The moonlight dissolves, the entire Zhaoyang Hall is shrouded in the soft moonlight, the lights in the hall have been extinguished, only the outer room of the inner hall is held up by the palace people on duty to hold several half-bright and half-dark palace lights, the night, peaceful and cold.

In the inner hall, the agarwood curls, Liu Che's silhouette became more and more blurred in the night, listening to Li Yan's even breathing beside him, Liu Che did not feel the slightest sleep. pointed out his sister to Wei Qing, of course, not only out of compassion and concern, but more importantly, he wanted to re-envelop Wei Qing by his side by giving marriage.

In the past, when Huo Qubing was alive, the two big Simas were sealed for the sake of the court's balance, but now that Huo Qubing has passed away, the most prestigious person in the army is none other than Wei Qing, and giving his own sister to marry him is both a favor and a means. First, it can make him grateful for the emperor's grace, even if he was dissatisfied with himself before, but after this incident, he can also remove most of it; Second, with his sister by his side, he will naturally be afraid of his actions and words.

It's just that the matter of sending troops still makes Liu Che undecided, not to mention the matter of the commander in the army, he has been fighting for many years, and the national strength has been consumed very much, if he sends troops again, he is afraid that the national strength will not be good. Moreover, Huo Quai's death made this battle uncertain of victory, and if he forcibly sent troops, the desert would run thousands of miles, and the result would be unpredictable. It's just that if he gives up like this, Liu Che is unwilling, weighs left and right, and still can't make up his mind.

In the dark night, Liu Che sighed softly, pulled out the arm holding Li Yan, lay his body slightly outward, found a comfortable position, and closed his eyes. Li Yan was originally sleeping very lightly, Liu Che pulled out the arm that was holding her, and turned over again, unconsciously waking up. After a while, I heard that Liu Che didn't move anymore, and he stopped speaking at the moment.

The faint moonlight reflected on her face through the window, outlining a soft face, but this softness carried a little resentment in the dark night. She resented the sleeping pillow man next to her, why he was also a relative, and he valued the Wei family so much that he pointed out his own sister to him. She also resented why the Wei clan could take on the great responsibility of being a relative and be the pillar of the country, while her brother could not support the wall in the mud. Thinking of her brother who was not angry, Li Yan couldn't help biting her silver teeth, so inactive, it was no wonder that it was difficult to get into the eyes of others.

It seemed far away, but it seemed near, and the sound of the second watch came from the quiet night, and Li Yan also felt a little tired, and closed her eyes slightly. The palace people in the outer room had already leaned on one side and slept for a moment in the cold night.

The night is dark, and it is heavy. Only the cornices and arches at the corners of the hall were left, and heavy shadows were leaked in the cold moonlight.

----

"Yun Niang, what time is it?" A soft voice came, and Yun Niang, who was keeping vigil not far from the bed, hurriedly put on her clothes and looked at the sky, and came to her side in a low voice and responded: "Queen, it's about the fourth watch when you look at the sky, why are you awake again?" ”

Wei Zifu sat up slightly with his hands propped up, and said, "Xu was Wei Qing's wedding last night, and the things that were in my heart were put down, but I couldn't sleep." ”

Yun Niang smiled unconsciously when she heard this: "Queen, the slave maid only heard that she couldn't sleep when she heard about it, and she couldn't sleep when she put her mind down, and the slave and maid heard of it for the first time, I'm afraid that the queen is thinking about it, and it is the general and the princess who entered the palace today to thank you, right?" ”

Wei Zifu pursed his lips and smiled: "What else can I hide from you?" Today, the general and the princess will enter the palace to thank Your Majesty, and all the rewards are ready, right? ”

"It's all ready, the queen can rest assured." Yun Niang responded with a smile, and said with concern: "It's still early, the queen will sleep again, and she will be a hussar..."

