Can I get to the other side?.

Chapter 459: Reinforcements arrive! Jia Xu plots to kill Ma Chao!

Lu Lingqi came in such a hurry that she didn't even change her clothes, and she was even holding the iron spear in her hand.

Her remarks while dressed in military uniform were particularly powerful, showing her demeanor and spirit of a woman who is as good as a man.

Even the ministers who followed her couldn't help but feel their blood boiling and a sense of heroism rising in their hearts after hearing what she said.

"Your Excellency is absolutely right! I will never compromise!"

"How can I bow down to that villain Ma Chao?"

"We are willing to live and die with Chang'an!"

……

None of the ministers were willing to accept the conditions proposed by Ma Chao. Even if the city was captured and they died, it was better than suffering humiliation.

Fa Zheng also stood up at this time and said to Fu Wan: "Father-in-law, I know you are considering the people of Chang'an, but this is indeed inappropriate."

"Moreover, the Minister of the Central Secretariat and I have previously deduced that Ma Chao will unite with the Qiang people and come out in full force. Their food and fodder will certainly not be able to sustain them for long."

"We are at the end of our strength, but I believe the enemy's situation outside is not much better. They are making this request most likely to test our strength."

"If we are willing to negotiate and compromise with him, he will guess that we are no longer able to support it, and we will fall into his trap."

"If we refuse to negotiate, he will think we have the confidence to defend Chang'an and choose to withdraw."

Fa Zheng's wisdom was also ranked among the best among the think tanks in the court.

In his opinion, Ma Chao's sudden unreasonable demand for them to hand over the queen was just an attempt to test their bottom line.

If they were willing to negotiate or compromise, it would be equivalent to telling Ma Chao their current situation.

Therefore, this condition cannot be accepted at all.

There is not even a little room for negotiation.

Fa Zheng's words were like a wake-up call. After he said this, many people present came to their senses.

Wouldn't negotiating with Ma Chao let Ma Chao know that their military strength is now weak and unable to resist?
Fu Wan's face was very gloomy. He looked at Lu Lingqi, Fa Zheng and the other court officials in front of him and said through gritted teeth: "This is just your wishful thinking!"

"If Ma Chao really intends to withdraw his troops and negotiate, and we refuse, what if he gets angry and launches a general attack?"

"Once Chang'an City is destroyed, there will be a lot of bloodshed! How many people will die tragically?"

"Your Majesty loves the people like his own children. Do you want to put Your Majesty in an unjust situation?"

"You may go down in history after your death, but what about the common people? How can you be so selfish?!"

Fu Wan cursed passionately.

He knew very well that the only way he could have room for rebuttal was to occupy the moral high ground and use the safety of the people of Chang'an as an excuse.

At the same time, he gave a look to Empress Fu who had remained silent.

No matter how much the officials objected, as long as the queen made a decision, they had no right to stop her. After all, the queen was still the queen, so what if she was not favored?
As long as she is not deposed by the emperor, she will still be the master of the harem and the queen of a country!
"I……"

Feeling Fu Wan's gaze, Empress Fu's face turned slightly pale, and she couldn't help but look at Lu Lingqi and the ministers in the palace.

Everyone's eyes were focused on her.

She clutched the hem of her clothes tightly, with mixed feelings. After a long silence, she spoke: "For the safety of Chang'an, I am willing to leave the city as a hostage."

"Only in this way can we protect the millions of people in Chang'an City."

These words almost exhausted all her strength.

After saying this, she closed her eyes in pain.

Everyone in the palace changed their expressions when they heard this, but Fu Wan was very happy and said, "Since the Queen is willing to be a hostage, what else do you have to say? This matter——"

"Wait a minute!"

At this moment, a clear voice suddenly rang out.

Everyone looked in the direction where the sound came from.

A pretty figure walked out of the crowd. She stepped forward and said, "The hostage who goes out of the city does not have to be the queen. I can also go out of the city as a hostage."

The person who spoke was Queen Guo.

"nonsense!"

Fu Wan narrowed his eyes, his face darkened: "Ma Chao asked for the queen to leave the city as a hostage, how can you replace the queen?"

Although he did not recognize Queen Guo, the newly promoted concubine, he still recognized her identity from the style of her clothing - just a beauty.

Queen Guo looked at Fu Wan calmly and said, "Ma Chao did ask the queen to leave the city as a hostage, but when has he ever seen what the queen looks like?"

"The queen's precious body cannot be lost. If the father-in-law still insists on sending the queen out of the city as a hostage, why not let me pretend to be the queen and leave the city."

"If Ma Chao withdraws his troops as he has been told after leaving the city, then everything will be fine. If Ma Chao still attacks the city, then the queen's life can be saved."

