Missing the people in the harem? And I have to recuperate alone? Even have to meet with the ministers in private?
Fang Rui listened to her instructions and arrangements. Her fingers, which were tidying up, trembled and she almost fell to the ground in fear. These unusual actions always made people feel that a storm was about to come.
She has been with the Queen since she was a child and has seen a lot over the years. In the past, she had always been confident and had an inexplicable confidence. However, this time, the Queen's actions made her feel as if her heart was shrouded in a thick haze that could not be dispelled.
But the queen seemed unusually calm. After she finished speaking, she closed her eyes on the phoenix chair and her breathing slowly became steady, as if she had fallen asleep. Fang Rui could only suppress her fear and worry, cleaned up the mess in the palace, and then took the medicine handed to her by the waiter and called to the queen softly: "Your Majesty, it's time to take the medicine."
The queen slowly opened her eyes and her gaze fell on the bowl of medicine. Fang Rui took a spoon and scooped a small spoonful, blew it gently to cool it down, and then handed it to the queen's lips. The queen's gaze slowly moved to the small spoonful of medicine.
The medicine was a dark yellow-brown color with steam rising from it. Even before the queen took a sip, she already remembered the bitter taste of the medicine. The nausea that she had just suppressed came back and she covered her chest with her hands and felt like vomiting.
Seeing her face change, Fang Rui quickly put down the spoon, took a candied fruit from the jade cup on the tray beside her and fed it to her, but the empress did not take it. She slightly turned her head to avoid it, and even stretched out her hand to block it and open Fang Rui's hand. However, she used too much force and knocked over the medicine bowl beside her.
The medicine juice spilled everywhere, and the bowl containing the medicine was broken into several large pieces.
Fang Rui knelt down and pleaded guilty: "Your Majesty, please forgive me."
The room was completely silent, with only the sound of two people breathing. The queen put down her hand and stared at her dark hair with burning eyes. She didn't know what she was thinking. Finally, she rubbed her brows and said, "Take it down. Don't bring the medicine up today."
Fang Rui was anxious. How could this be possible? His Majesty's condition was obviously more serious today, and he refused to call the imperial physician. If he refused to take the medicine, what should he do?
She kowtowed hurriedly: "Your Majesty, you must take care of yourself, how can you not take medicine?"
The Queen sneered: "Fang Rui, you have been by my side for so many years, you must know me, right? When have I ever changed what I said?"
Fang Rui paused. She naturally understood: "But Your Majesty, this concerns the Phoenix's body, and also the country and the people. The country's foundation must be stable! Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess and Her Royal Highness the Fifth Princess are still fighting outside."
The Queen is in the rear, if anything unexpected happens, the government will be in chaos!
The Queen waved her hands and said, "Don't say anything. I won't die if I take one day less of medicine."
Fang Rui knelt down and dared not make a sound.
She could only ask someone to clean the room. She saw the empress picked up another memorial, but she obviously didn't read it. Not only did her eyes remain motionless, but she also didn't make any comments for a long time.
She felt even more strange, and her heart became even more gloomy. When all the servants had left the hall and there were only the two of them left, she suddenly heard the empress ask, "Fang Rui, how many years have you been by my side?"
Fang Rui was stunned, and subconsciously said: "This old servant has been with Your Majesty for forty-three years."
She is the most selected guard in the palace. She grew up with the Queen since she was a child and is the person who has been with the Queen the longest.
"Forty-three years!" The Queen suddenly laughed.
"You have been with me the longest, and you should be the most loyal."
Fang Rui bowed his head and said, "I swear to be loyal to Your Majesty until death."
The Queen smiled and said, "That's good. You must always remember what I said today."
"Yes!" The room fell silent again.
This time, it was not until Prime Minister Gongzhong arrived and she heard the servants' report outside that the empress came back to her senses.
She looked at Fang Rui and said, "Go out and guard the door for me. No one is allowed to spy on what's going on here. No matter what's going on in the house, you are not allowed to barge in."
Fang Rui agreed, then slowly stepped back, leaving the space to Prime Minister Gongzhong and the Queen. She loyally stood guard at the door. The conversation in the room was low and she could not hear anything. She only vaguely heard some unusual movements and noises inside. She originally wanted to push the door open, but remembering the Queen's instructions, she had to suppress it. The two talked for about an hour, and Prime Minister Gongzhong opened the door and walked out by himself.
Fang Rui glanced at her subconsciously, and Prime Minister Gong Zhong smiled gently and greeted her: "Lord Fang Rui."
She quickly returned the greeting, but quickly retracted her gaze and lowered her head: "Prime Minister Gongzhong, please."
After a quick glance, if she was not mistaken, although Prime Minister Gongzhong tried her best to remain calm, her hand was still shaking slightly as she saluted.
