Uncle Xia Yu's visit to Zheng Mugong achieved Chen's minimum goal, that is, Zheng did not intervene in the war between Chu and Chen, which meant that Chen's northwest border was safe and secure.

After Uncle Xia and Xia Ji returned to the palace, they began to prepare to envoy to the Jin Kingdom.

"Madam, you have played a great role in convincing Duke Mu not to support Chu in the war between Chu and Chen this time, and I want to thank you on behalf of Gonggong Chen."

"There is no need to thank you, the concubine is now a native of Chen Guo, and it is my responsibility."

"Actually, before I came, I wasn't sure to what extent Zheng Guo had fallen to Chu State, after all, Zheng Guo had just suffered a defeat, and I don't know how much Zheng Guo had compromised Chu State."

"It's not easy for us Zheng Guo."

"Yes, Zheng Guo is sandwiched between the two great powers, and he controls the key points in and out of these two great powers, and it has always been a battlefield where the two powerful countries of Chu and Jin have competed for each other. It is not only the country that vacillates the most frequently among the two countries of Chu and Jin, but also the country that takes turns to attack Chu and Jin the most. ”

When Xia Ji heard Uncle Xia Yu say this, she suddenly thought of the word doubles, and burst out laughing. After thinking about it, Zheng Guo is his nominal motherland, so it is a bit inappropriate to laugh at Zheng Guo in front of Uncle Xia Yu, so he said: "This is also our Zheng Guo's survival strategy, after all, we are in the gap between the big countries."

Uncle Xia Yu saw Xia Ji smile, but did not understand why she was laughing, and took Xia Ji's words and said: "Yes, both Chu and Jin want Zheng to exist as a buffer zone between the two sides, if there is no Zheng State, the chances of a head-on conflict between the two powers will be greatly increased, but both Chu and Jin want Zheng Guo to stand on their side."

"So the Chu State invaded our Zheng State from the Wolf Yuan this time, and the purpose of Zheng State was not to destroy Zheng, right?"

"This time the state of Chu attacked the state of Zheng because after the Duke of Jin Ling succeeded to the throne the year before last, King Zheng Mu and the kings of Qi, Song, Wei, Xu, Cao and other countries visited Zhao Dun, the minister of the state of Jin, and formed an alliance in Hudi, and the purpose of the alliance was to unite against Chu, which made King Chu Mu furious."

"I hope that the purpose of Chu attacking Chen is only to scare Chen Guo, and not to let Chen Guo's lives be ruined and his family ruined. If the adults can win the strong reinforcement of the Jin State, they may let the Chu State return with a feather. Natsuhime said.

"Yes, ma'am. I will go to Jin tomorrow, and it is estimated that I will return to Chen after passing through Xinzheng in ten days. This time to envoy the Jin State, I believe that the Jin State will definitely stand on the side of the Chen State, but the domestic political situation of the Jin State is complicated, and it is difficult to determine how much actual support it can get. Uncle Xia Yu said to Xia Ji.

"My lord, didn't you hear that Jin Linggong has been on the throne for two years? Isn't the position secured? ”

"Jin Linggong is only six years old now, and he has no ability to control the Jin State at all, and the power of the Jin State is basically in the hands of the national teacher Zhao Dun, but the anti-Zhao Dun power of the Jin State cannot be underestimated."

"Oh, I see."

"Actually, when Jin Linggong's father, Jin Xianggong, died three years ago, Jin Linggong was a three-year-old prince named Yi Gao. Because Yi Gao was too young, the upper echelons of the Jin Kingdom were worried that the young lord would not be able to control the country and make the Jin Kingdom fall into chaos. The minister of the Jin State wanted to appoint an older brother of Xianggong of Jin as king, Zhao Dun wanted to make Gongzi Yong, the eldest brother of Xianggong of Jin, while another minister, Jia Ji, thought that Gongzi Le, the second brother of Xianggong of Jin, was more suitable. ”

"It seems that these two ministers will compete for the dominance of which prince will take the throne."

"yes. At that time, Gongzi Yong was a proton in the Qin State, and Gongzi Leke lived in our Chen State. Zhao Dun sent Xian Jian and Shi Hui to Qin to meet Gongzi Yong. Jia Ji also sent someone to Chen Guo to recall Gongzile. ”

"If these two groups of people return home, there will be no conflict?"

"Zhao Dun struck first and sent someone to kill Gongzile in Pidi on the way back to China."

"It's too cruel, unscrupulous."

"yes. After Zhao Dun killed Gongzile, he didn't even let Jia Ji go, and deposed Jia Ji's official position, and Jia Ji had no choice but to flee from Zhai Guo. ”

"It seems that Gongzi Yong can take the throne."