However, Wei Zifu saw that Yun Niang's heart was so hot, and comforted him in a good voice: "I have gone to the sick and gone, and I have accepted this fact in my heart, but it doesn't hurt for you to say, there is no need to avoid taboos." ”

Yun Niang nodded apologetically, having said that, after all, she has been by her husband's side for many years, and she knows that the two have a deep relationship, so how can she be willing to evoke those sad pasts? It's just that it's hard to take it back, so he went on to say: "Since the death of the hussar general, the queen is sad and can't sleep peacefully every night, and the slave and maid see it in her eyes and are anxious in her heart. Some time ago, when Sister Caixi entered the palace to greet the queen, she also privately asked about the current situation of the slave queen, and the slave and sister Caixi were worried about the queen and looked forward to the queen coming out sooner. This time the general was happy, the slave and maid saw the queen smile again, and she didn't know how happy she was, and the slave and maid only hoped that the queen would be in a comfortable mood during the day and sleep peacefully at night. ”

At this time, a more leaky sound outside the hall came from afar, Yun Niang listened carefully, and said softly: "Queen, listen, it's only four watches, you can sleep again, and the slave will do things properly." ”

In the faint candlelight, Wei Zifu nodded movingly, with gratitude in his eyes, and said softly: "Yun Niang, thank you and Caixi!" ”

Yun Niang shook her head with a smile, helped Wei Zifu to lie down, and tucked the horn away: "The queen treats Yun Niang and Sister Caixi very well, we are afraid that we can't share the queen's worries, how can we afford a thank you word from the queen?" The queen slept for another hour, and the slave and maid came to wait for you to get up on the fifth watch. ”

"Okay." Wei Zifu fell asleep as she said, closed her eyes, and the warm current in her heart made her sleep peacefully.

----

When the omission moment had just passed, the voice of the small yellow door came from the Jinhua Palace: "Your Majesty, the great Sima general Wei Qing and the princess of Pingyang are thankful outside the palace!" ”

"Xuan!" Liu Che's steady voice carried a kingly bearing that was not angry and arrogant.

"General Xuanda, Sima Weiqing, Princess Pingyang has entered the palace!" The little yellow door that passed the decree stood outside the palace gate and conveyed the oracle loudly, and before long, he saw Wei Qing, who was in ochre dark clothes, walking slowly with Princess Pingyang. Although Princess Pingyang is newly married, she is dressed very elegantly, she and Wei Qing walked up the stairs side by side, entered the palace, and the two bowed to the ground and said: "Minister Weiqing, Pingyang, I have seen Your Majesty, I have seen the Queen!" Thank you, Your Majesty, for your marriage! Long live Your Majesty and the Queen, and you will be happy for a long time! ”

"Give!" Liu Che, who was sitting in the center of the hall, was full of smiles, raised his hand, and the small yellow door standing on one side hurriedly brought over the reward that had been prepared a long time ago, and said in a loud voice: "Weiyang Palace congratulates Sima Weiqing and Pingyang Princess Qin Jin's joy, and gives a gilt silver bamboo copper smoker, two deep-sea coral trees, 100 red gold cakes, 10 South China Sea pearls, and 100 grosgrain horses!" ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty! Empress Xie! Wei Qing and Princess Pingyang thanked each other, and Liu Che smiled: "No courtesy!" Throne! ”

Before the words fell, a small yellow door had already moved the brocade mat over, Wei Qing and Pingyang got up and sat down, Liu Che smiled and said to Wei Zifu beside him: "Queen, what do you think of this marriage given by me?" ”

Wei Zifu sat aside, and said with a smile: "The marriage given by His Majesty is naturally a good couple, and it is a perfect match!" ”

"The queen is right! My imperial sister's complexion seems to be much better! Liu Che looked at Princess Pingyang and Wei Qing with a satisfied smile.

When Princess Pingyang heard this, she hurriedly got up and left the table, bowed down and said, "Pingyang has today, thank you Your Majesty for your success!" ”

"Imperial sister, hurry up and excuse me!" Liu Che motioned to get up with his hand and said, "I can see the emperor's sister show her face, and kiss and kiss, I am very relieved!" You and I are fellow mothers, no need to be polite! ”

Pingyang responded with gratitude on his face, got up and sat back in the seat, Wei Qing also bowed and said: "Minister Wei Qing thank Your Majesty and the queen for their adult beauty, Wei Qing has to marry the princess, it is really a blessing for three lives, and I will definitely stay together in the future and live up to Your Majesty's gifts!" ”

"Hahaha!" Liu Che raised his voice and laughed: "The general is trustworthy, and my imperial sister will be entrusted to the general!" ”

