Li Qingxia's heart moved and she asked: "Your father is a soldier?" The older boy said loudly: "Yes! Our father is a soldier. Because of you, a bad princess, he had to go to fight with the Yanyun Army. As a result, , and the result..." As he spoke, the young man couldn't help crying, and the younger brother next to him also started crying.
Li Qingxia only felt that her heart was stabbed hard, and she said to the guards: "Let them go!" The guards looked at each other, and the captain of the guard said: "Your Highness, they dare to assassinate the royal chariot, they should kill the nine tribes!" Li Qingxia was angry! He said in a voice: "I said let them go!" The captain's heart froze, he responded quickly, turned around and shouted, "Let them go!" The guards let go of the two teenagers. The two teenagers originally thought they were dead, but they didn't expect the princess to let them go. They both looked at the princess stupidly.
Li Qingxia said to the two of them: "The reason why I want to fight Yanyun is because Yanyun will destroy us Xixia sooner or later, and then all of us will end up miserable! Your father died on the battlefield and was our hero in Daxia , as his sons, you should be proud of him, inherit his legacy, and fight Yan Yun to the end! Yan Yun is not only our great enemy in Daxia, but also the two enemies of your brothers who killed your father!"
The two brothers opened their eyes, their faces flushed with anger, and they were breathing heavily. Then the two brothers knelt down to Li Qingxia and kowtowed three times. The elder brother said loudly: "We were wrong! The princess is right. Our enemy is Yan Yun. We want to avenge Yan Yun. Please accept us." Two!" After saying that, he kowtowed again.
Li Qingxia nodded, "Okay, you can come back with me." The two brothers were overjoyed, thanked them quickly, and stood up. Li Qingxia smiled slightly, turned around and boarded the carriage. The team continued towards the princess mansion. Back in the mansion, Li Qingxia handed the two teenagers to the guard captain, and then returned to the study at the back. Sitting behind the desk in a daze, she shouted: "Here comes!" A maid came in immediately, bowed and said: "Princess, what are your orders?" Li Qingxia said: "Go to the Privy Council and ask for help Invite me, Sir Chong." The maid responded and retreated.
Not long after, the right Prime Minister Odaochong came to the study room of the Princess Mansion, saluted and said: "Princess, I have summoned you, what are your instructions?" Li Qingxia smiled bitterly, "You must have already known what my father has done to me, how can I still do it?" What orders can I give you!" Ao Daochong sighed, "The princess did nothing wrong, it's just God who has no eyes to care for Yan Yun!" Li Qingxia shook her head, "The struggle for national supremacy is about strength and wisdom. , Yan Yun's army is brave and brave, Chen Xiao is superior, our defeat is not unjust!" Ao Daochong smiled bitterly and nodded, "That's what the princess said!" Then he frowned, "Princess, we lost this battle. It’s really a bit strange!”
Li Qingxia asked in confusion: "Why do you say this, sir?" Odaochong looked at Li Qingxia, "Princess, have you ever thought about how Yan Yunjun knew the movements of our army and set up a trap at Shendui Station?" Where is the ambush?" Li Qingxia had been vaguely feeling that there was something wrong with this battle. When Jing O Daochong said this, she realized what was wrong with her all the time. She nodded and said: "Yes! There is indeed a problem with this. ! Under normal circumstances, Yan Yun would mobilize after getting the news, and there would be no time to set up such an elaborate trap, unless they had already got the news when we decided to send troops!" His heart was shaken, and he said with a trembling voice; "Could it be that? There are actually spies from Yan Yun among our important officials?!"
