60. The Traitorous General

Five days had passed since that breakthrough. Since that night, Yan Chu had no chance to meet the princess alone. The princess seemed to be avoiding him and unwilling to meet him.

At this time, there were only four or five days left before they arrived at the border of Jiang State.

Yan Chu had been thinking about what kind of feelings the princess had for the original body these days. Was the words she said from the heart or did she have ulterior motives?

After all, he did not have the memory of the original body, and in the memory of the other party for the first sixteen years, it seemed that the princess did not exist. If the princess liked the original body, it really made Yan Chu puzzled.

However, the pious, happy, desperate, and calm eyes when the other party kissed him that night had been repeatedly appearing in his mind these days. If such strong feelings that could not be expressed were just acting, then it was definitely a better acting than the queen of the screen. Yan Chu intuitively felt that those feelings were real and pure.

Combined with the performance of the second princess, Yan Chu felt that the princess who pleaded for him that King Zhou told his grandmother and mother was probably the eldest princess who was currently sitting in the marriage team to Jiang State, rather than the second princess who was loved by thousands.

On the contrary, the second princess's suppressed disgust for him and her performance of being immediately betrothed to Fu Cong after he lost power made him wonder if she had also made great efforts in framing him for treason.

After all, those who can imitate the original body's handwriting should be people who are extremely familiar with his original handwriting, and Zhou Mingzhu, who grew up with Yan Chu, may have such a skill.

So Yan Chu is worthy of being the host that 007 is optimistic about. Without the memory of the original body and the general plot of the world, he can also connect the main line of the story through some details that others can't even notice.

That night, he read the note that the princess handed him. It was filled with names, some of which he remembered, including the King of Zhou and the Queen of Zhou, as well as the maids and eunuchs who served the princes.

I'm afraid that the notes written on that piece of paper were all the connections that Zhou Mingli had developed in Zhou Kingdom over the years. If he hadn't seen the note with his own eyes, no one would have believed that the princess, who had always been low-key and often ignored by everyone, had actually built such a force in Zhou Kingdom.

Although it seemed that what she gave were all small things, but the elephant was killed by many ants, and sometimes those big figures were defeated by these inconspicuous people in the past.

This favor was too big, and Yan Chu didn't know how to repay it for a while.

Especially after the kiss a few nights ago, Yan Chu suddenly felt that it was a bit uncomfortable to ask him to personally send the girl to marry the old man in Jiang Kingdom.

He thought that before reaching Jiang Kingdom, he still had to meet Zhou Mingli again. If she didn't want to, he might be able to help her leave.

Although there are still many follow-up problems that will affect his plan, he is a man and has not yet reached the point where he has to rely on a woman to sacrifice her happiness to win.

Therefore, although it is a bit immoral, on a dark and windy night, Yan Chu still chose to visit the princess's boudoir at night.

"Who?"

Zhou Mingli's vigilance was higher than he thought. Almost as soon as he entered the room, Zhou Mingli woke up immediately. She quickly picked up the dagger under the pillow and was about to call.

Fortunately, Yan Chu was agile and quickly came to Zhou Mingli's bedside and covered her mouth.

This incident made him a flower thief.

Looking at this figure that was very familiar even in the dark, Zhou Mingli recognized the person at once, and the dagger that was originally hidden behind her was also put down.

Yan Chu felt the other party's relaxed expression and knew that the other party had recognized him, so he put his hand down immediately, because he knew that the other party would not call for help.

"What are you doing here?"

Zhou Mingli clenched his fists a little, avoiding his eyes and not daring to look at him.

"If you don't want to marry King Jiang, I can take you away."

A familiar voice sounded in Zhou Mingli's ears. After hearing the other party's words, her eyes were a little sour, but she still refused without hesitation.

"As long as I marry him, I will be the dignified Queen Jiang. Why would I not want to?"

The other party was the leader of the escort team for the marriage. If she got into trouble, Yan Chu would be blamed. Therefore, she must not let the other party do irrational behavior. Moreover, in Zhou Mingli's view, this might just be the other party's compensation after seeing the list of personnel she gave him.

She was not so self-indulgent that the other party fell in love with her just because of a kiss that day. After all, in her heart, Yan Chu loved his family and the barracks the most. The second person he liked was probably Zhou Mingzhu.

