Chapter 88 Emergency

  “...Long live the king! This has thoroughly made me lose heart in His Excellency!” Zou Cheng sighed softly, “After the first month, Qi Guo will send a betrothal gift to welcome the Sixth Princess, and the wedding will be held between March and April. His Excellency should make a decision...” The voice stopped abruptly, and Zou Cheng shook his head in pain and frustration, “I have lived for so long, but I have never seen such a weak ruler of a country. He only knows how to eliminate dissenters at home, harm loyal officials, and apart from ceding territory, paying indemnities, and marrying off princesses, what else is he capable of?!”

  The study suddenly fell silent.

  After a long time, Anqing Hou Meng slapped the table, "As long as I still have a breath, I absolutely cannot let the Sixth Princess marry like this!" The Emperor was pressing step by step, the situation was getting more and more urgent, he had no more time to waste. If he wanted to continue enjoying wealth and glory in his later years, he must take action before the Sixth Princess got married.

  He gritted his teeth hard, and a resolute determination flashed in Anqing Hou's eyes.

  "Is it that easy?" Zou Cheng shook his head, "The 20,000 troops Shen Zhongjue mobilized last time have never withdrawn from Fenggu, and if there's even a slight disturbance in the capital, they can arrive in an instant." His words carried a sense of grandeur that had already passed.

  The bell tolls!

  When he heard this name, Anqing Hou gritted his teeth.

  If it weren't for him deploying troops to surround the two flanks of the imperial city, how would he have been forced to compromise with Wan Sui and agree to marry off the Sixth Princess?

  "If the four gates of the imperial city are closed..." Duke Anqing said word by word, "how long will it take for his 20,000-strong army to break through the city gate?"

  "Uh..." Zou Cheng shook his head, looking at Anqing Hou with confusion, "What does your lordship mean?"

  "Capture the thief, capture the king. We just need to find the right moment and take control of one person in the Forbidden City within half an hour... " Duke Anqing said word by word, "Everything will be easy!"

  "Found the right timing?" Zou Cheng muttered to himself, "...... what timing is best?" Suddenly his eyes lit up, he looked up at Anqing Hou, "The Lantern Festival!"

  "Happy Lantern Festival!"

  Anqing Hou said in unison.

  The two of them suddenly stopped talking at the same time. They quietly looked at each other, then suddenly burst out laughing together.

  Great minds think alike.

  Zou Cheng's gloomy face cleared, and he looked at Anqing Hou hastily, saying, "...the Emperor has already ordered the Crown Prince to escort the Sixth Princess and her husband, so you can take this opportunity to memorialize the Emperor to recommend Shen Zhongjie to personally lead troops to protect them."

  "Brother Zou's words are extremely right." Duke Anqing nodded, "In this way, we can confuse the Emperor and make him think that we are just trying to lure the tiger away from the mountain, and plan to take action after the marriage between the Sixth Princess and the Prince!" As he spoke, he looked up at Zou Cheng, "...this matter still requires Brother Zou to personally meet with the envoy of Qi State."

  This matter was advocated by the Qi State envoy as better than his recommendation.

  "Good!" Zou Cheng stood up, "Lord Hou didn't mention it, but I was just about to go visit Ambassador Qi anyway."

  The sky had darkened at some point, and the distant mountains, nearby trees, pavilions, and buildings were all shrouded in a layer of mist. In the dim and hazy atmosphere, Anqing Hou slightly narrowed his eyes as he gazed up at the scattered snowflakes dancing down from the half-empty sky.

  The bell tolls!

  Wait till the Lantern Festival, I will make sure you die without a place to be buried!

  ……

  On the first day of the fourth month, after breakfast, Zhen Shiyin sat on the edge of the bed and chatted with Shen Zhonggui.