"What does the father-in-law think?"

After Queen Guo finished speaking, Cui Yan, Fa Zheng, Yang Biao, and others couldn't help but flash a hint of surprise in their eyes.

Because Queen Guo’s suggestion is simply brilliant!
The clever thing is that it targets Fu Wan!

Fu Wan wanted Empress Fu to leave the city as a hostage. His fundamental purpose was not to preserve Chang'an, but to gain a good reputation for the Fu family.

But Queen Guo now proposed that she pretend to be the Queen of the City and leave the city as a hostage. No matter what the result was, the credit would not go to the Fu family.

The key is that the reason Queen Guo found was also perfect. First, Ma Chao had never seen the queen, and second, it was for the queen's safety. It was reasonable and logical.

As a result, the pressure fell on Fu Wan again.

Under the premise that you cannot gain fame, do you, Fu Wan, still want to insist on sending the Queen out of the city as a hostage?
Some of the ministers were fools. After realizing this, they couldn't help but look at Queen Guo in surprise.

Who is this concubine?
What an extraordinary method!
Lu Lingqi was not so cunning. She had not thought of the calculations in Queen Guo's words. After hearing these words, she just thought that Queen Guo really intended to replace the Queen as a hostage. She couldn't help but ask, "How can you, a weak woman, go on such a dangerous matter?"

"Let me go out of the city on behalf of the Queen, and when I get close to Ma Chao, I'll find an opportunity to stab him to death and kill this thief!"

Queen Guo knew that Lu Lingqi was worried about her, so she smiled at her and said nothing, but just looked at Fu Wan again.

"What does the father-in-law think? Do we still need to send the queen out of the city?"

Fu Wan's face was extremely pale at this time.

Queen Guo's words were like putting him on the fire, and he was in a dilemma for a moment.

If he agreed to let Queen Guo leave the city in place of the Queen, no matter what the final result was, the reputation would belong to Queen Guo.

If he didn't agree, he wouldn't be able to find a suitable reason to refuse.

Fu Wan hesitated and struggled for a long time. Just when he was about to put up a fight, a weak voice came from outside the hall.

"That's enough... cough cough cough..."

After hearing the voice, Fa Zheng trembled all over, turned abruptly to look in the direction of the hall, and then an expression of shock involuntarily appeared on his face.

"Z-Zhongshu Ling?!"

Jia Xu walked slowly into the Pepper Palace with the help of several guards. He was pale and looked very weak.

But wherever he passed, all the officials made way for him.

Fu Wan's face changed the moment he saw Jia Xu, and he swallowed back the words that were about to come out of his mouth, and completely gave up the idea of ​​struggling. He knew very well that if Jia Xu showed up, his plan would not succeed, because Jia Xu would never agree to send the queen out of the city as a hostage.

"Zhongshu Ling, why are you here?"

Fa Zheng walked quickly forward to support Jia Xu, and at the same time asked the guards to bring a small stool, and couldn't help asking.

Jia Xu was hit by a stray arrow during the day and should be recuperating at home. Why would he come here suddenly?
"I'm worried, come and take a look."

Jia Xu sat down, took a deep breath, waved his hand and spoke, while his eyes swept over the ministers in the hall.

Wherever he looked, everyone bowed their heads.

I didn't dare to meet his eyes.

Jia Xu retracted his gaze and said calmly: "I already know the conditions proposed by Ma Chao. Xiaozhi's judgment is correct. This is indeed Ma Chao testing Chang'an's strength."

As soon as Jia Xu opened his mouth, everyone felt more at ease, and Cui Yan and others breathed a sigh of relief.

Fu Wan looked ashen.

Fa Zheng also felt relieved. The survival of the entire Chang'an rested on his shoulders, and he was also worried that his judgment was wrong.

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

Jia Xu's experience is far richer and more sophisticated than his, and his insight into people's hearts is also more acute. Even Jia Xu said so, so it is basically correct.

But Jia Xu's next words caught him off guard. He changed the subject and said, "However, we still have to agree to Ma Chao's conditions."

When these words were spoken, all the ministers were extremely shocked.

Agree to Ma Chao’s conditions?
Yang Biao could not help but frown and asked, "What does the Minister of the Central Secretariat mean by that? Since we know that Ma Chao is testing us, why should we agree to it?"

"Wouldn't it be possible to save Chang'an if we just refused?"

Jia Xu did not answer Yang Biao's question, but took out a blood-stained secret report from his sleeve, held it up and said, "This is the secret letter sent back by the Embroidered Uniform Envoy half an hour ago."

