The emperor was vomiting blood and was in critical condition. He called for help late at night. The crown prince in the East Palace and the two princes living outside the palace all came to attend to him.
The emperor's birthday was less than a month away. It would be unlucky if the emperor died at this time.
The prince fed the emperor the medicine, and the King of Qin knelt beside him and pretended to cry. But the King of Jin cried the most sincerely, and was about to faint from crying. The prince looked at the King of Qin who couldn't pretend to cry and the King of Jin who was about to cry himself to death with disgust, and left the inner hall.
The palace maids in the emperor's bedroom were like frightened birds. Liu Wenji was summoned by the prince to be questioned, asking why the emperor suddenly vomited blood.
Liu Wenji stood in front of the prince with his eyelids drooping, knowing that he had been exiled because of the eleventh official in the household of the Ministry of Revenue. The punishment the Ministry of Revenue doctor received was only a demotion.
This was all the prince's instruction.
The prince treated him like a piece of trash and was not a good person.
Liu Wenji's face was filled with fear. His master, the chief eunuch Cheng An, was wiping his sweat beside him. The air was stagnant. Liu Wenji would naturally not tell these people that the emperor was so heartbroken that he vomited blood after hearing that Princess Danyang could not have children. It was best not to know such royal secrets.
Liu Wenji then said that His Majesty vomited blood after King Wuman left.
So the prince summoned King Wuman into the palace overnight.
When Meng Zaishi arrived, he suspected that the emperor was provoked by some reason. But that reason was that he deliberately wanted to provoke the emperor, to see if the emperor had any feelings for his daughter... Meng Zaishi didn't want to let everyone know, so he acted at a loss.
The prince could not find out the reason, but suddenly a surprised voice came from the inner palace: "Your Majesty is out of danger..."
It's hard to describe. Standing outside the palace, looking at the miles-long red lanterns, the prince felt a sense of disappointment.
At some point, he hoped that the emperor would just die. Then he wouldn't have to fight anymore, and as the crown prince, he would naturally be able to succeed to the throne.
The emperor's shrewdness made everyone exhausted.
-----
The emperor, who had escaped from danger, fell into a deep nightmare.
In this drowsy nightmare, the emperor stood outside Qingning Palace in a daze, with nothing in sight.
The sky was filled with light clouds, and the clouds seemed to be running. In the dream, Qingning Palace was coated with a layer of soft yellow light, becoming so illusory and unreal. This was the bedroom of the late queen.
The emperor couldn't help but take a step forward, then stopped: "A Nuan..."
He looked at the familiar yet strange Qingning Palace, and in his dream he didn't dare to approach it. He was afraid that after entering, there would be no one inside, only dust and cobwebs; he was also afraid that Ah Nuan was really inside, but she looked at him with hatred.
When he was young, he married Li Nuan. Because the Li family was powerful, he stood out in the battle for the throne and became the emperor. Although he was suspected of taking advantage of the Li family, he really liked Nuan. Before their Erlang died, the relationship between the emperor and the queen was as harmonious as that of an ordinary couple.
The emperor suddenly heard a baby crying. The cry rang out in the dark sky like thunder, making the unreality of the dream a little more real. Along with the baby crying, the emperor heard more sounds -
"Her Highness has given birth! It's a baby girl!"
"Congratulations, Your Highness!"
"Your Majesty, Your Highness is well, the little princess is very beautiful."
The sound of footsteps came from the Qingning Palace. The footsteps were numerous and dense, but also very small. They were not the footsteps of adults. The next moment, a boy popped his head out of the door of the Qingning Palace, ran towards the emperor, and held his hand.
The child's soft, slender fingers were placed in the emperor's palm.
The emperor shuddered, lowered his head, and saw the boy with delicate features and thick black eyelashes. The boy looked no more than five or six years old, small in stature, but kind and adorable.
The emperor couldn't help but say: "Erlang..."
The boy looked up and said, "Father, let's go see Mother."
The emperor looked down at him numbly, and his nose suddenly felt sore.
He was sure it was a dream.
