Countless cattle and sheep froze to death in the cold winter of the previous year. The Zinu people living on the grasslands made a living by grazing. They finally survived the cold winter. In the spring, there was no rain for a long time, the grass and trees were sparse, and there was not enough grass. The cattle and sheep on the grasslands died in large numbers.

At the border, the Zinu people initially plundered small villages outside the border on a small scale. Later, they killed and looted all the food and property wherever they went. The whole village was slaughtered and no one was left alive.

When the news was passed back to the court, the ministers in the court were shocked.

"Tell me, how should this matter be handled?" Emperor Yongkang, who was sitting on the dragon chair, was so annoyed by the ministers' quarrels that he raised his hand, and the noise below suddenly stopped. Emperor Yongkang asked in a deep voice.

After a serious illness, the emperor looked even older.

"Your Majesty, those who attack our Feng Dynasty should be punished!"

"Your Majesty, absolutely not! I think we can avoid fighting. Zinu invaded our Feng Dynasty because there has been no rain in the grassland for several months, and countless cattle and sheep have died. They are hungry and are plundering our Feng Dynasty. Our Feng Dynasty governs the world with benevolence and virtue... Therefore, our Feng Dynasty can first give Zinu food."

As soon as these words came out, the pro-war faction immediately stood up and made a fierce speech to the emperor, as if the minister just now was a traitor sent by Zinu, and using our Feng Dynasty's food to feed the enemy who kills our people, are you mentally ill? !

In the court, everyone was talking, and the factions were arguing fiercely, but there was no conclusion.

Several princes standing in the court stood aside and watched the battle, and no one stood up to be the first to speak out.

"I am here." Feng Lingyun was named by the emperor, and he had to stand up.

There are reasons for fighting and reasons for not fighting. No one can find any fault with him, and he does not support any faction. This second prince who was inconspicuous in the past was named by the emperor more and more often in the court. His Royal Highness Prince Yun has always been gentle in doing things, unlike His Royal Highness Prince Yi who does not give anyone face, and His Royal Highness Prince Fu who is arrogant and reckless. He neither offends anyone nor flatters anyone. He is polite and moderate, so he is praised by many officials in the court.

The emperor's face did not show any emotion, and he waved his hand to let the court go.

"Dismiss the court!"

"Long live the emperor..."

After dismissing the court, the emperor summoned the Eighth Prince, the left and right prime ministers, several court ministers, and several princes in the study room to talk about the invasion of Feng Dynasty by Zinu.

Zinu has been a problem that has disturbed Feng Dynasty for a hundred years, and this matter has never been resolved.

Zinu people are tall and grew up on horseback. They are good at riding and shooting, and have amazing arm strength. They can fight ten people at once. Once a war breaks out, Feng Dynasty soldiers will not be able to get any good from Zinu people. Looking back at the wars with Zinu in the past hundred years, Feng Dynasty has paid a painful price. Otherwise, it would not be impossible to drive Zinu out of the grassland and recover the grassland for Feng Dynasty.

That is why some ministers in the court insisted on negotiating with Zinu and sending rice and grain to Zinu. This is not without reason.

Emperor Yongkang heard all the comments in the court. Now he wanted to listen to his royal brother, several ministers, and his princes. He also noticed that they were standing there without saying a word.

"Ling Cheng, you come and tell me what you think about this matter." Emperor Yongkang asked.

Feng Lingcheng glanced at Master Lu, stood up and finished speaking with trembling in his heart. Emperor Yongkang did not fail to notice the look his eldest prince had just given Master Lu. He was extremely disappointed in his heart, but he could only sigh and could not blame him.

After all, his eldest prince had lost his monarch and father since he was a child, and his temperament was a little cowardly.

He remembered that his eldest prince was smart and clever when he was young, and he was his most beloved child. He didn't know how he became what he is now. Knowing that his health was getting worse day by day, Emperor Yongkang had to start examining his princes, even if he was unwilling to admit this fact in his heart, to see who was capable of managing the world. The

late Lu Houjun was his legitimate prince who followed him when he was still the crown prince. That gentle and virtuous legitimate prince left an indelible impression in his heart. Otherwise, the emperor would not have thought of making the eldest prince the crown prince. He knew that it was his eldest prince who disappointed him.

Now he could only choose from the rest, and then Emperor Yongkang successively named the second prince, His Royal Highness Prince Yun, the fourth prince, His Royal Highness Prince Yi, the fifth prince, His Royal Highness Prince Fu, and the youngest seventh prince to come out for questioning.

Feng Lingyun's words were flawless, and there was nothing wrong with them.

When asked what to do at this time, Feng Lingxiao bowed, his face expressionless as always, and said in a firm tone, "Your Majesty, I advocate war!" These two simple words, without much words, represent the thoughts of all the generals. Those who offend our Feng Dynasty should be punished!

When Emperor Yongkang heard these two words, an invisible light flashed in the depths of his eyes.

Feng Lingrui was also a war advocate. Feng Lingxiao only said two words, while he spoke a long and passionate speech, wishing that he could convince his father to nod and insist on him, and send troops to attack Zinu, enhance the prestige of our Feng Dynasty, and make them dare not invade our Feng Dynasty again.

