Chapter 1438 I Won't Return to Beijing

In the blink of an eye, another five days had passed. At the northeastern border, the tribes had finished stationing their troops and launched an attack, while the army in the capital was still accelerating its advance.

The emperor looked at the map with his hands behind his back and pointed at the position of the army. "We have to defend the border for at least two days. The reinforcements will arrive in two days."

King Qi looked at the map, frowned and said, "The northeastern tribe has assembled an army of 200,000, but the city is defended by only 80,000. The difference in strength is more than twice that of the former. The situation is not optimistic."

There are a total of 150,000 soldiers defending the city, and they are not concentrated together. They are scattered in several border fortresses. Now no one dares to go to support, for fear of falling into a trap and causing a chain of cities to fall. Once the city is breached and they go all the way south, it will be difficult to hold them back.

The emperor touched the beads and asked, "Where are the soldiers of the Yi Banner?"

Li Zhao's face was gloomy. "It has been seven days since we borrowed the troops, and the Yi Banner troops have only just entered the Northeast."

Zhou Shuren moved his ears. He felt sorry for the Yi Banner's deliberate delay in wasting food and fodder, but when he thought of the Yi Banner's war horses, he instantly felt better.

The emperor nodded to show that he understood, and his eyes fell on a grassland. It was not the right time yet, so he was not in a hurry.

When Zhou Shuren left the palace, it was already noon and the ministers who remained in the palace were all hungry.

Li Zhao was busy going back to the Ministry of War to make arrangements, so he quickly said goodbye and left.

The other officials also had their own important matters to attend to, but Zhou Shuren had already arranged everything he needed to do and was in no hurry to return to the Ministry of Revenue. He got in a carriage and when he passed by a restaurant, he signaled to the driver to stop as he wanted to have a meal before returning.

Zhou Shuren had just sat down for a while when Ning Xu came over and said, "I thought I was seeing things, but when I walked in I saw it was really you."

"My Lord."

"Well, I thought you would be busy."

Zhou Shuren pointed to the carriage outside the restaurant and said, "I just came out of the palace and I'm a little hungry so I'll eat some food to fill my stomach. But why isn't the Marquis in the Marquis' Mansion?"

Ning Xu, "I happen to be a little hungry too, do you mind eating together?"

"Then let's eat together."

Ning Xu ordered two dishes before answering the question, "It's not that the disaster-stricken state is in chaos, I'm worried that the King of Qin will be stranded in the disaster-stricken state, I'm really upset staying in the mansion, so I came out to buy some things for my unborn child."

Zhou Shuren sighed, "Several states have already suffered from disasters, and now there is chaos, making life even more difficult for the people."

Ning Xu glanced at Zhou Shuren, "Qizhou is now under the control of your son. I also heard that your third son is not bad."

Zhou Shuren smiled slightly. The news from various states had just reached the capital two days ago. Among several states, two states were in chaos. In one state, the prefect was killed, and in another state, people were burned everywhere. The other states acted decisively and suppressed the situation at the first time.

He was very satisfied with Chang Lian's response. Chang Lian stood the test and proved his ability to the emperor.

In Shizhou, Rongchuan sat in the boat protecting his wife's belly. Shizhou was the state least affected by the flood, and the journey back had to go through Shizhou.

Xue Han looked at the situation outside the boat and said, "The water has receded a lot."

Rongchuan nodded, "Yes, Shizhou was not hit hard by the disaster. After a few days, when the water recedes, Shizhou will be able to slowly return to normal."

Xue Han touched her stomach, which was still uncomfortable, and leaned on the cushion. "We can still take the water route now. After we pass Shizhou, do we have to take the land route?"

Rong Chuan raised his hand and touched his wife's belly. "For safety, we have to change clothes and take the dry road after passing Shizhou."

Xue Han exhaled, "We are still more than halfway to Beijing."

When she was out of Beijing, she walked and played and didn't feel time passing slowly at all. But every day on the way back to Beijing was torture for her.

Rong Chuan touched his wife's face which had become much thinner, "After we pass Shizhou, we will find a safe place to rest for a while."

"No, we'd better return to Beijing as soon as possible."

He paused and sighed, "Alas, I can't go back to Beijing."

Rongchuan, "Yes, we should have gone to pick him up and brought him back to Beijing."

"Brother Wu Ming will not let me go back to Beijing by myself."

"It's a bit chaotic right now, it's better for me to stay with Brother Wu Ming."

"Um."

In Qizhou, Chang Lian no longer needed crutches, but he still needed to walk carefully. He took a walk outside the city and listened to the report with a satisfied look on his face.

When they returned to the government office, the prefect was also there. Chang Lian's eyes were filled with joy, "Sir, you are here."

The prefect said, "Thank you for your hard work these days. I can't just sit there and do nothing."

Chang Lian and the others said that it was not hard. The prefect smiled and talked for a while before stopping Chang Lian and saying, "Thank you for your hard work these days."

"It's not hard. I just did what I had to do."

The prefect stroked his beard and said, "Don't be so humble. I know what's going on."

Chang Lian could sense the intimacy in the prefect's tone, "Sir, please take care of your health."

The prefect smiled and said, "It was only after I had a close call with death that I realized the fragility of life. Even if you hadn't told me, I would have paid more attention to it."

Chang Lian reported the food that had been borrowed from local noble families, saying, "It is currently enough to support the refugees' expenses."

"You did a great job."

Chang Lian curled his lips. He also felt that he had done an excellent job and that his contribution this time was not small.

At Zhou's, Zhulan was comforting the eldest daughter, "It's just the border fighting now, it won't affect Zhou Village."

She knew in her heart that she would not attack Zhoujia Village, but the daughter of the concubine did not know. In fact, the daughter of the concubine wrote a letter to Jiang Miao, but Jiang Miao would not return to Beijing even after receiving the letter. As a result, Jiang Miao mobilized his entire body and returned to Zhoujia Village. Every move he made represented the Zhou family.

Once Jiang Miao sets out to return to Beijing, the Zhou family will also move. The Zhou family has a great influence in the local area, and there will inevitably be a chain reaction. Jiang Miao is a smart child, and he will not return to Beijing unless it is absolutely necessary.

Xuemei clutched the handkerchief tightly, "Mother, the news in the capital is spreading like wildfire, as if the city could be breached at any time. I'm really scared."

Zhu Lan frowned. Someone in the capital city deliberately spread the news to create panic. "Don't believe the rumors. They are false."

Xuemei knew that the rumors were not to be believed, but she was in turmoil. War meant killing. She had some impression of it when she was a child. She was afraid of the burning and looting just thinking about it.

Zhulan sighed. This year, the eldest daughter-in-law was only worried about the children. From the look of her face, she could tell that she hadn't had a good rest recently.

Xuemei didn't get any news from her mother, so she went home after sitting for a while.

Zhulan waited for the other girls to leave and sat by the window without moving. The war in the northeast would not be far away in the northwest, and no one knew what was happening to the families of the eldest and second brothers.

As for Rongchuan and his daughter, ever since the news of their assassination came out, Shuren has been asking the Emperor for information but has gotten no news.

The only thing that can make her feel at ease now is her youngest son. Her youngest son is with Wu Ming, and everything is fine except that he cannot go home.

Thinking of Chang Lian again, she was frightened. What if he was also attacked? Fortunately, Chang Lian was fine and stabilized Qizhou City.

Qingxue saw that it was raining, so she came over and asked, "Madam, do you want to close the window?"