His Royal Highness Prince Su, unsatisfied with his desires, appeared in the military camp with a dark face. He had finally managed to coax Chen Jingxi into agreeing, but it was ruined like this. How could he not be angry?
"Your Highness, an envoy from the capital is asking for an audience outside the camp." The black-armored guard reported.
Chu Jinghuai said with a cold face: "Let someone in."
"Your humble servant, Lu Ziteng, the Minister of Rites, greets His Royal Highness Prince Su." Lu Ziteng didn't dare to look up at Prince Su. He could feel the oppressive atmosphere in the tent.
"Master Lu, please don't be polite." Chu Jinghuai pulled out a seemingly gentle smile and pointed to the seat next to him, "Master Lu, please take a seat."
Lu Ziteng looked at Chu Jinghuai a little stiffly, but could not see any emotion in the other's eyes. He could only stand up to thank him and sat aside carefully.
Chu Jinghuai glanced at Zhou Peichuan, who gave him a knowing smile. He put down his teacup and said to Lu Ziteng, "I remember the princess's father was the Minister of Rites. I wonder if Lord Chen would be okay with coming in?"
Lu Ziteng swallowed and replied cautiously, "Lord Chen is old, and Prince Rong understands his difficulties and has allowed him to return home to recuperate."
After hearing this, Chu Jinghuai smiled faintly and said, "I would also like to thank my eldest brother for showing filial piety on behalf of me and the princess. Lord Lu is already the Minister of Rites at such a young age, he is also young and promising. By the way, I remember that you were Jingyue's tutor, right?"
Lu Ziteng kept saying he didn't dare, only feeling a slight bitterness in his mouth. He was Chu Jingyue's tutor, and he was quite good. His father didn't want to get involved in this palace coup, but the Empress wouldn't allow it, so she promoted him to Minister of Rites and sent him to Qingzhou to announce the imperial decree, probably calculating that he would never return.
Chu Jinghuai continued, "The Queen sent you here, so it must be something important."
Lu Ziteng was delighted. He had been struggling with how to cleverly convey the Queen's order, but now that Chu Jinghuai took the initiative to speak, he didn't have to rack his brains to find an excuse.
He quickly stood up, bowed to Chu Jinghuai, and said, "I have indeed brought the imperial edict. Your Highness Prince Su, please accept it."
Chu Jinghuai responded with a smile, just leaning back in his chair, showing no intention of getting up, let alone kneeling down to receive the order.
The generals under his command also seemed to have received a silent order and did not express anything. What a joke, they followed the prince and rebelled, why should they kneel?
Lu Ziteng couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth, and could only pretend that he didn't see it. He still wanted to go back alive.
Finally, Lu Ziteng gritted his teeth and finished reading the imperial edict, while the others sat quietly in their original places.
The general meaning of this decree was that Chu Jinghuai had made great contributions in suppressing the Northern Zhao, Turkic, and Wanfan peoples. Previously, Chu Jinghuai had raised an army under the pretext of purging the imperial court. Now, the empress announced that she had executed the two ministers who were supposedly being purged. She hoped that Chu Jinghuai would repent and return to the capital. If he was willing to return to the capital, the emperor would no longer pursue the charge of rebellion against him.
There was silence in the tent, and Lu Ziteng could clearly feel that the people around him were looking at him like an idiot.
Chu Jinghuai sneered, "If you won't punish me, then may I ask what's going on with the 300,000 troops secretly mobilized fifty miles outside Qingzhou City? And what about the Xiqi army reaching the northwest without any hindrance?"
Lu Ziteng's heart suddenly broke into a sweat, "This... I don't know, please forgive me, Your Highness."
He didn't expect that Prince Su knew all about these secret troop movements.
Looking at Lu Ziteng's pale face, Chu Jinghuai smiled and said, "Don't worry, Lord Lu. Since you have helped the princess before, I will definitely let you return safely."
"Your Highness..." Lu Ziteng opened his mouth, but he didn't know what to say. However, he was secretly glad that he hadn't opposed Chen Jingxi when she was running those rice merchants. Now she had become his life-saving talisman.
He prayed silently in his heart, hoping that Chu Jinghuai would keep his word and that he could leave this place of trouble safely.
After Lü Ziteng left, Zhou Peichuan stood up and asked, "Your Highness is just going to let Lü Ziteng go back like this?"
All the generals present also looked at Chu Jinghuai, with the same question in their minds. The Lu family is one of the eight great families of Daxia, with huge power. Lu Ziteng's father is the Minister of Justice and holds a very important position in the court.
One of the generals could not help but speak up: "Your Highness, why don't you take the man prisoner? Then we can attack the capital and force Lu He to cooperate with us. Then we can accomplish our goal."
After hearing this, Chu Jinghuai smiled lightly and said, "Let him go, why not? If I take action against him, wouldn't it make people think that I am narrow-minded?"
He paused for a moment, his eyes sweeping over everyone in the tent, and continued, "And the Queen sent Lu Ziteng here, isn't it because she wants me to kill him so that I and Lu He will have a grudge?"
The queen is very ambitious, and the aristocratic families are certainly dissatisfied with her power. If she kills Lu Ziteng or detains him in Qingzhou, it will definitely cause dissatisfaction among Lu He.
The reason why the aristocratic family has stood for hundreds of years is because of the complicated relationships behind it. Killing Lu Ziteng or detaining him in Qingzhou will not threaten the Lu family, but will only anger the Lu family and make them lean towards the queen. The queen's plan can be said to kill two birds with one stone.
Chu Jinghuai slowly stood up, and in an instant, the faint smile on his face quickly turned into a solemn and dignified look.
The generals who were originally sitting stood up immediately and listened respectfully to his orders.
"Order the entire army to attack the imperial army of 300,000 at midnight."
"Yes, Your Highness." Everyone responded in unison.
Ji Xiao frowned and stepped out of the line, saying, "Your Highness... these are all soldiers of Great Xia..."
His eyes were full of pity. After all, they were all soldiers of Da Xia, and killing each other was really heartbreaking.
"Those who surrender will not be killed."
Lu Ziteng left, but he did not take the rewards he brought with him. The gold, silver and jewelry were of course confiscated, but he didn't know what to do with these beauties.
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