On the twentieth day of July in the second year of Qisheng, Jiangzhou Mu Zhong Yuanshan led 10,000 descendants and 20,000 newly incorporated coalition troops to beat Shi Bang to the ground and fled all the way back to the capital.

Cui Yi attacked the city everywhere in Xuanzhou, continued to collect the remnants of the imperial court, plus the surrendered Xuanzhou army, the strength soared to 40,000, plus 30,000 in the hands of Zhong Yuanshan, and the 10,000 defenders of Yanzhou, which was as much as 80,000.

When the news reached the capital, no one was frightened, King Wu actually captured Xuanzhou Mansion in just four months, and there was Yanzhou, the rear of which and Jiangzhou under the jurisdiction of Zhong Yuanshan, had completely drawn one-fifth of the territory of Great Chu!

And Xuanzhou is a large producer of grain, oil, salt, and silk in Dachu every year, and King Wu has Xuanzhou, which is like choking the economic lifeline of the imperial court, and the deficit treasury is unable to support the re-war, so Emperor Cui Jie of Qisheng had to press the anger in his heart and send people to Zhao'an.

In Xuanzhou Mansion, Cui Yi was sitting on the official chair of the former father-in-law and now the prisoner Xie Xiao, to unfold the holy decree.

Cui Yi said arrogantly: "Holy decree? This king doesn't like to hear it, what the royal brother wants to say, just say it. ”

Shan Jian reminded with a smile on the side: "Lord Wang, Lord Xie used the best gentleman's ink in Xuanzhou, I heard Wenyu say that Mrs. used to like it very much, and it was a pity to sprinkle it." ”

Cui Yi sighed, raised his hand and ordered: "Go and pack all the gentleman's ink in the warehouse and take it away." The soldiers on the side immediately went to do it, and he came again to make Nunu mouth, "Then he said, hurry up, this king is hungry." ”

Come to make his head full of ink, and dare not wipe it, put away the dirty holy decree roll, and said humbly: "Prince, the emperor said, the prince and the emperor are close siblings, blood is thicker than water, if it is because of some misunderstandings will lead to brothers and sisters, the light will be the war for many years, affecting the people, the heavy frontier is lost, the mountains and rivers have fallen, the ancestors and the ancestors have finally fought down the world in a flash, how sad, I hope the prince can take the country and the society as the priority, don't start the war lightly, the emperor Xu Wang Ye concurrently serves as the governor of Yan and Xuan Erzhou, and even more named the prince as the king of dragon might, Hereditary first-class duke, the side concubine eldest grandson is the lady of the third grade, and the eldest daughter Cui Xian is the lord of Huaning County......"

Cui Yi scoffed and turned a brush to play.

“…… Posthumously crowned the biological mother of the prince and the late Empress Xiaopian as the Empress Dowager of Yuanmin Xiaopian. ”

The brush in Cui Yi's hand paused.

Shan Jian immediately said: "Lord Wang! Prince, if the matter of chasing the seal is done by the prince himself, it is to show filial piety in the world, if it is done by others, it is just a papier-mâché lantern, which has nothing to show and no meaning! Now that our army is like a rainbow, it is precisely time to attack the capital in one go, so as not to have too many dreams at night! ”

Cui Yi didn't move, and he didn't know if he had listened or not, Shan Jian was about to persuade again, Cui Yi raised his palm, asked him not to say any more, and said, "You go back and tell the royal brother that this king will think about it." ”

"Lord Wang!"

"Let's go down."

came to make a retreat, and Shan Jian said angrily: "Lord Wang, how can those who have achieved great things be held back by these trivial things? The reward is just for people to see, whether Xuanzhou Mu is a first-class prince or not, Xuanzhou is already in the prince's pocket, why do he need to reward him? When the prince becomes a great treasure in the future, these thousands of miles of rivers and mountains are all owned by the prince alone, and how to seal the biological mother at that time is not a matter of the prince's words! ”

Cui Yi shook his head: "This king is not holding back for this. ”

Shan Jian took a deep breath, suppressed the anger in his heart, and asked, "Then dare to ask why the prince didn't give the order to capture the capital in one go, and directly took Cui Jie's Nine Dragons Golden Crown?" ”

Cui Yi tilted his head to look at him and asked rhetorically: "Do you want this king to take off his crown, or do you want this king to take off his head?" ”

Shan Jian was speechless, Cui Yi grabbed the cold tea on the table that had not been touched and handed it over: "Drink some water, calm down, and then answer the king's words." ”

Shan Jian replied in a low voice, took the cold tea, and looked at himself reflected in the ginger tea soup, his face full of anxiety and irritability.

