The Queen Mother suddenly sighed and walked to the pot of Milan. The flowers had already fallen, leaving only the green leaves. She seemed to be in a much better mood. "Madame Rong, is there anything new in the palace recently?"
"Replying to the Queen Mother, there is nothing new, but the Crown Princess has not come to pay respects in the past few days. Does the Queen Mother have any instructions?"
"Didn't I tell her not to come? If she doesn't want to come, then she doesn't have to come. I feel better when I can't see her. Is Concubine Xian still not well?"
"Her Royal Highness doesn't seem to eat much, but she stays at home most of the time and still claims to be ill."
"Well, go get my purple ginseng and tell her about Prince Ning... Do you know how to say it?"
"I know. Naturally, we should say that Prince Shou protected Prince Ning and ensured that he arrived at his fiefdom safely. We should tell Concubine Xian not to worry because the Queen Mother will take care of her if anything happens." After Nanny Rong finished speaking, she observed the Queen Mother's expression.
The Queen Mother nodded slightly, showing satisfaction.
After Nanny Rong came back, she replied that Concubine Xian was very grateful to the Queen Mother and would come to pay her respects when she was feeling better.
"Is she really weak?"
"Look at her face, she's very pale. It's true that Concubine Xian was sad when Prince Ning left the capital, but after hearing the Queen Mother's concern, she feels much better."
The Queen Mother nodded slightly: "By the way, has the palace distributed the annual allowance?"
"To your Majesty, the annual allowance has not been issued. It is said that the treasury is empty this year, so we have to wait for some time."
"Then go and see the Crown Prince's wife and see how she is doing. Go in person, I'm afraid others won't understand. If she needs anything, come back to the palace and tell me as soon as possible. Let her have a good rest and tell Run'er not to strangle her. If it weren't for her health problems and not being angry, I really want to find another wife for Run'er..."
"Queen Mother, your children and grandchildren will have their own blessings."
"Yes, you are right. I am just waiting to enjoy my life. It will take another seven or eight months before I can see my great-grandson. I really can't wait... Bah, look at what I said." How can I be so impatient? It takes ten months of pregnancy. If it is too early, it will not be a good thing.
Let’s talk about Dongfang Jin.
When he set out from the capital with an army of 10,000, he became alert. He knew that the journey would not be peaceful. Those who wanted him to disappear now found a good opportunity.
Therefore, he was extremely careful along the way, and with the advance reconnaissance of his personal bodyguard Li Shen and others, he managed to escape without any danger.
Of course, in the last few days, when he was staying there, two groups of assassins appeared, but unfortunately they did not capture any survivors. Dongfang Jin was not injured either, but he was even angrier in his heart. He also knew that there might be other hidden reasons behind Lei Taiguo's border violation this time, and it might be related to someone in the palace.
If he were to find out, he would never let it go.
It would be fine to deal with him, but you shouldn't put all the people in danger for your own selfish interests.
The 10,000 elite soldiers who followed Dongfang Jin to the battle originally thought that the prince was too young and inexperienced, and that they would probably never return. However, after setting up camp and killing the assassin, and the prince's friendly behavior, everyone's impression of him gradually changed. They felt that the prince could be trusted.
When the main force arrived at Yueshan, two days' journey away from Tai'an, the spies ahead reported that they had encountered the enemy.
After capturing a spy from Lei Taiguo, they interrogated him and found out that a group of people had been lying in ambush on the road, waiting for them to fall into a trap.
As the army set out, they actually got such accurate information, which made Dongfang Jin suspicious, angry and even more worried. Since they had already penetrated deep into Yueshan, wouldn't General An be in danger?
After further interrogation, the spy refused to say anything.
Dongfang Jin was very anxious.
This Lei Thai is too arrogant.
The spy was killed, but it did not help. Fortunately, the spies sent by Dongfang Jin quickly found out the situation. There were enemy troops ambushed in the valley ahead, with about 10,000 people, which was exactly the same number as their team. No more details were known.
That mountain road is the only way to go, there is no possibility of taking a detour, so we have to get through it no matter what.
Looking at the towering mountain, Dongfang Jin felt like it was a huge rock pressing on his chest.
Fortunately, he immediately discussed a plan with his deputy generals, found the local hunters, and led them to sneak through a path in the back mountain. The more than 100 people of Dongfang Jindai were all masters among masters, and were also secret guards trained by him. They fought one against ten, and first reached the archery camp of that party, set fire to the old camp, and then the follow-up teams rushed over and beat the unprepared Leitai people into a daze.
The shouts of killing were deafening. The two teams in the valley were fighting in darkness. The killers following Dongfang Jin were also frightened by the tragedy. They did not take the opportunity to cause chaos, but hid far away. When Dongfang Jin rushed to the front in a blood-red battle robe, the enemy was quickly defeated. When counting the battlefield, Dongfang Jin smiled. He only lost less than a thousand people, while the other side left behind more than five thousand corpses and more than a thousand wounded soldiers. Some of them escaped. In this battle, Dongze Kingdom won a complete victory.
