A life of two souls traveling through time

Chapter 175 Things are different now

Borrowing troops from the West Moon Kingdom was undoubtedly unanimously opposed by the ministers in the court. Ning Xi sat on the dragon throne with a gloomy expression. This result was also what he expected.

"If borrowing troops doesn't work, what other ideas do you have, my dear ministers? You can't let me sit in this Dragon Palace and watch Li Xu move towards Xuan'an City step by step, right?" Ning Xi glanced coldly at the ministers below him, with forbearance in his majesty.

"Your Majesty, it's not impossible to borrow troops, but why do we have to borrow troops from the Xiyue Kingdom?" Prime Minister Lu Xiang took two steps forward and asked Emperor Lang who was sitting on the dragon throne.

"Okay, it will be a great achievement if Prime Minister Lu can borrow troops from other countries. I will leave this matter to the Prime Minister." Ning Xi clapped her hands suddenly, pointed at Lu Xiang and smiled in surprise, but this smile made people feel scared.

Prime Minister Lu was speechless, but since the emperor's order had been given, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and take on this important task.

"Your Majesty, you and King Xian are brothers by blood. If the late emperor knew about this, he would be upset... Why don't you take the initiative to make peace with King Xian..." At this time, an old minister also came out tremblingly and proposed to Emperor Lang on the high step, but before he finished speaking, he angered Ning Xi:

"Ridiculous! I, a legitimate monarch, am asked to take the initiative to make peace with a traitor, and you, an old man, are so stupid as to say that. When Li Xu rebelled, you helped me to scold him for his treason. Now that I have lost power, you have changed your face again. I am ashamed for you if you are not ashamed of your old face. You eat the salary of the court but you are disloyal. What is the point of keeping you here? Come on, drag him away and chop him off!"

"Your Majesty, please spare me! Your Majesty, please spare me!"

The old minister had been so frightened by Ning Xi's scolding that he knelt on the ground, sweating profusely. After hearing Emperor Lang's next words, he almost fainted. When he was dragged away by the guards outside the palace, he even peed all the way.

The emperor was furious, his eyes full of murderous intent. All the ministers in the palace were silent, trembling as they knelt on the ground. Even Lu Shi, who was extremely favored by Emperor Lang, lowered his head in fear.

"Speak up, do you have any good ideas to help me solve my current urgent problem?" Seeing that the huge hall suddenly fell silent again, Ning Xi couldn't help but get a little agitated.

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty, although King Xian does not care about the brotherly relationship with Your Majesty, he loves Princess Luoying very much..." At this time, another young civil official came out tremblingly, but before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Ning Xi's cold sneer:

"Okay, you're planning to take care of my own sister. So, you want me to use my own sister as a bargaining chip?"

"I deserve to die, Your Majesty, please calm down!" The young minister was so frightened that his face turned pale. He knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly.

"Drag him away, drag him away!" Ning Xi didn't even look at the minister, but waved her hand impatiently.

The guards outside the palace came in again to drag people away. After the miserable screams disappeared outside, the Dragon Palace returned to deathly silence.

"Report...Your Majesty, battle report from the front line." The silence in the hall was not broken until the messenger ran in.

"Just read it directly." The eunuch was about to pass the battle report from the reporter forward, but was stopped by Ning Xi. It was another defeat anyway, so he was too lazy to read it.

The messenger read the battle report in his hand nervously. It was another great defeat for the Lang army. King Xian's army attacked several cities in a row. Everyone was used to it and dared not say much.

Hearing the defeat report, Ning Xi's head started to hurt again. Seeing that all the civil officials dared not even fart, she was tired and said coldly: "I will give the Prime Minister three days. If the Prime Minister fails to borrow troops after three days, I will directly ask the West Moon Kingdom to borrow troops."

After saying this, Ning Xi turned away without waiting for the prime minister's response.

Prince Yingyan was absent from court today due to illness, and the palace servants reported what happened in the court after the court was dismissed. Yingyan did not react much to his father's killing of two ministers. The recent consecutive defeats had already made his father irritable, but these two ministers' stupid ideas had angered the emperor, and it was their own fault.

But when he learned that his father wanted to borrow troops from the Xiyue Kingdom, he didn't care that he was still sick. He immediately got up and went to the Prime Minister's Mansion, and at the same time ordered someone to call Shangguan Jiuyi.

