When Song Qingshu and his entourage arrived at the study, they discovered that a man was pacing back and forth, clearly very anxious.
Hearing the commotion, he turned his head and revealed a pleasantly surprised expression. He quickly walked over and said, "Brother Song, no, I should call you Prince Qi!"
Song Qingshu also recognized the other person. It was Lu Guanying. He could not help but smile and said, "Brother Lu, please sit." As he spoke, he subconsciously looked around. That shy young woman, Cheng Yaojia, did not seem to be present.
Lu Guanying seemed to have guessed his thoughts. He explained, "This time, I am on a mission. It is not convenient to bring Miss Yaojia along." He felt embarrassed when he said this. After all, Miss Cheng was his wife. This was not a big deal. If not for his current crippled body and the great kindness he had received from Song Qingshu, no man would be able to accept such a thing.
Therefore, he was currently fully focused on his official career. He hoped that he could bestow his wife a child and bring glory to his family. However, he still lacked an heir. Thinking of this, he felt somewhat depressed. He had carried out this plan for so long, but his wife's belly had not moved at all. Sometimes, he even suspected that Song Qingshu, in order to maintain this long-term relationship with his wife, had deliberately not allowed her to become pregnant. But now, the other party was like the sun at high noon. Regardless of status or ability, the difference was too great.
He did not dare to urge the other party. Hearing Lu Guanying's words, Song Qingshu's face heated up. He hastily changed the topic and asked, "Brother Lu, why have you come to Golden Snake Camp as an envoy?"
Ah-Jiu and Yelu Yan were originally somewhat curious about Lu Guanying's sudden mention of Cheng Yaojia. Now that they were talking about business, they hastily gathered their thoughts and sat down beside Song Qingshu. However, Yelu Yan hesitated for a moment. In the end, she did not sit with Ah-Jiu and instead stood beside him.
Lu Guanying hastily saluted the two women and said, "Greetings to the Ninth Princess. Greetings to Miss Yelu." He naturally knew that Song Qingshu had married Yelu Yan yesterday. At the same time, he was secretly amazed at the appearance of the two women. One was elegant and refined, the other tall and slender. Song Qingshu truly enjoyed all the blessings of the world. His wife's appearance was inferior to the Ninth Princess's and her figure was inferior to Yelu Yan's. Lu Guanying did not know why Song Qingshu kept thinking about her.
However, if Song QingShu stopped thinking about it, Lu Guanying would become anxious instead. It was because of the relationship between his wife and the other party that he was able to get close to this thick thigh. Even Han Xingzhou saw him in a new light. From a Jianghu person, he gradually became a core member of the court. Of course, this was largely due to his illness. Otherwise, as a man, it would be very difficult for him to make such a decision.
Ah-Jiu and Yelu Yan hastily returned the greeting. Only then did Lu Guanying turn to Song QingShu and say with a bitter smile, "The Prince of Qi should know why I have come."
Lu Guanying smiled wryly at Song Qingshu and said, "Does Brother Lu want to see the scenery of the north?"
Lu Guanying was speechless. Seeing that he did not respond, he could only say, "Prince Qi must be joking. This time, Minister Han sent me to ask about the Golden Snake Camp." In the past, the envoys had returned empty-handed. This time, Han Xingzhou had specially sent him here because he could see that he had a good relationship with Song QingShu. If he returned empty-handed this time, his position in Han Xingzhou's heart would probably plummet in the future.
"Oh?" Song Qingshu showed a meaningful expression but did not express his opinion.
Lu Guanying gritted his teeth and continued, "Originally, the Great Song, Northern Liao, and Golden Snake Camp had agreed to attack the Jin together. But not long ago, the envoy sent to Liao was killed. Xue Yi's men of the Imperial City Department came to Shangjing and stirred up trouble. They kidnapped the Liao ministers and wreaked havoc in Liao's prison, killing many Liao soldiers. Now, the Liao Emperor is furious and refuses to cooperate with us."
"Oh, really? Isn't Xue Yi's men from the Song Kingdom? Why … "Song Qingshu asked deliberately. In fact, he knew more than anyone else about Liao's affairs.
