There was complete silence in the entire palace. Whether it was Zhao Ran, the chief concubine of the Qin State, Tang Ju, the envoy of the Wei State, or the servants serving in the palace, they all subconsciously held their breath and secretly watched the King of Qin return to his daughter. Ying Ying’s gaze.
It has to be said that the atmosphere was solidified at this time, and even Tang Ju, the envoy of Wei State, did not dare to take a breath.
After a long time, King Qin gradually calmed down, looked at Ying Ying, and said with a slight sigh: "Young Master, you have let me down so much..."
"..."
Ying Ying pursed her lips, and at first she seemed to want to say something, but in the end, she didn't and didn't say it, as if she had never heard her father's complaint.
She also felt uncomfortable in her heart. After all, in the final analysis, she had indeed betrayed the trust of her father, who loved her most in the past.
"It seems that today's discussion can only end here..."
She watched King Qin return, cupped her hands and said, "Tomorrow, I will come to visit my father again...or rather, visit His Majesty the King of Qin."
"..."
Upon hearing the words "Your Majesty, King Qin," King Qin's heart beat violently, and his hands clenched fists involuntarily.
But he did not have a seizure after all. He just looked at Ying Ying and said seriously: "Young Master, you have made an extremely stupid decision. You should understand that I, and I, Da Qin, are your solid backing in Wei..."
"No, father."
Upon hearing this, Ying Ying smiled and replied to King Qin: "Your son-in-law and your grandson are my daughter's backing in Wei."
"..." King Qin opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.
At this time, Ying Ying turned around and signaled to Wei envoy Tang Ju: "Master Tang Ju?"
"oh oh."
Tang Juru woke up from his dream and quickly stood up to say goodbye to the King of Qin and said goodbye to Zhao Ran, the chief concubine of the Qin State. Following him, Concubine Yingying of Qin from the Wei State, quickly left the palace, as if it was too late for the King of Qin to return to the meeting. It was as if he ordered them to be imprisoned.
Watching Ying Ying off, Tang Ju and Tang Ju stepped out of the palace. King Qin looked back with a cloudy look on his face.
He suddenly remembered the time when this daughter was born.
Because a crown prince had been appointed at that time - Ying Ying's elder brother who died young, so when Ying Ying, the eldest daughter, was born, the King of Qin happily regarded her as the apple of his eye and took great care of her.
A few years later, Ying Ying's brother unfortunately died in infancy. In order to stabilize the people of the country, King Qin had no choice but to give his daughter the pseudonym "Ying Ying" and become his crown prince of Qin. At this point, Ying Ying has been the crown prince of Qin for more than 20 years. .
Although it was mainly to cover up the fact that the royal family had no heirs, King Qin Hui raised his daughter Ying Ying as a real son. As time went by, even King Qin Hui sometimes forgot that Ying Ying was actually a daughter. He could not inherit his position as the monarch of Qin.
Unexpectedly, the daughter he loved so much would betray his father and the country that gave birth to and raised her many years later. This made King Qin feel extremely chilled.
However, even though he was angry, even though he was heartbroken, King Qin still endured it when he came back, instead of calling the guards to imprison this daughter who had betrayed the country and her compatriots - maybe because he really loved this daughter.
"Hehehe, hahahaha——"
Very suddenly, King Qin burst out laughing: "I have been hunting geese all day long, but today I was pecked blind by a young eagle..."
Zhao Ran, the chief concubine, heard the deep self-mockery and sigh in King Qin's laughter, and couldn't help but persuade him: "Your Majesty, please calm down. I think King Wei must have used some trick to deceive the young master... No, I It means Her Royal Highness the Princess."
"Blinded?"
King Qin shook his head and said with a sigh: "It would be fine if I was just deceived, but from the look on the young gentleman's face, it is clear that he knows everything about Korea..."
"Your Majesty." Zhao Ran advised from the side: "There may still be room for maneuver."
"I hope..."
King Qin sighed and looked at the door of the main hall.
It has to be said that Ying Ying did miserably deceive the Qin State. If Ying Ying had not stabilized the Qin State, the Qin State might have started plotting against the Wei State in May and June of this year - whether as an ally or as an ally. He had the opportunity to ask for benefits from the Wei State, but he took advantage of the weakness of the Wei State and added insult to injury.
