Chapter 382: The Fickleness of Human Nature

On the eighth day of April, a letter was delivered by express horse from Mianbei.

After six months of rectification and cleanup, using both deterrence and winning over, Qi Ling finally took control of Mianbei. With the help of Shen Zhongjin, he made a brand new cotton-padded jacket for each member of the Zhenbei army in the winter before the New Year. After the New Year and the beginning of spring, the army replaced a batch of sophisticated weapons, which greatly boosted morale.

Qi Ling also promised to ask Her Majesty the Queen to purchase a batch of war horses and armor for the Zhenbei army, and to build a batch of iron cavalry of at least 10,000 people as much as possible.

The generals in the army have always convinced others with their abilities.

After the confidants of the Zhenbei King and his son were eliminated, demoted, and even dealt with by military law, the rest of the soldiers had completely accepted this commander who was hundreds of times stronger than Qi Yun after Qi Ling conquered them for six months.

With Qi Ling guarding Mianbei, Chu Qinghuang was relieved. The most important thing next was to fulfill Qi Ling's promise to the soldiers.

There is no joking in the army, and a strong country must first have strong soldiers.

In early May, Zhou Shao arrived in the imperial capital.

The famous Zhou Liuye had a lot of followers in the business world, but he was just a businessman after all. In the imperial capital full of powerful people, his status was not worthy of being in the upper class. Moreover, King Xuan had been imprisoned, and Qin Guojiu's family, who had a marriage relationship with the Zhou family, was also implicated and imprisoned. Who would dare to get involved with Zhou Shao at this time?

The situation was sensitive, and his status was also sensitive, so officials avoided him as much as possible.

Zhou Shao handed over a token and a visiting card to ask for an audience with Prince Rong. After informing him of his purpose, Prince Rong took the token and the visiting card and went to the palace to report the matter to Chu Qinghuang: "Zhou Shao, the sixth son of the Zhou family, said that he was summoned by His Majesty. I dare not make a decision on my own, so I came to ask Your Majesty for instructions."

Chu Qinghuang had long known about Zhou Shao's arrival in Beijing, and also knew that he had been rejected several times outside, but she ignored it. On the one hand, she intended to let the sixth master of the Zhou family taste the warmth and coldness of human feelings, and on the other hand, let him get to know his identity well.

The Xuanwang Mansion and Qin Guojiu Mansion were imprisoned one after another, and the Zhou family's backers in the imperial city had fallen. Now the Zhou family faces only two paths, one is to offer their loyalty to Her Majesty the Queen, and the other is to be slowly eroded and replaced by other families.

If you want to govern the country, whether it is military or economic, you can't be restrained by any family. If the Zhou family doesn't behave, it will only perish.

Chu Qinghuang looked at the token on the table and said calmly: "Let Chu Xuanyi take him to the palace."

"Yes."

Prince Rong took his leave.

Zhou Shao was sitting by the window on the second floor of a restaurant in the imperial city at this time, holding a teacup in his fingers, silently analyzing the current situation.

The empress had just returned to the palace and dealt with King Xuan, without even giving him time to prepare. It was completely caught off guard, and none of the civil and military ministers in the court stood up to oppose and plead for mercy. It can be seen that the empress was a terrible person in the hearts of the court officials.

The saying of the evil spirit was not groundless.

Ministers have always been best at hitting pillars, committing suicide, getting sick, retiring and returning home, and many emperors also fell for this. Unexpectedly, in front of Chu Qinghuang, it was so calm. Except for causing some uneasiness, no minister made a fuss.

Zhou Shao drank a sip of tea slowly.

Thinking of the consecutive setbacks in the past two days, he already knew in his heart that if the Zhou family did not declare allegiance to Her Majesty the Queen and did not let Her Majesty the Queen see his sincerity, I am afraid that the end would not be too good.

With a sigh of relief, Zhou Shao turned his head and looked out the window.

Chu Xuanyi led his men straight to the restaurant, walked into the lobby quickly, and went up to the second floor from the lobby stairs, which attracted the attention of the guests in the restaurant.

Zhou Shao put down his teacup, stood up, straightened his clothes, and walked towards him.