The Qianqing Palace is unusually deserted, the sound of singing and dancing on weekdays is gone, the entire Qianqing Palace gives people a sense of emptiness and coldness, and the eunuchs and palace maids on duty at night are as sensitive as rabbits.

Song Nan followed behind Zhang Yong, walking through a long corridor of lights and shadows, Song Nan was very familiar here, but in the past few months, he had been here no more than five fingers, and there was a hint of strangeness in the familiarity.

In front of the bedroom of Zhengde in the Qianqing Palace, two eunuchs on duty stood at the door and walked back and forth, they were the eunuchs who served the emperor closely, the emperor got up at night to relieve his hands or drink tea in the middle of the night or something, these two served, saw Zhang Yong and Song Nan coming, and the two eunuchs came forward to bow.

"The emperor is asleep?" Zhang Yong asked.

"I just fell asleep, I had a big temper before going to bed, and Xiao Dengzi's footwashing water was a little hot, and he was rewarded with ten boards by the emperor." A eunuch whispered.

Zhang Yong frowned, this little Deng Zi is a newly favored servant by Zhengde's side, he is very clever and well-behaved, and he was also recommended by Zhang Yong, even he was beaten ten boards by Zhengde for such a small thing, which shows how bad Zhengde's love is.

"Father-in-law, do you want to see the emperor?"

"Marquis Song wants to see the emperor and wake up the emperor." Zhang Yongdao.

"My father-in-law spared us, the little ones didn't dare to scream, the emperor spoke before going to bed, whoever made a sound would be beaten to death, the emperor couldn't sleep well these nights, and his temper was a little elusive." The eunuch whispered.

Zhang Yong frowned and reprimanded: "Then what do you want to do on errands?" ”

"The father-in-law is considerate of the little ones, do you want the father-in-law to call them personally?"

Zhang Yong scolded, stepped forward to the door curtain in full clothes, bowed down and shouted in a low voice: "Emperor, emperor, are you asleep?" ”

There was no sound in the house, and there was a slight snoring sound, Zhang Yong helplessly looked back at Song Nan and smiled bitterly, turned his head and raised his voice and shouted: "The emperor wake up, the slave Zhang Yong asks to see." ”

When the words fell, Zhang Yong was still listening to the movement, and then he heard the sound of the wind, and an object flew in the air and smashed on the curtain, just through the curtain and smashed on Zhang Yong's head, Zhang Yong staggered back, and heard a crisp sound, as if something had fallen to the ground.

Zhang Yong's head hurt, he stretched out his hand to hide his face and knead, and in a moment a big bag bulged up on his forehead, and at the same time, Zhengde's angry scolding voice came from inside: "You dogs, I can't wait to toss me alive, I finally fell asleep, you come to harass again, I want to beat you to death." ”

Zhang Yong covered his head and knelt at the door, shouting: "The emperor is angry, the slave maid is bringing Marquis Song to see the emperor, the emperor is angry, Marquis Song is standing at the door." ”

Suddenly calmed down, and Zhengde's slightly excited voice came: "Song Nan? Will he come to see me? ”

Song Nan said loudly: "Your Majesty, the minister Song Nan came to see the driver, and he came late at night to disturb the emperor's rest, and the minister deserves death." ”

Zhengde shouted: "Come in, come in, you dogs, don't you come in and hold the lights?" ”

Zhang Yongyi waved his hand, and the two eunuchs who were waiting got into it like gray mice, and after a while, the dormitory was bright, Zhang Yong lifted the curtain for Song Nan, Song Nan stepped in, and saw Zhengde sitting on the dragon couch in a small coat, with fluffy hair and a haggard face.

"Song Nan, come and sit down." Zhengde shouted as he patted the position next to him.

Song Nan stepped forward to bow down, where did he dare to sit on the dragon couch, the eunuch brought the spring stool, and Song Nan sat on the side of Zhengde.

"You can be regarded as here, I just heard Yang Ting and Liang Chu say that how you refuse to see guests, ignore the country's difficulties, and take care of yourself. I'm still thinking, Song Nan is not that kind of person, no, Xiao Yongzi still has the ability, hahaha. ”

Zhang Yong covered the redness and swelling on his forehead, and said with a smile: "Emperor Xie praises." ”

Only then did Zhengde realize that he had hit someone with a sandalwood pillow just now, and it seemed that he had hit Zhang Yong, so he hurriedly asked, "Do you want to ask the imperial doctor to take a look?" Rubbing some safflower oil or something, I can't control my temper for a while. ”

Zhang Yong hurriedly said: "It's okay, it's okay, the emperor doesn't care about the slaves and maids, the slaves and maids lead people to retreat, and the emperor talks to the Marquis of Song about important matters." ”

Zhang Yong waved his hand and led everyone down, and the dormitory suddenly seemed empty, the wick of the giant candle crackled and burst, and the light flickered and dimmed, and the faces of the two people were a little gloomy.

"The emperor has lost weight again." Song Nan said.

