As the sky brightened, Haiman walked out of the tent with a solemn expression and a fierce look in his eyes.
The Chu King's army temporarily withdrew its offensive, and the soldiers finally had a chance to rest for a while. Yuan Yao led his guards to listen to the casualties reports from several lieutenant generals, but saw Hai Quan walking out of the tent.
At this moment, Hai Quan's eyes were bloodshot, his face expressionless, and a murderous aura lingered around him. However, Hai Quan was dressed neatly, with all his accessories intact, as if he was about to go out.
Yuan Yao was particularly concerned when he noticed some dried blood on the corner of Hai Quan's mouth. He immediately stepped forward and asked with concern, "Your Highness, what's wrong with you?"
"Have all the generals come to the tent after half a cup of tea. I have something important to announce." Hai Quan didn't care about Yuan Yao's concern at all. After giving this order, he turned around and went back to the tent.
At the same time, a fast horse carrying a messenger rushed into Emperor Dexi's camp from the periphery.
Immediately, a soldier came forward to hold the horse. The messenger rolled off the horse in an instant, and as soon as his toes touched the ground, he ran towards Emperor Dexi's tent.
"Report, an urgent letter from eight hundred miles away." The messenger ran to the front of the tent, held the letter high in both hands, and said loudly.
"Come in." Ning Feng's voice was heard from inside the tent, and then the curtain was lifted.
The messenger walked quickly into the tent and immediately knelt down to kowtow to Jiang Muchen, who was sitting in the middle. "Your humble servant pays respect to the Emperor. Long live the Emperor."
"Get up and talk." Jiang Muchen dropped the brush in his hand, raised his right hand, and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. Having sat up all night discussing the battle situation would have been exhausting even for a tough man. Furthermore, the battle line was now stretched out, and there was no telling when this tough battle with Hai Quan and Chu Feiyang would end. He was truly exhausted.
"Your Majesty, urgent news has arrived from the capital. Last night, fighting broke out in the suburbs of Beijing between the Northern Qi Crown Prince and the forces of Prince Hai. Prince Hai was killed in the chaos, and Prince Hai was captured by the Northern Qi Crown Prince." The messenger detailed the events of the previous night. "The fighting was intense, and General Xuanwu was concerned that the conflict would affect the capital, so he didn't rush to send troops. He only had the city defense troops patrol the capital overnight to prevent the two factions from taking advantage of the opportunity to cause chaos."
Hearing this, Jiang Muchen paused slightly, pinching his brows. He then continued to do so, trying to relieve some of the fatigue. He then asked the question in his heart, "Hai Yue is dead? Humph, he's really unlucky. Falling into Qi Jingyuan's hands, he naturally has no chance of survival. Since Hai Chenxi was captured by Qi Jingyuan, what happened to his army?"
"Your Majesty, the Prince of Hai was assassinated by the Prince of Hai. The 50,000 troops originally under the command of the Prince of Hai and the 100,000 troops secretly sent to him by the Prince of Hai were all annihilated by the Crown Prince of Northern Qi and Han Shaomian. Another piece of news came last night that the 500,000 troops belonging to the King of Chu in the north are ready to go and are heading towards Jincheng. They will arrive in Jincheng in a few days." The messenger spoke out this series of news one after another, then handed the letter in his hand to Ning Feng, stepped aside and said nothing more.
After listening to all the reports, Jiang Muchen frowned slightly, and immediately understood in his heart that Qi Jingyuan might have joined forces with Chu Feiyang, otherwise how could it be so easy to capture Hai Chenxi?
Jiang Muchen suddenly opened his eyes, quickly took the letter handed to him by Ning Feng, opened it and read it carefully, but the expression on his face became more and more gloomy.
"Your Majesty, is there something wrong?" Ning Feng had already understood the news he had just heard. If Northern Qi and the King of Chu joined forces, it would undoubtedly be a great help to the King of Chu. However, this was not good news for them.
Especially since Jincheng is located in the northern territory and is very close to Northern Qi, if Qi Jingyuan really joins forces with the King of Chu, Northern Qi may interfere in the internal affairs of Western Chu and send troops to aid the King of Chu. This would be a huge threat to both them and the King of the Sea.
"It seems that Chu Feiyang has received the news and has taken action. Inform the generals currently guarding the outskirts of Jincheng to strictly defend Jincheng. If the King of the Sea or the King of Chu break through the defense line, let them come to see me with their heads." Jiang Muchen's eyes flashed with ferocity, and there was a hint of sharpness in his gaze as he shot towards everyone.
"Your Majesty, we are now in a very advantageous position. Why not seize this opportunity to capture the Princess of Chu?" This was something Ning Feng couldn't understand. Logically, the Emperor had good intentions towards the Princess of Chu; no woman had ever driven him so crazy. But with the beauty so close before him, why did the Emperor slow down his pace?
"Ning Feng, don't you understand?" Jiang Muchen dropped the document on the table, tapping it with his fingers. He half-closed his eyes and spoke slowly, "We have deployed 400,000 troops to Jincheng, the Sea King has 500,000 troops, and Chu Feiyang has nearly 500,000 troops. Such a large scale is a good opportunity to catch them all in one fell swoop. The geographical location we have seized is closest to Jincheng. As long as we hold Jincheng, we will have Yun Qianmeng in our hands. How dare Chu Feiyang act rashly? What's more, if Chu Feiyang wants to enter the city to rescue Yun Qianmeng, he must first pass through Hai Quan. Even if Chu Feiyang defeats Hai Quan, he will be seriously injured, and we will still benefit."
