"Mr. Shen, what did you find?"
Seeing Shen Zhanran's frightened expression, Zhou Hou couldn't help but ask.
But as soon as she spoke, she realized that her words revealed her inner fear.
So she hurriedly suppressed the panic in her heart and instantly restored her original graceful attitude.
Shen Zhanran was stunned for a moment, then came back to his senses, bowed and said: "I lost my temper for a moment, please forgive me, the Queen."
Zhou Hou waved her hands slightly and said calmly: "I am not a picky person. Mr. Shen does not need to be so formal!"
After she finished speaking, she paused and then continued: "I wonder what Mr. Shen thought of just now that surprised you so much?"
Shen Zhanran hesitated for a while and said in a deep voice: "Wei Chen always thought that Ding Guogong and others were planning in the capital, but when we talked about His Majesty just now, I remembered that their purpose might be His Majesty outside the capital!"
Zhou Hou suddenly heard this and was shocked.
However, she still suppressed her fear, and with a flash of dissatisfaction in her eyes, she calmly said: "Why does Mr. Shen think that they are not the people planning in Beijing, but His Majesty outside Beijing?"
It turned out that Zhou Hou had been thinking about the purpose of Li Zushu and others, and Shen Zhanran's expression just now suddenly reminded her of Li Zushu's smile.
Then she discovered that the killing of the eunuch with a stick was superfluous, and may have made the other party realize that Zhu Yuanzhang was not in Beijing.
If this is the case, the other party will definitely attack her in a big way on the grounds of violating the ancestral system, and then slander the crown prince Zhu Cixiang. There may even be an incident of betraying the emperor, and then she will lose her composure.
She originally thought that Shen Zhanran had just shown a look of panic and was aware of this, but she did not expect that Shen Zhanran was worried about Zhu Yuanzhang who was among hundreds of thousands of troops.
Of course, Zhou Hou's intention was not because he didn't care about Zhu Yuanzhang, but because he felt that Zhu Yuanzhang had hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses in his hands, and there would be no danger for a while.
However, except for Zhu Cixiang's five thousand or so loyal guards in the palace, the remaining tens of thousands of people may be detrimental to Zhu Cixiang, and the degree of danger is far greater than that of Zhu Yuanzhang.
Therefore, Zhou Hou felt dissatisfied because Shen Zhanran did not take Zhu Cixiang's safety into consideration.
Although Shen Zhanran was vaguely aware that there was something wrong with Zhou Hou's words, he did not see anything strange about Zhou Hou because he was worried about Zhu Yuanzhang's safety.
He gathered his thoughts and then said with a worried look on his face: "Because the last time Nanliang was robbed, it seemed like it was done by pirates, but in fact it had something to do with some people in Nanjing."
"And they should also know that with His Majesty's intelligence, he will be able to figure this out. No matter how clever they are, if His Majesty wants to find out, he will definitely find it out."
"But they still did this, which means they are not afraid of His Majesty's investigation. Then there is only one possibility, that is, they are preparing to do harm to His Majesty..."
After Zhou Hou listened to Shen Zhanran's story, he agreed with it in his heart.
It's just that although she is smart and powerful, she doesn't know how to fight, so she said with some confusion: "Now that His Majesty is in the army of Marquis Ping Xi, why should they be disadvantageous to His Majesty? Couldn't they send someone to assassinate him?"
Shen Zhanran shook his head and said: "I hope they can act simply like this, because although His Majesty is traveling in secret this time, Marquis Pingxi will definitely protect him closely."
"Furthermore, in addition to the eighteen iron cavalry, His Majesty also has two hundred tiger warriors. If the other party wants to assassinate, not only will they not succeed, but their identities will be exposed."
"But the other party acted so carefully. I'm afraid he already knew about these arrangements, so it shouldn't be an assassination."
"The most likely possibility is to feign defeat and take advantage of the situation, or to take the opportunity to damage our morale. As long as the morale of the army is unstable, Pingxihou will definitely be defeated, and the situation may be out of control."
Hou Zhou frowned and said: "Mr. Shen, Ping Xihou also has a hundred thousand people, so this kind of thing won't happen, right?"
