Emperor Taizong's Growth Plan

Chapter 173 King Qi's Painful Choice

Xia Guo, Qi Wang Mansion.

Outside the study, the guards of the mansion rushed over and shouted loudly:

"Your Highness, Your Highness!"

In the study, King Qi was wearing regular clothes, with disheveled hair and a shaggy beard that hadn't been taken care of for more than ten days. His appearance was so scruffy that he looked like a greasy man in his 40s. He was no longer as heroic as the military commander. appearance.

At this moment, he was concentrating on looking at the sand table placed in the study room, constantly deducing and replaying the battle with Cheng Bushi in the northern border of Yun Country.

The battle situation deduced in King Qi's mind became more and more intense, and it was at the critical moment of the decisive battle, but his original thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the movement outside the study room.

He frowned involuntarily, and asked with some displeasure:

"what's up?"

The soldiers outside heard the words and hurriedly replied:
"Your Highness, someone from the palace has delivered an order!"

King Qi was taken aback when he heard this, and then frowned slightly.

At this time, why did you come to pass the decree?

He knew very well that what he had committed was not a small one.From back to the present, he has only been locked up for two months, and then he can be released?

King Qi was originally defeated by Cheng Bushi, which resulted in the defeat of Xia Kingdom's southwestern frontier army in the north of Yun Kingdom, and tens of thousands of troops were lost.

With this reason, under the wild counterattack of the remaining forces of the Southwest General Gate, if King Qi hadn't been the prince of the dynasty and had military achievements in his early years, he might not have ended up in a prison.

And this time against King Qi's forces, apart from the power of the southwestern generals above the court, all the officials in the court also participated.

The main reason is that King Qi mobilized the army privately, instead of being punished by the court's law, he directly slaughtered the southwestern generals.This method has already surpassed the unspoken rules of fighting among officials in the imperial court.

Therefore, even if the southwestern generals failed to restrain the private soldiers, causing the private soldiers to plunder the people, causing the land in the southwest to turn against the sky, and committing such a crime of punishing the nine clans, the officials in the court would also selectively turn a blind eye at this time. Concerned about King Qi's secret transfer of the army in the middle of the country, it was confirmed that he had an intention to do something wrong, and forced Emperor Xia to give an explanation to the people of the world.

Just kidding, if the king of Qi is familiar with the matter of ransacking the family and destroying the family, one day he will not be able to see it, and who can bear such a hand against any loyal and upright person above the court?
Must be suppressed!Let him know that the rules of court after court cannot be participated by a prince who joins the army!
King Qi frowned slightly, pondered for a moment, and finally got up and walked out of the study.

Seeing King Qi walking out of the study with a disheveled body, the soldiers in the mansion couldn't help but say:

"Your Highness... After all, His Majesty sent someone to announce the decree, why don't His Highness go and get dressed first?"

King Qi looked down at himself at this moment, couldn't help but smiled wryly, shook his head and said:
"No need, it may not be a good thing..."

With his father's temperament, it is impossible to be lenient to himself under the pressure of all the officials in the court.Sending someone to pass the decree at this time may not be a good thing!
The soldiers in the mansion wanted to persuade them again, but seeing their lord persisted, they could only sigh softly and stepped forward to lead the way.

The old eunuch Sixi who was in charge of delivering the decree, and the young eunuch in King Qi's mansion were carefully accompanying the old ancestor in the palace, not daring to be careless.

Not long after, the slovenly and slovenly King Qi came to the hall, slightly bowed his hands to Eunuch Sixi, and said calmly:

"I've seen my companion!"

The old eunuch had served Emperor Xia for most of his life, and he was the closest person to Emperor Xia. He almost watched the princes grow up, so he respected King Qi with his temperament.

The old eunuch Sixi couldn't help but feel stagnant when he saw King Qi's current appearance.

At this time, King Qi was wearing the regular uniform, with grains of rice still on his chest.The hair is messy, the beard is sloppy, and the face is thinner than before, giving people a sloppy and decadent feeling.

The Emperor Xia, um... his body is in good condition, and he should be very good at time management.

In addition to handling Xia Guo's state affairs by himself, he can often go to the harem to exchange feelings with concubines, so that in terms of the number of emperor's heirs, he is enough to compete with Xiao Cheng's cheap father.

Although there are many imperial heirs, among them, the princesses and young ones must be removed first. In the end, there are only seven or eight princes who can be called promising and capable.

And King Qi Yu Zhaoling was the only dragon son among these princes who chose to join the army.

In the past, when King Qi appeared in front of everyone, he always looked heroic and unstoppable, but no one ever thought that he would have such a decadent appearance.

It seems that Yunguo's defeat really dealt a big blow to King Qi!

Sixi sighed in her heart, bowed slightly to King Qi, and couldn't help persuading:

"His Royal Highness King Qi, battles on the battlefield have never been permanent, so why worry about winning or losing at the moment!"

