The Eldest Daughter Is Beautiful and Saucy
Chapter 1369: old department
Chapter 1369 Old Members
Madam Hou tightly grasped the Buddhist beads in her hand, calmed down and said, “Whether we have any contact or not, the visitor is a guest…”
Soon the news that the Emperor of the Great Zhou had come in plain clothes to pay his respects to Marquis Dingyong spread throughout the capital, and many nobles who had originally planned to come to pay their respects in the afternoon rode their horses and rushed over.
Even Prince Hancheng, who usually had little contact with Marquis Dingyong’s Mansion, came.
King Hancheng had just received the secret letter from the Dongyi Kingdom, and heard that Bai Qingyan was here. After thinking for a moment, he ordered a carriage to come to the Dingyong Marquis’ Mansion. It was not that he was like others who were eager to make friends with the Dingyong Marquis’ Mansion, but he had something serious to discuss with Bai Qingyan.
When Prince Hancheng burned incense and was invited to the back hall, he saw Bai Qingyan and the masked Ninth Prince sitting together and talking about something. The partition was open, and Wei Zhong, Chuntao and Chunzhi were guarding the door. No one dared to go forward and inquire, and Prince Hancheng didn’t know how to go forward, so he could only call Wei Zhong and tell him that he had something important to say to His Majesty.
Wei Zhong turned his head and glanced at Bai Qingyan. He had a rough idea in his mind and said to King Hancheng, “Your Majesty will probably have to wait for half a cup of tea at most before leaving. If King Hancheng really has something urgent to do, you might as well wait by the carriage. You will definitely see Your Majesty soon.”
“Thank you, Eunuch Wei, for your advice!” King Hancheng bowed and turned to leave.
In the hall, Bai Qingyan sat in the main seat, holding a teacup in his hand, and said to Xiao Rongyan: “Your visit to Dingyong Marquis’ Mansion today may cause a lot of rumors to entangle Dingyong Marquis’ Mansion.”
“I guessed you would come, so I couldn’t wait and came…” Xiao Rongyan looked at Bai Qingyan with deep eyes, “It’s my fault. I didn’t think too much about it. I just thought… I could see you here.”
After saying that, Xiao Rongyan put down the teacup in his hand and said, “Just now I saw that King Hancheng seemed to have something urgent to talk to you about. I’ll wait for you outside the city…”
“Outside the city?” Bai Qingyan was quite surprised.
“In a few days, the gambling between the two countries will be settled. By then, I will also set off to return to Yandu.” Xiao Rongyan stood up and saluted Bai Qingyan seriously. To others, it looked like he was saying goodbye. “It’s rare for you to leave the palace and take a walk. Let’s go out for a while.”
“I’ve already shown up at Marquis Dingyong’s mansion. If I leave the city with you, I’m afraid someone will notice something.” Bai Qingyan also stood up. “Before you leave, I will definitely take some time to accompany you. For safety, it’s better for both of us to go back separately.”
Xiao Rongyan knew that Bai Qingyan’s concerns were reasonable, but he still couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed.
Bai Qingyan took a step forward and whispered to Xiao Rongyan: “Ayan, as long as the gambling country is over, the two countries will merge into one. We have plenty of time, so there is no rush.”
Xiao Rongyan wanted to go forward and hold Bai Qingyan’s hand, and hold her in his arms, but he restrained himself in the end: “Okay, then we’ll go out together…”
Bai Qingyan nodded, and as the two walked out together, he heard Xiao Rongyan say, “Ali and Xie Xun both sent letters saying that Tianfeng Country has no intention of sending envoys to Yan Country, so… I guess your guess is right, Tianfeng Country is coming for Yuchan.”
“I guess there is also the disciple of the great witch of Tianfeng Kingdom. The disciple of the great witch was captured in Han Wenshan. If Tianfeng Kingdom cares about this person, they may try to get the disciple back.” Bai Qingyan held the hem of her dress and stepped out of the hall with Xiao Rongyan. “If it is just for Yuchan, when the envoys of Tianfeng Kingdom come, they will definitely see similar Yuchan in the streets and alleys of Dazhou. If they are smart, they will know… I have been prepared.”
“The Tianfeng Kingdom is still a bit weird. Calculating the time, I will definitely have left by the time they come to the capital city. You’d better be careful.” Xiao Rongyan followed closely and stepped out of the hall.
“Thank you for your concern, Ninth Prince. I know what to do about this matter…” Bai Qingyan was still very polite and distant to Xiao Rongyan in front of outsiders.
The two were escorted out of the mansion gate by the people from Marquis Dingyong’s mansion and watched Bai Qingyan get on the carriage.
When Wei Zhong helped Bai Qingyan out, he had already told Bai Qingyan that King Hancheng was in the carriage. As soon as Bai Qingyan got in, he saw King Hancheng kneeling in the carriage.
Bai Qingyan sat down calmly, and after the carriage started moving, he said to King Hancheng, “Get up! What’s the matter that has you rushing to the Dingyong Marquis’s residence in such a hurry?”
But King Hancheng did not stand up. He just kowtowed heavily to Bai Qingyan and then spoke.
“Your Majesty, a secret report came from the Dongyi Kingdom that the Dongyi Kingdom has begun to mobilize its navy. Although the purpose is unclear, it also means that the border residents who make a living by fishing may be in danger. Since the founding of the Great Zhou, it has conquered the Western Liang in the south and fought with the Tianfeng Kingdom. The Daliang navy was not taken seriously after it was taken over!” King Hancheng was worried. “Your Majesty, I’m afraid you have to speed up the training. Otherwise… if the Dongyi Kingdom fights at our doorstep, the only ones who will be hurt are our own people in the Great Zhou.”
Bai Qingyan knew that King Hancheng still cared about the people, so she helped him up and said, “On the day you came to tell me that Yan was sending an envoy to Dongyi, I asked Wei Zhong to send a message to the Minister of War, Lord Zhang. Don’t worry…”
There was a reason why Zhang Duanning didn’t pay much attention to the navy before. There was no sea in the territory of Jin State before, so there were no capable people to train the navy. As a result, they couldn’t get involved in the navy. They still used the generals from Daliang. It was useless to send people later, even if they were high-ranking officials… The subordinates said, “Your Excellency doesn’t understand the training of the navy, just leave it to me,” and they didn’t get angry at all.
Zhang Duanning intended to suppress the navy, so since Da Zhou conquered Daliang, it cut naval expenses and cut naval personnel. Naturally, Zhang Duanning’s idea was to cut down first, remove the former Daliang naval generals who were loyal to Daliang and did not obey orders, and then slowly replace them with people from Da Zhou. But now the Dongyi Kingdom has made a sudden move, and I am afraid it can’t wait for Zhang Duanning to act slowly.
This matter was reported by Zhang Duanning and General Lu, and General Lu approved it, but it was not reported to Bai Qingyan. After all, after conquering a country, this method has been used to gather the troops of other countries. It is a very routine means of operation and there is no need to report it to Bai Qingyan.
King Hancheng looked at the current situation and was really afraid that the border residents would suffer if a war really broke out. He couldn’t help but tell Bai Qingyan about Zhang Duanning’s plan to reduce the navy’s expenses and cut the navy’s troops.
“Your Majesty has an idea in mind, and I am naturally relieved. However, the navy has been severely weakened now. Your Majesty needs to send someone who is powerful and reliable to take charge of the situation and recruit the old navy members back!”