She fell out after crying at the wrong grave

"General Li Chongxuan of Yuanzhou received the order—"

In broad daylight, a bright yellow imperial edict was unfurled, and kneeling beneath it were Li Chongxuan, his subordinates, and all the officials in Changguan.

"Your servant, Li Chongxuan, kneels to receive the Holy Prophet's instructions!"

Ah'ao casually put on the robe of Adjutant Ma Zeduan, put her hand on her forehead, and waited quietly.

Mr. Huai was right. Early the next morning, news of the capital's special envoy's visit spread to every street and alley in the city.

Although I don't know the specific purpose, this move to take the lead is indeed ingenious.

If there really was an unfavorable decree, there was no way to get rid of the special envoy. After all, the eyes of everyone in the city were on Li Chongxuan and Ma Zeduan who were guarding Changguan at the moment.

However, the person who came was beyond Ah's expectation.

Wearing official uniform and hat, standing in front of the city gate was none other than the Minister of the Central Secretariat, Lv Zhongting, whom he had not seen for a long time.

"I have been ill for many days. I heard that the two sides in the northwest are mobilizing troops. There may be a war soon. In recent years, our Great Chong has suffered from natural disasters. The treasury is meager. The fighting force may not be enough to support the mediation with Youbei. So I order General Li Chongxuan to stop the ice and avoid the war, open the city to negotiate peace. All military orders should be handed over to the envoy of the imperial decree. If there is any delay, Lu Zhongting will immediately punish me according to military law on my behalf. I decree this."

Open the city to negotiate peace? But the general surrender to Shuode is so tactful.

Ah'ao was sarcastic in her heart, but she knelt upright and could not help but look carefully at the Minister Lu in front of her.

It is said that since the new emperor Shen Zhuo was seriously ill, all government affairs were handed over to Jin Feng. With the dragon son in Jin Zhaoyi's belly, he became the first "prime minister" who broke the ancestral system in the hundred years since the founding of the Da Chong Dynasty.

Minister Lu flattered Jin Feng and was promoted again. Now he has surpassed his teacher Yan Tongjun, who was about to retire, and became the Minister of the Central Secretariat. Yan Tongjun was said to be so angry that he claimed to be sick all day and no longer went to court.

In just one month, the political situation has changed drastically.

The words he had said to her in front of Chong'an Palace that day were still fresh in her mind. However, the decree announced at this time and place made her unable to see through this man.

If Lu Zhongting was a treacherous minister, his offer to help her escape in front of Chong'an Palace that day would not have done him any good, but would have put him in danger.

But if he was a loyal minister, he could still switch sides and allow this decree of loss of power and humiliation of the country to be stamped with the seal of the Secretariat and announced by him personally. What was Lu Zhongting thinking?

Li Chongxuan knelt on the ground, his armor shining in the hot sun, reflecting a chilling cold light. He remained silent for a long time, the chill running up his spine making him unable to believe the other party's intention.

The new emperor actually intended to surrender.

The Youbei people had the upper hand, so they certainly couldn't just ask for baggage, food, gold and silver. The military power would also be surrendered, and Yuanzhou would be ceded to Youbei and become a slave to these barbarians.

How can I bear this?

"General Li." Lu Zhongting smiled, carefully rolled up the imperial edict, and stretched out his hand to Li Chongxuan, "Receive it."

"Mr. Zhongshu Ling," Li Chongxuan said coldly, "May I ask whether this is your Majesty's intention or Prime Minister Jin's intention?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the people present could not help but whisper.

What a bold statement. Ah-yi followed Ma Zeduan calmly, not wanting to be recognized by Lu Zhongting. Li Chongxuan was indeed a military general, so he spoke so quickly.

Fortunately, it was Lu Zhongting who came today. If it was Jin Feng’s retainer, he would have been punished on the spot.

The other party did not rashly take action, but rolled up his sleeves, acted like a gentleman, and personally helped Li Chongxuan up.

"General, why do you have to be like this? Your Majesty trusts Prime Minister Jin and personally appointed him as the Prime Minister. Your Majesty's meaning is the same as Prime Minister Jin's meaning. They are the same." Lu Zhongting spoke kindly, but his hands were skillful and he had already stuffed the imperial edict into Li Chongxuan's hands.

Ah'ao raised her eyebrows, what a good technique.

But in the next moment, the gentleman's eyes were cast on her.

Ah'ao was startled for a moment, and was about to lower her head, but then she remembered that she had put on a false beard, and now she looked like a man, and she slowly felt relieved.

It shouldn't be a blessing to meet an old friend at this moment.

"The matter of the military token is not urgent. The general and I can still take our time to deal with it. I wonder if there is any place for you to discuss it?" Lu Zhongting no longer paid attention to Li Chongxuan who was struggling in thought, but turned the conversation to Ma Zeduan on the side.

Behind Li Chongxuan, there were three people kneeling in a row to receive the imperial edict. Two of them were wearing armor, and they seemed to be Li Chongxuan's lieutenants. Only one person was wearing a plain robe, without a crown and in mourning.

On the way here, Lu Zhongting heard that there was a chief clerk named Ma Zeduan in Changguan who was good at accounting and management. Now that Changguan had no chief officer, he thought that this chief clerk would be temporarily in charge.

Whether looking at his position or his clothes, the person in front of him must be Ma Zeduan without a doubt.

"Master Ma, can you please spare me a moment to talk?"

Ah-yi heaved a sigh of relief and was about to stand up and walk away with her robe in hand, when Lu Zhongting suddenly turned around swiftly and said with a smile, "The man with the abacus tied around his waist, uh, adjutant, please come along too. I'm old now, and I'm afraid the abacus is the worst thing I can do!"

