The young Queen Qi was imprisoned in Kunning Palace, the position of the Queen existed in name only, the second princess was ordered to wear dowry in the palace, and the Prince of Lu was stripped of his title and demoted to a prince. His original fiefdom of Luoyang was taken back by the court, and replaced with another poor place. He was to be enfeoffed as soon as the situation in the capital stabilized. However, this time, the third prince was enfeoffed in name only, but in reality it was equivalent to house arrest

. The Zhenbei Marquis's Mansion was not liquidated because of Qin Yi, but the Zhenbei Marquis asked to resign, and the sons and nephews of the Qi family were also dismissed or demoted. In the past few days, the Zhenbei Marquis' Mansion has been closed for fear of getting into trouble. The whole capital was filled with desolation and misery. Almost every family had relatives who died in the melee. Now, they didn't even have time to grieve for their relatives before they had to face another more terrible problem.

Dealing with Liu Gonggong's accomplices, and even worse, Empress Xiaoqi's family was also implicated, was nothing more than to calm public anger. But settling accounts with these people was not the end. On the contrary, the problem had just begun.

"Your Highness, the Wala outside Juyongguan has mobilized many troops, and I'm afraid they will attack the borders soon."

The elite of the capital had already been lost outside the pass along with the emperor. The remaining old, weak, sick and disabled were less than 100,000. How could the capital be defended with only these 100,000 people?

Today, the foreign and domestic affairs of the Great Yan Dynasty are extremely serious. A few days ago, a general who wanted to make money from the national crisis appeared. If the court handles it improperly again, I am afraid that the Great Yan Dynasty will be in danger of extinction.

Xuanfu fell and the emperor was captured. Compared with the external crisis, this incident actually had a greater impact on the internal order of the court. After Qin Yi refused to ascend the throne in times of crisis, the remaining half of the court fell into an unspeakable silence. In the seemingly calm situation, people's hearts had already dispersed.

But at this time, Qin Yi had no time to pay attention to what these ministers were thinking. The life and death of the entire country was in front of Qin Yi. The enemy was arrogant and eyeing him covetously, and what was the situation inside the court? All high-ranking civil officials died in the melee, and most of the experienced military commanders followed the army to the battle and died outside the Great Wall. Even the promising reserve children of the noble families followed the army to become soldiers. As a result, the emperor had no military training and no knowledge of people. He allowed the eunuchs and favorites to fight for power and profit. The army changed its orders every day, and the advance and retreat were disordered. The marching route was changed at will, and the Wala cavalry took advantage of the opportunity to rush in and was caught off guard, and the whole army was annihilated.

Qin Yi had to face the situation of internal and external difficulties and a lack of successors.

Qin Yi looked at the military deployment map in front of him and was silent for a long time. When he spoke again, it was firm and resolute, with a sound of dropping his hands to the ground: "Dispatch the troops from the two capitals and Henan to the capital. The troops in Shandong to prepare for war against Japan will be dispatched from Hejian and Baoding to the capital to wait for orders. The troops in the coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang to prepare for war against Japan will also enter the capital immediately by water. The grain transport troops from various prefectures in Jiangbei and the capital will rush to support, and the Tongzhou warehouses will be opened to transfer grain and grass to the capital." Then, Qin Yi pointed to several military prefectures on the map and said, "Issue an edict immediately to have the generals of other provinces come to the capital to defend the king."

Because high-level civil officials were almost completely consumed in this incident, many people in the six ministries were temporarily promoted by Qin Yi. This temporary team knew that this crisis was different from the past, so they put aside their carelessness and reduced all kinds of red tape. After hearing Qin Yi's order, the people who were called responded and ran down to deal with it. Everyone in Wenhua Pavilion was in a hurry. In one day, countless documents were sent out from here. The former power center was moved from Wenyuan Pavilion, where the inner cabinet was located, to Wenhua Hall. Looking around, the whole palace was busy in a chaotic and orderly manner.

Qin Yi stayed in the outer court all day, mobilizing troops, food, military equipment, and the appointment of new generals. He had too much to consider. Chu Jinyao hadn't seen Qin Yi for several days. She was pregnant and sleepy. Often, she would fall asleep when Qin Yi came back, and Qin Yi would be in the outer court when she woke up. Chu Jinyao originally thought that Qin Yi was too busy, but after a few days like this, Chu Jinyao slowly felt something was wrong.

Why did she feel that Qin Yi was deliberately avoiding her?

So today, Chu Jinyao forced herself to stay awake. Linglong persuaded her to go to bed several times, but she insisted. In the end, she yawned and tears welled up in her eyes, and finally Qin Yi came back.

Qin Yi entered the room quietly. When he saw Chu Jinyao, a flash of surprise flashed across his eyes: "Why haven't you slept yet?"

After saying that, he naturally went to see the palace maids who were waiting for him. Chu Jinyao stood up and rescued Xiao Linzi, whose face had turned bitter. "It has nothing to do with them. I insisted on waiting for you."

Qin Yi looked at Chu Jinyao, and finally sighed and said, "You all go down."

