Because of the anxiety in her heart, Chi Wan's breathing inevitably became a little messy, Xie Yutang immediately sensed that something was wrong, and called softly, "Wanwan? ”

Ji Wan was startled and was discovered?

Her mind was spinning rapidly, her hands waving vigorously in the air, and some whispers came out of her mouth, "Go away, don't come here, go away." ”

Xie Yutang walked over quickly, grabbed Chi Wan's hand, and coaxed, "It's okay, it's just a nightmare." ”

Under his comfort, Chi Wan seemed to have calmed down and stopped having nightmares, Xie Yutang kept patting her back, and he was relieved.

It's okay, just having a nightmare and not waking up. But seeing that Chi Wan was scared like that in his dream just now, his heart also tightened.

In the second half of the night, Xie Yutang stayed by Chi Wan's side and held her in his arms. Chi Wan didn't want to get so close to him in her heart, but she was afraid that if she moved, Xie Yutang would find that she was pretending to be asleep, so she had to endure it reluctantly.

"Wanwan." Xie Yutang suddenly spoke, his voice was very soft, "I'm sorry for making you feel uncomfortable, but we are also forced to use this plan, and you don't want the King of Chu to die like this, if the King of Chu dies, the court will be completely in the hands of the prince, the prince is not a virtuous monarch, you and I know this very well." For the sake of Dongxuan's people, I had to do this. ”

In that case, why didn't you tell me earlier, Xie Yutang, what else are you hiding from me.

Chi Wan's heart couldn't calm down for a long time, but Xie Yutang stopped talking, just stroking her hair again and again.

"You sleep well, I'll hold you like this, and you should be angry again when you wake up tomorrow." Xie Yutang gently let go of Chi Wan, let her lie on the straw, pulled the quilt to cover her, and then moved to the side by himself.

This move made Chi Wan feel relieved, and said secretly, "It's okay, I got mixed up and wasn't discovered." ”

Chi Wan couldn't tell why she didn't want to be discovered by Xie Yutang, but even if she found out, it was nothing. But she knew very well that in her heart, she had doubts about Xie Yutang at the moment, and she was unwilling to get too close to him anymore.

Xie Yutang stayed with Chi Wan for a while, and after seeing Chi Wan sleep soundly again, he lay down next to him, as if nothing had happened.

Although the two slept together, they each had their own thoughts.

In the same way, the situation in the outside world is also surging.

At the court meeting on this day, the envoy came to resign.

The emperor pretended to save a few words, and euphemistically expressed his intention to be friendly with Chengguo for generations, and under the repeated shirk of the envoys, he let the Ministry of Rites Shangshu and Marquis Wen Yuan be responsible for seeing them off.

After the others left, the emperor was very worried, and he didn't know if the envoys had found out.

On the day of the palace banquet, the weak state of the king of Chu was clearly looked at by the envoys, who were afraid that if he went back to tell the emperor of Chengguo, the other party would rise up the idea of attacking.

Thinking of this, the emperor couldn't help but feel a little irritable, thinking that it was all the fault of the king of Chu, and he could have not been so passive.

With the thought of going to the king of Chu to settle accounts immediately, the emperor asked the ministers, "What do you think?" ”

There was silence for a moment, and one person came out and said, "Back to Your Majesty, Weichen feels that the envoys of Chengguo are very sincere, and it seems that they are intent on making friends, and Your Majesty does not need to worry too much." ”

As soon as the words fell, the voice of rebuttal aroused, "Lord Huang is really naïve, if I remember correctly, the envoy visited you yesterday, and I don't know what congratulatory gifts Lord Huang received, so this will help to say good things." ”

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Lord Huang blushed, "The lower official is just telling the truth. ”

"What do you think about Chen Bing's border, is it just a casual play?" The man snorted mockingly.

Lord Huang was choked and speechless, flicked his sleeves hatefully, and retreated to his original position.

The emperor looked at this farce coldly, his expression was obscure, "Other Aiqing don't have anything to say?" ”

After a while, an old man with a gray beard strode out and said with full of energy, "Your Majesty, the old minister thinks that no matter what Chengguo thinks, Your Majesty must be prepared first, and if the other party really attacks, we must also have the ability to fight back." ”

"General Chen is right."

The old general's words were agreed by many people.

The emperor did not show his attitude, and with a flick of his bright yellow sleeve robe, he announced his retirement from the court, but summoned the Ministry of Rites Shangshu and the Marquis of Wenyuan to the imperial study.

"What do you two think?" As soon as he entered the imperial study, the emperor couldn't wait to ask. These two people have been with the envoys the longest, and if they want to understand each other, they also know each other the best.

The Ministry of Rites Shangshu and Wen Yuanhou exchanged glances with each other, and took a step forward, "Your Majesty, Weichen doesn't dare to speculate, and the envoy didn't say anything when he left, maybe this time, it's just a simple temptation to become a country." ”

"The old minister agrees."

When the emperor heard this, his heart became more and more unpredictable.

This means that Chengguo didn't think about attacking?

