Chapter 37: Always the Last Time
The news of Meng Qingqian's "death" was tacitly concealed by the senior officials of Qi State for a day and finally could no longer be concealed.
As soon as this news came out, the whole city of Yin Jing was in a state of shock. Various conspiracy theories and troublemakers abounded, and many strange things emerged at the same time. For example, a scholar hanged himself on the spot, just so that he could go to hell with Her Royal Highness the Princess after death. I don't know how he would feel after he went to the underworld and found out that Meng Qingqian was not dead and that his death was in vain.
There are many strange things among the people, but Yin Jing's court and civil and military officials are very calm.
Except for a few "loyal fans" of the eldest princess, most of the officials under the Meng family either dragged their connections into the prime minister's protective shield, or switched to neutral positions to observe changes.
Several important subordinates of Meng Qingqian, knowing about the "suspended death plan", naturally would not miss the opportunity to muddy the situation.
As a die-hard Li clan member, Li Gongqin, the Minister of Rites, and the remaining power of Queen Mother Li Xuanzi's mother clan, the Jiangnan Li clan, naturally still sided with the Meng clan without a doubt.
Yang Xingguang, minister of the Ministry of Industry, was a neutral representative of the majority of Meng's officials. He neither stayed in the Meng's nor went to work under Prime Minister Han, choosing to wait and see what happened.
Huang Qinghe, the Secretary of the Ministry of Punishments, was a representative of the Korean faction and frantically encouraged others to defect to Prime Minister Han. However, he himself made no obvious moves and was even seen often drinking and chatting with Meng officials.
The Qi court, which was originally very lively because of Meng Qingqian's death, became even more lively two days later.
Luoyue Pass is about 1,500 miles away from Yin Jingcheng, and it takes two days and nights to send messages by horseback running day and night. On this day, the Qi State Court finally received the frontline battle report: Luoyue Pass has been lost! More than 200,000 defenders were killed or wounded.
Before everyone could be shocked, bad news also came from Yushanguan Pass, a thousand hundred miles away in the east: Yushanguan Pass was lost! Three hundred thousand Yan troops have entered the pass!
The only good news is that the central pass closest to Yin Jing has retreated from the enemy many times based on Beiguan and is firmly in hand.
The news that Yushan Pass and Luoyue Pass had been lost quickly spread throughout Yin Jingcheng, and some clever businessmen had already begun to pack up their gold and silver and prepare to run away. Officials at all levels are even more panicked.
When the eldest princess died, the only person who could stir up the political situation in Qi was the Prime Minister Han Wenxin. At this time, he showed good political qualities. On one hand, he mobilized the Qi army on the front line to block the Yan army. On the other hand, he built Yinjing fortifications and deprived the army of surrounding counties of food and fodder to prepare to defend the city. At the same time, messengers were sent to urge the generals guarding the border due west, southwest, due south, and southeast to lead their troops back to the DPRK.
The national power of Qi is stronger than that of Yan. If the two countries go to full-scale war, Yan's national power cannot withstand the consumption of Qi and will collapse first.
The current situation is a life and death race. The Yan army rushes thousands of miles to attack. If Yin Jing is defeated, Yan will win. Except for this possibility, Qi will win.
Time is on Qi's side, but it is not on Qi's side.
It will take time for the frontier troops to return to the court, as fast as one month and as slow as two months. Even if the He family's army stationed in the next county were to assemble from scratch and then return to Yinjing, it would take about fifteen to twenty days.
After the Yan army broke through Luoyue Pass, although the journey was thousands of miles away, it was a smooth journey. With the large number of cavalry in Yan State, the leading cavalry troops would arrive around Yin Jing in five or six days to implement blockade control. All subsequent Yan Army infantry will arrive within fifteen days.
The intelligence was delayed for two days. When the intelligence came to Yin Jing, Yan's army was actually on the way!
In this situation, no matter who comes, it will be a defeat. Meng Qingqian has calculated this well and is not afraid that Han Wenxin will use this to make contributions and rebuild his prestige.
Once Luoyue Pass is broken, the battle to defend Yin Jingcheng will undoubtedly begin. Han Wenxin's poor performance against the enemy Yan's army was losing ground, which would be the best excuse for Meng Qingqian to attack him and seize his military power!