At this time, Mu Huan, the mother of the crown prince Yigao, came forward. Mu Huan went out of the court and hugged Yi Gao to Zhao Dun's house, kowtowed to Zhao Dun and said: The first monarch once held the prince and entrusted him to you, but now the first monarch's bones are not cold, and the words are still in your ears, why do you want to abandon the prince and set up someone else as the king? If another person is appointed as the king, what face will the concubine and the prince have to live in this world? As he spoke, he held a short knife against the prince's chest. ”

"The responsibility of entrusting orphans is heavier than Mount Tai. But Zhao Dun and their son Yong also think about the country. ”

"Yes, but Mu Huan doesn't think so, and there are many people who support the crown prince's ascension. Zhao Dun and the doctors of the Jin Kingdom were afraid of Mu Huan, and they were even more afraid of her coercion, so they had to turn their backs on the prince Yong who greeted them, and then set up Yi Gao to succeed them. ”

"It's been a lot of twists and turns. However, the lord of Tuogu is no different from a puppet, so it is no wonder that the politics of the Jin Kingdom are not stable. ”

"Yes, so the State of Chu took the opportunity to attack the small countries protected by the State of Jin, and because of the political internal friction of the State of Jin, there was no way to fight with the State of Chu. And Qin Mugong married his five daughters to the Jin State before, in order to marry the Qin and Jin Dynasty, this time he saw that the Jin State abolished the son Yong and established the Jin Linggong, the Qin army sent troops to escort the son Yong back to the Jin State, and Zhao Dun led a heavy army to ambush the Qin army in Linghu and completely broke with the Qin State. The situation in the Jin Kingdom is unstable, affecting the neighbors, and we, the Chen State, are also victims. ”

"It seems that the stability of a major country is the foundation of peace in the world."

"That's true."

The next day, Uncle Xia Yushu led his entourage to leave Xinzheng for the Jin Kingdom.

Bidding farewell to Uncle Xia Yu, Xia Ji returned to her leisurely life of waiting for childbirth, closed doors, and was free.

Sometimes Natsuhime also goes out for a walk in a carriage, shopping, and relaxing.

Xia Ji lived in the palace, and when she heard that Princess Ji Shao had returned to Xinzheng, some of her old friends came to visit, but Xia Ji closed the door on the grounds of physical discomfort and did not see her.

The palace left behind by Xia Ji after selling several palaces of Princess Ji Shao is not the one she used to come to Yayun Pavilion before, and of course it is not the one where Gongzi died of the sun, but the one where Princess Ji Shao often lived when she was young, located by the Weishui River far from the city center, the most rare thing is that there is a hot spring in the palace, and the water temperature is kept slightly higher than the body temperature in the most suitable state for bathing in all seasons.

Xia Ji named the palace Haomeng Palace, engraved the name on the banner at the gate, and asked Jiang Wei to find someone to renovate the garden and hot springs, and the lawn and small trees in the courtyard were renovated.

After the renovation of Haomeng Palace, it is full of the breath of spring.

Xia Ji has long adapted to the ancient rhythm of life at sunrise and sunset, formed the habit of going to bed early and getting up early, and felt the life scene of the rooster singing the world.

After waking up early, Xia Ji took her maid for a walk in the garden of Haomeng Palace, the freshness of the soil and grass made her feel relaxed and leisurely, and the birdsong in the woods around Haomeng Palace came and went, making this manor by the mountains and rivers seem more quiet and quiet.

After breakfast, Xia Ji would go to the pavilion in the center of the garden, play the piano and sing, or let Chun'e tutor her ancient texts. At this time, the sun rises, and the sunlight through the large trees on the hillside seems to spread an orange carpet on the earth, and the small droplets of water on the grass shimmer like diamonds in the sunlight.

In the evening, after going to bed early, you can also watch TV dramas on your mobile phone and reminisce about your life in modern society.

When Xia Ji married to Chen Guo a few years ago, only a dozen guards were left here to guard here, and the rest of the servants, maids and maids were sent home, but fortunately, Xia Ji brought many entourages when she returned to Xinzheng this time, and many of them were Zheng Guoren who were brought to Xia Mansion when they got married, and they were very familiar with this place, so they could ensure the normal operation of the entire Haomeng Palace.

Xinzheng's noodles are not bad, Xia Ji often asks Xia Cicada to buy some to eat, in addition to noodles, the dishes made by Xinzheng's wine shops are still not as good as Jiang Wei's.

But Jiang Wei's stir-fried meat is still a bit old, and Xia Ji knows that this is because it is not thickened with cornstarch. She asked Jiang Wei to buy corn starch, but Jiang Wei didn't know what corn starch was, and it wasn't sold outside at all.

Xia Ji is helpless, she is idle and idle, she has seen a small video of the method of making corn starch before, it looks very simple, and she thought why not try it?

Natsuhime asks Xia Chan to get half a bag of flour from the kitchen and tries to make her own cornstarch. Of course, in order to keep it secret, Xia Ji still does experiments alone and does not let anyone steal the technology.

She kneaded the flour into a dough with water, and then washed the dough in clean water, after the dough was washed into gluten, the water for washing the dough was left overnight, and the next day the layer of water floating on it was poured out, and the rest was mixed with cornstarch solution, and the cornstarch solution was left in the sun, and the water evaporated, leaving the cornstarch that formed plates.

Natsuhime crushes the corn starch into pieces, and the corn starch is ready.

Made of cornstarch, Xia Ji is overjoyed, with this corn starch as a thickening and sizing material, the taste of stir-fry is even better, and corn starch can also be used as cold powder and snacks, just so that Xia Ji can pass the extra time.

Xia Ji put the cornstarch into a small jar and asked Xia Chan to call Jiang Wei, and then told him how to use the cornstarch to thicken and starch when making stir-frying.

Xia Wei listened very carefully, and immediately started practicing after listening, and the fried dishes were really more tender, refreshing, and smooth.

Xia Wei secretly exclaimed in his heart, he didn't know why the hostess was so clever that he could do a wonderful way to improve the quality of the stir-fry that he couldn't even dream of, and even more strange where the hostess got this magical corn starch.