Chapter 3537: It is better to cut off one finger than to hurt ten fingers
Zhu Feng said, "There's a war going on outside the city, but she's not leaving the city, so what is she afraid of?"
When Xinping heard this, his eyes lit up.
She quickly stood up and threw herself on Zhu Feng, grabbing his arm and saying, "Your Majesty, by saying this, do you mean I can go to the tower and take a look?"
Zhu Feng looked down at her, a faint smile seeming to be etched in the fine lines at the corners of his eyes: "Are you going?"
Xinping nodded immediately: "Yes!"
Zhu Feng laughed.
Nan Yan couldn't sit still any longer and immediately said, "Are you really going to let her go?"
Zhu Feng reached out and pinched the back of his daughter's neck, as if petting a big cat, and said, "Don't worry, I'm not letting her go alone. I'll go with her. Anyway, I haven't been to check on the situation over there these past two days."
Xin Ping said in surprise, "Father, will you accompany me? That's great! When do we leave?"
Zhu Feng said: "Now then."
"Now?"
Xinping was surprised and happy, and couldn't wait to drag Zhu Feng's arm out, completely forgetting her mother who was sitting behind her with a unhappy look on her face.
Zhu Feng took a look.
It was almost dusk at this time. The light in the room was dim because of the fight that had just happened and the lights had not been turned on yet. Nan Yan sat on the chair with an expressionless face, like an evil spirit, which made people feel a little creepy.
Zhu Feng also knew that she had just wanted to beat someone up for the princess running around, and now he was going to take the princess out. This action was simply a slap in the face of the imperial concubine, and no wonder she looked so ugly.
So he said: "You——"
Before she finished speaking, Nan Yan said, "I'll go too."
Zhu Feng and Xin Ping both looked at her. Xin Ping asked in surprise, "Mother, you're going too?"
Nan Yan said coldly, "Why, you're allowed to go, but I'm not allowed to go?"
Xinping immediately sensed something was wrong with the words and shrank back, not daring to utter a single word. Seeing her like this, Zhu Feng seemed a little breathless as well. He simply smiled and said, "If the Imperial Concubine wants to go, then let's go together."
Nan Yan glared at him.
Zhu Feng didn't say anything and immediately asked someone to prepare the car. After a while, they left the South Courtyard and headed south, escorted by a team of Jinyiwei.
Along the way, it was so quiet outside that there was no sound of anyone.
Since the war officially began, Zhu Feng had imposed a nightly curfew on Yongzhou City. At the hour of Xu, the city gates were closed, and the people in the city were no longer allowed to walk freely on the streets. This naturally avoided panic among the people in the event of a war, and also facilitated the city's timely deployment.
Now, they can travel on the road with a carriage and a group of people without any obstruction.
Normally at this time, after they had dinner, Nan Yan would have someone help the princess to sleep, but now, Xinping was sitting in the carriage with her knees hugged, her eyes as bright as two lamps, and from time to time she looked outside through the curtain that was blown up by the wind. If it weren't for Nan Yan's unhappy expression, she would have wanted to lean half of her body out of the window to see what was happening outside.
Zhu Feng said, "I'll be there in a minute, but don't run around."
Xinping said obediently, "I know."
The street was quiet. Even though people living on both sides of the street heard the sound of carriages on the road, no one dared to open the window to look out. The only sounds on the entire street were the sound of their carriage and the orderly footsteps of the guards trotting on both sides.
Xinping listened to the noise outside, then looked at her father and mother, both of whom were sitting still with their eyes closed, but she couldn't calm down. She reached out to hold Zhu Feng's sleeve and gently tugged. Zhu Feng opened his eyes and looked at her: "Hmm?"
Xinping whispered, "Father, why have we fought so many battles recently?"
Zhu Feng said, "Didn't you know about the war from the beginning?"
"I know,"
Xinping counted on his fingers and said, "But, I've been counting the battle reports coming into the palace every day. In the past ten days, there have been a total of twenty-three battles outside. Whether I've been reading, listening to storytellers, or following my father and mother's experience over the years, I've never seen such frequent battles. There are even two battles a day."
Zhu Feng looked at her and said calmly, "What's wrong with that?"
Xinping said seriously, "I've often heard that it's better to cut off one finger than to injure ten. In war, shouldn't we concentrate our forces to annihilate the enemy? Father previously fought in the northwest, and each battle lasted a day, with tens of thousands of troops deployed. But this time, the battle lasted over ten days, with only a few thousand troops deployed each time. If this continues, won't we just waste troops and food without ever being able to defeat the enemy?"
Hearing these words, Nan Yan opened her eyes, glanced at her daughter, and then looked at Zhu Feng.
Zhu Feng also looked at her and a slight smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
"You understand this."
Xinping straightened his back and said, "Of course I understand!"
Zhu Feng reached out and touched the top of her head, then poked her forehead again: "It's a pity that you know the fact but not the reason."
Xinping opened his eyes wide: "What else do you not know?"
Zhu Feng smiled faintly and said, "Wait until you go to the tower and take a look, then you'll know."
Seeing his mysterious look and his refusal to tell her, Xinping pouted in frustration. But he still wanted to take her to the city wall to see what was going on, so she said softly, "Okay."
After saying that, he leaned on the window again and looked through the curtain to see how far he had to go.
Zhu Feng turned around and looked at Nan Yan, then mouthed softly, "You're not stupid."
Nan Yan had a gloomy face all the way, but at this moment she couldn't help but pursed her lips, and a hint of a smile appeared on her face, but she still ignored Zhu Feng, just closed her eyes and continued to rest.
After a while, their carriage finally arrived at the South Gate.
The soldiers here had just received the news that His Majesty the Emperor was coming for an inspection with the imperial concubine and the princess. However, due to the special circumstances, not all of them came to the city gate to welcome him. Only the city guard general Zhang Xu led a team of troops to welcome him.
Zhu Feng got off the carriage first, glanced at them, and said calmly, "How is the situation today?"
Zhang Xu knelt on the ground and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, there is no major incident at the city gate today. General Xiang led his troops twice, both times outside the steep north slope."
Zhu Feng nodded, and without saying anything more, he took Nan Yan and Xin Ping to the top of the city wall.
Although the city gate was not affected by the war, after all, His Majesty the Emperor had come with the concubine and the princess, so the soldiers on the city wall were still on high alert. On the contrary, Xinping couldn't wait to climb a parapet as soon as he stepped onto the city wall, and stood on tiptoe to look to the south.
At this time, the sun had just set.
There was still a little residual orange-red sunset on the horizon. Although it could not illuminate the city wall on this side, it could illuminate the mountains and forests in the distance. Xinping looked up and saw countless columns of smoke rising from the ground and slowly stretching towards the sky.
Xinping asked, "Father, what is that?"
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