Chapter 289: Cage-Breaking Blade

"I didn't make a mistake after all."

Shen Yu retracted her gaze and saw Bai Yu flapping his wings in a tantrum.

Xie Tingzhou raised his hand to take Bai Yu and weighed it on his arm, saying, "It's a lot heavier. Cut off its white meat from today and let Bai Yu go out hunting by himself."

Bai Yu was lazy in the hot weather and didn't like to go out hunting. The bird got fat.

Chang Liu responded under the eaves.

Xie Tingzhou whistled, and Bai Yu, who had just suffered an unexpected disaster, spread his wings and flew into the sky, but was burned back under the eaves by the scorching sun, staring at Xie Tingzhou with unhappy eyes.

They stopped in Weizhou, and Shen Zhao would take Xiao Chuan and Chang Heng to Luzhou to attack Xuanping Hou soon.

Shen Yu said, "The baggage should go first. Every time we mobilize troops, we will spend tens of thousands of military pay."

Xie Tingzhou stood beside Shen Yu, "Fortunately, spring plowing in various states is going well. If there is no drought, this year should be a bumper year. We should spend what we should spend."

"There is no news from Chihe yet. What do you think?" Shen Yu looked at him sideways.

Xie Tingzhou lowered his eyes and looked into her eyes, "No news is good news. The most urgent thing right now should be the people in Shengjing."

"Have you discussed it with the gentlemen?"

"Yes." Xie Tingzhou said, "There is still one thing missing right now."

Shen Yu: "What?"

"The blade to break the cage." Xie Tingzhou held her and looked into the distance, "I want the world's talents to gather together to help you and me break the cage together."

What Xie Tingzhou needs most right now is no longer soldiers, he needs talents.

Everywhere the iron hoof has stepped on is in ruins, and it needs the right people to govern.

The initial decline of the Great Zhou Dynasty began with the corruption of the lowest officials. They must not repeat the same mistakes and must entrust the livelihoods of the people of several states to the right people.

However, although Xie Tingzhou has benefited the people and is popular, he is still trying to usurp the throne. Most of those who come to him are greedy for profit, and there are very few who can be used.

Military generals hold blades, but the pens in the hands of literati are also blades for killing people. One kills the body, and the other kills the heart.

Xie Tingzhou needs to stir up the storm among the literati so that he can stand on the same level as the emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

…

The screams outside the palace sounded for a long time, and finally there was no sound.

When Queen Chu came, the palace servants were cleaning up the bloodstains. The water was poured on the ground, and the blood spread along the water flow and flowed to the feet of Queen Chu.

"Queen, spare me." The palace servants immediately knelt on the ground.

Queen Chu took two steps back, asked the nanny to cover the little prince's eyes, and asked, "What happened?"

Li Zhaonian has always been gentle and has never beaten his servants to death. He didn't know why he did it today.

The palace maids knelt on the ground and dared not say a word.

Since Li Zhaonian fell ill, Queen Chu has become much more haggard. Li Zhaonian did not enter the harem, and the little prince became his only child.

But it is an indisputable fact that Li Zhaonian alienated her.

Seeing that the palace maids did not answer, Queen Chu understood in her heart that the Xuanhui Palace was full of Li Zhaonian and Li Jifeng's people, and they were completely on guard against her.

The eunuch reported outside the door that the queen had come, but there was no response from inside. The eunuch smiled at the queen and reported again after a while.

It was not the first time that Queen Chu was stopped outside the door. She had not seen Li Zhaonian for a long time, so she brought the little prince here today.

Queen Chu knelt down at the entrance of the palace holding the little prince and said softly, "Call me father."

The little prince was still in swaddling clothes at this time last year, but now he can walk.

But his voice was babyish, his pronunciation was unclear, and he babbled. In fact, it was impossible to hear what he was saying.

Li Zhaonian opened his eyes and heard the little prince babbling outside. He finally softened his heart and turned his head to say something to the people around him.

After the maid opened the door, Queen Chu was about to go in, but was stunned when she saw the people behind the maid.

"Prince."

Li Jifeng nodded, "I meet the emperor's sister-in-law. The emperor wants to see the little prince. The emperor's sister-in-law will hand the child over to the palace maid."

The little prince was afraid of strangers and cried non-stop. He grabbed the nanny and refused to let go. Queen Chu scolded him and said that was your father.

The palace door was closed, but the crying of the little prince could still be heard.

Queen Chu felt lost, but she remained dignified.

She regretted it. She knew that Li Zhaonian probably knew that she was the one who poisoned him, so he kept her away from her.

She might have been left behind because the prince was still young, or because of the pressure from the relatives. In short, the love between husband and wife in the palace had long disappeared with the poisoned wine.

Li Jifeng nodded slightly and walked down the steps. Queen Chu hurriedly said, "Prince."

Li Jifeng stopped and looked up.

Queen Chu asked, "I don't know why your majesty was so angry today."

Li Jifeng smiled, "It must be that someone touched his reverse scale. It was just a few palace servants who were gossiping. You must know that no matter how gentle a person is, he will fight back when he is forced into a desperate situation."

Li Jifeng shook his sleeves and left.

The court has been in an uproar these days because Shengjing is not peaceful. From time to time, students make trouble and even fight.

Li Jifeng walked into Liangyuan in his casual clothes. This is a gathering of scholars, but today it was a bit too noisy.

When Li Jifeng came in, he saw Jiang Lianzhi, who was facing the railing, "Do you mind sharing a seat?"

Jiang Lianzhi turned around, "Please."

The two of them understood each other tacitly, and neither of them revealed the other's identity.

Li Jifeng sat down and turned to look at the crowd: "Brother Jiang cares about people's livelihood, so come and see what's going on in Beijing these days."

"Just watching the fun." Jiang Lianzhi poured a cup of tea, "Please have some tea."

All the people present were scholars, but they were noisy.

"Xie Tingzhou and Shen Yu's evil ambitions are now clear. They want to destroy the century-old foundation of our Great Zhou. It is simply unacceptable."

"What is justice?" A student said indignantly: "Who can save the country with justice? You are clinging to the old ways and are complacent. In fact, you are not seeking progress. You are simply pedantic!"

"What you mean by progress is to usurp the throne."

"What I mean by progress is to save the country and the people. It is better than you talking nonsense here."

The two quarreled with red faces and ears, getting closer and closer, and spitting on each other's faces, but neither of them was willing to retreat, and they had to compete for the winner.

"You are a scholar, but you speak so vulgarly."

"You are a scholar, but you speak nonsense."

"You! You are so vulgar that you are unworthy of being a scholar."

"You..."

Seeing that the two were about to fight, the others hurriedly pulled them apart.

"I don't think you can reach a conclusion by arguing, so why not listen to me?" The man was wearing a gray robe, and his words and actions were quite dignified.

"Instead of arguing here, why not think about what you can do for the salvation you mentioned? You are all knowledgeable people, and you must not study hard for the sake of a momentary argument."

Everyone quieted down.

A student said: "When the previous emperor was in power, everything was peaceful and stable. Now the four continents are divided into five parts, which is really a hardship for all people."

"You only saw the singing and dancing in Shengjing when the previous emperor was in power, but you didn't see the starving people everywhere."