PNB Chapter 238: Ye State is destroyed, Central Plains is unified
Chapter 238: Ye State is destroyed, Central Plains is unified
The court of Ye State had long been in a state of chaos.
Perhaps there are some people who are loyal to the emperor and patriotic, but they are only a small minority. Moreover, they are not in core positions in the court and do not hold real power. They are powerless in the face of the predicament of Ye State.
Hearing that Pei's army was approaching the city, the court officials panicked and gathered together to discuss:
"What should I do?"
"Close the city gates, hold on, and wait for rescue."
"Where can we get help? The north has been penetrated by Pei's army, and the south is also retreating step by step. They are busy with their own affairs, so how can they have the energy to support the capital? What's more, the capital has limited rice and grain, and they can't hold out for long!"
"Then what do you think we should do?"
"Surrender! We don't even have an emperor, so how can we be loyal to him? Aren't we all officials who know the times and are heroes? It doesn't matter where we serve as officials."
"So... open the city gates and surrender?"
"open!"
Everyone discussed it and soon decided on the next course of action.
Surrender is inevitable.
As they said, Ye State didn't even have an emperor now, so who would they be loyal to? Even if they set up an emperor temporarily, it would not be able to stop Pei Qin from surrounding the capital with his 200,000 troops.
In this predicament, whether there is an emperor or not can no longer change the reality.
Therefore, several regent ministers entrusted by the late emperor before his death made a plan and together they held the imperial seal of Ye State, opened the city gates, and submitted their letters of surrender to Pei's army.
The news that Pei Qin had occupied the capital of Ye State quickly spread in all directions. Upon hearing the news, those cities that had not yet been occupied by the Dayin Dynasty instantly gave up resistance.
Qi Jingze led the Tiger Wing Army to advance more smoothly. Now there was no need for a siege, and the other side simply opened the city gates and surrendered.
Three months later, the entire State of Ye was owned by the Dayin Dynasty.
At this point, the two countries in the Central Plains were merged into one, and the Dayin Dynasty unified the Central Plains.
There are still many things to do after unification, such as how to arrange the former officials of Ye State, subdue those noble families who should be subdued, show favor to those who should be shown favor, and let the people of Ye State see the attitude of Dayin Dynasty.
There is also a lot of policy implementation, local management, etc. It is a very complicated matter.
But all this has nothing to do with Shi Lidie.
She was neither an emperor nor an official, and it was not her turn to manage things. Logically, she only needed to stay in her own little piece of land, but she was a great contributor to the annexation of Ye State and the unification of the Central Plains.
Therefore, the emperor summoned her to an audience.
Shi Lidie took a horse-drawn carriage and rushed all the way to the capital as quickly as possible.
The capital city still looks the same as it did a few years ago, with not much difference from when she left. The streets are still bustling with people coming and going.
Shi Lidie smiled and went into the palace to pay her respects to the emperor.
"Your Majesty, your humble servant pays respect to you." Shi Lidie saluted the emperor.
Just as he was about to kneel down, he was stopped by the emperor:
"No need to be so polite. You are a meritorious official of the Great Yin Dynasty. I hereby grant you permission not to kneel."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Shi Lidie bowed.
"Do you know why I am looking for you today?" the emperor asked.
"I don't know, Your Majesty, please explain clearly."
"You." The emperor sighed after hearing this. "You were alone in the capital of Ye State, planning to disrupt the court and lay the foundation for me to annex Ye State. Later, you returned to Dayin, but refused to return to the capital and insisted on staying in your fiefdom. Now that the Central Plains has been unified, you haven't thought about coming back. Do you know that the Queen and the Crown Prince miss you very much?"
Shi Lidie had never expected that the emperor summoned her for this reason, and she was stunned for a moment.
"I know that you have suffered a lot since childhood and have never experienced the love of your parents, but the queen really cares about you. You are her adopted daughter." The emperor said, "She tells the little prince every day that he has a very powerful sister. Every time the little prince asks where his sister is, she says that his sister will be back soon."
But this wait lasted four years.
Shi Lidie spent more than three years in Ye State, and then stayed in her fiefdom for a long time until the end of the war.
"Come with me to see them." said the emperor.
"Yes." Shi Lidie nodded.
The emperor led Shi Lidie towards Fengqi Palace. As soon as they approached Fengqi Palace, they heard the clear laughter of children coming from the small garden inside, accompanied by the exclamation of the palace maid:
"Your Highness, please walk slower!"
When Shi Lidie stepped into the gate of Fengqi Palace, she saw the three-headed little baby at a glance. He was wearing an exquisite little jacket and a hat, and was running quickly with a kite in his hand.
A group of maids and palace servants followed him, carefully protecting him, fearing that he might have an accident.
After all, this is the little prince that the Queen has been waiting for nearly twenty years.
One of the palace maids was sharp-eyed and saw the emperor, and immediately knelt down:
"May your Majesty be blessed with peace and prosperity."
Soon, everyone knelt down in a group. Only the little prince rushed to the emperor's arms with a smile, hugged the emperor's legs, raised his head, and laughed:
"Father, I miss you!"
"Qi'er, dear, your father misses you too." The emperor hugged him and said, "Qi'er, look, who did your father bring?"
The emperor held the little prince Gu Xiuqi in his arms and turned his face towards Shi Lidie.
Shi Lidie wanted to say hello and introduce herself, but she didn't expect the little prince to recognize her immediately:
"Sister! It's my sister!"
"Qi'er is so smart. How did you recognize your sister?" asked the emperor.
"The Queen Mother has the portrait!" the little prince replied, then he flapped his two short arms and reached out to Shi Lidie, "Qi'er wants sister to hold him!"
Shi Lidie smiled, hugged the little prince into her arms, and walked inside with him in her arms:
"Let's go see the Queen Mother, okay?"
"Okay!" The little prince responded in a baby voice.
Shi Lidie carried the little prince and walked beside the emperor. When the three of them arrived in the hall, they saw the queen sitting in front of a desk, flipping through some papers, which seemed to be some portraits.
Hearing the voice, she raised her head and saw the three people coming in. She didn't even bother to salute the emperor, let alone her son. She stood up and pulled Shi Lidie:
"It's been four years. You're finally back!"
"Girl, if the emperor hadn't summoned you, would you never come back in your life?"
"Mother, I was wrong." Shi Lidie apologized with a smile.
The Queen gave her a glare before speaking:
"Qi'er, come down and play by yourself. You are four years old and too heavy for your sister to carry you."
After hearing this, the little prince Gu Xiuqi immediately got down from Shi Lidie's arms with his short legs, said he wanted to give his delicious food and fun things to his sister, and ran away.
There are maids and palace maids following behind you, so there will be no danger.
At this time, the emperor said:
"You two haven't seen each other for a long time. I'm sure you have a lot of personal things to talk about. I have some memorials to review. I'll come over after I finish reviewing them. Ask the imperial kitchen to prepare some delicious dishes for lunch so that our family can have a good reunion dinner."