Erlang has been away from this world for ten years. He was fifteen years old when he left. Erlang has never appeared in his dreams, and has never left him with the slightest lingering memory. So who is this dream entrusted to?
The emperor was led by the boy into the Qingning Palace. He did not dare to breathe, fearing that he would wake up from the dream. He did not wake up at this time. In his dream, he not only saw Erlang, who had passed away and was still a child, but also saw a beautiful girl leaning on the bed holding a baby.
The emperor stared at it in amazement. Time and memory were both very cruel, and everything he did was like a knife stabbing into memory. His heart ached, but he could only stare blankly.
Ah Nuan waved to him, her eyes showing the tenderness and kindness of a mother: "My dear, come and see our little princess..."
The emperor sat by the bed, looking down at the little princess. Erlang stood on tiptoe and tugged at the queen's arm, leaning over to take a look. The emperor and the queen were chatting, and the boy stared at the newborn girl curiously. He stretched out his hand to poke, but the mother glared at him, so he quickly retracted his hand and smiled embarrassedly.
The Queen asked, "Your Majesty, have you thought of a name for our little princess?"
The boy immediately held out his hand: "Let me choose! Let me choose! Father and mother, can you let me name my sister?"
The Queen suppressed her laughter and asked: "Do you know all the characters?"
The boy begged, "Father, can you please write down the characters you like and let me choose? I really want to name my sister, and I will be very serious about it."
The emperor and his empress could not persuade the boy, so the emperor wrote some words as he remembered and asked Erlang to choose. The boy picked the words "晚" and "摇".
The Queen pondered, "Twilight rocking? Twilight rocking, the boat rocking. The conception is nice, but the meaning is average, and it sounds a bit sad, not very good."
The boy said in a clear voice: "How can she be sad? She is the child of her father and mother, the newly born little princess of Wei. How can she be sad?"
The boy looked up, his eyes as bright as Putao's, staring at the empress, but the emperor felt that he had seen into his heart. The boy said, "I want my sister to be called 'Mu Wan Yao'. I gave my sister the name, and I will protect her from now on. I will always protect my sister, so I will call her 'Mu Wan Yao', okay?"
Swinging in the evening.
At dusk, the boat rocks in the evening.
Just as the queen's words came true, dusk had fallen and the sky was getting dark. Where should she go in her small boat?
The man who named her is gone, and the man who said he would protect her cannot keep his promise. The emperor and the empress turned against each other, and in their struggle, she became the sacrifice. Then the empress died, and everything began to end.
The emperor won this war without gunpowder, but Mu Wanyao was no longer able to have children.
A Nuan's bloodline, Li's bloodline...finally could not be passed down in the royal family.
The Li family was defeated, and the emperor could finally relax. He no longer had to worry about how Mu Wanyao would use the child, who would carry the blood of the Li family and the royal family, to stir up trouble when he got old. Mu Wanyao didn't have to go back to Wuman, and it would be impossible for the Li family to rise.
However, what followed was A Nuan's complete departure.
She finally disappeared completely. Of her two children, her son died before her, and her daughter was infertile. Her bloodline...now, Mu Wanyao was the only one left.
-----
The emperor woke up from his nightmare at midnight.
He sat on the bed, feeling empty, looking towards an illusory place. Ah Nuan was standing there, looking at him with tears and hatred.
He finally covered his face, tears fell unexpectedly, and he cried out loudly.
These years, these years...it's really like a nightmare.
He had actually brought the only bloodline left in Ah Nuan to this point. He had kept his kingdom stable, but he had completely lost everything.
-----
The emperor's crying was sudden and hasty in the dark night. The chief eunuch hurried to see and was ordered by the emperor: "Let Princess Danyang enter the palace."
But just as the eunuch was about to go out to give the order, the emperor changed his mind and said in a hoarse voice: "Forget it, she should be asleep by now, don't wake her up. Let the crown prince supervise the court tomorrow, I won't attend the court, ask Princess Danyang to come to the palace and have breakfast with me."
The eunuch went out to give orders.
Princess Danyang also entered the palace the next day.
