Early the next morning, the Queen Mother took Zhu Siyi and others out of the palace and headed to Shangzhou.
Yan Xiu didn't go to see him off because he had an early morning meeting. Even if he didn't have an early morning meeting, he wouldn't go to see him off, but Zhu Sijia couldn't.
She deliberately got up early and took the other concubines to personally send the prayer team to Xuanwu Gate.
Looking at the carriage driving away, Zhu Sijia couldn't help but wonder, why did Zhu Siyi appear in the Buddha worship queue this year? Doesn’t her birthday and horoscope conflict with Shangzhou?
Why did these taboos completely disappear as soon as she entered the palace?
Zhu Sijia secretly kept an eye on it. Aunt Yun and her two younger brothers were also in the queue for blessing. Taking this opportunity, Zhu Siying might be able to rummage through Prince Yan's palace.
On the way back to the palace, Zhu Sijia, Yu Xin and others were walking side by side. When they approached Changle Palace, Zhang Wanyao squeezed in and pushed Yu Xin away from Zhu Sijia.
Zhu Sijia frowned slightly: "What does Zhang Chongyi mean by this? You don't have to go to Changle Palace to pay your respects today. Go back and rest first."
Zhang Wanyao: "Mother Zhaoyi, I want to go out of the palace to go back to the Prime Minister's Mansion to visit my grandfather."
Zhu Sijia: "What happened to the Prime Minister?"
Zhang Wanyao: "Sorry for Zhaoyi's thoughts, everything is fine with my grandfather. It's just that I haven't been home or visited for a long time since I entered the palace. My grandfather is old, and I really miss him. I want to go home, but it's dark. Then I returned to the palace and asked Zhaoyi for permission."
Du Xian imitated her tone and teased: "Zhang Chongyi wants to go home, and I want to go home too. But Yizhou is a long way away. I promise to return to the palace next month, and I hope Zhaoyi will give me permission."
As soon as she finished speaking, there were bursts of ridicule around her, and Zhang Wanyao's face turned blue and purple. However, she had to humiliate herself in front of Zhu Sijia today, so she could only swallow it silently.
Zhu Sijia shouted: "What's so funny?"
Only then did the girls stop laughing.
To be fair, although Zhang Wanyao was arrogant and domineering, leaving the palace and returning home was not an excessive suggestion. Zhu Sijia naturally had no reason to embarrass her.
Seeing that Zhu Sijia agreed so easily, Zhang Wanyao left happily.
…
Changle Palace.
Zhu Sijia recovered her sleep and opened her eyes again. Yan Xiu was sitting in her bedroom. He only took off his crown but not his robes. The young emperor quietly reviewed the memorial and never noticed her movements.
The light is clear, and the shadows of the trees are cut into mottled shapes by the scorching summer sun, all reflecting on the handsome and majestic emperor. Nothing can compare with the tranquility of the years at this moment.
She was lying on her side, and the laurel tree in full bloom outside the window unexpectedly burst into her field of vision, which made her dazzled. Time flew by so fast.
In the blink of an eye, she and Yan Xiu had experienced the change of winter and summer for almost a year.
Yan Xiu heard her turn over, put down the jade tube and wolf hair pen, propped up his cheek with one hand and looked at her: "Did I disturb you?"
Zhu Scarlett: "No, I woke up on my own."
Yan Xiu lowered his eyelids, his long eyelashes covering his bright black eyes: "That's it."
It's strange, his attitude today is not alienated, but more hesitant.
Zhu Sijia always felt that he would not make this trip in vain. As for enjoying the cool weather, there are many places in the palace that are cooler than Changle Palace. He must have something important to tell him when he came today.
"Xuanzhi." Zhu Sijia lifted the quilt and stood up, with bare feet on the ground, walked directly to the window and sat in Yan Xiu's arms, holding his neck and asked uneasily, "What do you want to tell me when you come today? "
Yan Xiu still lowered his eyelids and didn't know how to speak: "Nothing can be hidden from Cicada's smart eyes."
