Chapter 322: Lu Ling is Pregnant
Zhao Xiaofei was overjoyed when he received the news in Chengdu. He immediately ran into Li Sihong's room and said, "My dear! We can go back to the capital now! The capital has been recaptured!"
"Really? That's great! I'll call the little princess and Miss Shen to celebrate together." Li Sihong said.
Little Princess is what Zhao Xiaofei and Li Sihong call Zhaoren, and they still call her Princess in front of outsiders.
"Great! I have been looking forward to this day for a long time. I originally thought I would have to wait for one or two years. I didn't expect it to come true so soon! I wonder what else Li Zicheng and Wu Sangui can do?" Zhao Xiaofei said happily.
Now, with Li Zicheng and Wu Sangui now in a pincer attack, it's likely they'll reach an agreement and jointly resist the Ming army. However, it's also possible Wu Sangui will surrender, leaving Li Zicheng alone.
Kong Youde and the others will probably run away, but no one knows where they will run to!
Prince Chuan, Qin Yiming and Fang Xinyu were waiting for Zhao Xiaofei and his party in Yin'an Hall. Zhao Xiaofei slowly walked in with his wives.
As soon as Zhao Xiaofei entered the room, he said, "The capital has been recaptured! The Jianlu have fled north!"
Ma Wanchun and Qin Yiming were both shocked. Last year, there was a three-way standoff. Now the Jianlu retreated so quickly? This was too smooth, wasn't it?
Fang Xinyu knew Xin'er, so he was not surprised!
The palace maid brought chairs for Zhao Xiaofei and the others to sit on.
"Before, we cooperated with various major sects and carried out a large number of assassinations on the Jianlu government offices and Jianlu officials. This resulted in a lack of communication between the local and central governments. Whoever helped the Jianlu would be killed. The Jianlu, who could not collect food, looted and slaughtered the people. As no one was farming, they had to continue killing and robbing! As a result, a vicious cycle was created, and almost nine out of ten houses in the places occupied by the Jianlu were empty." Zhao Xiaofei said this with some sadness.
I used to think I'd traveled through time, thinking fewer people would die in the Ming Dynasty. But then I calculated, based on this pattern of death, it's pretty much the same as the original history. Now more people in the north died, and fewer in the south. It's just that there were no Ten Days of Yangzhou or the Three Massacres of Jiading.
"There is hope for the Ming Dynasty to be revived! There will always be casualties in war. We are all the new nobles of the Ming Dynasty. Our words will carry more weight in future government affairs!" Ma Wanchun said nonchalantly.
"Yes! Prince Chuan is right! Prince Li, this method can also be used to deal with Li Zicheng and Wu Sangui!" Qin Yiming said.
"We can't continue like this in Shanxi and Shaanxi. We can't let the entire north be left empty. Otherwise, who will farm the fields? Where will we recruit soldiers? Do we have to rely entirely on the south?" asked Zhao Xiaofei.
They know that both the military and the government cannot be composed entirely of people from the same place; they need to be diverse.
At this time, Fang Xinyu said, "I suggest that Prince Chuan send troops as soon as possible to eliminate Li Zicheng. Let the governor of Jiangnan go north to the capital to reunite with Prince Li. We must form a two-pronged attack on Wu Sangui and Kong Youde!"
"Li Zicheng and Wu Sangui and their ilk are not a concern. The key is that my eldest brother's soldiers have not been trained yet and need some time to train," said Zhao Xiaofei.
"I think now that the capital has been recovered, we don't have to be afraid of the Nanjing court anymore. Why don't we go back to Nanjing together! Please ask the emperor to return to Beijing!" Li Sihong said.
"Is this okay? Will Mother do anything bad to us?" Princess Zhaoren said worriedly.
"Will the Queen Mother do something bad to us? We helped her son take back the capital!" Shen Yunying didn't know much about politics.
"Okay! Please ask for permission to invite the emperor back to Beijing!" Zhao Xiaofei made the decision resolutely.
At the Nanjing court, Zhao Xiaofei's memorial arrived, and everyone was delighted at first, then surprised. The joy was that he had taken the capital back, but the sadness was that Zhao Xiaofei asked to return to Nanjing, intending to go north with the emperor.
When Empress Dowager Zhou heard that the capital had been recaptured, she rejoiced for several days in her harem. She could see Chongzhen, could see her eldest son, could visit his grave and pay her respects.
But she was also worried. Zhao Xiaofei had already made such great contributions. She was afraid that he would imitate Cao Cao and use the emperor to control the princes. If that happened, she would become the sinner of the Zhu family.
But the government had already been returned, so she could only go and persuade him. How old was her son? He didn't have that kind of mind! Moreover, her son had a good relationship with Zhao Xiaofei and obeyed his every word. This made Empress Dowager Zhou very anxious, and within a few days, news came that the Empress Dowager was ill.
The Queen Mother was ill, and Zhao Xiaofei was overjoyed. He couldn't wait for his mother-in-law to see him. Kunxing was the same. When he heard the Queen Mother was ill, he went to visit her immediately.
After entering the palace, Kunxing came to the bedside and asked, "Is mother feeling better?"
"I won't die for a while! I must find the late emperor and the boss before I die." said Queen Mother Zhou.
"Mother, please rest assured and recuperate. Your daughter will ensure your safe return to Beijing!" Kunxing said.
"Zhao Xiaofei can go back to Nanjing, but you must send me to the capital first." Empress Dowager Zhou started coughing after she said this.
"I'm afraid your body won't be able to bear it if you return to the capital like this!" Kunxing continued to persuade.
"I don't care! I just want to see the late emperor and my son! I don't want them to be alone. I want to accompany them, accompany them!" Empress Dowager Zhou said loudly and excitedly. After she finished speaking, she began to cough. Finally, the eunuch came to serve her and found blood in her sputum. The eunuch quickly put away the handkerchief and pretended nothing had happened.
Princess Kunxing doesn't want to persuade you any further! Since you don't want to listen, then I won't persuade you any more. After all, the body is yours.
"Please rest more, mother. I'll take my leave!" Kunxing said and left the Cining Palace.
Zhu Cijiong has been a little worried about his mother's health recently, so he came to pay his respects to her in person today. Seeing his sister coming, he gave Kunxing a look, telling her to go out and wait for him outside.
Kunxing understood what he meant, so he went out to wait for him.
After a while, Zhu Cijiong came out. He came to his sister and asked, "Sister! How is Lu Ling these days? I've been busy with official duties lately and haven't had time to visit him."
"Don't worry! She's fine! Lu Ling has gained some weight in the past few months and her appetite is also very good." Princess Kunxing said.
"Then let's go together!" Zhu Cijiong said.
"Okay! It seems that you don't miss your sister at all! You only think about your sweetheart!" Kunxing pretended to be angry.
Inside the Nanjing Palace, Lu Ling felt a pang of sadness as she watched Zhu Cijiong mature. Sooner or later, the boy would become a real man. One day, he'd have his own harem and courtyards, surrounded by countless women. Would she still have a place in his heart by then?
Just as she was about to speak, Lu Ling began to vomit uncontrollably.
Zhu Cijiong hurried over and asked, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
At this time, Kun Xing came over and said, "Lu Ling, what's wrong with you? You look like you're pregnant!"
Zhu Cijiong asked happily, "Really? I have a child!"
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