Chapter 51 Jin Ling 51
"Is General Ma out of his mind?" Jin Ling saw that everyone was looking at her with a worried look on their faces, so she was the first to speak. She puffed out her belly and smiled sarcastically at Ma Yuanying:
"I am pregnant with the Dragonborn and will be due in a month or two. I'm afraid it would be inappropriate to entrust me with such a major undertaking as rehearsing a song and dance for the Tibetan prince."
Ma Yuanyi hadn't expected that the imperial concubine, a mere maidservant, would dare to stand up against him. His venomous eyes stared coldly at Jin Ling, and his voice deepened.
"Your Majesty, you are mistaken. The harem has always been responsible for the singing and dancing performances in the palace. Now that the Empress Dowager is ill, it is only the Imperial Concubine who has this special honor. Your Majesty has always been filial. Do you really want to watch the Empress Dowager toil away in her sick body?"
"General Ma truly serves his country and his people." Li Yi hadn't noticed when he'd walked over to Jin Ling, blocking her view with his body. "But this matter requires careful consideration. This is the Concubine's first pregnancy, and the Empress Dowager and I are bound to be cautious and nervous. If the Empress Dowager knew about this, I'm afraid she wouldn't be able to rest and recuperate."
Seeing the atmosphere was about to cool, Jin Ling hurried over to Li Yi and smiled at Doji Benma, "Your Majesty is a new father, so naturally you're a little nervous about this child. I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, Your Majesty."
Upon hearing this, Doji Benma shook his head politely and spoke fluent Chinese: "Your Majesty is too polite. Your Majesty's fatherly heart is touching. We in Tubo also value the father-son relationship. I understand your concerns very well. Since Your Majesty is not feeling well, the singing and dancing will be postponed."
Seeing the Tibetan prince so understanding, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Jin Ling also smiled and said, "Your Highness is very generous. It's just that our Great Tang is a great country with a wealth of talented people. Although I am not feeling well, please trust that the song and dance prepared by the music troupe will not disappoint you."
"Then I will be feasting my eyes on you."
The atmosphere of the banquet finally became cheerful again, leaving only Ma Yuanying with a bad look. He just drank by himself, and occasionally looked at Jin Ling with a meaningful look.
After the banquet, Jin Ling helped the music troupe rehearse the Colorful Skirt and Feathered Robe Dance according to her past life memories. However, she naturally wouldn't do everything herself like the virtuous concubine.
Although the hierarchy and gender distinctions in the play were a joke, she did not intend to prepare songs and dances specifically for the prince of a vassal state. It would make it seem that the Tang Dynasty was just the prince's music hall, and she, Yao Jinling, was just an entertainer.
This time she was only responsible for controlling the general direction of the work, and occasionally made surprise inspections on the progress of the music house. Normally, she would continue to stay in Chenghuan Palace to take care of her pregnancy, being a well-behaved, quiet, and indifferent woman in the deep palace.
But in reality, she had already figured out Li Yi's plan from Gao Xianyang's increasingly frequent departures from the palace. The day before Wan Jianfeng left Beijing for Jiangsu, Jin Ling learned that Li Yi was planning to take action against Ma Yuanying.
She also knew that Ma Yuanying had already set up a tight net in Jiangsu, waiting for Wan Jianfeng to fall into it.
She couldn't possibly reveal her trump card for Wan Jianfeng, but it would be such a pity to let such a military genius be wasted.
Jin Ling subconsciously opened the system space, her eyes unconsciously moving among the rows of items until she saw an item quietly lying there, and her little eyes lit up.
So the next day, Wan Jianfeng came out of Taihe Palace and not long after he walked, he saw Yao Jinling lying beside a tree and Feiyan looking panicked.
"Your Majesty the Concubine!"
Wan Jianfeng ran to the tree in two or three steps. Seeing Jin Ling's pale face and weak cry of pain, he hurriedly checked on her.
"My stomach hurts so much!" Jin Ling grabbed Wan Jianfeng's arm. Feiyan, standing beside him, looked anxious: "Just now, the Queen accidentally fell on a stone and hit her stomach. She went to see the imperial physician. But the Queen's stomach is getting more and more painful..."
Seeing that this matter involved the dragon vein, Wan Jianfeng did not care about the distinction between men and women. He hurriedly told Feiyan to wait here for Xiao Xiao and the imperial physician, and he picked up Jin Ling.
