After playing with Qi Yang all day, and then sending people to the palace gate, when Lu Qipei returned to Lu Mansion, it was almost dark.
There are two lanterns hanging outside the unimpressive gate, with dim yellow lights falling down, only casting a faint halo, illuminating everything hazy, but revealing an inexplicable warmth.
Since Ah Yu's death, Lu Qipei has not kept anyone by his side, and always likes someone when he goes out. At this moment, she returned with brisk steps, and knocked the knocker on her own when she reached the door.
The sound of "bang bang" came from far away in the night, and the door was quickly opened from inside.
Lu Qipei was about to go inside, but he inadvertently raised his eyes, but unexpectedly found that the person who opened the door for her at the moment was not the doorman—the person who opened the door was Qi Bo, and every time Qi Bo waited for her at the door, there was something wrong, and most of it was not a good thing. !
With such knowledge, the moment he saw Qi Bo, Lu Qipei's originally good mood instantly sank.
Qi Bo opened the door, invited Lu Qipei to enter, and after closing the door in person, he followed Lu Qipei into the mansion. He was slightly behind Lu Qipei by two steps.
Hearing that, Lu Qipei kept walking, but he pursed his lips slightly and replied, "It's okay." It's not good just to see you.
Qi Bo didn't seem to care about her answer, and continued to talk to himself: "Young master must have seen the book in the study. Your wedding date with Princess Qiyang is not far away, so I hope you will think twice about what to do next."
Lu Qipei finally stopped when she heard this, she turned back to look at Qi Bo, her pure black eyes rarely contained two points of ridicule: "Qi Bo, what does this mean? The marriage between me and the princess is not also yours. Credit? Now I regret it and want me to regret my marriage again?"
Qi Bo was stunned for a moment at the words, and then he felt two points of joy in his heart - he guessed right, Lu Qipei has always been a smart person, as long as she gave her a little clue, she would be able to piece together the truth of the matter. But now that she can say such a thing, she has obviously guessed something and is quite confident.
Guess it well, guess it before you have scruples, and guess it before you can restrain yourself.
Qi Bo thought about it like this, but he didn't show the slightest on his face, and calmly replied: "The imperial decree grants marriage, but repenting and resisting the decree is a big crime. The old slave dare not think like this, and he dare not bring the son too tired."
Lu Qipei was noncommittal to his words, turned around and walked forward, as if he didn't want to continue the topic.
Seeing this, Zibo couldn't help frowning. He wanted Lu Qipei to take advantage of Princess Qiyang's situation. After seeing the two getting along, he also vaguely sensed the ambiguity between the two. But for Qi Bo, he doesn't really believe how deep the friendship between the two women can be, not to mention that there is such a natural opposition between the two.
When Qi Bo thought about it, Lu Qipei was a smart person. When she understood her status and situation, she would definitely learn to restrain herself. And even if she doesn't learn to restrain herself, she will at least feel resentful when she thinks of the identity and position of the two.
In this way, things are kept within a manageable range.
But now it seems that things are far beyond his control, and Lu Qipei's attitude towards Qi Yang is not what he thought... If she is trapped in the love of her children, what will they do? There is no other young master who might let them choose!
When Qi Bo thought of this, his heart sank. Fortunately, at this moment, the young man walking in front suddenly made a sound, and the cold voice came faintly: "I know what Qi Bo is worried about, but I have my own sense of it. Your worry is unnecessary."
Lu Qipei rarely speaks to Zebo like this. She is gentle, completely different from Lu Qicheng's sharp-edgedness. It should be said that such a young master is more controllable for the old servant who has been in power for many years, but at this moment Qi Bo heard Lu Qipei say this, but he did not feel the anger of being offended, but he was relieved and faintly relieved.
Of course, if Qi Bo knew about Lu Qipei's so-called sense of proportion, it meant that he had no sense in facing Qi Yang. The so-called secrecy means that there is no secret in the face of Qi Yang. I'm afraid that two or two blood will be vomited on the spot.
But fortunately he didn't know, so in the end he watched Lu Qipei leave with gratified eyes.
Qi Bo's reminder seemed to be a prelude, and the rest of the day was no longer peaceful, and the atmosphere in the entire capital suddenly became tense.
The reason is that one early morning at the end of September, a battle report came hurriedly from the north. The messenger who delivered the letter had a white cloth tied around his head, which made people feel bad at first sight. In fact, he brought a shocking news-General Ji, who had guarded the northern border for decades, died in action!
Today, the battle in the northern Xinjiang involves nearly one million troops, with Liang and Rong each occupying half of the battle, and the commander of Liang's army is undoubtedly General Ji, who has guarded the northern Xinjiang for many years. As the head coach, he was in the situation of the battle, and nearly half a million Liang troops obeyed his dispatch. But now that the coach dies, the morale blow will not be mentioned for the time being. What is more important is who will take over the dispatch of these 500,000 troops
The Ji family does not have no successor. If the general Ji dies, the heirs who have their own training can take over the forces of his men smoothly. But now the situation is different. In addition to the original 200,000 soldiers and horses in the northern Xinjiang, the emperor has dispatched nearly 300,000 soldiers and horses to the border one after another after the war. their respective commanders.
