"Stop talking... just say a few words."

The palace ministers nearby all pointed to the man who spoke openly.

"Is this what you were talking about..."

Zhao Zhao smiled bitterly to himself, pretended not to hear, and left on his own.

On the side, Zhao Zhao's Zongwei "Xu ​​Yu" heard this and became furious. He was about to argue with the man, but Zhao Zhao grabbed his wrist and forcibly dragged him away.

Zhao Zhao turned around and left. The palace minister seemed to have caught something against Zhao Zhao. Even though he was stopped by several other colleagues, he still muttered: "Looking at his nonchalant look... He is indeed confident. He is

The brother of the King of Wei, after the city is broken, he can surrender to the Wei army and return to Wei safely..."

"..."

Hearing these words from behind, Zhao Zhao was heartbroken and walked away quickly.

"Shut up!"

Right Prime Minister Tian Bao happened to see this scene, rushed over from a distance, grabbed the skirt of the palace minister's clothes, lifted him up, and cursed: "If your words will not help us to repel the Wei army,

, just shut up!... Otherwise, before Wei Jun kills you, Tian Mou will kill you with one sword first!"

Facing Tian Bao, who had a squinting look on his face, the palace minister turned pale with fright, and his whole body collapsed.

"waste!"

Tian Bao dropped it casually and spat as a sign of contempt. Then he turned to look in the direction Zhao Zhao left, with a hint of worry in his eyes.

When Zhao Zhao climbed up to the tower to watch the battle, Tian Tabu actually noticed it, but just like Uncle Bao and others who also noticed Zhao Zhao at that time, Tian Tabu did not come forward to talk to Zhao Zhao.

It wasn't that there was any grudge between them because of the Wei army outside the city, but because under the current situation, Tian Dan, Guan Zhong, Uncle Bao and others really didn't know what to talk to Zhao Zhao.

"Master Zhao Zhao, you have been extremely kind and righteous to me, Da Qi..."

Tian Bao said secretly in his heart.

At the same time, Zhao Zhao had climbed down the city wall and returned to his Zuoxiang Mansion under the protection of a Zongwei.

Standing in the inner courtyard of the mansion, Zhao Zhao looked around at everything in the inner courtyard, but the sarcasm of the palace minister just now could not help but come to his ears. This gave him an inexplicable illusion: this house where he had lived for more than twenty years could not help but

The mansion suddenly became so strange for some reason.

Distraught, he returned to his study, ordered his servants to bring a few bottles of wine, and drank alone in the room.

To be honest, Zhao Zhao actually doesn't like drinking, because getting drunk will affect his decision-making as the left prime minister of Qi.

However, in recent years, due to the sharp deterioration of the relationship between Wei and Qi, Zhao Zhao wanted to avoid giving up all his power to the Right Prime Minister Tian Tao. From then on, Zhao Zhao gradually became accustomed to using wine to numb himself.

I don't know how long it took, but the door was gently pushed open, and the main wife, Zhuo Ji, and the side wife, Tian Wan, came to Zhao Zhao's study.

Seeing her husband drinking alone in the house, Zhui Ji and Tian Wan looked at each other, smiled and walked over: "Husband, Xu Yu told me that you are back..."

Zhao Zhao glanced at the door of the study, forced out a smile, nodded towards Zhui Ji and Tian Wan, and motioned for the two girls to sit down next to him.

After sitting down, Ji Ji hesitated for a while and asked: "Husband, can Linzi City... be defended?"

Zhao Zhao, who was holding the wine cup, was silent for a moment when he heard this, then shook his head and said melancholy: "The difference in strength is too huge..."

"so……"

Kui Ji and Tian Wan looked at each other, with deep worry on their faces.

However, there was no panic.

Because they also understood that even if the Wei army invaded Linzi, the Wei soldiers would not dare to do anything to their family. After all, their husband was the brother of the King of Wei and the brother of Zhao Jiang, the commander of the Qi army.

Zhao Zhao clearly saw the expressions on the two women's faces, and felt even more bitter in his heart.

Because he knew that his wives and concubines might have been thinking about what would happen after the fall of Qi, which made him couldn't help but echo the sarcastic words of the palace minister again.

"Go back to Wei...?"

A somewhat complicated wry smile appeared on his face.

Zhui Ji and Tian Wan raised their heads and looked at Zhao Zhao, with a bit of confusion on their pretty faces.

They were not surprised that their husbands would mention the words "return to the Kingdom of Wei". After all, their husbands were originally from Wei and were also the sons of the Kingdom of Wei. The problem was the tone in which their husbands said this.

"Back then, when I, the Wei Dynasty, was in trouble, I volunteered to be a hostage, hoping to get the King of Qi to help me, the Wei Dynasty. At that time, I thought that I might stay in Qi State as a proton for the rest of my life. However, God just gave me

It was a joke." Zhao Zhao said quietly, playing with the wine cup in his hand.

Indeed, if Zhao Zhao stayed in Qi as a proton, then he should be happy to see that Wei became more and more powerful.