The palace maids standing around breathed a sigh of relief and retreated with their heads down. However, even if there were no outsiders in the room, Qin Yi was still far away from Chu Jinyao, and he did not walk to her naturally as usual.

Chu Jinyao's guess became clearer and clearer. There was indeed an invisible barrier between the two of them. If Qin Yi doesn't get rid of this knot in his heart today, he might have to be at odds with himself for a long time.

"Your Highness, the palace maid reported today that the second princess went to Kunning Palace again to see the queen, but was stopped."

Qin Yi replied nonchalantly: "She was stopped, she is spoiled to the point of lawlessness, and it's time to control her."

The second princess has been very restless these days, throwing and hitting people, but she is just a princess, even Prince Lu was demoted, how can she bend the palace power. Chu Jinyao mentioned the second princess, but it was just a topic.

"Your Highness, sometimes when I see the women in the palace, I can't help but feel sad. The Second Princess is a legitimate princess, but she is like this. What about other women? The Queen, as the queen of a country, has been in the palace for more than ten years and has been in great favor. She has both favors and children. But now, her Phoenix Seal has been stripped away, and as the Queen, she can no longer accept the worship of women from other courts, and she can't even see her own daughter. I know Your Highness probably doesn't like to hear this, But I am in it, and I can't help but feel hurt. This is probably the fate of women in the palace. No matter how glamorous and glorious they look, they are actually just castles in the air. Their entire fortunes are tied to external things. If the real nobles in the palace tell you to die, you have to die. "Chu Jinyao looked at Qin Yi and said slowly, "This person used to be the emperor, and now, he is his highness."

The light in Qin Yi's eyes couldn't help but become cold: "Who told you this?"

"No one. Besides, do I need anyone else to say this?" Chu Jinyao looked at Qin Yi quietly and said, "Now it's the empress who has fallen, but it may not be me in the future. Speaking of which, my situation is quite similar to that of the empress. We were both very favored when we first entered the palace. We relied on favor and beauty to attract the respect and flattery of the harem."

Qin Yi finally lost to Chu Jinyao. He sighed in his heart, walked forward, carefully put his arms around Chu Jinyao's shoulders, and helped her sit on the couch on the side: "What are you thinking about. You are different from them, and I am different from the emperor. This kind of thing will not happen."

"I've been married to you for only a year, and I'm pregnant now, so this kind of thing will certainly not happen. But what about the future?" Chu Jinyao shook off Qin Yi's hand, turned around and stared at him with a stern look, "Your Highness, my family background is not as good as others, and my talents and strategies are just so-so. All I rely on is your Highness. If you are willing to trust me and talk to me openly, I can walk on this thin layer of ice in the harem. If one day you are unwilling to tell me, then what is the difference between me and the queen?"

This was the first time in Qin Yi's life that he was speechless when asked such a question. He didn't know how to face Chu Jinyao these days, and there were indeed many things to do in the outer court, so he waited until Chu Jinyao fell asleep before coming back, and tried to avoid meeting each other. Qin Yi stared at Chu Jinyao's sleeping face for a long time after coming back every day. This was the person he wanted to protect the most, but he let her suffer such a thing. Qin Yi suddenly questioned whether he was really doing good for Chu Jinyao when he forcibly snatched Chu Jinyao from Lin Xiyuan and made her the Crown Princess. He made this decision without asking Chu Jinyao's opinion at all, and until now he didn't know whether Chu Jinyao was willing to accept the imperial decree of marriage.

He wanted to wait until he figured it out before meeting Chu Jinyao. But unexpectedly, Chu Jinyao could be so aggressive. Qin Yi was almost speechless. Qin Yi had no choice but to say, "That's not what I meant. Who instigated you? How could I think that? I just think that I am too self-righteous."

Chu Jinyao never thought that he could hear such words from Qin Yi. Qin Yi is indeed a somewhat arbitrary and powerful person, but with his arrogant personality, would he admit it? Chu Jinyao

deeply felt that this matter was unusual. No one is made of iron. Qin Yi could say such words. I am afraid that the pressure in the past few days is too great. Chu Jinyao asked softly, "Why?"

Qin Yi paused, looking at Chu Jinyao with deep and complex eyes, which seemed to contain some kind of passionate emotion, but when Chu Jinyao looked closely, it was gone. Qin Yi said, "I have ordered the defense of the capital. If any minister secretly sends his family out of the capital, he will be shot."

Chu Jinyao thought this was right: "In wartime, we must be stricter. If this trend starts, people will be uneasy and no one will be willing to defend the capital."

Qin Yi touched Chu Jinyao's hair without saying anything. Chu Jinyao suddenly understood what Qin Yi meant: "Your Highness, are you worried about me and the child?"

Qin Yi did not answer directly, but asked, "Won't you blame me?"

Chu Jinyao was stunned . , and then she was really furious: "Your Highness, if you send me out, I will be angry with you! Since I am the Crown Princess, I dare not say that I am serving the people and the country, but at least, I will always go in and out with you. If you abandon the city and leave, I will accompany you south. If you defend the capital until the last moment, then I will wait for you to return in the palace regardless of life or death. Whether it is life or death, you and I, and our children, our family must be together."

