Wu Jie stood in the back garden of Bixiao Palace, looking into the distance at the palace buildings that became brighter after being washed.

Chen Jiao was still sitting on the flower stand, staring at her: "You don't seem to be surprised at all."

Wu Jie shrugged, "There is no surprise."

She didn't know why, but she had an inexplicable confidence in Yuan Jing, maybe it was the influence of the memory of her previous life.

But you really can't rely on the memory of your previous life.

Two days ago, heard the news that Yuan Jing had returned to Capital City. The reason given by the interrogated eunuch was that the emperor had escaped from the underground palace a long time ago, just to deal with the tomb robbers and his accomplices hiding in the palace, and did not show up.

Xie Xianshi and his team were digging a tunnel in the Empress Dowager's tomb, trying to steal the buried treasures from the nearby imperial tomb, but it happened that the torrential rain fell, and the imperial tomb was dug and collapsed.

Seeing that the conspiracy was exposed, the gang of bandits tried to kill the king. In order to catch them all, the emperor did not show up for the time being. Now the bandits are finally wiped out.

Wu Jie felt that this explanation was far-fetched, but no one raised any doubts.

What the emperor said must be the truth.

Wu Jie could even imagine that in the days to come, some remnants of bandits would be found in the palace and the army, and their homes would be ransacked and their families wiped out.

All subsequent developments were as expected by Wu Jie.

The famous Xie Xianshi turned out to be a villain and a tomb robber. In this era, digging other people's ancestral graves is a heinous crime. Not to mention desecrating the ancestors, it will even ruin the feng shui of the descendants and directly affect the prosperity and decline of a family. There are often people who fight with weapons in the folk, and even hurt people's lives. It's even worse to steal a country's emperor.

This Immortal Master Xie not only intended to steal the imperial tomb, but even almost succeeded. For a while, anecdotes about this Immortal Master Xie spread throughout Capital City.

The empress dowager staged a dramatic drama of turning the dead back to life, and in a blink of an eye it became the handle of the entire Capital City.

When the news came out, Empress Dowager Hong was so ashamed and indignant that she insisted on moving to live in the Buddhist hall at the northernmost end of the harem, no longer seeing outsiders, and living a peaceful life every day.

To say that this bizarre matter of Xie Xianshi, the one who suffered the most damage is the Hong family.

Because of Empress Dowager Hong's credulity and ignorance, she almost damaged the tomb of the late emperor, and the reputation of the entire Hong family was greatly affected by it. Moreover, Hong Chongyue, the most favored member of the Hong family's younger generation, was also killed on the way to chase down these vicious tomb robbers.

Everything is going on in full swing, but silently.

When Prime Minister Hong heard of the death of his beloved son, he was so sad that he couldn't afford to get sick. In the end, he claimed to be old and resolutely resigned as prime minister.

The emperor asked to stay again and again, but still could not change his mind, and finally nodded in agreement.

Hong Heting is the prime minister of the current dynasty, and has been deeply rooted in three generations of emperors. And Hong Chongyue is a rookie in the Hong family's generation, a young man who abandoned literature and pursued martial arts, and rose very quickly in the army. Although Prime Minister Hong's other sons and grandchildren also held important positions in the court or in the local area, there is no talent among them who can be compared with these two.

The two retreated one after another, and the Hong family immediately withdrew from the inner circle of the court.

In just over ten days, there was a small wave of personnel changes in the court. More than a dozen officials were dismissed or demoted for crimes such as negligence in supervision or poor guardianship of the imperial tomb, while others were promoted and reused.

Lin Desheng returned to the position of commander of Xiyuwei, and Gongsun Liang, the original Minister of the household department, was promoted to prime minister...

Wu Jie sat by the window, looking at the trees in the garden that became fresher after being washed by the rain. While listening to Chi Rui talking about the past few days.

Although the harem is not allowed to engage in politics, the harem is clear about any troubles in the previous dynasty, especially the big event Xie Xianshi.

It was a full year earlier than I remembered, especially in the previous life, the Hong family did not have such a thing as assassination of the royal family. When Empress Dowager Hong learned the truth, she fell ill in shame and indignation. At that time, the emperor was very worried, and went to the Palace of Compassion and Ning to attend to the sick day and night, and showed favor to the Hong family many times. It's a pity that Empress Dowager Hong was weak and passed away after being ill for a while. In the next few years, the Hong family gradually declined.