Shen Zhanran said hesitantly: "Empress, this is not an alarmist statement."
"You must know that momentum is the most important thing when marching and fighting. If someone makes trouble and causes the army to lose its spirit, even a million soldiers and horses will be in vain."
Seeing the suspicion behind Zhou, Shen Zhanran explained: "Queen, you should still remember that when the Li thieves besieged the capital, there were less than 60,000 troops in the capital, but there were more than 200,000 rebels."
"But what happened in the end? After the Golden Dragon appeared, the morale of the rebels dropped sharply. After two battles at Zhangyimen and Chaoyangmen, they had to retreat to Juyongguan. This shows the impact of morale on the war."
"Now, although Ping Xihou has hundreds of thousands of troops, there are also a lot of rebels. In addition, Zuo Liangyu's army of hundreds of thousands is heading north, and Yuan Zongdi's army of one hundred thousand is also following closely behind."
"Based on time, I'm afraid they have arrived in Shanxi. Coupled with the forces hiding in the dark, the situation in Shanxi is now very complicated, and one move can affect the whole body."
"If this balance is broken and develops in a direction that is not conducive to Ping Xihou, let alone hundreds of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, will immediately fall apart..."
After Zhou Hou listened to Shen Zhanran's story, he understood in his heart and said in a panic: "If Mr. Shen's words are followed, your Majesty's best option is to return to Beijing?"
Shen Zhanran saw Zhou Hou's panic and thought that there was an undercurrent surging in the capital. If even Zhou Hou was disturbed, the situation would be even more passive.
So he comforted him again: "Queen, you don't have to worry too much. Your Majesty has already considered this kind of chaos before leaving."
"Although what happened to Marquis Linhuai and others was unexpected, as long as they take action, they will leave traces."
"And His Majesty is as meticulous as a hair, and uses his troops like a god. He may have already discovered the flaw, so we only need to report the matter to His Majesty. I believe that Your Majesty will handle the matter well."
"In addition, since they dare to be disobedient, the prince may not be safe. Therefore, Wei Chen believes that the robbery of food in the canal is to weaken the power of the capital so that they can attack the prince."
"In this case, I think we might as well take advantage of the situation and send out some unreliable imperial guards to secretly select a group of loyal people to guard the palace city."
"If the other party takes action, we will be able to catch a turtle in a jar, but..."
As Shen Zhanran spoke, he suddenly stopped and looked at Empress Zhou worriedly.
Seeing this, Empress Zhou said in a deep voice: "Mr. Shen, are you worried that they will use the imperial staff to slander me?"
Shen Zhanran nodded and said: "The Queen is wise, I am indeed worried about this."
"Because after the First World War in the capital, His Majesty's prestige has been unparalleled. Even if His Majesty...as long as the prince is around, those who are plotting evil will find it difficult to do anything."
"So the ministers think that they will use this to ruin the Queen's reputation and then attack the Crown Prince. If His Majesty does the same... then they can justifiably invade the capital..."
Zhou Hou saw that Shen Zhanran not only considered Zhu Cixiang's safety, but also thought more comprehensively than she did, so his wariness against Shen Zhanran became lighter.
But she also knew that no matter how loyal Shen Zhanran was, she couldn't act hesitant, let alone place all her hopes on him.
Therefore, although she felt a little powerless, after Shen Zhanran finished speaking, she still said calmly: "Mr. Shen, you don't have to worry about me!"
"Since I can sit in the middle palace, I can also withstand those rumors. What's more, this matter is a matter of the harem. Li Zushu and others are indeed disrespectful."
"Therefore, I feel that we might as well let the secret agents spread the word first and seize the opportunity. When the time comes..."
Seeing that Hou Zhou was calm and well-organized, Shen Zhanran's attitude couldn't help but become more respectful.
It's just that after some discussions between the two of them, although they had settled everything, they still felt uneasy and felt that they were missing a backbone, so they couldn't help but think of Zhu Yuanzhang.
At this moment, Zhu Yuanzhang was also galloping, but his target was not the capital, but Taiyuan, four hundred miles away.
