The blackened marquis insists that the husband should be more valuable than the son!

Xue Mingyue was almost choked by these words.

That is what His Majesty fears, how can he say it so casually and disapprovingly?

She quickly grabbed the teacup and took two sips of tea. She pondered for a moment, thinking about the current situation in the capital, and said, "Is it too hasty?"

His Majesty's position is now stable and cannot be easily overthrown. No matter what Xie Lang wants to do, if he acts hastily at this moment, it would be like alerting the enemy and would only make Emperor Jingping wary.

Whatever you want to do after that will be greatly restricted.

Xie Lang calmly added water to her cup, shook his head and said, "No, even if he is afraid of me, the most he can do is ask me to stop interfering in the affairs of the Imperial Guards. The Imperial Guards are a force in the Imperial City that he controls."

This capital city is not like an iron barrel.

Perhaps seeing her worry, Xie Lang pointed to the copper pot in front of them and placed a fish ball in the middle of the pot. He said in a calm tone, "There are guards inside the imperial city and imperial guards outside the imperial city. These are the two lines of defense for the capital, and the military power is in his hands."

He didn't even want to refer to him as His Majesty anymore.

"After realizing that I was gradually out of control, the first thing he did was to gather his troops."

Because everyone knew that he still had the Dingyuan Army under his command.

At this point, the sarcasm on Xie Lang's lips became more intense. The light of the candlelight reflected on his handsome face, making the casual mockery on his face look particularly thrilling. He smiled and said, "But he did something wrong a long time ago."

Xue Mingyue blinked thoughtfully.

She lowered her head and took a sip of tea, thinking carefully about his words for a moment. What did Emperor Jingping do wrong?

Imperial guards, royal guards...

She suddenly thought of Captain Song Jiang, whom she had met at the farm. Xue Mingyue's heart suddenly moved and she raised her head to look at Xie Lang.

As soon as Xie Lang saw her astonished look, he knew that she had guessed it.

The corners of his lips curled up slightly, and he gave her a gentle and doting smile, but the smile did not reach his eyes. To be more precise, the smile even looked a little solemn.

Fortunately, there were no servants serving them.

Therefore, only Xue Mingyue heard what he said next, which was enough to be called treasonous.

"Back then, he tried to recruit the Dingyuan Army at the border for his own use, but failed and had to send generals to take charge of the army on his behalf. In order to implement this order, he disbanded the surviving Dingyuan troops and incorporated them into other armies."

"But more of Dingyuan's former subordinates were directly dismissed and sent back to their hometowns."

Emperor Jingping may have thought about how to deal with the Dingyuan Army a long time ago, so when Xie Nandai died on the battlefield and the young crown prince was unable to take on the responsibility, he sent one order after another directly to the army and placed his own confidants there.

The Dingyuan Army, which was already reduced to remnants, was completely purged.

Xue Mingyue was stunned. She didn't expect to hear such a game between emperors and generals. She asked anxiously, "What about the current Dingyuan Army..."

"They are civilians recruited by the imperial court on the spot."

Xie Lang took a few more pieces of meat from the copper pot and rubbed her head with a smile, saying, "Don't worry, we can talk while we eat."

Seeing him so calm, Xue Mingyue's heart, which had suddenly risen in excitement, fell back.

Nodding: "Oh."

That's right. Since Xie Lang was so confident, it meant that he must have some understanding of the situation in Dingyuan Army. Besides, it was useless for her to worry about what happened ten years ago.

Xue Mingyue stuffed a chopstick of meat into her mouth and started chewing with her cheeks puffed out.

Her almond-shaped eyes rolled around, and this pause made her think of something. Just like what she had just said to Xie Lang, Emperor Jingping was too hasty and his thoughts were obvious to her.

...He just wanted to take this opportunity to completely control the Dingyuan Army. Oh no, he wanted to make sure that there would no longer be any Dingyuan Army in this world.

Ever since Emperor Gaozu founded the country, the Xie family has been guarding the border for the Xiao royal family for generations.

Perhaps at first there was mutual trust between the emperor and King Dingyuan. When the Jin Dynasty was strong, the Dingyuan Army was a sharp blade in the emperor's hand, pointing directly at the restless barbarians. But as the Jin Dynasty gradually declined, this sharp blade became a thorn in the emperor's heart.

The young emperor who succeeded to the throne worried day and night, wondering if this sharp blade would stab him.

This contradiction is inevitable.

Thinking of this, Xue Mingyue's eyes dimmed, and she lowered her head as if she had no appetite. Her grandfather once told her that once this kind of situation occurred, even if the generals had no intention of rebelling, they would be accused of rebelling.

——This is inevitable.

Xie Shuai is the victim of this increasingly serious conflict.

Even if Xue Mingyue was slow-witted, she could still see something from Xie Lang's recent attitude. Xie Shuai's death must have been related to Emperor Jingping. What's more, her father Xue Xujun was also a pawn used by Emperor Jingping to murder Xie Shuai.

She sighed in her heart. If the Xie family really had any intention of rebelling, how could the Xiao royal family maintain their rule?

"What are you thinking about? Thinking so absorbedly?"

As she was thinking, she felt someone suddenly pinching her cheeks and lifting them up.

Xue Mingyue looked up blankly.

Facing Xie Lang's slightly dissatisfied and aggrieved expression, he raised his sword-like eyebrows and reminded him jokingly: "Do you want to eat with your nose or with this face?"

Xue Mingyue: "..."

What does it mean to eat with your nose? She just lost her mind!

Xue Mingyue raised her hand and slapped him on the face, pushing him away, and said unhappily: "You don't need to remind me, I eat with my mouth."

After that, in order to prevent him from continuing to dwell on this matter, he took the lead in saying: "The court is recruiting soldiers at the border, but the people at the border have survived under the care of the Dingyuan Army. They will definitely not listen to them, right?"

Xie Lang let out a muffled laugh from his throat.

He first restrained his smile and nodded, then shook his head: "I originally listened to it."

Xue Mingyue looked over curiously.

"When we first recruited soldiers, we said we were going to recruit soldiers for the Dingyuan Army, so many people signed up one after another, until..." Xie Lang paused, "until the military discipline was corrupted and the soldiers at the border were forced to forage for food."

Xie Lang's expression gradually turned cold.

She was stunned when she heard this.

Of course she knew what "Da Cao Gu" meant. It generally referred to barbarians robbing civilians in the name of horse herding. The people living in the border areas were greatly disturbed by this and hated it.

...But how could this happen to the Jin army?

"The general sent by the emperor to the border was ambitious and wanted to gain military merit. He ordered his soldiers to plunder the enemy's civilians and use them as enemy troops. At that time, the court only thought that they had wiped out a small group of enemy troops and repeatedly rewarded them."

"It was not until the barbarians came back again that the incident was exposed."

Xie Lang said in a steady tone: "It was at this time that the court suddenly discovered that the situation at the border had changed drastically. Someone in the army used the Xie family as a banner to rebel against the general."