Return of the Swallow

Wang Zhi's words are straightforward, and everyone understands it very well.

If one day it is really necessary to use the defenders around the capital to defend the capital, wouldn't the Tatar's iron hooves trample on the capital?

Utkin Khan is the god of war as famous as Pang Xiao and Ji Zeyu. If the people in the Beijing camps did not have Pang Xiao and Ji Zeyu as their commanders, they might not be the opponents of the Tatars at all.

King Li Jun lowered his head, not daring to let others see the emotion in his eyes.

The Empress Dowager was a little dissatisfied, she only felt that Qingyang Hou's words were degrading the dignity of the Empress Dowager's Zhou family, and she was not worthy of her promotion these days.

The Marquis of Qingyang felt that he had made a slip of the tongue, suppressed the fear in his heart, and said with his head held high: "I only said this for the safety of the Queen Mother and the people in the city. As for myself, I am of course willing to go into battle. Fighting on the battlefield, only by killing the enemy can you be happy."

The Empress Dowager finally calmed down when she heard the words, and nodded with a smile, "It's great if you have this kind of determination. If that's the case, I'll leave it to you to discuss with Master Wang about Zeng Bing's Tianmen gate."

Wang Zhi cupped his hands and responded loudly: "I obey the Queen Mother's order!"

The Marquis of Qingyang was beating drums in his heart, and he also saluted, not to be outdone, and said: "Observe the order."

The Empress Dowager nodded, the matter in the north was settled, and she relaxed a little, with a smile on her face.

Seeing that the Empress Dowager was in a better mood, Qingyang Hou smiled and comforted her, "Don't worry, Empress Dowager, it must be an expedient measure for the Longxiang army to retreat to the Tianmen Pass, but it's just that the Tatars came too suddenly, and they were not prepared for a while. The Longxiang Army led by Prince Consort Ji has been fighting for many years. It is an experienced tiger and wolf division. I believe that as long as it regroups, the Longxiang Army will be able to drive the Tatars out of our territory."

The Empress Dowager couldn't help smiling and nodding frequently. Although her son-in-law was not pleasant, he was also cold and didn't know how to love others, and would often come to the palace angrily to cry. However, his ability to lead troops cannot be ignored. I believe that the dragon army he brought out is not incompetent, and it is unreasonable to let the Tatars break into the gate of heaven so easily.

The Empress Dowager felt more at ease.

After all, the Great Zhou Dynasty had just been established for five years, and the soldiers who conquered the world were still bloody. If they were released, they would surely bite the enemy one by one, howling like hungry wolves. The Queen Mother still had confidence in this aspect.

Wang Zhi, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, looked sideways at Marquis Qingyang, and the contempt in his heart could hardly be restrained.

It seems that he still underestimated the Marquis of Qingyang, who said he was only good at spending time and money? This sycophant is not bad either.

Thinking of the Holy Majesty who still doesn't know life and death, Wang Zhi couldn't bear the worry on his brow.

Even if there is no turmoil in the court and the sage comes to preside over the overall situation, such a dangerous situation cannot be easily resolved. What's more, the queen mother is a woman with no political sense, and a cowardly and incompetent county king?

These people are really crazy about seeking power.

Wang Zhi was not interested in flattering the queen mother here, so she bowed and resigned.

Before leaving the palace gate, he did not forget to call Qingyang Hou: "Master Hou, why not go with me?"

The Empress Dowager smiled and said, "The Ai family still has something to say to the Marquis of Qingyang."

Wang Zhi should be, bowed and stepped back. Upon seeing this, the king of Lijun also bowed and resigned.

The queen mother kept nodding dignifiedly, and only after the outsiders left did she call Qingyanghou to her with a serious face.

"Dayong. Now the Ai family has given you all the power they can give you. You have to work hard to win for the Ai family and for our Zhou family. Although we live a good life on weekdays, others say It is the emperor's benevolence and filial piety that made our Zhou family what it is today. Although the Ai family also knows that the emperor is filial, who is our Zhou family inferior to?"

Hearing that the Empress Dowager called him in small characters, Qingyang Hou also called out affectionately: "Sister."

Sitting sideways beside the Queen Mother, she swore: "The Holy Majesty is indeed kind to our family, and he is filial enough to my sister. But I am not just a display in the army. It's not that I have no ability and can only rely on the Holy Majesty's face. Don't worry, sister this time, I will definitely find ways to stabilize our country, and won't let people say that my sister asked me to be the commander of the Huben Army because of favoritism."

The Queen Mother nodded in satisfaction after hearing the words: "That's exactly what Aijia means. You are Aijia's younger brother, and every move you make represents Aijia. You have to work hard to make Aijia look good."

"Sister, don't worry." Qingyang Hou laughed loudly: "Then Pang Zhixi is just praised by outsiders. What can a brat do? In the past, your brother had no chance, but now you gave me such a good one." Of course I will take advantage of the opportunity.”

The Queen Mother nodded with great satisfaction.

However, at this moment, a middle official outside the hall suddenly called back: "Queen Mother! Lord Wang of the Ministry of War, please see me!"

"Didn't you just leave? What's the matter?" The Queen Mother's heart skipped a beat, her face turned pale with fright.

It was said that Wang Zhi came in, but Wang Zhi's complexion was worse than before.

"Reporting to the Empress Dowager, the southern Yongning Mansion, Hengzhou Mansion, and Jianyang Mansion have declared their independence. In response to Nanyan, Nanyan Emperor Yuchi Xujie took the throne and embraced the former Yan Dynasty Emperor Yuchiyan to re-ascend to the throne!"