Dongfang Jin stood at the foot of the mountain, and the soldiers raised their arms and shouted, calling him General.
This is more recognized than being called the prince.
Dongfang Jin only left a thousand men to deal with the aftermath. The army traveled day and night. He was worried that An Zhongtao's army had been...
He didn't dare to think about it.
But if the army is still there, how did these people get in?
Riding on a horse, he did not even change his bloody battle robe. A burst of fishy smell wafted into his nose. He wiped his face, but unexpectedly, blood smeared on it. Then he looked at the soldiers around him. They all had similar expressions. However, the war horses were all in high spirits, with shiny furs, because they were not stained with blood in the valley. Dongfang Jin smiled secretly. If someone was traveling at night and encountered his army, they would definitely think it was ghost soldiers passing by and would be scared to death.
The next morning, when light began to appear, they could already see the mountain city of Tai'an.
An Zhongtao's army was also seen.
Deputy General Zhang came to greet Dongfang Jin in person and was shocked when he saw them: "Prince, how could it be so tragic?"
Yes, the handsome Dongfang Jin now looked like a Shura from hell. The first thing Dongfang Jin said was, "Where is General An? How is his health now?"
"General..." The deputy general had a sad look on his face and seemed to be hesitant to speak.
Dongfang Jin's heart almost jumped out of his chest. He jumped off his horse and grabbed Lieutenant General Zhang's shoulder. "Tell me, what happened? The general?"
"Oh, it's not what you think. The general is extremely weak now and has been in a coma for most of the day. The military doctor can't find anything wrong with him. This disease came really strangely..."
Before he finished speaking, Dongfang Jin was already ten feet away. He rushed into the military camp quickly, only to find that the army had not started to attack the city. General An fell ill, and then the fighting stopped. Those Leitai people might have bypassed the army and entered the country from another path they didn't know about. Fortunately, he brought 10,000 troops with him, which was due to his father's strong request. Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Dongfang Jin rushed straight into the central military tent. An Zhongtao was lying on the bed with a livid face. He called him twice, but there was no response at all.
Dongfang Jin asked the military doctor: "What is the reason?"
"General, it looks like dysentery, but the medicine I took several times didn't work. It also looks a bit like typhoid, with a high fever and cold. Now the whole symptom looks like..."
Dongfang Jin raised his hand to stop his narration. He finally understood that these people had no diagnosis at all and were just telling fortunes here!
"Li Shen, come and take a look." Dongfang Jin said in a deep voice.
The military doctor stepped aside as if he had been pardoned, and watched as his head was about to fall off several times during these days.
Li Shen stepped forward and took An Zhongtao's pulse, then opened his eyelids. He discovered that there were two faint blue lines on the whites of his eyes, which could not be seen at all without careful observation.
Dongfang Jin watched Li Shen's actions intently.
Li Shen's brows were furrowed the whole time. After the inspection, he whispered, "Prince, the general has been poisoned."
"What poison?" Dongfang Jin had considered this possibility on the way, otherwise he would not have brought Li Shen with him. Compared with other secret guards, his kung fu was secondary, and his ability in detoxification and treatment of poison was extremely high. Of course, he was not as good as An Qingran.
At this moment, he thought of An Qingran, and her beautiful face appeared in his mind. He was stunned for a moment, then came to his senses and listened to Li Shen say: "It is Lan Kui Xing. This kind of poison is very rare. When it occurs, it is very similar to malaria and typhoid fever. If I can't see the blue line, I dare not confirm it..."
"Can it be saved?" Dongfang Jin only cared about this question.
"Yes." Li Shen answered straightforwardly, "But I need a herb. It should be available in the nearby mountains. I will go get it right now."
"What is it? Why don't you have it ready?"
"It's frog eggs..."
Dongfang Jin glanced outside and said, "I guess the frogs are all asleep..."
"It's just right. This is what we need. The general will be saved at some point." Li Shen became more and more excited as he spoke, and ran out quickly.
Poisoning?
Dongfang Jin knew that the person who poisoned the food must be someone close to him, so he had to be careful with everything he ate and used.
He must catch that man.
Dongfang Jin has been guarding An Zhongtao's side. Lieutenant General Zhang came in to report the situation. Lei Taiguo has occupied Tai'an City. The city gates have been reinforced. The people in the city have been listed as hostages and are displayed at the city gates from time to time. Their relatives outside are distressed when they see them. An Zhongtao fell ill before he fought a single battle when he arrived here. He did not dare to start a war easily as there are more than 10,000 people in the city.
This news gave Dongfang Jin a headache. He immediately said, "Li Shen..."
But he remembered that Li Shen had gone to find the antidote. Fortunately, Zhang Yun was there. He was also one of his assassins, and even An Qingran didn't know about it.
Of course, he didn't deliberately conceal it, he just felt there was no need to make it public.
"Zhang Yun, go back and welcome the follow-up team and ask them to immediately count the number of prisoners and record them to see who they are and whether there are any important ones." Dongfang Jin frowned. Fortunately, this battle happened, otherwise he would have no bargaining chips at all.
"What else is going on?" Dongfang Jin asked Lieutenant General Zhang.
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