General Wei hosted a banquet for guests, and Queen Mother Guo, who lived deep in the palace, naturally knew about it.
In addition to Changqiu's visitor Ling Zhang Huan, who has always been friends with General Wei's mansion, Queen Mother Guo's adopted sister Madam Zhen also attended the banquet. Queen Mother Guo entered the palace when she was in her teens. Over the years, she has learned a lot about the people outside the palace.
Most of the information was relayed by others; there was also the eunuch Huang Yan, who had been appointed Huangmen Supervisor a few months ago, and still often talked about what happened in Luoyang in front of Empress Dowager Guo.
Mrs. Zhen went with Mrs. Wu, the deposed wife, and she had no chance to have sex with Qin. After Mrs. Zhen came to Lingzhi Palace, she could only talk about some topics such as Wang Lingjun's clothes. The female guest did spend more time with Mrs. Wang.
long.
Mrs. Zhen herself liked to dress up very much, so she took a very careful look at Wang Lingjun's clothes.
"Her lining is white, and the trim is made of autumn white material, with a bit of gray, which is not eye-catching. But such a simple decoration looks more refined and noble." Mrs. Zhen held the bowls and chopsticks in her hands.
My mind is not on the food.
The people who had dinner at the same table were Empress Dowager Guo and Empress Zhen. However, Mrs. Zhen didn't care so much and still talked about nobility in front of the Empress Dowager and Empress.
Of course Queen Mother Guo has met Wang Lingjun, and they have met many times when she was in Lujiang County. Queen Mother Guo feels that what Mrs. Wang wears is not the important thing at all. She is naturally beautiful. Moreover, Mrs. Wang often has a cold and arrogant look on her eyebrows.
Only your demeanor can give you that kind of temperament. How much does it have to do with the trimming of the clothes?
Empress Dowager Guo said nothing. However, Empress Zhen seemed to be very interested in the affairs of General Wei's Mansion. She listened attentively while eating, and did not take her food too seriously.
At this moment, the sound of "dong dong dong..." was faintly heard from the distance.
Mrs. Zhen took a look at the sound and said, "Ah, it's already Youshi. After I have finished my meal, I have to leave the palace quickly."
"Yes, it should be the drum sound of Youshi." Queen Mother Guo responded casually.
The drums on the towers of Luoyang are usually used to tell time. However, sometimes people forget that the drums exist, and when they hear them suddenly, they are occasionally startled. The sound really sounds like something happened.
Suddenly, Empress Dowager Guo remembered the unspeakable things she had done in the past. Zhen had made an agreement with Empress Dowager Guo to have a tryst with Qin Zhongming at a specific moment when the drum sound of Youshi was heard, and she took the lining worn by Empress Dowager Guo.
Give it to Qin Zhongming so that he can think of Queen Mother Guo in his heart. Then Queen Mother Guo can imagine being comforted at that moment.
Later, in a secret letter written to Qin Liang, Queen Mother Guo also mentioned the moment when the drums were beating. She was in the attic of Ganoderma Palace and saw images such as flowing water and wild geese flying away. Of course she was embarrassed to write obscene things in her letter.
It's something, so it's more euphemistic, just hinting at the feeling of longing.
Queen Mother Guo was distracted for a while, and her cheeks felt hot. Fortunately, everyone was eating, and it was normal for her face to be a little red while eating hot dishes and soup.
For a moment, she felt that time was becoming more and more difficult, thinking about how long it had been since she had seen Qin Liang.
However, considering the subtle stability in the court, it seems that Queen Mother Guo can continue to endure.
In fact, Queen Mother Guo has always been cautious, self-disciplined, and very tolerant. She has experienced many fears and seen terrible things, and understands that although dull but stable days are actually very valuable.
Just like the exquisite dishes in front of you, carefully cooked dishes, even rice is a carefully selected tribute. Just because such food is readily available in the palace, Queen Mother Guo and others did not feel that the food was very tasty. Guo
The Queen Mother picked up a small piece of vegetable ball from the porcelain bowl and ate it in small bites, which did not look very fragrant.
Only when they lose these and are about to starve, will people realize how rare it is to have good food and clothing?
Therefore, as long as the Wang family is still in power and Qin Liang is still careful to maintain the situation, Queen Mother Guo will also behave very cautiously. She made her promise to serve Qin Zhongming well last time, but she has not found a chance, so she can only break her promise for the time being.
Last time, Empress Dowager Guo went to the East Palace first, then changed her clothes and left the palace privately. Of course, this method had the risk of being exposed. Fortunately, she was lucky and the news was not leaked.
Empress Dowager Guo was mainly emotionally stimulated. The situation at that time was already very dangerous, and the minister's servants spoke highly of Guan Qiujian's men. Under the pressure, she became bold and did not think too much about her actions.
Nowadays, in the midst of suffering and repressed endurance, the Queen Mother Guo naturally developed an intuitive like and dislike, and was dissatisfied with the Wang family. Probably because the Wang family is still the most powerful minister, the Queen Mother Guo will live with her hands tied and must endure everything. Even if the Wang family Once an ally, Queen Mother Guo still did not have as much trust in the Wang family as Qin Liang.
Dinner was over in a short while, and Mrs. Zhen did not stay any longer. She left a little hastily and hurriedly left the palace to go home. Upon seeing this, the Queen also said goodbye to Mrs. Zhen and left the Lingzhi Palace.
Two days later, the eunuch Zhang Huan reported Qin Liang's case again.
Qin Liang has been going to the military camp every day recently, and it seems that he is temporarily arranging vacations for the officers and soldiers of the Luoyang Chinese Army. The Luoyang Chinese Army has fixed rules. A quarter of the people are on vacation, and the remaining people have to guard, train, or farm in the camp. .
