"Empress Dowager?" Chu Qing was sitting on a grand master's chair in the courtyard. She let Lvluo knead her shoulders while lazily opening her mouth.
"Yes. A messenger came from the palace saying that the Empress Dowager... um... misses you..." At this point, Lvluo's expression was rather complicated.
The tea that Chu Qing was about to drink almost spurted out.
Miss her?
The Empress Dowager missed her?!!!
Wasn't she ashamed to tell such a lie?
Chu Qing calmed down her impulse to scold and then continued slowly, "Lvluo, reply that this princess has caught a cold."
"Um..." Lvluo was stunned for a moment and then said stiffly, "My lady... it's midsummer now. Whether it's day or night, it's impossible to catch a cold."
"You're right..." Chu Qing forced a somewhat embarrassed smile. "Then say that this princess has suffered heatstroke."
"Um... yes." Seeing that Chu Qing wasn't joking, Lvluo had no choice but to go and reply to the messenger from the palace.
After Lvluo left, Wei Zhi couldn't help saying, "My lady, if you don't go, aren't you afraid that the Empress Dowager will slander you? And with her character, she will surely bear a grudge."
Hearing Wei Zhi's words, Chu Qing raised her eyebrows. She leaned back and said slowly, "Do you think I care about these things?"
It was a joke. Every time the Empress Dowager summoned her to the palace before, she had gone with the thought of not causing extra trouble. Now, she really didn't want to deal with this Empress Dowager Xiao.
To be fair, going to see her before was already giving her a big face. She wondered if the Empress Dowager would shorten her lifespan because of it.
Seeing Chu Qing's casual expression, Wei Zhi didn't say anything more.
Her princess was becoming more and more like her prince.
...
"Heatstroke? Can't come?" The Empress Dowager's face instantly turned gloomy when she heard the eunuch kneeling below report.
When the emperor and the queen summoned her to the palace before, she had come quite quickly.
But when she summoned her, she immediately suffered heatstroke?
Did the Empress Dowager think she was a fool after living so many years?
This Chu Qing really didn't take her seriously anymore!!!
"Did you see her?" The Empress Dowager frowned and asked coldly.
The messenger eunuch lowered his head tremblingly and replied, "Your Majesty, this servant didn't see the Princess of Ning... Presumably, she is really unwell."
The Empress Dowager snorted and waved her hand to signal the eunuch to leave.
After all the servants in the Hall of Everlasting Joy were sent out, the Empress Dowager gradually put away her cold and fierce expression. Then, she took out a letter from her bosom. After reading it back and forth several times, she threw the letter into a specially prepared stove without showing any emotion on her face. In an instant, the letter was devoured by the flames and quickly turned into ashes.
Since she entered the palace, her heart had become colder.
After finally outliving the previous Grand Empress Dowager, she thought she could hold everything in her hands.
But now it seemed that this emperor son was becoming more and more...
disobedient.
If he had his own ideas, so be it.
As long as he thought he could bear this... price...
...
In Qingzhou.
Wei Ying and several of his generals were discussing the current battle situation in the meeting hall of the city lord's mansion.
Zhou Cheng, the city lord of Qingzhou, thought Qingzhou was also going to fall. But then Wei Ying led the reinforcements like a god and arrived in time.
Within three days, General Huo, who had retired from the court for many years, also arrived.
Zhou Cheng almost burst into tears.
He had heard about the tragedy in Chuanzhou. Although he had tried his best to deploy defenses, he was still afraid that Qingzhou would also fall.
Fortunately, the two great generals had come together. He felt as if he had taken a reassurance pill.
"Zhou Cheng, according to the intelligence you got, how many troops does Xiliang have in total?"
Wei Ying's voice pulled Zhou Cheng's wandering thoughts back. Looking up and seeing Wei Ying's cold expression, Zhou Cheng quickly replied, "This subordinate heard that the eldest prince of Xiliang brought... two hundred thousand elite troops, including fifty thousand cavalry."
After hearing Zhou Cheng's words, Wei Ying's expression became even colder.
"As far as this king knows, aren't there two hundred thousand elite troops stationed at the foot of Hengshan Mountain? And there should also be about fifty thousand soldiers in Chuanzhou City on standby. How could the city be captured by Hu Yanlongchang?"
"Your Highness, it's because... there were traitors..."
"Were they in the army or... in the city?"
"Both..."
After hearing Zhou Cheng's reply, dark clouds gathered in Wei Ying's eyes.
Xiliang's conspiracy must have started a long time ago. On the surface, they wanted to make peace, but in fact, they were still ambitious!
It wasn't terrible to be ambitious. What was terrible was that these martial people were starting to use their brains.
An enemy with strength and brains had to be taken seriously.
Next, Wei Ying and General Huo redeployed the defenses. Wei Ying decided to go to Chuanzhou City in person to scout the enemy's situation.
Seeing that Wei Ying had made up his mind, the others knew they couldn't stop him. They could only tell him to be extremely careful.
When the sun set, Wei Ying set off with Wei Yi, Wei Er, and Wei Yi.
On the way, Wei Yi suddenly received two secret letters from the Earth Department and immediately presented them to Wei Ying.
After Wei Ying finished reading one of the letters, his expression became solemn.
"My lord...?"
"They found that there are people from the Aqitu Tribe in Xiliang's army."
"The Aqitu Tribe? How did they get involved!" Wei Yi couldn't help exclaiming after hearing this.
Wei Ying smiled with a hint of bloodthirstiness. "Hu Yanlonghao is quite capable. He actually persuaded the old fox of the Aqitu Tribe. Presumably, he promised them some conditions."
After hearing this, Wei Yi and the others all fell silent.
The situation they were facing was becoming more and more serious.
The Xiliang Kingdom valued martial arts and was already a powerful enemy. If Wei Ying hadn't exterminated the bandits in the Hengshan Mountains five years ago and captured the highest point of Hengshan, Xiliang might have attacked long ago. This incident must have started with a problem at the mountain top. Then, step by step, the Xiliang people overcame the obstacles and captured Chuanzhou.
And now, the Aqitu Tribe was also involved.
The Aqitu Tribe was one of the largest tribes on the grassland in the north of the Yan Kingdom. They had been competing for territory with the Wumushan Tribe and the Bahalnao Tribe all year round.
These three tribes were the three largest tribes on the grassland.
The Aqitu Tribe couldn't even sort out their own affairs, but they still had the leisure to interfere in the matters between the Great Yan and Xiliang.
Wei Ying's eyes darkened. Then, he sent secret letters to both the Earth Department and the Water Department.
Hu Yanlonghao had found external support?
Very well. Then let's see who could offer the greater benefits.
After all, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Then, Wei Ying opened and read the other letter.
Seeing Wei Ying's face becoming more and more gloomy and the atmosphere around him becoming so cold that it was suffocating, Wei Yi and the others looked at each other. They instantly sensed something was wrong.
Sure enough, Wei Ying tore the letter in his hand into pieces. Then, his usually clear and gentle eyes turned completely black, like a giant beast in the depths of darkness that would devour people at any moment.
"This king's background... is probably found out."