The room was filled with aroma, and the mist rushing out from the incense burner placed on the jade table turned into a green color at some point, and twisted into various shapes, which looked extremely strange.
About a few minutes later, the Northern Qi Emperor collapsed on the bed. He was actually really old, and his physical condition was far less youthful than his face looked. He was holding a vase and panting.
Su Zhilan slowly walked to the bedside and looked down at her husband in name, but in fact he was an old man who was greedy for her beauty and wanted to take her by force.
She smiled and said: "Your Majesty, why not give up on taking back the three cities of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty."
The Emperor of Northern Qi gently stroked the vase. At this moment, his mind seemed to be clearer. His smile faded slightly and he said softly: "My beloved, you don't need to worry about military affairs. I have my own opinions."
Su Zhilan: "Your Majesty, I don't want to interfere in your men's affairs. It's just that Zhuo Mufeng has saved my life. If I don't repay it, I may be criticized by the people in the world."
Emperor of the Northern Qi Dynasty: "There are many ways to repay kindness. Don't worry, I have my own opinions and will not embarrass you."
Su Zhilan curled her lips, but she didn't expect this old thing to be so stubborn. Under the influence of "Wuji Dream Pill", she still refused to let go. However, she had already thought about it and said in a tired voice: "Your Majesty, please listen to me."
The Northern Qi Emperor subconsciously wanted to get angry. He was indeed a wise monarch in his early years. His deep-rooted strong character made him extremely disgusted with the harem's interference in politics, even if the woman who spoke was favored for a while.
But for some reason, every time the Emperor of Northern Qi came to Solan Palace to spend the night, he would become very talkative, which even surprised him, and made him feel that he had truly fallen in love with Su Zhilan.
It is not easy for an emperor to fall in love with a woman. The Emperor of Northern Qi softened his heart and sighed: "I will give you a chance. If my beloved concubine cannot convince me, then don't say any more."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Su Zhilan paused and said: "I have heard about this matter. The Eighth Prince of Eastern Zhou Dynasty sent here to discuss it, and he must be determined not to let go. We, Northern Qi, can certainly declare the world.
This way, Dong Zhou had no choice but to act in accordance with the agreement because of his face.
If this is the case, I will not dare to say anything. But now the two sides are negotiating secretly, which shows that I, the Northern Qi Dynasty, cannot make concessions. We only see how much benefits the Eastern Zhou Dynasty will give."
While talking, Su Zhilan had walked to the jade table, picked up the incense burner, and then returned to the bed. Thick green smoke poured into the nose of the Northern Qi Emperor, making the emperor's mind a little blurry and his will invisible.
A little weaker again.
Su Zhilan continued: "Concerning the cession of interests, I do have an idea. Your Majesty, why not instruct the prince to propose a city-for-city proposal to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty."
"Exchanging a city for a city, what does this mean?" The Emperor of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty frowned with mixed black and white eyebrows.
Su Zhilan: "As far as I know, there are three cities of Lanshui in the extreme south of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. Because the terrain is flat and difficult to defend, and they are too far away from the headquarters of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, they have been attacked by the Zhongzhou army all the year round. They robbed food and grass, and almost became
The imperial granary in Zhongzhou.
However, since the base camp in Zhongzhou is also too far away from the three cities of Blue Water, it is not cost-effective to obtain it from Zhongzhou, so the situation has been in a stalemate.
Your Majesty, why don't you ask for the three cities of Lanshui from the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, and ask the Eastern Zhou Dynasty to assist you in the safe handover and jointly resist the invasion of Zhongzhou, in exchange for the three cities of Nanwu captured by the Eastern Zhou Dynasty."
The wrinkles on the forehead of the Northern Qi Emperor turned into the Chinese character Sichuan, and he asked coldly: "What do I want in a place like that?"
Su Zhilan chuckled and said: "Your Majesty, haven't you often felt that the military power of Northern Qi was too concentrated in the hands of a few generals? By asking for the three cities of Lanshui, we can take the opportunity to deploy your Majesty's favorite young generals for military training.
The army and horses in Zhongzhou are strong. I believe that over time, the ability of those generals to lead troops will be greatly improved.
Secondly, the three cities of Lanshui are also bordered by Northern Qi and are close to Dayongguan of Northern Qi. Once the three cities of Lanshui are obtained, Dayongguan can be used as the center. As long as the layout is appropriate, it can further strengthen the southern defense line of Northern Qi.
, forming an absolute military barrier!
Thirdly, once His Majesty obtains the three cities of Blue Water, he can also use this excuse to deploy some troops and horses from the three general marshals for defense. By then, this brand new army will naturally be in the hands of Your Majesty!
In this way, His Majesty has not only weakened the three generals, strengthened himself, but also trained his troops and horses, expanded the territory, and continued to cooperate with the Eastern Zhou Dynasty without spending a single soldier. When the news spread, the Northern Qi Dynasty
The people will only praise His Majesty for his wisdom and martial prowess."
As soon as the call was finished, the room fell into a long dead silence.
The Northern Qi Emperor's breathing was extremely rapid. He looked at the vase in his arms in shock. He couldn't believe that this most beautiful and beautiful enchantress in the world not only had an outstanding appearance, but also had such a terrible scheming!
Under normal circumstances, what arose in the heart of the Northern Qi Emperor was probably not joy, but fear and murderous intent. No emperor could tolerate the wisdom and foresight of the person next to him surpassing his own.
But under the influence of "Wuji Dream Pill", the Emperor of Northern Qi could not think of this level at all. He just looked at the vase with extremely admiring and doting eyes. His expression made Su Zhilan, who was standing beside the bed, feel sick.
