Do you know the long song of laughter?

Chapter 457 The army arrives
Madam Yu said a little depressed: "I'm afraid my sister has no chance, she is pregnant."

"what?"

Xiao Qin was stunned at first, then asked in surprise: "Are you sure?"

"That's what the doctor said himself." Madam Yu asked in confusion, "Why do you feel even happier after hearing this news, sister?"

When Old Grand Tutor Yu was in Bian Jing, some people still gave the Yu family some face. Since Old Grand Tutor Yu left, the Yu family has fallen into decline.

Madam Yu originally wanted to find a noble family for her daughter, but no noble family was willing to marry into the Yu family.

Logically speaking, the eldest daughter of the Yu family married Gu Tingye, and Gu Tingye is now a favorite of the government, so there are still many families willing to become brothers-in-law with Gu Tingye.

However, it was no secret in Bian Jing that Madam Yu treated Yu Yanran badly and Gu Tingye didn't even let her in the door.

If she were to marry into the Yu family, not only would she have a relationship with Gu Tingye, she might even become his enemy.

After Grand Tutor Yu retired, the Yu family could only be considered an ordinary family in Bian Jing.

Under such circumstances, it would be strange for any noble family to be willing to marry into the Yu family.

Yu Yanhong had a bad temper, and even people from similar social status were unwilling to marry her.

Therefore, Xiao Qin revealed her dissatisfaction with Yu Yanran and hinted that she intended to divorce Yu Yanran. She was very happy to let Gu Tingye marry her daughter.

After receiving Xiao Qin's instructions, Madam Yu called the doctor over.

After all, Madam Yu is Yu Yanran's biological mother, and the doctor did not dare to hide it.

When she learned that Yu Yanran was pregnant, she was almost angry to death.

Yu Yanran was pregnant and had a good relationship with Gu Tingye. Under such circumstances, it would be impossible for him to divorce her unless she committed a serious act of unfilial piety.

"Sister, you are also the mother of two children. Can't you even figure out when she got pregnant?" Xiao Qin said with a smile.

Madam Yu was startled, thought about it carefully, and said in horror: "The child was conceived during the national mourning period?"

"That's right, otherwise why did she tell the doctor not to tell anyone, and even didn't send anyone to inform the Marquis' Mansion?" Xiao Qin said with a smile.

"Sister, do you want to make a fuss about this matter? But if so, won't Gu Erlang also be implicated?" Madam Yu frowned.

But she still wanted Gu Tingye to marry her daughter, so naturally she didn't want Gu Tingye to be implicated.

Although a daughter who is married off is like water spilled, Yu Yanran's surname is Yu after all, so the Yu family will also be implicated.

"Erlang is a member of the Gu family and also my son. I will naturally not ignore his future. We can secretly abort the child now. If she dares to get pregnant during the national mourning period, our Gu family will naturally not tolerate her. When the time comes, when the master asks, it will be natural to divorce her." Xiao Qin said with a smile.

She did not lie to Madam Yu. She was indeed prepared to do so, but not to protect Gu Tingye. Instead, she wanted to make Gu Yankai break up with Gu Tingye.

Gu Yankai values ​​the Gu family the most. Once he finds out that Yu Yanran is pregnant, he is worried that the matter will be exposed and affect the Gu family, so he will definitely ask Yu Yanran to abort the child.

Given Gu Tingye's temper, a breakup between father and son was inevitable after he learned about this.

After the father and son broke up, the matter became a big deal. As long as the pregnancy during the national mourning period was exposed, even if Gu Tingye was a favorite of the emperor, the emperor would not be able to protect him.

At that time, Gu Tingye would no longer be able to be with Gu Tingye.

The more Xiao Qin thought about it, the more excited she became. If she hadn't still had her rational mind, she would have laughed out loud.

Madam Yu was delighted when she heard this, but she quickly calmed down and said, "But she and the Empress are now praying for the soldiers at the Daxiangguo Temple. How can we keep it a secret?"

"Sister, don't you think it's strange that the Queen went to pray suddenly? I guess the reason why the Queen went to Daxiangguo Temple to pray is to conceal this matter." Xiao Qin said.

"If we do this, won't we offend the Queen?" Madam Yu asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, the Queen Mother protects her because of Erlang. As long as this matter has no impact on Erlang, why would the Queen Mother care?" Xiao Qin said with a smile.

After hearing what Xiao Qin said, Madam Yu felt relieved.

The two chatted for a while, discussed it carefully, and then went back.

…………

"Madam, the Duke of England's Mansion has sent an invitation, inviting you to attend a banquet there tomorrow at noon." Danju walked into the house holding a invitation and handed it to Minglan.

"I haven't heard that the Duke of England's mansion is going to hold a banquet?"

