Chapter 455: Discussion
Originally, Xiao Shu planned to endure the humiliation for a month and wait for Xiao Lin to pick her up.
But now it seems that they can't wait that long.
First it was her, then it was Lianhua, who would be next?
Xiao Shu turned her head to look at the maids and whispered calmly: "Are you afraid of death?"
The crying maids were stunned after hearing this, thinking for a moment with tears in their eyes. After understanding what Xiao Shu meant, they said firmly: "No."
Xiao Shu nodded and said: "Okay, then we will fight them."
As a woman, it is better to die than to be humiliated like this. Even Xiao Shu lost the courage to persist.
A month is too long. They don't know how many times they will have to face torture and how miserable they will be.
When she thought of those painful memories, Xiao Shu vomited in disgust and trembled with fear.
Since we can't live anymore, let's die together.
"We will all listen to the princess." Several people wiped away their tears and looked at Xiao Shu firmly.
Xiao Shu took a deep breath and whispered with them.
The snow kept falling, making it impossible for Mobei to send troops, and they could only wait patiently.
On the 28th of the first lunar month, when the emperor was handling government affairs in the study, the eunuch presented an urgent report from the border.
The emperor hurriedly put down his pen and took it to read.
The letter was a bit long, and the emperor read it for a long time. After reading it, the emperor looked solemn and remained silent for a long time.
Gao He stood aside, and after a while, he asked tentatively: "Your Majesty, is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince okay?"
The emperor put down the letter and sighed: "The war at the border is not going well, I'm afraid he is not doing well."
In the letter, Yu Cheng first reported the situation at the border, and then presented his next plan. Finally, he made a suggestion to the emperor.
The fierce battle at the border caused heavy casualties among the generals and soldiers. Even if they won in the end, there would not be many generals and soldiers left, and there would not be many extra troops to be transferred back to Shangjing.
Therefore, Yu Cheng suggested recruiting new soldiers in time to fill the Dazhao army in case of emergency.
What Yu Cheng said made sense, but recruiting new soldiers required a lot of money, which really gave the emperor a headache.
At the same time, in the East Palace.
Xie Wanruo was accompanying Yu Haolin to study, and Yingrong suddenly came into the room happily.
"Your Majesty, there's a letter from His Highness." Yingrong stepped forward quickly and handed the letter to Xie Wanruo.
Xie Wanruo stood up excitedly, took it and couldn't wait to open it.
"I want to read what my father wrote." Yu Haolin pulled Xie Wanruo and begged.
"Okay, let's read it together." Xie Wanruo sat down, hugged Yu Haolin in front of her, and the mother and son read the letter together.
Yu Haolin knew a limited number of words and didn't recognize most of them. He couldn't understand the content of the letter at all and could only read what he knew.
"Wanruo, are you okay with Haolin? I... miss you..."
The word Wan was Xie Wanruo's name, so Yu Haolin knew it.
It was just a normal opening greeting, but Xie Wanruo's eyes immediately turned red when she heard Yu Haolin read it out like this.
"Mother, father said he missed us." Yu Haolin was very happy.
Although he didn't recognize some of the words, he understood the meaning of the word "miss".
"Yeah." Xie Wanruo choked and responded, and read the letter carefully.
Yu Haolin didn't recognize many of the words at the end, and couldn't read any more and could only worry.
"Mother, what else did father say?"
Xie Wanruo said, "Wait a moment, mother will tell you after reading it."
"Okay." Yu Haolin waited patiently.
The letter had three pages. Xie Wanruo finished reading one page and then turned to the next. The further she read, the more solemn Xie Wanruo's expression became.
Yingrong saw that her face was not right, and knew that something big was going to happen.
After a long time, Xie Wanruo finished reading the letter and frowned.
"Mother, what's wrong?" Although Yu Haolin was young, he also noticed something was wrong.
Xie Wanruo sighed and said, "Father said he is fine and told us not to worry. He also asked Haolin to study hard and practice martial arts and wait for him to come back."
