After coming back from Beiying, Qin Wan washed up well before resting. When he lay down, he was still talking to Yan Chi, "Among the Rong people, is there anyone who looks similar to the Zhou people?"
Yan Chi put his arms around Qin Wan's waist and said, "Yes, in the early years, the Rong people passed through the White Wolf Pass, burning, killing, looting and committing all sorts of crimes. Not only that, they also plundered the women of the Zhou people back, so as to extend their tribe's descendants, From their point of view, Zhou women are the best tools for giving birth to children, so among the Rong people, there are many people who look similar to Zhou people."
Qin Wan frowned, "When did the Rong people start making trouble?"
Yan Chi said, "In March, the heavy snow melts in March, and the cold plain outside the White Wolf Pass is not so difficult to walk, they will start to make trouble. Because of this, I have been sending letters to the White Wolf Pass every day for the past two days, but when I come back The letter said that there is no change in the White Wolf Pass."
Qin Wan leaned against Yan Chi's arms, thought for a while and said, "Could it be that they know that White Wolf Pass is strictly guarded, so they really plan to come from the north?"
Yan Chi pondered for a moment and said, "It's possible, but if they don't go to the White Wolf Pass, but go to other places, the price they have to pay is quite high. The White Wolf Mountain stretches all the way to the northeast, except for the area around the White Wolf Pass. The mountains in the place are very steep and the terrain is very messy. If they want to climb over the mountains, accidents will naturally occur. For example, the two people who died probably fell into the snow valley because they were not familiar with the terrain."
Qin Wan frowned, "If that's the case, what do these two people do? Are they just spies?"
Yan Chi smiled helplessly, "Just wait for the news, you should go to sleep, you've been tired all day."
Qin Wan was also really sleepy. Hearing this, she leaned into Yan Chi's arms and fell asleep not long after.
After such a good night's sleep, Yan Chi met with the new servants first on the second day, and then waited for the news of his back. In the evening, Gu Ling arrived at the palace with a bag of things.
Yan Chi went to the study to meet Gu Ling, and asked Bai Feng to inform Qin Wan. When Qin Wan arrived, he saw the package of things on the table. objects, but no obvious identity information.
Yan Chi said, "This dry food is the barley cake unique to the Rong people."
Qin Wan picked up those bottles and jars, smelled them, opened them again, and said, "There is no doubt that they are from the Rong people. There are ointments inside, snow lotus, cold ginseng, etc. Such prescriptions are generally They are all used by people from the Western Regions, and cold ginseng grows in extremely cold places in the cold plain, and it is more common among Rong people."
Yan Chi and Gu Ling looked at each other, and Gu Ling said, "In the snow valley where the corpse was found, only these scattered things were found, and two horses were also dead and rotten. What about the rest of the signs related to the army?" None found."
Yan Chi frowned upon hearing this. If so, then the identities of these two people are still open to question. The clothes of these two people are not military uniforms. Whether they are ordinary soldiers or spies in the army is unknown, and even ordinary It is also very strange for the Rong people to take such a risk to come to Dazhou.
Yan Chi said, "I sent a letter to the White Wolf Pass in the morning. You go back today and continue to send more people to patrol. If there is any change in the Rong people, they will definitely leave traces in the north. I will let you know when there is news from the White Wolf Pass. You, if you also get news here, report it quickly."
Gu Ling took the order, and Qin Wan left Gu Ling in the palace to eat before leaving.
That night, Yan Chi did not wait for the news of the White Wolf Pass, but got the letter from the north.
Yan Chi and Qin Wan were sitting in the warm pavilion, reading the urgently delivered letter together. As soon as the letter was opened, Yan Chi frowned, "The queen and the crown prince actually took Fengzhou."
The letter stated that the queen and the crown prince had taken the first step to capture Fengzhou city, and sacrificed the flag with the heads of the generals stationed in Fengzhou. He took a step forward, and when he arrived, Fengzhou was already under the control of the queen. Fengzhou was also an important town in the north, easy to defend and difficult to attack.
Although the Queen won Fengzhou, Zhao You did not take Chongzhou.
The reinforcements sent by the Marquis of Anyang played a role and stopped Zhao You outside the city of Chongzhou. Seeing that Fengzhou was under the control of the Queen, the Marquis of Anyang sent another 30,000 troops to Chongzhou, so that Chongzhou would not fall into the hands of Zhao You , So, in the north right now, the queen is defending Fengzhou and confronting Yue Qiong, while Zhao You is confronting the army in Chongzhou city in the north of Chongzhou. The situation became stalemate.
