In danger, he traveled through time to save her, and the black-bellied prince doted on her

Jiang Yanqing, who was standing next to Mu Jinan, whispered, "Master Mu, are you late again?"

Mu Jinan adjusted his official hat and said, "Yes, I don't know why I feel sleepy lately. I don't seem to get enough sleep."

Jiang Yanqing joked: "Some people are drowsy, some can't sleep at night, and they drag me to play chess all night, and they still want to come to court. Look at you..."

Mu Jinan knew he was talking about Li Huaijin, so he didn't respond. Jiang Yanqing continued:

"If I occasionally feel drowsy, is that a sign of illness?"

Mu Jinan wondered, "I don't know why, but I always feel sleepy when I stay in the house."

Mu Jinan felt that the man just now was a little strange, so he asked:

"Master Jiang, when did a new foreigner enter the court? Who is he?"

Jiang Yanqing did not turn around and whispered:

"That person was recommended by the Crown Prince. His name is Zhu Wuyou. He works in the Ministry of Justice and was previously the bodyguard of Princess Huaiyu."

Mu Jinan looked at Jiang Yanqing and asked curiously:

"Is there something you don't know?"

Jiang Yanqing whispered: "Last night at the palace, the prince told me."

Mu Jinan lowered his eyes and said casually, "He stays awake every day. Does he want to die?"

Jiang Yanqing said: "Are you concerned about him? I will definitely convey it to you."

Mu Jinan was about to speak.

I only heard the eunuch shouting: "Enter the palace!"

The court officials came into the hall and soon Emperor Ming appeared. Mu Jinan looked at his complexion and found that his health seemed to be getting worse and worse, and his hair had turned a lot whiter.

Everyone saluted and said, "Long live His Majesty!"

Emperor Ming was still a little sleepy, and his voice was not as loud as before:

"My dear ministers, please stand up. What do you want to report today?"

Li Huaijin stood up, his back straight, and said loudly:

"Your Majesty, I have a report to make. In the battle of Nanzhao, our army has recovered Yaozhou and Anning in Jiannan Road, but we are short of food and grass. The soldiers are fighting on an empty stomach, and the morale of the army has dropped sharply."

"In addition, the climate in the south is hot and humid, and there is the Erhai River. Our soldiers are vomiting and feeling unwell, and they have rashes on their bodies. They are not good at fighting on water. The longer the war lasts, the more disadvantageous it will be for our army."

Emperor Ming nodded, perked up and said:

"Then what do you think, King Liang?"

Li Huaijin looked at His Majesty's expression and knew that this matter must be accomplished today:

"The national treasury allocated funds to purchase grain from nearby counties. Nanzhao is willing to negotiate peace. General Mu replied that he thinks peace is possible."

Shen Yuzhong immediately stood up with a mean face. He wanted to use Nanzhao's further victory to gain merit in front of Emperor Ming, cultivate his own power in the court and the army, share power with Prime Minister Lin, and obtain the position of prime minister:

"Your Majesty, Nanzhao is a small country, not to be feared. We must fight them until they surrender."

Cui Hengling, the Minister of the Menxia Province, a second-rank official, was Lu Mingxu's uncle. After the Lu family got into trouble, Lu Mingxu's mother Cui Yinghe returned to her parents' home and was not implicated in any way.

This is also because the Cui family is a prominent family with extensive connections and deep roots.

Cui Hengling wanted to vent his anger for his cousin, and also intended to compete with Prime Minister Lin for the position of prime minister.

He had long been dissatisfied with Li Huaijin, and he even sided with Prince Rui Li Heng, with whom he had close private contacts.

He said: "Your Majesty, we cannot stop the war. If Nanzhao cheats, we may come back again."

Cui Hengling is also Wang Huaiyang's uncle, but Wang Huaiyang doesn't like him.

Mu Chen frowned, feeling angry towards Shen Yuzhong and Cui Hengling, and said respectfully:

"Your Majesty, I also think that we can negotiate peace now. Nanzhao has Tubo to help us. If we continue the war, our army will lose more men and horses, which will not be worth the loss."

Minister Lin knew Shen Yuzhong's intentions. Seeing that His Majesty favored Concubine Shen more and more, Shen Yuzhong became more and more snobbish due to his multiple positions. In order to consolidate his position, he also stood on Li Huaijin's side and said loudly:

"Your Majesty, I also think that a ceasefire is the best option right now."