Mu Wanyao accompanied the emperor as cautiously as usual, but her father kept looking at her with a sad look, which made her feel puzzled and a little unhappy.
The look in her father's eyes was as if she was about to die.
It's so unlucky.
-----
The emperor made up his mind.
He wants to protect the young girl.
He was such a ruthless emperor, and the empire was what he really cared about. Before this, he had never thought about his young daughter. The emperor only began to include his young daughter in his plans at this time, and began to think about her - if he died, where would she go.
-----
Taking advantage of the fact that the emperor was critically ill and there were frequent people coming and going in and out of the palace, Liu Wenzhi met Luo Xiu again.
Luo Xiu had already done what he promised to do for Liu Wenji. Now, one of the two most useful disciples of Cheng An, the chief eunuch, died, and the other was thrown out of the palace on a straw mat. The other disciples could not threaten Liu Wenji, so Liu Wenji became the most powerful person around the chief eunuch.
As agreed, Liu Wenzhi gave the other party the information that Luo Xiu wanted.
They met outside the Hanlin Academy, just a quick glance, and then handed the memorial to each other as if nothing had happened.
Luo Xiu: "Could it be that the news you gave me is fake?"
Liu Wenji: "We can only cooperate if the news is true. If it is false news, you will come to the emperor and accuse me of conspiring with you... You are an envoy, not dead. I dare not fool you with false news unless I don't want to live anymore."
Luo Xiu thought so too, then put the letter away and left.
Luo Xiu's whereabouts were clearly known to Wu Man.
Because Meng Zaishi did not trust the man sent by King Ale from the beginning to the end, and this man followed to Wei, Meng Zaishi was always curious about what Luo Xiu wanted to do. Meng Zaishi asked someone to monitor Luo Xiu, and the person who was monitoring came back and reported what Luo Xiu had done.
Meng Zaishi: "Tsk. King Ale actually used his brain for once and did more than just shout for war and killing."
The subordinate said: "Since what Luo Xiu did has nothing to do with us and does not harm our interests, we will just watch."
Meng Zaishi pondered for a moment and asked, "Do you think that if the Southern Barbarians go to war with the Wei Dynasty, will the Wei Dynasty win?"
The subordinates looked at each other and said, "If the King of the Southern Barbarians can unify the four tribes, he may be able to defeat the Wei Kingdom. But the Wei Kingdom has a vast territory, and the Southern Barbarians cannot afford it. So winning or losing is a matter of half, and it still depends on the decision of the superior."
Meng Zaishi said calmly: "The old emperor of Wei is a man of foresight. When he was in power, I think the Nanman King would not gain anything from this war, but would be dragged down by Wei. But if the old emperor steps down, let's see the character of the next emperor of Wei... If the Nanman King really wants to start a war, he should choose the next emperor's reign. Not now."
The subordinates didn't understand why King Wuman was analyzing this.
When Meng Zaishi was analyzing, he had already made a decision: "Then I can't let Luo Xiu ruin my plans at this time and drag Wu Man into the war with Wei... Detain Luo Xiu first, and don't let him out before we leave Wei."
Subordinates should be.
Then they discussed the military parade to be held on the birthday of the Great Wei Emperor next month. They were definitely not good at any literary duel; it was just a military parade, but only the Wuman King would be on the field, and they, the old subordinates who had followed the Wuman King in battle for many years, could not participate.
Meng Zaishi stood up, stretched out his arms lazily, and smiled: "Let me see what the current combat power of the Great Wei is. I have to have an idea in my mind... How can I come to the Great Wei empty-handed?"
-----
The Wei Dynasty had difficulty selecting several young generals, and Yang Si was also included among them.
It was the age of 25 that held most generals back. After all, veterans were more familiar with fighting.
Apart from Yang Si who was recommended by the crown prince, the imperial court continued to rummage around and transferred officials here and there. Finally, there was no one available, so they transferred Wei Shu from the Censorate out of a guilty conscience and let Wei Shu manage the food and fodder in the rear.
Wei Shu was confused, but after calming down, he guessed what was going on.