Upon hearing this, King Qi subconsciously looked down at himself, and suddenly realized that Sixi had misunderstood him because of his current appearance.

He shook his head involuntarily, smiled lightly and said:

"Big companion, I'm too worried, but I'm used to being sloppy in the army, and when I return to the palace, I'm also used to being so slovenly..."

In fact, King Qi joined the army since he was a child and made countless military achievements, so how could he not know that victory or defeat is a common thing in military affairs?Even though I often think of the battle with Cheng Bushi now, I won't do anything just because I lost one.

Besides, if he hadn't deliberately taken advantage of the opportunity of attacking Yunguo to cleanse the southwestern frontier army, and delayed for a while, he would have taken the northern border of Yunguo long ago. How could he have waited until Cheng Bushi came to help?

So worrying about him being decadent because of this is just thinking too much!
Hearing what King Qi said, Sixi nodded thoughtfully, but did not speak.

At this moment, King Qi couldn't help but say:
"Big companion came to look for this king today, what is the emperor's intention?"

Hearing this, Sixi hesitated for a moment, took the imperial decree from the young eunuch behind him, did not unfold it, but handed it to King Qi.

King Qi looked at Sixi who was behaving strangely, frowned slightly, and took it casually.

He was a person who didn't follow the rules of etiquette, so he opened the imperial edict casually to have a look.

But after King Qi took a glance, he was slightly taken aback, and said in surprise:
"Let this king take the blame and meritorious deeds and go to Yun Kingdom to conclude a peace treaty?"

Sixi nodded, and replied softly:
"Yes!"

King Qi frowned, feeling a little unhappy in his heart.But it was not pleasant at all, and it quickly disappeared.

He folded the imperial decree in his hands, nodded, and said in a deep voice:

"That's okay, I don't know Cheng Buzhi from the Yun Kingdom, and the young emperor of the Yun Kingdom who caused chaos in my southwestern land by his personal conquest, this king also wants to see him!"

Firstly, King Qi really wanted to meet Xiao Cheng and Cheng Bushi. He was not someone who couldn't afford to lose, he just lost one game first, and sooner or later he would have a chance to win back.

Secondly, no matter how much it is to go to Yunguo, it is much better than being trapped in this small Qiwang Mansion!
Hearing what King Qi said, Sixi felt a little relieved.

From this point of view, it seems that King Qi didn't care too much about the shame of going to Yun Kingdom to seek peace, and he was not furious because he might be insulted by Yun Kingdom's monarch and ministers, and accepted the imperial decree quite calmly.
Seeing this, Sixi was silent for a moment, and then said:

"Your Majesty also decreed that the fourteenth princess should be named the Empress Concubine of Rou Ning, and they will go to Yun Country together to marry each other."

King Qi nodded and said:

"A marriage with the little emperor? I heard that the little emperor is very good-looking, and his literary skills and military strategy are all superior..."

Halfway through speaking, King Qi suddenly stopped, looked up at Sixi, and asked:
"Tell me again, which princess is it?"

Sixi lowered her head slightly, instead of looking into King Qi's eyes, she just motioned to the little eunuch behind her to hand over the second imperial edict.

At this time, King Qi lost the calmness he had just now.He snatched the imperial decree, and only waited for a glance, King Qi opened his eyes wide, with a ferocious expression on his face, gritted his teeth and said:

"Why? Why is it the fourteenth princess? There are more than one princess of the right age. And, and... why don't you choose a daughter from the clan, give her the name of a princess and send her to marry?"

Don't say that King Qi's appearance is too double-standard, the fourteenth princess is the younger sister of his mother, and he has loved him the most since he was a child.It is different from the nominal sisters born to other concubines!

The old eunuch lowered his head and said softly:
"Your Majesty said that this is the price for His Highness' defeat in one battle and the chaos in the Southwest..."

A word, like a thunderbolt from the blue sky, resounded in King Qi's ears, making him freeze in place immediately.

After standing in a daze for a long time, King Qi's eyes sharpened, not concealing the hostility around him, he turned around and walked towards the gate of the palace.

But before he took two steps, Sixi sighed softly:

"Your Majesty said, if His Royal Highness Qi Wang does not accept the order, he will never have to leave Qi Wang's mansion in the future..."

As soon as the words fell, there was only the sound of "stabbing" the long knife unsheathed.

The palace guard who came with Eunuch Sixi suddenly pulled out the long knife at his waist, took a step forward, and directly blocked King Qi's progress.

Seeing such a sudden change, the soldiers in the mansion were stunned for a moment, and then shouted, saying:
"Protect Your Highness!"

As soon as the words fell, all the guards of the palace present turned ruthless, and rushed towards King Qi, protecting him in the middle.Then he brazenly drew out his weapon and stared murderously at the guard in front of him who drew his sword.

These personal guards of King Qi are all remnants of the battlefield.One by one, in terms of martial arts, they are not outstanding, and there are even more or less crippled bodies.

