Chapter 904 A Dream of Youth 436
How could a young prince who could barely walk properly intimidate the court officials of Northern Jin? Moreover, Gu Yan had many uncles and elders, all of whom coveted the throne.
The princes of the imperial clan, who had been indulging in pleasure for years, did not think that the external threats were that serious. They believed that once they ascended the throne, under the iron hooves of the Northern Jin, neither the Great Zhou nor the Wumeng would be anything but dead souls.
The Northern Jin Dynasty was in deep turmoil. Xiao Chu, who was resisting the Northern Expedition of the Great Zhou Dynasty, felt as if he had a mouthful of blood stuck in his throat. The gray sky was just like his mood at this moment.
The Northern Jin Dynasty is in grave danger.
Xiao Chu feared the gunpowder of the Great Zhou, so he personally led his troops south, leaving the north to be defended by other generals of the Northern Jin, thus giving the King of Wumeng an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.
He was not good at dealing with Xiao Chu, as the other party was too troublesome. However, he was not afraid of the other Northern Jin generals. Fortunately, Xiao Chu had tied down the Great Zhou's advance, which gave him more opportunities.
In just three months, he fought his way to the capital of the Northern Jin Dynasty.
The other members of the Xiao family, especially Xiao Da, immediately ordered the execution of Consort Zhen. However, the others in the court disagreed. If Consort Zhen were executed, they would lose even more bargaining power!
Regardless of the controversies within the Northern Jin court, Consort Zhen was never one to sit idly by and wait for her doom. During her years in Northern Jin, she was not entirely inactive; she also developed her own power.
Escaping the palace with the help of this force would not be a problem.
The Northern Jin Dynasty was already in disarray, and with just a little provocation, she managed to win over several people to her side. The situation was now clear: with the Wumeng army at the gates, she, as the princess of the Wumeng Kingdom, was the one who could protect them.
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Brilliant fireworks burst forth, dazzling the night sky. War drums sounded, and the soldiers who had been guarding the city gates all day were exhausted. The alliance between Wumeng and Dazhou naturally received gunpowder support from Dazhou.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to reach the capital of Northern Jin so quickly.
King Wumeng secretly reminded himself that if he could not conquer the Great Zhou now, he should not antagonize the Great Zhou for the next fifty years.
The introduction of more advanced weaponry and gunpowder into the battlefield directly accelerated the course of the war.
With the help of the King of Wumeng and Princess Zhenshan, they seized the capital of Northern Jin. When the city gates fell, the officials of Northern Jin felt hopeless and began to consider surrendering.
The Xiao family refused to surrender, and Xiao's eldest son defended the capital for half a month before finally dying in battle due to the lack of reinforcements.
From then on, the Northern Jin Dynasty fell into the hands of the Wumeng.
Empress Xiao led the young emperor of Northern Jin to sit on the throne, looking at Zhenshan, who was dressed in armor and carrying a scimitar as he stormed into the palace.
"Consort Zhen, he is your son!"
Empress Xiao did not understand why Zhenshan still wanted to collude with her father, the King of Wumeng, to completely annex the Northern Jin Dynasty, even though her son had already ascended the throne.
Clearly... if we just hold on for another half month, Xiao's army will be able to come to our rescue.
Zhenshan wiped the blood off the scimitar with two fingers. "So what if he ascends the throne? When Xiao Chu returns and Northern Jin is at peace, what I will be left with is not a life of seclusion, but only your son, Empress Xiao."
And I have nothing but death.
Empress Xiao stared at those bright red lips, her heart filled with fear. She had never imagined that Zhenshan could be so ruthless.
The young emperor of Northern Jin stared blankly at the two, not knowing what had happened, but the atmosphere made him instinctively afraid. Even though the person opposite him was his mother, who had always doted on him, he still hid behind Empress Xiao.
The chubby little hands gripped Empress Xiao's robe tightly.
Zhenshan strode up the stairs, his gaze falling on the trembling eunuch kneeling to the side. He picked up the tray of poisoned wine and handed it to Empress Xiao. “It seems the Empress has already planned her death. Don’t worry, I will definitely leave you a whole corpse and will not let you suffer humiliation.”
Ultimately, the two of them didn't really fight each other in the palace. Empress Xiao was a soft-hearted person, and she didn't like Gu Yan. Being empress was just her duty as a daughter of the Xiao family.
Therefore, Zhenshan lived a relatively good life in the harem of the Northern Jin Dynasty.
Empress Xiao did not want to die. She thought that Zhenshan would spare her because she had never made things difficult for him in the past. But she was too naive.
Her great-uncle said that she shouldn't have let Zhenshan give birth to the child, and shouldn't have let Zhenshan be so favored. She should have competed with Zhenshan for Gu Yan's favor, which would have been more beneficial for Xiao Shi.
But she just couldn't do it. If she had an afterlife, she would only want to be born ordinary, free, and able to see the mountains and rivers in poetry and the everyday life of ordinary people.
A dull ache throbbed in her abdomen, and Empress Xiao couldn't help but bend over, her vision growing increasingly blurry.
The young emperor of Northern Jin stared blankly as Empress Xiao collapsed in front of him, seemingly stunned.
Zhenshan raised her hand and touched his face, but half of it was covered in blood. She paused for a moment, then said gently, "Good boy, didn't you love the little bitter iris the most? Your mother will bury you on a hillside full of little bitter irises."
"Zhenshan?"
When the King of Wumeng arrived and saw the young emperor of Northern Jin lying in Zhenshan's arms, his furrowed brows relaxed. "As expected of my princess!"
"Once things have calmed down, your father will choose sons-in-law for you. You can have whomever you want, as many as you like!"
"Thank you, Father."
Zhenshan showed no sadness on her face. All she ever wanted was power. How could children possibly hinder her progress?
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