It is no exaggeration to say that when the Wei State sent out more than 300,000 elite troops to attack South Korea, and the homeland was attacked by 1.5 million coalition forces from various countries, what if the Qin State added insult to injury to the Wei State and sent troops to attack the Wei State? In the western border, the Wei State was attacked from both sides and was bound to fall. Even if Wei King Zhao Run was a rare hero in a hundred years, it would not help.
But Ying Ying bought this precious half a year for Wei.
With this half-year time difference, the Wei State may be able to reverse all the disadvantages since the outbreak of this war. Not only can it make South Korea surrender and the coalition forces of various countries retreat, but it can also make the Qin State rejoice in vain and miss the "weakness of the Wei State" in vain. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
When he thought of this, King Qin almost felt his heart bleed.
His grand plan of Qin State to "replace Wei State and dominate the Central Plains" was ruined by his own daughter.
"Here, please come to Wei Yang."
After taking a deep breath, King Qin ordered his people to summon Wei Yang, the commander of Zuo Shu.
To be honest, Wei Yang is good at internal affairs and law, but not good at military affairs. However, it is undeniable that this man is an outstanding wise man and a national scholar in the world. Regarding this matter of "attitude towards Wei", King Qin replied We need to listen to Wei Yang's advice.
About half an hour later, Wei Yang, the commander of Zuo Shu, hurriedly came to the hall.
After greeting each other, the King of Qin told Wei Yang about his daughter Ying Ying's betrayal of the country. Wei Yang was also greatly surprised when he heard this.
You must know that Wei Yang is Ying Ying's mentor. During the process of Ying Ying's growth, Wei Yang has always acted as a good teacher and taught the daughter-born prince with all his heart.
At that time, in Wei Yang's view, apart from the "disadvantage" of being a daughter, the Crown Prince was diligent, studious, and approachable, making him a rare candidate for the Crown Prince.
In contrast, there are many things that Wei Yang is dissatisfied with about the prince he is currently teaching, namely Ying Ying's younger brother "Ying Zhu".
For example, Ying Zhu is introverted and melancholy, not good at words, and unwilling to get close to others, which makes this prince have almost no sense of "presence" in the palace.
At least in terms of connections and popularity, Ying Zhu is far inferior to his eldest sister Ying Ying - or the 'late' young master Ying Ying.
However, such an outstanding young gentleman turned his back on the country?
After listening to King Qin's story, Wei Yang was shocked and speechless. After he recovered, he quickly leaned over and apologized: "I have neglected my duty, please punish me."
"It's not your fault."
King Qin sighed, and at the same time added in his heart: If you want to blame it, you also have to blame his son-in-law, that bastard named Zhao Run!
Waving his hand to signal Wei Yang to sit back down, King Qin returned to his serious tone and asked: "Wei Qing, Zhao Qing, in your opinion, how should I, the Qin Dynasty, treat the Wei State now?" After saying this, he seemed to have thought of something. His hateful son-in-law said bitterly: "I will tell you bluntly, should we take measures against Wei immediately?"
"this……"
Wei Yang stroked his beard and pondered for a moment, not daring to give a hasty reply. He turned around and asked the chief concubine Zhao Ran: "Master Zhao Ran, I don't know much about military matters. Could you please listen to Master Zhao Ran?" Opinion."
"Hmm." Zhao Ran nodded and began to analyze the current situation: "Now it seems that Wei State should have surrendered South Korea. If I were the commander of those Wei armies, I would definitely send my army south to attack Qi State and cut off all the other countries. The food and fodder for the coalition forces... If Qi makes a mistake, the coalition forces of more than a million countries in Wei will collapse in an instant. If we, the Qin Dynasty, stand still, Wei will most likely inflict heavy losses on the Central Plains countries in this war..."
At this point, he seemed to have thought of something again, shook his head and added: "In my opinion, this war is nothing more than the last struggle of the Central Plains countries. If we can gather people to defeat the Wei State this time, the Central Plains will once again The situation where all the countries once stood apart was restored, but if Wei wins... I am afraid that it will be difficult for the Central Plains countries to organize a coalition to conquer Wei in the future. Instead, they will be defeated by Wei one by one. This time when Korea falls, the next one will be Qilu, and then the next one. It's the State of Chu... When the State of Chu was introduced, I'm afraid that even our great Qin could not stop the prosperity of the State of Wei."