Upon hearing this, Minglan took the post with some surprise and opened it to take a look.

The invitation only said that she was invited to a banquet tomorrow, and nothing else. It was obviously an invitation to a private banquet.

Minglan thought about it over and over again, but still couldn't figure out what the Duke of England asked her to do.

When Li An came back in the evening, Minglan told Li An about this matter and asked Li An to help her analyze it.

"I think you should go and talk to Miss Zhang San." Li An thought for a moment and said, "The Queen went to Daxiangguo Temple to pray for blessings this time, and Xiao Zou also went. Because of this matter, the Lady of the Duke of Ying was so angry that she pretended to be sick and didn't go. There was a lot of talk about this matter outside."

"It's no wonder."

Minglan has been busy with household matters these days and has not paid much attention to what is happening outside, so she doesn't know about this incident.

It was said that they would bring the generals' families to pray for the soldiers, but Zhang Guifen did not go, but Xiao Zou went.

Although Zhang Guifen had not yet married Shen Congxing, Xiao Zou was not taken into the family either.

Even if she was taken into the family, she would only be a concubine. How could we allow her to attend such an occasion?

Zhang Guifen is very proud and this is a complete humiliation for her.

"The emperor clearly wants to win over the Duke of England, so why would the queen do such a thing?"

Minglan really couldn't understand what Queen Shen did and almost asked how Queen Shen could do such a stupid thing.

"The Queen is not of high birth, and she is sentimental." Li An sighed.

There is a reason why the ancients paid attention to matching social status. The Shen family was not of high status and Queen Shen had limited vision.

Although she has a good temper, she lacks the scheming and means that a queen should have.

"But I don't know how to comfort her in this situation." Minglan frowned.

Although she sympathized with Zhang Guifen, since it involved the Empress Dowager, it was not convenient for her to say any words of persuasion.

"It's okay, just chat with her casually." Li An said.

"Yeah." Minglan nodded.

……

The next morning, Minglan brought gifts and arrived at the Duke of England's mansion in a carriage.

As soon as I got off the carriage, the Duchess of England came out to greet me.

Minglan was somewhat flattered and quickly bowed and said, "Meet the Lady of the Duke of England."

"No need to be so polite, Madam Sheng."

The Duchess of England glanced at the maid carrying gifts behind Minglan and complained, "You're here, why do you bring so many things?" "I can't come empty-handed. These are not valuable things. I hope the Duchess of England won't despise them." Minglan said with a smile.

The Duchess of England didn't know what to say, so she asked someone to accept the gift and invited Minglan in.

"Madam Sheng, I invited you here this time because I want you to talk to my daughter. My daughter has been spoiled since she was a child. She has a bad temper and doesn't have many friends. She can only chat with the daughter of the Liu family and you. She has been depressed these days and I am worried that something might happen to her. I can only ask you to come and talk to her. Thank you for your help." said the Lady of the Duke of England.

"Miss Zhang San and I are friends, so it's no trouble at all. But I can only chat with her, and I can't guarantee whether it will be of any use." Minglan said.

"I know, it's very nice of you to talk to her." The Duchess of England said gratefully.

The Duchess of England personally brought Minglan to Zhang Guifen's courtyard, sat for a while and then left.

Zhang Guifen looked at her mother's departing back and said self-deprecatingly, "I've made my mother worry about me again."

"Miss Zhang, my mother likes to read "Strategies of the Warring States" very much. Influenced by her, I have also read it several times. There is a sentence in "Strategies of the Warring States" that says parents who love their children will make long-term plans for them. If Miss Zhang doesn't want her parents to worry, she might as well be happier." Minglan said.

"I want to, too. But there are some things that I just can't be happy about. And my parents won't be happy just because I pretend to be happy." Zhang Guifen sighed.

Minglan hadn't seen Zhang Guifen for some time. In her impression, Zhang Guifen lived a very bright life.

However, Zhang Guifen now had a frown on her face and did not look energetic at all.

"Everything is determined by fate and we have no control over it." Zhang Guifen sighed.

"I don't agree with what you said, Miss Zhang. Everyone's life is built through their own efforts. There is no such thing as fate," Minglan retorted.

Zhang Guifen shook her head slightly and said, "We are different."

Minglan shook her head slightly and said, "Miss Zhang San should have heard about my grandmother, right? My grandmother, like Miss Zhang San, was doted on since she was a child. Even when she married my grandfather, it was my grandmother's own insistence, but she was not happy after marriage. Life can't always go smoothly, there will always be times when things don't go well. When things don't go well, you have to find a way to solve it instead of complaining about yourself. Whether it's life or marriage, you have to manage it yourself."

In Minglan's opinion, Zhang Guifen has some similarities in character to her grandmother and Madam Wu.

He has a good family background, received a good education, and is not lacking in scheming.