"So many words, what else did father say?" Yu Haolin asked.
Xie Wanruo said, "Other things are adults' business, Haolin is too young to understand now."
"Okay, you study hard, mother has to go out for a while."
"Oh." Yu Haolin responded sensibly.
Xie Wanruo took the letter, got up and left the East Palace.
The weather was fine today. Concubine Yu Gui held Yu Ziyu and took a walk with Yu Lan in Yu Garden.
Yu Lan was in a heavy state and could not walk for too long. After walking for a while, she returned to Zhongling Palace.
"Your Majesty, Concubine Xie is here."
As soon as Concubine Yu Gui arrived at the gate of Zhongling Palace, the maid came forward to report.
Concubine Yu Gui looked at Yu Lan and asked in confusion, "Why is she here?"
Since the death of the Empress and Cao Muxue, Xie Wanruo rarely left the East Palace and had no contact with Concubine Yu Gui.
She came here suddenly today, there must be something.
"Be careful." Concubine Yu Gui reminded Yu Lan when they passed the threshold.
The mother and daughter entered the main hall and saw Xie Wanruo sitting in the hall.
Seeing the two people, Xie Wanruo hurriedly stood up to greet them.
"Sit down." Concubine Yu Gui walked to the top with Yu Ziyou in her arms and sat down. Yu Lan sat opposite Xie Wanruo.
Looking at Yu Lan's growing belly, Xie Wanruo asked a few questions in a soft voice.
Yu Lan smiled and asked her a few questions in return.
Although Xie Wanruo was a concubine, the Eastern Palace was without a master. With Yu Cheng's favor for her and the status of the Xie family in the court, when Yu Cheng returned, she would definitely be canonized as the Crown Princess.
Later, when Yu Cheng succeeded to the throne, Xie Wanruo would be the empress who ruled the country.
Therefore, Yu Lan and Concubine Yu were very polite to Xie Wanruo.
After the greetings, there was a moment of silence in the palace.
Concubine Yu asked directly, "I wonder why Concubine Xie came here?"
Xie Wanruo looked at Concubine Yu and said seriously, "I have an important matter that I need to discuss with Concubine Gui."
"Oh? Please go ahead, Concubine Xie." Concubine Yu Gui looked serious and handed Yu Ziyou to Chu Yu to carry away.
Yu Lan put down the teacup and listened attentively.
Xie Wanruo took out a letter from her sleeve and said, "Today I received a letter from His Highness, saying that the situation at the border is tense and the soldiers brought from Shangjing may not be able to be brought back. The court must recruit new soldiers." "
His Highness knows that the treasury is empty, so he ordered me to take out the private savings of the Eastern Palace to recruit soldiers."
"Your Highness is benevolent and righteous." Concubine Yu Gui praised.
Yu Lan said generously, "I can also take out the private savings of my princess mansion."
The money needed for recruiting soldiers is very large, and the private savings of the Eastern Palace are certainly not enough.
Xie Wanruo sighed and said, "With just a few of us, even if we take out all our private savings, it is still far from enough."
When Yu Guifei heard this, she knew that Xie Wanruo had other plans, and followed the conversation and said, "What do you think, Concubine Xie?"
Xie Wanruo said, "In my humble opinion, we should let all the officials in the court and the nobles in the capital contribute together."
"Many hands make light work. If all the officials and nobles work together, we will definitely be able to collect the money needed for the conscription." "
This..." Yu Guifei was surprised and hesitated.
"It's a good idea." Yu Lan continued.
After hearing this, Xie Wanruo looked at Yu Lan and said, "Princess Xie agrees."
Concubine Yu frowned and said, "It's a good idea, but it's probably difficult to implement." It's
good that the officials and nobles have money, but if they are asked to take it out, I'm afraid few of them are willing to do so.
Even if they have to pay out of pressure, it won't help if they take too little.
Even though the emperor has the power, there is no reason to force his subjects to pay.
Xie Wanruo said, "My father can't come forward for this matter, so we have to do it."