Wan 'er hid in the side hall and read the memorial over and over again. She savored every single word. Her tears of joy were like pearls from a broken necklace, falling down with a pitter patter.
After such a long time of concern, longing, and worry, she had finally gotten the result she wanted. She did not want to cry, but she could not hold back her tears.
He was still alive!
He was still alive!
Shouts of joy rang out from the bottom of her heart. Then she began to guess at Yang Fan's situation through the short content between the lines.
Ever since the battle of Huangbo deer ended, he had been captured. He must have suffered a lot in these days.
His leg had been hit by an arrow. She did not know if the wound had healed.
He had heard from the Khitan that the Khitan wanted to form an alliance with the Turks. He had spent so much effort to escape deep in the mountains. It must have been very dangerous.
Those Khitans, with only tens of thousands of people, had defeated the imperial court's army of more than a hundred thousand twice, and each time, they had won a complete victory. Even so many Great Generals had not been able to escape, so each of them must be like fiends. How difficult would it be for Langjun to escape from their hands?
Wan 'er's thoughts ran wild. After a long time, she finally controlled her joyful heart. She gently wiped away her tears and hid away the thread of longing that she could not cut off. She walked out of the side hall.
"Sister Wan 'er."
Fu Qingqing stood up. She was surprised to find that Wan 'er seemed to be different. She could not say what was different, but she seemed to be different. She was like a blade of grass that had been dry for a long time. Suddenly, it was full of water and once again stood up with its slender, beautiful, and weak body.
"I am going to see His Majesty. There is an important military report!"
Wan 'er said sternly to Fu Qingqing with a stern face.
After Wan 'er finished speaking, she quickly walked out of the hall. Her shoulders did not move, and her dress did not sway. She was like the clouds and flowing water. She was still elegant, but she was less calm than before. She had to walk very fast. Otherwise, she would not be able to hold back the smile on her lips and the smile that came from her heart.
On the Lovely Spring Stage, Wu Zetian's face was gloomy. She was in a very bad mood, so much so that even Zhang Changzong and Zhang Yizhi's flattery couldn't make her smile. Right now, the second Zhang had also quietly left out of fear.
Hearing that the Turks were also taking advantage of the chaos in the Khitans to plunder and plunder as they pleased in Hebei, even going so far as to declare that they were 'attacking the Zhou in place of the Tang', Wu Zetian, who had just formed a marriage alliance with the Turks, felt like she had been struck by a blow to the head.
She was enraged. Disregarding the consequences, she mobilized troops from the Western Regions, from the Southern Frontier, and from the prefectural armies in various regions. She assembled a large army and charged toward Hebei. The crafty Turks retreated. In the Great Desert Plains, the Empire couldn't afford to drag things out. That despairing pursuit was enough to drag the Empire into the abyss of collapse, but were they just going to let them come and go like this? Wu Zetian found it hard to swallow this anger.
However, that shameless Moche didn't care about what she thought. When he retreated, because he didn't have the time to take all those slaves with him, he killed all the tens of thousands of men and women he had plundered from Zhaozhou and Dingzhou.
Even so, this shameless man sent people to court and, in a serious manner, suggested that the reason they had attacked Hebei was because the Imperial Court hadn't agreed to all of their conditions. As long as the Imperial Court agreed to cede the Chanyu Protector-General and return the surrendered territories of the Hequ Six Provinces, not only would they not attack Zhou, they would also be willing to cooperate with Wuzhou in attacking the Khitans.
Wu Zetian knew that they were talking nonsense, but the situation was stronger than the people. Did Wu Zhou have the strength to fight on both sides? Now that Moche had 400,000 soldiers and occupied tens of thousands of li of land, most of the tribes in the northwest feared his power and abandoned Wuzhou to submit to the Turks. What could the Imperial Court do to this powerful scoundrel?
"Sage, Sage, Li Duozuo has an urgent report!"
Shanghai Wan 'er quickly walked into the Lovely Spring Stage. Wu Zetian, who had been lying tiredly on the chair, sat up in shock and urgently asked, "What happened in Hebei?"
"Your Majesty, please take a look!"
Shanghai Wan 'er handed the report to Wu Zetian. Wu Zetian took the report and struggled to read a few lines. She shook her head and said, "Read it to me!"
"Yes!"
Wan 'er took the report and read the information Yang Fan had gathered to Wu Zetian. When Wu Zetian finished listening, she completely forgot that Yang Fan was her daughter's lover. She also forgot that he had contributed greatly to her in the Western Regions. Not to mention other things, just his plan to sow discord in Tubo had borne fruit today. If it wasn't for the Tubo's internal struggle for power and the fierce fighting, Tubo would not be so peaceful today and Wuzhou would be in an even more difficult situation.
She only paid attention to the news that the Khitans wanted to form an alliance with the Turks. If this news was true, once the Turks and the Khitans worked together, wouldn't the chaos in Hebei be pacified indefinitely?
Wu Zetian weakly lay back on the chair and closed her eyes in pain. "Don't tell me … I have to agree to the Turks' conditions? Returning the surrendered tribes is not as simple as returning the surrendered tribes. Once these surrendered tribes are returned to the Turks, will the other tribes still be willing to submit to Wuzhou? Don't tell me I have to give the Chanyu Protectorate to the Turks? Since ancient times, has there ever been a king who did not expand his territory but ceded it? What should I do? What should I do? "
… …
When the Turks heard the news that Wuzhou was sending troops to Hebei, they quickly retreated back to their territory.