After Yan Chi and Qin Wan finished watching, Yan Chi smiled wryly, "I didn't expect this to happen. No wonder there isn't much news from the north recently."
Originally thought that if Yue Qiong went to the north, the queen and the prince would probably lose the battle, but they didn't expect the queen and the prince to win Fengzhou.
"Fengzhou is an ancient city, and the city is particularly solid. At that time, the barbarians broke through Canglong Mountain, bloodbathed Cangzhou and went all the way south, and finally lost in Fengzhou. At that time, the people and Fengzhou garrison stayed in the city, relying on the solid city. After resisting for half a month, the imperial court sent rescuers to rescue the siege. This time, the empress took Fengzhou first.
Qin Wan said, "What if the Marquis of Anyang led his troops to fight Zhao You in Chongzhou instead?"
Yan Chi said with a smile, "The queen will continue to go south, maybe she will lead troops to outflank her."
Qin Wan frowned, "The situation in the north is really going to be deadlocked."
"It should be like this. The Beifu army is not easy to fight, and the troops brought by the Marquis of Anyang are only a hundred thousand people. The number of people on both sides is almost the same, and the combat power is not weak. If we confront each other like this, who will win? Who will lose is really unknown, and the Marquis of Anyang must not dare to be careless now."
Qin Wan thought for a while and said, "However, it is in our interest to be in the north."
Yan Chi nodded, "Without a winner in the north, the imperial court will not be able to spare any energy to fight Shuoxi, so it will give us time to recuperate."
That being the case, the tight strings in Qin Wan's heart were loosened. After Yan Chi got the letter, he didn't have to worry about the court, so he just focused on the north. To attack, he had to prepare early, or, this year, he had to teach the Rong people a big lesson, so as to buy more time for Shuoxi.
As soon as this idea came out, Yan Chi sent a lot of news to Bailangguan and Xiying. Although Dongying was just built, with Xiao Cheng and others watching, everything went smoothly.
Three days later, Gu Ling re-entered the palace, and this time he brought the news of the patrol team's return.
"Your Highness, a patrol team of 500 people was sent out in five batches. They patrolled under the White Wolf Mountain in the north for two days, but found nothing. Except for those two people, there were no more traces of Rong people entering the country. There are few people there, except for the occasional birds and snow wolves, it can be said that there is no living thing."
The news that Gu Ling brought back was good news, but what happened to those two people? !
Yan Chi heard the words and said, "White Wolf Gate has also received news, and Fang Qin didn't find anything unusual."
Gu Ling frowned, "Then... Is it just a coincidence? Two ordinary Rong people want to enter?"
Yan Chi shook his head, "This assumption is too easy, we still have to plan for the worst, you continue to send people to patrol, I have ordered the White Wolf Pass and the southwest line, and no place can become a gateway for the Rong people to enter. .”
Gu Ling quickly agreed, naturally not daring to be slighted.
The news reassured Qin Wan and Yan Chi for the time being. Yan Chi continued to be busy with military affairs. Seeing that the spring day was just right, Qin Wan contacted various gentry in the city and began to give porridge outside the city. A few new yamen were added to reduce taxes, and more people wanted to come to Xilin City to settle down. Now many places outside the city have been opened up for building houses, followed by many poor people looking for work. The city was overcrowded. When Yenshi came two days ago, he said that many workers outside the city had nowhere to live and were short of food and clothing. Qin Wan wrote this down, and after some mediation by her, the porridge shed It was quickly set up, and the people outside the city learned that the person who gave the porridge was Princess Rui, so they were naturally grateful, but in a few days, the name of Qin Wanhuo Bodhisattva became even more famous.
At the same time, in Fengzhou City, Qin Chaoyu was also busy giving porridge to the soldiers who had worked hard all day.
Fengzhou also just met Haruhi, but it was three points colder than Shuoxi. Qin Chaoyu was wearing a plain cloak, and the hood covered most of her face. She put porridge here for many days , and surrounded by the pungent smell of blood and the soldiers of all ranks, these people were a little surprised to see her busy here as a woman, but they didn't know her identity. When someone dared to ask, she would call Under the banner of the prince, just let everyone know the prince's kindness.
Seeing the twilight approaching, Qin Chaoyu also finished serving today's porridge, she took the maidservant and left the porridge shed, and boarded the green cloth carriage parked not far away.
Although Fengzhou City was controlled by the empress, after all their names were not justified, therefore, the city was still under martial law, and their pony carriage was stopped by the patrol guards on the street before they had gone far, and the maid quickly handed it out. The crown prince's badge was able to go together. Along the main road in the city, the carriage finally stopped in front of the magistrate's office.
