When Zheng Qiao received the news, it had only been two days since Chen Tang deceived Lin County. These two days were thrilling and exhausting. Because Chen Tang did not plan to defend Lin County, he cleared out Lin County's warehouses and a pile of military supplies in advance.
She moved all these things away.
Arm the military stronghold that was originally obtained by deception to the teeth.
At this point, she stopped pretending and came clean.
Learn from Wei Shou and refuse to express true happiness!
He wanted to write the words "Come and chop me if you dare" on his face, and the provocation was coming through the words on the battle report. Zheng Qiao's emotions were not very stable to begin with, and when he saw the content of the battle report, he was so angry that veins popped up on his forehead.
The ministers who were called in for the discussion all bowed their heads, and even breathed carefully, fearing that a big breath would bring about a fatal disaster. Compared with these cautious and fearful people, the generals under Zheng Qiao's command were obviously much more open-minded, and they all asked for a fight: "This is just a small thief, who is just a little clever. I am willing to lead the troops to eliminate him and dampen the morale of the enemy!"
As soon as he finished speaking, twos and threes echoed him.
Zheng Qiao's expression was uncertain, and it was hard to tell his specific attitude. He just broke the book with intelligence written on it with one hand, and then his literary style crushed it into powder. At this time, a civil official who was usually very low-key stood up and sang a different tune, pouring a basin of cold water on him.
He said indifferently: "Eliminate? General, you underestimated the enemy. It was Cunshan that was tricked by Chen Youli into opening the city gate. This place is the city defense that the king spent several years building, in order to serve as a buffer for Qushan County and to support Aoshan County at the same time... Under normal circumstances, even if one wins all three battles, it still takes three to five times the number of soldiers in the city to take it down..."
He sneered and said, "Although Chen Youli used a trick to trick the guards in Cunshan City into leaving the city in batches, we don't know the exact number of troops, but we can guess that there are at least 10,000. In other words, if we want to take back Cunshan, we have to send out at least 30,000 troops. If so, the purpose of dividing the troops to contain the enemy has been achieved."
Because of Zheng Qiao's attitude and behavior, his generals always looked down on these civil officials. Now he was confronted in person, and he couldn't help but feel a little angry. He said sarcastically: "According to what you said, we can't do anything about this Shen Youli? Let him stay in Cunshan and eventually become a big threat? Humph, we don't need 30,000, 20,000 soldiers can take him down!"
Seeing this, the civil official just sneered and said nothing.
At this point, these reckless men with eyes on the top of their heads still fail to see the current situation clearly, and they will definitely not end up well!
Of course, not everyone is reckless.
Some people also understood the situation in Cunshan and sighed helplessly.
I guess the most speechless person is the king.
After spending time, energy, financial resources and manpower to gradually build Cunshan into a solid fortress, it ended up not having any effect at all, and was actually cheated away by the enemy through a series of frauds. I really don't know whether to say that Shen Youli was cunning or that the defenders were too stupid.
emmm—
It must be the stubbornness of the defenders that ruined everything!
Zheng Qiao looked at the chaos below - mainly a group of military generals arguing, a group of civil officials being mute, and the occasional words they spoke were nonsense literature - he took a deep breath and made a final decision: "Just send troops to contain Shen Youli, don't bother."
It takes thirty to fifty thousand troops to attack Cunshan City, but not to defend it. It is enough to block Chen Tang in Cunshan with the minimum number of troops.
He carefully looked over the group of generals under his command.
Zheng Qiao had personally fed their appetites and spoiled their temperaments over the years, and for a while he couldn't find a general as steady as Wei Shou. He sighed in his heart, helplessly choosing the tallest among the short ones, and pointed to one of them.
The chosen generals proudly stepped out to receive orders.
He waved his hand, signaling the end of the court.
The court officials left in twos and threes, and the last to leave was the civil official who poured cold water on them. Zheng Qiao raised her eyes and their gazes met.
Before this person could go far, he was stopped by the eunuch.
"Please stay, Minister. The King invites you."
Under the pitying gazes of the courtiers, he had no choice but to follow the eunuch to see Zheng Qiao. When he arrived, Zheng Qiao was sitting by the lake in the garden fishing. As soon as he arrived, he heard Zheng Qiao: "The fish in the lake are carefully raised and fed every day. They are not afraid of strangers... Is this a good thing or a bad thing?"
The minister replied, "I am not a fish in the lake, so I naturally do not know what the fish thinks. It is difficult to judge whether the king's question is good or bad."
Only fish know the answer.
Outsiders' judgments are based on themselves.
The minister said: "If the fish in the lake can speak human language, or if they are real people, the king will know if he asks them."
Who doesn’t want to have enough food and clothing
Zheng Qiao pointed to the empty seat next to him and said, "Sit down."
For the first time, invite the other party to go fishing together.
