Slightly drunk, Ling Li raised his hand and pushed open Dong Yuejiao's door.

"Who?!" The woman in brocade who was bowing down in front of the pear blossom wood table to mix and serve a pile of fat powder heard the "squeak" of opening the door, and her body was shocked.

"Madam, it's His Highness who has returned." The maid serving next to her comforted her softly, and then turned to curtsy towards Ling Li, "Your Highness." ”

Ling Li nodded, and then waved his hand to signal the maid to retreat.

After the two maids in the house received the order, they walked out of the bedroom lightly, and Ling Li walked towards Dong Yuejiao.

"The concubine has seen His Highness." The look of panic on Dong Yuejiao's face still did not subside, and after the knee salute, she lowered her eyebrows and looked at the tips of her shoes, and the hands held in front of her were a little trembling.

Ling Li looked at her silently, but her body trembled more and more.

"You're afraid of me?" Ling Li reached out to support her jaw and lifted her face to meet his own.

"No, no." Dong Yuejiao shook her head and denied it, but the face whose facial features had been delicately depicted was full of fear, and a pair of big apricot round eyes were at a loss, but she didn't dare to look directly at him.

Ling Li admitted that on the night of marriage, he was a little rough with her because of his alcohol and anger, but he never said a word to her after that. After such a long time, every time he approached her, she trembled with fear, as if he were a bloodthirsty and terrible demon.

Seeing her like this, although Ling Li felt uncomfortable, he remembered what his mother told him to say, and still hugged her. She is his wife, and without a son and a daughter, she will be widowed for the rest of her life, and there is no hope. After all, it wasn't her fault for marrying him.

In Ling Li's arms, Dong Yuejiao gritted her teeth and strongly restrained the fear in her heart. But her rapid breathing and shaking body could not hide it at all. has been married for many years, and she also longs to have her own children, but she has never been able to restrain the fear of this man in her heart.

Holding this woman who was trembling with fear, Ling Li suddenly remembered another woman he had hugged during the day. The warm breath seemed to still circulate around the neck, the long eyelashes that drooped slightly, the erect wings of the nose, and the slightly curled lips like the edge of the bow. The petals, like a pear blossom waiting to be picked, are quiet and soft.

Obviously feeling that his breathing was calmer, and also felt that his hand holding her waist was gentle, Dong Yuejiao was a little surprised. She opened her eyes slightly, and found that his usual tense expression was a little relaxed, and his angular face was devoid of the anger of the past. The fear in her heart subsided slightly.

Ling Li put her on the bed and waved the veil off the head of the bed with his backhand.

The sound of the light yarn scattering, accompanied by the space in the tent that suddenly became narrow, made Dong Yuejiao panic again. She suddenly remembered that her embroidered shoes had not been taken off, and she suddenly sat up in a panic, "Minister, concubine's shoes ......"

Before her feet fell off the bed, she had been caught by Ling Li. Her body froze, and she suddenly stiffened like wood, even her tongue.

Ling Li took off her jade cloud brocade shoes, and gently took off the thin cotton socks embroidered with hibiscus flowers on her feet.

A pair of plump and plump white feet were presented naked in front of Ling Li, and the ten nails painted with Danko were scarlet and dazzling.

At this moment, he suddenly felt bored.

He moved her feet up. On the bed, he glanced at her tense and trembling body, and finally brushed off the veil in front of the bed and walked away without looking back.

Looking at the figure of Gao Kui, a line of tears slipped out of Dong Yuejiao's eyes. The family said that she was delicate and willful, and regarded a cat and a dog as more important than her husband, but who knew that this man was a sharp iceberg, and she couldn't get close.

The moonlight outside is like water, and the evening breeze is quiet.

Ling Li stood on the edge of the waterfront corridor, looking at the full moon in the turbulent waves, and the clear eyes staring straight at him appeared in his mind. Those eyes are like the lake on this moonlit night, clear and clear, with nothing to hide, but they are endless.

"Poof—"

Ling Li jumped forward and threw his hot and anxious body and mind into this pool of clear waves.

*********

In the evening of this day, Ling Li and Ling Zhao sat in the cool breeze pavilion at the end to drink tea, and received an edict from Emperor Chengde to summon him into the palace.

