At the entrance of the Iron Cavalry Army's garrison camp near the city gate, a group of horsemen hurriedly filed in, followed by several generals. The garrison here was mainly composed of cavalry, and the army was also not fully staffed, with only two or three commanders and more than a thousand cavalry.
Zhao Kuangyin was among the group of people who had just entered the camp. He looked up and saw an open field, surrounded by a circle of low rammed earth walls and fences, with people on duty; the scattered houses next to the field were the barracks.
Just then, a commander came up with several cavalrymen to pay their respects. Zhao Kuangyin immediately called out their names: "Commander Wang, is there anyone here to deliver military orders?"
The general clasped his fists and replied: "The Privy Council has sent a message that the military order is with Li Du Yuhou. He ordered us not to move without the Privy Council's order, and then promoted Jian Du Yuhou as the defense envoy and gave our soldiers money as rewards."
Zhao Kuangyin waved his hand and led his men to the central army camp. The commander of the first army of the left wing of the Iron Cavalry was Wang Shenqi, who was with him; other middle and low-level generals did not see anyone, and for a moment they felt that the camp was empty when they entered.
The personal soldiers and attendants stayed outside, and a group of five people entered the hall. Currently, there were only Zhao Kuangyin and his brothers and Zhao Pu.
Wang Shenqi could not help asking: The Queen and the Imperial Guard Guo Shao have teamed up to attack us.
Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Pu looked at each other and had no time to explain to Wang Shenqi. However, Wang Shenqi and others could roughly guess what was going on after looking at the situation; but everyone, including Shi Shouxin and other close confidants, still could not be sure of Zhao Kuangyin's mutiny plan.
Zhao Pu was usually resourceful, but he was at a loss as to what to do with the current situation. He asked: "My lord, what should I do?"
Let me be quiet for a while. Zhao Kuangyin found a chair and sat down. He raised his hand to support his forehead and rubbed his palm on his dark and broad forehead for a few times. He looked very distressed.
Zhao Kuangyin's heart was now filled with thousands of waves and thousands of thoughts. No matter how unwilling and aggrieved he was, no matter how many reasons he had, he could not stop himself from gradually facing the reality: the shadow of failure was already before his eyes.
At this time, he put down his palm on his forehead and looked back at the four people on his left and right. He realized that in the fickle world, everyone would take care of themselves; if it weren't for the few people present who could not be forgiven like him, they would also be unwilling to joke with the lives of their entire families. If Guo Shao was doomed to fail without the support of the court, there would be few of his direct descendants left to follow him; the imperial guards were first the army of the Zhou Dynasty and the emperor, and most of their families were in Tokyo, relying on the court for military supplies, and then relying on their own military generals, with different levels of importance.
For now, we should be able to mobilize some troops and fight to the death to dismiss Zhao Pudao.
Zhao Kuangyin shook his head. Even if he could gather some troops through his direct lineage commanders, he couldn't imagine their combat effectiveness. The Iron Cavalry was indeed elite and fierce in attacking foreign enemies, but in such an adverse situation where they were completely at odds and had no chance of winning, it would be strange if the soldiers were willing to fight to the death.
In fact, we had already lost from the moment the bell rang in the morning. It's just that we really couldn't accept such an outcome, and we had to wait until the last moment before we were willing to give up. Zhao Kuangyin said dejectedly, the power field is like a battlefield, even more dangerous and fierce than a battlefield. Others come prepared, and once they start, they will follow their plan and can't stop. And the other party's plan must have been guessed first or the spies found out our intentions and deployed specifically against us.
From the moment we lose the initiative, if we continue to deal with things on the same path as before, we will fall behind step by step, following the rules set by others and always having to follow their pace.
Zhao Kuangyin slammed his palm on the table and said, "So, even if we struggle to the end on the original path, the result will still be useless; the more we struggle, the happier the enemy will be to take advantage of our despair and vent their hatred."
Even if Zhao loses everything, he can afford it. He cannot let others look down on him. Now we should open up another battlefield and let others follow our path.
"My lord, do you have another plan?" Zhao Pu asked hurriedly.
Zhao Kuangyin looked at him and sighed: Now we still have a chance to take the initiative to do another thing, and we should flee immediately. So far, it is Guo Shao's troops who are jumping up and down; we have not mobilized any troops, and the entire imperial guards also know that we have done nothing. If Guo Shao immediately provokes a fight, it will be unfavorable to the situation. He dare not act rashly for the time being. This is the opportunity to take the initiative to flee, and make plans early
Zhao Pu:
If I am not mistaken, as long as Zhao and the brothers are alive, and if Empress Fu is still a little wise, she will not dare to take our families to vent her anger. Zhao Kuangyin said, in this way, even if we lose, we can protect our families as much as possible and not let the other side take revenge.