Her heart sank even more.
But she could do nothing but send Prime Minister Gongzhong out of the palace, but a terrible guess was rising in her heart.
…
The unpredictable events in the palace are temporarily confined to the imperial city. The people in the border areas were very happy and danced with joy.
Their army captured another city and won a great victory with very few casualties. Everyone was very happy and then cast their expectant eyes towards the royal court of the barbarian country.
If I could... then all these years of blood debt would finally be explained.
The royal court of the Barbarian Kingdom did not expect that the city of Bamen would be conquered like this. According to their estimates and previous judgments of the situation, this should be a protracted war. In order to protect this important city, the royal court of the Barbarian Kingdom had already dispatched troops from all around and prepared for support. However, it was lost, and the loss was inexplicable.
The person who brought her the news of defeat was also someone she didn't expect. It was actually her own sister's child - Wanqi Hong.
Wanqihong was in a state of disarray, with dishevelled hair, tattered clothes, a look of panic, and even scars on her body. She knelt down and burst into tears: "Aunt, you must avenge my mother and the city of Bamen!"
"The Jin people are despicable. They killed my mother and hung her corpse on the city wall for public display. All the generals in Bamen City have also suffered such insults. I beg my aunt to send someone to kill all these despicable Jin people!"
The more she spoke, the angrier she became, and the louder her voice became. Anyone could hear the anger in her tone.
The Barbarian King sat high up at the head, cursing in his heart: If she could really kill all the people of Jin, why would so many cities be conquered by the people of Jin, why would she still be hiding in this hellhole all these years, suffering from poor harvests every year, and then allowing the slaves and people under her to run to the border of Jin to beg for money?
She could only interrupt her niece and ask, "How did Barmen fall?"
Wanqi Hong shook her head, also at a loss: "Aunt, I don't know anything. That night, the Jin army suddenly attacked. I led my men to resist hastily, and then I heard that my mother and other generals had been killed. The situation was hopeless. I could only lead my men and horses back to the royal court to inform aunt, hoping that aunt would make preparations early."
As she spoke, she pulled at her torn clothes and showed them to the Barbarian King: "These are the wounds I got from fighting on the battlefield. I came all the way here, day and night, just hoping that my aunt can avenge my mother!"
The Barbarian King looked in the direction where she was pulling. Wanqi Hong must have not lied. His clothes were indeed covered with knife cuts, his flesh was rolled up, and his blood had dried. Some of the blood was still stuck to his clothes. He looked very dirty and messy. Due to the cold weather, his hands were covered with frostbite, and the area around the wounds was also red.
The Barbarian King could only sigh, and personally stepped down from the throne, helping Wanqi Hong up. Her voice was trembling, her eyes were red, and she shed tears on the spot: "I just couldn't believe it, my sister actually... Good child, I believe you, you go downstairs to wash up, change the medicine and rest, and let Auntie Rong and the ministers have a good discussion, and we must avenge my sister and the city of Bamen!"
Wanqihong also started to cry, and hugged the Barbarian King back, crying bitterly: "Aunt, you are all I have."
The smell of blood on her body reached the Barbarian King's nose. He felt a little nauseous, but he could only endure it. He hugged his head and cried with her, and then sent her away.
As soon as Wanqi Hong returned to the room arranged by the Barbarian King for her, she fell to the ground due to exhaustion. A guard who had been serving her pushed open the door and came in, holding medicine and gauze in his hands.
Wanqihong did not feel comforted or happy, but fearful: "What's the medicine in it?"
The guard smiled and said, "The master said you behaved well in the palace. This is good medicine."
Wanqihong breathed a sigh of relief and even laughed: "Thank you for the medicine, Master. I will definitely continue to perform well."
When Gu Jinke received this expression of loyalty, she happened to be staying at the king's court of the Barbarian Kingdom. She just waved her hand casually and asked them to leave. Xun Ji handed the information they had collected over the past few days to Gu Jinke and said, "Your Highness, the relationship between the Barbarian King and his sister has gradually faded in the past two years."
Gu Jinke took it and looked at it, Li Yuxin and Qiao Xi also came over. This was the result obtained from some gift lists and rewards. The gift lists in previous years were thick, and the rewards in them were all truly valuable goodies. In the past two years, not only have the rewards decreased, but there have also been many flashy things in the gift lists, and even fewer in the past year. The Barbarian King even played the victim by saying that the situation this year was not good, and there were no rewards on several festivals.
Gu Jinke even carefully flipped through the lists of previous years, then smiled and said, "It's not that this has only happened in the past two years, it's just that it's been particularly obvious in the past two years, and it's been getting less and less in previous years."
