He Jin's hands involuntarily trembled. He had already become neurotic from all these schemes and schemes. He hesitated for a moment, then made up his mind. "I think it's just as it used to be, that the queen of a vassal state can't stay in the capital and move her back to Riverside. As for the Crown Prince Liu Tong, change his title to King Chen Liu and let him stay in the palace. "
"Empress Dowager, this is Jian Shuo." The Zhang Banxian brought Fei Hong and Liang Ming to the imperial palace, and upon seeing Zhang Fu who had been waiting there for a long time, they followed him to the rear palace. They knelt in front of the Empress Dowager He, opened a bundle with their hands, and handed Jian Shuo's head over.
"Ah …" It was unknown if it was joy or fear, but Empress Dowager He stood up from his seat. Seeing the bloody head, she covered her nose with his hand in disgust. Of course she recognized Jian Shuo's face, it was this head which had made her uneasy during these few days.
"Take it out and hang it at the head of the Luoyang City. Tell the people of the world, this is the result of conspiring against others!" Empress Dowager He waved his hand towards the few Young Eunuch s, who brought Jian Shuo's head over as if he was carrying a radish.
"Congratulations, empress dowager! Empress Dowager Xi! " Zhang Lian smiled and bowed deeply towards Empress Dowager He, then said joyfully: "The empress dowager is truly blessed to be able to eliminate traitors with just a single imperial edict. From today onwards, I, the burly man, shall live in peace. "
"Tell me, quickly tell me how you managed to kill Jian Shuo." After killing Jian Shuo, Empress Dowager He's mood immediately became better. Maybe it was because she had been depressed for too long, she wanted to relax his nerves that he had been tense for such a long time.
Stories were the strong points of the Zhang Banxian. When the Ying Chuan was telling her fortune, he relied on his words to eat. Now that he had personally experienced a massacre, he spoke even more vividly than before, coaxing Empress Dowager He and the group of Eunuch around. Even Fei Hong and Liang Ming who personally killed Jian Shuo listened with relish, they had completely forgotten that the people who killed Jian Shuo were the two of them.
"Good!" Good! "Alright!" After the Empress Dowager He heard the story of the Zhang Banxian, he was so excited that he cried out three times. She had been in the palace too long, and no one had ever told her such a wonderful story, and the hero of it was still with her. The Empress Dowager He looked at Fei Hong and Liang Ming for a few seconds, then said excitedly: "Killing Jian Shuo with bare hands, you really are not worthy of being a fierce general of my burly officer."
"Hehe …" This was nothing! We, the hussar general, have as many powerful generals as the clouds! Even the hussar general himself had once beaten a tiger to death with his bare hands. The Zhang Banxian was excited and started to blow with all her might.
"Hehe …" It is the fortune of the imperial government that I, a burly man, have such a powerful general! "This is the fortune of the world!" Empress Dowager He waved excitedly, then smiled towards Zhang Banxian: "For these people to kill Jian Shuo, hussar general has done a great service to protect you. I have already decided that the Hussar General Yang Lin will receive Youzhou's orders. This is an imperial decree, you all can bring it back to the hussar general. is fine now, let's let him get rid of Army of Montenegro peacefully. Let him gather all the food and pay that he needs. "
"Empress Dowager Xie." Zhang Banxian, Fei Hong, and Liang Ming kneeled down and respectfully received the imperial edict. It was only until then did Zhang Banxian smile in relief. Only then did he realize that the Empress Dowager He in front of him was unusually beautiful, and his heart skipped a few beats without reason.
"Queen, Queen, not good, Lord Jian Shuo was killed." In Nan Gong's backyard, Queen Dong was playing with Crown Prince Liu Tong when she was suddenly startled by a little empress dowager's shout. She quickly turned her head and saw that Young Eunuch was already kneeling in front of her.
"What is it?" Queen Dong seemed to not have heard clearly and could not help but ask again.
"Empress, the special envoy from the Hussar General Yang Lin entered the palace and brought back Master Jian Shuo's head." The Young Eunuch looked at Empress Dowager Dong in horror, lowered his head and said, "The one who killed Jian Shuo is the special envoy sent by the hussar general."
Queen Dong's lips moved, but she did not say anything. Her eyes were staring straight ahead. The sun in the west was descending step by step, but it was emitting an unusually bright light. The grand imperial palace was bathed in a golden sunset.
"Ke Er, let's go back." Queen Dong lightly pulled his hand, and the grandfather and grandson walked towards Gardner Hall. Although Liu Xie was only nine years old, he was an unusually sensible child. He held onto Queen Dong's hand and snuggled close to her side. Under the afterglow of the setting sun, the lonely figures of the grandfather and grandson duo slowly moved forward.
However, the attack on the Queen Dong had just begun.
Not long later, another Young Eunuch entered the Nan Gong Family. With a "plop" sound, he kneeled on the ground and said in a bitter tone, "Queen, something bad has happened. The Grand General Ho Jin had sent troops to surround the hussar general Palace, and he, the hussar general … He … He hanged himself! "
The Queen Dong sat in the middle of the Main Palace, and as if she hadn't heard her words, she tightly closed her eyes. A teardrop flowed down, her two hands tightly held onto Liu Xie's small hands. This was her only and last warmth in this world.