  "...In winter, when food is scarce, starving wolves will gang up and attack horse herds. They closely follow the horses, quietly waiting for an opportunity to strike, usually in the second half of the night. One by one, large gray wolves charge into the herd from all directions. First, they attack the foals, killing them quickly with a single bite, but not rushing to devour them. Instead, they continue to slaughter other horses. Wolves will also gang up and surround adult horses. They crawl under the horse's belly, hanging upside down on the horse's abdomen, using their sharp claws to slash open the horse's stomach, then roll out, leaving a large hole in the horse's belly. The horse will still run forward several yards due to inertia, trampling its own intestines, and collapse to the ground..."

  Zhen Shining was familiar with the northern grasslands, deserts and customs from her past life. She knew that Wansui had ambitions to unify Yanqi, and Shen Zhongjie had been planning for it too. Having read the Great Zhou Chronicles, she knew that Yanqi was located in the north of the Great Zhou, especially Qi Guo, a country mainly based on nomadic culture, which was an unfamiliar field for Shen Zhongjie. So she started telling him about these things in a casual and familiar tone.

  A war, for the parties involved, is not just about understanding each other's military deployment and defense, but also about understanding the potential natural disasters that may occur in the environment, sometimes it is these minor details that determine the outcome of a war.

  Every day, Zhen Shining told stories to Jian Wen and Jian Wu, and her eloquence was practiced early on. A segment of the wolf disaster was spoken by her in a vivid and expressive way, with Shen Zhongge's eyes shining brightly as he listened intently, his spirit concentrated. Zhen Shining's mouth curved into a smile.

  She gambled correctly, he indeed loves listening to these.

  Only by getting along well with him can she gain more rights and freedom in her future life as a daughter-in-law.

  Just then, a loud commotion broke out in the courtyard, and Li Qizhen's wife shouted in a voice like a trumpet, "Ayou... Ayou... hurry up and save us..."

  Everyone's voice has changed, someone must be critically ill!

  Heaven, Shen Zhongge is right here, isn't this forcing a knife into his throat?

  Although calm, Zhen Shining's mind was also a complete blank at this time. Qiujie had already turned pale and saw Zhen Shining looking over, two words not spoken.

  He didn't say a word and ran out.

  "Who's so loud?" Just as the story was getting exciting, Shen Zhongge frowned.

  Since he didn't seem to hear Li Qizhen's wife's voice, Zhen Shiniang felt slightly relieved. "It's the neighbor, maybe something happened at home. General, please wait a moment, I'll go take a look and come back."

  She got up to refill Shen Zhong's teacup, and Zhen Shi Niang calmly walked out of the room. As soon as she closed the door, she hastily headed outside. Just as she passed through the corridor, she ran into Qiu Ju, who was panting and called out, "Miss!"

  "What's going on?" Zhen Shi Niang pushed her out of the door with one hand and closed it behind her.

  "It was the dog from Old Wang's house, it had choked on a peanut and was almost dead. Luckily, Mrs. Li was around and brought her here..." Qiuju patted her chest and took a deep breath, "and then Jiemei led her to their house."

  Zhen Shiniang turned her head to take a look, and Ji Que was standing at the door of the western wing, beckoning to her with his hand, muttering in a low voice, while the other hand secretly pointed to the west house. She quickly turned her head and ordered Qiuju, "You go to the corridor first and guard it, block the general from coming over, I'll go take a look."

  The patient has been sent home, today she can't hide even if she wants to.

  The sage said, "To destroy it, one must first learn from it." To conquer Yan and Qi, we must first learn their techniques, understand their customs. Since returning to the capital after our victory, the Emperor has revealed to him his ambition to unify the Three Kingdoms. In these six months, he has been quietly preparing for war, opening horse markets, training cavalry, and gathering intelligence on Yan and Qi.

  The northerners are skilled in riding and shooting, he has always thought that as long as they practice well, they can destroy the Yan and Qi states, which have not had war for over a decade and have already put away their swords and guns, but he never thought that deep in the territory of Qi, they would encounter wolf disasters and arid deserts where they could not get out for several days. If he didn't understand these things beforehand, once he led his troops to penetrate deeply, he would encounter wolf disasters or deserts without any signs to distinguish directions...

