Mrs. Qiao was surprised: "Master, is the court still going to punish you for your crimes?" ”

"I imprisoned Wei Tianqing in the prison, just waiting for Hexi to be held accountable, I know that even if Hexi really thinks about me, he will not really punish me now." Qiao Mingtang's expression was grim, "But Hexi has not been held accountable for a long time, this is not a good thing, it is a deliberate intention to wait until the matter is over to punish me." ”

Mrs. Qiao was even more anxious: "Master, what should I do then?" Now that this Feng Poyu is aggressive, even if you really help them defeat the Northwest Army, this is behind! ”

Qiao Mingtang was silent for a moment, and finally said: "Don't worry, I'm thinking about it, at least Feng Poyu doesn't dare to really do it to me now." The morale of the Northwest Army is already in full swing now, and if Feng Polu acts recklessly in Hexi and really provokes a popular uprising, he will not be able to escape responsibility. After hesitating, he said, "Madam, you can cook a few delicate side dishes later, and you can do it yourself." ”

"Master, you are!"

"Wei Tianqing has been in prison for some days, and I should go and see it." Qiao Mingtang sighed: "After all, with me, I can't be ruthless to him." ”

When Mrs. Qiao heard this, she immediately rejoiced and said, "Master, you should have gone to see him a long time ago." You wait, I'll do it right away and cook him some good dishes. ”

Wei Tianqing didn't think that he would be locked up in the Yunshan Mansion prison one day, but after these days in prison, he has already adapted.

Qiao Mingtang also took a lot of care of him, three meals a day, although not sumptuous, but much better than ordinary prisoners, and every night, a pot of wine would be provided.

It's just that Wei Tianqing's mood is very depressed.

He took the initiative to ask Qiao Mingtang to put him in prison, in the final analysis, it was to repay Qiao Mingtang for taking care of him over the years.

Wei Tianqing knew very well in his heart that he was defeated in a battle with the Northwest Army, not to mention the loss of troops, and he was taken two states by the Northwest Army in a row, so it was impossible for Hexi not to react in such a fiasco.

He even believes that the direct reason for this defeat is that he fell into the trap of his opponent because of his own negligence.

If the imperial court wants to investigate, Wei Tianqing naturally thinks that he should be held responsible.

After the defeat, he returned to Yunshan Mansion full of guilt, and took the initiative to ask Qiao Mingtang to put him in prison and bear all the responsibility for the defeat, but this also played into Qiao Mingtang's hands, Qiao Mingtang really needed to find a scapegoat to explain to Hexi.

Wei Tianqing thought that Hexi's will would come down soon, and his head would be cut off at any time, but left and right, it seemed that everyone had forgotten him, except for three meals a day, no one else came to see him.

Although he thought that sooner or later he would be dragged out and his head cut off, in the prison, Wei Tianqing did not sit and wait for death, and would find some time every day to fight in the prison for a while.

There are no years in prison, every day is late, it is all drowsy and gloomy, and I don't know when it is day and when it is night.

He could only rely on the time when the jailer delivered the meal to judge the hour of the day.

Hearing the sound of footsteps in the aisle, Wei Tianqing knew that it should be time for lunch, but the jailer who came in this time was obviously different from usual.

In the past, it was only one jailer who came to deliver food, but this time three jailers came, the first two jailers carried a delicate small table and sent it to the prison to be placed, and the third jailer entered the prison with a jar of wine in one hand and put both jars of wine down.

Wei Tianqing frowned, and then laughed: "I've been waiting for this for a long time, I didn't expect to arrive today, so it's okay, my patience is not good, and today is in vain, so I don't need to wait." Pointing to the two jars of wine, he said: "Go and get two more jars, since it is a severed head meal, you must always let people eat and drink enough, these two jars of wine are too little, not enough for gargling." ”

Qiao Mingtang's voice was already heard outside: "Don't worry, if you want to drink, you can always manage enough, I'm afraid that your stomach won't be able to hold up." In the middle of the words, Qiao Mingtang had already appeared outside the door, dressed in a light robe, and carrying a rice blue in his hand, Wei Tianqing hurriedly got up and arched his hand: "Qiao Du!" ”

Qiao Mingtang waved his hand, motioned for the jailer to retreat, and ordered: "Go and guard outside the door, without my permission, the Heavenly King Lao Tzu is not allowed to come in." ”

After several jailers retreated, Qiao Mingtang entered the prison, put the rice basket on the low table, and then sat on the ground, Wei Tianqing hurriedly said: "Qiao Du, this place is sloppy!" ”

"You've been here for so long, and you haven't disliked being sloppy, so why should I care?" Qiao Mingtang beckoned and smiled: "Tianqing, sit down and talk." He had already opened the lid of the rice basket and taken out the dishes from it, and five or six delicate side dishes were taken out of it and placed on the table, "These are all specialty dishes cooked by the lady herself, you can also taste them." ”

Wei Tianqing hesitated, and finally sat down opposite Qiao Mingtang, and said with a smile: "I didn't expect that this last meal was made by Madame herself, Qiao Du, please thank Madame on my behalf." ”

