Chapter 324: Chaos in the North
His father is not a good person at heart.
"Let Chaochao enter the palace?" Lu Yao was stunned. He tilted his head, glanced at the secret letter, and sneered.
He really does whatever he wants.
"Lu Mingchao, do you know why my father suddenly had this idea?"
Lu Mingchao did not read the secret letter again, and said calmly, "I probably know that the emperor believed Lu Minghui's crazy nonsense."
"You should have heard that the emperor summoned Gu Huai and me to the palace overnight just to tell us the rumors about Lu Minghui."
"Lu Minghui said she was reborn."
"Do you know what rebirth means? The popular storybook in Shangjing Bookstore has a story about rebirth and continuing the previous relationship. In the same life, with the script in hand, we can start again."
"Your Majesty believes it."
"And in Lu Minghui's crazy words, he mentioned Gu Huai and me again and again, so Your Majesty believed that there was something strange going on between Gu Huai and me."
"Between taking me into the palace and taking Gu Huai into the palace, she chose to take me into the palace. Maybe she thought I was a soft persimmon."
"Is there a possibility that it's not because he thinks you're a pushover?" Prince Duan's mouth twitched slightly, and he said pointedly, "But because you're a woman?"
"Is there any difference?" Lu Mingchao asked back.
"But he is doomed to be disappointed."
"After the flood disasters in Wanxing and Beiba counties are over, my name as a great philanthropist will be extremely famous."
"Marrying an ordinary adopted daughter of the Yongning Marquisate and a little Bodhisattva who is deeply loved by the people are completely different in nature."
"Tell me, when the time comes, will the emperor choose another soft persimmon?"
"Gu Huai?" Prince Duan said without hesitation, "Impossible."
"To be honest, my father particularly hates the relationship between Long and Yang."
"Really?" Lu Mingchao asked meaningfully.
Prince Duan's face is worth more than a thousand feeble and powerless words.
She also wanted to know what kind of mentality the current emperor had in adopting Prince Duan, who resembled Emperor Wencheng.
On the ground, Prince Duan felt a chill.
When heavy rains continued in Wanxing and Beiba, the northern border was not peaceful either.
Northland.
The town is stagnant.
Zhenzhiguan has always been the largest place of exile in Daqian.
There are relatives of corrupt officials, some extremely treacherous and evil people, and some are victims of the struggle for power and profit.
It is also the place where Xie Yan's grandfather, Old Lady Xie, was exiled.
Zhenzhiguan was separated from the territory of the Northern Hu by only two mountains, and Northern Hu cavalry would often cross the border, burning, killing, looting, and coming and going in a hurry.
As a result, Zhenzhiguan was rarely truly peaceful throughout the year, and many criminals died at the hands of the Northern Huqu bandits.
Gao Fuyan, the former assistant minister of the Ministry of War who was exiled here, first secretly burned the grain and grass in Zhenzhiguan, and then poisoned the well water and streams to cause riots. He took advantage of the chaos to cross the mountains and defected to the Northern Hu royal court with the Zhenzhiguan border defense map.
The Northern Hu royal court sent King Zuoxian to lead a large army to attack Zhenzhi Pass.
The goal was to capture Zhenzhi Pass as quickly as possible, cross Zhenzhi Pass, and attack Shengyan Pass by surprise at night.
Shengyan Pass is where the Northern Frontier Army is actually stationed, and it is also the most dangerous pass in the northern part of Daqian.
After crossing Shengyan Pass, the Northern Hu can capture six cities in a row.
At this critical moment, the white-haired old lady Xie organized the criminals exiled to Zhenzhiguan to resist the invading army from the north.
While lighting the signal smoke, he also arranged for clever young men to rush to Shengyan Pass to report the news and ask for help.
Since the fall of the Xie family, the military power in the north has changed hands, the northern barbarians have become more arrogant, and their invasions of the town and the customs have become more frequent.
The troops guarding Shengyan Pass no longer took the smoke from the enemy's pass seriously.
Old Mrs. Xie knew that this was the result of the current emperor's deliberate connivance.
