"Your Majesty, what's wrong with you?" Dou Yuan looked at Sikong Ting's panda eyes and asked, "Didn't you sleep well last night?"
He had sensed that Sikong Ting was out of sorts during the court session today. After the court adjourned, he went straight to the imperial study. There he saw Sikong Ting propping his forehead with one hand while still reading memorials. The dark circles under his eyes were almost as black as ink.
Sikong Ting looked up at him and didn't even bother to scold him. He lowered his eyes and continued reading the memorials.
"Come on, stop reading." Dou Yuan walked up to the table and reached out to fiddle with the memorials. "The memorials from the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Revenue are the most numerous. Most of them are useless ones filled with groundless complaints. Just read them and then throw them away."
Sikong Ting picked up a memorial from the Ministry of Rites and tapped Dou Yuan's hand with it. "As the left prime minister of the imperial court, is this how you handle official business?"
"You can't always waste your time on such trifles, can you?" Dou Yuan said. "They report things like how many eunuchs the Imperial Household Department has recruited and how many rivets have fallen off the palace gates. They even interfere in the affairs of my cabinet. Those old geezers have nothing better to do all day long. Are you really going to let them lead you around by the nose?"
Sikong Ting closed the memorial, frowned and said, "Do you think I want to deal with them? These are all senior court officials. As long as they are in office, I have to tolerate them."
With a "pop", he threw the memorial on the table. "If it weren't for the fact that they are loyal officials, I would have sent them back to their hometowns in retirement long ago."
Dou Yuan helped sort out the memorials and pushed all the ones from the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Revenue aside. "Stop thinking about these things. The matter I mentioned to you last time has been investigated."
Sikong Ting raised his eyebrows. "Speak."
"A group of about ten people from Loulan disguised themselves as members of a security escort agency and entered the capital." Dou Yuan said. "They stayed in an inn for about five days and then left. Among them, only Yazebu was a warrior. The others were probably just small fry."
Sikong Ting asked, "What was their purpose for entering the capital?"
Dou Yuan replied, "It seems they were here to sound out the situation. The Xiongnu King Huye Chanyu has been biding his time for decades. In recent years, there has been a drought in the northwest. For the goods on the Silk Road, I think they must have secretly reached some agreement with Loulan."
"Humph." Sikong Ting curled his fingers and tapped on the table. "Loulan, a despicable country! Our Great Sheng Dynasty is a powerful country. In the past hundred years, when has the Xiongnu barbarians ever managed to break through the Shanhai Pass? It's just a small country caught between two powerful forces with a short - sighted vision."
Dou Yuan smiled and said, "Loulan is close to the various tribes of the Xiongnu. Compared with our Great Sheng, they are more afraid of the Xiongnu. I guess that since they secretly entered the capital without reporting this time, they probably haven't reached a unanimous agreement with the Xiongnu yet."
"They are waiting and watching." Sikong Ting thought for a moment and said, "Tell Qin Feng to keep a close eye on the situation at the border at all times. If Loulan dares to join forces with the Xiongnu to threaten us with the Silk Road, Qin Feng can directly send out troops."
Dou Yuan asked, "What about the troops?"
Sikong Ting said, "Allocate another 100,000 troops to him. Adding the 100,000 elite troops already stationed at the border, 200,000 troops should be enough to deter them. It depends on whether Loulan can judge the situation correctly."
"I obey your order." Dou Yuan suddenly sighed. "The incident of General Qin's campaign against Loulan ten years ago is still vivid in my mind. Thinking of the grand occasion back then, tsk tsk tsk."
Sikong Ting suddenly remembered something. "Qin Feng is, if I remember correctly... fifty - three years old this year?"
Dou Yuan was stunned for a moment and said, "Indeed."
Sikong Ting lowered his head and frowned tightly.
Qin Feng was already old. If there was going to be a war with Loulan, he didn't know if Qin Feng's body could withstand it. He thought for a while and said, "Don't be in a hurry with this matter for now. Have the Ministry of War screen between Zhu Bu who guards the northwest and Han Yushan who guards the Hetao region. If there is really a war, General Qin must not go to the battlefield unless it is absolutely necessary."
"Yes."
Just as Sikong Ting was about to say something else, Xu Xian's voice sounded outside the imperial study. "Your Majesty, Concubine De is here."
As soon as the words were spoken, the expressions of the two men in the room changed simultaneously.
"Concubine De?" Dou Yuan was in a daze after hearing this. The emperor had a phobia of women. All the concubines he had taken were not allowed to leave the harem, let alone come to the imperial study. The last woman who did something like this almost got killed by the emperor.
Suddenly, he was stunned.
The last concubine who did this... wasn't it Concubine De Qin?
"What does she want?" Sikong Ting almost gritted his teeth as he asked. She had kept him from sleeping well last night, and now she still had the nerve to come to him?
Xu Xian said, "Concubine De said that the Empress Dowager asked her to bring some lotus seed soup for Your Majesty. She also said that she only needed this servant to inform Your Majesty and that she would leave after leaving the things."
