bookrandom Chapter 1186 The Empress's Superb Acting Skills
Chapter 1186 The Empress's Superb Acting Skills
The next day, at 1:15 AM.
As soon as the sky was bright, Zhang Yi, after getting dressed and washing, arrived at the gate of the palace early and waited.
He still remembered Pei Jiming's promise yesterday that he would introduce the empress to him today.
For this reason, he came here early in the morning to wait.
There will be a morning court session today. If Pei Jiming is willing to recommend, it will definitely be in the court.
In order to save time, he waited at the palace gate on purpose. Once the empress sent someone to invite him, he could enter the palace as soon as possible.
The battle situation on the front line was of great importance. Fifty thousand troops had been destroyed, causing the morale of the Qin army to plummet. He would not allow any more accidents to happen to Li Xing's fifty thousand troops.
Fortunately, most of the 50,000 people are cavalry. Although they have no food, they have war horses to fill their stomachs. They should be able to hold out for more than half a month.
As long as he could reach an agreement with the Queen of the Great Zhou during this period of time and ask the Great Zhou troops to give way, the Qin army would be able to return safely.
Standing at the gate of the imperial palace, Zhang Yi stood still, letting the north wind blow his brocade robe, but his eyes were fixed on the palace.
Although he had a blank expression on his face and his eyes were cold and unblinking, only he knew how anxious he was at the moment.
If I can't see the Empress of the Great Zhou today, I'm afraid I'll have to wait a few more days.
While I was deep in thought, I suddenly heard hurried footsteps.
Zhang Yi came to his senses and looked up, only to see a beautiful palace maid in palace dress walking towards him quickly.
Zhang Yi's eyes lit up and he took the initiative to greet him.
Shangguan Qing'er frowned when she saw Zhang Yi, and before he could speak, she asked, "Who are you and why are you at the palace gate?"
Zhang Yi explained: "I am the Prime Minister of Qin State. I am here as an envoy to negotiate with the Empress."
"So you are Zhang Yi!"
Shangguan Qing'er nodded slightly and said in a deep voice: "It just so happens that His Majesty wants to summon you, so follow me into the palace."
"Thank you for leading the way."
Led by Shangguan Qing'er, Zhang Yi entered the palace, passed through several palace gates, and came to the outside of the majestic hall.
"Your Majesty, the Prime Minister of Qin has arrived!" Shangguan Qing'er shouted outside the palace.
"Announce!" Wu Zhao's unique cold voice came from the hall.
Zhang Yi's face straightened. He adjusted his official hat with both hands, straightened his clothes, and then slowly walked into the hall.
As soon as he entered, he felt the eyes of the ministers cast upon him.
There was hostility, curiosity, and anger in his eyes.
As an enemy, coming to the other party's palace to negotiate at this moment, especially when the other party has the upper hand, is naturally unwelcome.
Zhang Yi was not surprised by this. He walked slowly to the center of the hall and bowed. "Prime Minister Zhang Yi of Qin State greets Her Majesty the Queen of Great Zhou!"
Wu Zhao, sitting on the dragon throne, glanced at Zhang Yi and said calmly, "As an envoy, you don't have to be so polite.
I heard that you came here with the dragon banner of the Great Qin Emperor this time. I guess it is you, the Great Qin Emperor, who wants to take this opportunity to put pressure on me?
Humph, he sent a prime minister here just to scare me, does he really think I'm afraid of him?"
It was normal at first, but as he spoke, his words started to sound wrong, and even his tone was filled with dissatisfaction.
Looking at his appearance, it is clear that he is filled with anger.
Zhang Yi's expression changed slightly and he glanced at Pei Jiming secretly.
Only then did he begin to believe Pei Jiming's words.
This woman is in her twilight years and you really can't mess with her. She can make a big deal out of a small matter.
No matter how wise a woman is, even an empress, she cannot resist the physiological distress caused by this.
If he cannot convince the empress, today's peace talks may not be successful.
Fortunately, he had already prepared for this, and immediately bowed again, saying seriously:
"Your Majesty, on the contrary, it is precisely because His Majesty the Emperor of our dynasty values you that he brought the dragon banner here to show respect."
"The war between our two countries this time was entirely due to a misunderstanding. It was the Marquis Dingbian who took it upon himself to murder Princess Xiuning."
"But now that Dingbian Hou has been killed, and our dynasty has also paid the price of the lives of 50,000 soldiers, how about we stop here?"
He first explained the purpose of coming here with the dragon banner, and then mentioned the purpose of this trip.
As expected of the Prime Minister of Qin, the art of language is fully embodied in him.
But Wu Zhao sneered when she heard this, and a hint of murderous intent flashed across her phoenix eyes:
"You said it was a misunderstanding? At the beginning, you said you would send troops, but now you say it was a misunderstanding. How can such a thing happen in the world?"
"Since your Qin State has sent out 100,000 troops, don't even think about sending any of them back. I will come back to negotiate with your Great Qin State after I have dealt with the remaining 50,000 troops."
"Someone, please go away!"
At a command, several black-armored imperial guards outside the hall rushed into the hall and surrounded Zhang Yi.
The captain of the imperial guards had a cold expression on his face and gestured, "Prime Minister Qin, my emperor has said that you are requested to leave."
Zhang Yi's face changed slightly. He looked up at Wu Zhao sitting on the dragon throne and said in a deep voice:
"Your Majesty, if we really want to fight, our 50,000 cavalry may not be afraid of your army!"
"After the battle of Feihe City, your Zhou army also suffered a lot of losses, and there are only 70,000 to 80,000 people who can fight."
"If my 50,000 cavalry break out of the encirclement, we may be able to break out. By then, the Zhou Dynasty will lose more than it gains."
Although such words are somewhat threatening, they are also in line with the current situation.
But when Wu Zhao heard this, for some reason, her eyes turned cold and a murderous intent appeared on her delicate face.
She, who was originally sitting on the dragon chair, suddenly stood up, with a dignified aura, and said in a cold voice:
"Why, are you threatening me? Are you looking down on my troops?"
"Humph, 100,000 against 100,000, our army destroyed your 50,000-man army. Now 80,000 against 50,000, we can also destroy your 50,000 cavalry."
"Since your Qin State has such great ambitions, let your frontline troops give it a try and see if they can break through the encirclement."
After saying this, Wu Zhao turned around and left.
The ministers all bowed and saluted: "Farewell, Your Majesty!"
As soon as the empress left, all the ministers dispersed, and no one noticed that there was an envoy from the Qin Dynasty standing in the palace.
When all the ministers had left, only Zhang Yi, the imperial guards surrounding him, and the Minister of Rites Pei Jiming were left in the hall.
With a long sigh, Pei Jiming took the initiative to step forward and said with a wry smile: "Don't worry, Prime Minister Zhang. His Majesty has been in this state of temper these days. It will be fine after these few days."
Zhang Yi frowned: "Could it be that the Queen of the Great Zhou Dynasty was also angry for no reason during the morning court these past two days?"
"you do not say."
Pei Jiming looked troubled: "Prime Minister Di and others have been troubled by this, and even many political affairs have been delayed because of it."
After a pause, he seemed to feel that he had strayed from the topic, and could not help but take the initiative to speak: "This time, I have introduced Your Majesty on behalf of Prime Minister Zhang, which has already made Your Majesty unhappy.
If you need a recommendation next time, you will need Prime Minister Di."
After saying this, he bowed and turned to leave.
Zhang Yi's face suddenly turned ugly.
The empress is in the Tiankui stage. Is he just going to wait like this?