The emperor did not treat the criminals detained in the city as human beings, but they were also flesh and blood, not to mention those who were implicated and exiled here, and who had to marry, have children and start a family here.
Every time the Northern Hu cavalry burned, killed, and looted, they took away countless people's wives and daughters, the food that filled their stomachs; they killed their relatives under the same roof, the neighbors whom they could not see even when they looked up, but would see when they looked down.
Gao Fuyan, the former assistant minister of the Ministry of War who defected to the Northern Hu King's court with a defense map, was not a very evil person. It was just that after the Xie family was accused of treason and conspiracy to usurp the throne, Gao Fuyan stood up and questioned them.
Just one question and the emperor issued an order to exile Gao Fuyan and his three clans, regardless of gender, age or status, to the town.
Gao Fuyan's old mother died during exile.
Gao Fuyan's beautiful twin daughters died at the hands of the officers who were escorting the prisoners.
His younger brother, who was born to the same mother, was shot to death for lighting a wolf-incense stick during the invasion of the Northern Hu cavalry, and was trampled into a pulp by horses.
His childhood sweetheart was abducted by the commander of the Zhenzhi Pass. Unable to bear the humiliation, he bit his tongue and committed suicide.
The only son was treated as a pedophile and was abused at will.
When he died, he was naked, and his body was covered with bruises and purples.
Gao Fuyan once had the heart of a real man who should serve the country and the people. He also once made suggestions to uphold the justice and integrity in his heart.
But the one on the throne is not someone who is quick to accept good advice.
He would not listen to any words of disobedience.
Gao Fuyan hated the Northern Hu, but he also hated Daqian, to whom he had sworn allegiance until death.
The commander guarding Zhenzhi Pass is from a branch of the Qin family.
He is ignorant and incompetent, with great ambitions but little talent.
Just because he was a member of the Qin family and was recommended by Qin Taishi, the emperor allowed him to guard the pass without hesitation.
But what did the guard do?
As soon as he arrived at Zhenzhiguan, he immediately worked to eliminate dissidents, and brought the officialdom's system of "those who obey will prosper and those who disobey will perish" to a climax, killing almost all of the original generals.
Afterwards, he stubbornly tried to pacify the mountain bandits around Zhenzhiguan, calling it defeating the enemy without fighting.
The bandits who used to rob and plunder were transformed into soldiers who were paid by the army and equipped with swords.
It is easy to change the country, but difficult to change one's nature.
His bad habits did not change even after the imperial edict.
Over the past three years, the smog and miasma in Guanyin have been suppressed.
There are countless tragedies similar to what happened in Gao Fuyan's family.
Some people tried to appeal, but in the end, there was no response.
The lawsuit was not sent out and the person died in unclear circumstances.
In the land of exile, it is normal for criminals to die and no one cares.
Old Mrs. Xie thought that Gao Fuyan deserved to be hated.
Just like him, at his dying age he still hates the man on the throne.
Beidi is the result of the hard work of several generations of the Xie family.
The criminals stranded at the border are also the people that the Northern Army should protect.
Does that mean that people who are exiled are no longer considered human beings?
The throne was passed down, the Xie family was overthrown, and the hard work of the Xie family was completely destroyed by a bunch of troubled people.
The superiors abandoned Zhenzhi Pass, and the general of Shengyan Pass who took over the military power of the Xie family also abandoned Zhenzhi Pass and turned a blind eye to the signal smoke that was lit at Zhenzhi Pass.
The young general who was recommended by Qin Tai Shi and had natural military talent, led his trusted followers to abandon the pass and flee into the mountains when King Zuo Xian led his troops to Zhenzhi Pass.
The Northern Hu army was stationed outside the Great Wall.
Inside the Zhenzhi Pass are bandits who have lost their leader and have returned to their old ways.
Ordinary people are like fish on the chopping board, and it seems that they can only wait to die and be slaughtered.
Old Mrs. Xie smelled the blood in the air and listened to the wailing in his ears. He couldn't remain indifferent.
This is the northern border that the Xie family has guarded for a hundred years.
Lian is quite old.