"Hmm." Emperor Yongkang listened silently to all the princes speaking. After the fifth prince delivered an impassioned speech, his complexion looked a little better. No emperor wants to see his dynasty invaded by the enemy and his people killed by the enemy, and Emperor Yongkang is no exception. Emperor

Yongkang dreams of being like his ancestor, driving the Zinus out of the grassland during his lifetime, recovering the grassland for the use of the Feng Dynasty, leaving his name in history, and becoming a wise ruler in the eyes of future generations, passed down through the ages. With the

fifth prince's words, the seventh prince, who was called out later, stammered and couldn't make sense, so the emperor stopped being angry. Seeing that his father was not angry, the seventh prince, who retreated to the back, stuck out his tongue.

Among the princes, apart from the eldest prince, Emperor Yongkang also had the idea of ​​making his fifth prince the crown prince. The fifth prince was born to Sun Houjun, so if he was made the crown prince, it would be legitimate.

Before this, Emperor Yongkang subconsciously cleared the way for his fifth prince. The power of the Sun Guogong Mansion was too great. The king is the king and the ministers are the ministers. If the power of the ministers exceeds that of the king, the dynasty will sooner or later fall. Therefore, Emperor Yongkang first took back the power of the Sun Guogong Mansion. If the people in the Sun Guogong Mansion could abide by the law, considering that Sun Guogong had bowed and devoted himself to the Feng Dynasty, he would not mind leaving a way out for them.

"Okay, you all are going down, and the eighth prince is staying." Later, the emperor waved everyone to go down, but he left the eighth prince to have a secret conversation in the imperial study.

As for what was discussed inside, only the emperor and the eighth prince knew.

Feng Lingxiao walked out and glanced at the deserted corner before leaving.

"Second brother, fourth brother, wait for me." The seventh prince Feng Linglan quickly followed his fourth brother. Although the two brothers were not born from the same father, the seventh prince had liked to cling to this fourth brother since he was a child. He remembered that this fourth brother had protected him when he was a child and had always treated his fourth brother as his own brother.

I'm afraid not many people know that after Feng Lingxiao left Fengdu and went to the border, Feng Linglan, who was only fourteen or fifteen years old, dared to secretly run to the border to find his fourth brother. That was his first time to the border. Although his fourth brother didn't agree with him and said he was nonsense, he still kept him in the army, but drove him away after a few days.

Feng Linglan, who had been to the border, saw with his own eyes how Zinu bullied the people of Feng Dynasty, so he supported his fourth brother's intentions in his heart.

When his father asked about it, he just didn't want to attract everyone's attention. Compared with being a smart prince, Feng Linglan prefers to be a leisurely prince. But if one day his fourth brother needs his help, he can give his life to his fourth brother.

Feng Lingxiao heard the voice from behind, but he did not stop, and walked with Feng Lingyun, with no intention of waiting for his seventh brother. But Feng Lingyun heard it, stopped, and waited for his seventh brother to catch up with him with a smile, "Why are you in such a hurry? Aren't your fourth brother and I waiting for you?" he said.

Feng Lingxiao actually had no intention of waiting for Feng Linglan, but he had to stop because Feng Lingyun stopped.

He treated Feng Linglan the same way as he treated all his brothers, ignoring him.

"Hehe, thank you, second brother." Feng Linglan was also smart not to just keep getting close to his fourth brother. On the surface, he preferred to get close to his second brother who had a good temper. The two people walked together, with Feng Lingxiao taking a step forward and walking in front.

Glancing at the three people in front from a distance, Feng Lingrui snorted coldly.

The flowers and plants in Cuixiu Garden had sprouted new buds, and they were all green. The weather was good today. Shen Guijun had a faint smile on his face, and he must be in a good mood. His belly was getting bigger and bigger. The imperial physician said that he was about to give birth this month. It was getting more and more inconvenient for him to move with a big belly, so he seldom went out for a walk.

The outside was still referring to his Cuixiu Garden, not the garden in the harem.

Even when he walked in this yard, he was surrounded by more than a dozen palace slaves, who served him carefully. Even in this harem, even Queen Sun did not have such a grand display as him.

But after she became pregnant, Shen Meiyue rarely went out.

The harem was getting more and more lively day by day. If it were not for the emperor protecting him, he might not be able to stay so peacefully in Cuixiu Garden. Even so, there were also hands from outside who wanted to reach into his Cuixiu Garden. In this regard, Shen Meiyue just smiled. If others respected him one foot, he would return one foot. If anyone wanted to touch the child in his belly, he would not be soft-hearted to anyone.

There were so many beauties serving the emperor in the harem, and no one would know what happened if one or two died.

"Go back to the room." After walking around outside, Shen Guijun couldn't stand it anymore.

When the attendant beside him came over to help him, a piece of paper also went into his hand. The master and servant walked together as if nothing had happened and waited until they returned to the house. Shen Guijun asked the palace servant who was serving in the house to go out, opened the note in his hand, unfolded it and took a look, then put it under the lamp to burn it.