Dong Zhong, the nephew of the Queen Dong, and the cousin of the Hanling Emperor, the current hussar general, not only was he a relative of the royal family, he also held great power. Once upon a time, he was the spirit pillar of the Queen Dong, the only source of power that the Queen Dong could use to stay in the Imperial Palace.
Who would have known that outside the palace, Dong Zhong was hard to clap with his palms, his strength was not as powerful as Dong Hou had imagined. He Jin had only sent the rest of his troops to surround the hussar general Palace, Dong Zhong knew that the situation was no longer good, and before he could do anything, he had committed suicide.
If Jian Shuo's death caused her to lose all hope of letting Liu Xie succeed the throne, then Dong Zhong's suicide undoubtedly caused her to lose the courage to continue living. Although she stood strong and didn't say a word, his heart was bleeding. If it wasn't for Crown Prince Liu Tong snuggling close to her, she really didn't know if he would have had the confidence to live on.
The moment of destroying her confidence came soon after.
The Chief Eunuch, Zhang Jean, came himself, and followed a large group of eunuchs bravely. Zhang Yu held onto the imperial edict and glanced at Empress Dowager Dong with a cold gaze. He then started to sing loudly, "According to the royal family rules, the vassal lords cannot stay in the capital. They must bring Queen Dong back immediately. Crown Prince Liu Tong has changed the title of King Chen Liu and left it in the palace. "
From the start till now, the Queen Dong had not opened her eyes. Even when he took Liu Xie away from her side, she did not say a single word. What made Zhang Wei even more surprised was that even the nine year old Crown Prince Liu Tong had a solemn look on his face. He only took a glance at the Queen Dong, and followed Zhang Ci out of the Gardner Hall.
Queen Dong was the only one left in the Gardner Hall, but she still did not open her eyes, nor did she shed a single tear. There was no one left in this imperial palace that she missed, and she did not want to take another look at this imperial palace. Twenty two years ago, she followed her son to Luoyang and became the ruler of this imperial palace. Twenty two years later, she sat like this and followed her son out of the imperial palace.
The blazing sun was baking the land of Jizhou, the crops in the fields were drooping their heads lazily. Due to the constant harassment by the Army of Montenegro, most of the counties and counties around the Five Element Mountain had become barren, and even a few crops were growing sparsely.
Under the hot sun, a few farmers kept busy in the fields, plowing their last hope. Their faces were full of sorrow, and they looked at the delicate crops and sighed silently. Without a doubt, this year was yet another desolate year. It was hard for ordinary people to fill their own stomachs. Only the flocks of sparrows sang carefreely in the fields.
"Sigh …" It's been five years, I never thought that Jizhou would become more and more dilapidated! "
Tian Feng let out a long sigh and couldn't help but close his eyes. Five years ago, he was still a small county magistrate of the Jizhou. Five years later, when he stepped onto this piece of land again, all he saw was desolation.
"It's natural disasters, and it's man-made disasters. It's forcing the commoners to have no way out."
He shook his head weakly, feeling extremely depressed. Jizhou was originally a fertile land, and had always been a granary for the entire country. However, due to the overpowering feud between the imperial government and the greedy officials, there were victims everywhere, as well as thieves and robbers. This led to Army of Montenegro running amok.
Receiving Yang Lin's order, Tian Feng and brought Guo Tong, Gao Sheng, Jiang Zhen, Lu Tong, Ren Qian, and Qian Lin's three cavalry brigade s to Peace County. It had been five years, and this was the first time they had returned to their hometown. However, everything they had seen and heard along the way had caused the joy in their hearts to vanish without a trace.
It was the height of summer, and should have been the time for the crops to flourish, but the sorghum in the Jizhou fields was stuck into the ground like a few sticks of incense, while the wild grass grew crazily, becoming almost as tall and short as the sorghum. It was hard to tell whether they would harvest sorghum or grass seeds in the autumn.
An Ping County was a border region for the Army of Montenegro's activities, but it was actually the center region. Yang Lin's army was stationed in An Ping County, on one hand, to deal with the Army of Montenegro, and on the other, to control the Jizhou.
After the political situation in the Luoyang was stable, Yang Lin followed the orders of the Empress Dowager He and brought his troops to the capital. In fact, even without Empress Dowager He's orders, Yang Lin was already prepared to leave Hanoi County, he did not want to interfere in Luoyang's matters. Whether they live or die, let them torment themselves! He had only left the Zhang Banxian, Fei Hong and Liang Ming behind in the Luoyang, in order to keep an eye on the situation.
In the afternoon, Tian Feng and his army finally made it to the Xin Du Camp. It had been a long time since the commoners had seen so many cavalrymen. Many adults and children had come to see the commotion.
The sun was about to set, but the crowd was still unwilling to leave. Looking at these simple and honest fellow villagers, Yang Lin immediately ordered the kitchen to steam more steamed buns. He, Tian Feng and Lang Hui brought the group of commanders and generals out to distribute them to the onlookers.
As the hussar general, Yang Lin personally distributed steamed buns to the citizens, causing them to be at a loss of what to do. Some of the older villagers even started to cry. Although the villagers were very hungry, they couldn't bear to eat the steamed buns.
In a short while, Yang Lin's steamed buns had actually shocked Jizhou. Since ancient times, only the government bullied the people, and the people could not tolerate each other. Now, Yang Lin was just a small relative of his own, he immediately won over the hearts of the people in the Jizhou, and even the Army of Montenegro in the Five Elements Mountain was deeply touched by him.