After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

We had barely entered Beijing when we were about to leave.

Leaving is even a nice word now.

The correct word should be "escape".

Ning Nan, the deputy envoy of the mission, looked serious and instructed Qian Sijin to quietly summon Jia Shi'an.

The dark night had fallen outside the window, and it was the hour of Xu (7-9 PM).

He placed his hands on his knees, sat in the flower hall and waited for a while, his mind churning with conflicting thoughts.

The brother-in-law has already assumed the Northern Dynasty with the utmost malice.

The ruthlessness of the Northern Dynasties still exceeded expectations.

"No wonder there are so many spies around me these past few days."

The Northern Dynasty had already made its plans first, and the channels for sending messages to Nanjing were no longer secure.

So many spies were there to prevent unexpected people from getting close and to stop the mission from delivering unexpected messages.

"So Xu Cheng doesn't dare to formally contact the mission?"

He frowned.

If the delegation makes any unusual moves, the North Koreans might not even bother with the pretense of "negotiations."

We are at their mercy, like fish on a chopping board; they will act at any moment! Imprison the entire delegation!

Ning Nan's eyes flickered, her heartbeat quickening and slowing.

As the tea on the table slowly cooled, his heartbeat gradually calmed down, and he tapped his fingers on the table.

Hmm... there are two urgent matters at hand.

The first priority is to quickly send someone south to deliver a message to Cuicui's wife; this matter is extremely urgent.

The second... is that we must escape Beijing as soon as possible tonight.

"In comparison,"

Ning Nan's eyes dimmed slightly.

"The first one is the most important..."

Only by ensuring that the message reaches Cui Cui's wife accurately can Daliang be prepared.

At least they knew they had to hold the two northern cities firmly and absolutely could not allow the Jiangpu Army and Liuhe Army to split their forces and leave the city to take over the Huainan region or besiege the three major camps of the Northern Dynasty.

However, delivering the message was extremely difficult. If the Northern Dynasty dared to do this, they must have already made sure that everything was in place.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard's communication channels must have been compromised by them, making it difficult to guarantee that the secret message could be sent back.

As for the second point... that's even more like a fantasy. It's already extremely dangerous for lambs to the slaughter; now they're practically lambs in the tiger's mouth.

The tiger's mouth, full of sharp teeth, was about to close.

Time is running out for him.

He took his hands off his knees.

He suddenly stood up.

Jia Shi'an was originally gathering the seventeen officials of the delegation to discuss the matter of paying homage to Emperor Yongzheng the next day, but he didn't know why the Grand Prince Consort had suddenly summoned him.

After ordering Wu Yuanlei to take over the presidency, the Vice Minister of War rushed over.

…………

Inside the study of Qingfeng Xiaozhu.

The lean-faced and imposing Minister Jia stood quietly behind the desk, opposite the Grand Prince Consort.

His expression was blank; his heart had already turned cold.

"Vice Envoy Ning," Jia Shi'an's voice turned slightly stern, "may I ask, is the source of this information accurate and reliable?"

Ning Nan sat behind his desk, grinding ink as he shook his head and said:

"It may not be accurate, nor reliable. But Lord Jia, we don't have time. By the time we verify whether this message is reliable, we'll be dead."

Jia Shi'an was deathly pale, his eyes wide: "If we follow what Vice Envoy Ning said, let alone what happened afterward, even now... we are already doomed!"

Ning Nan held the ink stick and stirred it evenly in the inkstone, then nodded and said with a forceful wrist, "Yes, there's no escape."

Jia Shi'an's eyelids twitched, and his hands clenched into fists slightly.

Their mission was already fraught with peril, with a near-certain death rate.

They feigned an alliance with the Northern Dynasty, then withdrew from Beijing in mid-March. Once the delegation returned to Huainan, the three major camps of the Northern Dynasty fulfilled the alliance agreement and began to break camp and return north.

At that time, our Jiangpu and Liuhe armies, along with the most elite Yongwei Battalion, will join forces and go all out to annihilate the three major Northern Dynasty camps south of the Huai River!