Now, with the Wei army aggressively attacking Qi, he even felt excited, because it meant that his proton career would come to an end.

But unfortunately, his status in Qi State was not a pure proton from the beginning. He was the son-in-law of Lu Xi, the ancestor of Qi State, and the left prime minister of Qi State.

Under this premise, when he saw Wei's army attacking Qi, he really couldn't laugh.

"Husband..."

There was a hint of fear on Luo Ji's face, as if she had a premonition that something she didn't want to see would happen.

"...My father-in-law generously gave a helping hand and sent troops to contain the Chu State, so that I, the Wei Dynasty, could avoid being attacked by the Chu State. This kindness will be unforgettable in my life. Therefore, after becoming the Left Prime Minister, I never dared to slack off.

…all this time, I’ve tried my best

I tried my best to promote the good relations between Wei and Qi, so that I can be worthy of both Wei and Qi, but I never thought... Haha, maybe this is the so-called fish and bear's paw, you can't have it both ways.

No matter how hard you try to get it, you won’t get it in the end.”

Zhao Zhao shook his head.

He remembered the last time he returned to Wei, that is, after the death of his father, King Zhao Si, he returned to Wei to attend the funeral. At that time, his younger brother Zhao Run, now the monarch of Wei, begged him to stay in Wei.

country.

Zhao Zhao did not agree at that time because he felt that King Lu Bai of Qi, Tian Tao, Gao Xi, Guan Zhong, Uncle Bao and others all trusted him and allowed him to return to Wei alone to attend the funeral, so he must respond to the trust of these people.

, since I said I would return to Qi, then I must return to Wei.

After he returned to Qi, his younger brother Wei Wang Zhao Run, who had frequently corresponded with him, also lost contact with him.

This is not a question of profit or loss. Although Zhao Zhao was the left prime minister in Qi State, if he had broken the agreement with Lu Bai, Tian Bao, Guan Zhong, Bao Shu and others and decided to stay in Wei State,

Could it be that he will be idle in Wei?

With his ability, he is enough to rank among the ministers of the inner dynasty and even the prime minister of Wei State.

Yes, it’s not about profit, it’s just about faith!

But what Zhao Zhao couldn't bear was that after he had paid so much for Qi, there were still people who doubted him and mocked him for being the person who least cared about the "Wei-Qi War". This made Zhao Zhao feel quite sad.

Uncomfortable.

"...Maybe it's because of my lack of talent and virtue." Zhao Zhao said bitterly.

"Husband." Concubine Ji hugged her husband distressedly and said with a choked voice: "Did someone gossip? Who was that person? I call him Xiaobai..."

She originally wanted to ask her brother Lu Bai to teach the gossip, but when she said the words, she suddenly realized that her country, Qi, was now on the verge of collapse.

Taking the hands of Kui Ji and Tian Wan, Zhao Zhao gently told him: "The commander of the Wei army outside the city is my brother Zhao Jiang. If you two declare your names as husbands, he will see that my brother and I are together."

For the sake of the market, please provide proper arrangements for your mother and son."

The expressions of Kui Ji and Tian Dan suddenly changed, and the former exclaimed subconsciously: "Husband, what about you?"

Zhao Zhao shook his head, hugged the two girls in his arms, and drank one glass of wine in silence.

After filling up the last glass of wine, he exhaled melancholy and murmured: "It's time..."

As he said that, under the horrified looks of the two women, he stood up and walked towards the wall. He straightened his clothes and hair crown in front of the bronze mirror on the wooden cabinet on the wall.

Then, he took out a wooden box from the drawer of the wooden cabinet and returned to his original seat with the wooden box.

After sitting back to his original position, he opened the wooden box, took out a delicate small porcelain bottle, and poured the powder inside into the wine cup.

Seeing this, the expressions of Kui Ji and Tian Wan suddenly changed, and they grabbed their husband's hands in unison, shook their heads and begged: "No, don't..."

Zhao Zhao smiled slightly, patted the backs of Zhuo Ji and Tian Wan's hands, and then picked up the glass of wine.

"...I am the son of King Wei and the son-in-law of King Qi. However, I am neither helpful to Wei nor to Qi. I am truly an incompetent person."

After that, he drank the wine in the glass in one gulp.

Seeing that they could not stop their husband after all, both Zhui Ji and Tian Wan fell into their husband's arms and cried sadly.

Gently hugging the two beloved women, a warm look appeared on Zhao Zhao's sad face.

"Fortunately, a person as incompetent as me can still win the favor of two beauties in this life, so this life may not be in vain."

After that, he slowly closed his eyes and held his children in his arms, as if he was carefully savoring the last tenderness of the couple.

After a while, his head slowly lowered, and the hands holding the two women also dropped weakly.

Seeing this, the two girls cried sadly.

In September of the seventh year of Wei Zhaowu, on the eve of the Qi State's capital Linzi being about to be captured by the Wei army, the Qi State's left prime minister, Wei Gongzi Zhao, drank poisoned wine and committed suicide. He gave up returning to the Wei State to continue to enjoy the glory and wealth, and chose to die as a Qi State minister.
Chapter completed!