"Why doesn't this king want to wave his army to continue westward and snatch the dragon chair and the country in one go," Cui Yi patted the armrest of the official chair with his big hand, and his voice was low and slow, "This king admitted that when he heard him say that he wanted to posthumously crown this king's biological mother as the queen mother, he was indeed moved, but that was not the reason why this king stopped moving forward. ”

Cui Yi looked at the unknown place with a blank look: "You have to ask this king why he wants to suspend his army, this king himself ...... Actually, I can't say it clearly, it's just a feeling that I can't fight anymore now. ”

Shan Jian looked at him in amazement, and Cui Yi also turned his head to look at him, with a faint smile on the corner of his mouth, as if expecting him to explain this "feeling".

It is indeed not suitable to fight anymore, Shan Jian's heart is filled with bitterness, although Cui Yi now has more than 40 counties in three states and 80,000 heavy soldiers, but Xuanzhou has not been collected, it is difficult to guarantee that the subordinate officials will not harbor dissenting intentions, and most of the 80,000 troops are incorporated to suppress the rebel army, which is not as loyal as the old department of Yanzhou, in case of rebellion on the battlefield, the vested results will be instantly lost.

"The prince's approach is right, now we have to stop and reorganize the army, and it is not appropriate to fight again." After reading Xuanzhou's letter, Bailizan affirmed Cui Yi's armistice truce.

Zhi Yingxian leaned on the couch, holding a fan in one hand, and said: "The most important thing at the moment is to reorganize the troops, and in another month the grain in Xuanzhou, Jiangzhou should be the harvest season, if you don't harvest before the arrival of the autumn rains, there will be not enough food in the coming year, although Xuanzhou is rich in the official warehouse, and the Xie family has several generations of management, but after all, it is only a week of Dachu, the three states in the south of the Yangtze River, the emperor still has the second, fight for grain and grass, we may not be able to win." ”

Bailizan nodded again and again: "I think so too, and I also have to prevent Huerhana from taking advantage of the chaos to go south, there are only 10,000 people in Yanzhou, if it really encounters the Beidi people attacking the fortifications, I am afraid that I will not be able to hold it." ”

Zhiying smiled and said: "Before, I was afraid that the prince would kill the red eyes and ignore it, but now it seems that he is really much calmer and more mature." ”

The maid came in with a bowl of soup and medicine, and Bailizan smiled and teased: "Madame's body is not ordinary now, it's better to worry less, the prince is a jade in the stone, a pearl in the box, and it will shine after all." ”

Zhiying took the medicine and drank it, and Xiaoqiu came in with a cup of pickled plums: "Madam, the slave saw someone selling pickled plums on the street, thinking that Mrs. had bitterness in her mouth after drinking the medicine, and she must want to eat sweet and sour, so she bought some and came back, Madame quickly taste it." ”

"As far as you think about it." Zhiying smiled and beckoned her to come closer, took a pickled plum, put it in her mouth and bit it, her whole face was distorted in an instant, she spit it out with a poof, and screamed: "Why is it so sour!" ”

Xiaoqiu was surprised: "Madam, don't pregnant women love to eat sour?" The slave bought it after tasting it and feeling sour. ”

Zhiying covered her mouth and wanted to cry without tears: "This is too sour...... Where are people eating, go quickly, go quickly, I can see that the roots of my teeth are crispy. ”

Bailizan curiously also reached out and picked one up, tasted it, was so sour that it was almost pumped over, hurriedly spit into the spittoon on the side, picked up the tea and quickly rinsed his mouth, and asked with palpitations: "Madame kept eating this when she was pregnant with Miss?" ”