"Hey, it's not that you don't know these troubles, I want to have a peaceful birthday, but I just can't get by, there are always troublemakers. What kind of mob is today, tomorrow it is a certain vassal king, and the day after tomorrow it is a tartar, I am emaciated, can I not lose weight? ”

Song Nan nodded and said: "Yes, the emperor is indeed worried enough, my Ming Dynasty has a territory of thousands of miles, and there are tens of millions of people, and the emperor needs to worry about it, it is indeed difficult enough." ”

Zhengde looked at Song Nan gratefully and said, "Isn't it?" Everyone says that the emperor is easy to do, but in fact, who knows the suffering? ”

Song Nan said: "Please take care of the dragon's body, don't work too hard." ”

Zhengde sighed: "If you can solve things by working hard, then I am willing to work harder, but the problem is that I can't do it." Only then the Tartars were violent, my Ming Dynasty had lost a series of battles, and had lost 80,000 soldiers and horses, and the shape was already urgent, and I couldn't stop the Tartars' attack, I was afraid that it would hit the capital in a few days. My heart burned like fire, but there was no one in the Manchu Dynasty who could share my worries. Chang Ning and Xu Guangzuo were very disappointed by me, Lu Wan, who rushed to the northwest yesterday, also suffered a defeat and lost An Yuan, and now the army has retreated in the territory of Zhuanglang Town, relying on the terrain of Tianti Mountain to support it. Lu Wan's fold was very pessimistic, saying that he might not last more than three days, Zhuang Lang Town would not be able to hold it, and as soon as Zhuang Lang lost, he would directly threaten the middle of Shaanxi. The incompetent, who is full of rhetoric on weekdays, becomes a commodity to be slaughtered on the battlefield, and I am really angry and vomiting blood. ”

Of course, Song Nan knew this, Lu Wan went to the northwest to sit in the town, wanting to save the defeat, and gathered the remnants of Xu Guangzuo's army without his own strength, and wanted to attack the Tartar flank from Anyuan's flank, but the Tartars seized the opportunity to implement a counter-encirclement. If it weren't for Yang Yiqing's quick decision and strong Jianyi to give up Anyuan immediately, I'm afraid that more than 40,000 Ming troops would have to give up in Anyuan.

"Actually, I chose the wrong person in the first place, I regret dying, and I was going to let you deal with the Tartars in the first place. But for some reason I believed them; At that time, you said that the Tartars had a conspiracy, but they didn't believe it, and I didn't believe it, but now it seems that your judgment was correct, and I regret my unwisdom at that time. Zhengde said sincerely.

Song Nan nodded lightly and said: "The emperor doesn't have to blame himself, I was also speculating at that time, and there was no evidence to support it, just speculation based on the common sense of using soldiers." The Tartars are very cunning and use intrigues, and it is no wonder that we fell into the trap. ”

Zhengde sighed: "Having said that, we always take it lightly, I feel that now this shape is better for you to come out." Although the court rejected this matter in court the morning before yesterday, I still ordered them to persuade you, I believe that you are not a person who does not know the general situation, I know that you must not be very happy in your heart during this time, but this is a matter between my Ming monarch and ministers. Now that we are facing a Tartar enemy, those things should not be interesting compared to them. ”

Song Nan nodded and said: "The minister said a long time ago, the minister's loyalty is unquestionable, the minister's heart to the emperor can be revealed, and the minister has done something wrong, but the emperor is also benevolent to the minister, when the emperor and the country are in danger, the minister is naturally duty-bound." ”

Zhengde stretched out his hand and grabbed Song Nan's hand and said, "I know that you won't help me." Someone suggested that I would order you to go, and I knew in my heart that I didn't need to do that; Because you don't need to force me to help me; I have thought about this matter carefully, but in fact, in my heart, the relationship between me and you is not only the righteousness of the monarch and the minister, but also some relationships that others do not know about. There are some things that you don't need to say too much to understand. ”

Song Nan smiled and said: "The emperor's eloquence has also grown a lot in the past few years, and he can still speak it than the ministers." ”

Zhengde laughed and said: "I am the emperor, so naturally I have to be excellent everywhere." Tell me, what day did you set out with your troops? This is a matter of urgency. ”

Song Nan shook his head slightly and said, "Your Majesty, you can't be in a hurry." ”

"How?" Zhengde frowned.

"The reason why the minister was reluctant to take over before was because there was no certainty of victory, and the minister was not idle, and the minister had done a study on the soldiers and horses of the Tartars this time, and the minister believed that if you want to win the battle, you must have some conditions that the emperor promised me, otherwise, I'm afraid it will be difficult."

Zhengde said: "As long as I can drive them away, what conditions can't I agree to?" ”

Song Nan shook his head and said: "It's not so easy, the emperor can naturally agree to this condition, but the ministers may not agree, and it involves a wide range of things and has a far-reaching impact; But this qiē was obtained by the minister after careful consideration. When I came to see the emperor tonight, I wanted to explain these things and ask the emperor to decide. ”