Originally, he had no intention of participating in either the literary duel or the military exercise. He had recently offended many ministers because of his supervision of all officials, and the King of Qin was gathering officials to demote him. But it was not easy to find an excuse, and now it happened to be a military exercise -
If Wei Shu did not do a good job and made Wei lose face, after the envoys left, the King of Qin would have an excuse to settle accounts with Wei Shu.
The officials of the Wei court were really guilty and could not find a suitable general. Yan Shang was nominated by the Wuman King, so they had to hold their noses and let Yan Shang be a "general". The general cooperated with the general and commanded the troops, so this was barely enough to make up the quota.
Wei Shuyin was asked to take care of the rear food and grass, so he concentrated on studying this route and did not join others. Yan Shang was a bit miserable. He was taken to the training ground by Yang Si and trained every day.
It was a rare occasion for Yang Si to make Yan Shang suffer a setback, so he was naturally in high spirits these days.
At the end of the last drill on the training ground, Yan Shang almost collapsed, but Yang Si stood tall with his sword. He hooked Yan Shang's shoulder and said with a smile: "As for the military drill this time, even if that Meng Zaishi chooses you, what does it matter? You can hide behind me when the time comes. With me here, he can't hurt you."
Yan Shang rubbed his chest, which had almost vomited blood from Yang Si's palm, and sighed, "Thank you very much, Sanlang."
Yan Shang immediately said, "However, fighting is not a straightforward matter. Even though I believe that you, Sanlang, have divine power, we should still ask for advice from the old generals in the court."
Yang Si said, "Ask them? If they could defeat the Wuman, they wouldn't have waited until now."
Yan Shang said gently: "Only by learning from the other party's strengths and making up for our own weaknesses can we win the long battle."
Yang Si looked serious and nodded, then he and Yan Shang went to visit the residences of several old generals in Chang'an. Several old generals helped him with all their heart, Yan Shang listened thoughtfully, and then he looked at Yang Si next to him.
In contrast to his previous indifference, when Yang Si came behind this person, he lowered his brows, his eyes were calm, and he listened very attentively.
Yang Si asked the old general for advice on martial arts. Seeing Yang Si's talent, the old general was very excited and naturally gave him advice.
Yan Shang had been following them, watching them discuss tactics, watching the general teach Yang Si how to set traps and how to deploy battle formations... Yan Shang himself was like a decoration, because he did not look like a martial artist. When he stood with Yang Si, these old generals must have liked Yang Si more than him.
Yan Shang was not jealous, but just listened to the old general's teachings silently.
This went on for half a month, every day he practiced martial arts and trained soldiers in the parade grounds, while visiting the old generals in Chang'an City.
However, on the evening two days before the emperor's birthday, Yan Shang returned to the Secretariat to report. Yang Si went with him and agreed that after Yan Shang finished his work in the Secretariat, they would go to see an old general in the evening.
Yang Si followed Yan Shang and swaggered into the Secretariat. In the evening, most of the officials in the Secretariat had left. Occasionally, those who saw Yang Si would twitch their eyelids and pretend not to see Yang Sanlang's lawlessness.
Yan Shang's teacher, Liu Xianggong, still hadn't returned to the Secretariat to work, so this time Yan Shang went to report to Zhang Xianggong.
Yan Shang put out the charcoal fire in the stove and closed the windows. He sorted out some official documents and was about to go find Mr. Zhang when Mr. Zhang opened the curtain and came out.
Yan Shang saluted to Zhang Xianggong and was about to ask Yang Si to wait outside, but unexpectedly, Zhang Xianggong saw the two of them, his eyes flickered, and he said, "Chengzhi is here too? It's just right. This is the new order from the Secretariat. You and Su Chen should come and listen to it."
Yan Shang was slightly stunned and said nothing.
Yang Size was directly surprised: "You want me to listen to your decision directly? This is the Secretariat. I'm afraid it's not appropriate, right?"
Having said that, Zhang Xianggong turned and went into the inner hall, but Yang Si followed him without hesitation. Yan Shang shook his head and smiled, and followed them.
