Beijing.
Although Guo Boyan did not send troops to attack Liao, he also led 30,000 forbidden troops to guard the Western Camp on the outskirts of Beijing, ready to fight at any time.
"Grandpa, Yingzhou has a battle report!"
Guo Boyan was looking at the map, and when he heard the words, he immediately ordered his subordinates to bring people in. He still stood with his hands behind his back. Hearing the approaching footsteps, Guo Boyan turned his head solemnly, but saw that the messenger sent by Yingzhou was grey-faced and dirty. escaped from the fire! Guo Boyan's heart sank: "The Liao army attacked the grain?"
As he was always concerned about the military situation on the front line, he naturally knew that Cao Yu's army was approaching Youzhou, and it was only when he arrived at Yingzhou.
The messenger plopped down and knelt down, weeping bitterly: "Yes, at the third watch last night, the Liao soldiers sneaked into the fire to burn food and grass, the prince, the prince he..."
Before he finished speaking, Guo Boyan almost took a step back with a buzzing sound in his mind. Surrounded by people, Guo Boyan tried his best to keep his face calm, but his hands were trembling faintly.
The messenger glanced at him, and cried while talking, with trembling lips: "Sir, the sire will fight to the death, and die in a sea of fire..."
At the end, the messenger bowed his head and couldn't bear to see the grief of the grandfather's loss of his son, but he waited for a while in fear and sadness, there was no sound above his head, and the black boots in front of him did not move. The messenger wiped his eyes, looked up suspiciously, and met a pair of dull, blank eyes unexpectedly.
Guo Boyan was neither shocked nor angry nor crying, but the man as majestic as a mountain showed such a stunned expression, but it made several subordinates around him feel uncomfortable, some clenched their fists and turned their heads, and some stared nervously at the grandfather of the country, ready to go at any time. Hold a hand in front.
"Body, found?"
After a long while, Guo Boyan finally moved his eyes and asked.
He was expecting another voice, expecting that as long as there was no body of his son, the news of his death would be unsubstantiated, but the messenger once again destroyed his only expectation: "Master Ma saw with his own eyes the prince was cut down by the Liao soldiers... Go back to find the prince's whole body. Burnt…”
He fell off his horse and was charred all over.
Imagining that situation, Guo Boyan spat out a mouthful of blood.
~
The battle report was soon introduced into the palace.
Emperor Xuande overthrew the desk on the spot!
Guo Xiao died as soon as he died, and he also regretted the untimely death of a young general, but what was urgent at the moment, Emperor Xuande was more worried about the entire East Road army, and his overall plan to take back the Fourteen Youyun Prefectures. Cao Yu disobeyed the emperor's order, causing him to damage his son-in-law and the army's food for several months. If Cao Yu was in front of him, Emperor Xuande could not wait to kill him with a knife!
"Come here, pass my will, let Cao Yu stick to Zhuozhou, and then dare to attack Youzhou without authorization, I will kill him!" Emperor Xuande roared.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Youzhou Battle Report!"
He hadn't sent anyone to reprimand Cao Yu, but Cao Yu's 800 li was rushed but arrived first. Emperor Xuande stepped forward to meet him for a distance, grabbed the battle report, and saw that the man over 50 years old actually swayed. Zhao Heng's face changed greatly, and the second prince, Prince Rui, had already rushed over and nervously supported Emperor Xuande.
"Cao Yu, Cao Yu..." Leaning on his son with a white face, Emperor Xuande was almost unable to say what he said, but it was Cao Yu who attacked Youzhou City yesterday morning. The Empress Dowager and Han Rang arrived with 100,000 reinforcements from the Liao Kingdom. Cao Yu was defeated and retreated to Zhuozhou. He simply lost three or four thousand soldiers and horses, and the main force of the army remained.
After the battle report, Cao Yu finally asked Emperor Xuande what to do next.
What else can be done? The East Route Army will definitely not be able to retreat. After retreating, the Liao Kingdom will immediately change its direction to support Weizhou on the middle route and Yunzhou on the west route. The two routes have reported success one after another, and the confluence of the captured city and the east route is just around the corner. Therefore, Emperor Xuande decreed that Cao Yu would stick to Zhuozhou, and the capital would immediately transfer food and grass.
After arranging a major event, Emperor Xuande clutched his left cheek, enduring a toothache while waiting for news from the front.
