Chapter 211: Can the Zhao family still have some shame?
Time goes back to about three incense sticks ago. The Khitan leader Yelu Hongji was looking at the panting Xiao Rongrong and asked, "Guanyin, I heard that you were held hostage at home. What happened?"
Xiao Guanyin is her formal name, and Xiao Rongrong is her maiden name.
At this time, Xiao Guanyin was only seventeen years old. Half a year ago, she wrote a poem "Fuhulin (in response to the imperial order)", which won her the attention of Yelu Hongji. She was praised as a talented woman and was canonized as the queen.
To be honest, the poem "Fu Hu Lin" was just mediocre, even having a bit of doggerel feel. Not to mention compared with the later Li Qingzhao, even compared with Pang Meir, it is not as good.
The only advantage is that the poems are broad-minded and magnanimous.
But we have to take into account that the Khitan nation had just transformed from a barbarian country into a feudal country, and it had not been long since the Khitan fully adopted the Song system. Xiao Rongrong was able to write such a sentence, and she was already considered a talented woman in the Khitan nation.
The most important thing is that this poem praises Yelu Hongji, so he naturally likes it.
Xiao Rongrong patted her magnificent chest and said, "Those three immortals are not simple. Watching them fight with the Blood Master of our family, each of them has extraordinary skills."
Blood Lord?
Yelu Hongji was a little puzzled.
In fact, the Yelu family has always known that the Xiao family has a big secret, but they rarely explore it.
For example, Yelu Hongji had always had doubts about the fact that Xiao Guanyin looked too similar to his mother, Queen Mother Xiao Tali.
But considering that they are all members of the Xiao family, looking alike doesn't seem to be a big problem, so he has always kept this question in his heart.
At this moment, he finally couldn't help asking, "Guanyin'er, the Blood Lord you just mentioned is the secret of your mother's family."
"Yes." Xiao Rongrong nodded, and she said helplessly: "The Blood Master is not a human being. We, the daughters of the Xiao family, are all connected to it by blood. Due to the oath, I cannot tell you the specific things, but if the emperor sends someone to take a look, we will definitely gain something."
Yelu Hongji stared at Xiao Rongrong for a while, then nodded.
The Khitan royal family has always been wary of the Xiao family, but the wariness was not too great. Moreover, he might be able to peek into the Xiao family's secrets now, so Yelu Hongji did not intend to get any more information from Xiao Guanyin.
After all, Xiao Guanyin was young, beautiful, and graceful at this time, and was deeply loved by him.
So he sent eunuchs and imperial guards over there. If they could capture those three men, that would be good.
If you can't invite him... then kill him.
As for what the Queen said about the Blood Lord and the demon beast... he didn't quite believe it.
Under the army, all people bowed down. As an emperor, Yelu Hongji was not too afraid of the demons that appeared before his eyes. If the demons were so strong, why didn't they come to seize the throne, but hid in the dark.
Of course, we still have to be wary of the evil spirits that do evil in secret.
So after the order was issued, Yelu Hongji did not take it seriously anymore, but instead reviewed government affairs and waited quietly.
Xiao Rongrong took some time to go to the Pepper Room and change her clothes.
After a short jog just now, her inner garments were already soaked with sweat. As a queen, she certainly couldn't be so disrespectful.
While reviewing government documents, Xiao Rongrong came out from the pepper room after changing into gorgeous clothes. Just as she was about to speak, she suddenly heard the howling of a wolf outside.
The Khitans knew the howling of wolves too well. As long as they stayed away from the city, they could hear it at night.
But the howl of the wolf was not only extremely loud, but also very penetrating, as if it was ringing right next to your ear.
Moreover, the wolf's howl seemed to have a certain... delicate quality.
They both didn't know how to describe their feelings. How could the howl of a wolf be so 'delicate'?
But I just have this feeling for some unknown reason.
The two looked at each other, and Yelu Hongji muttered to himself, "How could a blue wolf approach the capital in broad daylight? Besides, this sound seems a little wrong."
Xiao Rongrong bowed gracefully and said, "Your Majesty, one of the three immortals can transform into a fox, and his body is as huge as a tower."
"Fox?" Yelu Hongji was a little confused: "What we heard was the howling of wolves!"
"I don't know why this happened."
Yelu Hongji's still immature face showed a hint of helplessness, and then he said: "Guanyin, you were frightened just now, and I think you must be tired, why don't you go and rest?"
Xiao Rongrong shook her head: "I am waiting for news here. I also want to know whether the fox has been captured by our Khitan warriors."