"When I was in Zhou, I was not taken seriously by everyone, so a long time ago, I wanted to experience what it felt like to be a superior person, and King Jiang could satisfy me. Even though he is old, as the queen, no matter which prince succeeds to the throne, I will be the legitimate queen mother, second only to the emperor and above everyone else."

Zhou Mingli forced herself to make a proud and lofty expression. She was used to making such an expression in the Zhou Palace and had already become adept at it.

"Then why did you kiss me that day?" Yan Chu asked in a muffled voice.

"Because you were Zhou Mingzhu's fiancé, I just wanted to know what it felt like to be the man she once liked."

Zhou Mingli licked her lips and smiled disdainfully, "What a pity, that's all."

Her current performance was ruthless enough, and as she wished, Yan Chu looked at her deeply, then turned and left, never saying another word.

After he left, Zhou Mingli buried her face in the quilt. She knew how proud and confident the other party was. Now, the other party could accept her gift with peace of mind and would not do anything stupid again.

On the way to the next, Yan Chu really never came to see Zhou Mingli again. She told herself that this was the best result, but her mood was still getting depressed day by day.

When she arrived at the capital of Jiang State, she had lost several pounds, and she had lost a trace of childishness, which made her even more beautiful and breathtaking.

Jiang State was different from Zhou State. It was originally formed by the merger of many foreign countries, including the royal family, and had foreign blood. Zhou Mingli's appearance would be questioned as impure blood in Zhou State, but in Jiang State, no one would care.

Therefore, when Zhou Mingli appeared in the palace, not only was the king of Jiang very satisfied with his new wife, but even several princes of Jiang were also ready to move.

You should know that Jiang is a barbaric country, and has always maintained the tradition of father-to-son inheritance. The inheritance here is not only the inheritance of the wealth of the ancestors, but also the wives and concubines. Of course, all this is based on the consent of those wives and concubines.

You should know that King Jiang is no longer young, and he may not live for a few years. At that time, the Princess of Zhou in front of him is still as beautiful as before, and has experienced the nourishment of men, which is the most mature and attractive time.

King Jiang is also a man. How can he not see the intentions of his sons? He is a little unhappy. It’s not that he is unhappy that the other party covets his women, because some of his old concubines are also inherited from his father. He is unhappy that he hasn’t died yet, but the other party is already looking forward to his death.

For this reason, King Jiang lost his temper on the wedding day and severely reprimanded several princes.

Zhou Mingli was sitting in the palace prepared for her by King Jiang. Looking at the magnificent bedroom and herself in a bright red wedding dress, she thought that Yan Chu should have left the capital of Jiang State by now.

Except for the dowry, the wedding team would leave after sending the princess to Jiang State, because there were many people from Zhou State sending the princess, and Jiang State might not be happy to keep so many Zhou soldiers in its capital. Moreover, 10,000 elite soldiers were not few. Such a large number of people were drawn from the garrison just to express the importance of Zhou State to this marriage. Now they had to hurry back.

"Princess, princess."

Zhou Mingli's maid ran in hurriedly, her face a little panicked, "King Jiang - died -"

"What!" Zhou Mingli lifted the veil and stood up. She hadn't done anything yet, and the other party was actually dead.

The maid saw her surprised expression and thought that she was just a widow after getting married, and was still thinking about how to comfort her poor princess.

The original bright red decorations were removed one by one, and Zhou Mingli followed the wishes of the palace maids of Jiang State and changed her red wedding dress into black and white mourning clothes prescribed by the empress dowager.

She was already the queen before King Jiang died, so when he died, she naturally became the empress dowager, and no one could change this.

The cause of King Jiang's death was also strange. On the day of the wedding, perhaps because he was happy to marry a beautiful bride, he couldn't help but drink a few more cups. He was drunk and pulled a few dancing girls to sleep directly in the back hall.

King Jiang was particularly brave that night. He ignored his body that needed to be well maintained at his age and asked for more than a dozen dancers in a row. In the end, he foamed at the mouth and fell on the belly of a dancer.

Such a death was too disgraceful. People in the know suspected that King Jiang had been poisoned by some aphrodisiac, but dozens of imperial doctors checked and found no problems. The only result was that King Jiang drank too much and lost control for a while, and he immediately had a stroke.

After all, the King Jiang had a system-produced golden spear that would never fall. This thing was better for young and strong men, but it was not a good thing for this old man who was over fifty years old, but a deadly thing.

However, apart from Yan Chu and his several secret agents in Jiang State, Zhou Mingli was the only one who knew about this matter.

