Can I get to the other side?.

Chapter 281 Your Majesty, I Want a Dragon Heir

Jizhou, Yecheng.

The twelfth lunar month has arrived and the year is drawing to a close, but the entire Yecheng city is still immersed in a festive atmosphere, with lights and decorations everywhere and an extremely lively atmosphere.

Everyone is looking forward to the Chinese New Year.

At the same time, the imperial court was making intensive preparations for the war against Bingzhou and expected to send troops before the end of the year.

As the emperor, Liu Xie only needed to order an attack on Bingzhou, but his subordinates had a lot to consider.

Because the time he gave was really limited, the entire court was busy and exhausted with this war. It should be understood that no war is launched casually.

Behind this is the mobilization of food and supplies, the training of the army, the iteration and preparation of weapons and armor, pre-war mobilization, and the replenishment of troops...

This is a huge and complex task.

It just so happened that Liu Xie had many generals who were good at wielding swords and guns, as well as many strategists who were good at calculating, but he lacked talents who were good at internal affairs and logistics management.

Imperial Palace, Qingli Palace.

The snow has stopped in recent days and the sky outside is clear for a rare time, but because it is the snow melting period, it is actually colder than when it was snowing.

However, the floor heating in the Qingli Palace was burning very brightly, forming a sharp contrast with the cold outside, as if they were two different worlds.

At this time, Liu Xie was playing chess with Zhen Mi in the palace.

The issue of the refugees has been dealt with, and his ministers are busy with military affairs, so he has had a rare period of free time these days.

"Your Majesty, I win again."

Zhen Mi gave birth to a child and looked up and smiled at Liu Xie.

Liu Xie looked at the chess game in which he had lost everything, and his face turned a little dark - because this was the eleventh time he had lost.

All I can say is that the people in the Liu family really have no talent for playing chess. Even though they have traveled through time and space for so long and studied for so long, they are still terrible at chess.

"No, it's boring."

Liu Xie threw the chess piece in his hand into the chess box and said to Zhen Mi unhappily, "You know I am not good at chess, but you don't know how to let me play."

Zhen Mi blinked and said rather aggrievedly: "But I clearly gave Your Majesty six pieces at the beginning of the game, and Your Majesty secretly changed the chess pieces while I was drinking water, and I didn't argue with Your Majesty..."

"Nonsense! How could I do such a thing!"

Liu Xie's face turned red. He didn't expect that his little action was discovered by Zhen Mi. However, for the sake of face, he chose to be stubborn.

But he was in the wrong after all, so Liu Xie coughed lightly and changed the subject, "My beloved concubine has handled the affairs of the harem very well, and I am very pleased."

Although Empress Fu was in the palace, she was under house arrest by him, so the affairs of the harem were actually handled by Zhen Mi.

All I can say is that Zhen Mi is worthy of being a woman from a prominent family. Although she is a little jealous, she is very decisive in doing things, and the entire harem is managed by her in an orderly manner.

She even took the initiative to lead the concubines and palace maids to weave warm clothes such as sweaters and trousers, and distributed them to the families of court ministers in the name of Liu Xie, winning a lot of praise.

After receiving Liu Xie's praise, Zhen Mi's beautiful eyes lit up, and she looked at Liu Xie with great energy and asked, "Then... how do I compare to the Queen?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Xie couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

Classic question, comparing the current partner to the ex.

But Empress Fu was not his predecessor.

The two hadn't seen each other for several months.

But fortunately, he had already mastered the trick of controlling Zhen Mi, and naturally hugged her and said, "Of course, my beloved concubine is the best. The queen cannot compare to my beloved concubine in terms of appearance or ability."

Just a few simple words were enough to make Zhen Mi happy.

She leaned against Liu Xie sweetly, looked at him with sparkling eyes and said, "Then can Your Majesty reward me?"

"Reward? What reward?"

Liu Xie was a little confused. The family behind Zhen Mi was the Zhen family. They had nothing they wanted, so why did they need him to reward them?

"that is……"

Zhen Mi blushed, touched her flat belly, and said shyly: "I want your majesty's heir."

"I have been in the palace for such a long time, but I still haven't conceived a dragon heir. Mother has written to me saying that I have been pregnant for several times, but I don't know what's going on."

"Isn't the inherited rain and dew enough?"

As a concubine, it is her responsibility and obligation to give birth to a child for the emperor. However, she was the first one to enter the palace, but she has not yet conceived a child.

This was what troubled her most.

She also wondered if there was something wrong with her or Liu Xie's health, but the imperial physician took her pulse and said that she was in good health.

As for Liu Xie, although the imperial physician had not taken his pulse, she knew that Liu Xie was in good health because she had a deep understanding of this.

But I just can’t get pregnant.

"This……"

When Liu Xie heard Zhen Mi's words, his expression froze slightly, because he knew what was going on.