Instead of being like now, in just ten days, the Queen Mother Hong avoided living in a Buddhist temple, the prime minister retired directly, and Hong Chongyue died in Huangquan. Oh, and there is also Concubine Hongshu who fell ill in Changxin Palace.

Since the beginning of autumn, it has been raining continuously, and at the end of autumn, it finally stops, and the weather is getting colder and colder day by day. The wind in the morning was bitterly cold.

Wu Jie went to Phoenix Rite Palace to pay her respects that day. In the spacious hall, only Lin Zhaoyuan was sitting on a chair, holding a cup of tea bored. Seeing Wu Jie coming in, her eyes lit up.

"You're here. I'm sitting here by myself, and no one is talking." Lin Zhaoyuan sighed with a sad face, "Oh, think about it a few months ago, let's talk about the banquet. These days, the empress has been Ill, Concubine Shu is gone, and Concubine Jin is so busy raising His Highness that there is not even a single person in the palace who can speak."

Sitting on the chair, Wu Jie felt that she was very cold around her.

Almost at the same time as Prime Minister Hong died of old age, Concubine Hong Shu died of illness. The emperor mourned Concubine Hong Shu's departure very much, and ordered the Ministry of Rites to bury Concubine Hong Shu in the imperial mausoleum for three days.

There were few concubines in the emperor's harem, and the only ones who came to Phoenix Rite Palace to pay their respects these days were Wu Jie and Lin Zhaoyuan, and then there were two young talents.

The two exchanged a few words, and not long after, Bailu, the female officer of Phoenix Rite Palace, came out and said respectfully: "The empress got up late today, so I won't come here, I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

"Even the empress thinks it's too deserted. She doesn't want to see boring people like us." Lin Zhaoyuan joked.

Several people got up one after another and left Phoenix Rite Palace.

Walking out of the palace gate, Wu Jie felt a chill hit her face.

The autumn wind is getting cooler, and it will be winter soon.

Ten days ago, Yuan Jing left Beijing and went north with his soldiers and horses.

The target of this trip is the remnants of the Yelan Country.

Ever since the Yelan Kingdom was destroyed, its main soldiers and horses have fled out and become bandits again, occupying the commercial roads in the west, massacring merchants and border people. Because of the great Wei's hatred for destroying the country, these bandits' methods were extremely cruel, even the old and weak, women and children were killed, and they walked like the wind, elusive, and the local defenders were completely defenseless. damage.

Before that, killers were sent to sneak into Capital City to assassinate Yu Jia.

Of course, the last time they were killed in front of the imperial court was because Hong Chongyue's party supported the bandits' self-respect, but it can also be seen that these people are so bold.

After the Zhongyuan Festival assassination incident, the Great Wei court apparently wiped out the rebellion of the Yelan Kingdom that had sneaked into the capital, but in fact left a clue on purpose and let several people go.

Then follow the clues, and finally found the lair of the remnants of Yelan Country along this line.

Upon receiving the news, Yuan Jing simply led his troops northward, vowing to wipe out all these people.

Since he was a prince, he has been used to leading troops to fight, and even spent more time in the barracks than in the harem.

As soon as Yuan Jing left, the entire harem became visibly depressed. Even Empress Gao is slacking off, Wu Jie rarely sees her these days. To pay respects to the concubines in the harem, they just sent out a few words of politeness from Madam Qiu or Bailu, and then let the crowd disperse.

With the empress acting like this, the concubines below her began to loosen up. Concubine Li Jin simply did not come over to pay her respects every day in the name of taking care of her son.

Wu Jie always felt that the atmosphere was extremely depressing, and there was a vague feeling that the mountain rain was about to come and the wind filled the building. Even Chen Jiao has started to disappear these days, often disappearing.

After another two days, the suppressed premonition became a reality.

It was late at night, Wu Jie was sleeping soundly under the blanket when she was suddenly awakened by a violent shaking.

When she opened her eyes, she saw Chi Rui's pale face.

"Ma'am, it's bad, I heard that Capital City is besieged!" Chi Rui said incoherently.

"Surrounded by what?" Just after waking up, Wu Jie was still a little dazed.

"I was killed by the enemy, those Yelan Country thieves, and surrounded Capital City!" Chi Rui said tremblingly.

What Yelan Country bandits? Isn't the remnant of Yelan Country wreaking havoc in the North West? How can it be possible to kill Capital City, even if it kills Capital City. This group of fish that slipped through the net killed 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers and horses. It is impossible to besiege Capital City.