…
The side hall of Fenghua Palace in the morning.
When the sun slanted down and hit his buttocks, Meng Qingqian faintly woke up.
His little hand subconsciously touched his side and found it was empty, feeling a little disappointed in his heart.
After lying on the bed for a while, Meng Qingqian reluctantly, slowly and lazily stretched out her arms to support her body. She was sitting on the couch and was about to get dressed when she heard a joke from beside her: "Mengbao is awake. Why did you sleep for so long?"
Meng Qingqian blushed and quickly pulled up the quilt to cover her delicate body. At the same time, he looked at He Yunxiao not far away with embarrassment and vigilance.
He Yunxiao stood up from the tea table, knelt on the couch with one leg, leaned forward, and reached out to lift Mengbao's chin.
He smiled at her with unknown meaning.
Meng Qingqian's pretty face was pink, her tender red lips were pursed gently, and her silver teeth were almost broken by her teeth.
Why can't I get up in the morning? It’s not because someone doesn’t sleep at night!
He Yunxiao looked at Mengbao's cute and angry and shy look and smacked his mouth.
Soul-Eating Pills are really useful.
More refreshing than coffee.
I take one before an all-nighter with my friends and I feel full of energy in the morning.
Not only is it not sleepy, there is no standby state at all.
Ignoring Mengbao's resistance, He Yunxiao lowered his head and forced his lips to hers, silently exercising his power.
…
It was almost noon before Meng Qingqian had breakfast.
She sat on the couch with her clothes on and gave He Yunxiao a hard look.
He Yunxiao didn't seem to see Mengbao's eyes roll. He picked up a spoonful of meat porridge, blew out the hot air, and then fed it into Mengbao's mouth.
Seeing He Yunxiao carefully blowing away the heat of the meat porridge in the spoon, the resentment in Meng Qingqian's heart was about to subside.
Anyway, this guy still has a conscience.
After feeding him a bowl of porridge, He Yunxiao wanted to feed him another bowl. Meng Qingqian shook his head and said he couldn't eat any more.
He Yunxiao smacked his lips again. He looked at Mengbao's rich chest and couldn't help but ask, how did she grow so much meat with so little food?
Meng Qingqian was about to get dressed and get up, but He Yunxiao closed all the curtains.
He Yunxiao smiled and said, "Mengbao, I'm going to leave the palace and come one last time."
Meng Qingqian was ashamed and angry, "You always say it's the last time!"
"I won't lie to you this time."
It was noon at this time.
…
Meng Qingqian's fake coffin was placed in the bedroom of Changhe Palace, so Meng Qingqian and Jian Ling have been living in the side hall of Fenghua Palace these days.
Because "Meng Qingqian is dead", in order to keep it secret, the palace maids who take care of their daily lives are absolute confidants, very few in number, and cannot be used at will.
The security work around Meng Qingqian also changed from the original multiple defenses of the imperial guards, the female servants with swords, and Jian Ling to Jian Ling alone.
Because He Yunxiao was often in the house, Jian Ling actually waited outside the palace most of the time.
At noon that day, Jian Ling looked at the bright sun above her head, then left the palace gate without saying a word and walked to a place not far from the palace gate.
After a while, Jian Ling moved further away.
Being too close would infringe on her privacy. As an upright girl, Jian Ling disdains to do such things.
In the past few days, she has gradually changed from the initial "three feet and six feet" to "four feet", "four feet and five feet", and "five feet" from the gate.
It was better during the day, and she couldn't hear anything about three feet away from the palace gate. It was worse at night, and she had to stay farther away and use her internal force to seal her ears.
Although Jian Ling was a ninth-grade warrior, she had never taken the Soul Devouring Pill. The dark circles under her eyes suggested that she had not slept all night last night.
How could she sleep when His Highness didn't sleep?
An hour later, Jian Ling stood back at the palace gate without saying a word. Not long after, He Yunxiao came out of the palace.
"Morning, Miss Jian Ling." He Yunxiao smiled and greeted Jian Ling.
Jian Ling glanced at the afternoon sun and said, "Good morning, young master."
It was getting late, so He Yunxiao said hello and left the palace.
But what He Yunxiao didn't know was that after he left, Jian Ling looked at his back with eyes full of admiration from the bottom of his heart.