Jiang Yin was the Minister of the Secretariat, a third-rank official. He was not involved in the gold mine incident because he had once saved Emperor Ming's life. His son Jiang Xianzhi was impeached by Liang Wang Li Huaijin for embezzling the gold mine, and he held a grudge against him.

"Your Majesty, I think we should not stop the war. Conquering Nanzhao can deter the ethnic groups along the border."

Previously, Lu Mingxu embezzled gold mines. His father, who was originally the Minister of Works, was implicated and demoted and exiled.

The new Minister of Works, Cai Tong, is Jiang Xianzhi's uncle. He was promoted by Shen Yuzhong and has been conspiring with Shen Yuzhong for a long time.

Cai Tongjin said: "Your Majesty, how could the King of Liang know the military situation of the border soldiers? It is obvious that there is collusion."

Just as Li Huaijin was about to speak, Mu Jinan stood up and looked at these old foxes working together as if they had discussed it beforehand. He was dissatisfied:

"Master Cai, the military intelligence has already been reported back to Chang'an. How can you say that the King of Liang is colluding?"

Li Huaijin couldn't help but smile. She actually spoke for him. Jiang Yanqing glanced at him and saw that he was looking at Mu Jinan with an obsessed look. He shook his head. These two people...

Xiao Hechuan, the Minister of Works, was previously impeached for taking a government prostitute as a concubine, but has now been released from house arrest because his maternal grandfather, Lu of Fanyang, helped to smooth over relationships in the court.

He learned that his sister Xiao Wan was divorced by Mu Chen and died on the road at night.

Xiao Hechuan learned from Qin Yu, the concubine who redeemed Hu Yulou, that a woman disguised as a man had deliberately provoked him to redeem himself.

He guessed that it was Mu Jinan, who was also instigated by his niece Mu Yun, who wanted to avenge Xiao Wan.

"Minister Mu, the military intelligence has been reported back correctly, but His Majesty has not yet learned of it. Go report it to King Liang first. If this isn't collusion, then what is it?"

Mu Chen looked at Xiao Hechuan, knowing that he hated him, and glared at him.

Emperor Ming was most afraid of the royal family colluding with military generals. He tried to suppress the generals many times. The civil officials in the court also wanted to blackmail the generals. Emperor Ming was a little suspicious and looked at Li Huaijin with a grim look:

"Huai Jin, do you have anything to say?"

Li Huaijin looked at them. No one cared about the soldiers fighting in front of the battlefield. It was ridiculous to see them arguing with each other:

"Your Majesty, the military intelligence has been reported back to Chang'an for three days. It was Prime Minister Lin who informed me. I am worried."

Emperor Ming knew that Prime Minister Lin was in charge of the government, so he stopped asking questions.

Li Heng knew it very well. He just wanted these people to fight against each other, causing chaos in the court and letting them deal with Li Huaijin and Mu Jinan.

He had close relationships with these people in private. While being allies with them, he also instigated Lin Xiang, Shen Yuzhong, and Cui Hengling to compete for the position of prime minister.

Shen Yuzhong snorted coldly, ignored Lin Xiang, looked at Mu Chen, and deliberately provoked:

"General Mu, you must be worried about your son. Once he is on the battlefield, he should fight for his country. How can he refuse?"

Without waiting for Mu Chen to speak, Li Huaijin glared at Shen Yuzhong, not wanting to waste any more time, and said in a sonorous and powerful voice:

"Your Majesty, I think that the national treasury should first allocate funds to stabilize the morale of the army in order to prepare for the surprise attack, and to negotiate a peace treaty with Nanzhao. This will give our army time to recuperate and get familiar with the Erhai River and the surrounding mountains."

General Guo Yi of the Left Guard stood up. He was a mighty and upright man, brave and resourceful, invincible in battle. He was about forty or fifty years old. He said in a resounding voice:

"Your Majesty, I think what His Royal Highness Prince Liang said makes sense. In addition to Nanzhao, Pinglu and Fanyang Jiedushi An Xuan are often fighting with the Qique and Qixuan tribes in the north. I am afraid that the coalition forces of these tribes will attack, so our soldiers need to prepare early."

"Since Nanzhao is willing to negotiate peace, why not stop the war and recuperate for the future?"