This was originally the government office of the prefect of Fengzhou, and also the mansion where the prefect lived, but now it has been requisitioned by the queen, and the prefect died on the top of the city two days ago.
Qin Chaoyu doesn't like blood, but she is an extremely calm and rational person. In the current situation, if the dead can help them, then she doesn't mind. After entering the mansion, Qin Chaoyu went all the way to the back house. Walking along the corridor to the door of the back house, Qin Chaoyu saw Prince Yan Che standing under the tree in the atrium.
In the atrium is an apricot tree, and now the apricot blossoms are just blooming, it is pink and white, and Yanche is wearing a dark blue dress, the whole person looks elegant and handsome.
Qin Chaoyu called "Your Highness" and walked over. Yan Che turned his head and saw her attire, so he knew what she was going to do, so he came forward and held Qin Chaoyu's hand, "Go and let go again!" Porridge? In fact, you don’t need to go to such a thing, not to mention the noise and chaos over there.”
Qin Chaoyu smiled, "Although the city is initially settled, the Marquis of Anyang is guarding outside the city with a large army. Everyone feels uneasy. I don't know how to do military affairs, so I can't help you, so let's go and give everyone porridge. Seeing me go , everyone knows that His Highness the Crown Prince misses them very much, so you can feel at ease when you think about it."
Yan Che looked at Qin Chaoyu's obviously thin face and felt uncomfortable for a moment. He raised his hand and embraced Qin Chaoyu, and when he lowered his eyes, he saw Qin Chaoyu's hand with scars.
Qin Chaoyu was originally the concubine's daughter of the Hou Mansion, honorable and delicate, she had never suffered any hardships since she was a child, but now she follows her, but now she has to do those tiring jobs. Adding new scars, Yan Che sighed, "From tomorrow onwards, I will accompany you."
Qin Chaoyu withdrew from Yan Che's embrace, and hurriedly said, "It's absolutely impossible, if His Royal Highness the Crown Prince goes, I'm afraid everyone will feel uneasy again."
Yan Che frowned, and Qin Chaoyu said, "Your Highness only needs to stay in the government office, accompany the queen mother and the generals to dispatch, if you really go to the army, everyone will have to ask His Highness when the battle will start, and whether you can win or not. At that time, His Highness did not answer or did not answer."
Qin Chaoyu was always thinking of Yan Che. After half a year of hard work, Yan Che could see it clearly. Hearing this, he couldn't help but feel soft in his heart, "If that's the case, then I will listen to you."
Qin Chaoyu smiled, looked up at the apricot blossoms all over the tree, "Your Highness was standing under this tree just now, what were you thinking?"
Yan Che smiled wryly when he heard the words, "I'm thinking about when I can go back to Lin'an City."
It was only then that Qin Chaoyu remembered that the direction Yan Che was looking at was the south, so she also held Yan Che's hand, "Don't worry, Your Highness, I will definitely be able to go back."
As soon as the words were finished, a figure appeared at the door, and said humanely, "His Royal Highness, Empress, please go to the front hall to discuss matters."
Yan Che let go of Qin Chaoyu, "Go back and rest, I'll go back as soon as I go."
Qin Chaoyu nodded and Yan Che turned around and left. Qin Chaoyu only watched Yan Che disappear before going into the house. As he walked, the maidservant behind him said softly, "Your Majesty, when this servant went out in the afternoon, I seemed to hear News from the West."
Qin Chaoyu paused, "News from the west?"
The maidservant nodded, "Yes, that means His Royal Highness Prince Rui has gone to the west now, and he also said that he has now set up his own small court in Shuoxi, and everyone in Shuoxi respects him as king, even the people in other places also call him The King of Western Zhou Dynasty, Miss Nine also went with His Highness Prince Rui."
Qin Chaoyu was slightly taken aback when he heard these words. Since leaving the capital, these names have become so far away. The Crown Princess of the Great Zhou Dynasty is dead, and she followed Yan Che, struggling to defend Fengzhou with no name and surname. Wan, actually went to Shuoxi, I heard that Shuoxi's folk customs are strong and the conditions are difficult, if a noble woman like her can bear it
Qin Chaoyu shook his head, once again feeling that the world is impermanent, he looked down at the mud stains and porridge spots on his skirt, and smiled wryly for a while.
Things are changing now, but Lin'an City is still so far away. On the way to Lin'an City, there are 100,000 or more soldiers waiting for them.
Thinking of this, Qin Chaoyu trembled slightly.