"The Queen Mother summoned me?" Qin Sheng's eyes widened, and he looked at Qin Niang who came to announce the decree in surprise, "Only summoned me?" His eyes glanced at Cao Yi and Wang Jinglue, who were also surprised and confused. She looked at Qinniang with understanding.
"Go back to the general, this is what the Queen Mother said."
"How are you, His Majesty the Emperor?"
"Your Majesty is still crying. I don't know if she is feeling unwell. She has already gone to call the imperial doctor to see her." Qin Niang bowed her knees slightly and said.
"Oh!" Qin Sheng nodded, looked back at Cao Yi and said, "Your Majesty was crying endlessly and the Queen Mother couldn't leave. She also wanted to know about the city defense situation in Shangjing, so she summoned me alone to avoid being too crowded and frightening Your Majesty even more." ."
Although Qin Sheng's explanation was a bit far-fetched, King Cao and King Cao couldn't say anything at this time. Cao Yi said tentatively: "Qin Niang, in this case, we might as well retire first, and then summon the ministers after the Queen Mother is done." Is the meeting possible?¡±
"My lord, I'm afraid it's inappropriate, but what I mean is to ask you all to wait in the Tai Chi Hall for a while." Qin Niang said with a smile. "Old General, please, don't keep the Queen Mother waiting for a long time."
Qin Sheng tugged Bai Huahua¡¯s beard several times and followed Qin Niang to the back hall.
Doubts gradually arose in the hearts of Cao and Wang.
Cao Yi turned around and winked at the end of the hall. Immediately, an official in scarlet clothes came out and walked towards the outside of the hall. As soon as he stepped out of the hall, a guard with a sword came to greet him, "My lord, please stay. Sir, please return to the palace."
This guard seemed very humble, but there was no room for change in what he said.
"I am in a hurry and need to go relieve myself."
"I'm sorry, sir. The order I received is that no one is allowed to step out of the Tai Chi Hall without the Queen Mother's permission." The guard said firmly.
"Anyone?" the official asked in surprise.
"Yes, anyone!" The guard nodded vigorously.
The official raised his head and looked outside the Taiji Hall, his face slightly changed color. Compared with when he went to court this morning, there were suddenly more than double the number of guards outside. More importantly, there were countless more guards outside. Black-clad members of Operation Snare.
The official's expression changed several times, he stepped back, hurriedly walked to Cao Yi, and hurriedly told the situation outside in a low voice. Cao Yi suddenly felt cold all over, looked at the back hall, but couldn't think of anything for a moment. What exactly went wrong.
In the palace, Qin Rouniang rules.
In the back hall, Qin Rou Niang had regained her composure. She was holding her son Li Hao and teasing him with a smile on her face. This time, it was Qin Sheng's turn to sweat profusely. Lin Zhiyuan told Qin Sheng the general details of the matter. Told it once.
"Your Majesty, you are causing trouble, so you must be more careful. At this time, going to Beijing will no longer be able to withstand any storms." Qin Sheng said.
"What do you mean, old general? How should I deal with Cao Yi and Wang Jinglue?"
"Does the Queen Mother want to kill them both?"
"Can't he be killed? Shouldn't he be killed?" Qin Rouniang asked with a smile on her face.
"Queen Mother, if we were to judge the crime, these two people should indeed be killed with a thousand swords, but at this time, it is impossible. These two people, especially Cao Yi, have a very high reputation among the officials, even in the capital. , and he is also highly regarded by the public. If the Queen Mother captures this person, she will definitely cause a big storm. At that time, the capital city will really be impossible to defend." Qin Sheng said anxiously.
A wry smile appeared on Qin Rouniang's lips, "Of course I know I can't kill them, otherwise I would have ordered the soldiers to enter the Tai Chi Hall and capture these two people. Why would I invite the old general to come over? But this matter must be dealt with by regulations. From now on According to the news from Lou Xiang, I am afraid that these two people are going to run away. As soon as they leave, the people in the capital will still be in chaos."
"The Queen Mother wants to put them under house arrest?"
Qin Rou Niang nodded, "I won't kill them, but from today on, they will not leave the palace, so they can stay in the palace!"
Qin Sheng lowered his head and thought for a moment, "I'm afraid this is the best way, but the Queen Mother, the Cao family and the Wang family still have many generals scattered in the army. The old man is worried that there will be trouble! What I am most worried about is the Cao family's Prime Minister Cao, this person is not an ordinary person. He not only has great personal martial arts skills, but also has great appeal among the Cao and Wang families. Once Cao Yi and Wang Jinglue are imprisoned, this person will become the backbone of these two families in the capital. "
Qin Rouniang lowered her head and thought for a moment, "I will deal with this person. I know and understand Prime Minister Cao. This person is loyal to the Cao family. As long as he has this belief, I can restrain him."
"I understand!" Qin Sheng thought for a while and nodded.
"At this moment, I would like to ask the old general Qin to leave the palace immediately. I have placed King Cao and King Cao under house arrest. This cannot be hidden. The army still needs the old general to take charge to avoid other troubles."
"Yes, I will leave the palace immediately to make arrangements for emergencies," Qin Sheng said.
"Old general, you've got a job!" Qin Rouniang stood up and saluted Qin Sheng.
Qin Sheng turned sideways to avoid Qin Rou Niang's gift, and sighed: "The veteran's family has enjoyed the blessings of Dai Viet for decades, and in his seventies, he can still make a last-ditch effort for the survival of Dai Viet, even if he dies without a burial in the end. After going to Huangquan, I also had the honor to meet the successive emperors of Dai Viet."