At this moment, Zhou Mingli looked at the letter handed to her by an unknown little maid when she was changing clothes, and she felt relieved.

As the queen, unlike other concubines in the harem, she had to mourn for King Jiang for three years. During these three years, even if the next emperor wanted to marry her, it would be impossible.

What's more, King Jiang died suddenly. Whether he had been crowned as the crown prince or left any will and will, several older princes were almost fighting like fighting cocks. With the hegemony in front of them, who would care about a beauty who would be eaten sooner or later?

Zhou Mingli's life became peaceful.

In fact, this was also the result of Yan Chu's careful consideration. He had a lot of things to do later and might not be able to take care of Zhou Mingli. As a princess who went missing during the marriage, no matter where she was hidden, there would be countless people from Zhou and Jiang looking for her. Marrying to Jiang would also have various problems. At least in terms of basic safety issues, there was no need to consider them for the time being.

Men in this era have an inexplicable confidence and look down on women. They don’t know that women are often more cruel than men. However, based on this, as long as Jiang Guo and Zhou Guo are not in conflict, they will not touch Zhou Guo. The princess's, and when that time comes, Yan Chu will not let the other party suffer any harm.

In six months, many things happened, such as Princess Mingzhu marrying Fu Cong, and Fu Cong set off for the border town of Zhou in the second month after becoming the consort.

Another example is that the King of Zhou wanted to reuse General Yan, but General Yan refused because he was seriously injured. He is still recuperating in the palace, but it took a long time to recuperate, and outsiders seemed to have gradually forgotten his existence.

"Dong-dong-dong-"

I don’t know when Mrs. Yan became obsessed with eating fast and chanting Buddha. At this moment, she was in the Yan family’s ancestral hall. The old lady beside her walked in quietly. When the other party stopped what she was doing, she got closer. She whispered in her ear.

"Old lady, the young general is gone."

"Okay, I get it."

A complicated look flashed across Mrs. Yan's eyes. She looked at the ancestral tablets in the ancestral hall that were engraved with the words "heroes and martyrs" inscribed by past emperors. She sighed softly, closed her eyes, and continued the sutra she had just finished reciting.

Almost not long after, Mrs. Yan San also came in. She knelt on the mat next to the old lady, also holding a string of Buddhist beads in her hand and chanting something.

The person who knows you best is your family. Although Yan Chu didn't say anything, Mrs. Yan and Mrs. Yan still knew about it, but they chose to indulge in it after all.

Because of that incident, it was not only the hearts of their grandchildren/sons that were hurt, but also their hearts.

*****

Ancient times were different from modern times. If you have any news, you can go online and make a phone call. In ancient times, when communication was trustworthy, it often took half a month to a month to convey a message over a longer distance. If someone blocks it, it will take even longer.

The Ming Dynasty is now at its most proud. Originally, they were passively caught in the surprise attack of the young general named Yan from the Zhou Kingdom. Who knew what was wrong with the Zhou Kingdom's people? They suddenly withdrew their troops and took that young general Yan. The general was arrested. It is said that he was suspected of colluding with Jiang Guo and that he was maimed.

Just because the young general was fighting so hard on the battlefield, it was said that he was a spy of the Jiang State. The Zhou people were right, but this was a good thing for the Ming State. They lost a powerful enemy and gained ten more cities for nothing.

In the first few months, the Ming Dynasty was still vigilant, but then they gradually became more and more relaxed. After all, the impression given to them by the Zhou Dynasty was that they had a problem with their brains. Now that even the only Yan Chu they could use was destroyed by themselves, what's the point? Out of fear, the only option is to recover the national strength and capture the Zhou Kingdom.

The city defenders were careless. Faced with the sudden appearance of Zhou's army, the ten cities they had originally captured fell in almost no time. On one side was the Ming army, which had neglected military training and was not very impressive. , on one side is an army that has been training hard for who knows how long and has won several games in a row, and has high morale. It is obvious who will win and lose.

When word of the war at the border reached the Zhou capital, there were several good news accompanying it.

"Why did Fu Cong imitate Yan Chu and start a war with the Ming Dynasty without telling me?"

Even though the King of Zhou was a good-tempered emperor, he was a little unhappy this time. If it weren't for the fact that this time the news came with the news that he had recovered the ten cities that were originally ceded and also captured two cities of Zhou Kingdom. Good news, I'm afraid King Zhou is not just unhappy.