General Ji has a high prestige in the army. Even if the reinforcements are scattered, he has the ability to arrange them properly and dispatch them like an arm. But it's different if you change someone else. The younger generation of Ji's family doesn't have the prestige methods like him.
In addition, General Ji died suddenly, and there was no government decree to designate a new commander.
The prince's face darkened after seeing the battle report that was sent later, and his eyebrows were even more tightly wrinkled: "The third brother is in the northern border at this time, and he is the prince and the supervisor. If he stands up to lead the situation, it should be Can hold people down…”
This is not because the crown prince deliberately spoke ill of him in front of the emperor while the third prince was away, but what he said was all the truth. If it was not the third prince but him who went to the northern border to supervise the army this time, he would definitely stand up immediately, even if he knew nothing about military affairs, sitting in the commanding position would be able to calm down the military's heart, and then listen to it. Remonstrance is waiting for the new appointment of the court.
Of course, the emperor understands this truth better, so his face will only be darker than that of the prince. Before even waiting for the prince to finish speaking, he waved his hand and said, "That's it, that coward, what else can I expect from him?!"
The prince was silent for a moment when he heard the words, but he still bowed and asked for orders: "Father, my son, please go to the northern border."
The latest battle report from Northern Xinjiang has not been sent back, but in terms of the previous situation, it is really not good. The generals ran their own affairs, and the soldiers ran rampantly. In just a few days, they lost two cities, and even the situation that General Ji had managed to stabilize before was also destroyed.
At this time, it is not enough to send a general to the northern border at will, and more importantly, there must be a person with enough identity to calm the heart of the army. The so-called imperial expedition is the most useful method at this time. It is conceivable that the emperor will not go to the northern border, so taking a step back, it is the best choice to let the crown prince go to the northern border to stabilize the army.
But the emperor hesitated when he heard the prince's request. After a while, he said, "This matter is not urgent, let the coach first decide."
The emperor obviously valued the prince too much more than the third prince, so that in such a situation, he still did not want him to take risks. But no matter how the superiors in the palace make decisions, after the news of General Ji's death in battle spread throughout the capital, panic spread.
In the late autumn at the end of September, the weather was already getting cooler, and the autumn rain for several days made the sky dark, just like the mood of everyone in Beijing at the moment, making people feel depressed at a glance.
Lu Qipei stood under the porch with his hands behind his back, looked up at the drizzling rain outside, and finally couldn't help whispering: "Even General Ji was killed in battle, does he really want to lead Rong and Di to the capital..."
The autumn rain fell, knocking her low voice into the wind and rain, and no one else could hear it except herself.
In the palace on the other side, Qi Yang rushed to the East Palace despite the autumn rain. As soon as he entered the gate of the front hall, he didn't care about the wetness of his skirt, so he hurriedly walked in front of the prince and asked, "I heard, brother Huang, you want to ask for orders to go to the northern border?"
The prince raised his head from the official document, and faced Qi Yang's rare frowning seriousness: "This matter does not need Huangmei's intervention."
Seeing him like this, Qi Yang knew that his trip to the northern border was 80% irreversible. But looking at the worried but still high-spirited prince in front of her, and thinking about the crippled person in her memory, how could she remain unmoved
Raising his hand to grab the prince's sleeve, Qi Yang rarely leaked his emotions: "Brother Huang, the battlefield is dangerous, can't you just go?"
The prince met her gaze, and his serious and cold face was still a little soft after all, but the decision he made was unbearable: "No." If the royal father can't go, he can only go alone."
Qi Yang was silent when he heard the words, and suddenly felt a sense of powerlessness.
But soon, this powerlessness turned into resentment, resentment towards Xie Yuan, the culprit who caused the current situation.
Seeing her biting her lip, the crown prince couldn't hold on to her last coldness. He raised his hand and touched Qi Yang's head like when he was a child, and comforted her with a soft tone: "Just stay in the rear to stabilize the military, there will be no danger, don't worry."
Qi Yang wanted to say that in your previous life, you just went to the northern border for a short walk, and ended up coming back lame. The current situation in Northern Xinjiang is not comparable to previous life. Do you have to keep your life in Northern Xinjiang? !
However, Qi Yang couldn't say these words, and she couldn't even accuse the prince of going to the dangerous place regardless of his own safety. So in the end, she just bit her lip and warned: "Brother Huang, bring more guards. Especially on the battlefield, swords have no eyes, and the guards can't stop them from saving people. It's better to use a personal guard."
Hearing her exhortation, the prince finally couldn't help laughing: "Understood, you can relax."
After laughing, he remembered something, and the prince took out a wooden box from the hidden compartment and handed it to Qi Yang: "Your wedding date is approaching. I am afraid that the emperor will not be able to marry you, so I will give you the gift first."