Xiang Beizheng slowly tightened his fists. Sooner or later, he would avenge today's humiliation.
Yi Qing dealt with the King of Zhen and finished writing a secret letter. After a quick check, she had the King of Zhen send it out.
"You should take a good rest. I'll send someone to handle the situation in Cixi," Zisu comforted.
Yi Qing hadn't slept during the journey, but she still stared at Zisu without closing her eyes.
"I'll stay here and guard you," Zisu assured.
Only then did Yi Qing close her eyes. She tightly hugged the box containing the imperial jade seal as she fell asleep.
As soon as she closed her eyes, she dreamt that Xiao Jinghan fell off the city wall, covered in blood. There were countless piranhas in the river swarming towards him. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't swim to his side.
Seeing her sweating profusely, Zisu picked up a cloth to wipe the sweat off her forehead. Yi Qing instinctively whipped out a silver needle, almost stabbing Zisu. She quickly retracted it.
"Sorry," Yi Qing said, looking panicked.
Zisu wasn't angry. She didn't know what Yi Qing had been through or why she had become like this. "It's okay. Did you have a nightmare?"
Yi Qing nodded. When she was in Li City, she thought she had been terrified enough. She never imagined that she would be engulfed by even greater fear later.
"It was just a dream. You're just too worried," Zisu said as she wiped the sweat from Yi Qing's forehead.
When Zisu first escaped from Southern Border, it was Yi Qing who saved her. At that time, she often had nightmares too, and Yi Qing had comforted her like this.
"Have any people ever survived in the moat of Cixi?" Yi Qing looked at Zisu.
Zisu hesitated for a long time before shaking her head. Even though the reality was cruel, she couldn't lie to Yi Qing. She knew that Yi Qing would eventually come to terms with it.
"How long have I been sleeping?" Yi Qing asked, and then seemed to gather her spirits.
"Three hours."
"Has Wu Peng come to see you?"
"Yes. He's refining a kind of Gu worm that can prevent people from touching the Ruyi Grass."
"You should spread the news that Xiang Beizheng is a remnant of the deposed emperor of the Great Jin. Also, there are still descendants of the Heyan family. Figure out how to use this news. Prepare to go to war with Xiang Beizheng and capture Cixi first." Yi Qing couldn't wait any longer.
Zisu thought for a while. "We can't attack Cixi City head - on. These pieces of news are indeed beneficial to us, but... it's impossible to capture Cixi."
"We'll take as much as we can," Yi Qing said directly.
Zisu nodded.
While Xiang Beizheng was still troubled by Xiao Jinghan's disappearance, Zisu had already started making arrangements.
After fighting against Xiang Beizheng for so long, they knew each other well.
Chen Yuqing resorted to any means to keep her position, and Xiang Beizheng had no intention of protecting Southern Border. So they did things without any scruples. They even used Ruyi Cakes to control the ministers in Southern Border.
But Chen Yu'an couldn't do that.
All her efforts were to protect Southern Border, so she was prone to hesitation. However, she enjoyed high prestige among the common people.
Now that they knew Xiang Beizheng's identity and the matter of the Heyan family, it would surely deal a heavy blow to Chen Yuqing.
The emperor already knew that Xiao Jinghan was missing. The last time he went to Li City, he secretly went to the Northern Di. This time in Southern Fujian, he was missing again. Could he have gone to Southern Border?
Thinking of Yi Qing's relationship with the Crown Princess of Southern Border, it was very likely that he had gone there.
The current situation in Southern Border was most favorable to him. He wished the situation there would continue to consume their strength so that he could rest easy.
"Your Majesty, an urgent secret letter from the King of Zhen," Xiao Dezi trotted forward and presented the letter.
The emperor thought that the King of Zhen was becoming increasingly unreliable. In the past, he would just write a perfunctory letter. Now he even used an urgent secret letter. What could be so important? It was out of the question for him to send troops to help the Crown Princess of Southern Border.
After reading the letter, the emperor suddenly stood up. "Immediately summon Lu Tianzuo to the palace."
This time when the Duke of Di went to Li City, Chang Zhiyuan followed him. There was also Bai Chengyi there. So Lu Tianzuo was left in the capital, and his family was busy arranging marriages for him.
Lu Tianzuo was extremely annoyed. Just imagining living with those women who cried at the slightest provocation every day made him feel like he would be drowned in their tears.
"Zuo'er, what do you think of this one?" Mrs. Lu pointed at a woman admiring the flowers in the garden.
"The flowers are nice. What kind are they?" Lu Tianzuo tried to evade the question.
Mrs. Lu was angry. "I don't want to force you, but since you're useless and can't find a wife on your own, or be like General Xiao, with girls chasing after him to marry. "
Hearing this, Lu Tianzuo had no temper at all.
"I've already talked to the girl's family. No matter which one you choose today, she'll marry into our family. You must choose one," Mrs. Lu said forcefully. "I don't expect you to live in harmony with your wife. As long as you can continue the Lu family line."
"But there's still..." Lu Tianzuo murmured.
Mrs. Lu gave him a look, and Lu Tianzuo immediately cowered.
His elder brother could do whatever he wanted, but he couldn't. Who asked his elder brother to be so outstanding?
"General Lu, His Majesty urgently summons you to the palace," the imperial guard bowed.
Lu Tianzuo ran away in a flash. "Mother, His Majesty's urgent summons must be something important. I'll go first."
Mrs. Lu was annoyed. Other people already had more than one grandchild, but what was she going to do with her two sons?
Normally, the emperor would never send troops to Southern Border to help the Crown Princess suppress the internal rebellion.
But some things didn't follow the normal rules. The matter of the imperial jade seal had always been a threat to him. He had ascended the throne with a fake jade seal. So far, only he and Xiao Jinghan knew about this. If the Crown Princess of Southern Border revealed this at this time, those people in the dark would probably start to stir again.
Xiang Beizheng turned out to be the son of the deposed emperor. The deposed emperor had secretly sent the imperial jade seal to Southern Border back then. No wonder he had secretly investigated for so many years but found no trace of it.
Xiang Beizheng?
It wasn't just his name but also his ambition: to launch a northern expedition.
Fortunately, they had discovered this early. As long as they killed Xiang Beizheng in Southern Border, this matter wouldn't cause much trouble.
"Your humble servant pays homage to Your Majesty," Lu Tianzuo bowed in the imperial study.
"I hereby appoint you as the Grand General of Funan. Lead 50,000 troops to Southern Border to help the Crown Princess suppress the internal rebellion. Kill all the rebel leaders in Southern Border. Assemble the troops and set off now. Do not delay," the emperor ordered. He had Xiao Dezi hand over the imperial edict and the national letter to Lu Tianzuo.
Lu Tianzuo was shocked. According to his analysis, the emperor would never send troops to help Southern Border.
He stared blankly at the imperial edict and the national letter in his hand, unable to react for a moment.
"I've already given the order that you can collect grain along the way, but you must record the quantity accurately. The two sides will check it to prevent local officials from taking advantage of the situation," the emperor added.
Lu Tianzuo thought this was definitely abnormal. It was too urgent. "Your Majesty, Southern Border is adjacent to Southern Fujian. Why not directly transfer troops from Southern Fujian? It would also save time."
"If you encounter any obstacles in Southern Fujian on your way to Southern Border, you can mobilize the imperial guards around Southern Fujian," the emperor gave Lu Tianzuo another military order.
Lu Tianzuo was even more confused. This matter was getting more and more abnormal.
"General Xiao has gone to Southern Fujian. If I meet him..." Lu Tianzuo asked for instructions.