"Father, in fact, my husband's actions this time have already been discussed with my son."

Zhou Mingzhu's eyes were filled with joy. She knew that the man she liked was as capable as that person. In addition, before the other party set off, she and he analyzed the marching characteristics of the generals of the Ming Dynasty and how to deal with them, and conquered the Ming Dynasty. It's just a matter of time.

Zhou Mingzhu didn't think there was anything wrong with teaching Fu Cong the secrets she had heard from Yan Chu before. She seemed to have seen that Fu Cong was famous, and she was pregnant with the bitch of theirs who was unfortunately killed by the bitch of the Yan family in her previous life. children, and then a family of three living happily.

In front of her father and brother, Zhou Mingzhu explained her and Fu Cong's plan in detail, and repeatedly stated that Fu Cong did not have a deep foundation in the military and would not shake the rule of the Zhou royal family like the Yan family. After the prince and brother became suspicious, Zhou Mingzhu settled in the palace with a happy mood. Anyway, she was the only master in the general's mansion and the princess's mansion now. It didn't matter whether she went back or not.

The good news came day by day, and the faces of the people of Zhou were filled with joy. Everyone praised General Fu and thought he was really a great general.

Because it was already a month later when the Zhou royal family received the news. When the news of the war between Zhou and Ming reached Jiang Guo, it was delayed by another month, forming a full two-month time lag. When they learned of this, Zhou's army had almost reached the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

It has been eight months since Jiang Guo passed away.

The eldest prince born by the first empress, the third and fifth princes born by the second empress, the seventh prince born by the late emperor's most favored concubine when he was alive, and the fourth and ninth princes whose mother's family background is equally prominent.

Everyone wants to be the emperor, and no one is convinced. Everyone thinks that they are the most qualified. At this time, Jiang Guo can't care about other countries at all. After all, his own affairs have not been settled yet.

For eight months, the Jiang Kingdom had not been able to establish a new emperor. The third and ninth princes, the least powerful among the six princes, were assassinated. Everyone knew that it was probably the other living princes who did it. Their mother's family was not The prince who was happy to be born in his own family died so unclearly, and he hated the few who were still alive in his heart.

Of the remaining four, the fifth prince was lame in one leg, the fourth prince was blind in one eye, and only the eldest prince and the seventh prince were left as the two healthiest princes. After knowing that the Zhou Kingdom and the Ming Kingdom were fighting, the two princes were somewhat lucky. , because the Jiang State was in chaos due to internal strife, and originally they were worried that the Zhou State and the Ming State would collude to attack them, but now it seems that they are consuming each other, which is not enough evidence at all.

At this time, the news they knew was that the war between Zhou and Ming had just begun. In their minds, the two countries were evenly matched. Neither Zhou nor Ming would be easily invaded by the other side. How could they know that there were only two of them? Within a month, Zhou's army had already reached the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

When the seventh prince finally defeated his much older eldest brother with a slight advantage, the capital of King Zhou was already decorated with lights and decorations, preparing to welcome the arrival of their hero, General Fu Congfu.

Zhou Mingzhu stood outside the city wall early, looking at the distant army with a joyful expression. She knew that the man riding on the tall horse who was about to be supported by thousands of people was her husband and her sweetheart.

As the army got closer and closer, the figures became clearer and clearer, and the expression on Zhou Mingzhu's face changed from the joyful and shy expectation at the beginning to cold and pale.

Similar to her, there were many other people watching.

Didn't it say that it was General Fu who led them to victory? So the leader now seems to be General Yan, who has not been seen for a long time and is rumored to be hiding in the mansion.

The people who had been looking forward to it suddenly became mute. They were still excited, but suddenly they didn't know what to cheer for.

Zhou Mingzhu's mind was spinning very fast. Even when she was in the most complicated mood at the moment, she had already guessed the current situation. Should we say that the man was indeed the man who was feared by his imperial brother in his previous life? He could actually be in such a situation. Fighting back under desperate circumstances, it can only be said that she was too soft-hearted and left such a disaster.

But she was very glad that she did what she did at that time. Yan Chu might have done this for revenge, but in the other person's heart, she was still the girl who loved him deeply, but because of the imperial power, she had to change her mind to others.

Zhou Mingzhu took several deep breaths and forced herself to show joyful and excited eyes. She had not lost yet, she still had a chance to come back.