Chapter 767 A Dream of Youth 299

Afterwards, Xie Ning wrote a memorial, intending to take action to ban the Five-Stone Powder after returning to the capital. However, she was unsure whether her plan would succeed, because the example of General Xu was too few, so she needed to find more examples to prove the harm of the Five-Stone Powder.

Just as Xie Ning finished writing half of the report, Xu Hongying knocked on the door and came in. "The kitchen has made some warm soup, but it's cold today, so don't catch a chill."

Xie Ning glanced at Xu Hongying's clothes and raised an eyebrow. "How did the talks go?"

"The steward has already delivered the festival gifts. I put a lot of cotton fabric in them. In a couple of days, I will be attending some banquets with Madam Xu."

There are quite a few powerful and influential people here, but the Xu family is in charge. General Xu is in charge of the military and political affairs of Bingzhou. Now that he is ill, his youngest son, General Xu, has been temporarily taking over. His other sons are serving as officials in other places.

Today, Madam Xu asked about her clothes before inquiring about Xie Ning. Xu Hongying naturally followed Xie Ning's instructions, but then asked, "Will this be of any use?"

"Don't be too hasty."

With achievements right in front of you, the fish will always take the bait.

As autumn deepened, Xie Ning remained at the Xu residence. Her true identity was not revealed; instead, she accompanied Xu Hongying to visit General Xu as a distant relative.

After all, General Xu's illness could not be revealed, not because he was afraid of other officials and nobles in the city, but because he was afraid of the invasion of the Northern Jin. Xie Ning had heard a few things about it during his stay in the past few days.

The border area is not peaceful.

When the Great Zhou and Xili were at war, the Northern Jin was eager to make a move, but at that time, they also experienced political turmoil in their country, so they missed the opportunity to invade the Zhou, but they did send people to tear off a piece of Xili's territory.

As for the internal strife in the Northern Jin Dynasty... Xie Ning didn't know the specifics, but it seemed that the crown prince of the Northern Jin Dynasty had died.

However, the Great Zhou could not let its guard down. After all, the battle with Xili had consumed most of the country's strength. In order to appease the Northern Jin, some silver and silk had been added. The people needed a long time to recuperate and rebuild. They really could not afford another major war.

The Northern Jin might take the opportunity to attack the Great Zhou. They have been probing each other for some time now. Since the Great Zhou incorporated Xili into its territory, not only the Northern Jin, but also other neighboring countries have felt a sense of impending doom. Therefore, they are likely to unite to resist the Great Zhou.

Besides extracting some benefits from the weakened Great Zhou, it also served to demonstrate their stance and deter Great Zhou from easily attacking them.

If something happens in Bingzhou and Linyang, creating a breach, it could be used by the Northern Jin as a deterrent. Even if they can't completely swallow the Great Zhou, they can still take a piece of its flesh.

As for a peace treaty, it is only a treaty if both parties can check and balance each other or if there is a powerful third party to check and balance each other. Otherwise, tearing it up is just finding an excuse.

Therefore, the emperor was already secretly making arrangements to find someone to replace Xu Linyang, but before that, Xu Linyang still needed to be stationed in Bingzhou.

The Great Zhou's worries were not unfounded. It was during the intercalary sixth month that the various tribes of Goryeo and the Mongolian grasslands subtly mentioned the matter when they paid tribute. What surprised the Northern Jin Emperor the most was that some powerful nobles and generals who had fled from Xili also came to join him.

They brought not only gold and silver, but also soldiers and captured Zhou generals.

Their desire to surrender is evident. After all, they are all from the Empress Dowager's faction. If the young emperor is still alive, there will be no good outcome for them if they stay. The Emperor of Great Zhou will definitely use their lives to appease the young emperor of the Western Regions.

The only country they could turn to was the Northern Jin.

The wind was biting cold. Besides treating General Xu, Xie Ning's mission was to test medicines. So a month ago, she led her people into the army. There were frequent incursions at the border between the two countries, so she followed the small-scale battles between the two sides, teaching military doctors and testing medicines at the same time.

Her statistical cycle was one month, so after she ran out of penicillin, she recorded the data and returned to the city.

In order not to reveal her identity, she always dressed as a man, pretending to be an ordinary military doctor who had returned from training at the Imperial Medical Bureau.

Apart from General Xu and his deputy, no one else in the army knew her true identity.

When Xie Ning led the team back to the city, he glanced at the mutton offal noodles stall by the roadside outside the city, rubbed his stomach, and saw that there was still a long queue. He then said to the others, "It's still early. Let's have breakfast before going into the city."

There were many small stalls along the roadside. Xie Ning not only ordered mutton offal noodles, but also bought other snacks. She didn't like drinking much, so she only ordered for the others in the group, while she and Aqi Lan ordered a bowl of egg and fermented rice soup to warm themselves up.