Ao Daochong said: "Other than that, I'm afraid there is no other explanation!" Li Qingxia looked at Ao Daochong, "Who do you think you are?" Ao Daochong frowned and shook his head, "I don't know." Li Qingxia lowered her head and pondered. After a moment, he said in a deep voice: "This matter is not a trivial matter. This person must be dug out as soon as possible, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous!" Aodaochong sighed, "Before the princess came back, I had already made suggestions to Your Majesty on this matter. But Your Majesty did not It's my fault that I agreed to use troops against Yanyun and drove me out. I'm afraid your majesty won't be able to adopt my suggestion!" Li Qingxia felt ashamed and said, "We suffered a huge defeat in this battle and suffered heavy losses. The country is in a critical situation. It's no wonder. His Majesty will be angry, it’s not his fault!” Aodaochong nodded.
Li Qingxia looked at Ao Daochong and said, "Why don't you let the adults conduct the investigation in secret." Ao Daochong said, "I think so too." She glanced at Li Qingxia and said, "To find out this person, it will take some time." It can definitely be done, but it will be difficult to collect evidence!" Li Qingxia pondered for a moment and said coldly: "Use extraordinary means in emergency situations. As long as we find this person, we don't have to ask my father for instructions! "Odaochong nodded, "I understand what the princess means!"
Li Qingxia remembered the purpose of calling him here and frowned: "I met two young men today." She glanced at Ao Daochong and said, "They are all family members of fallen soldiers, but they are ragged and very poor. What's going on? ?" There was some anger in his tone.
Odaochong sighed, "Now that the national treasury is empty, only 30% of the pension can be paid out. This depends on the additional taxes increased in recent months, otherwise not a single copper coin will be paid out! Yesterday at the court meeting, His Majesty decided to increase the amount of pensions. I'm really worried about taxes!" Li Qingxia frowned, "Maybe we can ask the nobles to donate some money..." Ao Daochong shook his head, "This is impossible!"
Li Qingxia said angrily: "The country has reached the current situation, can't the nobles not see it? If the Great Xia Kingdom is over, their glory and wealth will definitely not be preserved. They will die and their teeth will be cold. Don't they understand such a simple truth!" Dao Chong smiled bitterly and said: "The princess is right, they really don't understand! The Han people have a saying, 'No tears until you see the coffin', which refers to the kind of people they are!"
Li Qingxia frowned and said, "No matter what, you should give it a try! If it really doesn't work, there is nothing we can do!" She looked at O Daochong, "Sir, you should make this suggestion to your father!" Dao Chong was startled and thought to himself, "If I make this suggestion, wouldn't I be hated by all the nobles?" At this thought, she was very embarrassed and said: "This, I'm afraid this is not appropriate!" Li Qingxia understood that the right prime minister was just a wise and self-protective guy. She couldn't help but feel a little irritated, and felt that it would be a waste of time to talk any more. He said coldly: "This princess needs to rest. Sir, please go back!"
Ao Daochong knew that Li Qingxia was obsessed, so he smiled bitterly and said: "The princess must think that I am trying to protect myself, but the princess has misunderstood! I just think that this kind of thing is futile, so why do it?"
After hearing this, Li Qingxia's expression softened. O Daochong saw the change in Li Qingxia's expression and continued: "Princess, the current situation is very unfavorable to us in Daxia, and the root cause of this situation, to be disrespectful, is actually all because of the emperor. Your Majesty!" Li Qingxia frowned, feeling that this was indeed the case, and couldn't help but sigh. She felt helpless about this matter.
Ao Daochong said: "Since the root cause is here, what effect can we do other things?..." Li Qingxia heard what he meant and looked at Ao Daochong, "What do you mean?" Ao Daochong said. Zhan Zhan suddenly stood up and knelt down towards Li Qingxia, "Princess, the only one who can save Daxia now is the princess! Our Daxia will be reborn from the ashes, and only Her Royal Highness will sit on the throne!" Li Qingxia was shocked and stood up suddenly, He shouted: "How dare you say such rebellious words!!"
Ao Daochong raised his head and looked at Li Qingxia excitedly, "Princess, you must not give up your great loyalty and righteousness for the sake of small loyalty and righteousness! If you don't seize the opportunity to save Daxia, then Daxia will overthrow in the future, and Her Royal Highness the Princess will He is a sinner of Daxia, so what kind of loyalty and filial piety can he have?"