And before that, he had just learned from Ling Zhao what had happened in the Vertical Arch Hall in the morning.

Shu Shi'an, who had been silent for half a month, submitted a 10,000-word letter of advice to the imperial court. This time, although it was a little later than Ling Li expected, the effect was really amazing.

In order to convince Emperor Chengde and other anti-war courtiers, he not only counted the large and small incidents of Xili's harassment of the South Vietnamese border in the past ten years, but also conducted an in-depth analysis of the distribution area and frequency of these incidents, as well as the impact on the South Vietnamese border in terms of economy and people's livelihood.

At the same time, he also attached a petition for guilt, frankly admitting that his proposal to deal with the Sangmu Town incident in a friendly manner eight years ago was a wrong move in misjudging the situation, and instead of truly solving the border issue, it delayed the opportunity for the imperial court to raise troops and horses for war. In the ten years since he became prime minister, he has paid attention to people's livelihood affairs such as water conservancy, farming, salt and iron, but neglected the construction of the army and national defense, resulting in the current embarrassing situation of lack of knives and blades, and the lack of soldiers and horses. On the contrary, the Xili Kingdom has been recuperating and strong over the years, and there are more than 10,000 war horses in the Jinyintan Horse Farm outside Xiqi Pass alone.

For this reason, while asking himself for punishment, he knelt down and asked Emperor Chengde to study and deploy the Western Expedition as soon as possible, otherwise South Vietnam would inevitably fall into a situation where the mountains and rivers would be shattered and the society would be in danger within ten years!

After he knelt on the ground and bowed down, a large number of ministers in the DPRK and China, who had originally advocated the use of force to deal with the border incident, echoed him. And some of those who had been strongly opposed to the expedition remained silent after hearing the appalling data. So, after pondering for a long time, Emperor Chengde finally agreed to the westward expedition.

After determining the dispatch of troops to the west, it was natural to talk about the candidates for the general of the expedition to the west. When Emperor Chengde consulted for opinions, the two divisions and three officials discussed a lot, but they couldn't put forward a suitable candidate for half a day, either the old illness of the general of Zhenguo had not been cured, or the auxiliary general was old and weak, and the rest of the generals of the forbidden army also had to be in their posts, so it was not appropriate to be transferred.

In desperation, Emperor Chengde asked each general of the previous dynasty to nominate a person, and decide who to send to the expedition based on the number of votes. He Anguo, the general of Zhenguo, was the first to elect the crown prince Ling Chong. said that the prince has been in charge for many years and is familiar with the important affairs of the army, if he can lead the troops on behalf of the emperor and show his royal bearing, he will make all the people obey and the army will be greatly inspired!

When he went to the prince's father-in-law, the auxiliary general Zhong Jishu, he first vigorously touted that General He's advice was exactly the same as his, and the royal children led the army to conquer in person, which would definitely be able to deter the Xili barbarians and achieve twice the result with half the effort. Immediately pointed out that it was inappropriate for the prince to lead the troops, since ancient times, "the prince does not general", the emperor is in full bloom, and the prince is more suitable to assist in internal affairs and do a good job in the logistics support of the western expedition.

Although he did not explicitly state the reason why "the prince does not serve soldiers", the sentence "The emperor is in the prime of spring and autumn" made everyone understand it in their hearts, and it also made Emperor Chengde deeply believe it. Throughout the ages, there have been too many incidents of forcing the palace and killing the monarch in the end, which is a royal ban. Don't, unless it's a last resort, I won't make this choice.

The first two generals set such a tone, and when it was the turn of Li Jiuquan, the general of Fengguo, he elected Ling Zhao, the second prince who had been crowned prince. However, as soon as this remark came out, there was an uproar in the DPRK and China, and there were many opponents. It is said that Ling Zhao is just an idle prince who is intoxicated with wind and snow, he does not understand political affairs, let alone military affairs, and sending him on the expedition will only distract the army.

As a result, the generals who spoke later unanimously recommended Ling Li, the third prince who had been in the border for many years, saying that he was not only familiar with military affairs and understood the situation of the enemy on the border, but also that the plan for the westward expedition proposed before was even more far-sighted, meticulous and feasible, and he was the best candidate to lead the army to the west.

This result is exactly what Ling Li wants.