Xue Shen's concerns were soon answered.
On the eighth day after the Crown Prince led a large army to Taiyuan City to provide support, the Northern Rong King suddenly led his army to the city and surrounded the entire city of Dongjing.
When the people in the capital heard the terrible news, they were all in disbelief. At the time of the incident, Emperor Cheng'an had just discovered that Yelü Nanxian, who had been imprisoned, was missing. Just as he was sending people to search for her, the commander of the Palace Guard reported that the King of the Northern Rong had already reached the gates of Tokyo.
Upon hearing the news, Emperor Cheng'an was initially incredulous, but after confirming the information, he clutched his chest and collapsed.
Tokyo was instantly thrown into chaos.
When the Crown Prince went on the expedition, the Emperor fell ill from the shock. For a time, no one in the court could come up with a solution. Civil and military officials were divided into two factions: those advocating peace and those advocating war. They argued fiercely, but neither could convince the other.
The civil official said that the capital's defenses were currently weak, the Northern Rong king was well-prepared, and there was no one in charge in the court, so it was not advisable to start a war. It would be better to send envoys to negotiate peace first.
The military generals strongly opposed the idea, citing the Northern Rong's breach of the alliance, and demanded that the Three Departments dispatch troops to meet the enemy. The Crown Prince had only led the army on the expedition for eight days. As long as the capital held out, the Crown Prince would be able to receive the letter and immediately return with his army to provide reinforcements.
Both sides had their own arguments, and the dispute remained unresolved for a time.
Emperor Cheng'an did not regain consciousness until midnight that day. As soon as he woke up, he summoned all civil and military officials to the palace for an audience.
The Northern Rong people were eyeing the city covetously outside, and no one in the city could sleep peacefully tonight. As soon as they heard that the emperor had woken up, they all rushed into the palace to discuss matters.
As the Vice Minister of Works, Xue Shen naturally had to go as well.
He had anticipated this, so he didn't even change out of his official robes. He moved all the messages and letters from various places to Tingmei Pavilion to handle them. When Shen Youying was asleep, he would stay by her bedside to check and reply to the letters.
When Wang Deshun came to deliver the news, Shen Youying had just fallen asleep. Xue Shen didn't want to wake her and make her worry, but as soon as he got up, he saw Shen Youying open her eyes and ask, "Is there news from the palace?"
Xue Shen nodded: "Why are you awake? You go back to sleep, I'll go to the palace first."
How could Shen Youying sleep in such a critical situation?
She shook her head and got up, pulled the cloak from the screen over and tied it for him, then packed the pastries that she had asked the kitchen to prepare for him and put them on him: "It's cold at night, so wear more clothes. I've packed some pastries in my purse. I don't know when I'll be back from this trip to the palace, so if Your Highness gets hungry, please have some."
The palace was pressing for an order, and Xue Shen couldn't delay any longer. Shen Youying put on her clothes and saw him off to the second gate, saying, "You don't need to worry about the manor. I will take good care of myself and keep the servants in line. Just in case, I'll have Danzhu go to the Shen family at dawn to bring my mother and second brother over to stay for a while."
Seeing that she was calm and had arranged everything in an orderly manner, Xue Shen was gratified, but also felt sorry for her.
Since Zhao Zhao became pregnant, it seems she hasn't had a single day of peace and tranquility.
He pulled her into his arms, kissed her forehead gently, and said in a hoarse voice, "You've worked hard. Don't worry, everything will be alright."
Shen Youying nodded and watched him ride off into the palace, shrouded in the heavy night.
*
When Xue Shen entered the palace, he saw that half of the court officials had already arrived, while the other half, who lived far away, had not yet arrived.
Everyone noticed his complicated expression, but now that Emperor Cheng'an was clearly in poor health and the Crown Prince was absent, the court officials thought that the only one who could turn the tide was probably the Prince of Qin.
Xue Shen entered the main hall, glanced at the empty dragon throne, and asked, "How is Your Majesty's health?"