But at this moment, their faces were ferocious, and their bodies carried a murderous aura, which made even the carefully selected palace guards on the opposite side feel panicked and dare not look directly at them.

The old eunuch Sixi sighed slightly, shook his head and said:
"His Royal Highness King Qi, do you really want to do this? Didn't you just say that the emperor of Yun Kingdom has a high status, is handsome, and has both civil and military skills. The fourteenth princess, ah, it is Emperor Rouning who is going to make a marriage, which can ensure peace between the two countries." , can also find such an excellent husband-in-law, it may not be a bad thing!"

King Qi, who was surrounded by a group of personal soldiers, his eyes were red and his face was full of hostility, he gritted his teeth and said:

"Impossible! I will never allow Yingyao to make love!"

Yun Kingdom had been thriving in national strength before. Apart from Xia Kingdom, which occupies the Central Plains and has a profound heritage, there is no other country in the world that can compare with it.

The reason why King Qi was so easily instigated by Ganye Temple to send troops was not only to take advantage of the opportunity to integrate the Southwest Frontier Army, but also to take advantage of the domestic turmoil to weaken his national power.

But he never expected that Xiao Cheng, the newly enthroned little emperor of the Yun Kingdom, personally led the troops to the expedition. He led a group of mobs to defeat the armies of Li and Xia with his own power, subdued the frontier army of the Yun Kingdom, and turned the tide. The crisis of Yun Kingdom's destruction was lifted.

After returning, King Qi also heard that during this period of time, the emperor of the Yun Kingdom had cleared away the domestic obstacles by means of thunder, completely controlled the power of the court, and also created the Jixia Academy and the imperial examination system, which attracted people's attention. Talents from all over the world are effective.

Under the leadership of such an emperor, Yunguo's rise is bound to be unstoppable.In the future, the army of the Yun Kingdom will go out to the south of the sky, and the day when they attack the Xia Kingdom will not be far away!
At this time, send someone to make a marriage, and if the two countries go to war in the future, what will happen to the person who makes a marriage?King Qi didn't even dare to think about this kind of thing!
Hearing this, the old eunuch lowered his head to avoid King Qi's sight, and said in a low voice:

"Your Majesty, I ask your servants to warn His Majesty that as an emperor, besides being able to endure what others cannot, he also needs to have the heart to give up everything for the sake of the overall situation..."

King Qi didn't even bother to listen to the old eunuch's words, so he interrupted straight away, gritted his teeth and said:
"I never wanted to be an emperor! Yingyao is the younger sister of my first mother, I can't make her..."

"Your Highness, it's not up to you whether you want to fight for that position or not! Whoever His Majesty wants to fight for, must fight for it!" The old eunuch also interrupted King Qi.

King Qi sneered, and casually took the long saber at the waist of the soldier beside him, saying:

"This king doesn't want to, even the emperor can't force it!"

The old eunuch Sixi sighed helplessly looking at such a stubborn King Qi.

Could it be that he really wants to fight this King Qi today?

Just when the two sides were at war, a long shout suddenly came from the gate of Prince Qi's mansion:
"Nineteen, don't be impulsive!"

The person who came at this moment was naturally Jin Wang Yu Zhaoli who had a good relationship with King Qi.

King Jin hurried over with his entourage and guards.

Seeing King Jin coming, King Qi frowned, and said with a trace of questioning in his voice:
"Third brother, are you here to persuade me?"

King Jin looked at King Qi who was staring at him with a stubborn expression on his face, gasped for a long time, and then gritted his teeth and said:

"I guessed that you would have this reaction... It was Yingyao who sent someone out of the palace to invite me to your house! After all, it's your sister who knows you best."

King Qi was taken aback for a moment, and said:
"Yingyao?"

"She has accepted the royal decree and canonization of her father, and she is willing to go to Yun Kingdom to marry her!"

Having said that, King Jin paused, and continued:
"Yingyao also said that since you joined the army, the two of you have been together less and separated more, so she wants you to marry her personally..."

When King Qi heard this, his throat moved up and down, his expression was a little dazed, and his figure even staggered slightly.

The old eunuch Sixi sighed again when he saw his absent-minded appearance.

Without fear, he pushed away the weapons pointed at him by the soldiers in King Qi's mansion, walked to King Qi calmly, lowered his voice, and said:
"Your Highness, maybe His Majesty has something that he really wants to tell you, but he didn't say it clearly. It's up to His Highness to figure out all the meanings..."

King Qi pondered for a moment when he heard the words, his expression was slightly cold, he lowered his head and gritted his teeth and said:

"Father thinks he is telling me that only when he really sits in that position can he be qualified to protect the people I cherish."

When the old eunuch heard the words, his expression was indifferent, and he said meaningfully:

"Perhaps your majesty's deep meaning is what your majesty thinks. After all, the power of heaven is unpredictable, and as a slave, I really can't speculate too much..."

King Qi couldn't hide his resentment, gritted his teeth and said:

"This imperial decree, this king has accepted!"

(End of this chapter)