She always felt that Yu Nanqing had put a protective shield on her, a protective shield that prevented anything from the outside world from getting in, protecting her very well.
“Your Highness, you have been standing for a whole day. This can’t go on. If the Prince returns and sees you like this, he will be heartbroken.”
As night fell, and after much persuasion from Qiu Ye and Huang Ye, Su Wanyan finally turned back home.
This was the first time Su Wanyan had ever been so absent-minded.
Because of Yu Nanqing's departure and the illogical events that occurred, she realized that something bad was happening.
Even if Yu Nanqing didn't say anything, she shouldn't be so clueless.
On the way back, Su Wanyan suddenly spoke: "Autumn leaves, yellow leaves."
"Your Majesty?"
"Find me a map of the border of the East China Sea. If you don't have one, have Xiaobu and Tanaka look for it. No matter what method you use, you have to find one."
Su Wanyan's eyes darkened, her expression turning sour.
It's anger.
She didn't ask Yu Nanqing to tell her everything, but at least he shouldn't leave her with absolutely no information.
Once this matter is settled, she must settle the score with him properly!
Meanwhile, in the military camp, Lü Cezhong was deeply troubled as he looked at the letter handed to him by his subordinates.
That was the handwritten letter that Su Wanyan had Qiu Ye deliver today.
Over the past month, Su Wanyan has sent many letters to Yu Nanqing, all of which were received by Lü Cezhong. According to Yu Nanqing, Su Wanyan must not know about his involvement in the saltwater incident, not even a single word.
Lu Ce was deeply troubled. He clicked his tongue and put the letter into a box. Just then, a soldier suddenly lifted the tent flap and rushed in to report: "General Lu! The East Sea has dispatched 200,000 troops to advance from the east and encircle us. General Si Yang's forces number less than 100,000. I'm afraid they will be unable to resist!"
Lu Cezhong's heart sank: "You little brat, you want to swallow up the entire border city of my Great Jin in one fell swoop!"
Sending 200,000 troops—is this a battle to decide life or death?
Could it be that something happened to the prince? Otherwise, how could the East Sea dare to launch a rash attack?
"General Lü, what should we do now?"
Who is leading the opposing troops?
"Feng Lingxu's deputy, Tang Fu!"
It's not Feng Lingxu, that's good!
Feng Lingxu has probably already been led there by the prince.
Lu Cezhong declared: "Tell Si Yang to retreat to the pass, use the terrain to disperse our forces, lure the enemy into a trap, and attack them by surprise. All troops in the camp, obey orders! You must defend this place to the death and not allow the enemy from the East Sea to cross even half a step. Anyone who kills fifty enemies will be rewarded with twenty taels of silver, anyone who kills one hundred enemies will be rewarded with one hundred and fifty taels of silver, and anyone who kills a soldier will be rewarded with two hundred taels of silver! Anyone who retreats will be killed without exception!"
After saying that, he picked up the large machete beside him and said, "You guys stay here and guard the camp, I'm going to take a look!"
He absolutely cannot allow the East China Sea army to cross this defensive line!
The prince is currently engaged in a life-or-death struggle in the saltwater, while the princess is waiting for his return in Wengcheng. That damned East Sea, I'm going to go and destroy it right now!
"General Lü, you mustn't!" Lü Cezhong was immediately stopped by the soldiers in the camp: "With General Lü absent, who should we take orders from? Now that the Prince is not here, we hope General Lü will shoulder this heavy responsibility!"
Upon hearing this, Lü Cezhong felt a surge of anger welling up inside him, and he was so angry that he gritted his teeth.
With a loud "bang," the machete cleaved the table in half, embedding itself in the ground. He angrily shouted, "You little brat, how dare you!"
This job of guarding the camp and commanding is really inhuman. You also have to keep it a secret from the princess for the prince. This is so frustrating. It would be much better to go to the front lines and fight.
Just then, another soldier rushed into the tent: "General! Someone delivered a letter to the camp gate!"
The mere mention of the word "letter" gave Lü Cezhong a headache.
Upon closer inspection, thankfully, it wasn't sent by Su Wanyan.
He tore open the envelope, opened it, and his furrowed brows relaxed for a moment: "Okay!"
Lu Cezhong loudly announced: "The imperial court has allocated 420,000 shi of military rations, and the entire army will no longer need to worry about food for the next six months!"
An army marches on its stomach.
When the first 100,000 Dragon Banner troops set off from the capital, the imperial court had already distributed 300,000 shi of grain. With the addition of the city garrison, the Dragon Banner troops could support an army of 200,000 for about half a year.
Now that the grain supplies are almost exhausted, the imperial court has allocated another 420,000 shi of grain and fodder, so they will have enough military provisions to fight for the next ten months!
This is the best news Lü Cezhong has received so far.
Yu Nanqing went into the saltwater a month ago, but there was no news of him. He was so worried that his hair turned white.
The East Sea Army has 300,000 troops stationed there, while the Great Jin Dragon Banner Army and the city garrison combined have only 200,000 troops. It was originally said that troops would be transferred from the surrounding towns, but there has been no movement.
He didn't know what the situation was like in the capital. He thought that the military rations for the second half of the year would be in jeopardy, but he didn't expect to receive such news.
Lu Cezhong's anger subsided considerably, but after a moment's thought, he frowned and asked the soldier who delivered the letter, "Who delivered this letter?"
This isn't an imperial edict; could it be fake news?
But... if it were false news, it should be that the imperial court withheld rations to demoralize the troops, so this news...
"He was an inconspicuous servant, and judging from his clothes, he seemed to have come with a merchant caravan."
Although the two countries were at war, there were always some disguised caravans traveling between the East China Sea and the Great Jin Dynasty to gather intelligence.
"This caravan is probably heading to the East China Sea. I wonder whose people they are," the soldier added.
"Hmm." Lü Cezhong responded, putting the letter into the box. Well, the war has begun, there is no turning back. If the matter of the military rations is false, then we can only think of a solution later!
Paper can never truly contain fire.
The protective shield that Yu Nanqing had tried so hard to provide for Su Wanyan was finally broken by a piece of news in early May.
Feng Lingxu led an army of 100,000 to ambush Yu Nanqing at Xiaoshui. Yu Nanqing's 30,000 troops were completely wiped out, and Yu Nanqing himself perished at Xiaoshui.
The news spread rapidly throughout the entire military camp.
The two sides were already vastly different in strength, and now with this news, the morale of the Dragon Flag Army plummeted. The battlefield, which was previously able to hold out, was breached in just a few days.
Fortunately, Lü Cezhong stepped up to the battle in time.
Yu Nanqing went straight into the East China Sea to find an opportunity to break through the East China Sea. If Yu Nanqing really died at sea for this, they must not let the enemy troops from the East China Sea enter the territory of the Great Jin.
How can we justify Yu Nanqing's death?
After Lü Cezhong's inspiring speech, the sound of war drums surged, and the dissipated morale was quickly restored.
Despite the strict defenses, Lü Cezhong, in alliance with Si Yang, recaptured the Great Jin checkpoint on the tenth day of the fifth month.
However, on May 15th, Feng Lingxu led an army of 100,000 back to Donghai City Island!
When Lü Cezhong received the news, his heart was in his throat.
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