Xie Lianhong said, "They haven't shown themselves yet, so we don't know much about it either."
Xue Shen nodded, took his place, and remained silent. However, an impatient official approached him, tentatively asking, "Now that the Northern Rong are at the city gates, what is the King of Qin's opinion?"
Xue Shen did not hide his intentions and said in a deep voice, "The Northern Rong people have no integrity whatsoever. Now they have led their army to attack the city and are provoking the might of Heaven. Only by completely defeating and scattering them can we extinguish their ambitions."
Wang Yuanguang, a proponent of peace, retorted, "The King of Qin makes it sound too simple. The Great Wei has failed to destroy the Northern Rong even after three dynasties. Now that the Northern Rong have stationed their troops outside the city, wouldn't it be like throwing gold and jade against rubble if war were to break out now?"
Xue Shen sneered and retorted: "According to Prime Minister Wang, you should send envoys to beg the Northern Rong to withdraw their troops? If the Northern Rong listened to Prime Minister Wang, why would they be at the gates of our city today? Or are you going to use piles of gold and silver to buy peace again? But the Northern Rong king's ambitions are obvious, and this time he may not be so easy to deal with. When the Northern Rong demand to cede territory and make the people of our Great Wei work like cattle and horses, would Prime Minister Wang be willing to be the first to go? It's easy for you to talk, but it is the common people who will suffer."
Wang Yuanguang was speechless, his face turning red. Just as he was about to retort, he heard the eunuch above announce loudly, "His Majesty has arrived—"
Everyone quickly composed themselves, returned to their places, and bowed in greeting.
Emperor Cheng'an was helped by the Grand Eunuch Qi Zhong to slowly walk to the dragon throne and sit down. He looked much older than before, and his sickly appearance was hard to conceal.
"What's the situation outside the city? How many Northern Rong troops have arrived?"
The commander of the Palace Guard stepped forward and reported, "The Northern Rong have amassed 80,000 troops and have completely surrounded the capital. We have already dispatched more than a dozen scouts to request reinforcements, but they have all been blocked."
Upon hearing this, Emperor Cheng'an coughed violently, and after coughing for a long time, he managed to say, "What were the officials along the way doing? How could 80,000 men have reached the capital so quietly without anyone noticing?"
Everyone remained silent.
Only Xue Shen stepped forward and said, "The Northern Rong people were able to attack the capital silently either by heading south from Taiyuan Prefecture, or by taking the route from the border between Western Xia and Great Wei, passing through Yan'an Prefecture and Jinzhou to head south."
Taiyuan City has already fallen, and the Crown Prince has led his army to its aid. If the Northern Rong King had taken the route from Taiyuan, he would never have been able to reach the capital so smoothly.
However, Xue Shen's guess was too astonishing; not only Emperor Cheng'an, but even the court officials might not dare to believe it.
"The Western Xia and the Northern Rong are sworn enemies and have always been at odds."
"Our dynasty has long used Western Xia to counterbalance the Northern Rong. How could the King of Western Xia allow the Northern Rong army to pass through our territory?"
"And even if the Western Xia did borrow our passage, how come no news of it got out at all?"
Xue Shen was not surprised at all, and said coldly, "There are no eternal enemies in this world, only eternal interests. The Western Xia royal family has been declining in recent years, and much of its territory has already been occupied by the Northern Rong. Therefore, it can only compete with the Tubo further north for a place. The Northern Rong king is young and brave, and quite shrewd. In addition, Yelü Nanxian is adept at making alliances and counter-alliances. It is not impossible for Western Xia to ask for passage."
"Besides, the Northern Rong army has already reached the city walls. Isn't that irrefutable proof of cooperation between the Northern Rong and Western Xia? Or do you think the Northern Rong people just appeared out of nowhere?"
His words were so powerful that the courtiers, who could hardly believe it, fell silent.
The Emperor Cheng'an above said weakly, "Now that things have come to this, arguing about how the Northern Rong people came to be is pointless. What do you think should be done about this matter?"
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