Wei Yang nodded when he heard this and asked: "What if I, the Qin Dynasty... join the war?"
"Declaring war on the Wei State?" Zhao Ran, the chief concubine, glanced at Wei Yang and continued to analyze: "It is not difficult to see from Shaojun's attitude that the Wei State does not expect the help of the Qin State at all, and even the Wei State does not count on me. Da Qin is still taking precautions and does not want Da Qin to go through this muddy water... If Da Qin wants to take measures, I am afraid that I can only take the opportunity to declare war on Wei, but..." He smacked his lips and said with great regret: " Because of Shaojun, our Daqin state was delayed for half a year, and winter is approaching now. Even if we suddenly declare war on Wei at this moment, our army will not be able to attack the mainland of Wei before the end of this year. We can only wait for the next year... The problem is , the coalition forces of Wei and South Korea will definitely attack Qi State in the spring of next year, so that Qi State can only protect itself and cannot bear the food and grass matters of the coalition forces of other countries. At this time, the coalition forces of various countries have more than one million people, and they may be defeated by King Wei. Defeat..."
"..."
After hearing this, King Qin rubbed his brow bones tiredly.
It must be said that the chief concubine, Zhao Ran, analyzed the situation very well and hit the nail on the head.
If half a year ago, Wei State could only carefully coax Qin State, then after half a year, after Wei State surrendered to South Korea, Wei State no longer had to make a fuss with Qin State - because Wei State basically We have already taken the initiative in this war.
Regardless of the fact that more than one million coalition forces from various countries are still making trouble in Wei State, by the beginning of next spring at the latest, these one million troops will be finished immediately.
The situation of his Qin State also became very embarrassing at this time.
Qin, which had been delayed for half a year, seemed to be unable to effectively restrict Wei from winning this war no matter what measures it took.
Do we really want to become a bystander in this unprecedented battle?
King Qin Hui looked a little ugly.
He could not imagine that in this unprecedented battle in which all the countries in the Central Plains were raging, his country, Qin, had made no achievements from beginning to end due to mistakes in decision-making. He had never assisted the state of Wei, nor had he restricted the state of Wei. He watched helplessly. Wei defeated the Chinese states "with one against five". Wouldn't this make Qin the laughing stock of the entire Central Plains?
More importantly, once the Wei State defeats the Central Plains countries, it will definitely become more powerful than before, which means that the Qin State will continue to be blocked by the Wei State from the Central Plains.
His Qin State's strategy of "setting foot in the Central Plains and dominating the Central Plains" will be forced to run aground again.
I still remember that in the 21st year of Wei Hongde, Qin tried to set foot in the Central Plains, but unfortunately, Qin's army was blocked by Wei Gongzi Run.
In that "one-day battle" that is still fresh in the memory of countless Qin people, Wei Gongzi Run led the powerful Wei army and destroyed Qin's 200,000 troops in just one day, setting off Qin's "eastward advance" The strategy was defeated for the first time.
From the day of the war to the present, the Qin State has been blocked by the Wei State on its eastward advance route for seventeen years.
During this period, the Qin State once again competed with the Wei State and resolutely sent troops in the "Battle of Five Parties to Defeat Wei". However, Wei Gongzi Run rushed thousands of miles to attack the capital of Xianyang.
After that, the State of Qin also concluded an alliance with the State of Wei, and asked the King of Qin to return his most beloved daughter Ying Ying to marry Wei Gongzi Run - who is now the King of Wei Zhao Run.
All in all, Qin waited for seventeen years before Wei became weak.
Unexpectedly, this golden opportunity slipped through my fingers just because I mistrusted Ying Ying.
Even though King Qin didn't get mad at his daughter Ying Ying just now, it didn't mean that he wasn't angry. In fact, he wanted to kill the son-in-law who completely abducted her daughter with a knife - although he actually admired that son-in-law. a son-in-law.
"To fight? Or not to fight?"
King Qin hesitated.
