After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 1105 Showing Weakness
When the renovation of the east wing of the main courtyard was halfway done, Haijiao came to see my younger sister with more accurate news.

He told Haitang: "The Duke of Zhenguo is indeed seriously ill. The family letter from the Duke of Zhenguo Mansion in Chang'an was sent to the capital at the end of the first lunar month. Just after the Lantern Festival, General Zhou's messenger set out on a fast journey. The Cheng'en Marquis Mansion does not know what the situation is in Chang'an now. But if there is bad news, the wife of the Duke of Zhenguo and General Zhou will definitely send someone to deliver the letter again."

According to Zhou Yijun, the Duke of Zhenguo has been in a coma for a long time and may not be awake for more than 15 minutes a day, which may only be enough for him to drink medicine and eat some soup and rice porridge. The doctor said that the Duke of Zhenguo's body has reached this stage and no matter how much medicine he takes, he can't recover. He can only barely maintain it and hold on for as long as he can. The wife of the Duke of Zhenguo and General Zhou and his wife also think that it is better to maintain the status quo for the time being. They don't plan to take the risk of using any new prescriptions or heavy medicines, for fear that the effect will not be good, but will damage the vitality of the Duke of Zhenguo and aggravate his condition.

The family letter from the Duke of Zhenguo Mansion to Beijing was not only to inform the family that the Duke of Zhenguo was seriously ill. General Zhou also wrote a memorial and asked his brother General Zhou Si to present it to the emperor, asking the new emperor to allow several of his brothers to go home to take care of him. Among them were General Zhou Er and General Zhou Liu stationed in the border city, General Zhou San stationed in Ganzhou, and General Zhou Si who was serving in Beijing. General Zhou said that his brothers might need to go home to take care of their father for a while. If their old father was too ill to get up, they would have to observe mourning for three years, and then someone would need to take over their current positions. The emperor and the court still needed to make a decision in this regard.

Haijiao said to Haitang, "At present, the new emperor and the cabinet do not intend to let General Zhou Si go back, but it is hard to say about the other Zhou family generals. The most likely ones to go home to take care of the sick should be General Zhou San and General Zhou Liu, right? The Zhenguo Mansion actually means the same thing."

General Zhou Er and General Si Si are not the sons of the Duke of Zhenguo. The former is an adopted son and the latter is an adopted nephew. If the new emperor and the cabinet think that the former is guarding the border city and has a heavy responsibility that no one can replace, and the latter is in charge of the imperial army and is deeply trusted by the royal family and cannot leave easily, then no one will think it is wrong for the two of them to be unable to go home to serve their seriously ill father.

Haitang heard another implication: "General Zhou San is now guarding Ganzhou, but he actually controls the military power of the Shaanxi Xingdusi. If he wants to resign and go home to take care of his illness, and let the new emperor and the cabinet choose another general to take over, it means that the Zhou family and the Northwest Frontier Army intend to give up the military power of the Shaanxi Xingdusi to the court?"

Haijiao looked at Haitang with a meaningful look: "Little sister, you also saw it? In fact, many people have seen it. At present, the border is still peaceful. Although the Hu people have soldiers disturbing the border from time to time, they are all small fights, far from the point of a major war. Their civil strife cannot be stopped for the time being, and it is impossible for them to invade our Great Chu with the whole country's strength. At this time, even if the generals sent by the court to guard the border are a bit useless, it will not go wrong. Moreover, only the chief general has been replaced, and the guards of the border guards are still there. As long as the supply of military food and military supplies is sufficient, and the chief general is not too stupid to do stupid things, the Hu army will not be able to press on. The court just sent some capable and talented generals to practice their hands, so that they can only rely on the generals of the northwest border army to calm the situation when there is a major war on the border. Some people in the court also said that the Zhou family monopolized power and had a rebellious heart."

Any ambitious general in the court can give it a try. Although there are no major battles at the border, the small-scale battles that occur from time to time are enough to earn some military merits and accumulate some qualifications. As long as the generals in the capital are not too unlucky or too useless, they will benefit from training in the northwest border army for a few years. The Zhou family just happened to shrink its power and concentrate its power within the Shaanxi Dusi area, keeping a low profile for a few years to avoid arousing suspicion from the royal family.