Qin Yi's eyes were shining brightly and he was speechless. He held Chu Jinyao's hand with such force that it almost hurt Chu Jinyao: "When I heard that the Lin family wanted to make you a concubine, I was shocked and angry. I felt that I couldn't let you continue to be stupid, so I wrote a letter back to the capital. I never asked you if you were willing?"

Chu Jinyao was stunned for a moment, and suddenly couldn't help laughing. Chu Jinyao saw that the more she laughed, the more dangerous Qin Yi's eyes became. She quickly restrained herself and said: "Your Highness, look at your face, which woman would not be willing?"

Qin Yi still looked unhappy, but there was a hint of smile in his eyes: "Nonsense."

It was more than nonsense. Qin Yi hated it most when people looked at him with that kind of disgusting eyes, regardless of whether they were men or women. But strangely, the same words coming out of Chu Jinyao's mouth seemed less annoying.

"Okay, then let's not mess around." Chu Jinyao said seriously, and asked, "Your Highness, do you remember the time when we first met?"

"Of course." Qin Yi's eyes were teasing, "Your attitude at that time was extremely arrogant. Especially with so many people in the Chu family, you only dared to be arrogant to me."

Chu Jinyao couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed when talking about this, but she wanted to say a lot of these words, but she was just too embarrassed to say them. But later in Changhe Garden, she realized that some gratitude and feelings, if not said out, he would never know.

"Your Highness, this may not mean much to you, but to me it is like a frog in a well suddenly catching a glimpse of the light. I was really dependent on Qi Ze at that time and was very grateful to him. After you left, I was depressed for a long time. During that time, I always regretted that you were the stunner of my royal life, and I was just a passer-by to you to kill time. Later, I discussed marriage, and I thought that this would be the life, but I met you again. You were willing to pull me out of the embarrassing situation of being a concubine. I am really grateful to you. I even thought at that time that it didn’t matter if you married me as a puppet princess. I would give you whoever you like. But, that night you told me your name was Qin Yi..."

You were the stunning young man, you were the hero who saved the beauty, and you were also the long-lasting love.

Chu Jinyao's eyes welled up with tears as she spoke. Qin Yi silently held her in his arms. Chu Jinyao grabbed the black prince's uniform and spoke with a heavy nasal voice: "I am really happy that you are willing to marry me, whether from the perspective of the prince or Qi Ze. My adoptive parents never treated me as a human being, and my biological parents are not close to me, so I only have you..."

"Okay, don't cry." Qin Yi's heart was broken into pieces by crying, and he felt very distressed. He didn't expect to hear such words from Chu Jinyao's mouth. You are becoming more and more important to me, and I am also very important to you.

Chu Jinyao cried and cried, and suddenly she got angry: "But you avoided me on purpose, you even wanted to send me away!"

"No, I just said that, I've changed my mind now."

"Then will you come back so late on purpose and avoid seeing me on purpose in the future?"

"No." Qin Yi thought silently in his heart, in fact, he also had a hard time enduring. It's like raising a delicate orchid, wanting to give her the best in the world, but afraid that one thing is not the best and she will be wronged. He was so entangled, he didn't expect that in the heart of this orchid, the person who raised the flower was the most important.

"Jinyao, I'm afraid too. I'm afraid that if I can't handle everything well this time, I will kill you with my own hands."

Chu Jinyao was held in his arms and said sullenly, "It's nothing. I'm also afraid that you will change your mind. I've been with you from birth to death, and you only have me. Maybe I'm more than happy about it."

Qin Yi laughed softly, his chest shaking slightly: "Okay."

No one except Qin Yi knew what this "okay" was promising.

The capital urgently dispatched troops. The Wala people outside the pass argued for a long time, but still felt that the opportunity sent by God should not be missed. They took the emperor to the outside of Juyongguan and asked the border gates to open the city gates in the name of sending the emperor back to Beijing. The

800-li express military report was delivered to Qin Yi's desk. Qin Yi was silent for a long time facing the letter and slowly wrote "reject".

Knowing that there is an abyss ahead, but still have to step out. Just like the abolition of Xiao Qi a few days ago, Qin Yi knew that the first bird to stand out would die, but he had to stabilize the situation and calm people's hearts, so he had no choice.

On the third day after refusing the Wala to enter the pass, the Wala attacked Juyongguan and Datong Prefecture. Because of the emperor, the Yan Dynasty defenders were helpless. Five days later, Baiyangkou, Zijingguan, and Juyongguan were completely captured, approaching the capital, and the capital was in danger.

Qin Yi personally led the troops and lined up outside the nine gates of Yongding, Desheng, Anding, etc. Behind him was the wall of the capital. After their bodies, the capital would no longer have a barrier.

The destruction of the country or the revenge, life or death, when walking out of the gate of Ciqing Palace today, whether Chu Jinyao would sort out his armor for him for the last time in this life, all depends on this.

The famous defense battle of the capital city in history books began.