After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

I heard the name Ning Jiexiao many times last year.

A talented scholar from the Northern Dynasties, he wrote excellent Wei stele calligraphy and is said to have also written some fragments. He rose to fame in the Northern Dynasties two years ago and is now extremely famous.

Zhu Cuiwei took the intelligence report handed to her by Yan Yuqing and looked down at it.

Last year at the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, the gift that Emperor Wenzong of the Northern Dynasties, Nalan Ruo, presented was the Mid-Autumn Festival poem that he had written the year before, which was famous throughout the north and south.

Emperor Wenzong personally commissioned Ning Jiexiao to write a copy of the Wei stele calligraphy and presented it to her.

Zhu Cuiwei frowned as she recalled the incident, her heart pounding for no apparent reason.

Last year, she was hosting the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet and didn't go to the literary gathering there. That calligraphy piece was put into the imperial archives and should still be safely stored there.

However, the focus of this intelligence report is not on Ning Jiexiao, but on five words:

The leader of the Heavenly Principle Sect.

The empress on the dragon throne had eyes that had long been dulled by various things and emotions.

She raised her head and looked down at Yan Yuqing:

Who is Ning Jiexiao? Why is he the new leader of the Heavenly Principle Sect?

The Queen's heart was beating faster and faster.

Shouldn't the leader of the Heavenly Principle Sect be the young doctor? Could it be that because the young doctor died, the Heavenly Principle Sect got a new leader?

Thinking of this, the Empress's eyes couldn't help but fill with even more profound sorrow.

The intelligence from the Northern Dynasty said that the young doctor had been attacked and killed by the Heavenly Principle Sect and the Rakshasa people. She naturally didn't believe it.

The fact that the young doctor sent her a message through the Beijing Daily in such a roundabout way shows just how dangerous her environment was.

The contents of the letter were directly related to the life and death of the nation, and the contents of the young doctor's letter have been verified over the past month.

She had no idea how much risk the other party had taken to obtain the information.

If it weren't for this letter received so early, she probably would have sent the Jiangpu army to take over the city as soon as the three major camps of the Northern Dynasty ceded Chuzhou at the end of March.

Zhu Cuiwei gripped the intelligence report tightly with her fingers.

Although she didn't believe the Northern Dynasty's claim that the young doctor had died at the hands of the Rakshasa and the Heavenly Principle Sect, she knew that her husband was likely in grave danger and had probably been framed by someone else after being poisoned by the Northern Dynasty...

Zhu Cuiwei's eyes became blank:

Ning Jiexiao... Leader of the Heavenly Principles Sect...

Who is he...?

Why does it have the surname Ning?

Why specifically the new leader of the Heavenly Principle Sect?

"Is he related to the young doctor?"

"If there's a connection... what connection?"

Lower seat inside the hall.

Yan Yuqing had a full head of white hair; she was one of the few people who knew about her son-in-law's mysterious identity.

At this moment, he was also full of confusion and doubts about Ning Jiexiao.

The old woman, her voice hoarse, bowed as she reported:

"Your Majesty, I have consulted many intelligence reports, and it is said that Ning Jiexiao has never shown his face in the Northern Dynasty."

"Never shown his face?" Zhu Cuiwei asked in confusion.

"Indeed." The old woman bowed and said, "I wonder who this person is; he seems to have appeared out of nowhere."

Zhu Cuiwei was stunned for a moment.

Then, Yan Yuqing recounted how this person led the followers of the Heavenly Principles Sect in a night raid on the Forbidden City, how they broke out of the Forbidden City, and how they went to Miaofeng Mountain and Zhuolu County.

The intelligence was just a bit too incredible.

Yan Yuqing smiled wryly:

"Merchants in Shandong and Huai'an said that Ning Jiexiao could transform into a winged tiger, which is why Ortai and Huang Zhongcai, with tens of thousands of men, could not capture him. They also said that Ning Jiexiao was eight feet tall and wielded a long crescent-shaped sword, killing hundreds of Qing soldiers single-handedly... This must have been made up by storytellers."

"However, it is true that Ning Jiexiao entered and exited the Forbidden City, started an uprising in Zhuolu County, defeated the Qing army, killed the Shanxi Green Standard Army general in Yangyuan, and attacked the Shanxi grain route."

Wang Bing, who had also gathered a great deal of intelligence, bowed and said:

"I have also received a lot of news, which is almost the same as what the commander said... Some people said that Ning Jiexiao wrote a piece of calligraphy and exchanged it for a hundred cattle in Shanxi."

Yan Yuqing frowned, her white eyebrows furrowing:

"Eunuch Wang, did you exchange it for ten thousand catties of grain?"

Wang Bing smiled slightly, and said rather defiantly:

"What I heard is that a hundred oxen were exchanged. It's said that Ning Jiexiao wrote the 'Ox-Slaughtering Calligraphy,' so how could it not involve slaughtering oxen?"

The two talked for a while.

Yan Yuqing did not argue.

