Chapter 1250: Chapter 1245: Good News
Although back when they overthrew the Jin Dynasty⊠before the Bai family moved into the Imperial Palace, they had thoroughly checked all the servants within the palace, who knows if there are some hidden even deeper.
The dam of a thousand miles often collapses from an ant hole.
Mrs. Dongâs intention is, since Bai Qingyan is using herself this time to lure the snake out of its hole, and mobilizing the spies in Dadu City, might as well take this opportunity to clean up the palace once more!
Mrs. Dong requests the fifth wife, Mrs. Qi, to sit guard in the palace, sending their people out in advance, and by chance revealing that Empress Dowager Dong is in the Bai Mansion, but Doctor Huang, who is tending to the prince and princess, isnât actually at Bai Mansion. Since something happened to the Emperor of Zhou delivering a child prematurely, the Empress Dowager used the little imperial grandson and little princess as an excuse to take Doctor Huang out of the palace, when in fact it was to cover up Doctor Huang going to treat the Emperor of Zhou.
Since the information comes from the lips of the fifth wife, Mrs. Qi, its credibility will be high.
âNanny Qin, inform the people sent by my fifth aunt, during this time⊠if any palace servant dares to send messages to court ministers, detain them!â Her voice paused for a moment, then continued, âWait until mother returns to the palace to deal with them according to palace rules, treat it as a warning to those ministers who dare to plant people inside the palace, donât let their reach extend too far!â
âYes!â Nanny Qin responded.
âIf they dare to send messages to merchants, or to Yan Kingdom, Xiliang, then keep them alive, no matter the means, ensure they can be interrogated until they spill the truth, who knows, we might catch a big fish.â Bai Qingyan thought for a moment and added, âHave fifth aunt invite Minister Lu Jin for help with this matter, Minister Lu is quite adept at interrogations.â
âAlright! Donât worry about this matter, leave it to your mother and your fifth aunt, you just rest up!â Mrs. Dong softly advised.
Upon hearing this, Bai Qingyan looked up at her own mother, a gentle, shallow smile on her brows and eyes, âAlrightâŠâ
·
The news of Bai Qingyu being captured alive was delivered by Xiliang people to Yandu while the Yan Empress Dowager was feeding fish in front of the aquarium. Her eyes gleamed with joy as she scattered all the fish food in her hand, watching the several koi in the aquarium scramble for food, their tails flapping wildly, she smiled while taking a napkin from the maidâs hand and wiped her hands.
Back when they provided news to the Xiliang people, it was agreed that if Xiliang captured the Emperor of Zhouâs brother or sister, they were to be sent to Yan Kingdom. Unexpectedly, they captured the Emperor of Zhouâs full-blooded brother.
Isnât it said this Emperor of Zhou values his siblings the most, if their Yan Kingdom holds the Emperor of Zhouâs brother in their grasp, would the Emperor of Zhou not bow down?
Even if the Emperor of Zhou doesnât care for his brotherâs life, he would inevitably split with A Yan, this way⊠she wouldnât worry about the Emperor of Zhou getting entangled with that woman and child after having a child.
This time A Yanâs abandonment of Yunjing to head to Jiangzi City struck heavily on the Yan Empress Dowagerâs head. Although later on, A Yan sent a letter expressing willingness to follow her arrangements, and to select a proper consort after stabilizing Xiliang, she still remained uneasy.
The Yan Empress Dowager supported herself with a maidâs hand onto the main seat, looking past the screen at the Xiliang person, took the hot tea handed over by the maid, and said, âYou all leave! Stand guard outside the door!â
âYes!â
Quickly, the personal maid of the Yan Empress Dowager, along with the eunuchs and palace maids, retreated from the hall.
The Yan Empress Dowager took a sip of the hot tea before saying, âAre you the one who escorted Bai Qingyu to Yandu, or⊠are you here to bring me this joyous news by horse?â
That Xiliang person kept his eyes lowered, spoke neither arrogantly nor humbly, âIn reply to Empress Dowager Yan, our General Cuiâs intention is to leave Bai Qingyu in Xiliang Yunjing, not to send her to Empress Dowager Yan, but⊠considering duty, weâre here to inform Empress Dowager Yan.â
The Yan Empress Dowagerâs hand, about to sip tea, paused, raising her eyes to look at the Xiliang person, her eyes showing murder, âThis isnât what your General Cui promised to my mourning household!â
The Xiliang person seemed unfazed by the Yan Empress Dowager, âThe intelligence Empress Dowager Yan provided to Xiliang implied that the main forces of Zhou and Yan intended to lure Xiliang troops to Foping, where Yan would ambush. Instead, it was Yan that ambushed at Hebi. If it werenât for our General Cuiâs timely discovery, this battle would have been lost, and Bai Qingyu wouldnât have been captured either! Since the information you provided was incorrect, naturally⊠we wonât hand Bai Qingyu over to Empress Dowager Yan as initially discussed.â
Foping and Hebi are connected, not worlds apart, what difference is there between ambushing at Foping or Hebi?
The Yan Empress Dowagerâs heart raced with anxiety, fearing Xiao Rongyan might be injured.
âOur mourning household has also studied your Xiliangâs maps, Hebi and Foping indeed connect! Moreover⊠the battle is over, you won, claiming our Yanâs information was incorrect, what logic is that? If truly our mourning household provided information off by ten thousand miles, could you have captured Bai Qingyu?â The Yan Empress Dowager heavily placed her tea cup down, laughed coldly, âIf Xiliang plans to go back on their word, our Yan Kingdom isnât one to be trifled with!â
âJust as Empress Dowager Yan stated, the battle is finished, if Empress Dowager Yan doesnât believe, you can check the specific military reports at the Emperor of Yan, see whether the Yan forces ambushed at Foping or Hebi. In warfare, a slight mistake in information leads to major errors, itâs our Xiliang peopleâs lives on the line!â The Xiliang person glanced past the screen, then continued, âOur emperor and General Cui said, this time the information provided by Empress Dowager Yan was not merely slight, perhaps it was your informant who misled you, thus our emperor and General Cui wonât bicker with Empress Dowager! Iâve conveyed my message, if Empress Dowager Yan has no further queries, Iâll return to Xiliang.â
The Yan Empress Dowager clenched her jaw, clearly Xiliang sought excuses for not fulfilling the original agreement, only after a while did she say, âGo back and inform your Emperor of Xiliang and Cui Shanzhong that dog, from now on Yan and Xiliang will have no alliance, in this war we shall exhaust fully to destroy Xiliang! Leave!â
The Xiliang person respectfully bowed and left.
What nonsense of minor mistakes leading to major errors! What difference does it make in dealing with the same enemy between Foping and Hebi!
After pondering for a long while, the Yan Empress Dowager suddenly felt somewhat horrifiedâŠ
This time the strategy they negotiated with Zhou, rather than severely injuring Xiliang, led to Zhou being ambushed, realizing Yan betrayed them. Her intention was for Bai Qingyan to know and sever ties with A Yan, yet⊠the prerequisite was Yan holding the Emperor of Zhouâs cherished sibling to control Zhou.