As long as they can spend the next few years peacefully, when the Zhou family members are in mourning, Zhou Xuejun can also marry the new emperor. Whether the Zhou family can still control the power of the Northwest Frontier Army at that time depends entirely on the new emperor's mind.

Haitang understood: "Duke Zhenguo doesn't want his family to be suspected by the royal family again, right? But I think the new emperor will use the Zhou family. How many generals in the country can stand on their own? Even fewer can gain a foothold in the northwest border army. If he doesn't use the Zhou family, who else can he use? The son of Yingchuan Marquis, or General Tu? There are too few people he can use, and the Zhou family is his future wife's family. If they can't help him, why would he make Zhou Xuejun his queen?"

Hai Jiao sighed, "Who told me that the late emperor did such terrible things when he was alive? The Duke of Zhenguo is afraid of ropes after being bitten by a snake once! But I also think that the new emperor will not repeat the mistakes of the late emperor. They are not the same kind of people at all!"

The family letter from the Zhenguogong Mansion arrived at the end of the month, and after the beginning of spring, the Empress Dowager took Zhou Xuejun into the Cining Palace. She obviously knew what had happened at the time, and she did this to show the outside world: Even if the Zhenguogong was seriously ill or even died, and the Zhenguogong Mansion temporarily lost the power of the border army, Zhou Xuejun's position as queen would still be as stable as before. Empress Dowager Xu and the new emperor had no objection to this. The former would send many rewards to the two guests of the Cining Palace every day, and the latter would go to talk and play games with his fiancée from time to time to cultivate feelings. Obviously, he was on the side of the Empress Dowager and expressed his attitude to the outside world.

Hai Jiao said: "In this way, even if Miss Xuejun of the Zhou family does not have the backing of the Northwest Frontier Army, she and the new king still have the friendship of childhood sweethearts to support them. The new king will not look down on her because of the change in power of her family. If the royal family really thinks so and can keep their promises in the future, the Zhou family will feel more at ease, right?"

Once the Zhou family knows that the new monarch is not of the same character as the previous emperor, and will not be as ungrateful and mean as the previous emperor, they will definitely be more loyal to the new monarch in the future and will work harder to guard the border for the court.

Haitang heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing this, and smiled, "I don't care what the relationship between the royal family, the court and the Zhenguogong Mansion is, as long as Zhou Xuejun will not be affected. In fact, even if something happens to the Zhenguogong, Zhou Xuejun's family background is prominent enough. General Zhou Si was the confidant of the late emperor, and after the new emperor ascended the throne, he also made contributions to saving the emperor. With such status and qualifications, why can't his daughter take the throne securely?

"A good descendant family, in fact, only needs to be innocent, decent, upright and law-abiding enough to protect the empress and the heir, be able to contribute to the emperor, keep the same political stance as the emperor, and not threaten the imperial power. That's enough. Zhou Xuejun's family meets all the requirements and should be the best candidate for the descendant family. The late emperor suffered from his foreign relatives all his life, and before his death he always hoped to weaken the power of foreign relatives. Now Zhou Xuejun's family still meets his requirements. General Zhou Si cannot command the imperial guards alone, and he is not the son of the Duke of Zhenguo, and he does not hold real power in the court. Isn't it more reassuring? If he really has no power, who should the new emperor turn to when he encounters difficulties?"

Hai Jiao smiled and said, "You are right. In fact, the Duke of Zhenguo ordered General Zhou to send a letter to General Zhou Si alone, saying that when he died, his sons would be separated. General Zhou Si would be independent, and his power would be weaker, but it would also make the court more assured. Zhou Yijun has received news that the new emperor will grant a house to his future father-in-law in a few days, and then their family of four will move out of Cheng'en Marquis Mansion. If the day of moving comes and there is no funeral news from Chang'an, maybe their family will hold a banquet for guests? I have already said that I will attend, so please prepare a generous gift for me, little sister."