Lu Guanying was so angry that he hit the table and said bitterly, "It's all because of Jia Shidao! Xue Yi's men are from the Xue family, and the Xue family has always been in cahoots with the Jia family. Jia Shidao doesn't want to see Minister Han succeed in the northern expedition and increase his prestige, so he deliberately sent people to sabotage the northern expedition and hinder Minister Han. "
Song Qingshu said playfully, "Doesn't your emperor care?"
Lu Guanying smiled bitterly and said, "The power of the imperial court is extremely complicated. It's a long-standing tradition for all forces to hinder each other. How can the emperor care? What's more, there's no evidence that Jia Shidao ordered this. The most he can do is punish Xue Yi's men. However, with Jia Shidao and the Xue family backing him up, the punishment for Xue Yi's men will most likely not be painful. "
Song QingShu opened his mouth and said, "Brother Lu, I've more or less guessed why you're here, but our Golden Snake Battalion has a lot of headaches right now. Previously, the Liao Nation was in chaos, Yelu Chucai and Xiao Ban He's families defected, and the Golden Snake Battalion took them in, offending the Liao Nation. Now, we've taken in the Southern Courtyard's King Xiao Feng. I heard that Yelu Hongji is furious, and he's planning to send troops to settle accounts with us.
Lu Guanying said confusedly, "But I heard that some powerful officials in Liao have rebelled recently, and they've just been pacified. Now that Liao is unstable, I'm afraid Yelu Hongji doesn't have the energy to send troops."
Song Qingshu looked at him in surprise, thinking that now that Lu Guanying was in the center of the imperial court, his vision was indeed different from before, and it would be difficult to fool him.
Clearing his throat, Song Qingshu continued, "The threat of Liao is only one of the problems. The more troublesome ones are the internal problems. Brother Lu, you should know the situation of the Golden Snake Camp in the past. We've risen too fast in the past two years, and it's inevitable that our foundation is unstable. Many of the rebel forces that used to be on equal footing with the Golden Snake Camp have long been dissatisfied. In addition, most of the territories under our command were taken from the Qing Kingdom, and many of the remaining officials and gentry of the Qing Kingdom are still in many counties. They also have many regimental troops. Recently, we've received news that the separatist rebel forces have colluded with the remaining armed forces of the Qing Kingdom. Now, Wulian Mountain-Rizhao and many places in Huaibei are their territories, and they're preparing to defeat us and replace us. "
In fact, Lu Guanying knew a thing or two about the internal instability of the Golden Snake Camp. "With King Qi's current prestige and ability, these people are nothing more than clay chickens and pottery dogs. Even without him personally taking action, they will collapse."
Song Qingshu couldn't help but laugh, "Brother Lu, you've been with Minister Han for so long, and you're getting better at flattering people. If I were that amazing, I wouldn't have such a headache."
Hearing Lu Guanying's joking tone, Lu Guanying couldn't help but laugh, "This is the truth. On the contrary, it's Minister Han who is giving me a headache. Right now, everything is not going well, and the matter of the northern expedition has become too big. It can be said that the arrow on the bowstring has no choice but to be released. Right now, Minister Han is under pressure from all sides. Even if he isn't ready, he must send troops as soon as possible. Therefore, if King Qi doesn't send troops to help, Minister Han really won't have the chance. "
At this point, Song Qingshu really couldn't refuse. After all, he had a certain friendship with Han Xingzhou. To a certain extent, others also regarded him as a member of Han Xingzhou's faction. "This time, since Brother Lu has come personally, I won't refuse to give you face. How about this, I'll let you know that I will quickly settle the resistance at Five Lotus Mountain, and then cooperate with Minister Han to send troops! "
"That's good!" Lu Guanying was overjoyed. Although the other party didn't promise to immediately send troops, the official northern expedition wouldn't start in a day or two. In the early stages, small groups of troops were needed to be sent to test the waters. By the time the official northern expedition began, the Golden Snake Camp should have already pacified the interior. At that time, they could launch a pincer attack from both sides.
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