The Western Liang Imperial Palace.
Su Xuening had no idea about all the things happening in Dongchu; she was currently enjoying her postpartum confinement in the Western Liang Imperial Palace.
Duanmu Junyu also underwent another acupuncture treatment. After Pei Luo's examination, only a small amount of blood clot remained in her brain.
As the blood clot in her brain gradually disappeared, she felt her mind becoming lighter and it became easier for her to fall asleep.
Duanmu Junyu successfully entered the dream again.
After coming down from Tianlang Mountain, she went straight back to the Xiliang army camp.
"Your Majesty...Your Majesty!" The soldiers guarding the camp looked as if they had seen a ghost the moment they saw her.
She was exhausted. Even though she hadn't climbed the last section of the cliff herself, she had used all her strength up before. Now, after walking such a long way through the mountains to get back to the military camp, she was too tired to say a word.
She didn't explain anything to the soldiers and went straight to her tent.
As soon as she arrived at the entrance of her tent, she heard a familiar voice coming from inside: "Your Highness, are we really not going to send troops down to look for His Majesty?"
She knew the person asking the question very well; it was General Shao Yichen of their Western Liang.
When the soldiers guarding the entrance to her tent saw her return, they were all shocked and stared wide-eyed for a while before looking on incredulously and eagerly wanting to salute her.
She seemed to want to hear how the person inside would answer, and raised her hand to stop the two soldiers from speaking.
Seeing this, the soldiers dared not utter another sound and knelt down before her in unison.
Good heavens, is His Majesty back?
I heard that His Majesty fell off a cliff, a very, very high cliff. I never expected that His Majesty would come back alive!
The soldiers instinctively glanced at the shadow behind her, and when they saw that the shadow was clearly visible, they breathed a sigh of relief.
His Majesty has really returned, and he's back alive!
She didn't tell the soldiers to get up, but stood at the tent entrance listening to the conversation inside.
"I've sent people down to search, and they found nothing, haven't they? That cliff is so high, anyone who goes down will die, so don't hold out any hope!"
The voice that spoke was one she knew all too well, and the speaker was her only close relative in the world, her own sister, Duanmu Shenghua, who shared the same mother and father.
She never expected Duanmu Shenghua to answer like that. She hadn't sent anyone to look for her at the bottom of the cliff at all. She had climbed the entire cliff, and there was no trace of anyone going down. This meant that Duanmu Shenghua hadn't sent anyone to look for her at all.
Her claim of sending people was perhaps just a way to fool Shao Yichen, making her think that she had already sent troops to look for her, but in fact, she hadn't.
Not only were there no signs of climbing on the cliff, but there were also no bodies that had fallen from it. And yet she dared to tell her that she had sent people down to look for her?
Inside the tent, Shao Yichen still seemed very worried: "His Majesty's life or death is unknown. What are we going to do? What about the army? What about Xiliang?"
His Majesty is the backbone of the entire Western Liang. What would happen to Western Liang if something were to happen to His Majesty?
Duanmu Shenghua, however, didn't care whether she lived or died: "What's the panic? Aren't I still here?"
Shao Yichen glanced at Duanmu Shenghua but didn't say anything.
Duanmu Shenghua immediately took charge: "In a moment, you will gather the soldiers and announce the news of His Majesty's death. Since His Majesty is in trouble, we should stop fighting. It just so happens that Eastern Chu has also lost its commander, so I guess Eastern Chu doesn't want to continue fighting. We can take this opportunity to return to Western Liang."
Shao Yichen frowned: "Withdrawing the troops is not a problem, but is His Majesty really not going to look for them?"
She hadn't really agreed to this battle in the first place, but His Majesty insisted on fighting it, so she had no choice but to lead her troops to follow. She wouldn't object to retreating now, but she simply couldn't bring herself to not ask His Majesty to return to the capital!
Although His Majesty fell off the cliff, there was no sign of him alive or dead. How can we be sure that His Majesty is dead? What if His Majesty is still alive and waiting for them to rescue him?
Seeing her bring up the topic again, Duanmu Shenghua immediately said with displeasure, "Why don't you understand? I have already sent people down to the bottom of that cliff, and His Majesty is already dead."
Shao Yichen stared at Duanmu Shenghua, not believing her words: "Then, Your Highness, did you see His Majesty's body?"
Since the person is dead, there must be a body.
These words startled Duanmu Shenghua. A dark glint flashed in her eyes as she angrily said, "The cliff is so high, and none of the people I sent down have returned. They must have fallen to their deaths. So many people went down and not a single one came back up. Doesn't that prove something?"
Shao Yichen frowned, unsure how to respond.
It was indeed His Highness Prince Hui who organized the search for His Majesty, but they had been searching for several days without finding a single trace of him. She didn't even know if they had been seriously looking for him, or even if they had actually been searching at all!
She had always wanted to lead a group down the cliff herself to search for him, but His Highness kept ordering her to lead troops against Eastern Chu. The situation with Eastern Chu was indeed not something to be taken lightly, so she simply couldn't find the time to go find His Majesty.
Prince Hui had been searching for His Majesty without finding a single clue, and she was very anxious. So, as soon as she had some free time today, she discussed with Prince Hui whether she should personally lead people down the cliff to search for His Majesty again.
What if Hui Wang and the others didn't search all the places? She wouldn't feel at ease unless she went down and searched for them herself.
But now that Prince Hui keeps insisting that His Majesty will surely die if he falls off the cliff, she really doesn't know what to do.
Seeing that Shao Yichen was intimidated, Duanmu Shenghua immediately gave her another order: "Go and gather everyone now. I am going to announce the news of His Majesty's death, and I am going to lead them to retreat!"
Shao Yichen frowned, clearly unwilling to go, but Duanmu Shenghua urged her repeatedly with a serious expression: "What? Does my word no longer carry weight? Even if His Majesty were here, my word would still have the same effect!"
Shao Yichen immediately thought of the Prince Hui's suggestion that His Majesty lead troops to ambush the Eastern Chu soldiers on the cliff. She had always told His Majesty that this idea was not good at all and was too dangerous.
In truth, Your Majesty knew in your heart that such an ambush method was no match for Eastern Chu. However, Prince Hui repeatedly suggested it and assured His Majesty that he would definitely defeat Eastern Chu, so Your Majesty led your men to give it a try. As a result, such a huge incident occurred!
Who can know whether King Hui did it on purpose?
Outside the tent, she also narrowed her eyes coldly.
Duanmu Shenghua indeed had such intentions.
She walked up to the kneeling soldiers and waved to them.
The soldiers immediately stood up, and she whispered a few words to them. They stopped kneeling and returned to their respective positions.
She secretly hid behind the tent, wanting to see what Duanmu Shenghua was up to.
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