Although they retreated in a hurry and did not bring the male and female slaves with them, they still plundered a large amount of wealth. Those carts of goods were as good as raiding a Han's house. There was nothing they did not rob.
"Great Khan, the current Tang dynasty is no longer the Tang dynasty of the past. Even the Khitans with just a few tens of thousands can cause such a huge storm. The Great Khan controls four hundred thousand, what is there to be afraid of? Why retreat so hastily?"
A Turk general who came to receive the troops saw the big and small bags and the riches on the carts and horses. He could not help but be pleasantly surprised. Thinking that the Khan had given up on so much wealth, he could not help but grumble to him.
Moche smiled slyly. "Fool, you're only staring at the little profit in front of you. You need to look further. That's right, the Tang dynasty is indeed defeated. But a starving camel is still bigger than a horse. We can bully this colossus once in a while, but to swallow it whole, we don't have that big of an appetite. If we fight with the Tang dynasty and both sides suffer heavy losses, even if the Tang dynasty falls, our strength will be depleted. At that time, do you think that the Huihe and Tubo will let go of the chance to swallow us up? Friends are only temporary! "
Moche stroked his beard and smiled. Pleased with himself, he said, "Now, we need to strengthen ourselves as much as possible. We need to strengthen ourselves without hurting our strength. We can't swallow the Tang dynasty right now, but we can still swallow a small Khitan. If we fight to the death with the Tang dynasty now, the Khitans will also take the chance to rise. This little brother is also a nomad like us. The grasslands are also connected. It is not a good thing to let it grow stronger. "
That general came to a sudden realization and said, "I understand! The Khan is saying that we should watch the Tang dynasty and the Khitans fight to the death. When the Khitans fall, the Tang dynasty will also be greatly weakened. At that time, we can swallow the Khitans without any effort and strengthen ourselves! "
Moche laughed and lightly tapped the general's shoulder with his horsewhip. "You are finally a little smarter. When the Khitans are defeated, we will swallow the Khitans' population and territory. At that time, we will swallow the Xi tribe and Lao Ai. Once the entire desert grasslands are united, we can march south. Isn't that better?"
"The Great Khan is wise!"
"Hahahaha …"
…
On the Lovely Spring Stage, Wu Zetian stood up with difficulty. Wan 'er hurried forward to help her. Wu Zetian stubbornly shook off her hand and grabbed her dragon-headed walking stick. She took a few steps forward and stood still. Panting, she said, "Wan' er, send an order to the Chamberlain of Dependencies. Let them negotiate with the Turks. I agree to return the six surrendered states, but … the Chanyu Protectorate will not budge! I have already abandoned the people. I cannot give up land and be cursed by the world! If Moche doesn't give up, then let him come and take it himself. If he can take it, it will be his! "
Wu Zetian laughed coldly. "Go, tell the Chamberlain of Dependencies this! If they agree, then they will send troops to assist the imperial court in suppressing the Khitans, and we will no longer pursue his crime of attacking Hebei. Otherwise, at worst, we will fight. Who wins and who loses, who dies and who lives, is still unknown! "
Wan 'er hurriedly bowed. "Yes, Wan' er will go now!"
"Wait!"
Wu Zetian thought for a moment and said, "Wu Yizong, Lou Shi De, and Shazha Zhongyi have already led their troops to Hebei?"
"Yes!"
"Send an order to that idiot Wu Youyi to immediately lead his troops out of the city. He will coordinate with Wu Yizong in the north and south. He will take the initiative to fight the enemy. If he dares to hide in the city again, I will not let him off lightly!"
"Yes!"
"Send another order to Jiujiang's King Wu Youyi to the east of Luoyang and fortify the capital's defenses!"
"Yes!"
"Send an order to the Helong Kingdom to appoint Di Renjie as the ambassador of Hebei. He is to quickly set out and pacify Hebei! Send an order to the Ministry of War to set up cavalry units to the north and south of the Yellow River. Assistant Minister of the Phoenix Pavilion, Wei Yuanzhong, will be the Head of Bingzhou and the Chief Commander of the Heavenly Army. We will repel the Khitans in the north and the Turks in the west! "
"Yes!"
Wu Zetian issued five imperial edicts in one breath. She panted heavily and waved at Wan 'er. Wan' er quickly bowed and retreated. Wu Zetian slowly walked to the stone railing outside the hall with her walking stick. The palace eunuchs standing outside the hall quickly bowed to greet her.
Wu Zetian did not speak. She stood in front of the stone railing and let the wind blow her white hair. She squinted her eyes and looked to the north. Her old hand gripped the dragon head of her walking stick tightly and slammed it on the ground three times. She gritted her teeth and said, "Hebei, Hebei …"
In Thousand Gold Smelting City, Li Duozuo smiled bitterly and said to Yang Fan, "It is like this now. Wu Youyi is not moving and does not allow us to get close to him. Su Honghui is always chasing after the Khitans. We have no way of contacting him. Right now, we only have twenty thousand people. Half of them are heavy troops. Our fighting power is limited …"
Just as he said this, a soldier suddenly rushed in and knelt on one knee. He cupped his fists and reported, "Reporting! Great General, we have just received an urgent military report. The Khitans have suddenly appeared northwest of Horse City. It looks like they want to attack Horse City. The Magistrate of Horse City has sent people over to ask Great General for help! "
…
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