Chapter 1124 I, could I let you off easily?
Nan Yan said happily, "Where did you get so many soldiers? From Peking?"
Li Bushang lowered his head: "No."
"Where is that?"
Just when Nan Yan was asking him, she suddenly saw a familiar figure walking behind him. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Duke Dingguo Wu Yingqiu!
Nan Yan was stunned.
In the light of the fire, Wu Yingqiu's pale hair fluttered slightly in the wind, like a dandelion that would fly away at any time, making him look a little older. But when he walked in, his eyes were still bright and energetic, and it was completely impossible to tell that they were the eyes of an old man.
He walked forward and knelt down in front of Zhu Feng tremblingly.
"Old minister, I pay my respects to the Emperor."
Zhu Feng raised his hand and said, "Duke, please stand up."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Following behind him was his son Wu Ding, who stood up and immediately helped his old father to his feet. The two of them bowed to Nan Yan again and said, "Greetings, Your Majesty the Imperial Concubine."
Nan Yan looked at them solemnly and nodded slightly.
Zhu Feng said, "Thank you for your hard work, Duke."
Wu Yingqiu hunched his back and said in a deep voice, "I am late in protecting you, Your Majesty. I hope you will forgive me."
"Hey, the Duke has done a great service in protecting the Emperor, what crime has he committed?"
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Nan Yan stood aside, silent.
At this moment, Zhu Feng looked at Wu Yingqiu's pale hair and said, "However, the matter of leading the troops can be handed over to your son. Why would the Duke, who is so old, need to make a personal trip?"
Wu Yingqiu coughed twice, appearing even weaker, but he insisted, "No, he can't."
“…”
"This time, we are here to protect the emperor. This is a matter of his safety. How can this old minister not come here in person?"
“…”
"Besides, Prince Ning has evil ambitions, and this old minister is truly worried."
Zhu Feng curled the corners of his lips: "Thank you for your hard work, Duke."
"I dare not."
Zhu Feng looked back again. Down below the city wall, the battlefield was still being cleaned up, and the frightened civilians had already returned to the city gate and were preparing to go in.
Zhu Feng said, "It's freezing cold, and the Duke must be very tired after the long journey."
"I dare not say I'm tired."
"Let's go to the other garden and rest first. Once we finish cleaning here, I will discuss it with the Duke in detail."
"Yes, I will take my leave."
Wu Yingqiu bowed and turned around slowly, and Wu Ding helped him walk away.
After both father and son had left the tower, Zhu Feng looked at Li Bu Shang again, his tone a little softer than before: "You did very well."
Li Bushang lowered his head.
"However," Zhu Feng said, looking at the vast night sky, "I calculated the distance, and the time you arrived was half a day later than I estimated."
Nan Yan turned her head and looked at him.
Li Bushang, still with his head bowed, said, "Originally, the time was just right. However, because the Duke insisted on coming with me, and he is old and can't stand the bumpy ride, his men slowed down."
"oh……"
Zhu Feng raised his eyebrows slightly.
After a moment's silence, he walked to the inner side of the city wall and looked down. Wu Ding was already supporting Wu Yingqiu and walking down tremblingly. There was a carriage waiting for them below. After he slowly got on, the carriage drove forward in the crowded crowd.
Zhu Feng smiled and said, "The Duke is indeed loyal and commendable."
Li Bushang didn't say anything.
At this time, Nan Yan completely understood.
It turned out that Zhu Feng did not go to Peking to mobilize troops, but asked Li Bushang to go to Henan to ask Duke Dingguo for troops.
Indeed, by comparison, it would be much faster to ask Duke Dingguo for troops from here than to go back to Beiping to mobilize troops; moreover, if troops were mobilized back to Beiping, officials at all levels would know about it, and by that time, the matter would become a big deal, which would give some people with ulterior motives an opportunity to take advantage of it.
Zhu Feng had indeed made this decision after careful consideration.
That's why he had been looking at the map for the past two days. It turned out that he was calculating the distance of Xu Shifeng and Wu Yingqiu.
Wu Yingqiu only came from Henan, so he should be able to reach Changqing City earlier than Xu Shifeng. After taking it, he can rush back to Hecheng day and night, which will be faster.
However, they arrived almost at the same time.
Wu Yingqiu was a little slower.
But fortunately, it's not too late.
It can be said that it came just right, with absolutely no fault to be found.
I was still concentrating on thinking about something when I suddenly heard a hissing sound beside me. I turned around and saw Nan Yan with her neck slightly shrunk.
I didn’t feel it when the battle was fierce, but now that everything has settled, standing on the top of the city in the biting wind, I can feel my hands and feet being blown cold.
Seeing her like this, Li Bushang subconsciously wanted to take a step forward.
However, just as he was about to take a step, Zhu Feng stretched out his hand and took the pale-faced girl into his arms.
"Cold?"
"Well--"
She was very cold, but being held in his arms, the familiar warmth of his body soothed her and made her feel less cold. However, he was too unreserved in public.
Nan Yan couldn't help but blush.
She subconsciously tried to break free, but Zhu Feng used a little more force to hold her in his arms, preventing her from moving.
"emperor……"
"Come on, let's go down first."
"Why."
The two of them walked down together.
Li Bushang looked at their backs, was silent for a moment, and followed them.
Walking down from the city wall, I saw the frightened civilians being escorted back into the city by the army. They were weak in the knees and crying bitterly, obviously terrified by what had happened before.
Just then, the soldiers came out from the crowd, escorting several people.
Nan Yan was stunned: "This is——"
Zhu Feng said solemnly, "They were placed in the city by Prince Ning. Previously, the people had been clamoring to leave the city, although that was their own idea, but more importantly, it was because of this group of people fanning the flames."
"oh?"
Nan Yan looked carefully and found that they were indeed the same few people who had been shouting in the crowd when Zhu Feng was talking to the people before.
Nan Yan snorted, "People like this cannot be easily forgiven."
"certainly."
Zhu Feng waved his hand and asked them to take these people away.
At this moment, Nan Yan saw a young man in the crowd who was beaten with a black eye and a swollen head like a pig's head.
He groaned, "If you want to catch a traitor, you should have made sure to catch me first. I'm not a traitor, so why don't you beat up those people but only me? Ouch!"
He limped back in pain, looking very embarrassed.
Nan Yan pointed at the man and said, "So, what's going on?"
"Well--"
Zhu Feng glanced at the man and coughed lightly: "Ahem, maybe, I made a mistake."
"Oh, how pitiful."
Seeing Nan Yan's sympathetic eyes, Zhu Feng glanced at the man's limping back again, with a hint of coldness in his eyes.
Do you dare to say that the imperial concubine is talking nonsense?
I, could I possibly let you off easily?
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