Guo Xiao's death, he has no time to care.
But to others, the news of Guo Xiao's death was nothing short of thunderous.
Grandpa's mansion, the bad news came in. Mrs. Tai, who was over sixty years old, rolled her eyes and passed out. Mrs. Lin took care of her mother-in-law with red eyes, so she could only hand over the crying Mao Ge'er to the second lady to take care of her. Princess Duanhui sat dumbfounded, her tears streaming down uncontrollably, but she didn't believe that if she didn't see her cousin for a day, she wouldn't believe that his cousin was really dead!
The masters cried, and the servants cried whether they were sincere or fake. Next door to the Shouwang Mansion, Song Jianing led Zhaozhao to enjoy the flowers in the garden, and vaguely heard the movement.
"I'm crying." Zhao Zhao heard it, looked at his grandfather's house, raised his head to ask his mother, and his almond eyes were confused.
With such a big battle, Song Jianing's face turned pale, and he first thought of Mrs. Tai, an old man in his sixties, in case...
"Go and have a look!" Supported by Shuang'er, Song Jianing hurriedly instructed Liu Xidao.
"Don't worry, wangfei, it's alright." Shuang'er held her shoulders firmly, fearing that the wangfei had moved the fetus.
Song Jianing held her stomach in one hand. When she lowered her head, she saw her daughter staring at her. The little girl looked at her mother the same way she did that day. She laughed when her mother laughed. When her mother had an accident, she was afraid. There is no one who depends on her more than the daughter at this time, and there is no one who wants her to be happy more than her daughter.
Song Jianing didn't panic so much, and smiled and coaxed her daughter: "Mother is tired, let's go back first, and bring Zhaozhao out to play another day, okay?"
Zhao Zhao nodded obediently, her little hand tightly clasping her mother's hand.
One of the girls was heavy, and the other had short calves. They walked back slowly. Liu Xi ran to the gate of the Guogong Mansion, and came back with mixed feelings after inquiring with the steward. Then they wandered in the front yard for a while, guessing that When the princess had already entered the room and sat down, Liu Xi quickly returned to the backyard, bent over and stepped into the east side room.
Song Jianing sat on the chair, Zhaozhao sticking coquettishly in front of her mother, carefully sticking to her mother's belly to listen to what her sister was doing. Song Jianing stroked her daughter's hair one after another, thinking about Mrs. Tai in her heart. Seeing Liu Xi, Song Jianing immediately asked with her eyes. Liu Xi lowered his head and said solemnly: "The battle report came from Yingzhou, the Liao army attacked grain and grass at night, and the prince died in the sea of fire..."
Guo Xiao, dead
Song Jianing forgot her daughter and stared at Liu Xi in disbelief.
Liu Xi knelt down and kowtowed, "Prince Princess condolences."
He is from the Shou Wangfu, because the prince does not like Guo Xiao, and Liu Xi has no feelings for Guo Xiao's death. Shuang’er, Liu’er, and Jiu’er are different, especially Shuang’er and Liu’er. They used to be maids by Mrs. Tai’s side. The admiration, suddenly heard the news of the death of the prince, the two daughters knelt down and cried in a low voice.
Song Jianing has been hiding from Guo Xiao, but she has never said anything bad about Guo Xiao to the maids around her, so these maids at most know that the princess is not close to the prince, but they are more or less brother and sister, so grief starts from the heart and has no worries. too much.
Listening to their cries, Song Jianing was in a dream and still couldn't believe that Guo Xiao was actually dead.
How could Guo Xiao die? In the previous life, Song Jianing lived a turbulent life. Guo Xiao raised her as a little red carp. She couldn't go anywhere anyway. Song Jianing obediently acted as a red carp. Guo Xiao came to serve her. Grass. Seven years after entering Beijing, Guo Xiao often left Beijing, and Guo Xiao also went on expeditions in his previous life. Song Jianing had no way of understanding the situation of the battle. He only remembered that he fought for more than a year before and after the Northern Expedition. Goodbye Guo Xiao, Guo Xiao has become darker, thinner, and more stern. It looked like it was defeated.
But no matter what the result was, in his last life, Guo Xiao came back well.
Now, he is dead and buried in the fire.