Qin Liang arranged the vacation, probably because he wanted to let the soldiers take turns to go home for a period of vacation before setting off to Yongliang to farm.
Of course, Empress Dowager Guo also knew about the precautions against Jiang Wei. But she didn't know how long it would take for Qin Liang to go west this time.
Thinking of this matter, Queen Mother Guo became upset. However, Qin Liang wanted to find opportunities to establish military exploits, and also to try to gain power, so that he would no longer have to worry about the constraints of the Wang family in the future. Queen Mother Guo could only continue to wait.
...Unexpectedly, before the court meeting on October 15th, the palace suddenly received a piece of news. Guo Huai, the governor of Yongliang, reported that a large number of Shuhan soldiers had left Longyou to launch a large-scale Northern Expedition!
Qin Liang had previously predicted that once Fei Yi died, Jiang Wei might make another northern expedition. But no one expected that Jiang Wei would come so quickly! It was already winter, and the weather in Liangzhou would only be colder than in Luoyang.
When the courtiers gathered before, most people's view was that the Shu army would be dispatched in the autumn of next year or the spring of the following year.
On the day of the court meeting on the 15th, many officials were talking about this matter, but Qin Liang said nothing.
It was only after the court meeting that Qin Liang met the eunuch Zhang Huan in the Taiji Palace Square, and the two talked about the Western Front for a while.
Qin Liang did not predict the time of Jiang Wei's Northern Expedition, but now it seems that even predicting the time is useless. It is obvious that the Luoyang Chinese Army has no time to reinforce Yongliang.
During the conversation between the two, Qin Liang made it clear to the royal family that he did not intend to change the time when he would lead his troops out of Beijing.
Because if reinforcements are deployed now and the Luoyang Chinese army is ready to set off and march nearly a thousand miles to the front line, the war may be over; after all, it is also very difficult for the Shu army to transport food, and the war cannot be delayed too long. As long as they cannot occupy Liang If the state is established, the Shu soldiers will retreat soon.
The Luoyang Chinese Army has already lost the opportunity in this battle. It will be of little benefit to change the time and set off in a hurry.
However, the decision to go to the Western Front for farming had gone through discussions with the Wang family, court meetings, imperial edicts, etc. The entire arrangement had finally been implemented, so Qin Liang planned to still go to the Western Front for farming next spring.
As for how to deal with this large-scale Northern Expedition of the Shu Kingdom, it only depends on the capabilities of Guo Huai, Chen Tai and others!
Even Deng Ai may not have played a big role. Deng Ai only went to the Western Front from Luoyang this autumn. At this time, he may not even recognize the person. After Xiahou Ba ran away, Liangzhou was in a mess. Deng Ai has been in a mess for the past few months.
If you can redeploy Liangzhou's defense well, you will be considered to have done a good job.
After the matter was discussed at the court meeting, almost all the nobles in Luoyang knew about the Northern Expedition of Shu.
Taichang Yangdan's family naturally also knew about it. He heard the news before going to court.
After all, his nephew Yang Hu is a lieutenant in General Wei's Mansion; his wife Xin Xianying's younger brother is also a military adviser in General Wei's Mansion. In places like the General's Mansion and General Wei's Mansion, people understand military affairs earlier than the court officials.
Although Qin Liang did not guess the time, Xin Xianying still spoke highly of this matter.
When her younger brother came to visit, she said in front of her family: "General Wei can be said to know the military. He just learned about the assassination of General Fei Yi of the Shu Han Dynasty, and predicted in advance that Jiang Wei would launch a large-scale Northern Expedition. Now the report from the Western Front
Come on, it’s as expected.”
Husband Yang Dan also agreed: "If it is just a casual guess, it is not surprising. Qin Zhongming brought his opinion to the court, which is another matter. After it is made public, if the guess is not correct, it will inevitably make everyone angry.
Criticism. Qin Zhongming must be very sure about this matter."
His younger brother Xin Chang said: "I heard something at General Wei's Mansion. In the Battle of Shaopi, General Qin also expected Wu soldiers to attack more than a year in advance." He continued: "It only happened twice.
I didn’t even guess the time accurately.”
Xin Xianying said: "The countries are thousands of miles apart, and the Luoyang court has no contact with each other. Being able to make a rough judgment on this kind of thing in advance can be regarded as a clever plan."
Xin Chang nodded and said, "What sister said is true."
In the past two years, Xin Xianying's evaluation of Qin Zhongming was almost not low; she did not only say good things, sometimes she would also say unflattering words when evaluating some scholars in front of her own family. Therefore, Yang Hu and Xin Chang successively accepted Wei's
Xin Xianying did not object to the conquest of the General's Mansion...but when her brother Xin Chang accepted Cao Shuang's conquest, Xin Xianying did not agree with it.
Yang Dan said: "Jiang Boyue is indeed the main war faction of the Shu Han Dynasty. The Shu army just came to Liangzhou at the beginning of the year. Unexpectedly, it was dispatched twice within a year. Not only did the Luoyang princes not expect it, I am afraid Guo Boji was also caught off guard. Guo Boji is here
Chang'an, we still have to rely on his arrangements at this time, I hope there won't be any problems on the western front."
Xin Xianying and Xin Chang both agreed.
The Shu Han has been attacking on the Western Front for a long time, and they have carried out the Northern Expedition countless times, even more frequently than the Wu State, which is more powerful. However, every previous attack by the Shu Han failed to change the general situation on the Western Front.
Judging from experience, Yang Dan and other Wei court officials naturally believed that there would be no major problems this time. However, when the outcome was unknown, Yang Dan was still very concerned and a little worried. People will inevitably have such feelings about the unknown. This chapter has been completed!