Chapter 130
Northern Xinjiang.
Northern Xinjiang is deeply divided.
The peace-loving Wang Ting, with the support of the Great Zhou, was barely strong enough to surpass the remaining tribes.
In addition to the peace faction, the war faction has three largest tribes. Although they advocate war, they also have internal differences.
Some people want to join forces with the pro-war faction to attack the Great Zhou, while others want to replace the royal court, recuperate, plunder border resources, and invade the Great Zhou.
But without exception.
None of them wanted to comply with the management of this royal court, but they had to be restrained by Princess Xiang's checks and balances, so they could only do some small things from time to time to annoy Princess Xiang.
However, recently, the war faction led by the Kuru tribe has been very well behaved.
Because of the news from the royal court——
Princess Xiang is seriously ill.
So they patiently waited, and lay in wait like a beast ready to hunt.
-
Royal Court.
Outside the king's tent.
Pots of bare flowers were lined up in two rows, carefully tended by maids.
"Alas, it's been several months, and it hasn't even sprouted, let alone bloomed. Can the flower seeds the queen gave me really bloom?"
"Hush. Keep your voice down and don't upset the queen."
No matter how quiet the maids' voices were, they floated gently into the king's tent.
When Princess Xiang heard the news of Concubine Zhou's death, she cried and fainted. From that day on, her health was not very good. It can be said that her condition was getting worse and worse.
Later, I received the Cangyan seeds sent by Qu Watanabe and Zhiyi, and I felt a little better.
She takes time out every day to tend to the soil in the flower pots, making it fertile and moist, and trying her best to restore the environment of the Xiang River.
However, after trying for a long time, the seeds never sprouted.
She kept coughing while sitting in the king's tent, writing a letter.
[From the Sword-wielding Marquis:
Ah Xiang’s days are numbered, and I’m afraid he won’t live long.
The royal court still yearns for peace, and internal disputes are temporarily suppressed. The king's energy is fading, and he intends to let Agumuda succeed him. King Kuru keeps a close eye on the royal court's actions and intends to seize power.
After Ah Xiang's death, there is no one to restrain the northern border, and I am afraid that the royal court will change. I am sending a letter hereby asking my brother to support Agumuduo to take the throne. This man has a sincere heart and has no intention of fighting. The people on the border may be safe...
If possible, please tell my royal brother that after my death, Xiang wants her ashes to return to the Xiang River and her hometown.
Ah Xiang will hold on for a while longer and wait for the emperor's order.]
She covered her lips with a handkerchief, coughed continuously, and leaned over the table. After a while, the handkerchief was stained with blood.
The young man next to him said anxiously: "Mother!"
He is the child of Princess A Xiang, but because he has the blood of the Great Zhou, he cannot inherit the throne. He can only return to the Great Zhou, or choose to assist the next master of the royal court.
Princess Axiang shook her head. "It's okay. Ah Hanli, do you remember what I told you?"
Ah Hanli: "Remember. I will stay and assist Agumudo."
Princess Xiang touched his face and said, "Good boy, if you have a chance, go back to Xianghe for your mother. Okay?"
Ah Hanli choked up: "Mom, you should go and see it yourself."
Princess A Xiang smiled and said nothing.
She looked outside the king's tent. "That's the flower from my mother's hometown. It's called Cang Yan. Every summer and autumn, it blooms and withers three times. It blooms quickly and withers quickly. Perhaps it knows that the soil where it takes root can tolerate its blooming and withering."
Ah Hanli: "Mom, I don't quite understand."
Princess A Xiang did not explain either.
She sealed the letter and handed it to Ah Hanli.
"Pass it through a secret line and make sure it is delivered to Marquis Zhijian or Marquis Changping."
Ah Hanli: "Don't worry, mother."
After he ran out to do some work, Princess A Xiang gently lay down on the table, like a tired butterfly with nowhere to land.
If nothing unexpected happens, this will be her last letter to Da Zhou.
The princess' mission and responsibility of protecting the peace of the northern border and reducing war is finally coming to an end.
-
border town.
A messenger dressed as a commoner was stopped.
He produced his secret orders.
The soldier immediately put away his spear and took him into the city. However, when they reached the corner, the soldier suddenly changed his face and knocked the messenger unconscious with a knife. After killing him, he searched the messenger and found Princess Xiang's letter on him.