Zhang Xianggong said, "There is nothing inappropriate. The latest order has been approved by the Ministry of Personnel, and it will be issued to the six ministries tomorrow. In other words, you will know the order tomorrow at the latest. In this case, it is okay to know the news one day in advance and give you one more day to prepare."
Yang Si thought.
Yan Shang asked: "Is it an order related to military exercises?"
Yang Si looked at Yan Shang in surprise, wondering how did you guess that.
Yan Shang explained with a smile: "Since Sanlang and I are asked to listen together, this matter must be related to Sanlang. Now that things related to both Sanlang and me can be prepared in advance, the only thing is naturally the military exercise."
Yang Si was speechless, but Zhang Xianggong was already accustomed to Yan Shang's sharp insight.
After entering the inner hall, Zhang Xianggong took his seat and handed the topmost memorial on the desk to the two men. While the two men were reading the memorial, Zhang Xianggong said, "The latest order from the Secretariat is that in this military exercise, the Wei Kingdom cannot win, only lose."
Yan Shang raised his eyelashes.
Yang Si's face suddenly darkened: "So the purpose of our one-month military exercise is to go on the field and give away lives?"
He threw down the memorial, turned around and was about to leave, wanting to say "I won't take this job". Yan Shang held down the furious Yang Si and asked gently: "Don't worry, Sanlang, the Secretariat will naturally not issue such an order without reason.
"Since you told me in advance and asked us to prepare, you must be able to help us two. Please give me some advice. I don't understand why Da Wei has to lose? We have been practicing for so long, but we are not allowed to win, only lose?"
Zhang Xianggong was calm and composed: "On the same day, the competition will be held simultaneously, with literary competition and military exercises. In the literary competition, how do you think those barbarians and small countries can win? Although Princess Danyang has set the rule that only unmarried girls are allowed to compete. However, even the girls from aristocratic families in Chang'an are no match for those envoys.
"The Secretariat can't figure out how to lose this literary duel. The only option is military exercises. One win and one lose, that's the style of our great country. If both win, I'll just be a foil, and that's meaningless. Besides, there are many things that can be manipulated in military exercises... Wei doesn't want other countries to know too much about our country's combat power."
After hearing this, not only Yan Shang understood, but even Yang Si stopped listening and was no longer as furious as before.
Zhang Xianggong glanced at Yang Si and praised him: "Chengzhi, don't you think that a beautiful loss is more difficult than a win? Yang Sanlang, can he only win and not lose?"
Yang Si snorted.
He looked up at the sky and said, "I can only win, not lose."
Zhang Xianggong was choked by him: "..."
He still smiled when he spoke.
Yan Shang coughed and said, "So, the Ministry of Central Secretariat wants to use this military exercise to test the combat capabilities of various countries. The Wuman King is leading the army, and since he won't let the Wuman people go, the soldiers of other countries will go. We can use this as a good opportunity to find out... Do we want to have a wonderful battle?"
Prime Minister Zhang nodded and said, "Dawei will lose, but we cannot let the other side see it. You must also perform a very exciting military exercise. The military exercise and literary competition will be held at the same time, for a total of three days. During these three days, you must do your best to understand the military strength of various countries. This is the real purpose of this trip."
Yan Shang smiled: "I'm afraid King Wuman also understood our intentions from this."
Zhang Xianggong: "Then it depends on who of you has better skills."
After seeing that he had convinced the two of them, Mr. Zhang stood up and let the two young men think about what to do.
Walking up to Yan Shang, Zhang Xianggong patted Yan Shang on the shoulder and sighed, "Su Chen, do you know that you are now listed in front of His Majesty's case?"
Yan Shang was stunned for a moment, then quickly reacted: "Because of the Nanshan incident?"
Zhang Xianggong smiled and said, "I don't know. It's just that His Majesty mentioned you and asked you."
He hesitated for a moment, but in order to encourage the young man, he still said one more sentence: "Originally, I shouldn't let you know this in advance. But if you are inspired by this and can help make the military exercise of the Great Wei Dynasty more exciting...it's okay for you to listen to it.
"You have made your name known to His Majesty for the Nanshan incident. If you make great contributions in this military exercise... after these envoys leave, if everything goes as I expected, you will be promoted.