Sikong Ting slapped the table angrily. "Bring her back to me!"
Qin Huaiqiu did leave right after leaving the things. Although he told the sedan - chair bearers to walk faster and faster, he was still stopped in the end.
Moreover, it wasn't Xu Xian who stopped him. Seeing that Qin Huaiqiu's sedan chair was almost out of sight, Xu Xian quickly informed the imperial guards. Coincidentally, Lieutenant General Liu Jin of the imperial guards was on patrol and directly stopped Qin Huaiqiu's sedan chair.
"Concubine De, please." Liu Jin was a neat - looking and straightforward - speaking person. Seeing that Qin Huaiqiu still resisted going back, he simply replaced one of the sedan - chair bearers and carried the sedan chair towards the imperial study at a fast pace.
"Damn it!" Qin Huaiqiu was jolted so much that he felt nauseous. He cursed, "Stop! Stop! Stop! I can walk by myself!"
Liu Jin turned a deaf ear and trotted all the way, carrying Qin Huaiqiu's sedan chair to the front of the imperial study. Then he put down the sedan chair and knelt in front of the emperor who was standing on the white jade steps to pay his respects. "Your Majesty."
"Ugh—" Qin Huaiqiu almost crawled out of the sedan chair covering his mouth. The sedan chair was jolted so much that it was almost falling apart. Qin Huaiqiu looked at the rickety sedan chair, gritted his teeth in anger and slapped the back of Liu Jin's head. "Liu Jin!"
He knew this Liu Jin. Back then, when his father was summoned to the capital to train the imperial guards, this stubborn Liu Jin almost made his father vomit blood in anger. After all these years, he still acted the same way.
Liu Jin took the slap without saying a word and still maintained the posture of paying respects, not moving an inch.
Not far away, Ziyun trotted over and stood to one side, gasping for breath.
Sikong Ting looked at the sedan chair that was in a mess and Qin Huaiqiu with a crooked hair bun. A smile involuntarily appeared on his lips. He nodded at Liu Jin. "Well done. You will be rewarded. Step back."
Liu Jin said, "Thank you, Your Majesty." Then he got up and left on his own.
Qin Huaiqiu looked at Liu Jin's back, grinding his teeth in anger. He then turned to look at Sikong Ting standing on the steps. He was even more angry. He didn't even bother to pay respects and directly asked, "What do you want?"
"Yo?" Dou Yuan, who was standing beside the emperor, was amused by Qin Huaiqiu's appearance. He propped his chin with his fan, smiling playfully. He said in a voice that only the emperor and he could hear, "This little Concubine De is quite interesting."
Sikong Ting gave him a sidelong glance.
Dou Yuan said, "She's more interesting than when we first met. Fortunately, Your Majesty didn't kill her with a single sword back then."
Sikong Ting didn't comment. He looked at Qin Huaiqiu and said, "Come in." Then he turned around and walked into the imperial study.
"?" Qin Huaiqiu stood there stunned. Seeing this, Dou Yuan waved to her. "Come on, Concubine De."
Qin Huaiqiu glared at him.
What on earth was Sikong Ting up to?
He followed him. After walking a few steps, he found that his hair bun had fallen down. He simply pulled out all the hairpins and "clattered" dropped them on the ground. With his long hair loose, he pushed open the door of the imperial study.
Inside the room, Sikong Ting had already sat back on the dragon throne. When he saw Qin Huaiqiu come in with his hair loose, he was only stunned for a moment and, surprisingly, didn't get angry.
"Your Majesty, what do you want to talk to this concubine about?" Qin Huaiqiu asked rather rudely.
Sikong Ting picked up the teacup and took a sip. "Concubine De, is this how you talk to me?"
Qin Huaiqiu sneered. "This concubine thought that her attitude was clear enough that day in the imperial garden. Isn't it Your Majesty who doesn't understand? If you want to divorce me, just do it. I'm even looking forward to it. Even if you find Qin Huailian back in the future, I won't let my younger sister be your concubine."
"Humph." Sikong Ting put down the teacup and stared fixedly at Qin Huaiqiu.
Dou Yuan was watching the show beside them, enjoying it to the fullest.
Qin Huaiqiu felt uncomfortable under his stare. But after all, he was the pampered young master of the general's mansion. Once his temper flared up, it wouldn't subside easily. He simply stared back defiantly.
Sikong Ting found her angry and helpless look quite amusing. He always felt that the way she stared at him was like a bristling little hedgehog. Unconsciously, his mood improved a bit, and a faint smile that even he didn't notice appeared on his lips.
"Where's the lotus seed soup?"
Qin Huaiqiu was stunned. "What?"
Sikong Ting tried to be patient. "The lotus seed soup you brought. Where is it?"
"I gave it to Xu Xian." Qin Huaiqiu corrected him. "It wasn't this concubine who brought it. It was the Empress Dowager who asked this concubine to bring it."
Sikong Ting: "..."
Qin Huaiqiu's deliberate attempt to keep a distance from him at all times really annoyed him. His eyes darkened. "Bring it in."