Li Qingxia's heart was beating fast, and she was extremely confused. O Daochong continued: "Today in Daxia, only under the leadership of the princess can we turn defeat into victory and continue to survive! For the sake of Daxia's country and the well-being of thousands of people, the princess must not stay out of it! !”
Li Qingxia glanced at Ao Daochong, "I, I can't do this!..." Ao Daochong said urgently; "Princess..." Li Qingxia raised her hand to interrupt him, "My decision is not complete. It's for my father, and even more for Daxia!" He glanced at Ao Daochong and said, "What you said makes sense! But now Yan Yun is watching with eager eyes. If there is another problem within us, I'm afraid the disaster will happen even faster. The earth is coming!" Odaochong said hurriedly: "If we act quickly, we will not give Yan Yun an opportunity! Yan Yun is already short of food and grass, and he has just experienced several fierce battles, and the food and grass have been exhausted. It's impossible to launch another offensive. We have at least one year! If we don't take this opportunity to make radical changes within us, we really have no chance!" Odaochong said sincerely, and Li Qingxia couldn't help but be moved. Impressed.
After a moment of silence, "I, I need to think about it." Odaochong sighed, nodded and said: "It's human nature for the princess to be unable to make up her mind for a moment!" After a pause, "I just hope that the princess will think more about Jiangshan Sheji, and think more about it." The welfare of the people! Loyalty can be divided into great loyalty and small loyalty, and righteousness can be divided into great righteousness and small righteousness. I believe the princess can make the right choice!" Li Qingxia was confused in her heart and remained silent.
Seeing that what should be said had been said, Ao Daochong stood up and saluted: "It's getting late, so I won't disturb the princess's rest. Farewell!" Li Qingxia came back to her senses and nodded, "Good go, sir!" O Daochong bowed to Li Qingxia again and left.
Li Qingxia came to the lake in the backyard and took a leisurely stroll. What O Daochong just said was turning over and over in her mind. She felt that what O Daochong said was reasonable, but she was unwilling to betray her father. It really put her in a dilemma!
The early morning sunshine shines on Bianliang City, and there are magnificent and joyful scenes everywhere. Birds are chirping on the branches, and the streets are bustling with people.
A small tavern on the street was already filled with 70% to 80% of the guests. The drinkers were drinking and talking loudly, almost all about the recent wars. Everyone looked very excited. I saw the short, fat drinker with two small beards slapping the table and saying excitedly: "It's so happy! It's been a long time since I've been this happy! It's so happy that King Yan annexed Datong Mansion!!" The surrounding drinkers nodded in agreement, one after another. The old man with gray temples sighed: "In the past, I only heard about our ancestors' expansion of the territory from storytellers. It felt like a myth and legend. I originally thought it would be impossible to see such a scene in this life. I didn’t expect such an exciting thing to happen suddenly!!”
Everyone laughed, and a young man said loudly: "Today we annexed Datong Mansion, and we will destroy the Liao Kingdom in the future!" Everyone agreed, and a very strong middle-aged man picked up the wine bowl and said loudly: "King Yan Let us be proud and proud, let's offer a bowl of wine to King Yan!" Everyone picked up the wine bowls, and the fat man who spoke before said loudly: "Done!" Everyone followed and shouted: "Done!" Then everyone in the restaurant was seen. The drinkers drank the wine from the bowl together, then banged the bowl on the table and burst out laughing.
A bartender dressed as a man sitting by the window gently bumped the man next to him with his elbow. The man turned his head, and the woman squinted her eyes, smiled, and whispered: "Husband, look how much the people admire you!!" It turned out that the man was none other than King Yan Yang Peng, and the woman next to him, It is the current concubine of King Yan, Zhao Lihua. Even though she is dressed in men's clothing, she still can't hide her stunning beauty.