After dealing with the body, he took the letter to the Border Army Inspection Office.
This was an inspection agency composed of Ming princes and eunuchs.
Since the decentralization of power in the northern border more than ten years ago, Emperor Chongzhao ordered Prince Ming and eunuchs drawn from the East Factory to be stationed in the northern border, and the inspection agency has gradually taken shape.
Prince Ming often went out to inspect other cities, and half of the eunuchs were left in the supervisory agency of the main city to supervise the issuance of military orders.
Over time, these eunuchs also took root here.
They are the emperor's eyes in the northern border. They have the right to listen in on battle deployments, question military orders, send memorials back to the Great Zhou, and investigate any acts of disobedience to supervision by generals.
Marquis Zhijian hated them the most because with the existence of the supervisory agency, military orders for the entire border were being issued and executed more and more slowly.
Fortunately, Xia Hong was there to mediate patiently.
But many eunuchs still felt aggrieved.
Originally thought it was a short-term job, who would have thought that they would be in Northern Xinjiang for more than ten years. They had no offspring and no parents. What was the point of being a eunuch? It was just for wealth and a chance to climb up.
How comfortable were their lives when they were in the East Factory in Beijing?
As a result, when I got here, eating and drinking were all boring, and I still had a dead end job that I could see the end of.
Feng Bing is the chief eunuch of the Border Town Supervisory Office. Apart from Prince Ming, he has the most say.
He has a separate courtyard where he lives when he is not on duty.
Feng Bing opened the letter written by Princess Axiang to Marquis Chijian, read it line by line, and then spread the letter on the table.
"It turns out that Princess Xiang is so seriously ill... The last news she received said that she could survive for three to five years."
Now it seems that even thirty to fifty days may be a problem.
Princess A Xiang's handwriting is neat and easy to imitate. The most important thing is the seal.
Feng Bing asked someone to imitate her handwriting and rewrote the letter:
[The condition has improved, everything is fine, King Kuru is still eyeing the throne, there may be changes, fireworks will be used as a signal, please help the sword-wielding Marquis.]
He pulled a locked box from the cabinet under the desk.
After opening it, the box was filled with gold, silver and jewelry.
After rummaging for a long time, Feng Bing finally pulled out a worn-out seal, dipped it in ink, and stamped it.
"It's easier for people from Northern Xinjiang to get Princess Xiang's seal."
The border town had trade relations with the northern border, and in addition to the box of gold and silver used as a bribe, King Kuru also sent Princess Ashang's seal.
Feng Bing sealed the envelope and lay on the box to sniff it gently.
"It smells good... this is the real benefit you can get."
So what if I collude with people from the Northern Frontier? I have no descendants and no ancestors, so I can just enjoy the good life for the rest of my life.
He locked the box, hummed a song, and threw Princess Xiang's last letter into the fire.
What's the point of asking to return to your homeland after your death? Since you married to the northern border, you should be buried here.
The flames shot up instantly and the letter turned into ashes.
-
A few more days passed.
Ah Xiang received a reply from Xu Jin, which contained only a brief sentence: [I have been informed and will pay more attention to the situation in northern Xinjiang.]
She felt relieved and the burden on her shoulders was lightened.
For the next month, she waited for her brother's imperial edict.
Waiting for an order that would allow her to return home.
He waited and waited, until he was bedridden and could no longer get up, until the flowering season of the flowers in his hometown was completely over, and until the cold winter once again descended upon the royal court of the Northern Frontier.
"Maybe the messenger on the road was delayed..."
Ah Xiang lay on her side on the bed, her voice weak as she held Ah Hanli's hand, "How long have I been waiting?"
Several maids who had followed her from Da Zhou were kneeling around the bed, all crying in low voices.
Ah Hanli: "January."
In January, let alone rushing to the northern border, even if we rode normally, we should have arrived.
Princess Ah Xiang understood, "That means... my brother doesn't allow it."
Tears fell heavily on the pillow.
Ah Hanli: "Mom... don't cry, Mom... can you wait a few more days..."
Princess A Xiang closed her eyes, and a feeling of sadness surged in her heart.
Looking back on my life, I left Beijing at the age of fifteen and have been married to a foreign ruler for more than half my life.
She grew up from an ignorant little girl into a queen who could check and balance the various tribes in the northern border, assist the surrounding cities, and work hard to ensure peace in the area.
She has never lived up to the responsibility she shoulders.
