In a rather clean and bright cell, Zhang Hongji was reading a book when he suddenly noticed movement. He turned around and was startled.
We haven't seen each other for many years. Yuan Yan is no longer as pretty as a girl, but has become a rather dignified female husband.
"It's rare that you are willing to come see me?" Zhang Hongji smiled and seemed very comfortable, "It seems that I have to be in trouble before I can help you."
"Concubine Zhang originally wanted to come over, but her status is inconvenient, so she asked me to come and see you."
"Have I let her down?"
"No." Yuan Yan said: "She said that the Zhang family has been in too much limelight recently, which has aroused the dissatisfaction of many other princes, so it would be nice to suppress it. It's just a hard work, Your Majesty. Everyone is watching every move, so you can't be too indulgent."
, it’s not too harsh.”
Zhang Hongji smiled bitterly and said, "It's true that I didn't think carefully. If this matter reaches my father's ears,"
"Your Majesty and your concubine have gone north to Zhuozhou in advance to discuss this matter with Marshal Zhang in person."
"What about Brother Eleven?" "I didn't find him."
Zhang Hongji nodded and said, "I've caused trouble for everyone."
"You have always been a soft-hearted person."
"Recently, I suddenly figured out why you looked down on me back then."
"More than twenty years have passed and I don't remember it." Yuan Yan said, "If I have to say the reason, it would be that the Zhang family is too prominent."
"I am too indecisive. I always shrink from battle and cannot get anything done." Zhang Hongji said, "I have thought about it carefully recently and it seems that everything is like this. Originally, I wanted to persuade Shi Yilang to surrender, but he just said a few words to me.
Then I softened my heart. I thought that before Kublai Khan sent people to Baozhou, I was too weak and let my whole family be taken to Yanjing. This is how the following things happened. Since it was because of me, how could I let Shiyilang take the blame?
crime?"
"Is that what you think?"
Zhang Hongji smiled bitterly and said: "When I proposed marriage to you back then, you just said, 'Don't let your delicate hair fall into the painting hall', so I was so scared that I flinched. For more than ten years, I have been thinking about it, if I had been more shameless back then.
, will it be different?”
"You're in your forties or fifties, why do you have to think about these things anymore?" "That's right." Zhang Hongji sighed.
Wherever his eyes fell, he still felt that Yuan Yan was very beautiful, with a poetic and calligraphic beauty, simple elegance and tranquility.
So he wanted to speak a few words from his heart.
This time he attached himself to the Tang Dynasty, and he thought about proposing marriage to her again.
But before he opened his mouth, he thought again that he was a sick man in his late fifties with only a few years to live, so why let her be a widow again.
The two fell silent.
After a while, Yuan Yan said: "One more thing to advise you in this world, family is very important, perhaps even more important than the king's destiny. But,
The Zhang family is too big, why not split it up?"
Zhang Hongji smiled bitterly and said, "If our brothers dare to propose a family separation, my father will definitely kill us."
"The family is too big and there are a lot of troubles. That's why you spend all your time recuperating behind closed doors, right?"
"You do understand me."
"The imperial concubine has already quietly talked to Twelve Lang about this matter, and originally planned to mention it to Marshal Zhang after the world is calmed down. Since you are in trouble today, I will tell you in advance, and you can help to persuade me in the future.
"
Zhang Hongji sighed: "How could my father agree to split up the family? He still wants to let the Zhang family."
"Is it extremely rich?"
Zhang Hongji paused for a moment and said, "That's not what I meant." "I can't persuade you more, so I'll take my leave."
Yuan Yan bowed and left, walked a few steps, then turned back, hesitated slightly, and said another sentence.
"I rejected your proposal of marriage back then, really not because I didn't like you. I was afraid that living in a wealthy family, I would not be able to have freedom in everything. Your family has a big business, and although it is rich and prosperous, it is also too tiring. Think about Jiulang
, Shiyilang, and you, in the end, how many things did you do for yourself?"
Her voice was gentle, but her tone was firm. It was like she rejected him back then.
