Chapter 707 A Dream of Youth 239
A small yellow flower quietly bloomed on a branch. A sparrow lowered its head and held the flower in its beak. As it flew past the eaves, it was startled by someone who had climbed over the wall. The flower drifted with the wind to the windowsill and landed in front of the boy in yellow.
"Your Majesty, now the Great Zhou army has hundreds of thousands of troops besieging the city... Although our plan has been exposed and Lord Ming is dead, the Great Zhou has still attacked. Why don't we cooperate with the Zhou army from within and without to completely annihilate the Empress Dowager's faction?"
The young emperor twirled the yellow flower for a long time before finally turning his gaze to the kneeling man in black.
"Ye Xiang, do you think I will survive after Zhou Jun enters?"
Ye Xiang's face remained expressionless as he truthfully replied, "Your Majesty, if the Zhou army enters, the royal family of Xili can still survive, since they are fighting under the banner of saving you."
If we wait for the later faction... then we might not even be able to protect the ancestral temples.”
After all, the emperor is now just a puppet, and he is imprisoned by the Empress Dowager and the Prime Minister.
Whether the person sitting on the throne in the future will be surnamed Li or Murong is still uncertain.
The young emperor had clearly thought of this as well, and he closed his eyes tightly. This feeling of not being able to control his own destiny was truly awful.
The Ye family, who now seem to be on his side, are not entirely thinking of him. They are only concerned because Xingzhou is about to fall, and once the Zhou army enters the city, the Hou Party will definitely be wiped out. Even he, the emperor, will only be moving from the wolf's den to the tiger's lair.
They are all puppets.
The Ye family saw this clearly and wanted to claim credit before Zhou's army entered the city.
The young emperor nodded with difficulty. He had never had a choice. He was too young to understand politics and had no power of his own, so he could only rely on others.
As the last petals fell to the ground, the young emperor, amidst the shouts of battle from the west, finally changed into a white robe and, with the help of the Ye family, escaped the Murong family's imprisonment and took to the streets.
The Great Zhou Dynasty did not expect that the Western Regions would fall into chaos first, and even opened the city gates for them.
Fu Yao saw that the young emperor was still alive and felt a little sorry for him, but he still went up to talk to him.
They originally attacked Xili under the pretext of rescuing the emperor's stepson, but now that the young emperor has appeared, they can temporarily cease hostilities.
Upon hearing the young emperor, dressed in white, walk towards the enemy army, the Empress Dowager slumped to the ground in despair, her eyes dry and swirling. "Elder brother, what should we do now?"
The prime minister was also pale, but he was able to barely maintain his composure.
"The western part of the city is still far from the inner city. I've arranged for the Imperial Guards to protect them inside. First, we'll bring our clansmen out of the city and send them out to break through from the north..."
Before he could finish speaking, the sounds of gunfire erupted outside.
Upon seeing Ye Lun in his blood-stained armor, Prime Minister Murong's eyes widened in fury. "Ye Lun! You dare betray me!"
General Ye, with his large beard, immediately ordered the generals behind him to tie up Prime Minister Murong and the Empress Dowager. Looking down at Prime Minister Murong, he said, "Treason? I have always been loyal to His Majesty and to Xili. What does it have to do with you, Murong Qi'an?"
They had long planned to use the power of the Great Zhou to wipe out the Hou Party, but they never expected it to escalate to this point. However, it doesn't matter, the Ye family has rendered meritorious service.
As for other things, the impeller has no say in them.
Key City,
Xie Ning was sewing up someone's stomach when she heard soldiers on horseback shouting, "Xili has surrendered! Xili has surrendered!"
Aqi Lan held a bloodstained saw, looking dazed. "Huh? We've only been fighting for half a day this time."
They used to shout for battle outside the city every day, and after a whole day of fighting, neither side could gain the upper hand, so they would call a truce. This time, I don't know how they managed to break into the west gate. I thought we'd be stuck at the city gate for another half a month, but... it's over in half a day?
That was so sudden.
Xie Ning gestured to her assistant to begin applying the medication while she went to perform the next surgery.
Is it fast?
It's not fast at all; this battle started last summer, and now it's already the second spring.
She arrived in mid-October last year and spent a total of three months on the battlefield.
News of Xili's surrender quickly reached the capital, and the court's anxiety finally subsided. Unseen by his officials, the emperor paced excitedly back and forth in his room.
He has fulfilled his ancestors' last wish; he actually managed to reclaim Xili!
As he thought about it, the emperor's eyes reddened. He knew that the war between the Great Zhou and the Western Jin had cost the country so much of its strength. Now that one of the problems was finally gone, he could finally sleep peacefully.
As for the Northern Jin... the emperor sighed silently. He thought that he probably wouldn't live to see that time either. Compared to the other emperors of the Great Zhou, he was considered long-lived.
Unfortunately, his princes are still young. He should wait a little longer, at least until they grow up a bit.
Now that Xili has been recovered, his first priority is to allow the people to rest and recuperate. The continuous battles have consumed a lot of national strength and manpower, and the Great Zhou can no longer afford another major battle.
After pacing around several times, the emperor still felt no sleepiness. It was midday, yet he wasn't drowsy at all. "Ding Zhong, summon Lord Shi and the others for a small court assembly."
If you can't sleep, then work!
The adults who were driven to despair by the emperor: ...We finally finished fighting, can't we have a holiday?
They just wanted to rest for a while; they no longer cared about feasting and entertainment, just being able to lie down was enough.
They originally didn't want to participate, but they were forced to because of the emperor's involvement. Moreover, the emperor recently introduced a performance evaluation system that made it easy to spot who was slacking off, forcing them to stay in their offices and work hard.
They've practically made up for all the shifts they secretly took over in the past few decades.
Meanwhile, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, with dark circles under his eyes, walked blankly beside Xie Wangzhi, muttering to himself, "Yesterday he said he could rest for a while today, but how come he has to go to court again after just finishing court and not even having a bite of lunch?"
"Isn't Your Majesty tired?"
Anyway, he was exhausted. As the Right Vice Minister, he was mainly responsible for military matters, and he was much more exhausted than Xie Wangzhi, the Left Vice Minister, during the war.
"And that newly introduced performance appraisal! I don't know which scoundrel came up with the idea, it's ruined us all!"
This has made it so he doesn't even have time to play polo. He only accompanied his wife to watch the courtesan dance a couple of days ago. This life is too hard!
Looking at the Right Vice Minister's tired and thin face, Xie Wangzhi thought for a moment and then handed him a mint. "Would you like to eat this to wake up? I usually feel more energetic when I eat it."
If he guessed correctly, this assessment method must have been suggested by Princess Yanxi, because he happened to have seen something similar when he was looking for books in Xie Ning's study.
Yes, it is indeed very curly.
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