Upon hearing these words, Gu Yuzhi could no longer contain his excitement. He sat up again and instinctively reached out to grab Xie Changshi's sleeve.

This time, however, Xie Changshi not only did not step forward, but also took two steps back, clearly not wanting the young prince to get his body stained with blood.

Gu Yuzhi pouted, but his mood quickly improved. He peeked outside but didn't see anyone else: "Where are Mr. Huo and Prince Qi?"

"Mr. Huo and Commander Zhu are cleaning up the battlefield, while Prince Qi has gone to the yamen to handle some matters..."

Chief Secretary Xie said softly, "Guard Zhang urgently sent someone to summon Prince Qi to the yamen. I heard that it was one of the soldiers who had been imprisoned before who gave some information."

Why are you in such a hurry? Could it be something bad?

Gu Yuzhi's little mind raced, but he couldn't figure out what it was about. He just said "oh" and then grinned, "Then we'll discuss what to do next when Prince Qi comes back."

He knew that the navy besieging Huizhou numbered only about four thousand men, and that they would next face his brother's navy of tens of thousands, or his private army.

But no matter what, a good start is always inspiring.

Chief Secretary Xie nodded, his eyes still filled with undisguised joy as he looked at Gu Yuzhi: "Your Highness, we were outnumbered in this battle, but we still won a great victory. In fact, we have to thank Your Highness for persuading the rebels outside Yuding Gate."

If the battle outside Yuding Gate hadn't ended quickly, and if there hadn't been almost no seriously wounded elite soldiers who had been able to provide timely support to Dongzhimen and Xizhimen, then even if they had won, the battle would have been exceptionally fierce.

You've been praised!

Gu Yuzhi smiled, her eyes crinkling, and slowly lay down. She pulled the covers up a little shyly to cover her face, then hid under the covers and laughed heartily.

After a while, he pulled back the covers and quietly asked about the situation on the battlefield. When he learned that the number of casualties would have to wait for Mr. Huo and the others to tally it up, Gu Yuzhi gave a dejected "oh".

Sleepiness washed over him again, and this time, Gu Yuzhi could finally sleep soundly.

Qin, the court judge, carefully covered Gu Yuzhi's abdomen with the quilt, lowered the bed curtains, and then quietly went out with Xie, the chief secretary.

Gu Yuzhi slept exceptionally well, only waking up slowly the following evening.

After waking up from this long sleep, Gu Yuzhi felt full of energy, ready to immediately grab his sword, mount his horse, and fight the rebels for another three hundred rounds.

Hearing this, Shu Xiaohan couldn't help but burst into laughter. Seeing Gu Yuzhi's resentful look, Shu Xiaohan immediately stopped laughing, cleared her throat, and explained in a low voice, "Teacher Shu didn't mean to look down on you."

She tilted her head and clicked her tongue: "How do you explain that..."

Wen Xiuzhu said irritably, "She means that Your Highness is particularly cute when you say things like that."

Gu Yuzhi gave a haughty snort, threw off the covers and got out of bed: "I'm not cute."

He patted his chest lightly: "I am His Highness Prince Wen, skilled in both literature and martial arts! I am powerful, not cute!"

From now on, no one is allowed to say he's cute!

Gu Yuzhi grumbled and carefully put on his clothes, then strolled out. He then discovered that the sun had already set, and the sky looked as if it had been washed clean, with the azure and fiery red clouds meeting, making the whole sky exceptionally beautiful.

He twitched his nose slightly and suddenly said, "It seems that the weather in Huizhou has improved since we took down those rebels."

On the day I arrived, Huizhou was hit by strong winds. Although there were no strong winds last night, dark clouds covered the sky and the moonlight was blocked.

These weather conditions were clearly very favorable for their operations.

It's as if even God is on their side!

Gu Yuzhi patted his flat belly and walked briskly toward the main courtyard.

I learned from Teacher Shu that he had slept for a long time, no wonder he was so hungry when he woke up.

Before he even reached the main courtyard, he saw Chief Secretary Xie and Mr. Huo walking side by side toward him.

Upon seeing him, Mr. Huo quickened his pace and stepped forward, saying, "Your Highness, you have decided. Prince Qi has already arranged for the head chef of Baoyuezhai to prepare the meal. I and Chief Secretary Xie are just about to go and call you."

Upon hearing that it was Baoyuezhai, Gu Yuzhi's eyes lit up, and he said cheerfully, "Let's go, let's go, I'm so hungry!"

Seeing Gu Yuzhi so cheerful, Xie Changshi and Mr. Huo exchanged a glance, and their heavy hearts felt much lighter.

After Gu Yuzhi finished his meal, Mr. Huo reported to him on yesterday's battle situation: "Jiang Kangming's elite troops suffered no casualties, five seriously wounded and twenty lightly wounded. The city's defending troops suffered twenty-two deaths, fifty seriously wounded and one hundred and thirty-five lightly wounded."

This casualty figure is actually quite good, considering that the defending troops are people who have hardly ever seen blood, let alone fought against a well-trained navy.

Gu Yuzhi patted his slightly bulging belly, his mood not so good.

Regardless, some of their people still died.

He pursed his lips, digesting the news for a while before asking, "What's the news from Guard Zhang's side?"

Upon hearing this, Xie Changshi's relaxed expression vanished instantly, and he whispered, "The rebels outside Yuding Gate confessed that they were not a regular navy, but His Highness Prince Chu's private army."

Gu Yuzhi frowned and looked at Xie Changshi with suspicion, clearly not understanding what Xie Changshi meant by those words.

Isn't it common knowledge that the King of Chu has a private army?

Why did Chief Secretary Xie look so unpleasant when he said those words?

Chief Secretary Xie sighed softly and said patiently, "From what these soldiers have said, we can deduce that the King of Chu has already mixed his private army with his navy."

"In other words, unless we request the registrant list from the Ministry of War, it's impossible to determine who are private soldiers and who are naval personnel!"

Mr. Huo also said with a solemn expression, "Most importantly, we also learned from these people that many of the naval officers were promoted from private soldiers."

What does this mean? It means that the King of Chu has completely turned his navy into his own private army!

Gu Yuzhi's previous attempts to persuade them to surrender only convinced a small portion of the navy, while the majority of the navy had undoubtedly been completely convinced by the King of Chu and were now following his lead.

Gu Yuzhi suddenly realized something, his pupils dilating involuntarily in shock: "Oh no! The Duke of Qi!"

They initially thought that only 100,000 naval troops would be used to besiege the Duke of Qi, but now these rebels have confessed that they no longer distinguish between naval forces and private soldiers, so the number of troops besieging the Duke of Qi is more than 100,000.

The Lingnan garrison only numbered a little over 100,000, and it was impossible for the Duke of Qi to transfer all of them over there!

Thinking of the Duke of Qi, Mr. Huo sighed softly, "Yes, the situation in Huizhou isn't the most urgent right now. The Duke of Qi, I'm afraid, is in trouble..."