Big Moon Ballad

Chapter 2536 Hostages
Ying Baoyue left Zhong Tang three days later, together with the Azure Dragon God.

Song Zhai stood at the door of Fengyu Tower as if he was marrying off his daughter, directing the servants to carry all kinds of supplements and things into the carriage.

Sitting in the carriage, Ying Baoyue really had an odd feeling as if she was returning to her parents' home to recuperate after giving birth.

"Song Zhai, you don't need to bring so much. Former Qin..."

Ying Baoyue originally wanted to say that these things were also available in Afang Palace, but he stopped halfway through his words.

The foundation of the Former Qin Dynasty had been almost completely destroyed by Ying Hanri, and the Afang Palace had suffered from wars and fires many times, and was finally occupied by a Zen temple. Almost all the wealth inside was taken away, leaving only an empty shell.

Although I'm not broke, I don't have any spare money to buy anything nice.

"Come on, I know your financial situation better than anyone else," Song Zhai waved his hand, "Anyway, these things are for the girls to eat and use. No one will use them if they are left here. Take them all."

"Oh, take this with you too."

Song Zhai pushed a man to the front of the carriage and said with a smile, "He doesn't have much to do here, take him with you. If he can help, let him do it. If he can't help, let him stay in Zhong Tang's trading company and deliver things to you."

Ying Baoyue looked at the figure in front of the carriage, a little dumbfounded.

This time, what was sent on the carriage was not donkey-hide gelatin or bird's nest, but a living person.

It was Song Qian whom I hadn’t seen for a long time.

Song Qian still looked as cheerful as before, but he had grown up a little and had the handsomeness of a young man.

He was dressed more simply than when he was in Nanchu and Dongwu before, in a stone green copper coin robe, looking like the young master of a merchant family. He was pushed to the front of the carriage by Song Zhai, and his face turned red.

"It's not Song Zhai...he..."

Ying Baoyue didn't know what to say.

Although Song Qian's surname is Song, he is not the son of Song Zhai, but the son of Song Zhai's elder brother, Zhong Tang Wang Song Deming. Although he is not the crown prince, he is also a real royal family.

Is it appropriate for Song Zhai to just stuff the prince of Zhong Tang into her carriage and let her take him away?

"It's okay, just take him away as a helper. This is also his mission," Song Zhai showed a helpless smile, "If it were according to his father's wishes, he originally wanted to stuff him into your harem."

It was customary for all countries to send princesses to the new king's harem when the new king ascended the throne. However, Ying Baoyue was different, being the first queen on the continent, and all countries that wanted to marry her didn't know how to proceed.

Fortunately, Ying Baoyue had met many children from aristocratic families during the process of participating in the ceremony from the beginner to the advanced level, and they even had friendships with each other.

This is a perfect entry point.

Song Zhai could guess that among those young men from noble families who had met and talked with Ying Baoyue at the ceremony, as long as they were not heirs of the family and had not yet married, they would probably have become the first candidates that the noble families were preparing to send out to be the king's husband.

As long as Ying Baoyue sits firmly on the throne, both the aristocratic families and the royal family will start giving people away sooner or later.

If he can think of it, then certainly others can too.

As soon as he said this, Song Zhai saw a crack in the floor tiles under the carriage.

"Ahem," Ying Baoyue felt helpless, but knew there was nothing he could do about it.

In a sense, this is also a recognition of her strength.

Just like when Ying Hanri wanted to marry the princess to Ji Jiashu, a member of the Nanchu royal family, it was because Ji Jiashu was outstanding enough and had more prospects than ordinary princes.

Song Deming was thinking about marrying her before she had firmly established herself on the throne, which was tantamount to being the first to recognize her status as the ruler of a country.

Marriage itself is a kind of investment between aristocratic families.

Sacrifice a son to find another way out for the family.

The condition that Mu You proposed for her at the beginning was to let her marry a son of the Mu family, which was the same idea.

However, Ying Baoyue did not intend to go the route of marriage.

She had just ascended the throne, so there was no need for her to think about this matter. Most of the noble families were still taking a wait-and-see attitude towards her, the King of Former Qin.

Although marriage is a quick way to build relationships and form alliances, it has also led to too many tragedies.

Is there any real affection in marriages between families?

Sitting in the carriage back to Former Qin, Ying Baoyue had been thinking about this problem.

Generally speaking, no. But if they are really old friends and the two parties in the marriage have grown up together, it is not impossible for them to develop true feelings.

As the carriage approached the capital Guiyang, this question came to Ying Baoyue's mind more and more frequently.

This has to do with who she is going to meet next.

If she had not been taken away by Murong Feilan that night, she would have met someone early the next morning as arranged by Ji Jiashu.

Her sudden illness disrupted the plan, and now that she is back, she should go see the person she should have met a long time ago.

However, just as the carriage entered the capital and was about to head to Afang Palace, a sudden letter once again disrupted Ying Baoyue's plan.

