Qin Zhou angrily asked: "When have I ever lied to you?"
"No? You and Prince Qi promised that as long as Zi'an was willing to come to Beimo, you would send the crown prince to Da Zhou as a hostage. Did you do it?"
"The prince has gone to Da Zhou!"
"The one who went to the Great Zhou was the Seventh Prince, not the Crown Prince. The Seventh Prince is not favored, and your Emperor of Northern Desert can be sacrificed at any time."
"Impossible!" Qin Zhou was shocked. The person going was obviously the prince, and the emperor also said that he would send the prince.
"Let's put this matter aside for now. We agreed before that the two countries would cease fire and negotiate after the epidemic is over. But you planned to launch an attack while I was in the Northern Desert. How do you want to account for this?" Murong Jie said sternly.
Qin Zhou said: "No, it was you, the Great Zhou, who mobilized the troops in front. You attacked our right wing and killed more than a hundred people. I had no choice but to mobilize the troops to force you back."
"You are talking nonsense. Since I left, my army has been keeping its troops in place. When have we ever attacked your right wing? If we were to attack and kill you by surprise, would you only have a hundred casualties? Are you underestimating my Great Zhou army or overestimating your Northern Desert army?"
"No, no," Qin Zhou stared at him, "It's obviously you who are charging ahead."
"Have you seen the bodies of your right-wing troops?"
Qin Zhou was stunned. At that time, the right vanguard sent someone to report the military situation, saying that the right wing was attacked by the Great Zhou Army and 138 people were killed. Less than three days later, the emperor sent an imperial edict, saying that he should lead his troops to push forward and force the Great Zhou Army to retreat.
Now think about it, she had just delivered the report not long ago when the emperor's edict arrived. The timing didn't match.
Unless the emperor had already issued an imperial decree to attack before receiving the news, but how could the emperor predict the future
Qin Zhou's mind was suddenly in chaos.
Suddenly, she remembered what she had seen in the epidemic area and what the official had said. Even if the emperor had broken his promise, she, Xia Zian, would use the prescription to poison the people of Beimo.
When two countries go to war, civilians are not harmed. In any case, the actions of Murong Jie and Xia Zian are too vicious.
Now they are even fabricating rumors that the epidemic will spread to other countries. If this rumor gets out, other countries will definitely restrict the entry of people from the Northern Desert, and the border peace that they have worked so hard to maintain for a long time will be destroyed.
Thinking of this, Qin Zhou's face changed, and he said sternly: "Don't try to divert your attention. I have seen everything you and Xia Zian have done. You said that the prince did not go to the Great Zhou. I will ask for clarification and give you an explanation. However, you and Xia Zian cannot escape the charge of using the prescription to poison the people of the Northern Desert and create panic."
After saying that, she flew away.
Murong Jie sneered and said softly: "Qin Zhou, I will wait for you to investigate. It would be best if you can bear all the truth."
Su Qing jumped down and said, "Your Majesty, good news. General Long is holding a martial arts competition to find a husband for his granddaughter."
"Let's go and take a look!" Murong Jie said with a delighted look on his face.
General Long, a famous general and veteran of Beimo, the mentor of the Beimo Emperor, and he and the old general of the Qin family were known as the two barriers of Beimo.
However, unlike the Qin family, this old General Long is a peace advocate.
He had not been involved in state affairs for a long time because he was murdered by a villain for advocating peace. His wife and son both died in an accident. He and a pair of children and grandchildren were the only ones left in the entire family.
Prince Qi said that if he came out and raised his arms, the peace faction would definitely follow him as their leader and unite as one to force the emperor.
But he has been staying at home these years and has not seen anyone. Murong Jie and Prince Qi had visited him several times before, but he was unwilling to see them. This time, holding a martial arts competition to win a bride is a good opportunity.
After Qin Zhou left Murong Jie, he returned home immediately.
However, before she returned home, she was attacked by an assassin.
These assassins were dressed in the clothes of the Great Zhou Dynasty and had their faces covered with black cloth. They descended from the sky in broad daylight. There were seven or eight of them and they formed a pincer attack as soon as they arrived with great force.
When Qin Zhou was feeling angry, he saw an assassin coming, soaring into the sky, and using a long sword to perform sword moves, like a fairy scattering flowers, with sword light emitting in all directions.
The guards also arrived and joined the battle.
After only a hundred moves, all the assassins were forced to retreat. Qin Zhou put his sword on the neck of one of them and asked sternly, "Tell me, who sent you here?"
The assassin said coldly: "Northern Desert Dog, everyone has the right to kill him!"
"Bei Mo dog? Obviously you are not from Bei Mo, you are from Da Zhou?" Qin Zhou was furious and pointed his sword at his chest. "Did Murong Jie, the vicious man, send you here?"
"How can we allow a bitch like you to sully the prince's name?" the assassin cursed.
Qin Zhou retracted his sword and said coldly: "Get lost!"
The assassin was stunned, as if he had not expected Qin Zhou to let him go.
"Why don't you get out of here?" Qin Zhou said sternly, "Go back and tell Murong Jie that if you want to kill me, come in person."
The assassin escaped death and crawled and rolled away.
The guard was puzzled, "General, why do you want to let him go? If we take him to Murong Jie, he won't be able to deny it!"
Qin Zhou took a deep breath, put away his sword, and looked at the guards, "If you were Murong Jie, and you assassinated me on the land of Beimo, would you reveal your identity?"
The guard was surprised. "General, are you saying that someone deliberately pretended to be Murong Jie and wanted to assassinate you?"
"Yes!" Qin Zhou sighed softly, feeling a little confused. If it wasn't Murong Jie, who else could it be
These assassins didn't want to take her life, they just wanted to stage an assassination.
"Let's go!" Qin Zhou gathered his thoughts. Things were becoming increasingly strange.
When she returned to the mansion, General Qin was already waiting. When he saw her coming back, he immediately said, "Azhou, go to the palace with grandfather immediately."
"Grandfather, what are you doing in the palace?" Qin Zhou asked.
"Don't you know what the situation is like outside? You must go to the palace immediately to ask for permission, and then rush to the border to kill all the people in the Great Zhou!" General Qin's hair and beard trembled with excitement.
Qin Zhou stretched out his hand and pressed it, "Grandfather, we should not act rashly. We are now out of food and grass, and we are no match for the Great Zhou."
"You can rest assured about this. We have almost completed the collection of military rations. In addition, during the few days you have been back in Beijing, rations have been continuously delivered. The Xianbei side has also completed the borrowing of rations. We will be able to reach the border in less than ten days."
Qin Zhou was shocked. "How can this be possible? We in Beimo borrowed grain from Xianbei to use for disaster relief."
"The Emperor has his own arrangements. This is not something we, the generals, should worry about. The Emperor has already ordered the entire nation to pay taxes in advance. This year's taxes are twice as much as in previous years."
"It's not time to end it yet. There's still at least another month."
“Then harvest early.”
Qin Zhou could hardly believe his ears. "Grandfather, what did you say? Do you know how much food the people will lose if the harvest is advanced? Moreover, a month in advance, the wheat is not yet ripe..."
"It's okay. The emperor said that we should harvest the rice along the river first."
"It will take another half month to harvest. The rice is not yet full, so even if we harvest it, the yield will be low. Moreover, there have been so many natural disasters this year, and taxes have been increased. I'm afraid the people will really riot."
(End of this chapter)