Zhiying shook her head: "No, I also eat sour, but I don't like to eat such sour, I don't want to eat this tooth all the time, I love spicy food when I am pregnant with Xian'er, no spicy and no joy." ”

Xiaoqiu hurriedly said: "Sour man and hot woman, how could Mrs. give birth to a young lady instead of a little prince, Mrs. can eat more sour food this time, so that she can give birth to a white and chubby boy for the prince, and become a prince in the future!" ”

"I was worried about the prince before I skimmed it," Zhiying poked her head with her finger in disgust, "Give birth to a fat boy, and grow up to be a prince in the future, but I want to marry you as a princess?" ”

Xiaoqiu's face turned red, and she stomped her feet and shook her hands: "Madame loves to make fun of slaves!" ”

Zhiying and Bailizan both laughed, Bailizan waved his hand and said: "Since it is the kindness of Miss Xiaoqiu, Mrs. can eat a little, if you can really give birth to a little son, the prince will be happy, isn't he?" ”

Zhiying wailed, "You can spare me, how can you eat this thing...... Why don't you eat with me? ”

Bailizan immediately snorted and pretended that he hadn't said anything, but Xiaoqiu picked up a plum seriously, and his expression looked at death as if he were at home: "If you accompany Mrs. to eat Mrs., you can give birth to a little son, and the slave and maid will eat it." As he spoke, he was about to put it in his mouth, but the two of them were so frightened that they hurriedly stopped him.

Baili praised: "Don't think about it! ”

Zhiying wanted to cry and laugh again: "Don't play tricks, it's time for dinner, go to the kitchen to see if the chopped pepper fish head I want to eat is ready, go quickly." "Just push Xiaoqiu out.

Xiaoqiu pouted, still muttering about sour men and spicy women like and that, Zhong Luhuan came in from outside.

"Sister, Mr. is also here," Zhong Luhuan led a maid into the spring breeze, "Sister, I heard from the people in the kitchen that my sister likes spicy food recently, so I specially went to buy Laotan wild pepper and made this stir-fried hairy belly slices, the craftsmanship is not good, and I hope my sister will not dislike it." ”

Zhiying looked at the water spirit hair that the maid brought out of the food box, and her eyes straightened, and she said with a smile: "My sister still understands me!" ”

Xiaoqiu was still unwilling: "Cousin, you can't be so used to being a lady, you all say that sour men and hot women are ......"

Zhong Luhuan laughed and comforted: "Sour men and spicy women are just folk sayings, and they can't be done accurately, when my mother gave birth to my two brothers, they all loved spicy food, but they were sour when they gave birth to me, it can be seen that this taste has nothing to do with men and women, my sister often has morning sickness now, and most of the people who eat it vomit out, and then don't follow her to get used to her, and the belly is not big and people lose weight first, so how can I get it?" ”

"Hey!" Zhiying was also embarrassed, "One is poorer than the other, since my sister is here, I will sit down and eat, sir?" ”

Bailizan got up and said: "There is still something in the palace, I will go back first, General Cao's family affairs are almost ready, the girl's family said that August 16 is the auspicious day of the zodiac, set on that day, General Cao is the old man in front of the prince, marriage can not be too shabby, I will do it according to the etiquette of the Yanzhou official family to marry a wife, and when the prince comes back, the lady will discuss with the prince to see what to appreciate." ”

Zhiying smiled comfortably and nodded: "Cheng, there is Mr. Lao, the prince will be back in a few days, the Mid-Autumn Festival and General Cao's wedding, double happiness is coming, we must celebrate and celebrate." ”

Xiaoqiu snapped his fingers and said: "No, no, it's the three joys that are coming, and the prince doesn't know that the lady is pregnant, isn't it another joy?" ”

"Hey, then if you want to say that, the prince is also happy to win the battle, so isn't it four joys?" Zhong Luhuan also smiled.

"No matter how much you like it, it's a good thing lately, and it's going to get better and better in the future." Zhiying took Zhong Luhuan's hand, and several people laughed from ear to ear.

Zhiying suddenly said: "Xiaoqiu, go to the side courtyard to ask Prince Jing to come and have dinner together, he doesn't know that the prince is coming back." ”