Everyone's faces fell; the people in the capital had ordered them to stop Shen Qingque.

But how can they stop them? The people from Jiangzhou have all died. Are they supposed to make them risk their lives too?

"What we're saying is, if the people in Jiangzhou couldn't hold on, then it shouldn't be a big deal if we can't hold on either."

"But everyone in Jiangzhou is dead."

"......"

Yes, people are dead, so even if you wanted to settle scores, there's no way to do so. But they're different; they're still alive, with families to support!

"How about we surrender to Shen Qingque?"

After these words were spoken, there was no sound from below.

How are they supposed to handle this? What if someone present goes to the capital to complain? Will they even have a chance to survive?

The group was at a loss, so they put the matter aside for the time being and went their separate ways.

Unexpectedly, the next day, a county magistrate died! The one who died was the very person who had suggested surrendering to Shen Qingque!

The officials in Yanzhou suddenly realized that this was a warning from the capital!

Now, they're all putting in a lot of effort to cause trouble for Shen Qingque.

Of course, some people were still watching and thinking that if they played the victim and someone else covered for them, everything would be fine, but they soon received threatening letters.

For a time, the officialdom in Yanzhou was in complete chaos.

As for the capital city, apart from the delegations from Beiqing and Donglin who remained in the city, the delegations from other states had all departed.

Beiqing was there for the polo match in two weeks, while Donglin made an excuse that Dongfang Shi's health was not suitable for traveling and he needed to rest for a few more days.

Both countries had their own agendas. Although Yuwen Wuji did not want them to stay in Dachen, he could not directly expel them.

Unbeknownst to the Northern Qing delegation, Song Yaozhu had already dispatched the Northern Qing imperial physician back to reveal the true cause of General Jin Tie's death. Once they return, there will likely be quite a stir in Northern Qing!

On Dongfang Shi's side, Donglin Kingdom was a slave society. The slaves were instilled with the idea that they were livestock from birth, so naturally they wouldn't resist. Song Yaozhu arranged for "missionaries" to gradually instill in them the idea that "where there is oppression, there is resistance."

They have been oppressed for too long. Even if you tell them about the egalitarian idea that "the emperor is subject to the same laws as the common people," they won't understand. So it's better to let them break free on their own, to overthrow that tyrannical rule themselves, and then slowly explore and move forward.

Everything proceeded in an orderly manner. Tuoba Yunwu didn't know what consensus he had reached with Yuwen Wuji, but Tuoba Hongyun was released after five days in prison.

For the past five days, she hadn't eaten a single proper meal, surviving solely on water. She only dared to swallow the water after seeing the jailer drink it without any problems.

She was terrified that something had been added to the food. Although Song Yaozhu wouldn't dare let herself die in Da Chen, what if she gave her a slow-acting poison? If she died as soon as she left Da Chen, wouldn't she have wasted her precious youth?

When Tuoba Hongyun was released from prison, she was carried away by several of her burly maids. She was so hungry that she was exhausted. After returning to the post station, she drank a large bowl of meat soup with rice before she could finally sleep soundly.

Song Yaozhu was peeling lotus seeds from a lotus pod in her hand. The lotus pod had been frozen in an ice cellar during the summer. Although it was no longer fresh, it still tasted like lotus seeds.

"This has been frozen for so long, you should eat less of it," Xie Liwei said, looking at a chess manual and noticing she had peeled a small bowlful.

Song Yaozhu pushed the small dish of lotus seeds in front of Xie Liwei, "Who said I wanted to eat them?"

Xie Liwei: "......"

He asked that question unnecessarily.

He really didn't like the taste of lotus seeds; they were bitter.

But when he met Song Yaozhu's gaze, he still stuffed the pieces into his mouth one by one.

“I’m really worried right now. The Dowager Consort came over again to test me. She’s trying to force me to kill Yuwen Wuji quickly. I advised her to wait a little longer. It seems that Yuwen Wuji’s two sons are about to fight each other. Once they are both exhausted, we can kill Yuwen Wuji. Then, when the world is without a ruler, we can ask someone to enthrone the Prince of Yan.”

"I persuaded the Dowager to go back, but I always felt that she had other plans in mind."

"Yes, after all, there's still Prince Xuan in the capital." Xie Liwei's mouth was full of lotus seeds, and he spoke indistinctly.

“Even if Yuwen Wuji’s lineage is wiped out, Prince Xuan is still closer to him than Prince Yan.”

“But King Xuan’s weakness is that he has no sons,” Song Yaozhu sighed.

After she finished speaking, she paused in peeling the lotus seeds, and Xie Liwei also stopped chewing.

The couple exchanged a glance. "They wouldn't be planning to harm King Xuan, would they?"

Xie Liwei let out an untimely burp. "If I see Prince Xuan tomorrow, I'll remind him."

Consider that King Xuan was in Dali Temple, where there were already many experts stationed there. Otherwise, those inhuman, highly intelligent murderers would have escaped long ago.

In addition, he also had secret guards, and he couldn't imagine how outstanding the King of Yan would have to be to harm the King of Xuan.

Xie Liwei sent a message to King Xuan, but unexpectedly, King Xuan was not affected, but his son-in-law's reputation was ruined in the capital.

Originally, a noblewoman was buying clothes in a fabric shop when she met a merchant from Yanzhou. The merchant said, "When Lord Shen first came to our area, he took the daughter of Magistrate Xu as a concubine. Later, several other magistrates also sent their daughters over. Lord Shen is quite the opportunist!"

"Everyone said that he and Princess Yongle had an unbreakable bond. It seems that all men are the same. Once they leave a powerful person to keep them in check, they let themselves go."

"That's right! The princess already had a bad reputation, and she's so much older than Lord Shen. Maybe Lord Shen wasn't even aware of what was good about her when he married her! Now that he's become aware, he naturally knows the goodness of different women. So once he's out there, without anyone to keep him in check, he's naturally gotten carried away."

When Yongle heard these words, she was so angry that she wanted to tear their mouths apart!

Damn it! Damn it! These people don't understand her husband at all, how could they slander him like this!

She received a letter from Shen Qingque the day before yesterday. Although the letter was blank, she knew he was thinking of her.

Before he left, he said that if he didn't send anything back, it meant he was safe and sound. If he really missed her, he would only send a blank letter home, to prevent someone from impersonating him and setting a trap for his family.

He was thinking of her; how could he possibly take another woman as a concubine!

Yongle gritted her teeth, thinking that those old bastards in Yanzhou actually dared to make things difficult for her young husband. Humph, just wait and see how she deals with them!

"Someone, prepare the carriage! I need to go to the palace to see my imperial uncle!"