Ah-yi: “…”

Is it so easy to see through?
The table was an octagonal table that was temporarily moved from a restaurant, and the room was a wing room that Ma Zeduan temporarily set aside for Li Chongxuan in the Changguan County Government Office.

The county government office had been uninhabited for a long time, so all the furniture, except for this table, was moved from Ma Zeduan's own guest room.

Ah'ao folded her arms and sat on a round stool behind the round table next to the screen, without a happy expression on her face.

The remaining few people, including Li Chongxuan's two deputy generals and Ma Zeduan's real adjutant, all sat hesitantly on both sides of Lu Zhongting. The Minister of the Central Secretariat served tea, dismissed the servant, and leisurely cooked it himself, as if all the difficult things at the moment had nothing to do with him.

"Lord Lu, I have been stationed in Yuanzhou for twenty years. Now I am forced to abandon my troops and negotiate peace with the barbarians in a humiliating manner. I would rather die in battle than be so cowardly!" Li Chongxuan waved his hand and moved half of his body away, hiding his sad face.

Lu Zhongting sighed.

"This world belongs to the Shen family. Only the Shen family has the right to decide whether to keep the country or to leave. General, you are loyal, but please do not overstep your authority."

These words.

Ah'ao glanced at Lu Zhongting out of the corner of her eye. No matter how she listened, it sounded like he was talking to her.

"Besides," Lu Zhongting said slowly, "Now Youbei is stationed outside the city. Even if he dies in battle, he can only save Yuanzhou temporarily, but he cannot save the northwest or even the entire Dachong forever. Our dynasty is lazy in training troops, and this is not a temporary problem. In addition to Yuanzhou and Kezhou, there is Shuzhong, who is eyeing the capital and trying to rebel. If the northern border suffers heavy losses, who can Your Majesty count on?"

After the conversation, no one spoke. In the silent room, only the steam rose from the teacup. The people who should be lively, were lifeless.

His words seemed reasonable, but also avoided the main point.

The Yuanzhou Camp was not Li Chongxuan's private army. Once the order to reduce the military power arrived, the camp could no longer obey Li Chongxuan's command.

If this evil idea was proposed by Jin Feng, it means that he has been colluding with the Youbei people for a long time.

Ah-yi felt that she was not a common person and had never paid attention to the court. It was not until she found out that people like Jin Feng had eaten away most of Da Chong like termites that she believed Huai Chengbai's earnest words last night.

Traveling around the world only dissipated his ambition to reach the sky. But the desire to study hard and live in peace and contentment in the prosperous times still motivated him to seek for knowledge.

Ah-yi used to think that she was neither good at literature nor martial arts, and that she was not a good general without the talent to govern the country. If someone rose up to overthrow the tyranny, the worst that could happen was that she could donate more gold and silver to help them.

So she has always had the idea of ​​doing business.

But looking back now, she found that both Lu Zhongting and Huai Chengbai's words reminded her of a crucial issue, which was her identity.

Everything needs to have a legitimate reason, so that it will be in line with people's wishes and the laws of nature, and it will be much easier.

I think Wang Xuan of Shu has a strong army and abundant supplies, but he has not rebelled until now. He must be waiting for the right time.

Ah'ao chuckled softly, and in the silence of the room, it was like a sudden spring thunder, startling several people and making them look towards her.

The instigator took his time and slowly removed the fake beard on his face. "No matter whose idea it was, I'm afraid I can't disobey the current situation. General, just follow the order."

When Lu Zhongting saw him, he pretended to be surprised and bowed quickly, "It turns out to be Your Highness! It's been a long time since we last met. I hope Your Highness is well and healthy."

"Thanks to you, sir." Ah's lips curved, "I think I won't be able to live in peace any longer."

Li Chongxuan's gloomy brows were wrinkled into a shape of a "川" (river) again. He already had a lot of troubles, and seeing the posture of these two people, he was afraid that it would make the situation worse.

There were only two lieutenant generals and one adjutant in the room. They were kept in the dark from beginning to end and had no idea which prince this was.

"General Li, Chief Clerk Ma, please prepare as soon as possible and hand over the military tokens, military account books, and the key to the warehouse to me. I will return to the capital to report immediately after I have spoken with His Highness."

The order to expel the guest was issued in a tactful manner, but everyone could understand it. Whether it was the golden words in the imperial edict or the need to talk alone, it was not something that others could influence.

Several people walked out of the door dejectedly. A'an spread out her robe and sat down in front of Lu Zhongting.

"You men's robes look so troublesome." Ah'ao complained while tidying up the hem of her outer robe.

"Your Highness, I didn't expect this to happen." Lu Zhongting said meaningfully, as if dressing up as a man was some kind of quirk.

"I dressed up so carefully just because I knew Lord Lu was coming." A'ao was no less impressive.

Of course, bickering did not interest Lu Zhongting. He also knew that the princess was still suspicious of him. After all, most of what he did now were stupid things.

Lu Zhongting poured a cup of tea, handed it to A'an with both hands, and placed it in front of her.

This is his concession.

Now time is of the essence, but he is a civil official by birth, and if there is a glimmer of chance to preserve his reputation, he still wants to try his best.

"Your Highness, I would like to ask Your Highness to think carefully about what I said in Chong'an Palace a few months ago."

"No need to think about it." Ah'ao answered quickly. She picked up the cup of tea. The wall of the cup was still hot, so she blew on it slowly before drinking it all in one gulp.

It's just a cup of tea, but it tastes like strong liquor.

Lu Zhongting looked up and saw that the princess was wearing a simple official robe. The gray and white clothes could not hide her brilliance.

Her young face was pretty and graceful, very much like the late Empress Chen, but there was no sign of the decadence emanating from Shen's bones.

"Whenever Lord Lu wants to return, I will go with you."

(End of this chapter)