Speaking of this, Wang Zhi's face was ashen, and he said tremblingly: "Queen Mother, the south is also in chaos! Those ministers who escaped from the Yan Dynasty must have planned it in advance, and now they are taking their families to join their former emperor. !"

The queen mother's mind was buzzing, and she could no longer maintain Fang's composure.

The matter in the north has not been resolved, and the south is also in chaos. Could it be that the Tatars and the Yan Dynasty made an agreement?

The queen mother looked at Wang Zhi for help, and then at her trusted younger brother, and said anxiously, "What should I do?"

Qingyanghou's complexion was uglier than that of the Queen Mother.

He had a headache when he thought of going to war with the Tatars, but he didn't expect that the Yan Dynasty was restored now. What should he do if there is a two-phase attack?

"The empress dowager is at ease. The southern forces are not good enough. Yuchiyan is a coward in the first place. Even if the three prefectures close to Nanyan echo him, Nanyan is not a small place to be afraid of."

Qingyang Hou said loudly: "I feel that the biggest danger to Nanyan is not the military disaster but the people's hearts."

"People's hearts?" The Queen Mother calmed down a little.

Qing Yang Hou said: "Queen Mother, those surrendered officials who escaped from the Yan Dynasty must have returned to Wei Chiyan again. Many of them have not left yet, right? These people are in the capital, and if they don't keep them all, they will ask about our military secrets. "

It was the queen mother who heard the words, and immediately slapped her thigh, "Isn't it! Go and investigate the remnants of the Yan Dynasty, and they will be arrested by Ai's family and severely tortured! We must interrogate what the Yan Dynasty people are going to do! "

"Yes!" Marquis Qingyang took the order.

Wang Zhi glanced at Hou Qingyang and despised him even more.

Whether it is Pang Xiao or Ji Zeyu, he is convinced as the commander of the Huben Army, but what Wang Zhi dislikes the most is the mediocrity of Qingyanghou who can only flatter horses and is useless at critical moments, but the Queen Mother takes power His intentions are so obvious, and his status really can't change the above decision.

Wang Zhi now only hopes that Shengshang will be saved as soon as possible.

If the Holy Majesty cannot be saved, and the court cannot find a capable minister who can turn the tide, the Great Zhou may be in danger!

Two such big incidents happened in the imperial court, after all, they couldn't hide it. The Northern Longxiang Army lost three passes in a row and retreated to Tianmen Pass to wait for reinforcements. The Yan Dynasty in the south has revived again, and the Sanfu and Nanyan echoed and supported Yuchiyan's re-emergence. Once the south makes a move, Da Zhou will really be attacked from both sides.

When Qin Yining and his father heard the news, they were silent for a moment.

The surrender of the Yan Dynasty disappeared overnight, which must have been discussed long ago.

However, as the heads of the surrendered officials of the Yan Dynasty, they didn't show a word to Qin Huaiyuan in advance.

Yu Chiyan escaped, he didn't know.

He didn't know that the subjects returned to the country.

Being marginalized and concealed in this way made Qin Huaiyuan feel mixed feelings for a while.

Qin Yining comforted Qin Huaiyuan: "Father, it's good not to tell you these things. If they really find you, they will have to face a choice instead. Wouldn't it be a dilemma then? It's better like this. You are no longer an official. Now, our family only wants to live together freely, nothing else, it doesn't matter if we are found or not, don't you think so?"

Qin Huaiyuan smiled and nodded: "You are right. All I am thinking about now is that Zhixi can go home safely, you can give birth to Lin'er safely, and I can't care about the chaos in the court. I will wait until the future to be a father. Old, maybe I want to go back to my hometown to see. Maybe I will live in my hometown, after all, our previous Zhuangzi were all in the south. I don’t care about the rest.”

Seeing that Qin Huaiyuan's sincerity was not perfunctory to comfort her, Qin Yining was relieved.

"Princess." Xianyun's slightly impatient voice came from the door, "A group of people came from outside the mansion, and the leader was a middle-ranking official, who said he wanted to invite the old lady out. I have something to ask."

Qin Yining and Qin Huaiyuan looked at each other, thinking about it.

Qin Yining said: "I heard from them, where did they come from? Is it from the Palace of Mental Cultivation, or from the Palace of Ci'an?"

"I don't know the servants. But the middle official also brought the Jinwu Guards from the palace. It seems that the visitors are not kind."

Qin Huaiyuan said: "It must be because of Nan Yan's affairs. Not all the surrendered officials who came to the Yan Dynasty left. Those people must have been arrested as well."

Qin Yining stood up and slapped the table.

"They have a good idea. Want to arrest people in my palace? It depends on whether they have the ability."

Qin Yining was furious, and ordered: "Call the Jinghu Guards together. Go out with me to have a look. I want to see what they plan to ask my father!"

Xianyun should be so, so she quickly went down to give instructions. Jiyun and Bingtang changed Qin Yining's outdoor shoes, worried that she would catch cold after the rain, so they brought lotus-colored Ruyi pattern paired breasted cloud shoulders to put on for her.

Qin Huaiyuan stood up helplessly, and ordered someone to help him, "Go with you for my father. Don't be too angry, it will be bad for your health. Tell them for my father then."

But Qin Yining knew that these people must have been arranged by the empress dowager's elm brain. The emperor was lost, they didn't want to think about how to stabilize the government and deal with the north and the south, but first arrested people in the capital, they were simply afraid that the Great Zhou would not be chaotic enough.