Yang Peng smiled. Zhao Lihua showed a look of reminiscence and said quietly: "Bianliang was in crisis that day. Thanks to my eldest brother who led the army in a bloody battle on Gushan, I was able to escape the disaster!" She looked away and looked at Yang Peng, her eyes showing deep affection. "Brother, do you know? That day, I watched you leading the army to fight the Khitan army, and my heart was broken. I just felt that you were the only real man in the world, and I felt like a little woman protected by you. From then on From now on, I can no longer let you go in my heart! After that, although my life quickly settled down, I couldn't be happy all day long. I looked out the window every day, just waiting for you to appear!" Yang Peng couldn't help but feel infatuated when he heard what she said. Drunk, her heart seemed to be entangled with thousands of soft silks, and she couldn't help but stretched out her palm to hold Zhao Lihua's delicate hand.
Zhao Lihua looked at Yang Peng with infinite tenderness, and her eyes were like spring water. Yang Peng felt ashamed. To be honest, after the fall of Bingzhou, he never thought of Zhao Lihua. Compared with the other party's deep love, he was indeed unlucky.
A gentle smile appeared in Zhao Lihua's eyes, "But the slave family mistakenly blamed my husband!" Yang Peng smiled, feeling very ashamed. At that time, he sneaked into Lin'an and actually had nothing to do with Zhao Lihua. Zhao Lihua looked at Yang Peng infatuatedly and said very proudly: "The man from the slave family is the world-famous King Yan. God really treats the slave family well. There is nothing left for the slave family to ask for in this life!" Yang Peng held Zhao Lihua's delicate hand tightly. , said softly: "Eldest brother, being able to get you is a blessing accumulated in my previous life! Not only will we be husband and wife for the rest of our lives, we will be together in the next life, the next life, and the next life!" Zhao Lihua was so excited that she turned her delicate hands and held Yang Peng's palm, eyes staring at Yang Peng, infinite tenderness.
Dang Dang Dang! Bang bang bang bang! Suddenly the noise of gongs and drums came from the street, and the two people were pulled back from their thoughts. They turned and looked towards the street, and saw a group of government officials beating gongs and drums as they walked to a courtyard, which was a civilian courtyard. The team of government officials stopped in front of the courtyard, and the leading government official raised his voice and asked, "Is this Li Jinfu's home?" At this time, the drinkers in the restaurant crowded to the windows to watch the excitement.
I saw a middle-aged couple running out of the yard, both honest and humble people. When the couple saw that they were officials from the government office, they immediately panicked. He quickly stepped forward and opened the courtyard door, came to the team of government officials, and knelt down with a plop. This shocked the leading government servant. He quickly stepped forward to help the couple up, bowed and said, "I don't dare to do it! I don't dare to do such a great gift to you!" The husband asked tremblingly, "I don't know. , I wonder if the official has arrived, what can I say?"
The yamen servant said: "Your son Li Jinfu fought a bloody battle with the Khitans at Yanmen Pass and died heroically. We are here to report the news to you!..." Before the yamen servant finished speaking, the couple felt a spinning sensation, and the husband Fortunately, the wife couldn't stand on the spot. When the husband saw that his wife was about to fall, he quickly helped her. The wife began to cry: "My, my poor son!"
The yamen servant pointed to the small wooden box held by one of the yamen servants behind him, and said, "This is the pension!" Then he pointed to the plaques carried by the other two yamen servants, and saw three vigorous words on it, "Martyred Soldiers." The big characters, and there is a line of small characters below the three big characters, are: Military and Martyred Family, officials and civilians must take off their hats and dismount when entering this door. The yamen servant said: "This plaque is also for you. From now on, your family is the family of the martyrs of the military. You can meet officials without bowing. When officials and people see you, they must stop walking and salute. This is an incredible honor. !!”
The couple was originally very sad about the death of their son, but the words of the yamen servant made them feel a sense of pride that they had never experienced before, and they felt a little unbelievable.
