flstandardbreds Chapter 243 Hearing the Bad News
Chapter 243 Hearing the Bad News
"what?"
Su Li was horrified.
She grabbed Songzhi and asked, "Where's the general?"
"The general just received the news and went to Lian's residence through the secret passage. His Royal Highness Prince Su and others are waiting there now."
Some time ago, taking the opportunity to renovate Lian's house, they dug a secret passage between the General's Mansion and Lian's house. The entrance to the secret passage is in Nanshe, in case of emergency.
Now that there are the emperor's spies in the palace, important matters are discussed in Lian's residence for the sake of caution.
"Tell me the whole story quickly."
Su Li found a place to sit down and listened to Song Zhi describe the war situation in the north.
This morning, the imperial court received an urgent military report from eight hundred miles away, stating that Beimang's 100,000 troops had already broken through the border town and were marching southward. Liangzhou and Ganzhou had also fallen, and the Beimang people were now at the gates of Guazhou.
If Guazhou is broken again, the Beimang soldiers will cross the Wei River and the Mangshan Mountains, which stretch for thousands of miles, and directly target Shengjing.
There are no eggs left under the overturned nest.
"That's not right! How did the Beimang people manage to penetrate thousands of miles from the border to Ganzhou? There was no news at all before this!"
Such confusion also lingered in the minds of Pei Heng and others.
In a secret room connected to the house and the secret passage, Pei Heng, Prince Su, Marquis Yong'an and others gathered together to discuss countermeasures.
Yong'an Hou said:
"The Ministry of War just received an urgent report from Ganzhou this morning, eight hundred miles away. The area north of Ganzhou has become a scorched earth."
Pei Hengpeng slammed his fist on the table.
"There are 50,000 troops stationed in the border town, plus a full 100,000 civilians. Furthermore, the combined military strength of Liangzhou and Guazhou is nearly 200,000. How is this possible?!"
Pei Heng knew the northern border very well. He had a bad feeling in his heart because he had not received any news from the north for a few days, but he did not expect it to be like this!
Prince Su also found it incredible.
"Everyone was discussing this morning, and some even questioned the military report, saying the intelligence was wrong."
Yong'an Hou said:
"The imperial court has already urgently dispatched troops from surrounding states to provide emergency assistance. We hope to stop the Beimang cavalry from advancing southwards in Ganzhou. Otherwise..."
Four years ago, the Beimang people also invaded the south, and the situation at that time was already very urgent. But compared with that time, the current situation is nothing!
If it cannot resist, Daqi may be in danger of being destroyed.
Pei Heng said:
"This is really strange. I suspect someone is collaborating with the enemy and treason!"
Prince Su glanced at Yong'an Hou and Pei Heng in embarrassment and said:
"Someone did bring this up during the morning court session. They said the person collaborating with the enemy and betraying the country was... the Marquis of Zhenbei!"
Marquis Yong'an and Marquis Zhenbei are relatives. At this moment, he frowned and did not comment.
"impossible!"
Pei Heng directly denied it.
How could he not know the character of the Zhenbei Marquis? He was a man of great loyalty and courage and would never do such a treasonous act as opening the country's borders to the enemy.
"But if that's not the case, how do you explain it?"
The room fell into silence.
After a long time, Pei Heng broke the silence and said:
"It's useless to discuss these matters now. The most urgent task is to resist the enemy north of Ganzhou. I will go to the palace tonight to ask for permission to march north to fight the enemy."
"No!"
As soon as Pei Heng finished speaking, Marquis Yong'an stopped him.
"The Emperor is so suspicious of you, and you're asking for permission to lead the troops now. Isn't that just giving the Emperor a handle to suspect you of ulterior motives?"
"The country is on the verge of collapse, I can't care about these things! Let him be suspicious if he wants to. I will wait until I drive the Beimang people back to the grassland, and then I will apologize!" Pei Heng's blood was boiling, and he wished he could get on his horse and head north immediately.
How could the vast land of Daqi be slaughtered by these barbarians? The people of the northern border had only lived in peace for four years, and now they are all dead!
What did the gains and losses of Pei Heng alone matter?!
But Yong'an Hou still pulled him aside and said:
"General, I know you are passionate about defending your country, but I am afraid you can't even leave Shengjing City now."
"I go!"
Prince Su stood up solemnly. He looked at Pei Heng and said, "General, I will go to my father and ask for permission to go north to supervise the battle! I swear I will not return to the court until I win this battle!"
In the past, it was the eldest brother and General Pei who rushed to the front to protect them, but now it is time for him to stand up.
At this moment, Prince Su seemed to have suddenly matured, and even his posture became exceptionally tall and straight.
"Your Highness, this is a crucial moment in the fight for the throne. If you leave Shengjing, wouldn't that be exactly what Prince Kang wants? If anything happens to the Emperor while you're away, you'll have no chance of becoming emperor!"
Marquis Yong'an thinks long-term.
But Prince Su smiled carefreely.
"If the North falls and Daqi perishes, what's the point of sitting on the throne? Without the people, I don't deserve to be emperor!"
"it is good!"
Pei Heng clapped his palm on Prince Su's shoulder and said approvingly:
"This is what a responsible man looks like! You go north to command the army, and I will disguise myself as an aide and accompany you, offering you advice. Together, we will recapture the lost lands and cities!"
"it is good!"
Prince Su looked at Pei Heng with sharp eyes.
At this moment, he seemed to finally understand his elder brother's ambitions.
After discussing the matter, Prince Su went to the palace without stopping.
Marquis Yong'an looked at his son-in-law, seeming to want to say something but stopping himself.
My daughter had finally had a few days of peace and quiet, and now she has to say goodbye to her husband. She's pregnant! What the hell is going on?
But he couldn't bring himself to stop Pei Heng from going north.
A real man should take his family, country and the world as his responsibility. How can he limit himself to love affairs?
When his daughter married Pei Heng, didn't he not stop her because he saw that Pei Heng was a great general who loved his country and his people?
But now?
For the first time, Marquis Yong'an hoped that his daughter would marry an ordinary man.
Pei Heng actually felt very uncomfortable.
He had clearly promised Su Li that he would stay by her side for the rest of his life, that he would watch their child being born, and that he would be her househusband for the rest of his life!
How long has it been?
He's about to break his promise...
When he returned to Nanshe from the secret passage and walked out of the secret room, he saw Su Li sitting on the warm couch with a worried look on her face, supporting her forehead with one hand, waiting for him to come back.
"Ali!"
Pei Heng opened his mouth and found that his voice was a little hoarse.
Su Li was startled by the sound of him opening the door and came forward to greet him.
"What's going on? What happened?"
"Don't worry, Ali!"
Pei Heng helped her sit down and explained everything to her, hiding the fact that he was going to disguise himself as Prince Su's aide and travel north with her. He hadn't figured out how to bring this up yet.
Su Li looked at him steadily, then suddenly dived into his arms. After a long while, she took a deep breath and forced a smile, saying:
"What about you? When are you planning on leaving?"
"Ari, you?" Pei Heng was very surprised.
"Don't I know you well enough? How could you sit back and watch the suffering in the North? You must be going north secretly with Prince Su. Don't worry, I'm fine. I'll take care of everything at home. We'll wait for your return victorious."
Pei Heng was inexplicably moved.
No one knows others better than A'li!
"Don't worry, I will protect myself."
"Okay. It's a deal." Su Li smiled and said, "However, you need to plan carefully how and when you leave."