Wang Zhengzhong, the greatest general of Sheng State, is a man of unparalleled wisdom and strategy. He is the adopted son of Emperor Ming and is currently serving as the Imperial Censor, Duke of Qingyuan County, and the Jiedushi of Hedong, Shuofang and other four towns.

He said: "Your Majesty, Nanzhao and the Tubo tribe have always supported each other. I am afraid that if the two tribes form an alliance and do not stop fighting, it will do more harm than good."

Guo Yi, Wang Zhengzhong, Mu Chen, Mu Jinan, Jiang Yanqing, Yan Yi, Wang Huaiyang, Lin Xiang and others all agreed with these proposals. Except for Mu Jinan who knew that Nanzhao was sincere in making peace at this time, the others did not know.

Therefore, the safest approach is to negotiate peace while recuperating, rectifying military discipline, and improving morale.

Shen Yuzhong pretended to be respectful and said softly:

"Your Highness Prince Liang, the treasury is out of money now."

Crown Prince Li Xu has always been cautious and self-protective. He had previously framed Concubine Shen for having a secret meeting with the Prince of Qi, but failed. He wanted to gain the approval of His Majesty, so he took a risk and proposed:

"Father, if you can't come up with the money, you can ask the court officials, the royal family, the harem, and the wealthy to donate money. It's all for the prosperity of the country. I am willing to take the lead and share your worries."

This statement caused dissatisfaction among the people.

Emperor Ming was hesitant.

Li Huaijin looked at Shen Yuzhong. He knew that the letter he had written to Shen Yuzhong before was just to use him to reduce the punishment on Crown Princess Jiang's brother.

Brother Jiang was wronged. Li Huaijin didn't want to let a loyal minister be wronged. How could he go the same way as a treacherous minister like Shen Yuzhong? His eyes were deep as he questioned:

"Our dynasty's economy is booming, the Ministry of Revenue is collecting taxes, and the treasury should be well-stocked. Minister Shen, I want to ask you, where did you divert the money?"

Shen Yuzhong glanced at His Majesty. He couldn't say that the money was spent on extravagance in the harem, nor could he say that the money was given as rewards to princes and nobles to offend the powerful.

Emperor Ming knew very well that the expenses of the harem were very high, and the number of palace maids serving increased by tens of thousands. He lowered his head and remained silent.

Shen Yuzhong hurriedly explained:

"Your Highness Prince Liang, please do not slander me. I have not taken any bribes. If you do not believe me, the account books of the Ministry of Revenue are in the Chaoying Palace. Your Highness can check the accounts in person."

Li Huaijin's lips curled up into a smile, and he snorted coldly. He had his own purpose today, which was to get military rations. He said sharply:

"Minister Shen, the account books were made by your Ministry of Revenue. Do you want to use them to delay time? Even if the treasury is empty, it will not be unable to allocate this little money."

"Minister Shen advocated war, but he didn't provide food and fodder for his soldiers, leaving them hungry and fighting on the front lines, while ensuring that you enjoyed wealth and glory in the rear."

His words were like a knife, pressing closer and closer:

"Minister Shen, do you want to kill thousands of soldiers? What do you want to do? Do you want to consume the troops and horses of Sheng State and rebel?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the hall suddenly became silent for a moment. Shen Yuzhong stared with his eyes wide open. Emperor Ming looked displeased, and a hint of suspicion flashed in his eyes.

Prince of Qi Li Che looked at Shen Yuzhong. He was a relative of Shen Yuzhong in the past, but he felt disgusted when he saw that Shen Yuzhong was becoming more and more domineering and evil in the court.

Jiang Yanqing let out a long sigh: "This kid, is he angry today? So ruthless"

Then the courtiers whispered

"Does Shen Yuzhong really want to rebel?"

"Yes, he wants to fight, but he doesn't provide food for his soldiers."

"He must have a plan"

Mu Jinan was suddenly shocked. Li Huaijin's words were too sharp and to the point. Although Emperor Ming was in a coma, he would sober up a little as long as he heard the word "treason".

Li Huaijin knew that only in this way could Emperor Ming order the allocation of funds.

Shen Yu pointed at Li Huaijin angrily and glared at him:

"King Liang, you are slandering me."

Shen Yuzhong quickly knelt down, looked at Emperor Ming, and said in horror:

"Your Majesty, I have absolutely no such intention. Please understand your Majesty."