"Give the Queen a seat." Yelu Hongji shouted to the side, then smiled at Xiao Rongrong and said, "In that case, you can sit down and rest for a while."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Xiao Rongrong chuckled and seemed somewhat happy.
Because what the eunuch brought over was a large recliner covered with white tiger skin, which was extremely soft.
This chair was Yelu Hongji's exclusive one. He treasured it very much and would have someone take care of it when he wasn't sitting on it. Now that he was willing to let Xiao Rongrong use it, it showed how much he loved Xiao Rongrong.
Xiao Rongrong half-lay on the chair, feeling the soft white tiger fur beneath her body. Tiredness gradually came over her and she fell asleep in a short while.
After all, when she was held hostage by Lu Sen and the other two just now, although she appeared calm on the surface, she was extremely nervous inside.
After sleeping for a while, he heard hurried footsteps outside, followed by a sharp eunuch's voice: "Your Majesty, something bad has happened. Something bad has happened."
"Why are you so panicked?" This was Yelu Hongji's voice, sounding a little annoyed.
Xiao Rongrong was just in a light sleep and was suddenly awakened.
She stood up and saw the eunuch outside, covered in blood and pale, kneeling and saying, "We went to the Xiao family and surrounded the back garden. Suddenly, a black vortex appeared there. After the vortex disappeared, three Song people appeared."
Yelu Hongji glanced at Xiao Rongrong and continued listening.
"I tried to persuade the three to surrender, but they ignored me. Then one of them turned into a giant fox, howled like a wolf, and broke out."
"Fox?" Yelu Hongji thought this was ridiculous, but he also knew that the eunuch would never lie to him. He glanced at Xiao Rongrong again, and then asked the eunuch, "Did you kill the fox?"
He thought, why not capture!
Strange beasts are rare species and also auspicious. It turns out that the wolf howl was made by a fox.
The eunuch hesitated for a while, then stammered in fear: "That fox is invulnerable to swords and spears. It has infinite strength and can break through the spear and shield formation with one charge. We have used human lives to attack it and used nets to catch it, but we have no way to deal with it."
Yelu Hongji stood up suddenly: "I sent 3,000 elite imperial guards. On the battlefield, these 3,000 elite soldiers can defeat 30,000 Song soldiers. Why can't they take down this fox?"
Yelu Hongji was still acting mischievously at this time. In his imagination, no matter how big the fox was, it could not be more than ten feet tall and more than two feet long.
But the eunuch's next words stunned him: "Your Majesty, it's not that we cherish our lives. We just can't stop that giant fox."
"Wait, how big is the giant fox?"
The eunuch recalled and estimated, and said: "The height is at least twenty feet, and the length is no less than forty feet."
This time Yelu Hongji's eyes widened. He calculated it in his mind and found that this was indeed a monster.
What the Queen said before, "as tall as a tower," was not an exaggeration.
"Where has this demon fox gone now?"
"After they broke out of the encirclement, the giant fox transformed into a woman..." At this time, the eunuch stared at Xiao Rongrong: "She looks very similar to the queen and the queen mother."
Yelu Hongji looked at Xiao Rongrong for the third time, with some hesitation in his eyes.
Xiao Rongrong sighed softly and said, "Your Majesty, you can ask the Queen Mother or my father about this matter. They should both be able to give you an answer."
"Then let's put this matter aside for now." Yelu Hongji looked at the eunuch and continued to ask, "What happened after the fox turned into a woman?"
"A man suddenly turned into a round object. Three people sat in it and ascended to heaven!"
"Artifacts, flying?"
Yelu Hongji frowned. He seemed to have heard the rumor somewhere. After thinking for a while, he suddenly remembered: "I heard that there is a strange man in Song State who can grow the fruit of immortality and has a flying instrument. Could it be him?"
Then Lu Hongji put his hands behind his back, walked around in circles, and bowed his head to think. After a while, he said, "You guys leave for now. The Queen will go to the Xiao family and ask the father-in-law to come over."
After Xiao Rongrong bowed, she and the eunuch retreated together.
The Emperor does not need to worry about the casualties of the imperial guards, as they will be handled naturally.
But he was a little confused as to why a giant fox appeared in his capital.
Normally speaking, when a strange beast is born, it is either a good omen or a disaster.
Besides, the Khitans were not a monolithic entity, and there were many conflicting forces.
Although the Song system has been copied in its entirety, the old forces and old ideas that have transitioned from the tribal era cannot be completely eliminated for the time being.
