minute!"
He smiled and helped her sit back down. Because his hands, which had just been warmed up, were hotter than hers, he simply knelt down in front of her, took her hand, and rubbed it in his palm.
Yuan Cixian looked down at him for a long time without him speaking. She smiled and said with her eyes bent, "You are so nice to me all of a sudden. Have you done something to let me down, or are you planning to do something to let me down?"
Lu Shiqing's movements froze for a moment, and he looked up, seeing that her smile remained unchanged, and even a little proud: "I was right!"
Lu Shiqing didn't say anything. He curled the corners of his lips, lowered his head and blew warm air into her palms. When her hands were warmer than his, he looked up at her again.
But at this time, the smile on Yuan Cixian's face had disappeared. She stared at him with red eyes and said, "Tell me, where are you going now?"
He bent his knees but did not get up. He looked up and smiled casually, "It's just a trip to the Uighurs."
Yuan Cixian suddenly felt a little afraid to look at his smile, and raised her head to the ceiling and asked, "When are we leaving?"
"Early tomorrow morning."
She didn't say anything for a long time, and only said "Oh" after a long time.
Lu Shiqing sighed, stood up and sat next to her, put his arm around her and said, "The Turks have invaded the Uighurs. It was the Second Prince who led them. The court cannot ignore this. Regardless of the fact that the one leading the troops is the prince who escaped from the exile of our Great Zhou, if the court stands by and watches today, the Uighurs will suffer tomorrow, and the people will be conquered by the Turkish cavalry the day after tomorrow..."
"I know." Yuan Cixian interrupted him, "You don't have to tell me this, I understand the reason, I just..." She bit her lip and tilted her head to look at him, "In less than two months, I will be giving birth."
Lu Shiqing nodded, stroked her red eyes, and said with a smile: "Just right. Two months is just right. Then I will give them the victory report as a birthday gift."
Yuan Cixian's nose was sore when he heard the word "good news" and asked, "Aren't you going there to negotiate this time?"
He shook his head. "This battle is different from the last one with Nanzhao. We have to fight. The imperial court wants to send troops to aid the Uighurs, but I won't go to the front. I will just follow the reinforcements to the Uighurs and meet with the Khan to reach an alliance. So you don't have to worry. Azhuo and I have been prepared for this matter for a month. Nothing will go wrong."
"What about him?" Yuan Cixian asked, "Is he the one who led the troops to the battle?"
He shook his head again: "First, the Great Zhou sent troops to help the Uighurs, leaving several gates empty. He must stay in the capital and be alert to Prince Ping. Second, now is not the best time for him to show up in public."
Yuan Cixian understood what he had heard and said with a pursed mouth: "It is not necessary for you to go to reach an alliance with the Khan. You went there for the Sixth Prince."
On the surface, he was on a diplomatic mission for the Saint and the Great Zhou, but in reality, it was to help Zheng Zhuo gain Duolanchu's support.
Lu Shiqing nodded this time.
Yuan Cixian sniffed, looked at him unconvinced and said, "Even with me and my two children, the three of us combined are no match for him!"
He laughed when he heard that, leaned over and put his nose against hers and said, "I promise, I will catch up with you when you give birth."
She glared at him: "What if it's too late?"
"you say."
Yuan Cixian was reluctant to swear to him, and said bitterly: "If it's too late, I will pack up my belongings after giving birth, carry my bag and run to the Uighurs to catch you!"
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