Maybe she is not old yet, but when her heart is old, she is old. When she loses hope, her life is coming to an end.
No one expected her to wade through the snow and wind in the northern border to return home anymore.
Princess Axiang opened her eyes and touched Ahanli's head, "Don't cry. A'mother is just going to look for her mother."
"I promise my mother one thing. After I die, I don't want my grave to face the Great Zhou. I want it to face the Xiang River. Mother faces north, and I will face south."
Ah Hanli cried so hard that he lost his voice and could not speak, so he could only nod.
Ah Xiang took a last look at the flowerpot not far from the bed and began to daydream.
It seemed like I was back to my childhood, when my mother's parents passed away and my father allowed her to return home, so my mother took her back with her.
She was so young at that time. She only remembered that she was standing under a tree of Cangyan flowers. Her mother raised a branch and hit the trunk, and then a rain of flowers fell on her.
Princess A Xiang sighed.
"The flowers that grow in the Great Zhou will never be able to bloom in the soil of the Northern Frontier..."
The tired butterfly did not fly back to its homeland, but fell asleep in a foreign country.
There was a cry in the king's tent.
Along with the crying, there was also the sound of fighting outside.
"The princess of the Great Zhou is dead! The royal court no longer has support from the Great Zhou. Kill all the running dogs of the Great Zhou!"
"kill--!"
"Abolish the royal court! Establish a new king!"
"Abolish the royal court! Establish a new king!"
"It was a surprise attack!" Ah Hanli turned back in astonishment, "When... Go and protect the king! Find Agum and protect him, he must not die!"
-
The Northern Frontier was in turmoil for several days before the news reached the border town.
Sword-wielding Marquis Xu Jin frowned as he looked at the news he had just received.
This was a well-planned raid.
Princess Ashang died of illness, and King Kuru's rebellion was successful.
Kill the old king, expel Agumud and the old king's lineage, enter the grassland, and rebuild a new royal court.
It was winter and the northern border was bitterly cold, so King Kuru led his army south to plunder the northern border in order to defend the new king's prestige.
He handed the message to Xia Hong, walked to the city wall, stood with his hands behind his back, his frosty white hair stained with scattered snow, and his eagle-like eyes stared at the northern border ahead.
"The Northern Frontier Army is estimated to arrive in two days."
Xia Hong: "Princess Xiang sent a message last time saying that her health had improved. How could she suddenly die of illness?"
Xu Jin sneered: "The war faction in the northern border has wicked ambitions. What are they afraid of doing? I will come to meet the enemy in two days."
"Let me take over," Xia Hong shook his head. "Don't try to show off. Your body aches when winter comes. Last time, I had to burn my joints with some wine to relieve the pain. If you get hurt, it will be even harder to bear."
Xu Jin and he have been comrades for many years. "Okay, I will go and mediate with those people from the Supervisory Office and submit a memorial to His Majesty."
After a brief exchange of words, the two of them stopped talking and looked towards the northern border in silence.
In fact, they have another comrade-in-arms.
But the girl is buried in a foreign land.
After years of fighting and seeing life and death, they can only express their emotions in this way.
-
Great Zhou.
The Imperial Palace.
After Xu Jin's memorial was urgently delivered, the atmosphere in the court became a little depressing.
Princess Axiang dies, the war faction takes control of the royal court and plunders the border.
Either way, it's not good news for them.
However, just two days later, another urgent war report was sent from Northern Xinjiang:
Xia Hong, Marquis of Changping, went to battle, was shot by an arrow and fell off his horse. He was seriously injured and was unable to lead the army.
When Emperor Chongzhao received the news, his heart skipped a beat and he stood up in shock.
The two battle reports were sent less than two days apart, which means that Xia Hong was seriously injured almost not long after the two armies started fighting.
The serious injuries that can be written in the battle report are definitely not ordinary injuries.
But Xia Hong has always been steady and never made mistakes.
Emperor Chongzhao frowned: "The national treasury is empty now, and the disaster relief in the country is far from over... If Nanning comes to interfere at this time..."
But when the northern border invaded, the Great Zhou had no choice but to fight back.
But just when everyone thought that a fight would break out, the pro-war New Royal Court asked for peace.
They wished to maintain friendly relations with the Great Zhou for generations, and sought to marry the emperor's daughter, and to conclude a marriage alliance like the previous royal court.
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