Zhu Sijia took the initiative to kiss him: "Thank you for the compliment."
Yan Xiu touched the place where she had kissed him. She seemed to like his jaw very much. She always kissed it there, it was itchy and tender.
He said: "It may be too cruel to say this. I hope you are fully prepared and don't be too sad."
Zhu Sijia had a bad premonition in her heart: "Xuanzhi wants to say...about the Eastern Expedition?"
It didn't seem like a good thing to make him hesitate so much, and it didn't look like a good thing on his face. Zhu Sijia could only think of Zhu Yuancun who was far away in Qi State.
Yan Xiu slowly informed Zhu Sijia about Zhu Yuancun's disappearance.
Although she gave herself a reassurance in advance, Zhu Sijia still couldn't hold it back, holding Yan Xiu tightly and trembling and sobbing in his arms.
The weak and helpless cries were all muffled in his chest, and he was determined not to let out any of them, which would only make him pity her.
Yan Xiu knew that she didn't need any words of comfort now. The two of them were close to each other, and he could clearly feel that Zhu Sijia's heart suddenly paused, so he silently increased his strength to hold her steady.
Until Zhu Sijia cried so much that her hands and feet lost strength, and the hand on his body slipped off. He was worried that Zhu Sijia was holding back, so he pulled her away and solemnly promised:
"Don't worry, I have sent extra manpower to look for Wu Xingbo's whereabouts. There are more than a dozen Dragon Guards lurking in Qi State. If you can't find them one day, look for them one more day. If... if you really can't find them, I will I will personally capture Qi and search every city in Qi."
Zhu Sijia sobbed and said: "No, no, I believe that Yuan Cunji has his own destiny. If he is really gone, how can I, the sister, not feel anything? He is just missing, but he must be fine. Alive, right?”
Yan Xiu felt extremely distressed: "Cicada is right. I also believe that Wu Xingbo is not an ordinary person. If we give him a little more time, he will definitely be able to survive and a miracle will happen."
…
At the same time, the imperial capital of Qi State was seventy miles outside Langya City.
Zhu Yuancun was lurking here with a number of troops.
His deputy Yuan Haoyu asked: "Uncle, how did you come up with this idea?"
Yuan Haoyu was born in the Runan Yuan family from the hairpin family. He was the most outstanding disciple of the Yuan family. He had only followed Yan Xiu on a few battlefields in the past, but those battles——
It was all because Yan Xiu had nothing to do and was afraid that the Queen Mother would urge him to get married and establish a queen, so he insisted on fighting. Moreover, Yan Xiu's marching and fighting style completely highlighted the word "ruthless", how could he be like Zhu Yuancun?
Yuan Haoyu was thinking all the way that if he were a soldier and king of Qi, he would die of anger if Zhu Yuancun played with him like this.
It was not that Longshan Pass could not be conquered for a long time, but that a few trusted confidants in the tent did it intentionally according to Zhu Yuan's tactics. As for the appearance of the Qin army, it was reported back to Xijing by the ill-intentioned people in the army.
It seems that Xijing has already received the news of Zhu Yuancun's disappearance, and there are not a few people who openly and secretly scolded him for his incompetence.
But this scam had better fool everyone.
The Qi State was severely weakened by the heavy snowfall last year. Civilian uprisings broke out everywhere in the country, and the Qi State army could not suppress them.
Hearing that the Qin army was approaching the border, he had long been frightened. The Emperor of Qi was so frightened that he dispatched all the remaining troops in the country to Longshan Pass to confront the Qin army.
Zhu Yuancun felt that attacking one city after another was too slow, so he directly set his sights on Langya.
The Qi army faced off against the Qin army at Longshan Pass. The Qin army had abundant military resources and was best suited for a long-term battle. The Qi army was completely different. It would be in a state of food shortage in at most half a month. By then, the morale of the army would be in chaos and the country would be destroyed. They could only hold on. The scalp and the Qin army were consumed.