  Luckily, the story of Zhen Shiniang reminded him!

  While he was frightened, he yearned to learn more about the story of the wolf smoke in the northern desert. Who would have thought that just as he was listening with great interest, such a thing happened.

  It's just like listening to a storytelling session, right at the most critical moment, the storyteller slaps the wooden table with a loud "pa" and says, "...to know what happens next, please listen to the next part of the story."

  On the left, Zhen Shiniang didn't come back, on the right, she still hadn't returned, and in Shen Zhongjie's heart there was a kind of indescribable vexation.

  Seeing his face getting darker and darker, Rong Sheng lifted his foot and walked out.

  "How did you get out?" Qiujie was wandering around the corridor in a daze, saw Rongsheng coming out, and was startled. "Quickly go back and hide, if the neighbors see that there is a man in Miss's room, it will ruin her reputation."

  For five years, Zhen Shi Nang had been living as a widow. As the legitimate wife of a great general of the Great Zhou Dynasty, her embarrassing identity was not seen in the light of day in Wutong Town. Qiu Ju had long developed a habitual way of thinking and when she got anxious, she blurted it out.

  The old master's mouth is open and can't be closed.

  This sounds like General Zhang's family is having an affair?

  To clear up the misunderstanding, General's wife had given her innocence to his family seven years ago. They were a couple who had gone through the wedding ceremony and entered the bridal chamber together, so why couldn't they be seen in public?

  "...What are you still standing there for, hurry up and go in!" Autumn Chrysanthemum had always been worried that Zhen Shiniang's true identity as Jian Dafu would be exposed. Her heart was already a mess, but she didn't expect her own words to cause trouble. Seeing Rong Sheng still standing there, she used her hand to push him, "Hurry up!"

  The air around seemed chilly, and Qiu Ju subconsciously raised her head. Shen Zhongge was standing at the door of the east house with a dark face.

  "General......" Qiu Ju's whole body trembled and her head buzzed.

  She had wanted to block the door and prevent Shen Zhongjie from leaving, but her legs were weak and she couldn't move a step. If it weren't for the wall behind her back, she would have collapsed long ago.

  Chunju had seen Shen Zhongjie's dark face before, but she had never seen him so furious. The intangible aura emanating from his body seemed to be able to swallow people whole at any moment. A voice in her heart kept shouting, "It's over, it's over! Miss, the matter of Jian Dafu is probably going to get out of hand!" Chunju had no idea that Shen Zhongjie was furious because of a single sentence she had just spoken.

  "General..." Seeing Shen Zhongjie walking step by step, Rong Sheng subconsciously blocked in front of Qiuju, facing his cold and stern gaze, and then hesitantly shifted to the side.

  The chrysanthemum's lips turned white and trembled, unable to utter a sound.

  "What's going on outside?" Contrary to Rong Sheng's expectations, Shen Zhongjie didn't interrogate Qiu Ju about what she had just said.

  "Outside... outside..." Chrysanthemum's mind went blank, and her mouth said uncontrollably, "The dog from the Yu family's house choked on peanuts and came to find Miss."

  Choked on peanuts?

  "Why didn't you find a doctor?" Shen Zhongke was puzzled and couldn't understand.

  What's the use of them finding Zhen Shiniang?

  The young lady of their household is actually a doctor!

  Qiu Ju wailed in her heart, but she didn't dare say it out loud. Seeing Shen Zhongge's gaze suddenly turn cold, she flipped her eyelids and fell softly to the ground.

  "General!" Rong Sheng was about to help Qiu Ju, but saw Shen Zhongge's face turn pale and black as he quickly walked out. Frightened, he didn't care about Qiu Ju and hastily chased after him.