Wang Bing didn't say anything more, only bowed slightly to the head of the table with a hint of excitement and said:

"This servant congratulates Your Majesty! Congratulations!"

With a formidable enemy at hand, Zhu Cuiwei didn't really like hearing such words.

However, he did not reprimand Wang Bing: "Eunuch Wang, please speak your mind."

Wang Bing smiled and said:

"Now that Ning Jiexiao is in Shanxi to restrain the Northern Dynasty, and the Heavenly Principle Sect is attacking the Northern Dynasty's grain supply lines in Shandong, it is clear that those who follow the Way receive much help, while those who stray from the Way receive little help."

"Your Majesty has won the hearts of the people not only in the Southern Dynasty but also in the Jiangbei! This is a great blessing. The hearts of the Han people in both the North and South still regard Your Majesty as the legitimate ruler. We urge Your Majesty to take good care of your health, reclaim Jiangbei, and bring peace to the people."

The eunuch from the Imperial Censorate knelt down respectfully to pay his respects.

Hearing Wang Bing's words, which were half flattering and half admonishing, Zhu Cuiwei, whose face had become noticeably thinner, fell silent for a moment.

A moment later.

She then raised her head and thanked him softly:

"Please rise, Eunuch Wang. I understand. You are very kind. I am able to receive this message from my husband thanks to you."

"Once we defeat the Northern Dynasty, I will reward you for your contributions and express my gratitude to Eunuch Wang."

"Thanks to me? Thank me?" Wang Bing was suddenly taken aback: "Thank me for what?"

His Majesty didn't elaborate, so he naturally didn't dare to ask further. He suppressed his doubts, kowtowed, and expressed his gratitude:

"This servant wouldn't dare."

After expressing his gratitude, Wang Bing slowly stood up, bowed, and proposed:

"Your Majesty, although the Heavenly Principle Sect is a traitor to Heaven's principles, since they have taken advantage of the Northern Dynasty's southward invasion to start an uprising, they may not be unusable for us."

Yan Yuqing, dressed in a flying fish robe, agreed:

"In my humble opinion, Ning Jiexiao was able to hold off tens of thousands of troops in the Northern Dynasty for several days. His military skills are quite unpredictable. If we were to offer him provisions and weapons in the future, we might be able to make him a major threat to the Northern Dynasty."

She didn't know the relationship between this person and her son-in-law, but since this person was a member of the Heavenly Principle Sect, as long as they could grit their teeth and get through this Northern Dynasty's southward journey and do everything they could to bring the delegation back from the north, there shouldn't be any obstacles to this matter.

Zhu Cuiwei nodded and handed the matter over to the two of them.

The two immediately agreed.

"good,"

Setting aside the question of who Ning Jiexiao really was, Zhu Cuiwei turned to today's main topic:

"Next, please speak."

Her face fell into a somber mood and a hint of sorrow.

"How can we bring the Liang delegation back from Beijing...?"

War was inevitable. Upon hearing His Majesty's question, Yan Yuqing and Wang Bing exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with solemnity.

Bring the mission back?

Now it's too late to take it back...

A narrow escape from death.

It's as difficult as climbing to heaven.

"His Majesty,"

Yan Yuqing gritted her teeth and said truthfully:

"Our only option is to stop this Northern invasion from the south... to defend the two cities north of the Yangtze River... to defend Huguang... to defend Sichuan..."

"The war dragged on until the Northern Dynasty ran out of food, and thus, after the great battle..."

"Only then can we exchange our delegation for the Northern Dynasty delegation, which we have imprisoned in Nanjing..."

"Your Majesty," Wang Bing also bowed in agreement, "Beijing is heavily guarded. Even with extraordinary abilities, it would be extremely difficult to rescue our delegation."

He has self-awareness.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard is no good.

The supervisor of the assassination case is even less suitable.

On the dragon throne, Zhu Cuiwei pondered for a while and realized that what the two said made sense. She sighed and did not press them further to avoid wasting lives. She waved her hand and ordered the two to continue their work.

After the two men left...

Zhu Cuiwei then reviewed the memorials.

She had just picked up the vermilion brush with her delicate hand.

My mind was somewhat uneasy.

She thought for a moment, then looked up at Zhang Qi, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, and said:

"Go to the Imperial Treasury yourself and retrieve the calligraphy that Emperor Nalan Wenzong of the Northern Dynasty presented to you last Mid-Autumn Festival, the one written by Ning Jiexiao..."

The Empress pursed her somewhat pale lips, her gaze darkening.

"Bring it here."

"I want to take a look."

Zhang Qi bowed and agreed.

……

……

At the same time.

Jiang Shikuan, the adopted son of the Jiangpu Army General and an elite night scout in the army, rode two horses and led more than ten night scouts to the foggy outskirts of Huai'an City to scout out the enemy's situation.

With a thud, Jiang Shikuan jumped off his horse.

He squatted down, reached out and grabbed a handful of mud from the ground, and rubbed it.

He turned his head again and stared intently at the deep ruts on the ground that had damaged the official road, his heart sinking to the bottom.