Reason told him that in the current situation, the best strategy would be to show goodwill to Wei, restore the previous rift with his son-in-law, and plunder as much of the vested interests as possible in the name of sending troops to help Wei. After all, it was already captured by Wei. The land of Korea, or Qi State, Lu State, Chu State, etc.
But in this way, the most fundamental problem has not been solved, that is, Wei has not been weakened as expected, it is still strong, and it is still blocking Qin's eastward route like a mountain.
And this leads to a more serious question: As the chief concubine Zhao Ran said, when all the countries in the Central Plains are unable to stop the power of Wei, where will Qin go?
Although Qin and Wei are related by marriage, if the Wei State really takes advantage of the situation and annexes Han, Qi, Lu, Chu, Yue and other Central Plains countries, will the intervening Wei State pose a threat to the Qin State?
Even if Zhao Run, the monarch of this generation, cares about the friendship between the two countries, what about the next generation of Wei monarchs? What about the next generation of Wei monarchs?
What's more, in the face of national interests, King Qin could not guarantee that his son-in-law Zhao Run would care about the friendship between the two countries - at most he would care about the friendship between the Zhao and Ying clans.
"Wei must be weakened!"
That night, after thinking hard for several hours, King Qin finally made a decision: Forced by the possibility that Wei would become so powerful that Qin would feel more pressure in the future, Wei's momentum must be interrupted at this moment.
Early the next morning, King Qin summoned Zhao Ran, the chief concubine, and ordered the latter: "You call Ying Hua immediately. Ying Bo will try to stop the war with the Xiqiang and lead his army to Hetao. He then ordered Gongsun Qi to lead his army to Hexi. …”
Hearing this, the chief concubine Zhao Ran's expression changed slightly, and he asked in surprise: "Does the king mean to use troops against Wei?"
King Qin nodded expressionlessly.
Seeing this, the expression of the chief concubine Zhao Ran also became more serious. He asked in a solemn voice: "I don't know in what name?"
It is said that when dispatching troops, one must pay attention to the division's reputation, not to mention that Qin and Wei are still allies. If Qin rashly goes to war against Wei without declaring it, it will inevitably be criticized and denounced by the world. This will be a huge blow to Qin's reputation. .
The embarrassing thing is that Qin State currently has no handle or excuse for Wei State.
After listening to Zhao Ran's words, King Qin replied in a deep voice: "We captured Hexi and Hetao in the name of "Wei Guo's injustice"... As for the specific charges, we will talk about it later!"
"..."
Zhao Ran, the chief concubine, opened his mouth, but could not speak for a while.
Use troops first and then think about specific charges?
Seeing that Zhao Ran seemed to be hesitant, the King of Qin replied in a deep voice: "This battle is related to the national destiny of the Wei State. In fact, it is also related to the national destiny of our Great Qin. If we can defeat the State of Wei in this battle, our Great Qin will have our own way to defeat the Wei State." If the country admits it's "unjust," otherwise, our country, Qin, will definitely be controlled by Wei in the future."
Hearing this, the chief concubine Zhao Ran was shocked and nodded quickly.
At this moment, a chamberlain walked out of the palace and bowed to report: "Your Majesty, the princess wishes to see you."
"Invite her in."
When the King of Qin returned, he ordered the servant and told Zhao Ran: "I will stabilize the young master. You can go quickly to make preparations. Remember not to let Wei Guo know in advance."
"Yes!" Zhao Ran bowed and retreated.
After a while, Ying Ying came to the palace under the leadership of the chamberlain.
"Everyone, step back."
Signaling all the servants in the palace to exit the palace, King Qin looked back at Ying Ying and said displeasedly: "You unfilial daughter, what are you doing here? Wasn't the general's popularity enough yesterday?"
He deliberately pretended to be displeased - but there was no need to pretend. In fact, he was still angry with Ying Ying in his heart at this moment, but he just couldn't bear to scold and scold her. At best, he could just complain a few words and complain.
"Is Master Zhao Ran still in the future?"
Ying Ying looked inside the hall and saw that there was no one else in the hall at this time, so she coaxed her: "Father, it was my daughter's fault yesterday. My daughter is here to apologize to you. My daughter just can't bear the two men she loves most in her life. It’s just hatred…”
"Humph!" King Qin snorted in displeasure.
How could he not see at this moment that in his daughter's heart, his father was obviously inferior to her husband Zhao Run?
