The emperor has decided to go to war with Shu, a thin eunuch with gray hair said softly.
When Fu heard this, her hand holding the eyebrow pencil paused, then gently put it down, and glanced in the bronze mirror at the eunuch Cao Tai behind her.
The surface of the bronze mirror was polished very smooth, but the things reflected in it were not very clear, and only a vague shadow of the eunuch could be seen. Fu's own face, however, was clearer because it was closer. The mirror reflected the candlelight on the lamp stand, with the yellow metallic luster of the bronze, and also coated the beautiful face in it with a goose yellow color.
It was like having an exquisite painting in front of him. The blurred edges and hazy background gave people the illusion of paint, while the portrait in the middle was meticulously carved and beautiful to the extreme. Fu himself thought the painting was too beautiful.
But there was always only one person in the painting. Fu still felt a little empty.
Could it be that, as the Taoist priest said, it was still a problem with my face, my chin was a little pointy, not round enough, so I ended up not so well
Many years ago, a Taoist priest in hemp clothes came to the Fu family palace. He was very good at reading faces. After reading it, he said that her chin was not well formed. As a result, her father Fu Yanqing was not very happy. But after she married and moved to Li Shouzhen's house in Hezhong, she met another fortune teller who was more exaggerated. He knelt down and said that she had the appearance of a queen. This kind of thing is always a bit mysterious.
Cao Tai was silent for a long time, but the queen did not speak. He did not dare to speak nonsense.
He hesitated for a moment, remembering the Queen's action of freezing her eyebrow pencil and then putting it down immediately after hearing the first sentence. He immediately continued: This afternoon, I met the Prime Minister Wang Pu, who had just come out of the Privy Council. They discussed an important matter, and the emperor was there too.
Cao Tai spoke in a soft voice, but his articulation was clear and every word was distinct; his voice was half-and-half-female and not very pleasant to the ear, but because his pronunciation was clear it was not unpleasant to listen to.
Today's incident, I think, should start from the end of the Battle of Gaoping. Wang Pu, Wang Wenbo, immediately proposed to the emperor after the Battle of Gaoping, and proposed a strategy to unify the country, that is, to conquer the north first and then the south, focusing on the Khitan strategy. Wang Pu asserted that the Khitan Liao Kingdom would become a major threat to our dynasty for at least a hundred years. Expelling the Khitan from Youzhou and driving them to the north of the Yanshan Great Wall would surely benefit hundreds of millions of Chinese people, and would benefit the country for thousands of years. The far-reaching impact would affect the fate of the country, and would make the people of insight in the future worship the emperor as the greatest emperor in history and a wise ruler. It is worth it for the emperor and our people to pay any price.
At present, Khitan is in the midst of civil strife and its military and political power are weak. On the other hand, our country has a wise ruler in power, a strong army, and the prestige of the Battle of Gaoping and the Battle of Jinyang. We are cultivating benevolent politics at home and fighting against injustice abroad. It is a rare opportunity to recover our homeland. At this time, if we do not take advantage of the situation to build great achievements, it will be too late to regret it in the future. Therefore, Wang Pu proposed that our national strength should be based on defeating the Liao Kingdom and recovering our homeland.
After hearing this, Fu was also slightly moved. Wang Pu was a rare talent.
Cao Tai added: These are what Wang Pu told me today.
But in today's world, there are many countries that have divided their territory and established their own armies. Countries big and small are only interested in profit and ignore justice. The Southern Tang countries even made it their national policy to collude with the Khitan to contain our dynasty; the Northern Han even openly allied with the Khitan, claiming that their nephew's focus was on the Khitan, and they must guard against being attacked from both sides.
The three most powerful forces that threaten our dynasty are the Northern Han, Shu, and Southern Tang. The elite troops of the Northern Han have been greatly damaged, and Jinyang has been breached, so it is no longer able to look southward; Shu has occupied Qinfeng and other places, and its power has entered Guanzhong, posing a threat to our dynasty; Southern Tang is the richest country with the largest territory, with many soldiers and generals, and often has the ambition to advance northward into the Central Plains. The remaining two must first attack their key points and defend the key points, and then there will be no worries, so that we can use the power of the whole country to defeat the Khitan and recover Hebei to achieve an unprecedented achievement.