Li Yuxin and Qiao Xi both nodded.
Gu Jinke thought about it from another perspective and soon understood that as a princess who was loved by her mother, had military power, and even occupied a prosperous city, the Barbarian King could do this and even started to target her only in the past two years. His patience and forbearance were indeed quite good.
It turned out that Gu Jinxiu was just getting a taste of power, but wasn't she already planning how to kill her?
"Then the little princess we arranged for me will be of no use now." After all, the Barbarian King's favor is nothing but an illusion, Xun Ji asked worriedly.
Qiao Xi smiled confidently, "How can it be useless? We have to save face. Besides, the army of Bamen City has just been defeated. Whether the Barbarian King wants to continue to show his favor to his sisters or to appease other generals and soldiers, he will definitely treat the little princess well."
After all, the Jin army was now breaking through cities one after another, and other ministers and generals were worried. There were already voices in the court calling for peace and surrender, and some cities outside had also risen up and declared themselves kings, rebelling under the slogan of destroying the Jin monarch and killing the King of Inaction, the Barbarian King.
The Barbarian King also has to consider his own safety. Even if he negotiates peace or surrenders, his life must be saved. He wants to be king in the future, and he has to rely on the generals outside and the ministers in the court. Therefore, he will definitely treat the little princess whose mother has died well in resisting foreign enemies, not to mention that the little princess is the child of her own sister.
Gu Jinke laughed at the teasing in Qiao Xi's analysis, but nodded in agreement: "That's right, but it's impossible for the little princess to wipe out the whole thing as easily as last time."
After all, there is no mother who truly dotes on her, nor generals who trust her.
Several people present nodded. From an outsider's perspective, the little princess's success was largely due to luck. After all, when things were done that day, even Gu Jinke and the others felt that it was so smooth that it was unbelievable.
"But we can give her a helping hand." Josh said suddenly.
Gu Jinke was sitting in the main seat. When he heard him say this, he looked over. Qiao Xi stood beside her, wearing a blue shirt, with a bright look in his eyes, full of confidence and charisma. Gu Jinke blinked and then smiled, "You say."
Qiao Xi said: "Use the lower to defeat the higher, disperse and disintegrate, and start with the other wavering ministers in the court."
He paused and said, "Even if they are rebels from a barbarian country, they can still stir up trouble."
After all, these people are now ambitious, but they lack the strength, so it would be best to use them as guns. Otherwise, if they are really fattened up, even if you take over the royal court in the future, you will still be troubled by this, and you will have to spend more manpower, money and time to deal with these people. That would be a real loss.
Gu Jinke's eyes lit up. After all, she didn't plan to help the Barbarian Kingdom quell a rebellion in the future, nor did she want to leave any roots of trouble.
Several people started discussing the matter immediately, and when they had almost finished the discussion, they went to have their meal and then went to rest separately.
After Gu Jinke finished his meal and waited for everyone to leave, he returned to the study and sat down in the same place where he had just sat, ready to think over the process they had just discussed to see if there was anything that needed improvement. After all, Li Yuxin, Qiao Xi and Xun Ji had all tried to dissuade her from working overtime.
Just as I sat down, I caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of my eye.
She frowned slightly, then bent down to pick it up. It was a very familiar object, a thin bamboo tube.
She suddenly remembered the occasional strange look that Josh had shown at the dinner table and his stay at the table just now.
When they asked about it, Qiao Xi just smiled and said that he was tired from the journey. Now Gu Jinke suddenly had the answer. It must be that the bamboo tube was lost and Qiao Xi was worried.
Ever since she met Qiao Xi in the border city, Qiao Xi had not sent her any messages, and naturally had not left her any bamboo tubes. But now she saw him again, in the corner of the chair, where Qiao Xi had just stood.
Gu Jinke rubbed it and looked at it in the candlelight. It was a very familiar thing. However, when he pulled out the stopper of the bamboo tube, there was no message inside, and it was empty.
She glanced to the side and found the familiar gap. Gu Jinke hesitated for a moment, his fingers falling on both sides of the gap in the bamboo tube, not knowing whether he should open it.
"Knock, knock." There was a sudden knock on the door.
Gu Jinke was startled when he heard Qiao Xi's voice: "Your Highness, it's me."
"Is there anything wrong?" Gu Jinge asked, holding the bamboo tube tightly in his hand.
There was silence outside the door for a moment, and then Qiao Xi's voice came: "I left a hand towel behind, and I was afraid it was in Your Highness' study, so I wanted to look for it."
Gu Jinke went over and opened the door: "Come in and look for it."
Josh looked up, unexpectedly meeting her eyes, and nodded: "Yes."
Gu Jinke moved aside and Qiao Xi walked in.
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