If they were to seize this opportunity... Just as Yelu Hongji was thinking of this, a eunuch came in from outside the door, knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, here is a secret letter from the Right Flying Dragon Court."
The Left Feilongyuan is responsible for the security of the capital, while the Right Feilongyuan is responsible for intelligence and espionage outside the capital, as well as some secret matters. If the evidence is conclusive, they have the right to execute first and report later.
If there is no important matter, You Feilongyuan will not casually present a secret letter into the palace.
Yelu Hongji wiped off the lacquerware, opened the envelope, and after looking at it for a while, his face changed.
There are many words in the letter, but it boils down to this: It is rumored that the Heavenly Iron Certificate of Lu Zhenren, a semi-immortal from the Song Dynasty, was lost in the mortal world, and after several twists and turns, it ended up in the Khitan Kingdom. This Heavenly Iron Certificate has the power to change a person's destiny, making a person of modest wealth become extremely wealthy, a person of modest nobility become extremely noble, and a person of the fate of a dragon become a person of the fate of a dragon!
And this certificate seems to have fallen into the hands of a young general of the Xiao family. Feilongyuan bribed his confidants and learned that the number displayed on the iron certificate in the young general's hand was "Nine Five"!
After reading it, Yelu Hongji immediately crumpled the envelope into a ball.
If he had received this secret letter half a day ago, he would have simply shrugged it off.
How can you take folk rumors seriously?
But now there is the incident of the giant fox, and he himself knows that the Xiao family is indeed somewhat magical.
Fortunately, Empress Xiao looks almost the same , which is a bit creepy when you think about it carefully.
Coupled with this iron certificate of heaven.
"A flying device... Master Lu, the Semi-Immortal of the Song State."
Yelu Hongji put these clues together and thought of a possibility.
Master Lu wanted to take back the Iron Certificate of Heaven. He calculated that the Iron Certificate of Heaven fell into the hands of the Xiao family, so he came to the capital to find the Xiao family.
But he didn't expect that the Iron Certificate of Heaven was in the hands of a young man from the Xiao family, and not in Linhuang, Shangjing.
He thought for a moment and asked, "Pass the order and send a thousand imperial guards to Zhongjing Prefecture immediately to assist Youfeilongyuan and bring the person back. Also bring back the Heavenly Dao Iron Certificate to me."
"yes."
The eunuch retreated.
"The world is about to change." Yelu Hongji snorted, "The Xiao family... the status of royal relatives, isn't that enough for you?"
On the other side, Lu Sen and his two companions flew to Hangzhou in a flying vehicle. Because Shangjing was too far away from Hangzhou, it was impossible to fly there in one go, so they landed in the evening and spent the night in Suzhou.
Wait until the next day and then fly back to Hangzhou.
Then he returned to Hangzhou. As soon as he returned to the cave, he saw Yang Jinhua rushing over and said, "Sir, although the journey is tiring, I don't have time to welcome you. My mother sent a secret letter to say that something happened in the court, and she hopes you can go over."
"I don't want to bother with those people in the court anymore."
"Mother knew you would say that, but she said this matter is very important, and there are also seals signed by the Prince of Runan and Grand Tutor Pang, and they both hope you will go to Bianjing."
These three people are Lu Sen’s elders. They wrote a joint letter, so it must be an urgent matter.
Lu Sen stopped resting and put Zhao Bilian and Lu Xianxian down. He took Pang Meir and rushed towards Bianjing City.
Yang Jinhua originally wanted to go, but considering that after Lu Sen left home, only the eldest wife could keep things under control, she stayed.
Let Pang Meir accompany Lu Sen.
After all, Pang Meir can also offer advice from the side.
Lu Sen flew at full speed to Bianjing City, and did not stop outside the city. Instead, he drove the aircraft directly to the Prince of Runan's Mansion.
As soon as the aircraft landed in the garden, the Prince of Runan came to greet it.
"Taishan, what's the hurry?"
"Bao Zheng was demoted by Empress Dowager Cao for his incompetence in government affairs and was to be sent to Gui County as a local official."
It was said that he was a local official, but in fact he was exiled to save face for Bao Zheng. Guijun was only slightly better than Qiongzhou.
"Ah?" Lu Sen was puzzled. "Where did Empress Dowager Cao get the authority to dismiss ministers? Scholar Bao was even the Privy Councilor and the prefect of Kaifeng. Without the consent of the Secretariat and the emperor, how could Empress Dowager Cao..."