Zhang Hongji was stunned there, and did not come back to his senses until Yuan Yan's figure disappeared.
"Yes." He murmured to himself: "A man who is almost fifty years old is still called 'Erlang'.
What kind of style can it have?"
~~Zhuozhou.
This is the ancient battlefield where Huangdi Xuanyuan fought against Chiyou in the wilderness of Zhuolu, also known as Zhuolu.
Now this is also the last barrier for Yanjing, so Brother Yixiang's army did not continue to retreat after retreating here, but began to fight with the Tang army.
Since the Tang Army began its Northern Expedition, the closer it got to Yanjing, the more fully prepared the Yuan Army was for defense.
In addition, the Yuan army's strategic depth was gone and they had to start to resist head-on. Therefore, they started to fight particularly tenaciously after arriving in Zhuozhou.
Zhang Rou is a very experienced veteran. After a tentative confrontation, he began to set up camp near the Beijuma River and wait for the follow-up troops.
At this time, the morale of the Tang army was high, and Zhang Rou was also inspired. She often taught Zhang Hongdao and Zhang Hong a few words in the account.
"Don't think that this battle can be won quickly. Kublai Khan has been gathering his troops and is waiting to wear us down. The real tough battle will come next. But after the battle in Taiyuan, we are the one who can wear them down.
Surround Yanjing, cut off contact with the Yuan army, and recover Henan and Shandong. In the end, we will win, hahaha."
But on April 21st, a piece of news came. After hearing this, Zhang Rou was so excited that she became so angry that she became bedridden.
"What kind of evil is this? You are a relative of the emperor and you want to go back to Mobei to herd cattle, right? Bring him back to me and I will kill him myself!"
"Father, calm down. He has been a hostage for a long time and cannot tell the difference between good and evil." Zhang Honglue quickly stepped forward to support Zhang Rou and advised, "Father, there is no need to get so angry over this."
Zhang Rou stared at him and cursed: "Let this evil obstacle become the son of a deceitful person, and this mediocre person, the second brother, misses my big job again!"
"Father, it won't happen, it won't happen."
Zhang Rou wanted to curse again, but she couldn't take a breath. Her vision went dark and she fainted.
~~
I don’t know how long it took, but Zhang Rou opened her eyes again and saw someone sitting in the tent. When she took a closer look, she turned out to be Zhang Wenjing.
"How did you come?"
He couldn't help being surprised and wanted to get up, but Zhang Wenjing gave him an accusing look.
"Father, just lie down."
"Is the imperial concubine really here? I thought it was a dream." "What? Dad only has the imperial concubine in his eyes now, and he has no daughter, right?"
Zhang Rou smiled bitterly and shook her head, not knowing what to say.
Zhang Wenjing said: "When I go home this time, I feel that my father doesn't love his daughter as much as before."
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Zhang Rou said hurriedly, "I'm busy working for my father, and it's not just for you?"
"For what?"
Zhang Rou stopped answering again and said: "As long as you don't blame me, I was in Yanjing a while ago. I often thought of what you said to me when you told me that you liked His Majesty. I have to say that you have better vision than my father.
It’s too much. If it wasn’t for my father’s confusion back then, you wouldn’t be able to lose your position as queen. Do you blame my father?”
Zhang Wenjing felt a little emotional when she heard the first half, and her eyes turned slightly red. But when she heard the rest, she kept shaking her head.
"Dad, my daughter has never wanted to be the queen."
"I know, that's not what I said." Zhang Rou smiled apologetically and said, "I just said that as a father, I wronged you."
"No."
Zhang Wenjing wiped her eyes and answered neatly. Her eyes were still a little red, but she didn't cry anymore.
"There are times in life that you must have, but there are no times in life, so don't force it. Everything that a daughter should have in this life has been grasped with all her life, and what she shouldn't have is not her daughter's."
"Who said that? It's too early to tell whether it's in your life or not."
"Looking back on those years, given my status and my father's situation, it was rare that I could finally become a couple with His Majesty. I didn't want to ask for more, and I wouldn't blame my father."