The yamen officer continued: "According to Yanyun's law, if a soldier dies in battle, his parents, wife and children will be raised by the government. Both of them can go to the yamen every month to receive monthly payments! In addition, Li Jinfu has not married yet, so his younger brother can You can enter the official school without taking the exam, and if you do business, you can also enjoy certain tax benefits!"
The husband and wife were so moved that they knelt down and thanked each other with sobs: "Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!" The officer quickly waved his hands and said in fear, "Don't you dare take it seriously? You are the family members of the martyrs of the army. This will break my heart!" As he spoke, he knelt on the ground and kowtowed his head, then quickly stood up and stepped forward to help him and his wife up. He turned around and asked his subordinates to bring up the pension, and then asked several other government officials to hang up the plaque saying 'Martyred Soldiers'. After doing this, the government servants lined up and bowed respectfully to the couple. The couple were originally honest and friendly people, and they had never received such a gift. Although they were still very sad in their hearts, they felt extremely honored at the same time. The neighbors around them originally gloated and sighed, but after hearing that After what the yamen servant said, I saw this scene again, but I couldn't help but feel envious.
After all the officials paid their due respects, they left immediately. The couple supported each other and looked at the plaque saying 'Martyred Soldiers' on the edge of the door, feeling a mixture of sadness and glory in their hearts. The wife cried and said: "Our child is really good! Others still look down on him and our family. From now on, no one will look down on us!" The husband nodded with deep sympathy and said with tears: "Jin Fu The boy is really good, he deserves to be a man!" Then he frowned and said, "What future can Zhuzhu have as a waiter in a restaurant? Why don't we send him to be a soldier too!" The wife was startled, "I only have the rest. This is a baby! If, if he has another problem, we, we," at this point, she couldn't help crying again.
The husband said: "We are under the control of the government, so what are we afraid of! Rather than letting Zhuzi be a useless commoner all his life, it is better to let him go to the battlefield to fight! Maybe our family can even produce a general! Serve as a soldier. Even if he died on the battlefield, he would have died a vigorous death, worthy of being a man!" The wife said in embarrassment: "But, if Zhuzi also dies, wouldn't our family, our family, be ruined?" The husband also became embarrassed, and then his heart felt. As soon as she thought about it, "This is easy to do. First find a wife for Zhuzi, conceive the child, and then let him serve as a soldier!" The wife thought for a while and nodded. Although she didn't want her son to take risks on the battlefield, she felt that if she could It is indeed better to die with such honor than to live as a common man for the rest of his life.
The couple supported each other and walked into the yard holding the wooden box. At this time, the surrounding neighbors were already talking, most of them were envious, and some even said in a jealous tone: "Lao Li's family has put up this sign. We can't talk nonsense when we see him in the future." He has to stand and salute respectfully! Hey, who told their family to have a hero! No, we can't let the old Li family be too proud, we have to let the boy go to the army, and our family also has a hero. I won’t be afraid of his old Li family anymore!”
The drinkers in the tavern also started talking, "This is the opposite. If you don't get preferential treatment if you die fighting for your country, who should you give preferential treatment to?" "In the past, the Song Dynasty was just messing around and praising all those scholars. No matter what, if the Khitan people come to attack, what can those stupid scholars do? They have to rely on soldiers!" "Now the status of industry, commerce, peasants and soldiers has been raised, especially soldiers! I am afraid that scholars will feel unhappy. It feels so good!”
Zhao Lihua asked Yang Peng in a low voice, "Husband, don't you like scholars?" Yang Peng laughed, picked up the teapot and poured Zhao Lihua a glass of wine, then poured himself a glass and asked, "Why did Lihua ask that?" Zhao Lihua smiled and said: "Actually, it's not just me who says this. All the sisters also say this in private, and the guards and servants also talk about it. Everyone thinks that my husband doesn't like scholars. Otherwise, how could my husband treat scholars like this? All the powers I once enjoyed have been cut off!"
After all, what happened next will be explained later.
