?

  Baidu search [56 Bookstore]

  Looking at Zheng Yu's figure, Cheng Shi let out a heavy hum and spat a mouthful of saliva to one side. This book is updated in real time, please log on to [56 Bookstore].

  When the Zhou army had besieged Luoyang for twenty days, the tens of thousands of soldiers in Luoyang were all exhausted and their arrows and other supplies were almost depleted. On this day, Wang Gaoqi of Luoyang ordered that all the guards from each household be incorporated into the army to take on the responsibility of defending the city. At the same time, all the citizens of Luoyang, regardless of whether they were old or weak, came out to pour boiling water over the enemy and set fire to useless wood and cloth in the city, throwing them down from the top of the city wall to burn the enemy.

  In an instant, the whole city was in motion, inside and outside the city, shouting and killing voices shook the sky.

  Without the protection of the guards, Zhang Gui and Empress Hu as well as Zheng Yu and others all moved into the heavily guarded and fortified Luoyang Wangfu. In order to prevent rioters from harming them, all the large gates of the mansion were closed, allowing no one in or out.

  Zhang Yi as the Princess of Langya occupied half of the courtyard. Living with her were the noblewomen who had come together with Empress Hu and the others.

  At this moment, outside was a constant cacophony of shouts to kill, gongs and drums, yelling, and the sound of horse hooves that never ceased. All these sounds shook everyone's ears, making them hum with noise, even normal conversations had to be shouted loudly.

  In the courtyard, Zhang Gui was embroidering. As time passed, the people of Luoyang were becoming more and more desperate in their support for the imperial court, and every night, Zhou Zu's joyful singing and burning flames filled the entire sky.

  But these have nothing to do with Zhang Qi, she has always been calm and composed. As now, she is embroidering again.

  When Empress Hu and Zheng Yu arrived, they saw this scene. From a distance, seeing Zhang Gui calm and composed, Empress Hu's heart was slightly determined. As soon as this thought emerged, she hummed again.

  At this time, Zheng Yu's cold laughter came, "Zhang Shi is so calm. Your Majesty, you don't know how arrogant she is. I heard that it was my idea to come up with a plan for Your Majesty, and she even shouted that she wanted the guards to slap me in the face. And on the spot, she drove me out of the wine tower too." The voice was full of resentment.

  That was particularly disrespectful to Empress Hu, and she scowled at once. She glared at Zhang Gui and commanded, "Zhang Shi, seeing that I have arrived, you don't even pay your respects?" Her voice was low and could hardly be heard amidst the surrounding din.

  Zhang Gui couldn't hear clearly, but she also knew that nothing good would come of it. She secretly sighed and thought back to when the Luoyang Wangfu was under siege. As the Princess of Langling, she had considered climbing up onto the city walls to assist in the defense and boost morale. However, as soon as she thought of Empress Hu being there, doing what Empress Hu should have done but didn't, she realized that not only would it be pointless, but it would also implicate Gao Zhanggong in the future. So she had no choice but to give up.

  Can't go out, so I can only face these women all the time.

  After some thought, Zhang Qi stood up.

  As she approached, not only Zheng Yu but also Empress Hu scrutinized her from head to toe. These twenty-odd days had felt like an eternity for everyone, with each person struggling to get through the ordeal. Yet Zhang Shi remained poised and elegant at all times, as if the noble bearing of the Southern Chen's Zhang family truly made a private-born daughter shine with such splendor and poise that she surpassed even her majestic husband.

  In the eyes of all the women, Zhang Gui walked over. She bowed to Empress Hu and then turned her head to look at Zheng Yu, her voice raised coldly as she said: "Why must you pretend like this, Zheng? You clearly abandoned Gao Changgong, gave your body to He Shikai early on, even meeting with him in secret until before coming to Luoyang, and had several abortions. Why do you still put on the appearance of a chaste and virtuous woman? Are you trying to criticize me at every turn?"

  Boom!

  Zhang Qi spoke at the exact moment when the cheering outside had just subsided. So every word she said was clearly transmitted into everyone's ears, including the maidservants standing beside her and even the Princess of Luoyang who had rushed over from afar, all heard it with perfect clarity!

  The content of Zhang Qi's revelation was truly shocking, and for a moment, the noblewomen were stunned, while Empress Hu completely shifted her attention from Zhang Qi, turning her head to gaze at Zheng Yu with a gloomy expression.

  Empress Hu and He Shikai had been secretly in love for many years, and she already considered him her own. She couldn't resist the woman he married, but what about Zheng Yu? This Zheng who was famous for being chaste and virtuous, unexpectedly had an affair with He Shikai behind her back? And they had been together for so long? What did they take themselves for?

  The empress's anger, the curiosity and disdain of the other noblewomen, Zheng Yu didn't notice any of it. She was only startled by Zhang Qi's words, taking a step back, her ears ringing, countless voices in her mind screaming "Kill her, kill her to silence her."

  But in an instant, her empty eyes met the gaze cast around her, and it was clear that killing Zhang Qi to silence him was no longer possible.

  In an instant, another thought emerged in her mind: How did she know? Who knew about her? What to do now, what to do now? As she thought, Zheng Yu's face turned pale as ash: It's all over, everything is over...

  The people who saw the stunned crowd, Princess Luoyang was the first to come back to her senses. She stepped forward and said in a hoarse voice: "What's the point of arguing about this now? Whether we can make it to Jin Yang is still a question."