Seeing that the emperor was obviously hesitating, Marquis Wen Yuan came up with an idea, "Your Majesty, the situation is tense now, and the old minister thinks that Your Majesty can send someone to Chengguo to spy on the news." ”

The emperor adopted this idea, sent the most proud secret guard, and at the same time called several military department secretaries and lieutenants to the imperial study to discuss matters. What General Chen said at the court meeting was true, no matter what, they had to plan for the worst.

Compared with the chaos on the emperor's side, the Nine Princes can be said to be very leisurely.

He has nothing to do in his daily life, and he doesn't need to go to the court, and he even has time to supervise the mansion under construction.

On this day, the guards came to announce, "Lord, the envoys of Chengguo have left the capital. ”

The Nine Princes counted the date and nodded, at this time the sun was just right, the Nine Princes squinted at the sky, and the corners of his mouth hooked up a meaningful smile.

Dongxuan's sky is about to change.

The emperor's side and the military department Shangshu found that the soldiers available to the imperial court were too few, and they could only scrape together 100,000 troops, and the bigger problem was that the grain and grass had not yet been found.

The emperor suddenly had two big heads, and he anxiously threw down the folds presented by the military department.

"Why are there only so few people being brought in?" The emperor's face was gloomy, and his thick eyebrows were furrowed.

The military department Shangshu knelt helplessly, "Your Majesty, the borders of the four sides need people to defend, there are Shui Kou in the east, there are tribes in the south that are ready to move, there are Rong people in the west, and they have been thinking about going east, and the Chengguo and other countries in the north are also eyeing each other, and these four sides must have troops to defend." ”

The emperor paced back and forth in the imperial study with his hands behind his back, "The water in the east can be slowed down, can you draw some people over?" ”

"The water invaders have become more and more arrogant in recent days, and as soon as General Cai leaves, the people of the eastern coast will inevitably fall." What the military department Shangshu did not say was that all sides had heard of the imperial court brothers, and now the saint killed his father and killed his brother, which was unpopular with the people, and they all wanted to come and get a piece of the pie.

In the final analysis, such a situation was caused by the emperor himself.

However, the emperor would not have thought of this, he pondered for a moment, and gave an order in a loud voice, "Now immediately recruit troops to replenish the numbers." ”

The military department Shangshu knelt on the ground in silence, and the old man's back image was a silent protest.

"Didn't you hear me? I'm telling you to recruit new recruits right away! Seeing that there was no movement in the military department, the emperor glared at him in displeasure.

The imperial court already had military service, and one of the two adult males in the family had to be released, and if the army was conscripted again, even the other one would not be spared, and the people would inevitably complain.

When these concerns were mentioned, the emperor did not listen to them, and said coldly, "Anyone over the age of sixteen must participate in military service, and those who dare to hide without permission will be beheaded immediately to show the public once they find out." ”

"Your Majesty, this ......"

"Do as I say, and don't say anything else." The Emperor waved his hand irritably, apparently having made up his mind.

The lieutenant, who hadn't spoken much, finally couldn't help but speak, "The soldiers of the imperial court must go through a long period of training, and this batch of new recruits will not have time to train for a while, and even if they go to the battlefield, they will only send their heads." ”

Those soldiers were also raised by their fathers and mothers, so they died in vain, Rao is a captain who has been immersed in officialdom for many years, and his heart is cold-hearted, and he is also a little unbearable.

The emperor was like being poured down by a basin of cold water, and his hands and feet trembled with anger, "Then what do you mean, sit still and wait to die, there is no training, you don't know how to train quickly, do you still want me to teach you?" ”

The two of them lowered their heads and did not dare to speak again.

The Emperor took a deep breath and suppressed the anger in his heart, "Go quickly, I don't want to say it a second time." ”

The two of them stepped back with a sigh, and after leaving the imperial study, they glanced at each other, and they both saw helplessness in each other's eyes. The emperor now wants to recruit soldiers, and he doesn't think about anything, weapons, grain and grass, these are all problems, and when the time comes, he will have to increase taxes and have to exploit the common people, which is almost an endless cycle.

"Alas, Captain Yuan, how is this good?" The military department was as anxious as a headless fly.

Yuan Taiwei was calm, "Whatever Your Majesty says, let's do it." ”

The military department Shangshu looked at him dumbfounded, "How can you be so calm, once the will of conscription is carried out, the people will definitely be dissatisfied, and when the time comes, I don't know how many incidents will happen, internal and external troubles, and my Dongxuan Kingdom will suffer a catastrophe." ”

Yuan Taiwei motioned for him to be calm and expressed his thoughts, and the two talked all the way, all the way away.

On the other side, the king of Chu was imprisoned in the side hall, and his clothing, housing and food were much better than when he was in the prison before, but he still had no freedom, and only showed his face during the palace banquet, and stayed in the room at other times.

He's used to it, but he doesn't think there's anything about it.

The emperor hasn't come to look for him in the past few days, and he must be having a headache about the affairs of Chengguo. Just thinking this, a bird stopped on the windowsill, and the king of Chu took the letter from the bird's leg and let it go.