Jia Shi'an originally admired the temperament and methods of the Emperor Emeritus and His Majesty, feeling that the Emperor Emeritus was already decisive enough.

He was even prepared in his heart to bear the eternal infamy of "breaking the alliance and being untrustworthy," and to take the blame for the scheme himself so that his ruler would not be burdened by his reputation.

The only concern was whether Prince Jing and his son-in-law could be safely escorted out of Beijing and out of the Northern Dynasty's control.

He had also made preparations for this. On the surface, he used his silver tongue to negotiate with the Northern Dynasty, arguing that even if the Northern Dynasty wanted to detain Prince Jing and the Grand Prince Consort, it should have settled them in places like Huai'an to put the Northern Dynasty at ease.

Meanwhile, he secretly arranged for the Imperial Guards in the capital to prepare for their arrival and smuggle the two out of the city... As for the safety of the rest of the delegation, including himself, that was not so important.

But to his utter surprise, the Emperor Emeritus’s words, “Never trust the Northern Court,” turned out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. The Northern Court’s scheming and tactics far exceeded his expectations!

Jia Shi'an felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, and he was already 80% convinced of the truth.

"If that's the case,"

Jia Shi'an stepped forward half a step, his eyes solemn, and clasped his hands in a salute, saying:

"Your Highness, please make preparations with Prince Jing. I will arrange for men to escort you both out of the city and back south tonight. The delegation will remain in Beijing, using Prince Jing's illness as an excuse to delay the mission."

Ning Nan felt a warmth in his heart, but shook his head and denied it:

"Lord Jia, the Imperial Guards in the capital should be under close surveillance by the Northern Dynasty, as should our delegation. If we make any unusual moves, they might turn hostile in an instant."

Jia Shi'an pondered for a moment, then said:

That's not entirely true.

Ning Nan looked up at him.

Jia Shi'an said, "These past few days, I have attended banquets with many of you, including officials and ministers from the Northern Dynasty. In my opinion, although the Northern Dynasty's plan is vicious, it has also caused great anxiety among the officials of the Northern Dynasty, especially the Han officials."

Ning Nan paused, his hand gripping the ink stick.

"Such a major event in the Northern Dynasty must have been known only to the emperor, a group of Grand Councilors, ministers and vice ministers of various departments, and governors and vice governors of several provinces."

Jia Shi'an calmed down and slowly sorted out his thoughts, saying...

"They feigned an attempt to lure the Southern Dynasty into believing that Aigun had been captured, that their main force had been defeated by the Rakshasa, and that Ningguta was in grave danger."

"Internally, this was dismissed as a rumor. The people did not see any signs of war, and trade routes were relatively smooth, making it easy to appease them. However, the officials were uneasy. During my journey, I dined and feasted with officials from the Northern Dynasty. In our conversations, the prefects and governors of various places all expressed their concerns."

"Even officials in the capital, such as Fan Zhu, a Han Chinese official and assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites of the Northern Dynasty, and Mudan of the Guarjia clan, a Manchu banner commander, were very obsequious to us yesterday, and secretly sent people to deliver gifts, which did not seem to be fake..."

Ning Nan picked up his pen, dipped it in ink on the paper, and solemnly said:

"I would be grateful if Lord Jia could provide Ningnan with a list of some officials."

In this extremely urgent situation, the two men exchanged no words of nonsense, and Jia Shi'an immediately nodded.

…………

戌正.

The night grew a little darker.

Qian Sijin stood outside the study like a straight spear, preventing anyone from eavesdropping or spying.

Click, the study door opened inward.

Wearing a black gauze hat and a scarlet robe, Jia Shi'an stepped out of the room, nodded slightly to Qian Sijin, and then left in a hurry to the main hall.

Qian Sijin watched the crimson figure disappear around the corner of the veranda.

Ning Nan asked him from inside the house:

"Has Chen San arrived?"