"Your Highness, Your Highness has returned."
At the same time, Jing Huaixu, who was closely monitoring the city, also saw hope through his telescope. He excitedly told Empress Ye beside him.
Empress Ye has been avoiding mentioning her worries these days because she is afraid of affecting the minds of those around her. As the mother of the nation, she has to maintain stability in the harem, but that doesn't mean she doesn't care about her son.
Upon learning that Jing Yan had returned, Empress Ye hurriedly took out her telescope and asked Jing Huaixu to point it out to her.
"Your Majesty, where is Yan'er? Please help me find her."
“There,” Jing Huaixu pointed to a location for Empress Ye to see.
Empress Ye, not seeing anyone, exclaimed with obvious anxiety, "Your Majesty, no one is here!"
“How could he not be here? He’s right here…” Jing Huaixu looked through the binoculars again and realized that he had lost sight of his son in the blink of an eye.
He hurriedly started searching again, reassuring Empress Ye, "Don't worry, Chu Ting, I'll look for Yan'er for you again."
Empress Ye was naturally anxious, and she couldn't wait for Jing Huaixu to help her, so she followed Jing Huaixu's gaze with her binoculars.
Yue Jiang couldn't wait to take the telescope from Qing Ke and look into the chaotic streets of the city.
Looking down, the city was engulfed in flames, and wherever people gathered, there was fighting and ferocious roars.
Yue Jiang kept searching for Jing Yan's figure, looking at him again and again.
Finally, on a street perpendicular to the palace, she saw Jing Yan ride out on horseback and stand before the soldiers.
Yue Jiang couldn't hear what Jing Yan was saying, but she saw him waving his hands and giving instructions.
Following his instructions, wave after wave of soldiers split up and acted. Before long, the rebels could no longer advance, and the rebels no longer dared to break into the city.
At this moment, the soldiers that Jing Huaixu had sent out to gather information returned and reported: "Your Majesty, His Highness the Crown Prince had already taken control of the rebel army outside the city before entering it, and no more rebels will break into the city from outside."
"His Highness the Crown Prince will soon quell the rebellion within the city, and the rebellion will surely be resolved before dawn."
After seeing that the crisis in the city had eased, Jing Huaixu knew that everything was stable, especially since Jing Yan had returned safely. He smiled broadly.
"I understand. The Crown Prince has rendered great service. I will wait until he has finished his business before returning to the palace."
Jing Huaixu waved his hand to dismiss the person who had reported, and then turned back to continue admiring his most prized son.
After hearing that the city's calamity was nothing to fear, Yue Jiang focused her attention on Jing Yan's figure, her eyes following him as he wandered through the city.
Yue Jiang didn't know how Jing Yan had returned despite the lack of food. She was most worried that he might have suffered new injuries, but he was too far away, and she couldn't see him clearly even after looking for a long time.
An hour, then two hours passed slowly. The rebel army gradually disappeared from the city, and Jing Yan's soldiers were cleaning up the battlefield and putting out the fire.
Another half hour passed, and as dawn broke, even the people hiding in their houses slowly poked their heads out.
Jing Yan ordered the soldiers to assemble, and after saying something else, the soldiers rode their horses out of the city.
After most of the people had dispersed, Jing Yan led the remaining several hundred people slowly around and headed towards the palace.
Just as the sun was rising, a group of people, enveloped in a faint halo of light, walked from afar, with Jing Yan standing out in particular. This time, Yue Jiang was no longer afraid of not being able to find him.
It had been more than two years since I last saw him. Although he was a bit dirty, with messy strands of hair scattered on his forehead and a lot of dark stubble on his chin that he hadn't had time to groom.
The once-perfect crown was now missing its gold hairpin, and her long black hair was half-tied behind her head. Yet, she felt that Jing Yan's gaze had become even more resolute.
Gradually, Yue Jiang could see more clearly the bloodstains on Jing Yan's body. They might be his, or they might not be, but they might also be his.
