As the news spread that Prince Daqiu was about to enter Lin'an, the entire city of Lin'an became panic-stricken.
On the night of Laba Festival, the commander of the Imperial Guard, Qian Zhang, arbitrarily mobilized 30,000 Shenwei troops to attack the Eastern Palace at night, but was killed by the Daqiu Iron Cavalry. Overnight, the area around the Eastern Palace was littered with corpses and blood flowed like a river. Qian Zhang's head was also hung outside the Zhengyang Gate.
In order to win over the people's hearts before his brother entered Lin'an, Helian Jiu began to order his men to plunder the city.
When the news reached Ji's residence, Concubine Zhang was furious.
"Qian Zhang is so confused," Empress Dowager Zhang said angrily. "Since Prince Daqiu is planning to come to Lin'an, he should hold his troops in place and lure the enemy deeper into our territory. Why would he provoke the people of Daqiu?"
Ye Wanshu predicted that Fu Mingchi would take the opportunity to kill Prince Daqiu. As long as he could turn the tide in the northern border, Helian Jiu and the delegation she brought would be killed without a burial place.
However, after the Eastern Palace Incident, she also realized that the Daqiu Iron Cavalry was indeed terrifying and should not be underestimated.
"The court was already afraid of the people of Daqiu. Now that the Shenwei Army has been annihilated, I'm afraid the people of Daye will completely lose their confidence."
Ye Wanshu said, "We must not allow people's morale to weaken like this. Once Helian Jiu completely enslaves the people of Lin'an, Your Highness and the border soldiers will be in a difficult situation."
"Helian Jiu only has 5,000 cavalrymen under his command. How could he defeat the Imperial Guards so miserably?" Concubine Zhang sighed. "If my brother-in-law were still alive, how could they dare to be so arrogant?"
"It's just that the people in my dynasty are so different." Ye Wanshu closed her eyes helplessly. "If everyone could have the determination of the Mu family soldiers to fight to the death, let alone five thousand cavalrymen, even the ten thousand troops of Daqiu would have nothing to fear."
"There are no Daye troops left in Lin'an City right now. If Helian Jiu continues to act recklessly, I'm truly worried about everyone's safety." Concubine Zhang frowned. "I wonder if Ming Chi has reached Jiayu Pass yet?"
Just when everyone in the room was at a loss, Ting Feng and Tao Anran suddenly hurried in.
Following behind them were Ji Yunze and Qin Chulin.
"Ji Yunze, you are so bold! How dare you return to Lin'an without permission?"
When Concubine Zhang saw Ji Yunze, she immediately showed her dissatisfaction.
"Please calm down, my Queen." Ting Feng explained, "Sima Ji heard in Qizhou that General Yubai was secretly leading soldiers from several states to the northern border. He guessed that the Crown Prince was preparing for a decisive battle with the Daqiu army. However, the people in Lin'an were demoralized, and Master Ji was worried that Lin'an would cause unrest, so he deliberately rushed here to rescue them."
Ye Wanshu glanced behind Ji Yunze and saw no trace of Zhao Yun and Zhao Yingying's family. She guessed that this must have been Zhao Changshi's idea.
After all, in their view, Ji Yunze was already a dead pig that was not afraid of boiling water. If he insisted on returning to Lin'an, His Majesty and Fu Mingchi would not put him to death.
"Mr. Ji, did you come to Lin'an alone?" Ye Wanshu asked deliberately.
Ji Yunze carefully examined Concubine Zhang and respectfully clasped his fists, saying, "I have followed General Yubai's instructions and secretly assembled eight thousand Qizhou troops to march to Lin'an, following Your Highness's previous route. We are currently stationed outside the city."
Upon hearing this, Concubine Zhang's face lit up with joy. She looked at Ye Wanshu with delight: "Wan'er, what do you think we should do now?"
"Your Highness has endured until now in order to arouse the resolve of the people of Daye to resist."
Ye Wanshu said, "Since Daqiu occupied the Northern Capital, our dynasty has lost a large portion of its territory. They have been operating in the northern borders for decades, and now they have a large army and command a large number of generals. Your Majesty and Your Highness are determined to fight the Daqiu people. This situation cannot be reversed by just one or two battles. We must rally the people's hearts and unite them to fight a protracted war against the Daqiu people."
After thinking for a moment, she immediately said, "My Lady Consort, I must go to the palace and try to see His Majesty."
Concubine Zhang nodded and said, "Okay, I will accompany you to the palace."
"No, the Concubine Dowager cannot leave the Ji Mansion." Ye Wanshu advised, "I'm afraid Helian Jiu doesn't know that His Highness has left Lin'an. The reason she is acting so recklessly is to force His Highness to show up."
Glancing around at everyone in the mansion, Ye Wanshu continued, "Besides, everyone in this courtyard still relies on the Dowager's protection."
At this point, she suddenly looked at Zhu Wencai: "By the way, General Zhu, are Ayin and my cousin and sister doing well in the Duke's Mansion?"
"Miss Ye, don't worry." Zhu Wencai said, "I have arranged for people to guard the Duke of Rong's Mansion. They dare not act rashly."
"Please trouble General Zhu to bring them to Ji Mansion," Ye Wanshu ordered.
Ji Yunze guessed that her purpose for entering the palace this time was not simple, and hurriedly said: "Princess, let me accompany you into the palace."
Ye Wanshu shook her head. "Master Ji, it was incredibly difficult for you to bring the Qizhou Army to Lin'an. We must seize this opportunity. We can't repeat the mistakes of the Shenwei Army. The Daqiu cavalry shouldn't be underestimated."
After saying this, Ye Wanshu stopped everyone inside the house and said loudly, "Everyone, please stay."
Afterwards, he only took Chunhong and Xingtao back to change into the princess's court dress and went straight to the palace.
Upon learning that it was Princess Jinghe who entered the palace, the people of Daqiu did not stop her. After sending her to the Qianqing Palace, they quickly sent someone to the Eastern Palace to inform Helian Jiu of the news.
"I didn't expect that this bitch finally came out." Helian Jiu was overjoyed: "I thought she would stay at Ji's house and not dare to go out."
"Princess, I have recruited 100,000 young and strong men from Daye in Lin'an City in the past few days. They are all willing to surrender to my Daqiu. In my opinion, it is better to kill that little bitch and the emperor directly and force the Prince of Daye to come to see you." Chang Rong advised.
"You have a pig brain." Helian Jiu curled his lips and said, "If we kill that puppet emperor, who will obey us?"
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