"Old Prime Minister, besides Xiyue Kingdom, which other country do you think will lend us troops?" In the study, Ying Yan was so anxious that he was turning around and around, and hurriedly asked Lu Xiang who was sighing beside him.

"Given the current situation, with King Xian's victory after victory, I'm afraid the hearts of these countries have already leaned towards King Xian. Of course, they dare not rashly offend King Xian at this time." Without waiting for Lu Xiang to respond, Shangguan Jiuyi, who was sitting under the window, sighed first.

"Then what should we do? We can't really let father go to borrow troops from Xiyue Kingdom, right?" Ying Yan, who was still sick, was so anxious that his face turned red and sweat broke out.

"I once met the prince of Yuhai Kingdom when I was studying at Langtai Academy. Perhaps I can go visit the prince of Yuhai Kingdom, but..." The light that had just lit up in Shangguan Jiuyi's eyes went out in an instant.

"But distant water cannot quench a nearby fire, not to mention that Yuhai's soldiers have to ask Jingsong for passage to enter Lang." Lu Xiang looked desperate and continued to sigh, "Recently, I heard from spies that the envoys of Xiyue have secretly gone to Jingsong. I think the two countries have colluded. At this time, Jingsong will definitely not let us pass through."

"In that case, the only feasible option is to borrow troops from the Xiyue Kingdom?" Ying Yan was completely hopeless and said dejectedly while holding onto the desk beside him.

"Zhongshan and Xuanmeng are our rear. If Lang is destroyed, they will not be able to continue to live in peace. Although these two countries are weak, we can still fight for them." At this time, Prime Minister Lu Xiang spoke slowly.

"Jiuyi happens to have a classmate in Xuanmeng Country. I am willing to share the Prime Minister's worries and go to Xuanmeng Country." Shangguan Jiuyi understood, hurriedly stood up, walked to Lu Xiang, bowed slightly, and took the initiative to ask for the order.

"Jiuyi is so courageous and responsible at such a young age. He is worthy of being the child that the late emperor once boasted about." Lu Xiang looked at Shangguan Jiuyi with satisfaction and smiled happily. He was only fifteen or sixteen years old and had no official position, but he could take the initiative to ask for orders to work for Langguo. The late emperor was right about this young son-in-law.

"Your Excellency, you are too kind. As a man of Lang, Jiuyi should take it as his responsibility to protect Lang." Jiuyi bowed to Prime Minister Lu again.

After leaving the Prime Minister's Mansion, the Prince asked Shangguan Jiuyi to go back home on his own, and turned around to get on the carriage. Unexpectedly, Shangguan Jiuyi followed him into the carriage.

"What are you going to do?" Shangguan Jiuyi looked at Ying Yan solemnly and asked.

"Sure enough, I can't hide it from Teacher Jiuyi." Ying Yan shrugged and smiled bitterly.

"You have never been good at lying." Shangguan Jiuyi's eyes softened again. He patted Ying Yan's weak shoulder and smiled like an elder.

"Forget it, I won't hide it from you, teacher. I can't just wait here for you and the prime minister to borrow troops. Three days is too short. I'm afraid you won't make it in time. I can't stop my father from letting the troops from Xiyue Kingdom in. Then, the crisis for Lang Kingdom will really come. This is not what my uncle wants to see, so..."

"So you are going to leave the capital alone to meet King Xian?"

"This is also a solution, but Teacher Jiuyi disagrees." Seeing Shangguan Jiuyi's gloomy face, Ying Yan was puzzled.

"You can't go to the Xianwang camp alone."

"The Emperor's uncle has always loved me. If I go and persuade him personally, maybe..."

"Ying Yan, listen to the teacher. You are still the crown prince of Lang, but King Xian is no longer the King Xian he once was. Half of his army hates and is dissatisfied with His Majesty. Once you appear in King Xian's camp, you will only arouse their anger. At that time, can you guarantee that your uncle will offend the soldiers who fought hard for him on the battlefield because of you?"

Shangguan Jiuyi's words made Ying Yan's heart sink. Yes, things are different now. The emperor's uncle now controls half of the country, and the power in his hands is almost equal to that of his father. Power always confuses a person, not to mention that he hasn't seen the emperor's uncle for half a year. How can he guarantee that the emperor's uncle is still the same emperor's uncle Lixu?