"Your Majesty, I am about to depart for Beiliang, but I fear for Your Majesty's safety..."
He paused for a moment halfway through his sentence: "If I'm not mistaken, after I leave with the Crimson Feather Army, the Second Prince will definitely raise an army."
The emperor was well aware that Nangong Jingyao had been hiding for so many days, waiting for this opportunity.
Beset by external and internal troubles, we can only leave it to fate.
“Prince Yu, the palace is heavily guarded, and there are also city defense battalions in the capital. Even if my second brother wants to force the emperor to abdicate, it will not be an easy task.”
Compared to the chaos in Beichuan City, the coup attempt is much smaller. If we win, we will inform you immediately.
"If we fail, no matter who governs Nanning in the future, our territory must never be plundered by the Northern Liang."
Nangong Qing will do everything in his power to protect the emperor, regardless of what Nangong Jingyao does.
Even if he sits in this position, he is still a member of the Nangong family, and Nanning is still the Nangong family's territory.
If Beichuan City falls, then Nanning will be in real danger.
"Third Prince, with such a magnanimous heart, Nanning will only get better and better."
"Your Majesty, I must take my leave..."
Su Luo received the emperor's decree before Nangong Chiyu entered the palace.
She and the Grand Minister of Agriculture needed to prepare the army's provisions.
The army has always kept supplies in reserve, but with the disaster victims, this batch of supplies was taken away, making it difficult to provide subsequent supplies.
After the provisions were prepared, Su Luo rode at full speed to the military camp outside the city.
Nangong Chiyu, clad in full armor, led the army at the front. Upon seeing Su Luo, he dismounted and charged towards him.
With affection, Su Luo opened her arms and hugged him tightly. It wasn't hot in early autumn, but when Su Luo's face was pressed against his armor, she felt a bone-chilling cold.
"Luo Luo, wait for me..."
Su Luo hugged him even tighter. He had no choice but to fight this battle, even though the dangers ahead and everything was unknown.
"Don't worry, with me here, you don't need to worry about the army's food supplies. I'll find a way."
Su Luo has plenty of money now, and even if she can't buy food, she has planted quite a lot in her space.
Over the course of more than a year, tens of thousands of kilograms of dryland rice have been harvested.
"Luo Luo, you must be careful too. You know better than I what will happen in the capital next. No matter what, you must protect yourself."
Nangong Chiyu was afraid that after he left, Su Luo would be drawn into this power struggle. If anything unexpected happened... no, nothing unexpected would happen to Su Luo...
Nangong Chiyu comforted himself in his heart.
"Okay! I'll write to you once things have calmed down."
The two were reluctant to part, but time waits for no one. Su Luo watched as Nangong Chiyu led his long army across the distance.
Because of the issue of food supplies, the disaster relief grain allocated to the people was reduced by a small amount.
In order to explain to the people, they could only say that after calculating the original output and deducting the tax payable, the court only compensated them with this much.
Although the grain received by the people was not satisfactory, it was better than nothing. Let's get through this first.
...
Besides the issue of food, Su Luo would also discuss with Nangong Qing how to deal with Nangong Jingyao.
With the nearby troops gone, this undoubtedly presents Nangong Jingyao with an excellent opportunity to force him to abdicate.
The people of the capital were scattered, and there was also the deployment of the city's defense corps.
Detailed arrangements were made regarding how the Imperial Guards would protect the palace.
They were on guard every day, and the day after Nangong Chiyu left, Nangong Jingyao made his move.
He brought a large army, fully equipped, and even siege engines were readily available.
Archers, shield bearers, and over three thousand soldiers—that's enough to force a rebellion.
Above the city gates of the capital, besides the commander of the city defense battalion, was Su Luo.
When Nangong Jingyao saw that it was Su Luo there, his face showed disdain and contempt.
"Vice Minister of Agriculture, is there no one else in the capital? They actually need a woman like you to guard the city gates, hahaha..."
Su Luo remained calm. Regardless of her past or present life, she never underestimated her enemies when faced with danger.
"Second Prince, things are not yet beyond redemption. If you stop now, His Majesty may spare you."
If you insist on doing so, don't blame me for being ruthless.
Nangong Jingyao held his long gun high: "Hahaha... I thought of the consequences before I dared to take this step."
However, this prince has always valued talent. If the Deputy Minister of Agriculture were to submit to me, the city gates would be opened, and the entire Ministry of Agriculture would belong to him. What does the Deputy Minister of Agriculture think?
Su Luo sneered: "I don't think so."
There was no point in challenging Su Luo, so Nangong Jingyao waited until Nangong Chiyu left before coming today.
This time, he carefully calculated the palace's defenses, including the number of Imperial Guards and the number of city defense troops.
He knew everything about them, including what weapons they used and their combat capabilities.
With these advantages, he had over three thousand soldiers under his command and was seventy percent confident that he could capture the capital.
"Where is Nangong Qing? If he's so capable, let him come out and have a showdown with this prince."
"Second Prince, I am the only one at this city gate today. I am enough to deal with you."
Nangong Jingyao thought Su Luo was really arrogant. She was just Nangong Chiyu's wife, did she really think she had the talent of a general like Nangong Chiyu?
“Ignorant woman…”
After saying this, he raised the battle flag and said to the soldiers behind him, "Archers on the siege engines, prepare to attack."
Nangong Jingyao's men pushed the siege engine toward the city gate.
"Guards, protect the Deputy Minister of Agriculture."
"Archers, prepare!" the city defense battalion commander ordered.
Instantly, soldiers brought shields to protect Su Luo, and two swords rained down from the sky.
As they pushed the siege engine, one by one, people were shot to death by arrows.
They continued to send reinforcements and resolutely attacked the city.
"Vice Minister of Agriculture, are we just going to let them attack the city gates without fighting back?"
Su Luo didn't even glance at the general; she kept her eyes on the battle below.
"Don't rush!"
The two sides were locked in a stalemate, and Nangong Jingyao noticed that Su Luo didn't dare to kill them.
It's laughable that someone with such womanly compassion would go to the battlefield like others.
"Men, bring the ladder!"
"yes!"
Nangong Jingyao climbed the city wall with a ladder, while Su Luo's men attacked with stones.
Or perhaps, pushing open the ladder reveals a scene of flashing swords and bloodshed.
"Vice Minister of Agriculture, may we use our ultimate technique now?"
The commander of the city defense battalion was anxious. Su Luo was a woman, and he really didn't trust her to take command.
But the orders from above required him to stop serving as the deputy minister of agriculture, which would be disobeying no matter what.
"Wait a little longer."
"If we wait any longer, the city gates will be breached."
Su Luo knew, of course, that every time the siege engine rammed the gate, the gate would loosen a little.
"Soon."
Only after the city gates broke open did Nangong Jingyao smile triumphantly and wave his hand to give the order.
"On my command, advance into the city..."
Seeing the densely packed thousands of people rushing into the city gate, Su Luo abandoned her concentration, calculated the timing, and spoke to the most experienced general.
"Prepare... to ignite."
The general raised the torch behind him and lit the fuse. He had never seen this special move that Su Luo had mentioned before, nor did he know what it was.
But the Deputy Minister of Agriculture said that this thing could take on a hundred enemies.
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