What's even more amazing is that the Emperor of Northern Qi seemed to be excited by the stimulation. Su Zhilan turned around, not wanting to see that ridiculous scene.
A few minutes later, the Emperor of the Northern Qi Dynasty gasped: "My beloved concubine is indeed my darling. Now she can take care of national affairs for me."
Su Zhilan resisted the urge to vomit, placed the incense burner on the low stool next to the bed, walked a little further, and then turned around: "So, your Majesty agreed?"
The Emperor of the Northern Qi Dynasty laughed and said: "Hahaha, do I look like a headstrong person? My beloved concubine's advice is so wonderful, how can I not listen to it?"
Su Zhilan's face was filled with joy, and she ignored the Northern Qi Emperor who was looking at the vase tenderly. She walked to the desk in the outer room, picked up the langhao and rice paper, quickly wrote a paragraph, stuffed it into the envelope, and then hid it in her sleeve.
.
During the long night, she rested on the brocade couch in the outer room. Scenes of meeting Zhuo Mufeng flashed through her mind. She grinded her teeth in anger from time to time, and finally fell asleep lightly.
When dawn came, Su Zhilan woke up early, took the handkerchief, took away the vase from the Emperor of Northern Qi's arms, twisted it with two fingers and put it back in its place, then threw away the handkerchief and sat in front of the dressing table in the inner room to face the emperor.
Dressed up in the mirror, he looked like he had just gotten up.
It was approaching the time for the morning dynasty, and the Emperor of Northern Qi slowly woke up from the habits he had developed over the years.
Su Zhilan hurriedly called the palace maid outside to come in and serve her. She blushed and apologized: "Your Majesty, I am not feeling well and cannot serve in person. I hope your Majesty will forgive me."
Looking at the delicate and weak look of the demon concubine, the Emperor of Northern Qi thought it was his own conquest, and his vanity was unprecedentedly satisfied. He laughed and said: "My dear concubine, your endurance is really too weak. If I were younger,
At ten years old, I'm afraid you have to...hahaha..."
In fact, he himself was exhausted. After all, he was too old to help Su Zhilan, so he motioned for her to get up from the distance. He was thinking in his heart that every time he came to Solan Palace, the next day he would feel like he was exhausted.
It seems that the imperial doctor must be asked to prepare more medicine, otherwise, will the beloved concubine’s years be wasted?
The sarcasm at the corner of Su Zhilan's mouth disappeared in a flash, and she returned to the dressing table to dress up. At this time, several palace maids filed in. After bowing to the imperial concubine, they went to serve the two of them.
Anxious to go to court, the Northern Qi Emperor took a shower and hurriedly left Solan Palace.
Su Zhilan stood up and waved her hand: "I am a little tired, you all can go and guard outside."
When Xiao Taoye was supporting Su Zhilan, due to her positioning, she blocked the view of the palace ladies behind her. She quietly took the envelope rolled up by Su Zhilan in her sleeve with her delicate hands, stuffed it into her own sleeve, and left together with the palace ladies.
Su Zhilan glanced at the bed with disgust, then returned to the brocade couch in the outer room, but her eyes were looking out the window, as if beyond the palace wall, not knowing what she was expecting.
As Su Zhilan's personal maid, Xiao Taoye has certain rights of free movement.
Under the guise of preparing meals for Su Zhilan, she stayed away from Solan Palace and came to a rockery. After looking around, she quickly took out the envelope and stuffed it into a small hole in the rockery.
Not long after, a young eunuch passed by this place. After observing carefully, he quickly found the small hole and pulled out the envelope as usual.
He is responsible for purchasing matters in the palace and often leaves the palace. This day is the day for purchasing.
After leaving the palace and arriving at the fixed purchasing place, using the excuse of going to the latrine, the little eunuch took out the roll of paper from his anus and placed it at the specific place.
About a quarter of an hour later, the roll of paper was taken away.
…
Zhuo Mufeng couldn't sleep all night and his mental state was extremely poor. When he thought about what might have happened to Su Zhilan last night, his heart seemed to be torn into several petals.
But can he blame Su Zhilan? It was because he was useless, unable to protect the other party, and unable to fight against the Northern Qi Emperor. It was all his own fault!
He didn't even want to go to the palace anymore and had made excuses for this, but the Eighth Prince could not allow him to back down and said sternly: "Brother Zhuo, it concerns the people of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. You have to go if you want to go, and you have to go if you don't. No matter what, you have to go."
discuss!"
Zhuo Mufeng's face was livid, wishing he could beat him up, but he did not lose his mind in the end, and Wu Yuanyuan and others also tried to persuade him from the side, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and enter the place that made him sad and sick again.
I thought that today's negotiation would be another tug-of-war, but I didn't expect that when Qi Yuanyi and others arrived, they all looked at Zhuo Mufeng with strange expressions on their faces.
Zhuo Mufeng was suspicious of the patient and thought that his affair with Su Zhilan had been discovered. He forced a smile and said, "Your Highness, is there a flower on your face?"
Qi Yuanyi and others finally looked away. Qi Yuanyi said to the Eighth Prince: "Eighth Prince, my father agreed to deliver the three cities this morning, but the premise is that you will exchange the three cities of Blue Water. I wonder if you can agree?"
"What?"
The Eighth Prince and several important officials of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty all suspected that they had heard wrongly. For the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the three cities of Lanshui were a burden. If they were not afraid that discarding them would be a disgrace to the country, and they did not take Zhongzhou, the Eastern Zhou Dynasty would not have wanted them long ago.
Exchanging the three cities of Lanshui for the three cities of Nanwu was definitely a sure profit for Dong Zhou.