Gu Sanniang and Liu Wupo were detained in the backyard of the county mansion, and the courtyard was guarded by heavy soldiers, and the two of them were not allowed to enter or exit.

Zhao Ji, the son of the Marquis of Yongding, made meritorious contributions, and several members of the family were placed in a private house in the county seat, however, Shen Zhuo sent troops to besiege Gu County, and the people in the city were panicked, and everyone was in danger, and the people who fled with the small court of Anjia became more and more dissatisfied.

It is Zhao Ji, who lived for a few days, found that there was a shortage of rice and salt in the city, and all the supplies were distributed by the imperial court, and those dignitaries in the original capital had to send people to receive firewood, rice, oil and salt every day, and some adults who did not have slaves at home needed to go in person, Zhao Ji received a few days, and the supply was decreasing day by day, and in the end, the county town was full of complaints, and the people below blamed these things on the head of the An family, but no one dared to say it to his face, Zhao Ji had to secretly comfort himself, the hardship was only temporary, and he waited until he returned to Beijing, He will be able to be knighted.

At that time, An Ruhai sent someone to send a letter, after Shen Zhuo received it, he looked at it twice, threw it aside with a gloomy face, and the deputy general next to him picked it up and read it, and was surprised, just because this small court actually threatened the lives of Madame Jiang and the little prince, and ordered their soldiers and horses to retreat thirty miles.

Shen Zhuo's face was full of thought, not knowing what he was thinking, the deputy general hesitated for a moment, looked at him and asked, "My lord, what should we do?" ”

If he had retreated according to their request, and the news reached the prince's ears, he would have been furious.

Shen Zhuo pursed his lips, and he said, "Reply to An Ruhai, and say that we will retreat." ”

The adjutant general couldn't believe it, obviously he didn't expect Shen Zhuozhen to compromise on this, he exhaled deeply, and said: "My lord, I am about to wipe out the traitors, and I am afraid that the prince will not be able to explain the troops at this time." ”

Shen Zhuo was unmoved, he said in a deep voice: "No need to say more, do as I tell you." ”

"Yes!" The adjutant general no longer hesitated and took the order.

After the lieutenant general left, Shen Zhuo was the only one left in the room, his eyes were dark, as if he was like a bottomless cold pool, staring motionlessly at the letter on the table.

Shen Zhuo's men withdrew from Qin County, and the news spread to Gu County, An Ruhai and others rejoiced, he thought that he had grasped Shen Zhuo's lifeline, and hurriedly came to meet Empress Dowager An to inform her of this great news.

When An Ruhai came, the Empress Dowager An was talking to the little emperor, and when he entered the inner hall, he saw the Empress Dowager An and the little emperor who were on the throne, and bowed first, and the Empress Dowager An said: "Don't be formal, brother sit down." ”

Seeing this, An Ruhai sat on the chair below, and the Empress Dowager An said to the little emperor: "Your Majesty, the mourning family and the prime minister have a court to discuss, you can go back to the house with your grandmother to rest." ”

This little emperor is a drooping child, and he was pushed to the throne in a daze, but he was actually the puppet of the Empress Dowager An, and he said in a milky voice: "Queen Mother, the emperor has retired." ”

Waiting for the little emperor to be led away by his grandmother, Empress Dowager An looked at An Ruhai and asked, "Is there a response from Shen Zhuo?" ”

An Ruhai said with a smile: "Daxi, the Shen thief was afraid of the safety of the Gu family's mother and son, and agreed to retire." ”

Who knows, after the Empress Dowager An learned that Shen Zhuo had withdrawn from the army, there was no trace of joy on her face, and her face An Ruhai saw her gloomy and uncertain look, and she was a little puzzled, and he said: "Queen Mother, this is an excellent time for us." ”

Gu County is only so big, many things are supplied from outside, that day, when they entered the city, they drove away all the ordinary people in Gu County, after more than this month, the daily shortage of food and salt has basically run out, many adults began to cut down on food and clothing, if they don't want to go out, people's hearts are more and more dissipated.

An Ruhai saw that Empress Dowager An was silent, and said: "Shen thief retreated, it was the time for us to escape from Gu County, if we stayed here any longer, the emperor and all the ministers would be trapped to death sooner or later." ”

Empress Dowager An's eyelids drooped, she stared at the tea leaves floating in the tea bowl on the table, and thought silently, Shen Zhuo really didn't even want a future for that woman.

"The Queen Mother, the Queen Mother?" An Ruhai called softly.

Empress Dowager An came back to her senses, she leaned back in the soft chair, looked out the window and said, "Run, where can you escape?" Shen Zhuo has elite soldiers and strong horses in his hands, even if he retreats thirty miles, once we leave Gu County, it will only be a snap of a finger to catch up with him, and Yizhou in the south is also guarded by the Jiang family's faction, we have less than 20,000 horses left, what are the chances of winning? ”

She knew that the defeat was decided, and now she was still breathing, just to live a few more days, she was not afraid of death, but before she died, she would never let Shen Zhuo feel better, Empress Dowager An thought of Gu Sanniang in the backyard, and Shen Zhuo not far away, her expression became obscure.

An Ruhai shivered when he saw Empress Dowager An's cold gaze, and he quickly lowered his head, not daring to say another word.

After a while, Empress Dowager An raised her head and asked, "Have you ever found out that Shen Bao has indeed withdrawn?" ”

"The spy replied that the Shen thief's soldiers and horses had been drawn out, and they were indeed going to withdraw from Qin County." An Ruhai replied, and he asked again: "If we don't leave Gu County, according to the Queen Mother's wishes, what should we do?" ”

Empress Dowager An touched a hairpin on her sideburns and said, "Send a message to Shen Zhuo again, asking him to prepare rice and salt and other things to send over." ”

An Ruhai bowed down and replied yes, and the current predicament will not be able to be solved for a while, and they can support Shen Zhuo for more days by asking for food.