However, he was too arrogant to use it.

With her grandmother's scheming and tactics, there are plenty of ways to make her grandfather behave himself.

But her personality made her disdain to use any means to win back her grandfather's heart.

Although Mrs. Wang often makes stupid mistakes, at least she has tried hard in her marriage.

Whether it is Mrs. Sheng or Mrs. Wu, they both have a very negative attitude when it comes to marriage.

Of course, Minglan doesn’t think there is anything wrong with this. It’s just that people have different personalities and temperaments, and the choices they make when facing certain things are also different.

But if she were Zhang Guifen, she would never complain about herself.

"Why would I want to do this?" Zhang Guifen said sadly, "I also want to face it, and I don't want to make my parents worry. You know my situation, what do you think I should do?"

Minglan fell silent upon hearing this. Zhang Guifen’s situation was indeed difficult to deal with.

Both Shen Congxing and Queen Shen felt that they owed the Zou family and were very tolerant of little Zou.

Moreover, Shen Congxing was already very opposed to this marriage, and it seemed that it was indeed difficult to arrange.

"Look, you feel embarrassed too, right?" Zhang Guifen said.

"It is indeed difficult to deal with, but that little Zou is so reckless, relying on the debt owed to the Empress and Uncle Shen. You are the official wife, married by the emperor himself. If you continue to behave like this, when you get married in the future, it will only make that little Zou even more proud, and she will become even more presumptuous.

It is indeed difficult for you to deal with her, but she cannot deal with you either. If you continue like this, it will only make her happier. "Minglan said.

…………

Since the Alliance of Tanyuan, Xiongzhou and Bazhou have become northern border towns.

A trading post was established at the border between the two states and the Liao Kingdom for merchants from the two countries to trade.

Ever since the Liao Kingdom deployed its troops on the border of the Song Dynasty, trade between the two countries has ceased.

After more than half a month of marching, the 100,000-strong army arrived at Bazhou City.

The commander of Bazhou was General Gan. On this day, General Gan led the commanders and officials of the Bazhou city garrison, together with the Minister of Rites Ding Yimin, to welcome the Duke of England at the city gate.

Late in the evening, standing on the top of the city wall, they saw a large cloud of dust in the distance. Duke Gan and the others went down the tower and waited at the city gate.

Not long after, Duke Yingguo, Shen Congxing and others, led thousands of cavalrymen to the city gate.

A few dozen steps away, the Duke of England stopped his horse and led a group of officers to dismount.

General Gan and others also came forward.

"Greetings, Duke of England." Everyone saluted.

Duke Ying bowed slightly in return and said, "Excuse me, everyone. I wonder if the Liao army has made any moves?"

"Everything is normal with the Liao army. The prefect of Bazhou has already held a banquet in the prefectural office to welcome Duke Yingguo and Uncle Shen. Let's talk while they eat." General Gan said with a smile.

"Thank you all for your kindness, but the military situation is urgent, so I will not go there. I will go directly to the military camp." said the Duke of England.

"this…"

General Gan wanted to persuade him again, but seeing the Duke of England's unquestionable expression, he didn't dare to do so.

The civil officials of Bazhou didn't care. They held the banquet because Shen Congxing, the emperor's brother-in-law, was also there.

After mounting their horses, they headed towards the city.

"Is the army camp ready?" asked the Duke of England.

"I have ordered people to prepare it, and it will be ready at mealtime," said Duke Gan.

"Yeah." The Duke of England nodded slightly when he heard this and said nothing more.

The official intention was that after arriving in Bazhou, the Duke of England would be the priority.

After entering the military camp, Duke Ying was not polite and asked Duke Ying to summon the generals of Bazhou to discuss matters.

In the central army tent, Duke Ying sat at the head, Shen Congxing and Duke Gan sat on his left and right, and the other generals sat below.

There were only two civil servants in the tent, the Minister of Rites Ding Yimin and the Military Inspector. The other civil servants from Bazhou did not follow.

"Minister Ding, what was the result of your mission to the Liao Kingdom?" asked the Duke of Ying.

"In reply to Duke Ying, the Liao emperor has a very tough attitude. He said that if the annual tribute is not increased, he will send troops to attack the city. I threatened to cancel the trade and annual tribute, but the Liao emperor showed no intention of giving in." Ding Yimin said.

Duke Ying's face remained calm after hearing this. He thought for a moment and said, "Have the Liao army outside the city shown any abnormality?"

"It's the same as before, nothing unusual." said General Gan.

"Commander!"

Shen Congxing said, "This is a good opportunity. The Liao army certainly didn't expect us to attack the camp just after we arrived and without any rest. An attack tonight will surely achieve unexpected results! I am willing to lead the troops to attack the camp myself."

(End of this chapter)