"Anyway, do your job well."
Yang Si was surprised: "Promotion? So fast? He has only been in office for a few months?"
Zhang Xianggong laughed and scolded him: "What official position you hold and what promotion you get depends on how capable you are and how much you have accomplished. For example, if one of you can make the four seas submit, even if you are a lowly ninth-rank official now, the court can instantly promote you to the fourth or fifth rank."
Yang Si: "Then should I also..."
Zhang Xianggong: "Of course, of course. The prince asked you to participate in the military exercise, isn't it also to give you a promotion?"
-----
Since Wei wanted to lose this military exercise spectacularly, all the strategies previously discussed by Yan Shang and Yang Si had to be overturned and started over.
When the order came down, no one explained it to the generals like you did. Several other selected generals resigned on the spot and refused to do the job anymore.
In the chaotic turmoil and personnel transfers, Yang Si and Yan Shang unknowingly became the leaders among these generals.
Wei Shu did not participate in their affairs from beginning to end, and was as quiet as a transparent person.
After such intense rehearsals, the day before the military exercise came. After a month of intense training, the soldiers finished their training early on this day, and the general asked the soldiers to go back and rest so that they could perform exceptionally well in the military exercise.
The soldiers naturally had no idea that the generals' "extraordinary performance" meant they were planning how to lose.
Yan Shang also returned home early that day.
During the day, he was taken to the training ground by Yang Si again, and his shoulders and back ached from the fall. After returning, he took a break, and Yan Shang sat at the desk and wrote for a while, then began to daydream.
I feel like I haven’t seen Mu Wanyao for a long time.
She was always like this... when she was passionate, she couldn't let go of him, but when she was indifferent, she seemed to disappear, making it difficult for him to control her.
Yan Shang was in a daze for a while, took a bath, and went out to visit the princess next door.
-----
Mu Wanyao was sitting in his study, staring blankly at a jar of wine on the table.
There was a wine jar in front of the wine jar. There was only a little clear liquid left in the jar, which showed that most of it had been drunk by someone.
Mu Wanyao just stared at the jar of wine, struggling in a daze.
I really want to drink... The minister who sent her the wine said that this was a newly brewed strong liquor from Sichuan and it has not yet been made public. Please ask Your Highness to try the wine.
Mu Wanyao came back happily holding the jar of wine, but when he sat at the desk in the study, he fell into a struggle with himself.
She had already promised Yan Shang that she would not drink...but this wine was so precious and smelled so good, and she hadn't touched any alcohol for a month...how could she bear it?
Mu Wanyao had been struggling with this jar of wine for half a month. She wanted to drink it every day, and every day she convinced herself to be trustworthy and not drink it. However, today she finally couldn't help it, and secretly opened the jar of wine in the library and drank a glass.
After drinking a cup, it is indeed refreshing, mellow and delicious.
I want to drink a second cup...
Mu Wanyao tried to convince herself: I'll just drink a little quietly. Yan Shang is so busy anyway, he doesn't know, so I won't be considered in breach of contract.
She immediately poured herself a glass of wine with joy, and was about to drink it all in one gulp. There were two knocks on the door of the study, and Yan Shang's voice was like a death sentence outside: "Your Highness?"
Mu Wan took a sip of wine and sprayed it out, choking himself and making his eyes watery like a lake.
She hurriedly held the wine jar and wanted to hide the wine. However, the study was empty and she couldn't find the place for a long time. Hearing the sound of the princess choking inside, Yan Shang was worried about her and pushed the door open.
He and Mu Wanyao, who jumped up holding the wine jar, looked at each other in bewilderment: "..."
The young princess suddenly staggered back and leaned against the bookshelf behind her. Her body tilted a little, but she held the wine jar tightly, and the wine jar did not fall out of her arms.
Mu Wan's face was flushed with rosy clouds. She held her head with her hands, her eyes were clear, and she said softly and disregardingly, "Oh, my head hurts. I feel like I'm drunk. Who... who let you in? Who are you?"
Yan Shang: “…”
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