The refugees bitterly recounted their lives of fleeing from the front lines and their displaced lives. Many of them had tears in their eyes, and their tattered clothes all expressed the tension and cruelty of the war on the front lines.
Su Lijin looked at Xiao Shengxing with astonishment.
She didn't expect that there was still a war on the front line!
She saw that there was also shock in Xiao Shengxing's dark eyes, and his expression became solemn in an instant.
"Why is there another war on the front line?" Xiao Shengxing frowned.
Su Lijin looked at the refugees. Since they all fled from the front line, it was absolutely true that there was a war on the front line.
She shook her head and guessed, "Maybe after my eldest brother came back from the front to negotiate peace with Dorgon, someone there started fighting again."
However, the same person has come to mind for both of them as to who will provoke the war again.
That man was the great prince of Mongolia.
As an envoy for peace talks, Dorgon belonged to the second prince's faction.
The second prince advocates peace. Since he was sent to negotiate peace, he will not easily start a war.
The eldest prince advocated war, and he must have taken advantage of the time when her eldest brother Su Moyuan came to the capital and there were no generals guarding the border to launch a surprise attack and start a war again.
What a deep scheming!
Su Lijin's face was filled with resentment: "This eldest prince must have thought of this opportunity a long time ago and was just waiting to take advantage of it to start a war."
"The eldest prince is a man of wicked ambition. It seems he had this plan all along."
Xiao Shengxing nodded, agreeing with her speculation, but his brows furrowed in confusion. He said curiously, "But General Su has been away from Beijing for quite some time. Logically, he should have arrived long ago, and the war shouldn't have escalated into the current situation."
Obviously, according to the refugees' accounts, they could not resist the Mongol army.
But with Su Moyuan's strength, it is impossible for him to allow the Mongols to attack the city.
"Oh no, General Su might have encountered something on the way."
If you encounter something, you can probably understand that something has happened.
Hearing this, Su Lijin was startled and dropped the spoon of porridge in her hand. "Is something wrong with my brother?"
Thinking that there had been no news about Su Moyuan recently, her face suddenly turned pale.
Seeing her expression, Xiao Shengxing felt a little sorry and comforted her, "General Su must have just been stopped due to an incident. He is brave and good at fighting. No one can really hurt him. Don't think too much about it."
Hearing him say this, Su Lijin felt a little comforted when she thought of Su Moyuan's repeated victories in marches and battles and his unrivaled strength.
But, he was her own brother, how could Su Lijin be completely relieved?
"Why is there no news from the capital?" Her heart was still beating in a panic.
Xiao Shengxing held her shoulders, trying to comfort her. A cold glint flashed in his dark eyes. "Since so many refugees have arrived from the front lines, the fighting must be serious. The soldiers on the other side will surely report this to the capital."
"We haven't received any news from the capital yet. The only possibility is..."
Su Lijin suddenly looked up and exclaimed, "The messenger was killed along the way?"
Xiao Shengxing lowered his shoulders, his face as gloomy as water, his eyes filled with unmelted ice: "This can only be the reason."
For a moment, both of them fell silent.
They have no idea how serious the war on the front line is now. The most important thing is to obtain accurate information as soon as possible and deploy troops in time.
The two men successfully completed the task of distributing porridge, but on the way back to the palace, both of them looked very heavy, not as relaxed as when they came.
When they returned to the palace, the two men had already changed into dragon robes and phoenix robes. No one could tell that they were the nouveau riche who had just distributed porridge in the refugee camp.
The empress dowager came over supported by her maid. She looked at Xiao Shengxing and nodded. Her eyes fell on Su Lijin and her brows immediately frowned.
"Queen, what are all these things around you?"
Su Lijin was carrying many small gadgets she had bought outside the palace. They were all bought from vendors while they were walking on the road.
Seeing this, Su Lijin took a look at these things and said with a curled lip: "Empress Dowager, these are from outside the palace. I found them interesting, so I brought them here."
"Something outside the palace?"
The Queen Mother frowned as she looked at those things with disdain, and she also looked at Su Lijin with dissatisfaction: "Queen, as the queen of a country, you are always thinking about things outside the palace, and now you bring these things into the palace. I see that your heart is not in this palace at all!"
Upon hearing this, Su Lijin's ears almost got calluses.
She knew very well that the Queen Mother was never friendly when she saw her, and she was always finding fault.
Now she is criticizing her for the matter of things outside the palace.
She complained in her heart, does everyone have to be like the Queen Mother, old-fashioned and without any preferences of her own?
Although she thought about it, Su Lijin didn't say it out loud.
After walking a few steps to Xiao Shengxing's side, Su Lijin's voice was very gentle, and there was no sign of dissatisfaction with the Queen Mother. She said, "I did all this because of the Emperor's orders. It was all the Emperor's will."
She directly brought up the emperor, and the empress dowager immediately cast a dissatisfied look at Xiao Shengxing.
Xiao Shengxing glanced at Su Lijin, a smile flickering in his dark eyes. His expression remained calm as he spoke, "Empress Dowager, the Queen's birthday is coming soon, so I'm giving her a surprise in advance so we can spend some quality time together."
The Queen Mother hadn't responded yet, but Su Lijin was stunned, staring at the man blankly.
Is your birthday coming soon?
Su Lijin thought about it and then remembered that her birthday was indeed coming soon.
She was a little surprised that Xiao Shengxing remembered her birthday so clearly?
The Queen Mother snorted in dissatisfaction: "I think the Emperor is spoiling the Queen too much."
After saying this, with a look that showed he was completely displeased with Su Lijin, he said, "Since the Emperor has already had a meeting with the Empress in advance, there's no need to hold a grand banquet on the birthday."
Xiao Shengxing's expression remained unchanged, but his voice brooked no refusal: "Empress Dowager, as the Empress of a country, the Empress must be treated with the proper pomp and dignity. She represents me and the royal family, and this cannot be done lightly."
"Is the Emperor planning a grand celebration, mobilizing all the civil and military officials in the palace to celebrate the Empress' birthday?" The Empress Dowager's face was filled with dissatisfaction. "Even my grandson doesn't get this kind of treatment!"
Su Lijin on the side sneered. The Queen Mother's words were clearly stepping on her.
She was the queen, and her status was higher than that of the prince, but the queen mother's words clearly implied that she, a queen, was not as good as the prince.
She had never wanted to compete in these matters, but now she did not want to swallow her anger.
Su Lijin sneered and said, "Empress Dowager, you might as well ask the Emperor to promote Concubine Shu to Empress, so that her son can enjoy the same treatment."
"However, before that, you need to divorce me first."
With a smile on her face, Su Lijin stared at the Queen Mother and continued with a curled lip, "But I have done nothing wrong. Your Majesty has no reason to divorce me."
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