……

……

"The Guijia Army has left the city?" Inside the carriage, Ying Baoyue looked at Ji Jiashu who suddenly appeared in the carriage.

Ji Jiashu returned to the Afang Palace several days in advance. Because the former king of Qin was still "leading the army" in the Evernight Great Wall, the carriage that Ying Baoyue and others were riding in was disguised as a carriage of the Zhongtang merchant group and secretly entered the city.

Regarding her return, Ying Baoyue only informed Ji Jiashu, who had stabilized the situation in advance.

At the same time, she also told Ji Jiashu that she would summon Mu Rongyin when she returned to the palace, and asked Ji Jiashu to prepare in advance.

However, before the carriage entered the Afang Palace, Ji Jiashu's figure suddenly appeared in front of the carriage.

Originally, part of the Mu Family Army and Gui Family Army that followed her on the fake expedition were all disguised. After she left Former Qin, they quietly returned and hid in the suburbs of Guiyang. Gui Chen and Mu You even returned to Afang Palace to take charge of affairs.

However, Ji Jiashu told Ying Baoyue that just one day before she came back, Gui Chen led the Gui family army to the Eternal Night Great Wall, while Mu You led the Mu family army to guard the Afang Palace.

Before leaving Afang Palace, Ying Baoyue gave Gui Chen and Mu You a certain degree of autonomy in order to prevent accidents. In an emergency, they could decide for themselves whether to lead the troops to war.

Gui Chen and Ji Jiashu didn't even have time to send her a letter, but they were in a hurry to lead the troops to fight. What happened?
"I sent you a pigeon half a day ago, but it seems you didn't receive it."

Ji Jiashu looked at Ying Baoyue sitting in the carriage with a serious expression.

If Ying Baoyue received the secret letter, she would not return to Afang Palace at all, but would go directly to Xirong.

"In the end what happened?"

Ji Jiashu looked extremely bad, and Ying Baoyue had a bad feeling in his heart.

Logically speaking, Mu You has more combat experience. If the situation at the Evernight Great Wall was really critical, it should be the Mu family army that went to the border and the Gui family army that stayed behind. Why did Gui Chen lead his men to the Evernight Great Wall and the Mu family army stayed behind?

Ji Jiashu took a deep breath and said, "Just last night, Yun Zhongjun led his men to raid Shanhaiguan."

There was a buzzing sound in Ying Baoyue's ears.

Given the current disparity in military strength, Shanhaiguan will not be defeated by a single blow from the Zen Temple, and it is impossible for the Western Rong to launch a general attack so quickly.

This means that this raid was not a large-scale battle between armies, but an assassination by a small number of elites sneaking in late at night.

This was a sneak attack between practitioners.

The blood in Ying Baoyue's body almost turned cold.

But she immediately remembered that Lin Wangong was still at the border, so he shouldn't be wiped out in one fell swoop in the Zen temple.

Ying Baoyue calmed down and took a deep breath, "How many casualties are there?"

"A large number of practitioners in Liuyun Tower and Shanhaiju were injured. General Meihua and Sword Saint were both seriously injured, but the worst thing is..." Ji Jiashu's face looked ugly.

"You say it, I can bear it," Ying Baoyue gritted his teeth.

Ji Jiashu raised his head and said, "My eldest brother has been taken away."

"Who?"

For a moment, Ying Baoyue felt a severe tinnitus in his ears, and the whole world fell into silence.

Her brain seemed to be rusty. Who was the "big brother" that Ji Jiashu mentioned?
"Who was taken away?"

Ji Jiashu's chest was heaving violently, and he could hardly control his emotions. He forced himself to calm down and spoke word by word, "Ji Qingyuan was taken away."

Yes.

Ji Qingyuan, Chen Zichu and others stayed in Shanhaiguan together.

But what does Yun Zhongjun want Ji Qingyuan to do?
Ying Baoyue looked up at Ji Jiashu, breathing rapidly, "Is Qingyuan... still alive?"

Ji Jiashu's voice trembled a little. "The secret letter sent by Liuyun Tower said that the person was still alive when he was taken away."

Ji Qingyuan's realm was low, and the fact that he was taken away proved that Yun Zhongjun was fully capable of killing him, but Yun Zhongjun chose to take Ji Qingyuan away alive.

"Is he going to negotiate terms with Nan Chu?"

Or should I negotiate terms with her?

"Baoyue, he is not going to negotiate terms with Ji Mo," Ji Jiashu looked into Ying Baoyue's eyes with a complicated expression, "Yun Zhongjun's declaration of war was sent directly to the Afang Palace."

Ying Baoyue clenched her fists, so he wanted to negotiate terms with her.

"What does he want to do?"

"He wants you to exchange someone with him for Ji Qingyuan."

Ying Baoyue was stunned. "Who?"

Ji Jiashu took a deep breath and the blood vessels in his forehead began to throb.

"Princess Pingyang, Mu Rongyin."

……

……

Ah ah ah ah ah