  As soon as these words came out, the women woke up and thought in despair: Yes, whether they can survive or not is still a problem. What's the point of caring about such things?

  Zheng Yu also came to: Alright, this time everyone will die here, what am I afraid of?

  As she thought of this, she burst out laughing. In the midst of her shrill laughter, she glared venomously at Zhang Qi and said in a harsh voice: "Zhang Qi, what are you so proud of? Ah? What are you so proud of? In just a few more days, when the city is breached, no one will be able to escape. Even if I follow He Shi, what can you do about it?"

  Zheng Yu, acknowledging the matter, did not notice Empress Hu's icy gaze. She spat on the ground and said with a "ptui" sound: "That's right, I've long known about He Shangshu and Gao Changgong. When he was in Chen territory, his wife had already seduced He Shangshu and put a green hat on his head. Haha! Zhangshi, did you hear that? Are you very angry? If Gao Changgong knew about this, wouldn't he be very embarrassed?" Zheng Yu burst out laughing loudly.

  Zhang Qi looked at her quietly, waiting for Zheng Yu's laughter to subside before saying coldly, "Gao Chang Gong won't mind." With a calm and indifferent tone, as if it was only natural, Zhang Qi paused after finishing the sentence. Meanwhile, Zheng Yu's expression changed. Deep down, she was also despairingly thinking: Gao Chang Gong naturally wouldn't mind, when has he ever cared about me? Never, not once!

  Zhang Qi looked at Zheng Yu and said lightly: "Chang Gong will not mind, only disgust, nausea." She turned to Empress Hu. The changes in Empress Hu's expression just now were all taken into Zhang Qi's eyes. This empress in front of her, although she didn't like her, could only get along with her.

  So, Zhang Gui looked at Empress Hu and said seriously: "Your Majesty, Zheng Shi is a foolish and ** person. What good ideas can such a person come up with? Like last time, if I really went to Zhou's camp, I'm afraid Zheng Shi would say again that Your Majesty is foolish and believes whatever she says. This is good, sending the wife of her own general into the hands of the Zhou people. If Gao Changgong doesn't come to support us, it's fine, but if he does, we'll all be controlled by the Zhou people. Your Majesty, think about it, once such rumors spread, even if you can really return to Jinyang City, what face will you have to see the Emperor and the officials, to see the various generals?"

  Upon hearing this, Empress Hu's face changed color. The logic Zhang Gui spoke of, she had also thought about it carefully over the past few days, and she too knew that such a thing could very likely happen.

  The anger that had been slapped in the face by Zhang Gui was far overshadowed by the humiliation of being bullied by Zheng Yu. Empress Hu suddenly turned her head, staring coldly at Zheng Yu.

  Under the gaze of Empress Hu, Zheng Yu's face changed drastically. She turned pale and involuntarily retreated backward, step by step...

  Suddenly, Empress Hu shouted in a shrill voice: "Come here!"

  "Mother."

  "Drag this cheap woman out. Doesn't she like to play with men? These days our soldiers are fighting bloody battles, suffering greatly. You send her over and say it's a reward from the palace."

  As soon as this was said, all the noblewomen were shocked. The Princess of Luoyang hurriedly called out: "Your Majesty, this is absolutely impermissible, absolutely impermissible. Zheng Shi, after all, is the eldest daughter of the Zheng family."

  Ke Hu Empress had always been a willful person, and under the pressure of death, she was on the verge of collapse. At this moment, she burst out in anger. She jumped up and shouted loudly: "What's wrong? What's wrong with that? Being ridden by so many strong men, it must be enjoyable! Go, send her away immediately!" She glared viciously at Princess Luoyang, her face twisted in a fierce scowl, and barked: "Dare you disobey my order? If you don't listen, I'll send you along with her!"

  This remark was even more excessive. When the Princess of Luoyang became furious, an old woman hastily approached her ear and said: "Princess, quickly agree to Her Majesty's words, in my humble opinion, if Her Majesty is further enraged, I fear she will go mad." In a twinkling, she also said: "It won't be difficult to deal with this matter afterwards, as long as there is a day of separation, just say that she was shot and killed by the Zhou people."

  Upon hearing this, the Princess of Luoyang came to her senses. She looked at Empress Hu's bloodshot eyes and said sternly: "It can't be a hard confrontation with her." Then she gave a signal to the servants present and shouted loudly: "Bring people, take Zheng out and send her to the military camp immediately." She didn't say what to do after sending her to the military camp.

  The servants understood her meaning and responded in unison, dragging Zheng Yu away.

  At this moment, Zheng Yu fell to the ground, her face as white as paper. Just as the two strong men held her arms, Zheng Yu suddenly burst out laughing. She laughed loudly, and as she laughed, tears flowed down her cheeks continuously.

  Zhang Qi looked at Zheng Yu, and suddenly felt the sadness that had been accumulating in her heart, with no place to express it. In a daze, Zhang Qi couldn't help but think: In her previous life, Zheng Yu was the princess of Lanling, and although she and Chang Gong weren't deeply in love, they got along well enough, living an ordinary life for over a decade. Before Chang Gong's death, she had always been spirited and carefree. To be honest, I stole her happiness.

  Her lips moved slightly, and Zhang Qi thought of pleading for Zheng Yu: even if she had to die, she didn't have to die in such a miserable way.

  Just as Zhang Qi was about to speak, Zheng Yu suddenly turned her head and stared at her. Her face twisted in a fierce glare, she stared and stared, before bursting into loud laughter once again.