Song Jianing was afraid of Guo Xiao, hated Guo Xiao, hated him for robbing her in the previous life, but Liang Shao should be blamed for that, plus the seven years of being together, hatred or not was meaningless, the initial resentment became less and less, only Thinking about eating and waiting to die. In this life, Song Jianing has mainly been wary and fearful of Guo Xiao. If she hates Guo Xiao, she hates Guo Xiao for daring to act after her marriage, and hates Guo Xiao for making her unable to live in peace.
However, when people die like lights go out, at this moment, all Song Jianing can remember is Guo Xiao's kindness to her.
As a stepdaughter, Princess Duanhui ridiculed her repeatedly. As long as Guo Xiao was present, she would definitely reprimand Princess Duanhui. The twin cousin of the second room teased her, Guo Xiao sneered and sneered, but later he would teach the twins a lesson. Guo Xiao picked dates and gave them to her and her younger brother. Guo Xiao took care of her younger brother like a biological sibling...
Song Jianing cried.
Guo Xiao treated her both good and bad. She had been entangled with her for two lifetimes. She was afraid that he might hate him, but she never thought of wanting him to die. Mrs. Tai and her stepfather treated her like a jewel in the palm of her hand. For the sake of the elders of the Guo family and the friendship between the brothers and sisters of the Guo family, Song Jianing sincerely hoped that Guo Xiao could marry a good woman and live in peace, but Mrs. Tai would be so sad when he died. stepparents brother...
Song Jianing couldn't even tell what she was crying for.
"Mother..." With a wow, Zhaozhao also cried, and the crying was so loud.
Song Jianing's complicated emotions that surged up in an instant were shaken by her daughter's cry. It was also at this time that she realized that her face was full of tears, and quickly wiped it away. Song Jianing touched her daughter's head and ordered Shuang'er to prepare. She wanted to take her daughter to go. Go to the government office. Her brother is dead, she should go over with all her love and reason.
The whole of the palace was crying, and Mrs. Tai was already awake. She was lying on the bed weeping sickly. When she saw her little granddaughter with a big belly, she remembered how the two brothers and sisters got along. Mrs. Tai was in tears, and she missed her eldest grandson even more. , sobbing sobbing. Song Jianing persuaded while crying, but in the end, Mrs. Tai was worried about the child in her womb and insisted on telling her to return to the palace.
Song Jianing did her best to show affection and courtesy, and was supported by her mother out of Mrs. Tai's yard.
Lin couldn't get away, so he hurried back after sending his daughter out of the Guogong's mansion. Not seeing the mourning appearance of the elders, Song Jianing's tears slowly stopped, and she lay down on the bed to raise her baby, daring not to move. Zhaozhao followed her to cry a while, but at this moment she fell asleep and was carried away by her wet nurse. Song Jianing lay ecstatically until she fell asleep unconsciously.
The couple did not dare to disturb her. When the prince returned in the evening, the maids saluted very quietly.
Zhao Heng walked into the inner room alone, the gauze curtain fell down, covering the people inside, Zhao Heng lifted the curtain silently, and saw her lying on the outside, her almond eyes closed, her thin eyebrows frowned slightly, as if she was worried. Why worry? Zhao Heng stood on the spot and guessed the answer. There was some discomfort in his chest, but he couldn't blame her. After all, she was a girl raised by the imperial government.
"Your Highness?" Song Jianing woke up leisurely, opened his eyes, and saw his man.
Zhao Heng nodded, walked to the bed, helped her up, got close, saw bloodshot eyes in her eyes, Zhao Heng whispered, "Have you cried?"
Song Jianing nodded, leaned against his chest, and sighed: "I don't have a relationship with my eldest brother, but he died young, and I can't bear it either."
This is what she said in her heart. The person who has been entangled in her two lifetimes will die if she says she will die, or will she die on the battlefield. Song Jianing only feels embarrassed. Furthermore, when Liu Xi replied, she burst into tears. The prince will definitely know that Song Jianing must There is a saying.
Zhao Hengxin believed that she had no personal relationship with Guo Xiao, and naturally knew that her tears were only out of kindness and compassion.
"The child is important, don't be too sad." Holding her shoulders, Zhao Heng comforted her in a low voice, and then he kissed the top of her head.
Guo Xiao is alive, and he will settle accounts with him sooner or later. Today Guo Xiao died heroically, and his past grievances have disappeared, so why bother with a tear or two.