Shizhong: “…”
When the eunuch came to him, he felt a pang in his heart, worried that he would not live to see the next day. He did not know why Zheng Qiao was crazy today and suddenly came to talk to him in private, but based on his understanding of Zheng Qiao, he was sure that he was holding something in his heart.
But he soon calmed down.
Zheng Qiao is determined to get him, so he will die no matter what.
He was not very good at fishing, nor did he have the elegance to do so, so he just pretended to do it. But just as his butt touched the mat, he heard Zheng Qiao beside him ask, "I remember you used to sit in front of me?"
The attendant said, “Yes.”
Zheng Qiao said: "I remember you didn't like me very much."
To say that you don't like it is being polite.
The minister was young and frivolous, and once took the lead in isolating Zheng Qiao because of Zheng Qiao's identity and because he disliked Zheng Qiao.
It turns out that he has a good eye.
The waiter thought that he was going to die, but he couldn't bear to beg for his life by servility to Zheng Qiao, so he just said it bluntly: "The king was a hostage of Geng country at that time. There is no benefit in getting close to him, and it will easily affect his reputation..."
Yan An, who is not afraid of damaging his reputation, is really an unlucky person.
Zheng Qiao sighed, "Yeah, only my mentor and senior brothers didn't despise me. Hey, how are you these days, senior brother?"
When the Minister heard the latter sentence, he got goosebumps all over his body, the hair on his back stood up, and he stared at Zheng Qiao in a daze.
Zheng Qiao also looked back at him calmly.
Faintly, the minister saw the shadow of Zheng Qiao in his youth in his eyes, but this feeling was fleeting, followed by greater disgust and crisis. He turned his head away, avoiding Zheng Qiao's sight: "... Xingning, I think it's okay."
Judging from the time, Yan An should be able to jog steadily by now. He has good aptitude and may be able to speak fluently as well.
Zheng Qiao looked at the lake surface which was occasionally rippling.
"Senior Brother has a daughter, did you know?"
The waiter felt a chill in his heart, and alarm bells were ringing in his mind. He wondered why Zheng Qiao suddenly mentioned Yan An's daughter. Could it be that he wanted to settle accounts with him? When Yan An's wife and daughter escaped, he also helped them secretly, but he was clean and didn't get punished.
Do you want to use this as an excuse
The minister said calmly, "I know."
Zheng Qiao sighed, "I haven't seen Senior Brother Yan and Senior Sister Ning's daughter yet, and I don't know which of the couple she looks more like. I heard that people say that daughters look more like their biological fathers. With Senior Brother Yan's talent and looks, my niece will be a great beauty when she grows up."
The minister moved his lips, feeling uncomfortable.
“What a pity, given Qianzhou’s current situation, I probably won’t be able to see it…” Zheng Qiao sighed and shook his head, muttering to himself.
The minister suddenly wanted to throw the fishing rod at Zheng Qiao's face.
Is it fun to fool the dead
After that, it was quiet for a long time, so quiet that even the minister who was not good at fishing caught a fish. People who knew how to fish found it interesting, while those who didn't just felt hypnotic. The minister felt a little sleepy, but was awakened by Zheng Qiao's words.
"Do you still remember the word 'gu'?"
Shizhong: “…”
The dog is still Zheng Qiao, this rubbish dog.
If you want his life, just say so. Why are you asking this question
There is no other reason, Zheng Qiao’s handwriting is his Achilles’ heel.
Back then, a classmate deliberately wanted to disgust Zheng Qiao by openly shouting those two words. As a result, the boy blushed and rushed over to hit him with his fists, regardless of Yan An's attempts to stop him. In the chaos, someone took the opportunity to do something private, and it eventually turned into a group fight.
The Shizhong was also forced to join the fight.
The banquet master who came upon hearing the news was so angry that he blew his beard and glared. In the end, he punished all the students by making them copy and self-reflect on their studies three thousand times and hand them in within a certain period of time.
A group of students copied day and night, and developed psychological trauma.
The minister was so angry that he stabbed Zheng Qiao's scarecrow.
He said, "There is a difference between the emperor and his subjects, I dare not address him directly."
"A girl is a girl, are these two words too hot to say?"
Shizhong: “…”
Is Zheng Qiao getting crazier or more sober
"We were classmates in the past, but now we have gone our separate ways. Now you are the only one left." Zheng Qiao looked melancholy, leaving the minister speechless. Did this lunatic Zheng Qiao really want to reminisce with him? This magical reality almost made his brain unable to work out.
Zheng Qiao: "It's a pity that the words my mentor gave me were not used."
The alarm bells in the minister's head went off.
Basically, he would nod in agreement with whatever Zheng Qiao said, occasionally adding a few words of doubt, such as "Why didn't Senior Brother Yan come to see me?" On the surface, the Minister of the Court seemed taciturn and cold, but in his heart he had already abandoned the way of a gentleman, and he would curse at anything that was unpleasant to his ears.
If Yan Xingning knew about this in the afterlife, he would say it was bad luck.