Jin Ling seemed a little dazed. When she was suddenly picked up, she subconsciously raised her hand, and her neatly trimmed nails accidentally scratched Wan Jianfeng's face.
Wan Jianfeng naturally ignored this minor injury and ran to the Hall of Supreme Harmony with Jin Ling in his arms. Li Yi, who was discussing the plan to kill Ma in the hall, heard the commotion outside and exchanged a glance with Gao Xianyang. Just as he was about to question them, he saw Jin Ling, already unconscious, in Wan Jianfeng's arms.
…
Wan Jianfeng's plan to leave the palace was not shelved because of this accident. That night he rode a fast horse out of Beijing and headed straight for Jiangsu.
Surrounded by several imperial doctors, Jin Ling's treatment was further upgraded, and she was protected by three layers of protection. Xiao Xiao and Fei Yan didn't dare to take her out anymore.
But her goal has been achieved.
Jin Ling glanced at the loyalty symbol that had turned into ×9, hiding her merits and fame.
Wan Jianfeng rode his horse quickly to the military camp. As soon as he got off the horse, he didn't even take a rest and went straight to his own military camp.
Two officers followed behind him and exchanged subtle glances.
"Deputy General Luo, go and fetch General Zhang Dingguo immediately. I have important military information to discuss with the other generals."
Lieutenant General Luo glanced at him furtively and said in a pretentious tone, "General, General Zhang Dingguo is in mourning for his father. His command has been temporarily taken over by Lieutenant General Li Rui."
Wan Jianfeng's eyes narrowed, and as he recalled the Imperial Concubine's instructions, he immediately became extremely wary of the two people before him. He calmly asked, "What about Lü Guoqin, He Zhengkang, and Chen Zhenbang?"
"General, Lü Guoqin is ill and bedridden; He Zhengkang was seriously injured and decided to retire; and Chen Zhenbang has also been transferred to Xunzhou."
Wan Jianfeng could barely contain his sneer. He stood up, threw the scroll at Luo Luoshan, and shouted, "Asshole! I, the general, was completely unaware of the troop relocation in this important town. Do you take me, Wan Jianfeng, for a fool?"
Luo Luoshan knelt down hurriedly to apologize. Major General Zeng beside him poured a cup of tea and handed it to Wan Jianfeng. There was a moment of hesitation and guilt in his eyes. If Wan Jianfeng had not kept his attention on the two of them, he might have missed it.
"General, have some tea to calm your anger."
Wan Jianfeng glanced at the tea in his hand and threw the cup at Zeng Zhicheng. "He committed such a serious crime. According to military law, he should be beheaded. How can this general calm down?"
Seeing that General Wan would not drink the poisoned tea today, Zeng Zhicheng was both happy and worried, and followed him out of the military tent.
That night, the officers who had defected to Ma Yuanying's faction gathered quietly, their faces all unhappy. They were not satisfied with the current situation.
Everyone knows that Wan Jianfeng is a person who cannot tolerate any grain of sand in his eyes. The reason why they chose to betray Wan Jianfeng was partly because they were greedy for power and wealth and feared Ma Yuanying, but the most important thing was that Ma Yuanying had already made a plan and guaranteed to destroy Wan Jianfeng and not give him a chance to retaliate.
Who knew that these two people couldn't even do such a small thing as poisoning? Now they have even distributed the benefits after Wan Jianfeng's death, but he is still alive and well. How can they accept this?
"Lieutenant General Luo, Major General Zeng, you two are the most trusted by the general. How come you can't even poison him?" One of them stared at them suspiciously, "Are you two pretending to be loyal to General Ma?"
Lieutenant General Luo waved his hands hurriedly. "Among these people, I'm the one who wants Wan Jianfeng dead the most. Without him, I'd be the top leader of this army. Besides, General Ma is generous and has a lot of money to gain. I'd be crazy to let such a good opportunity slip away."
"And me? My contributions are no less than those of everyone here." Major General Zeng also pretended to be indignant. "And yet he made up the excuse of his youth and deliberately appropriated my credit. With him around, none of us brothers will ever get any closer. He and I will never reconcile."
Li Rui, who had been sitting at the head of the table, patted the table lightly upon seeing this. "Alright, Lieutenant General Luo and Major General Zeng are both capable officers who are loyal to General Ma. We all work for General Ma, so we should get along better."
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