"The last meal?" Qiao Mingtang frowned and said, "Why do you say this? ”

Wei Tianqing said: "Isn't it the imperial court that has come to punish the lowly and dragged him to the execution ground, so that he will eat a severed meal?" ”

Qiao Mingtang suddenly laughed and said, "Tianqing, it seems that you are really ready to go to the execution ground to be punished?" ”

Wei Tianqing said solemnly: "The humble post has already said that the responsibility for defeat is borne by the humble duty!" ”

"You, you!" Qiao Mingtang raised his finger and pointed at Wei Tianqing, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, even if there is really a holy decree coming down, will I watch you being dragged to the execution ground?" We have been friends for many years, like brothers, even if you are dismissed from office, or even lose my life, I will not let the knife on your neck! ”

"Qiaodu!"

Qiao Mingtang waved his hand and said: "I did go to the court, took all the blame on myself, and tried my best to protect you, but the court side has not moved for a long time, and I don't know what it means over there." ”

Wei Tianqing frowned and said, "Qiao Du, this is a bit abnormal. ”

"It's really abnormal." Qiao Mingtang said: "Tianqing, you shouldn't know yet, Hexi has already sent reinforcements!" ”

"Oh?" Wei Tianqing said with a smile: "It's hard to smell what is going on outside the window here, it turns out that the reinforcements have arrived." That's good, since reinforcements have been sent, and Yunshan Mansion is already an iron wall, it will be difficult for the Northwest Army to capture Yunshan Mansion City if they want to fight over. ”

Qiao Mingtang shook his head and sighed softly, Wei Tianqing hurriedly asked, "Why are you sighing?" But what's the difficulty? ”

Qiao Mingtang picked up the wine jar, patted open the sealing mud, poured wine into the two wine bowls, picked up the wine bowl and said: "Tianqing, don't talk about anything else tonight, let's drink, no matter how much trouble there is, after getting drunk, I can't remember anything." ”

"Qiaodu, what the hell is going on?" Wei Tianqing's big hand was holding down the wine bowl, "Did something happen?" ”

Qiao Mingtang had already picked up the wine bowl, but at this time, he hesitated, slowly put it down, and sighed: "I didn't want to tell you, but since you asked, I won't hide it from you." He shook his head with a wry smile and said, "Coming over today, although it is not your last meal, it is the last meal of wine for you and me together." After drinking this wine, you will go away, I have prepared for you, and you will leave tonight. ”

"Leave?" Wei Tianqing's face was full of astonishment.

Qiao Mingtang said: "Tianqing, I never thought of letting you bear the responsibility and let you go to prison, I was ready at the beginning, if the court just fell lightly, then you will suffer some grievances, save your life, and then reinstate the official when the time comes, but once the court really wants to do something to you, you must leave." ”

Wei Tianqing changed color and said, "My lord, is it! ”

"The imperial court has not issued an order, but the shape is no longer optimistic." Qiao Mingtang sneered: "Hexi sent tens of thousands of reinforcements, most of them were barbarian cavalry, and their commander was Feng Poyu, the number one general under Feng Yuanpo's command at the beginning. ”

Wei Tianqing clenched his fists and sneered: "The adult was a member of the princelings many years ago, and he contributed a lot to the princelings, and now he is even more dedicated to the emperor, Feng Poyu is just a rebellion, so he was accepted by the emperor for his own use, what qualifications does this person have to compare with adults?" How dare he sow wild on the heads of adults? ”

"I don't care about any of that." Qiao Mingtang shook his head and smiled bitterly: "It's just that from his words, I have already heard that the Holy Lord is worried about the defeat of the last army, and now there is no attack, but we still have use value, and when the overall situation is stable, we will inevitably be held accountable." His expression became solemn, "It seems that the Holy Lord has already had a murderous intent towards me, and the power of the sky is unpredictable, but once the Holy Lord has a murderous intent, it will be difficult to turn back!" ”

Wei Tianqing frowned and said, "My lord, you have followed the saint for many years and have always been loyal to him, even if he is defeated, he shouldn't be so ruthless to you, right?" ”

"Tianqing, you have to know who are the people around the saint now." Qiao Mingtang sighed: "They people, what can't they say?" Our former backer in the court was the current saint, but now that the saint has ascended the throne, how can there be anyone who speaks for us in the court, but I have always had a clean sleeve, and I have never been able to please those Beijing officials, but I am afraid that there are already many people who are angry with me, and now that I have the opportunity, I will naturally fall into the ground. A sneer appeared on his face: "What's more, after this Feng Poyu arrived in Xishan, he looked like he was the only one, but it seems that everyone in this Xishan Road has to listen to his deployment, and I have also had a quarrel with him for this, this person will inevitably write to Hexi, and he will not slander me behind his back!" ”

"I see." Wei Tianqing clenched his fists and sneered: "He just led the army to come to support and assist us in guarding Xishan, not let him be the governor of Xishan." ”

"No matter what, my future is already unlucky, and I must not affect you." Qiao Mingtang said solemnly: "Tianqing, so far, you can't stay here, it's better to leave as soon as possible." ”