The two of them "reminisced" for a full hour.
finally-
Zheng Qiao said to him, "You can leave tonight."
The minister shuddered all over and met the other person's eyes.
Zheng Qiao said indifferently: "Before I regret it, take your wife and children and leave Qianzhou. If you walk too slowly, I will assume that you intend to be buried with me. You only have one chance, don't blame me if you can't seize it."
The minister took a long while to utter a word.
"Zheng Qiao, are you sane or crazy?"
Zheng Qiao laughed heartily, scaring away the fish that came around him. His calm expression looked creepy in the shadow of dusk: "Sane or crazy, does it matter? In my opinion, those of you who claim to be sober are no more sober than crazy people..."
The minister was unsure whether Zheng Qiao really wanted to let him go or was just teasing him again, and he was afraid.
When the eunuch led him out, the night wind blew and the eunuch shivered with cold. His mind was in a trance and his body seemed to have its own consciousness controlling him to stride forward. He didn't stop until he had walked about 180 steps and looked back at the way he had come.
The majestic building that was tall and luxurious during the day now looked desolate, gloomy, decadent and spooky, like a gaping bloody mouth of an evil ghost, greedily devouring the living people who set foot here.
He hurried home. His wife and children were anxiously looking for him at the door. When they saw that the minister had returned alive, they burst into tears of joy.
The minister first exchanged a few warm words with his family, looking at the familiar and vivid faces, Zheng Qiao's words kept echoing in his mind, and he didn't even hear the lady's muttering. She wiped away her tears of ecstasy and said, "I heard that the master was left behind by the king. I was afraid and scared, afraid that you would also... Now that he is back, it is really joyful. The kitchen has boiled mugwort water..."
Take a bath to drive away the bad luck.
At this time, she saw the sword in the attendant's hand.
"This sword... doesn't seem to belong to Master Lang?"
When the minister heard this, he woke up as if from a dream. He looked down at the broken sword in his hand. His slow brain slowly recovered and he said in a daze, "This sword belongs to Zheng Qiao."
The wife screamed and took two steps back in fear, looking at Jian with disgust in her eyes: "This dirty thing..."
Fearing surveillance, he swallowed the rest of the words back.
The attendant looked at the scabbard in his hand, and he was in a dilemma whether to throw it away or not, so he put it aside helplessly: "Madam, please order someone to pack up your bags quickly, and we will leave here tomorrow..."
The wife said with a bitter face: "How can we get away?"
It’s not that there are no colleagues who want to run away, but they can’t.
Once caught, kill on the spot!
The minister said, "Don't worry, you can get away."
The wife looked at her husband, half believing and half doubting, but she had one question: "My dear, if we leave, where should we go?"
The attendant lowered his eyes and thought for a moment: "Longwu County."
The wife wondered: "Where is that?"
The minister said, "The border."
The wife was reluctant: "How bitter and cold is that place? There are also foreign invasions. If our family goes there, won't it be… "
The attendant pointed at the broken sword and said, "If Zheng Qiao is willing to release the person, we must deliver the sword to him."
The wife was puzzled: "Whose hand?"
The minister twitched his lips and said, "Ning Yan."
The wife opened her eyes wide and said, "Tunan? But, wasn't Tunan's husband Yan Xingning given to him by Zheng Qiao... and Zheng Qiao's broken sword was given to him? Wouldn't Tunan be so angry that she would kill me?"
Ning Yan had no mother-in-law and her parents lived far away. From the time of pregnancy to the ten months of pregnancy, the inexperienced couple was almost at a loss. Because the husbands of both parties were friends, she was entrusted to help Ning Yan, and the two of them became closer because of their exchanges on parenting.
She knew Ning Yan's stubborn temper too well.
The minister said, "I think the same thing."
This madman Zheng Qiao is really making things difficult for himself.
The wife suggested: "Why not throw it away?"
She felt sick just looking at it.
The minister still had some sense and did not do so.
The temporary residence was lit up all night long. It was impossible to move any large items, so only some gold and silver jewelry and dry food and water bags were packed. The ignorant child nestled in the arms of the nanny, watching the adults busy with their work with a confused look on his face. He was unaware of the tension in the air.
Just when I was halfway through cleaning up, the housekeeper came running in.
"Master, Master, someone is coming from the palace!"
When the minister heard this, his head almost exploded. He grabbed his sword and said angrily: "Damn Zheng Qiao, he is really playing a trick on me! At worst, we will fight to the death!"
Seeing the person coming, he turned out to be a eunuch with short stature and a huge belly. The eunuch secretly grasped the scabbard of his sword, preparing to kill.
The eunuch was unaware and tried his best to keep his voice down.
"Is the Minister going to leave?"
The eunuch snorted, thinking that the other party looked down on his status as a eunuch and disdained to associate with him. He raised his hand to untie the belt around his waist, which startled the eunuch and made him scream.
"What are you doing?"
The eunuch said, "Show me something."