Tingju, which had been experiencing frequent changes, finally came to an end with the emperor's decision.
The fate of the three members of the envoy was already a certainty. Except for a small group of people, they were quickly forgotten by the courtiers.
What they were more concerned about was that they also sent someone first!
Although envoys were sent here before, they were here to declare war.
This time, it is obviously with the intention of seeking peace.
Therefore, after the court ceremony was over, although the courtiers dispersed, Zhu Jian, who was in charge of the envoy, and Yuan Bin, who had followed him back, were taken to Wuying Palace by the Jin Yiwei.
However, when they arrived, a lot of people had already gathered in the temple.
Looking up, they are all wearing crimson robes. On the civil servant side, there are six ministers, the censor of Zuodu, and the cabinet ministers.
On Wu Chen's side, there are Duke Feng Li Xian, Changping Hou Yang Hong, Jing'an Bo Fan Guang, Xincheng Bo Zhao Rong, and the only exception is Ningyuan Hou Renli who is recuperating in the mansion. Basically, on Wu Chen's side, everyone who can speak is here.
.
Zhu Jian didn't know all of these people, let alone Yuan Bin, but just by looking at the tattoos on his chest, he knew that these people were all big guys.
Not long after, a group of eunuchs emerged from the back hall, and everyone quickly stood up.
Shortly afterwards, the emperor, who had just changed into casual robes, appeared behind the imperial desk.
After each of them saluted and was given a seat, the emperor was about to speak when a loud noise suddenly came from outside the palace.
Immediately afterwards, Cheng Jing, the eunuch in charge of etiquette, walked in from outside and reported.
“Your Majesty, the Holy Empress Dowager heard that an envoy from the captives was coming and wanted to see it in person. She is now almost outside the Wuying Palace.”
Hearing this, the ministers present were a little surprised.
Since the Civil War, the empress dowager in the palace has rarely participated in the government affairs. The only time she did was in the case of Ningyang Hou, but in the end, she did not interfere too much.
Therefore, in the hearts of the courtiers, they still respect the Queen Mother Sun, but they don't know how she came so quickly.
Not long after Tingju left, he came over in person.
However, the ministers could not guess it, but Zhu Qiyu felt like a mirror in his heart.
Just now at Tingju, he did not give face to the British government and Jiao Jing's gang of relatives, and made the mission's case a solid case. By the way, he almost exposed the scandal that the Supreme Emperor had done.
.
This result must have made Queen Mother Sun feel uneasy.
She was probably afraid that she would do something wrong in the peace talks, so after hearing the news, she hurried over in a hurry.
No matter what, you cannot refuse the visit of Our Lady.
Thereupon, Zhu Qiyu and a group of ministers got up and came to the palace gate to wait.
Not long after, the figure of Queen Mother Sun appeared outside the palace.
Zhu Qiyu glanced at it. This time, the Queen Mother Sun was not wearing court clothes, but ordinary clothes. She was obviously in a hurry.
I looked at the palace maids and chamberlains who were following behind me. There was a thin layer of sweat on their heads, so it was obvious that they must have been trotting all the way here with the shoulder carriage.
“Saw the Virgin.”
Zhu Qiyu bowed in salute, while all the ministers behind him fell to the ground.
Empress Dowager Sun nodded, her eyes swept around the crowd, and finally settled on Yuan Bin.
To be summoned, he definitely couldn't still wear prison uniform, but for a while, he couldn't find a suitable official robe, so out of desperation, Yuan Bin changed back to the royal guard's robe he was wearing when he came.
Even so, he still stood out among a group of high-ranking officials in scarlet robes.
With a slight sigh of relief, Queen Mother Sun quickly walked up to Yuan Bin and asked.
"You are Yuan Bin. The Emperor is in Yibei. How is the situation? Are you in good health? Have you ever...been disrespectful to the Emperor?"
At this time, Queen Mother Sun did not have the demeanor of the Queen Mother at all, and the worry in her tone was just like that of an ordinary mother who is worried about her son.
But at the end of the sentence, she finally came to her senses and abruptly changed the words she said.
Yuan Bin kowtowed on the ground and said.
“Holy Mother, please rest assured that the Emperor is in good health and everything is well. He treats the Emperor like a distinguished guest. He even wanted to marry his sister to the Emperor, but was rejected by the Emperor.”
"Before leaving, the Supreme Emperor specifically told his ministers to go to the palace to pay their respects to the Holy Mother and Queen Duanjing, saying that everything was fine with him and that they should not worry about him too much."
With just a few words, Empress Dowager Sun's eyes turned red, she took out a handkerchief and wiped her eyes, and said repeatedly.
“Okay, okay, as long as you are well, the Ai family is living a good life in the palace, so you don’t need to worry about it. Queen, alas, let’s not mention it for now...”
Speaking of Empress Qian, Empress Dowager Sun's face suddenly froze, and her excitement gradually calmed down.
It was only then that she paid attention to the other ministers present, turned around, and apologized.
"Gentlemen, please get up quickly. I am worried about the Emperor, and I lost my temper for a moment, which made you laugh."
All the ministers stood up one after another and looked at each other. The oldest, the Minister of Rites, Hu Xi, raised his hands and said.
“The Virgin Mother’s deep love for licking her calves is a blessing to the heavenly family. How dare I talk about it and laugh about it?”
Zhu Qiyu also smiled and said: "Our Lady came just in time. I am just about to discuss with the ministers how to welcome the emperor's brother back as soon as possible. Our Lady may wish to listen."
With that said, he ordered a group of chamberlains to add a smaller seat next to the throne.
Empress Dowager Sun was a little surprised that Zhu Qiyu let her stay so happily, but she didn't say much, she just said.
"The emperor is interested, and the Ai family is indeed very concerned about this matter, so we can only temporarily abandon the harem rules and listen."
Therefore, under the hurried arrangements of the chamberlains, all the ministers returned to their places again soon.
There were many people in the Fengtian Hall, so Zhu Jian did not go into detail about his experience in Wala. Now there were many important ministers in the hall, and he had plenty of time.
At the emperor's signal, Zhu Jian carefully recounted all his experiences from his mission to his return to the court.
When he heard that the emperor had sent a secret edict to Zhu Jian at the same time as he had arrested the envoy, asking him to go to Wala to negotiate and wait for an opportunity to welcome the emperor back.
Empress Dowager Sun's expression was rather complicated, but it only passed away in a flash.
When Zhu Jian said that he had arrived in the capital, he was immediately taken into the palace by Shu Liang, and many ministers had a wry smile on their faces.
By this time, they finally had some clues about what had just happened in the temple.
But the more this happened, the more they felt that the emperor's thoughts were unfathomable.
At the same time, Zhu Jian’s narrative is coming to an end.
"This is the whole story of my trip to Oara. From what I can see, Oara lacks fighting spirit and lacks logistics. In just a few days in Oara, I saw many sergeants fighting each other for robbing cattle and sheep.
Fighting, and being dealt with by military law."
“It can be seen from this that it is already difficult to maintain a large standing army. If this continues, more tribes may fall this winter, so he is bound to let most of the sergeants return to the tribes.”
“Therefore, I believe that Wala should come with sincerity for this peace negotiation.”