The Empress Dowager's voice was not loud, but the words she said pierced into the emperor's heart like an ice pick, causing the blood all over his body to coagulate.

This is undoubtedly a sore spot that has been pressing on the emperor's heart for so many years.

He didn't want to bring it up, and he didn't want anyone else to bring it up in front of him. In the face of the problem of Dongyuan's invasion, he has always been like an ostrich, plunging headlong into the sand, deceiving himself and his own people.

How Emperor Taizu broke away from the control of Dongyuan and traveled all the way to the west, and carved out a piece of his own land on this originally barren and barren land, Emperor Yan, as a descendant, only heard about it, but never experienced it personally. And Yan Ciyong's generation has long lost the courage of the founding fathers of the country. From the moment he was supported by the Empress Dowager on the throne, he has always lived in the shadow of the Dongyuan forces, and the country left by the first emperor in his eyes is a castle in the air with an unstable foundation and precariousness, and he stays in this building, walking on thin ice every day.

Yan Ciyong's policy of appeasement was not obvious in the early years when he was not in power. At that time, he was just a frank, pure-hearted, careful and steady young prince, and the Empress Dowager chose him among the short generals. But the Empress Dowager never expected that after Yan Ciyong was pushed to the position of God King by her step by step, as the power in her hands grew day by day, her vision and courage did not increase day by day as she expected, but the weak side of her nature was more and more magnified.

Therefore, when Zhu Ciyi pursued a radical policy and tried to accelerate the pace of attacking Xiyou, Emperor Yan did not think about how to strengthen the border defense and cultivate an army that could resist Dongyuan, but pinned his hopes on Zhu Yubao, who Zuo Qiyang secretly brought over from Dongyuan, as a hostage. After that, seeing that King Xin lost power, he didn't want to stabilize the morale of the army and recapture the lost border land to make his position clear, but he blindly dragged it out, looking lazy and passable. And now, a little girl like Xin Zi has scared him out, and he doesn't even have the guts to take it in......

He had never only thought about forbearance and compromise, but he never expected that such a regression would only lead Dongyuan to become more unscrupulous. And now that King Xin controls Dongyuan, the entire Dongyuan has long dared to have no objections to his position and policy, so it is only a matter of time before he annexes Xiyou......

Thinking of this, Emperor Yan became more and more frightened, and the Empress Dowager hated iron even more. Why did she look away and fall in love with Yan Ciyong?

After a brief period of self-blame, the Empress Dowager decided not to think about it again. A pawn that has already been settled cannot be reversed, and the facts that have passed cannot be changed. Only by focusing on every step in the future and re-arranging can we try our best to turn back the current situation.

The subtle changes between the Empress Dowager's eyebrows Emperor Yan didn't notice it, he only clenched his fists to himself, and after some struggle, he slowly spoke: "What will happen to Dongyuan's side in the future, no one can say. But now as long as Xin Zi is allowed to enter Beijing, Zhu Ciyi will definitely take advantage of the topic to break through the eastern defense line in one fell swoop and go straight to Xijing, which is an indisputable fact. Since the facts are here, as the king of a country, I have to think about my own people, and I cannot sit idly by. ”

The moment she understood that it was impossible to change the emperor's mind, the queen mother already had her own plans, and at this time, it was nonsense for her to say any more reasons for the emperor, so she didn't want to waste time in this breathless room, let alone listen to the emperor say a word, so she let the queen help her up with a cold face, and said to the prince, "Ye'er, let's go", and walked out without looking back.

"Imperial Grandmother ......"

Yan Ciyong stood there and shouted at a loss, knowing that stepping out of this imperial study, the Empress Dowager would completely part ways with him, he was unwilling to lose the support of this old man who had given him countless teachings, but he was also unwilling to give up his position, he was stunned for a while, and he didn't know how to keep it.

When the Empress Dowager heard this, she was stunned, and did not look back, but only asked: "You said that you should let Ye'er go to Gaoxiang, is this still counting?" ”

I don't know the thoughts behind the empress dowager's question, the emperor can only follow his heart and reply with a "gentleman's word".

The Empress Dowager nodded lightly and left the imperial study.

Returning to the Sacred Heart Hall, the Empress Dowager let Empress Shen help her sit down on the couch, held the queen's slender white fingers to peel the onion root with her backhand, and asked: "According to the situation in the imperial study just now, I am afraid that it will be difficult for the emperor and I to stand aside in the future, what do you think, just tell me now." ”

The queen lowered her eyes, and her slightly thin face became more and more serene.

After all, this problem fell on my head.

After the Empress Dowager saw that the prince went to the imperial study to find the emperor, she first sat in the side hall of the Sacred Heart Hall and drank tea, and then estimated that the time was almost up, so she stood up and called her to go to the imperial study together.

Although the empress dowager has not been involved in politics for many years, the emperor often takes the initiative to come to the West Palace to ask her opinion, so thinking that the prince may have difficulties In this extraordinary period, even if she feels sorry for her great-grandson, she makes an exception and goes to the East Palace, which is also common.

But the Empress Dowager called her. When the queen heard the queen mother's order, she knew that this trip was not simple.

Although she was the queen and was originally in charge of the six palaces, the West Palace was originally thin, and she had always been in poor health, so most of the reasons were handed over to the Empress Dowager to take care of, and she even asked the Empress Dowager to take charge of the phoenix seal for her many times, but was finally rejected by the Empress Dowager for non-compliance. So since she entered the palace, except for serving the emperor and playing the image of a good wife and mother, she has actually neither cared nor interfered in anything. Fortunately, she was originally tranquil, unwilling to fight for these, but also felt that the affairs of the West Palace were managed by the Queen Mother for her, she was happy to be idle, so she often smiled and joked in front of the Queen Mother, saying, "I don't know how many lifetimes of blessings, being a queen can also be like when I was a girl at home before, and live a simple life", whenever that time, the Queen Mother will also say with envy "You are a blessed person", she can see from the eyes of the Queen Mother, she has lived almost a lifetime, and she has worked hard all her life, I'm tired of this kind of life, I'm afraid that if she is asked to choose again from scratch, she will not hesitate to choose to be a quiet queen for a lifetime, right?

Therefore, the Empress Dowager always protects the queen by her side, intentionally or unintentionally, and only hopes that she will not work hard like herself. (To be continued.) )