It’s not that he didn’t inherit enough love, but he did it on purpose. Now he doesn’t dare to let either Lu Lingqi or Zhen Mi get pregnant.

"She will get pregnant. It's just a matter of time."

Liu Xie could only comfort her in this way.

Just when Zhen Mi was about to say something, an eunuch walked into the palace and reported: "Your Majesty, General Zhang He wants to see you."

"I'll go right away."

Liu Xie was as if he had been pardoned. He stood up and said to Zhen Mi, "Jun Yi has asked to see you. It must be something important. I will come to accompany my beloved concubine in the evening."

After saying that, he stood up and walked out of the Qingli Palace.

Only Zhen Mi was left with a resentful look on her face.

……

Zhang He was waiting outside the palace. When he saw Liu Xie coming out, he stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the Marquis of Huaili wishes to see you."

"It's him again?"

Liu Xie frowned, somewhat displeased.

Ever since the news came that Ma Chao was secretly colluding with Tian Feng, he ordered Ma Teng to be placed under house arrest, but this guy was not honest in the mansion and kept asking to see him.

I have been under house arrest for less than a month, and I have asked to see him twelve times.

Although Liu Xie was feeling impatient, he felt it would be bad to refuse Ma Teng as he had requested to see him so many times, so he said, "Let's summon him to the palace."

"promise!"

Zhang He clasped his fists and retreated.

Liu Xie went all the way to Xuanshi, and about half an hour later, Zhang He and Ma Teng came to meet him.

"His Majesty--!"

As soon as he saw Liu Xie, Ma Teng knelt down and cried, "My son really has no connection with the Yuan thief rebels. Your Majesty, please investigate!"

Liu Xie sighed and said to him patiently: "I did not say that your son rebelled. I am still investigating this matter. I will not wrongly accuse a loyal minister."

"But Your Majesty..."

Ma Teng cried and wanted to continue defending Ma Chao, but was interrupted by Gao Lan who hurried into the Xuanshi Hall: "Your Majesty! Send an urgent message to Chang'an within 800 miles!" Liu Xie was startled when he heard this. The urgent message of 800 miles would only be used when there was an emergency battle report.

Chang'an... Could it be Ma Chao?

Liu Xie felt a little worried. After taking a look at Ma Teng, who looked panicked, he said in a deep voice, "Bring him in!"

After a while, Gao Lan walked into the Xuanshi Hall with a dusty cavalryman who had three flying dragon flags on his back and a bulging package in his arms.

"See Your Majesty!"

The cavalryman saluted Liu Xie respectfully.

Liu Xie's eyes fell on him and he asked directly, "What happened in Chang'an?"

The cavalry soldier replied, "Your Majesty, the remnant of Yuan Shikai, Tian Feng, and Han Sui are planning a rebellion and jointly attacking Jizhou, which is not good for Your Majesty! General Ma Chao has cut off their heads and ordered me to present them to Your Majesty!"

"what?!"

Liu Xie's expression changed drastically, his eyes full of shock.

Did Ma Chao kill Tian Feng and Han Sui?

Before he could come to his senses, he saw the cavalryman untie the package in his arms, revealing two bloody objects inside.

They were actually the heads of Tian Feng and Han Sui!

As it is winter and the weather is cold, even without quicklime, the two heads have not rotted or deformed and are still lifelike.

Liu Xie had seen battlefields where tens of thousands of people were fighting, and he was no longer afraid of things like heads, so he looked at the heads of the two men without any hesitation, especially Tian Feng's.

Indeed...it was Tian Feng.

"Han, Han Sui?"

Ma Teng knelt on the ground, looking at Han Sui's head in disbelief. After rubbing his eyes repeatedly to make sure he was not mistaken, he suddenly felt ecstatic.

"Your Majesty! My son did not commit treason!"

"It was Han Sui who was plotting rebellion!"

"My son did not rebel, Your Majesty!"

Ma Teng almost cried for joy. Not only was he no longer suspected of being a traitor, but even Han Sui, his long-time enemy, was dead!

How could he not be happy!

Liu Xie ignored Ma Teng, took his eyes off Tian Feng's head, and then frowned at the cavalryman and asked, "What happened? Why would Han Sui rebel? How could the two of them be killed by Ma Chao?"

This is all so weird.

The news he had received before was that Tian Feng stayed in Ma Chao's military camp, but not long after that, Ma Chao sent him Tian Feng's head.

By the way, Han Sui’s was also included!

He could understand that Ma Chao killed Tian Feng, but how did Han Sui get killed by Ma Chao? The other party also had a large army under his command!

The cavalryman took out a letter from his bosom and presented it to the emperor, saying, "This is a memorial from General Ma Chao to your majesty. Please have a look at it."