After listening to Jiang Muchen's analysis, Ning Feng suddenly realized and couldn't help but admire the emperor's shrewdness.
At this time, the voices of other messengers were heard outside the tent.
Ning Feng recognized that this voice was different from that of an ordinary messenger, and turned his gaze to Jiang Muchen. Seeing Jiang Muchen nodded slightly to him, Ning Feng turned around and walked out of the tent.
In less than half a cup of tea, Ning Feng walked in with a bamboo tube in his hand, and then handed it to Jiang Muchen respectfully.
Seeing that the sealed part at the top of the bamboo tube had not been opened, Jiang Muchen took out a sharp dagger from his waist, drew a circle at the sealed gap, then pulled off the lid of the bamboo tube, took out the note from inside and read it.
However, there were only two sentences on the note, but Jiang Muchen stared at it for a whole cup of tea.
The generals in the tent did not understand what had happened and why the emperor's face suddenly turned gloomy after seeing the contents of the note. All eyes involuntarily turned to Ning Feng.
Ning Feng had no choice but to stare at the pressure and ask in a low voice, "Your Majesty, what's wrong with you? Is there something serious?"
Jiang Muchen took another look at the note, then moved it to the candlestick and burned it in front of everyone. He then frowned and waved his hand, "Except Ning Feng, everyone else please leave."
Everyone was puzzled, but since Emperor Dexi had already ordered them to leave, they had no choice but to pay their respects to Jiang Muchen and retreat silently.
"Prepare horses for me immediately. I really need to go to Jincheng in person." Little did they know that Jiang Muchen gave Ning Feng an order as soon as everyone left.
After hearing Jiang Muchen's order, Ning Feng was horrified and immediately knelt down and pleaded, "Your Majesty, Jincheng is now the most dangerous place in Western Chu. Millions of troops are stationed there. It is too dangerous for you to go there. Even if you are thinking about the people of the world, you cannot go there in person..."
"Idiot!" Jiang Muchen stood up in a rage before Ning Feng finished speaking. He grabbed Ning Feng's shirt with one hand and spoke in a very low voice, "Do you know what Yun Qianmeng is holding in her hand? It's the red letter and iron certificate that our ancestor gave to the Chu family. I didn't expect that it actually contained the decree of the deposed emperor. No wonder Chu Feiyang regarded Yun Qianmeng as so important. Who would have thought that the thing was hidden on her body? If Hai Quan got hold of this decree, do you think I can still sit firmly on the throne? Get out and prepare the horses."
Ning Feng was shocked. How could he have expected that things would take such a turn? He seemed to have a sure win, so how could such a thing suddenly happen?
Not daring to hesitate any longer, Ning Feng immediately ran out of the tent to prepare what Jiang Muchen had instructed him to do.
Jincheng.
"Princess, look, there are nearly a million troops surrounding Jincheng. If a war breaks out, there will be corpses everywhere." Yun Qianmeng followed Dong Jin up to the city wall and looked at the black mass of troops outside. Yun Qianmeng's eyes were calm, but she was silently calculating how many days had passed in her heart.
The forces of King Chen and King Hai now number nearly a million. They've completely surrounded Jincheng, rendering it impassable. Even with Chu Feiyang's nearly half a million troops, he likely won't be able to break in any time soon. Furthermore, even if Chu Feiyang were to overcome King Hai, he'd likely struggle to overcome King Chen. If he wanted to reach Jincheng safely, he'd have to find another way.
"General, we have been trapped in Jincheng for more than 20 days. Who do you think will make the first move, King Chen or King Hai?" Yun Qianmeng looked into the distance, hoping to see the flag of King Chu's army, but there were nearly a million troops blocking the way in front, so she really couldn't see Chu Feiyang's army.
Hearing Yun Qianmeng's question, Dong Jin pondered for a moment before cautiously replying, "Princess, we've been trapped in Jincheng for many days, with no information coming in. It's really hard to say which of the two will strike first. If we can analyze it in conjunction with the recent battles, perhaps we can get a more accurate picture."
Dong Jin couldn't help but smile bitterly. Even if he had immense abilities, he probably couldn't lead hundreds of thousands of people to victory against millions of men. Besides, which of the Chen Wang and the Hai Wang wasn't a skilled warrior?
Seeing Dong Jin speak frankly, Yun Qianmeng naturally didn't blame him, but she was also filled with anxiety. Aside from the information Yun Qianmeng had sent through the Yu Family Pawnshop during her visit to Jincheng, many specific details couldn't be delivered even through the Yu Family Pawnshop. It seemed that King Chen and King Hai were determined to capture her this time.
What worries Yun Qianmeng the most now is whether King Chen and King Hai know that he is holding the red book and iron certificate of the ancestor emperor.
Raising her eyes once again to gaze at everything outside the city, Yun Qianmeng's right hand could not help but float to the spot on her chest where the jade token was hanging, and her elegant eyebrows gradually gathered...
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－－
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