A sudden pang of pain shot through Yue Jiang's heart; she knew Jing Yan was only slightly injured.
Perhaps she was too worried about Jing Yan, because her attention kept drifting from the bloodstains all over his body to his battles over the past two years, when he probably suffered even more injuries.
When Yue Jiang came to her senses and looked down, she was surprised to find herself staring directly into Jing Yan's eyes. He was already at the city gate, looking up at her and smiling.
Jingyan's smile was fleeting, but it brought Yuejiang a little peace of mind.
The next moment, Jing Yan's voice rang out from below the city; he was reporting the battle situation of the night to Jing Huaixu.
"Father, the rebels who broke into the city have all been annihilated. As for the rebels outside the city, I have ordered 50,000 Tiger Wing Army soldiers to bring them under control. They await your decision."
"Tiger Wing Army?" Jing Huaixu asked in surprise, "Your Highness, what happened to the Xuanjia Army you took with you? Why did you mobilize the Tiger Wing Army from Yuezhou?"
Jing Yan explained, "My provisions were burned by Jing Lu in collusion with An Chenghuan, forcing the army to linger on the border of Chenqi for two months."
"Later, I managed to raise enough grain, but considering that Jinglu had already been gone for two months, it was impossible for me to travel too fast with an army of more than 200,000."
"Fearing that Jinglu's return would endanger Father Emperor and the palace, I had no choice but to separate from the army and take a small number of soldiers back with me. I also transferred 50,000 Tiger Wing Army troops from Yuezhou to reinforce Pingkang City."
With the army running out of food, Commander Jing Yan could not abandon the army and rush back alone. Even though he faced off against An Chenghuan in the camp every day, he was actually extremely anxious.
After securing enough grain to return to Jing, Jingyan had the idea of going ahead first.
The journey of over 200,000 people was simply too slow. He feared that Jinglu would control his father and that Yuejiang would be harmed.
Therefore, he entrusted the men to Rong Ying's leadership. He traveled day and night by water and land, keeping a low profile, and during this time he also heard rumors that Jing Lu was returning with his army.
After learning that Jing Lu had more than 10,000 men, Jing Yan figured that Jing Lu would definitely use those men to cause trouble, so he borrowed troops from Yuezhou, which was closest to Pingkang City and easy to mobilize.
Jing Yan thought his actions were still too late, because after approaching Pingkang City, he heard many rumors that his father was worried about something happening to him and that Zhang'er was too young, so he was going to start to give Jing Lu more important positions.
Jing Yan was still worried about how to resolve the situation of being controlled by Jing Lu when a rebellion broke out. Only then did he realize that the previous rumors were all a roundabout tactic.
Jing Lu had already failed. Those people outside were just trying to take a gamble to rescue Jing Lu or to occupy Pingkang City for themselves.
When Jing Huaixu learned the reason, he kept praising Jing Yan for doing a good job, so he ordered the palace gates to be opened and let him in.
Jing Huaixu will clean up the mess. Jing Yan has been fighting the rebels all night and must be slightly injured and tired. Jing Huaixu allows him to go back to the East Palace to rest first.
After Jing Huaixu, along with Empress Ye and the other members of the harem, returned to their respective palaces to attend to their duties, the palace gates were opened.
Jing Yan stood below the city gate waiting for Yue Jiang. They hadn't seen each other for two years. He looked up at his wife as she slowly walked down the steps.
Bathed in the warmth of the morning sun, Yue Jiang was already a woman of exceptional beauty, with a face as beautiful as a flower. Even in her magnificent gown adorned with golden peony vines, her beauty could hardly be fully appreciated.
Every smile and frown of Yue Jiang used to linger in Jing Yan's eyes. The past and the present overlapped, making him realize that Yue Jiang's appearance had not changed at all.
Only the subtle emotion in her eyes brought Jing Yan great joy.
Yue Jiang was looking forward to his return.
Perhaps during the days and nights they were apart, Yue Jiang missed him just as much as he missed her.
"Jiang'er, I'm back."
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