For a while, Empress Dowager An said to An Ruhai again: "Spread the word outside, just say that Shen Zhuo's people have withdrawn from Qin County, and the imperial court is still just around the corner, so let you be calm and don't be impatient." ”

There was a frustration up and down in the city, and at this time, the news of Shen Clumsy's withdrawal from the army was released, which could appease the people, An Ruhai naturally saw the intention of the Empress Dowager An, and he bowed down and praised: "The Empress Dowager is wise!" ”

Empress Dowager An closed her eyes, and she said, "The mourning family is tired, so you should step back." ”

"Yes!"

After An Ruhai left, Empress Dowager An sat alone for a while, she called the grandmother who was waiting outside, and asked, "What has the Gu family been doing in the past few days?" ”

Mama replied: "She is quite honest, she eats every day, and only goes back to the house after a walk in the yard." ”

Empress Dowager An thought for a moment and said, "Let's go, go see her." ”

Mama answered, took Empress Dowager An's hand and walked out.

The county order is not big, and the Empress Dowager An walked to the house where Gu Sanniang lived, and it was only a few steps away, and the soldiers guarding the gate of the courtyard saw the Empress Dowager An, saluted her, and retreated to the side.

Empress Dowager An stood at the door, at this time, Gu Sanniang was half-squatting on the ground, Liu Wupo hugged the little brother's armpit and walked towards her, the little brother who was more than four months old still couldn't walk by himself, he was supported by Liu Wupo, with his little short legs, and slowly moved towards Gu Sanniang step by step.

Gu Sanniang opened her arms to the little brother, her eyebrows and eyes were full of tenderness, the little brother walked in front of her, Liu Wupo behind her let go of her hand, and the little brother plunged into her arms.

"What a scene of family fun." Empress Dowager An slowly walked into the courtyard and looked at Gu Sanniang and the little brother in her arms.

When Gu Sanniang saw her coming, her smile suddenly faded, and the little brother in her arms seemed to feel her mother's uneasiness, so she was quiet

Leaning on Gu Sanniang's arms, there was no noise.

Since she and Liu Wupo were imprisoned here, except for the first day, Gu Sanniang has never seen Empress Dowager An again, and when she saw her coming, Gu Sanniang looked at her silently and didn't say anything.

Empress Dowager An stared at the little brother in Gu Sanniang's arms, and suddenly became uncomfortable in her heart, she also had a brother, but that child, who was instigated by Shen Zhuo and the woman in front of her to deny her as a mother, thinking of this, Empress Dowager An only felt that her chest was stagnant, and she reached out and hugged the child in Gu Sanniang's arms.

"What are you doing to give me back the child?" Gu Sanniang wanted to take the child back, and several grandmothers brought by the Empress Dowager An held her and Liu Wupo one left and one right.

The little brother was frightened, opened his mouth and cried, Gu Sanniang's eyes were red, she stared at the Empress Dowager An, hating to eat her flesh and drink her blood.

Empress Dowager An hugged the little brother and shook him lightly twice to coax him, but the little brother didn't appreciate it and cried louder and louder.

Empress Dowager An patted the little brother on the back, she glanced at Gu Sanniang, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, you have helped me raise the little brother for so many years, and I will take care of this little brother for you for a few days, which is considered to be a repayment!" ”

Gu Sanniang said hatefully: "I raised my brother Yu'er, not out of my original intention, just because his own mother abandoned him, and my child, I will not leave him until I die." ”

Empress Dowager An was poked in the sore spot, her eyes sank, her hands were forced, and she tightly clamped the little brother, the little brother couldn't breathe, and couldn't stop wheezing and coughing, Gu Sanniang's heart was clenched when she saw this situation, and her whole back was straight.

The cry of the little brother in the courtyard weakened unconsciously, and the haze under the eyes of the Empress Dowager An gradually dissipated, she handed the little brother to the grandmother next to her, and said: "Who do you think you are, just a vulgar and ignorant country woman, what can you bring to Shen Zhuo and Brother Yu?" But I'm different, I can help him build the country, and it won't be difficult for him to be the emperor in the future. ”

Gu Sanniang looked at the Empress Dowager An, her heart was only full of sorrow, Empress Dowager An smiled coldly, she turned around and walked out of the courtyard, holding the little brother's grandmother behind her, Gu Sanniang hurriedly chased after her, she shouted in her mouth: "You give me back the child." ”

It's just that as soon as she chased to the gate of the courtyard, she was stopped by the guards and soldiers, and Gu Sanniang shouted hoarsely: "An's, what do you want to do to my child." ”

Empress Dowager An stopped, she looked back at the crazy Gu Sanniang, with a smile on the corner of her mouth, and said: "By the way, I sent a message to Shen Zhuo and ordered his soldiers and horses to retreat thirty miles, otherwise I will kill you and this child, guess how he decided?" ”

Gu Sanniang paused, looked at the Empress Dowager An who was standing not far away, and said with a smug smile: "He rejected me, you see, men are like this, in the face of power, women are just vassals of men." ”

Gu Sanniang was slightly distracted, and then, she said firmly: "Ah Zhuo will not leave our mother and son." ”

As soon as she finished speaking, Empress Dowager An's smile froze on her lips, she looked at Gu Sanniang suspiciously, and only after a while did she leave. 166 Reading Network