Hearing Qin Sheng¡¯s somewhat sad words, Qin Rouniang was stunned and suddenly said: "Old general, Cao Yi is planning to take refuge in Shuzhou. This man is scheming and always has the right goals. I wonder if we can also move to Shuzhou."
Qin Sheng shook his head, "Queen Mother, this won't work. Cao Yi is a minister and the emperor is the king. Cao Yi went, and His Majesty the Emperor was absolutely forbidden to go. If Cao Yi and others went, maybe Yun Zhao would still do it for To avoid another large-scale war and to recruit peace, but if the emperor goes, Yun Zhao may not need to send troops. Xie An, who now controls Shuzhou, will take the emperor as a meeting gift for his recruitment. The ministers surrender, but the king is tens of thousands If he cannot surrender, the emperor will be defeated as soon as he leaves for Beijing. Besides"
"Besides what?"
"Moreover, the young master of Shuzhou, Xie Zhao, and tens of thousands of his disciples from middle Shu were captured by the Northern Army. Xie Shilin stayed in Bazhou and lived in poverty. If they surrendered to Yun Zhao, Shuzhou would not be a place of peace. I think that Lou Xiang I didn't agree to Cao Yi's proposal, probably because I took this into consideration. If I go to Shuzhou, I'm afraid it will also be a ruin."
"We have learned a lesson. It seems that we can only resist desperately in Shangjing." The look on Qin Rouniang's face dimmed instantly. Being trapped in Shangjing is also an unsolvable situation.
Qin Sheng left the palace in a hurry. Qin Rou Niang stayed for a long time and told Lin Zhiyuan: "General Lin, I will send someone to come out of the palace with you. You will hand over the Cao family and the Wang family to them, and then all these people will be escorted to the palace. , be careful not to expose the identities of these people, General Qin has already left the palace, he will arrange everything."
"I will obey your Majesty's will!" Lin Zhiyuan: "After the handover is completed, the general will return to the army. General Lou will attack Bukou, and the general will go to charge into the battle."
"Go ahead and tell General Lou a message for me. Tell him that I am very grateful to him. When he returns to Beijing, he will be rewarded heavily!"
"I would like to thank the Queen Mother for her kindness on behalf of General Lou." Lin Zhiyuan knelt down, bowed to the ground three times, stood up and left the palace proudly.
In the Taiji Hall, the ministers were like ants on a hot pot. Even the dullest person knew that something big must have happened, otherwise the Queen Mother would not have left and never returned. Even Old Qin did not come out again after entering. Two days have passed. For an hour, the people trapped in the Tai Chi Hall could not step out of the hall, and they were filled with panic and uneasiness.
As time went by, Cao Yi and Wang Jinglue finally couldn't sit still anymore. They looked at each other and when they were about to make a move, Qin Niang had already walked out from behind.
"My lords, please be patient. We will be able to leave the palace soon." She said with a smile.
Everyone looked at Qin Niang and knew that she still had something to say. Sure enough, Qin Niang continued: "Master Cao, Master Wang, the Queen Mother has invited you!"
Cao Yi hesitated for a moment, "Where is General Qin?"
"Old General Qin is still talking to the Queen Mother in the back!" Qin Niang couldn't see anything strange in her expression.
When King Cao and King Cao stepped into the back hall, they immediately realized that something was wrong. Qin Rouniang was sitting high up, and there were many guards on the left and right, but Qin Sheng had long disappeared.
Looking at the two people entering the palace, Qin Rou Niang showed a sneer at the corner of her mouth, "Master Chief Assistant and Master Shangshu, do you know your guilt?"
Cao Yi paused in his heart and looked at Wang Jinglue, who was also looking at him.
"Empress Dowager, what does this mean? I don't understand, but since Your Majesty ascended the throne, Mr. Cao and Mr. Wang have been working hard to solve problems for the empress and to defend the capital. I don't know where the crime is?" Cao Yi forced herself to calm down and asked.
"What a cicada is thinking so hard, what a sleepless night. I'm afraid it's just how to let your family, Cao and Wang, escape to Shuzhou safely, right?" Qin Rouniang scolded angrily.
"My Majesty, I don't understand what I'm saying!" He shouted in his heart that it was not good, but Cao Yi's face remained calm. "My Majesty, please don't listen to the instigation of people with ulterior motives and destroy the Great Wall."
"Sowing discord?" Qin Rou Niang looked up to the sky and smiled, "Cao Yi, do you think that after Zi Yan left, my net will be different from what it used to be? Can you just let me do whatever you want? Okay, I'll let you know. Just now, General Lin Zhiyuan of the Lou Xiang tribe came here just now, and he has just left the palace at this moment."
"Did Lou Xiang say something? Queen Mother, Lou Xiang has a bone on the back of his head. In the past few years, he has been full of misdeeds. How could the Queen Mother listen to this person's nonsense!" Cao Yi shouted, feeling quite worried in her heart. Despair, but still holding on to a glimmer of hope, hoping that Lou Xiang would not do things too badly.
But Qin Rouniang¡¯s next action immediately plunged Cao Yi into despair.
"Come here, bring those people up!"
There was the sound of jingling chains from outside, and the net team members were captured by teams of Cao and Wang, and were led in front of Cao and Wang.
"Mr. Chief Assistant, tell me, is this sowing discord? If it was to sow discord, how did these people get into the Lou Xiang Army? "
Cao Yi closed his eyes. He really didn't expect that Lou Xiang would do things so well that he would have no room to make any changes. Until now, he still couldn't figure out what a big deal this was for Lou Xiang. Absolutely a good thing, why does this person want to go all the way to the dark side, knowing that following Qin Rouniang is a dead end, but still follows Qin Rouniang's footsteps without hesitation. This is not in line with Lou Xiang's character!