To be honest, this made King Qin very uncomfortable.
"Father, the matter has come to an end anyway. Why don't you just follow the trend?"
"Following the general trend? Do you want the widow to bow down to Wei like the new mediocre ruler of South Korea?"
"Father, what are you talking about? Your daughter's husband is also your son-in-law... Didn't you admire him very much before?"
"That was just before!"
"Father——"
"..." After glancing at his daughter, King Qin sighed and said deliberately: "The water thrown out by your married daughter is due to my love for you... That's all. Let's cancel all the previous discussions. "
Hearing this, Ying Ying's eyes widened in surprise: "What do you mean, father?"
The King of Qin sighed and said, "I am old and no longer as vigorous as before. Since the Wei Kingdom is already certain of victory, I can only..." At this point, he glared at Ying Ying and said angrily. : "Thanks to your unfilial daughter, I now have to think about how to show my favor to my son-in-law..."
"Father..." After hearing this, Ying Ying was inevitably a little embarrassed.
At this time, King Qin waved his hand and said: "Forget it, let's not talk about this anymore. You can stay in Xianyang for a while and spend more time with your mother. You have been in Wei for these years, and your mother has missed you so much..."
Seeing that King Qin seemed to acquiesce in the matter, Ying Ying was pleasantly surprised. After chatting with the former for a while, she happily went to the palace to accompany her mother.
She didn't notice that the smile on King Qin's face gradually faded as he watched her leave.
A few days later, when Ying Ying was accompanying her mother in the Xianyang Palace, the royal orders returned from the King of Qin were delivered one after another to Weiyang Lord Ying Hua, Yangquan Lord Ying Bo, as well as Wuxin Hou Gongsun Qi and Changxin Hou Wang Jian and other Qin princes. Put it in your hands.
In mid-November, Gongsun Qi, Marquis of Wuxin, withdrew his troops from the "Pianguan" area of Yanmen County and headed south to Hetao.
At this time, Li Mu, the guard of Yanmen in South Korea, had been sending people to keep an eye on Gongsun Qi's army. When he learned that Gongsun Qi had led his army to withdraw from the Pianguan area and seemed to be going straight to Hetao, he was overjoyed.
In his view, the Qin army under Gongsun Qi was heading straight for the Hetao area at this time, most likely to seize Wei's Hetao area, which meant that Qin might go to war with Wei - this had nothing to do with his estrangement. It's just that Qin knew that it couldn't just sit back and watch Wei continue to grow in power.
"Come here, quickly inquire about the movements of Wang Jian's army in Xihe!"
"yes!"
On that day, Li Mu immediately sent people to investigate the Qin general Wang Jian who was stationed in Xihe to see what kind of actions this fierce general of Qin would do.
A few days later, Li Mu received news that Wang Jian was gathering troops and horses in Xihe and preparing food and fodder. He became even more happy.
After hearing the news about the fall of Jicheng, Li Mu could not wait to send troops to fight back to Jicheng and restore the country.
But he knew that the small amount of troops under his command at this moment alone was not enough to rescue the country that had been controlled by Wei.
He must rely on another powerful force, that is, the State of Qin.
In his opinion, if the Qin army can pose a large enough threat to Wei's Hexi and Hedong areas, then it will probably be able to force the Northern Army under Wei General Zhao Xuan to withdraw from Taiyuan County and return to Hexi and Hedong to aid , only then did he have the opportunity to regain Taiyuan County.
"First take advantage of the situation to recover Taiyuan. Then we can take advantage of Qin's power to either capture Shangdang or recover Handan and Daijun. Most of the Wei troops in Korea should have sent out their troops to attack Qi by now. I will gather Yanmen and Taiyuan. The troops from the three places of Daijun may be able to take Jicheng directly and restore the country..."
Li Mu thought secretly.
At this time, his only concern was the whereabouts of the new king Han Ji, who was appointed by Han Wangran and Lihou Han Wu together.
Han Ji, who came from an orthodox royal family, was the monarch he was willing to serve, not Han Yi, the puppet supported by the Wei people.
Everyone thought South Korea was dead, but maybe there is still a glimmer of hope for the country.
Because this country also has Li Mu, a famous general who is loyal to the country and the royal family.