Wei Qing looked at Princess Pingyang and smiled warmly, and replied respectfully with his hand on his forehead: "The minister obeys the order!" ”

The hall was smiling, the palace people brought fresh melons and fruits from all over the country, Wei Zifu pointed to a few pieces of green melons and fruits like jasper, and said in a praising tone: "This melon is called green jade melon, the entrance is fragrant, the flesh is sweet, the princess and the general can taste it carefully." ”

Princess Pingyang bowed slightly, took a slice and put it in her mouth, and couldn't help nodding and praised: "The flesh is delicate, the entrance is sweet, and it is extremely delicious!" ”

Wei Zifu said with a smile: "It's rare that the princess likes it, I'll ask the palace people to send a basket to your mansion and taste it slowly." ”

Princess Pingyang knew that Wei Zifu's heart was sincere, so she didn't shirk it, and said with a smile: "Pingyang is disrespectful, thank you Queen!" After that, he said: "Look at this melon variety, it is not produced in my Central Plains, but it is tributed by the subject countries of the Western Regions?" ”

Wei Zifu nodded with approval in his eyes and said: "The princess is really well-informed, this melon is indeed the tribute of the Shule Kingdom in the Western Regions, this place is rich in melons and fruits, and the rain is scarce and the sun is abundant all year round, so the taste of melons and fruits is several times better than that of my Central Plains." ”

Listening to Wei Zifu talk about the scenery of the Western Regions, the corners of Liu Che's eyebrows moved slightly, and he looked at Wei Qing with a deep sigh and said: "Listening to the queen and the imperial sister talking about the products of the Western Regions reminds me of Zhang Qian's difficulty in getting through the Western Regions back then. ”

Wei Qing hurriedly bowed and saluted, "Your Majesty, please speak!" ”

"After the Mobei War, the vitality of the Huns was greatly injured and fled far away from Mobei, but the strength of Shan Yu Wang Court still exists, I have always wanted to take advantage of the victory to pursue the uprooting of Shan Yu's forces, but unexpectedly the hussar general died suddenly when preparing for the war. I am sad, but I am not willing to put this battle on hold, is it a war? Is it stopped? I've been hesitating, I don't know what the general thinks? ”

Wei Qing listened carefully to what Liu Che said, and said after a moment of silence: "Your Majesty trapped Wei Qing empathizes, and has been at war with the Huns for more than ten years before he is now in a situation where he is far away, and all kinds of hardships are varied. The hussar general said that the Huns would not be destroyed, so why should they be home? The hussar generals are like this, Wei Qing is like this, and so are the hundreds of thousands of soldiers of my Han Dynasty! However, after years of war, the national strength of our Han Dynasty has been consumed a lot, coupled with the great floods in the land of Qilu last year, the victims are numerous, the people's livelihood is withered, and the people are hungry, which makes it worse and worse, if there is another large-scale battle, the ministers are afraid that the people's livelihood will be affected. ”

Speaking of this, Wei Qing couldn't help but be a little moved, Liu Che's expression was solemn, and he listened more and more carefully.

"In addition, the death of the hussar general last year has reduced the chances of our army's victory, plus the loss of war horses a lot, and in the short term, we do not have the advantage of sending troops. The dispute between our dynasty and the Xiongnu has been going on for a long time, and the art of war is cloudy: it moves when it is in line with the benefits, and it stops when it is not in line with the interests. The minister thought that this matter was slowed down, this is the heart of the minister, and I hope Your Majesty will think twice! ”

Wei Qing said, bowed deeply, and then said nothing. Liu Che was silent for a long time, and after a while, Fang Xu said: "What Aiqing said is very true, I will think about it carefully." ”

After some words, the palace was solemn, and Wei Zifu looked at Princess Pingyang with a smile on his face and said: "It's almost noon to talk about each other, the princess and the general have lunch in the palace and then go home!" ”

Princess Pingyang has always been understanding, and when she heard this, she smiled slightly and was about to refuse politely, but Liu Cheyan said: "The queen's proposal is very good!" I have some military affairs to discuss with Wei Qing, and you have ordered someone to send an order to the Imperial Food Restaurant, and I will have dinner with the general and the imperial sister. ”

"No!" Wei Zifu responded with a smile and respect, and Princess Pingyang also thanked Wei Qing together when she saw this, and entered the table with her.