Cao Tai continued, "Wang Pu and others have advised the emperor to start with Shu. Qinfeng and other states originally belonged to China, but Shu stole them when China changed dynasties. Now our dynasty can use the excuse of recovering the old land to send troops to the west, drive the Shu people out of Guanzhong, and then send troops to guard the Qinling Mountains to ensure that Shu dare not move. If we win this battle, we will take the Jianghuai area of Southern Tang to prevent them from attacking."
Wang Wenbo and Wang Pu suggested that Shu and Tang should be attacked first, aiming for a quick victory and solving the worries. They were not in a hurry to destroy a country with the whole country's strength. The first priority should be to deal with the Khitan in the north, so they said to attack the north first and then the south, with the Khitan as the first priority. Today, the emperor discussed matters in the Privy Council and agreed with Wang Pu's suggestion. This is a military secret, so it is slightly different from the border pacification strategy. This old slave believes that the court has begun to prepare for the use of troops against Shu.
Fu's attention shifted to state affairs, and he pondered: No wonder during the Battle of Jinyang, there was only one isolated city left of the Northern Han Dynasty, and the emperor and the ministers were reluctant to make a timely decision and withdraw, unwilling to invest the whole country's strength.
"Your Majesty, your opinion is excellent," Cao Tai said hurriedly.
At this time, a middle-aged palace lady was seen wandering outside the palace door, as if she was here to see the queen. Cao Tai said tactfully: It is getting late, I cannot stay too long, I will leave now.
Fu flicked her wide sleeves and waved them lightly, and Cao Tai bent over and walked out backwards, quietly without making any sound.
As soon as Cao Tai left, the middle-aged palace lady turned around and said, "Come in quickly." A beautiful palace maid lowered her head and carefully followed the middle-aged palace lady into the bedroom. After the two came in, the palace lady closed the palace door again.
Seeing this, Fu Shi stood up calmly, lifted the pearl curtain and entered the warm room, and walked into the bed curtain with low purple curtains. In the huge bedroom, except for herself and the two women who just came in, there was no maid or eunuch, and Cao Tai was dismissed before he came in.
The woman and the maid followed into Fu's bedroom, deep inside the palace. They were more cautious than those trying to find out military secrets, and it almost looked like they were being sneaky.
Fu had to be cautious, as she was taking a huge risk in this matter, literally risking her life.
But she couldn't help it. The emperor doted on her in front of others and made her the queen as soon as she came back. But he ignored her in the palace and didn't even touch her after she came back to Beijing for a while. But according to the eunuch Cao Tai's careful observation, the emperor summoned concubines to sleep with him every day.
Fu wanted to find out whether the emperor summoned the concubines to sleep with him just to pretend to sleep with them or whether he really favored her. She felt that she was not ugly and was confident that she was the most beautiful in the harem and much more beautiful than those concubines. She had to understand why she was not favored by him. She had to understand whether the emperor was not interested or was ill.
Arranging an undercover agent to be beside Chai Rong and inquire about his private affairs could be a serious matter. If it were known, the queen would at least blame him for plotting against him. Fu Shi tried to do it quietly and only let three or two confidants participate.
After the older middle-aged woman brought the maid in, she quietly stood guard at the entrance of the palace. She looked like she had been in Tokyo for quite some time and had seen a lot, so she was very sensible and didn't want to listen to what the maid was going to say to the queen out of curiosity. In this deep palace, no matter how smart you are, it's useless. It's safer to know nothing.
The palace maid stood for a while, her face turned pale and ugly, and she suddenly fell to the ground, choking and saying: I dare not say anything, and I dare not lie in front of the Queen.
Fu was surprised and even more curious, so she tried to coax him with soft words: "The emperor often goes to war, and I have the final say in the palace. As long as you follow me loyally, I can protect you. Don't be afraid, tell me what you have said."
The maid's shoulders were shaking, as if she had overheard something serious.
: Today is Ghost Festival. The ghost king on the page of Ten Kingdoms is already at low health. Please help me.
I hope to defeat this ghost king for a good omen and good luck. There is strength in numbers, but I am just a little bit dead, so let's all do our part. I wish all the friends who participated can get a good omen, get rid of bad luck and bring good luck.