Zhang Rou sighed and said, "You don't understand. There were so many opportunities in the past ten years, but dad failed to seize them."
"Dad, don't think about any opportunities, okay? I've already gained enough, and now I'm just afraid of losing it."
"You don't have to worry about it. As a father, you know what's going on."
Zhang Rou was not as tyrannical in front of her daughter as she was in front of her sons. Her tone was much softer and she said, "I know it all in my heart."
Zhang Wenjing was silent for a long time and said: "This time, something happened between the second brother and the eleventh son. Let us father and daughter talk openly. Dad
Are you working so hard just to help your daughter take the throne?"
"The father of this silly boy is nearly eighty years old." Zhang Rou said, changing the topic and said: "The only thing we can do is to let your brothers make more military exploits and suppress the Gao family.
Tomorrow."
"Besides that? What else did you do?"
"There is nothing that can be done, and it is not advisable to do anything." Zhang Judao, "The time is still long. All we have to do is to please His Majesty and make no mistakes."
"But something went wrong between the second brother and the Eleventh Man. Dad, have you ever thought that the more powerful the Zhang family is, the more dangerous it will be if something goes wrong."
"It won't happen next time. I just serve the country and make meritorious service. It won't happen again."
"My daughter doesn't want it." Zhang Wenjing shook her head very tiredly and said, "What my daughter has been looking forward to is that her family will be harmonious and beautiful after Baozhou is recovered. She doesn't want any secondary status."
"It's yours."
"Dad, do you know how Brother Ninth died? It should be that he had too many things. Why did Brother Eleven become like this? It was also because he had too many things. The men of the Zhang family should have something."
If it is too much, then you will never be satisfied, and sooner or later your family will be ruined.”
"Cough cough cough cough"
Zhang Rou coughed violently.
"You're saying that I'm to blame for Kuro's death, and I'm to blame for Eleven's death, right?"
"Dad, that's not what my daughter means."
Tears fell from Zhang Wenjing's eyes, but this time she couldn't wipe them away.
Suddenly, someone opened the curtain and came in.
Zhang Wenjing turned around and saw Li Xia, feeling even more aggrieved.
When Zhang Rou stood up and took a look, her expression suddenly changed, with fear in her eyes.
Li Xia stepped forward, hugged Zhang Wenjing and patted her back, saying, "Let me talk to your father."
"good."
Zhang Wenjing agreed, stood up and left.
Zhang Rou became increasingly uneasy and hurriedly wanted to salute. However, Li Xia supported him.
"Mr. Zhang, you don't have to be like this. Let's talk openly and honestly, okay?"
"Hello, old minister."
"I heard everything you said to Wen Jing just now."
When Li Xia said this, Zhang Rou opened her eyes and almost fainted again.
But Li Xia continued: "It's better to talk about these issues clearly first, at least it's better than talking about it five or ten years later when something really happened. I never mind saying ugly things upfront. Don't worry, I didn't mean to
I blame the Zhang family. I made it clear from the beginning to protect the Zhang family."
Zhang Rou finally felt at ease and said, "I am confused."
Li Xia considered it carefully and said: "Let's talk about something unpleasant first, and put away the idea of taking the throne. You didn't agree with Wen Jing to marry me back then. It was Gao and I who supported each other through the most difficult years. Now we are fighting for the throne.
Bit, that doesn’t make sense, don’t you think?”
He finally asked this question very slowly.
Zhang Rou knew that answering this question was a promise to Li Xia.
This was the first time in his life that he met such a straightforward and unsympathetic person.
But it was this kind of directness that left Zhang Rou with no way to quibble. "Yes."
He could only reply like this.
"That's good." Li Xia asked, "We won't fight in the future? Is that okay?"
Zhang Rou was stunned for a moment, thinking to herself, is it useful to just ask about such a big matter? Just asking, will it guarantee that there will be no fight for succession in the future?
However, Li Xia's eyes were bright and she wanted Zhang Rou to make a promise.