"The Secretariat agreed."
Um?
No... Bao Zheng was an important official under the Secretariat, how could this punishment befall him? And Master Pang would not be so short-sighted. Master Pang was also an important official under the Secretariat. If he disagreed, and Bao Zheng was added to the punishment, who could bring Bao Zheng down if the two of them joined forces?
As if seeing Lu Sen's confusion, the Prince of Runan explained, "Half a month ago, Bao Zheng proposed to the emperor in the court to reform the land policy, starting with officials. Each official must not own more than 100 acres of good land, and no one else is allowed to register farmland, and agricultural taxes will no longer be exempted."
Hiss, that’s it!
No wonder, it turned out to have angered the public.
As expected of Bao Zheng, so tough.
This political proposal has touched the sore spot of all officials.
It is estimated that even Master Pang does not want to help Bao Zheng anymore. After all, as far as Lu Sen knows, the Pang family has at least a thousand acres of fertile land, and this is still openly visible.
Bao Zheng wanted to solve the malpractice of land annexation.
While Lu Sen was in awe, he also came to his senses: "Wait, I don't understand, what does Bao Zheng's exile to Gui County have to do with me? Why are the three elders so anxious to urge me to come back?"
"Bao Zheng was demoted, and there is no one to replace the Privy Councilor for the time being. Originally, Di Qing should have taken over, but recently there was a rumor that the yellow dog in Di Qing's family had two horns on its head, which looked like a dragon. So now Di Qing claims to be sick and stays indoors."
When Lu Sen heard this, he felt a little confused. How could this happen?
But he thought: "This has nothing to do with me."
"Then this is the news from three days ago." The Prince of Runan took a deep breath: "The Western Xia attacked Xingqing Prefecture by surprise and the city was broken. The Marshal of the Zhe family, Zhe Jimin, died in the battle."
Lu Sen took a deep breath. This news was indeed quite shocking.
He and Zhe Jimin could be considered friends and relatives, and they had conquered Xingqing Prefecture with great difficulty. Many soldiers had died fighting for this strategic location.
"Wang Jiefu and the Zhe family built a fort in Xingqing Prefecture and trained soldiers, which was quite effective. I can't say it's impregnable, but at least it's not easy to take down." Lu Sen took a deep breath and asked, "Besides, Xixia is not good at attacking cities. I can't understand how Marshal Zhe could let Xingqing Prefecture be taken down with his ability."
After hesitating for a while, the Prince of Runan said, "It's mainly because some time ago, Sima Xianggong and several old officials in the court went to Huichun Garden next to Xingqing Mansion."
"Rejuvenation Garden?"
"It is the banner you left behind, my dear son-in-law." The Prince of Runan explained, "The Zhe family built a health garden with it as the center. It is used for the treatment of the common people and dignitaries who have been ill for a long time."
Chunyuan's business is good now. Common people only need to pay two or three copper coins for treatment, while dignitaries need to pay more coins.
The business was originally doing well, but after the old officials in Bianjing City heard about this, they felt that their health was gradually failing, so they "asked for leave" to go there to recuperate.
Gradually, more and more old ministers went there.
There is nothing wrong with this. It is a good thing for the Zhe family to make some money.
What was really terrible was that Sima Guang had been the pacification envoy of Xingqing some time ago. When he went there and saw it, he thought: No, so many important officials of the court are recuperating here, and you don’t even send heavy troops to guard it? If they were wiped out in one fell swoop, it would be a huge loss for the court.
He then used the privileges of the pacification envoy to mobilize a large number of soldiers from Xingqing Prefecture to come out of the city to guard Huichun Garden.
As a result... the Xixia people happened to attack, and before they could even detect the enemy, they were directly wiped out by a coordinated charge of heavy cavalry and infantry.
Marshal Zhe Jimin died, and Sima Guang and a large number of old ministers were taken prisoner.
This matter is still a secret for now and has not spread in the capital, but it probably won't be covered up for much longer.
"So you want me to help you fight the enemy?" Lu Sen sneered: "Taishan, do you think it's possible?"
The Prince of Runan shook his head, and then said rather embarrassedly: "Empress Dowager Cao drafted an order to let Old Lady She of the Yang family and Marshal Mu resign within five days, command the Southwest Wing Army, and try to recapture Xingqing Mansion and Huichun Garden."
Lu Sen was stunned for a long time, then looked at the Prince of Runan with a sneer on his face: "Taishan, can you Zhao family still have some shame?"
The Prince of Runan looked embarrassed.