Zhao Pu asked: Where are we going
Zhao Kuangyin glanced at his brothers who were already stunned and pale, and said thoughtfully: We need to think more about this.
Inside the imperial city, all the ministers have dispersed and are continuing to deal with many matters at this tense time. Today is destined to be the busiest and most stressful day.
Guo Shaoqing knew it was not the time to relax and celebrate, but this did not affect his ecstatic mood. Because at this point, the most difficult stage had been overcome, the situation had tilted in his favor, and victory was foreseeable.
He allowed himself to be secretly happy, thinking: Let me revel in this for a while, even if it's only for a brief moment. I want to enjoy and savor the feeling of being proud at this moment.
The sword above his head is ready to kill his enemies who plunder and hurt the people he cares about. At this moment, he is completely at a disadvantage and is knocked to the ground, trembling with fear. Is there anything more pleasant than this light-hearted feeling like a huge stone falling from the ground
In a side hall of Jinxiang Palace, Guo Shaozheng was allowed to sit opposite Fu Jinzhan. In this life and the past, this was the closest time except for that hug.
The door of the side hall was open, and there were eunuchs and palace maids outside the door, able to see what was going on inside. After all, there were differences between men and women, and leaving the door open seemed open to people's sight. However, there were only two of them in the palace, and they were sitting only a table apart. By sending away the attendants, it seemed obvious to people that they were discussing secrets.
But in fact, they didn't talk about the real business. Guo Shao was temporarily intoxicated with the joy of victory and didn't have much time to discuss it. After a long period of heavy burden was lifted, he was busy taking a breath and felt very relaxed.
Let me see your imperial decree. Fu Jinzhan's face was still flushed, and it could be seen that she was in a very good mood.
Guo Shao took out the forged imperial edict made of white silk from his bosom and handed it over without any pressure. The imperial edict, at least in this room, had become a joke, and forged things could be taken out for observation.
Fu Jinzhan reached out to take the thing. She was very thoughtful and sensitive, and suddenly she remembered the scene when she had served soup to the emperor, when the emperor carefully avoided her hand and didn't want to get too close to her. So she pretended to be careless and put it in Guo Shao's hand.
He couldn't help but notice the Queen's hand. Sure enough, his expression changed, but he didn't avoid it. The moment Fu Shi touched it, she felt a slight tremor in her heart. She was immediately embarrassed, and hurriedly and quickly moved away from Guo Shao's fingers and took the thing.
It was just a light touch, but Fu Jinzhan's heart was beating fast, because she had never done anything out of line before. Since she was born, as the first daughter of the Wei Wang family, her family education was much stricter than Fu Ermei's; everyone reminded her to maintain etiquette and manners, so how could she be so bold
Fu Jinzhan remained calm and looked down at the words on it. She was curious about this thing just now, but now she was occupied by another emotion. When she looked down at the imperial edict, she said softly: "Do you still have the hand order I asked the eunuch to send you before?"
Guo Shaodao: It seems that there is nothing important written in the letter that I put away.
Fu Jinzhan said: This is the first time I have written something personally and given it to a man.
After she finished speaking, she quietly raised her eyes from the silk and glanced at Guo Shao, only to see him touching his chest with his hand, as if he suddenly cared about the warrant. Seeing this, Fu Jinzhan felt that she had completely guessed his thoughts, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.
Guo Shao's subtle performance aroused her interest even more. She couldn't help but become bolder. A feeling of risking everything surged up in her heart. She whispered: You just touched my hand. My hand has never been touched by any other man except you.
When Fu Jinzhan said this, she felt a little regretful, and her face turned redder. How could she say such a thing? It was too much.
Guo Shao stood there in a daze, looking a little dumb. Fu Jinzhan guessed that he probably didn't believe it, but she didn't lie. No one would believe it, the emperor had never touched her hand in the years since she became the queen, and the last time he grabbed her and dragged her, he only grabbed her wrist, and her sleeve blocked her, so he didn't grab her hand.
Fu Jinzhan thought of that incident and couldn't help but reach out and touch her left forehead. There was still a shallow scar on the wound that hadn't healed completely. It would take a few months to heal and it would probably take a long time to disappear. At this moment, the hatred in her heart seeped out without any defense.
She has always been noble and inviolable. Only the emperor dared to call her a bitch. The most important thing is not the name, but the intensification of long-term cold violence and silent intimidation. In addition to her ecstasy, she also had the desire for revenge.
She thought to herself: The ancients said that only women and villains are difficult to raise. I am a villain woman, and I am narrow-minded. I really don’t have such a broad mind to swallow so much grievance and anger.
Remember before the Northern Expedition, I said I would give you rewards and surprises? Fu Jinzhan's eyes showed an unreadable look.
Guo Shao nodded and said: I remember.
Fu Jinzhan took a deep breath and asked: What do you want