In the blink of an eye, another five days had passed. On the northeastern border, the tribes launched an attack as soon as they finished stationing their troops, and the army in the capital was still accelerating its advance.
The emperor looked at the map with his hands behind his back and pointed at the location of the army. "We have to defend the border for at least two days. Reinforcements will arrive in two days."
King Qi looked at the map and frowned, saying, "The northeastern tribe has assembled an army of 200,000, but the city is defended by only 80,000. The difference in strength is more than twice that of the previous one. The situation is not optimistic."
There are a total of 150,000 soldiers defending the city, and they are not concentrated together. Instead, they are scattered in several border fortresses. Now no one dares to go to support, for fear of falling into a trap, which will cause a chain of cities to fall. Once they break through the city and go all the way south, it will not be easy to stop them again.
The emperor touched the beads and asked, "Where are the soldiers of the Yi Banner?"
Li Zhao's face was gloomy. "It has been seven days since we borrowed the troops, and the troops of the Yi Banner have only just entered the Northeast."
Zhou Shuren moved his ears. He felt sorry for the Yi Banner Tribe's deliberate delay and the waste of food and fodder, but when he thought of the Yi Banner Tribe's war horses, he instantly felt better.
The emperor nodded to show that he understood, and his eyes fell on a grassland. It was not the right time yet, so he was not in a hurry.
When Zhou Shuren left the palace, it was already noon and the ministers who remained in the palace were all hungry.
Li Zhao was busy going back to the Ministry of War to make arrangements, so he quickly said goodbye and left.
The other officials also had their own important matters to attend to, but Zhou Shuren had already arranged everything he needed to do and was in no hurry to return to the Ministry of Revenue. He got in a carriage and when he passed by a restaurant, he signaled the driver to stop as he wanted to have a meal before returning.
Not long after Zhou Shuren sat down, Ning Xu sat over to him. "I thought I was seeing things, but when I walked in, I saw it was really you."
"My Lord."
"Well, I thought you'd be busy."
Zhou Shuren pointed to the carriage outside the restaurant and said, "I just came out of the palace and I'm a little hungry so I'll eat some food. But why isn't the Marquis in the Marquis' Mansion?"
Ning Xu, "I happen to be a little hungry too, do you mind eating together?"
"Then let's eat together."
Ning Xu ordered two dishes before answering the previous question, "It's not that the disaster-stricken state is a bit chaotic. I'm worried that the King of Qin will be stranded in the disaster-stricken state. I was really upset staying in the mansion, so I came out to buy some things for my unborn child."
Zhou Shuren sighed, "Several states have already been hit by disasters, and now there is chaos. The people's lives are even more difficult."
Ning Xu glanced at Zhou Shuren and said, "Qizhou is under the control of your son now. I have also heard that your third son is quite good."
There was a smile on Zhou Shuren's face. The news from various states had just arrived in the capital two days ago. Among several states, two states were in chaos. In one state, the prefect was killed, and in one state, there was burning and killing everywhere. The other states acted decisively and suppressed the chaos at the first time.
He was very satisfied with Chang Lian's response. Chang Lian stood the test and proved his ability to the emperor.
In Shizhou, Rongchuan sat in the boat protecting his wife's belly. Shizhou was the state least affected by the flood, and the way back could not go around Shizhou.
Xue Han looked at the situation outside the boat and said, "The water has receded a lot."
Rong Chuan nodded, "Well, Shizhou was not hit hard. After a few days when the water recedes, Shizhou will be able to slowly return to normal."
Xue Han touched her stomach, which was still uncomfortable. She leaned on the cushion and said, "We can still take the water route now. After we pass Shizhou, do we have to take the land route?"
Rong Chuan raised his hand and touched his wife's belly. "For safety, we have to change clothes and take the dry road after passing Shizhou."
Xue Han exhaled, "We are still more than halfway to Beijing."
When she was out of Beijing, she walked and played and didn't feel time passing slowly at all. But every day on the way back to Beijing was a torture for her.
Rong Chuan touched his wife's thinner face and said, "After we pass Shizhou, we will find a safe place to rest for a while."
"No, we'd better return to Beijing as soon as possible."
He paused and sighed, "Alas, I can't go back to Beijing."
Rongchuan, "Yes, we were supposed to take him back to Beijing."
"Brother Wu Ming won't let me go back to Beijing by myself."
"It's a bit chaotic right now, so it's better for me to stay with Brother Wu Ming."
"Um."
In Qizhou, Chang Lian no longer needed crutches, but he still had to walk carefully. He took a walk out of the city and listened to the report with a satisfied look on his face.
When he returned to the government office, the prefect was also there. Chang Lian's eyes were filled with joy, "Sir, you are here."
Mr. Prefect, "You have worked hard these days, and I can't be lazy."
Chang Lian and the others said that it was not hard. The prefect smiled and talked for a while before leaving Chang Lian and saying, "Thank you for your hard work these past few days."
"It's not hard. I just did what I had to do."
The prefect stroked his beard and said, "You don't have to be modest. I know what I am doing."
Chang Lian could sense the intimacy in the prefect's tone, "Sir, please take care of your health."
The prefect smiled and said, "It was only after I had a close call with death that I realized the fragility of life. Even if you didn't tell me, I would have paid more attention to it."
Chang Lian reported the grain that the local noble families had borrowed, "It's enough to support the refugees for now."
"You did very well."
Chang Lian curled his lips. He also felt that he had done an outstanding job and that his contribution this time was not small.
At Zhou's, Zhulan was comforting her eldest daughter, "It's just the border fighting now, it won't affect Zhou Village."
She knew that the attack would not reach Zhoujia Village, but her daughter didn't know. In fact, her daughter wrote a letter to Jiang Miao, but Jiang Miao would not return to Beijing even after receiving the letter. This move affected the entire body, and Jiang Miao's return to Zhoujia Village represented the Zhou family with every move.
Once Jiang Miao sets out to return to Beijing, the Zhou family will also move. The Zhou family has a great influence in the local area, and there will inevitably be a chain reaction. Jiang Miao is a smart child, and he will not return to Beijing unless it is absolutely necessary.
Xuemei clutched the handkerchief tightly, "Mother, the news in the capital is spreading like wildfire, as if the city could be breached at any time. I'm really scared."
Zhu Lan frowned. Someone in the capital city deliberately spread the news to create panic. "Don't believe the rumors. They are false."
Xuemei also knew that the rumors were not to be believed, but she was still very nervous. War meant killing. She had some impression of it when she was a child. She was scared just thinking about the burning, killing and looting.
Zhulan sighed. This year, her eldest daughter was only worried about the children. From her expression, she could tell that she hadn't had a good rest recently.
Xuemei didn't get any news from her mother, so she went home after sitting for a while.
Zhulan waited for her daughter to leave and sat by the window without moving. The war in the northeast would soon start and the war in the northwest would not be far away. She didn't know what was happening to her eldest brother and second brother's families.
As for Rongchuan and his daughter, since the news of the assassination came out, Shu Ren has been asking the emperor for information but has not been able to find out any information.
The only thing that can make her feel at ease now is her youngest son. Her youngest son is with Wu Ming, and everything is fine except that he cannot go home.
Thinking of Chang Lian again, she felt a little scared. What if he was also shot by a hidden arrow? Fortunately, Chang Lian was fine and stabilized Qizhou City.
Qingxue saw that it was raining, so she came over and asked, "Madam, do you want to close the window?"