Liu Xie asked Gao Lan to present it. He opened the memorial and looked at it carefully. The more he looked at it, the more his brows furrowed, and the shock in his eyes became more obvious.

Ma Teng was anxious and could not help asking, "Your Majesty, may I ask what my son said in the memorial? May I take a look?"

He was also very confused about how Han Sui was killed. If Han Sui was so easy to kill, he would have killed him long ago, and it wouldn't have taken so many years.

How did Ma Chao do it?
Liu Xie put down the memorial and said slowly: "Marquis Huaili, please go back first. I need to think about this matter carefully."

Hearing this, Ma Teng showed hesitation, but he did not dare to disobey Liu Xie's order, so he had to salute and said, "Yes, Your Majesty."

Although he did not know the whole truth, he was relieved when he heard that Ma Chao had killed Tian Feng, because doing so was tantamount to drawing a clear line with the remnants of Yuan Shao, which was proof that there was no rebellion!
After Ma Teng left, Liu Xie ordered Zhang He, "Quickly summon the Minister of the Central Secretariat and the Chief Censor to the palace!"

This matter is of great importance, and he needs to discuss it with Jia Xu and Guo Jia.

Zhang He immediately took the order and retreated.

Not long after, Jia Xu and Guo Jia hurried to the Xuanshi Hall. Before they had time to salute, they saw the two heads.

"Han Sui?"

Jia Xu recognized the origin of one of the heads at a glance, and his eyes changed even though he was usually calm.

When he saw the other head, the shock in his eyes became even greater, and he said in disbelief: "Tian Feng?!"

Guo Jia was also shocked when he saw the two heads. He looked up at Liu Xie, whose face was as gloomy as water, and asked, "Your Majesty, why are the heads of Han Sui and Tian Feng here?"

They all rushed into the palace after being summoned. They only knew that something big had happened, but they didn't know what it was specifically, so they are now confused.

"See for yourselves."

Liu Xie rubbed his eyebrows tiredly.

The memorial was handed over to the two of them.

Not long after, the two of them changed their expressions at the same time. Guo Jia snorted coldly: "Ridiculous! This is simply nonsense!"

"This Ma Chao is treating your Majesty as a fool and fooling you!"

In this memorial, Ma Chao explained the whole story, roughly saying that he wanted to resolve his past grievances with Han Sui, so he acknowledged Han Sui as his adoptive father and invited him to the banquet.

At this time, Tian Feng suddenly came uninvited, trying to persuade the two to rebel and attack Jizhou together.

Ma Chao objected, but Han Sui wanted to form an alliance with Tian Feng, so Ma Chao killed both of them in anger.

Although this matter seems to be fine on the surface, there is a fatal flaw in it - Tian Feng did not come uninvited, but had been in Ma Chao's camp for a long time.

But Ma Chao did not mention this in his memorial!
Liu Xie naturally discovered such an obvious flaw at the first time. He frowned and said, "I thought Ma Chao was going to rebel with Tian Feng, but he killed Tian Feng instead."

"But if he didn't intend to join forces with Tian Feng to rebel, why did he conceal Tian Feng's situation in the military camp and make up such a lie?"

Liu Xie now doesn’t understand what Ma Chao is thinking.

If he had not received the intelligence before and learned that Tian Feng had already been in Ma Chao's camp, he would really believe what Ma Chao said in the memorial.

Now the whole thing is getting confusing.

"I can't guess."

Even with Jia Xu's wisdom, he still felt at a loss when faced with such a strange thing. After pondering for a long time, he said:

"But I think that no matter whether what Ma Chao said in this memorial is true or false, the plan to attack Bingzhou cannot be changed."

"As long as Bingzhou can be conquered, it doesn't matter whether Ma Chao has rebellious intentions or not."

Bingzhou is too important to fall into Ma Chao's hands under any circumstances, especially when it is unknown whether Ma Chao will rebel.

This memorial cannot clear Ma Chao of suspicion.

Guo Jia agreed and said, "Wenhe is right. Regardless of the truth of the contents of this memorial, sending troops to attack Bingzhou is the top priority."

If Ma Chao does not rebel, everything will be fine. But if he does, they cannot afford the cost of losing Bingzhou, which is a vital strategic location!

And how could we know that this memorial was not a trap set by Tian Feng at the risk of his life, so that they would let down their guard against Ma Chao so that he could catch them off guard?
They can't gamble, and they dare not gamble.

"Don't worry, the plan to attack Bingzhou has been set, and I will not change it. Now we just need to prepare the warm clothes for all the soldiers, and I will order the troops to go immediately!"

Liu Xie's eyes were sharp and his words were filled with a strong desire to fight.

In this battle, he will definitely destroy all the remnants of Yuan Shao, unify the whole of Hebei, and not leave any hidden dangers!
(End of this chapter)