With Xiao Jiu's marriage coming to an end, Lingshui County has gradually returned to its former calm.

Xiao Jiu's cheap brother-in-law, Li Yi, also stayed in Lingshui County for four days before returning to Kyoto.

Before leaving, looking at the people who saw him off, Li Yi took Xiao Jiu's hands and gave a serious advice, which caused Li Luoyao to complain for a while.

In the end, he could only sigh a sentence of "the woman is not staying", and then took a group of relatives and horses to the west.

As soon as Li Yi's team left Lingshui County, the 100-member delegation led by Zhou Jin returned to Lingshui County on the second day.

Unlike when he set off, Zhou Jin, who came back this time, was already disgraced, and the clothes on his body were visibly damaged.

After the group entered Lingshui County, they hurried to the county government and met Xiao Jiu, who had just been married.

"You said that Yuzhou was captured by the rebels?"

Listening to Zhou Jin's report, Xiao Jiu frowned tightly and asked with some suspicion.

Zhou Jin and the accompanying Xiao Zi battalion soldiers all nodded lightly with serious faces.

Xiao Jiu learned through Zhou Jin's account that the current city of Yuzhou had been captured by a number of united rebel armies.

The family of Meng Qinghao, the governor of Yuzhou, was also slaughtered by the rebels who rushed into the city.

It's just that Xiao Jiu is a little puzzled, in the face of the strong Yuzhou City, how did the rebel army break through?

According to Zhou Jin, since the rebel army can break through the capital of Yizhou, it must have grown to an unbelievable scale.

100,000, 200,000, or more?

Xiao Jiu didn't dare to think about it, he had been staying in Lingshui County and knew very little about the outside world, and he only knew that a few county towns had been broken by the rebels, but they were all suppressed by the state government.

From Zhou Jin's words, Xiao Jiu got a few key words.

"Cult of the Divine Fire"

Muttering this religious word in his mouth, Xiao Jiu thought thoughtfully.

Previously, Xiao Jiu had also sent people to Jizhou and Yuzhou to inquire about some severely affected areas.

I have also heard the name of the Shenhuo Sect in bits and pieces, and now that the rebel army has captured Yuzhou City, the Shenhuo Sect, which connects several states and counties like a line, must not be underestimated.

With the growth of the rebel team, it is impossible for the imperial court to sit idly by, although Qingzhou has not been affected by the disaster, but after all, it is adjacent to Jizhou and Yuzhou.

Once the rebel team snowballs to more places, Lingshui County, the gateway to Qingzhou, will have a battle with these "anti-thieves".

Now Xiao Jiu not only has to face the prying eyes of Lu Yaoliang from Qingzhou, but also has to always be on guard against the pressure of the rebel army in Jizhou and Yuzhou.

Lingshui County, which had just made some improvements, was about to face a severe test at this time, which made Xiao Jiu feel deeply worried.

In addition, with the strength of the rebel army and the military strength of Jizhou and Yuzhou stretched, the attitude of Lu Yaoliang, the governor of Qingzhou, was particularly important.

Now the rebellion in Anhui is still unquelled, the southern states are actually in a state of independence, and there are Rong people eyeing the outside of Huya Pass.

The imperial court no longer has enough manpower and financial resources to quell the rebellion, and the ambitious Lu Yaoliang will really take care of the safety of Great Xia and do such a thankless thing?

These Xiao Jiu didn't dare to make a conclusion, and could only wait for the movement of the imperial court to decide where to go next.

……

Kyoto, the Imperial City.

A court meeting was being held in the majestic palace, and Qin Yu felt a huge exhaustion in his heart in the face of the declining Great Xia.

At this time, Yuzhou was captured by the rebel army, and it was the first military and political unit occupied by anti-thieves in the nineteen states of Great Xia.

The atmosphere in the hall was a little depressing, and all the ministers who participated in the court meeting stood silently, and no one dared to speak first.

Looking at the dumb courtiers, a long-suppressed anger surged up from Qin Yu's heart.

More than 400 years since the founding of Great Xia, I don't know how many emperors have changed, but now there is no one available in the entire Kyoto court, which is undoubtedly not a sadness.

On weekdays, these court officials who are full of benevolence and righteousness and talk loudly all shrink in the corner like quails at this time, for fear of being noticed by the emperor.

Now that it is the end of the dynasty, and the court is full of corpses and vegetarians, how can Great Xia not die?

Do you want to blame Qin Yu for not working hard? But in the face of such a big mess, no one can handle it perfectly.

Qin Yu wanted to order the killing of all these sanctimonious courtiers, but as an emperor, he couldn't be so willful.

At this time, he could only pretend to be calm and sit on the dragon chair, like a pasteer, trying to make up for the leaky Great Xia Dynasty.

As the emperor's edicts were issued, the edicts were quickly sent to various state capitals and counties.

In the edict sent to Qingzhou, he directly promised to add Lu Yaoliang as the general of the Zhuguo State after the Qingzhou army sent troops to quell the rebellion.

General Zhu Guoda, a long-standing name.

Only at the beginning of the dynasty did a few people occupy this position, and nominally had the power to transfer troops and horses throughout the country.

Throwing out such a big cake at this time, Qin Yu couldn't predict whether Lu Yaoliang would be moved.

As for the soldiers and horses in the Zhili Huya Pass, Qin Yu was not ready to use them.

No matter what kind of fight is made in the pass, it will always be the internal struggle of the Great Xia people.

But if the Huya Pass is lost, when the Rong people enter the pass, it will undoubtedly be another disaster for those unarmed people.

Qin Yu still sees this very clearly, and he is also an emperor with national integrity.

After the courtiers were dispersed, only Yun Bi, the commander of the forbidden army, and a few old eunuchs were left in the main hall.

Looking at the empty hall, Qin Yu was a little distracted, and after being in a daze for a long time, he said some gossip to Yun Bi beside him that had nothing to do with the court.

"Yunbi, do you remember when we were children?"

Yun Bi listened to Qin Yu's sigh and looked up with some doubts, but only saw the expressionless emaciated cheeks of the other party.

Without waiting for Yun Bi to think more, Qin Yu's calm voice slowly came again.

"At that time, my mother had been killed by my father's concubines."

"Facing familiar faces and high palace walls, I have nothing but fear in my heart."

"I have no friends, and I can't trust anyone until my father sends you to the East Palace."

"Yun Bi, in fact, in my heart, you and I are not just monarchs and ministers, you are still my only friend."

Listening to Qin Yu's slow words as if he were talking to himself, some soft places in Yun Bi's heart were touched.

He was born into a poor peasant family, and because his family could not afford the high land rent and taxes, he had to be sent to the palace.

Fortunately, he has a good figure, and he was able to be favored by the old emperor and sent to the prince's East Palace to be a guard, and he learned martial arts.

Who in Kyoto Castle today doesn't know the name of Yunbi?

Although physically handicapped, his loyalty has been proven in palace coups and court coups.

It's just that in the face of this stormy Great Xia, all he can do is to defend Kyoto under his feet for Emperor Qin Yu.