"Your Majesty's army is less than a hundred miles away from Chang'an and will arrive tomorrow afternoon at the latest."

"What we have to do is to keep Ma Chao outside Chang'an City and not give him a chance to escape, and then wait for Your Majesty to lead the royal army to annihilate the rebels in one fell swoop!"

Jia Xu revealed a piece of important news.

This sentence was like a huge rock falling into a calm lake, instantly stirring up a thousand waves!

"Reinforcements are coming! Reinforcements are finally coming!"

"We have defended Chang'an City!"

"We are saved!"

"Chang'an City is saved!"

……

The ministers were extremely excited, and many officials even cried for joy!

Although they were all willing to die after the city was captured, who would be willing to die if they could live well?
After waiting for such a long time, they finally received reinforcements!

So how could they not be excited?
Fa Zheng was also very shocked, but he subconsciously thought that Jia Xu was deceiving the ministers again. However, it was not easy to ask directly, so he cast an inquiring look.

Jia Xu smiled at him and nodded.

Only then did Fa Zheng smile with joy from the bottom of his heart!

it is true!
"Minister of the Central Secretariat, how can we hold back Ma Chao? If we agree to negotiate, won't he attack the city immediately?"

"Can Chang'an still withstand the enemy's attack?"

Cui Yan asked, he didn't know what Jia Xu's specific plans were, or the current military situation in Chang'an.

Jia Xu said, "I will send someone to inform Ma Chao that the handover will take place outside the city tomorrow afternoon, and the three thousand carts of treasure and the queen he wants will be handed over to him."

"Given Ma Chao's cunning, he will definitely take advantage of the handover opportunity to launch an attack, and this is exactly our opportunity."

"I will have people hide the ten-shot crossbows among the three thousand carts of treasure. When Ma Chao approaches, I will instantly activate the crossbows and shoot him dead."

"There are still more than 2,300 defenders in the city. After Ma Chao is shot dead, all the defenders will go out and fight the enemy outside the city to the death until reinforcements arrive."

The moment Jia Xu saw the secret report, he came up with this plan.

Although the emperor did not ask him to delay Ma Chao's army, after being hit by an arrow today, he hated Ma Chao to the core. How could he let this guy go easily?

So he planned to take this opportunity to kill Ma Chao!
Avoid future troubles forever!

To be honest, Jia Xu's strategy was quite risky, but at the same time it was highly feasible.

Moreover, if we do not dispatch troops to engage the enemy and delay them, the enemy outside the city will surely retreat when they see the reinforcements arriving.

Maybe Ma Chao will run away again.

"I agree!"

After careful consideration, Yang Biao decided to support Jia Xu's plan and said, "I still have many men in the Yang family. Please ask the Minister of the Central Secretariat to let them go out of the city with the army tomorrow to fight the enemy and contribute to the defense of Chang'an!"

"I agree too!"

Cui Yan also said that if they could kill Ma Chao while defending Chang'an, the merit would be doubled.

With the two of them taking the lead in supporting, the other officials naturally had no reason to object and they all supported Jia Xu's strategy.

Only Fu Wan had a dark face.

My heart aches so much that it bleeds.

Originally, all the great credit and fame were going to fall on the Fu family, but now there is nothing left!
Thinking of this, Fu Wan couldn't help but look at Queen Guo with a look of resentment in his eyes.

It’s all because of this sharp-tongued woman!

Queen Guo also noticed Fu Wan's gaze, but she ignored it, as if she didn't see it.

"As for the candidate to pretend to be the queen..."

Jia Xu spoke slowly and looked at Queen Guo, "I wonder if Your Majesty is willing?"

She disguised herself as the queen and left the city with the army.

This is certainly risky.

However, the risks are limited.

After all, she has several generals protecting her and a large army following her. Even if a war breaks out, the "Queen" will be sent back to Chang'an as soon as possible.

Safety is not a problem.

But while there are risks, there are also huge profits beyond expectations, and you will definitely be rewarded by the emperor afterwards.

Although Jia Xu could have just found a palace maid to impersonate Queen Guo, he decided to give the choice to Queen Guo.

He admired Queen Guo, especially her speech which just foiled Fu Wan's plot, which was even more brilliant.

So if Queen Guo is willing to take the risk, he wouldn't mind giving Queen Guo a huge credit; if she is not willing, then he will find someone else to impersonate her.

Queen Guo was slightly stunned, obviously not expecting Jia Xu to say this suddenly, but she quickly understood the deep meaning of Jia Xu's words.

So after a brief thought, she raised her head and said with a firm look in her eyes: "I am willing to pretend to be the queen and leave the city with the army!"

(End of this chapter)