Wu Jie wanted to refute, but heard a commotion outside.

She hurriedly put on her clothes, and led Chi Rui and the others out of the palace gate.

There was chaos outside the hall, although the palace people didn't run around everywhere, but they gathered together in groups, their faces full of panic.

It was early morning, and the sky was filled with white light.

Wu Jie looked at this unfamiliar scene, feeling completely at a loss. Chi Rui was still whispering in her ear: "I just heard what they said, the outside of the city is besieged, let alone more than a hundred thousand people, they are all vicious barbarians, those from Yelan Country broke in !"

Wu Jie's mind moved slightly, and she simply went eastward, and arrived at the Zhaixing Building. This is the tallest attic in the palace. The seven-storey tower is built on a high foundation with a wide view, and it is the place for the palace to have banquets.

Panting and climbing to the top, Wu Jie held on to the window railing, looked into the distance, and suddenly opened her eyes wide.

Outside the city wall, there were indeed a large number of soldiers and horses, all in black iron armor, with a biting killing intent in the cold wind.

From this point of view, people and horses are only the size of ants, but they are clustered together, like a thick dark cloud, surrounding the huge city.

Where did this cavalry come from? Wu Jie felt like she was dreaming.

In the Capital City of Great Wei in his previous life, until his own death, there was never a time when soldiers were approaching the city!

The footsteps going down the attic seemed to be on cotton, soft. After leaving the Zhaixing Building, a gust of cold wind blew by, and Wu Jie shivered.

"Your Majesty, what should I do?" Chi Rui was worse off than her, the situation just now was too terrifying.

Wu Jie gritted her teeth and said, "Go to Phoenix Rite Palace!"

Arriving at Phoenix Rite Palace, it was more than half an hour earlier than the usual greeting time, but Wu Jie found that all the people had arrived, unprecedentedly complete.

No one spoke, and everyone was nervous.

Fortunately, after waiting for a long time, Empress Gao appeared, besides the female officials such as Bai Lu, who were used in daily life, there was also a young and capable man beside her.

Wu Jie recognized Lin Desheng, the commander of Xiyuwei.

In the astonished eyes of everyone, Empress Gao sat in the center, and said simply: "Today, I brought General Lin here to explain everyone's confusion."

Empress Gao was calm, turned her head and said: "General Lin, please repeat what you said to Ben Gong just now."

Lin Desheng immediately cupped his fists and said, "I would like to follow your mother's orders."

He turned around to face the people in the harem, and said calmly: "My ladies and gentlemen, please forgive me. Last night, I led soldiers and horses to patrol the tower and found the enemy army approaching..."

It turned out that in the middle of the night today, when the forbidden army was patrolling the city tower, they found the enemy approaching and immediately notified the army. Lin Desheng is also a battle-tested general, so he immediately sent a small group of soldiers to test it out. Probably figured out the details of the enemy.

The cavalry of the Yelan Country were the first to strike the vanguard, but the main force should be the Di tribe soldiers and horses from the north.

The Di tribe is one of the largest tribes on the grasslands of the Northern Territory, with millions of people and hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers. Over the years, they have been conquering everywhere, and many small tribes on the grassland have been annexed by them.

With the growing strength, he went south several times to harass the border of the Northern Wei Dynasty and plundered people and goods. He was the great enemy of the Northern Wei Dynasty. However, the Lingbei Gao family in the north has not been able to get any benefits in the past ten years. Gradually, the focus of the strategy will be changed. Turning to the small tribes around, the intrusion going south is much less.

Unexpectedly, it would suddenly appear outside the capital of Great Wei.

"Ladies and gentlemen, don't panic. According to the general's inspection, there are no more than 70,000 to 80,000 cavalry outside the city. Even if they are all elite, it is impossible for them to enter the city. It is even impossible for these people to besiege Capital City."

To besiege a large-scale city like Capital City, at least 100,000 soldiers and horses are needed.

Now, among other things, in Capital City, there are 20,000 elite Xiyu Guards and 50,000 Donglin Guards. These two guards alone are enough to resist these invading enemy troops. Not to mention there are soldiers and horses such as Xiaoqiwei as backup.

"They have appeared outside Capital City majestically, and the surrounding counties will surely get news. They will soon organize troops to come to the rescue. When the time comes, the inside and outside will cooperate, and these bandits will never come back."