Chu Xuan pretended to be frightened, stood up and was about to kneel down to apologize: "Father, your son is willing to go!" But before he could finish his words, he fell to the ground and a mouthful of blood sprayed directly onto the emperor.

The emperor was immediately terrified and quickly called for people to come in and carry Chu Xuan away. The Ye Palace was in chaos for a while.

The two children, Chu Yao and Chu Yuan, hugged Chu Xuan and cried until they were hoarse. Lu Yanluo also knelt beside the bed with a sad face. No matter how you looked at it, it seemed that Chu Xuan was seriously ill, leaving his orphan and widow helpless.

Seeing that the Night Palace had become like this, the emperor could not bring himself to ask Chu Xuan to lead the troops to war, and he returned to the palace feeling a little aggrieved.

In the palace, Qin Xuelin had been waiting for the emperor in a side hall for a long time.

She heard that the emperor went to the Night King's Mansion in person, and understood that the old emperor was forced into a corner and went to force Chu Xuan to go to war.

But it was obvious that the Night King did not want to go to the war in the northern border, otherwise he would not have claimed to be sick. Qin Xuelin was secretly anxious and waited in the bedroom early in the morning, intending to find out.

The emperor looked a little unhappy when he entered the room. Qin Xuelin secretly guessed that this trip to Ye'an Mansion might not be smooth, and King Ye might not have followed the emperor's wishes and agreed to go to the expedition.

Qin Xuelin felt relieved, stood up and went to greet the emperor, knowingly asking, "Where are you going, Your Majesty? I have been waiting for you for a long time."

It would have been better if he hadn't mentioned it. As soon as Qin Xuelin mentioned it, the emperor immediately became upset again and said angrily, "Where else can I go? I went to the Night Prince's Mansion and wanted Chu Xuan to lead the troops to the Northern Frontier. But before I could open my mouth, Chu Xuan spit out a mouthful of blood and fainted! How can I say anything else!"

So that's how it is. Qin Xuelin secretly admired the wit of the Night King and his wife. If not, the Emperor would have to speak out and the Night King would have to go into battle tomorrow.

Although she managed to escape this time, there was no guarantee that it wouldn't happen again. Qin Xuelin changed her mind, smiled gently, picked up the teacup and placed it in front of the emperor, then gently pressed his head.

The emperor had been unable to sleep at night in recent days, and had to be alert to deal with the war in the northern border. His head had been aching slightly. Now that Qin Xuelin was massaging him, he felt obviously more comfortable and could not help but slowly relax.

Qin Xuelin took the opportunity to whisper, "Your Majesty, please take care of yourself. The entire Tianji Kingdom is counting on you. You must not collapse. As for the generals leading the troops on the front line, although I know nothing about war, I also understand that the commander is the pillar of the army. The Night King is so sick now. Even if he reluctantly goes to the front line, do you think he can still be the pillar of the army?"

"I'm sure that by then, not only will we fail to drive away the enemy troops in the north, but we will also lose the lives of all the soldiers." Seeing the emperor open his eyes and look at her, Qin Xuelin sighed tactfully and pretended to be coquettish.

"I don't understand what happens on the battlefield, but I know that Your Majesty is the ruler of a country. It only takes a word for you to send anyone to the battlefield. Your Majesty really doesn't need to worry."

"Oh? What do you think, my beloved?"

Qin Xuelin secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She had said these words today out of courage. She was most afraid of arousing the emperor's suspicion, so she had to pretend to be a delicate girl who was ignorant of worldly affairs.

"When I was in Dongchen, my father would always hold a martial arts arena in the palace to test the martial arts of the young men of noble families. Your Majesty, how about you hold one too?"

"Order the military officers and children of noble families in the court to participate. Your Majesty can select the right person from this competition and appoint him as the Marshal of the Three Armies to lead the Northern Frontier."

Qin Xuelin hit the nail on the head and solved the emperor's problem at the right time: "Okay! My beloved concubine, you said it well! I think this plan is feasible. I will send someone down to pass on the order. We will also set up a fighting arena. If there is anyone who is capable, I will never treat him unfairly."

As soon as the imperial edict was issued, there was a burst of complaints in the court. Everyone knew that there was no good banquet, so holding a martial arts arena at this time was simply Sima Zhao's intention, and everyone knew it.

But everyone could only be angry but not speak out. The emperor personally issued the decree, and whoever could save the emperor's face had to go there with gritted teeth.

The Night Palace had received the news from Qin Xuelin in advance, so they were well prepared and Lu Yanluo would represent the Night Palace to attend.

It is conceivable that when the field is full of men, no one will compete with the Night King's Princess, so at the beginning of the competition, the Night King is destined to stay away from this chaos.

On the day of the competition, the emperor had vowed that he would choose a suitable candidate today. However, when everyone entered the venue, they looked more haggard than each other, and some were even carried in.

The excuse was that he accidentally broke his leg while walking.

The emperor's face darkened when he saw this. These people obviously didn't want to participate in the competition and were just pretending! But he couldn't expose them personally, otherwise he would lose his dignity as an emperor.

The scene was very funny for a while. There were people with broken hands, broken feet, and typhoid fever. No one wanted to go to the front line to die, so they all learned from the Night King and pretended to be sick.

Qin Xuelin, who was sitting next to the emperor, seemed not to have noticed the group of people in the field. She waved and called Lu Yanluo to come closer to talk.

"Is His Majesty the Night King in good health? I heard from His Majesty that the Night King vomited blood yesterday."

Qin Xuelin deliberately told the matter of Chu Xuan vomiting blood in public, which made everyone present feel a little embarrassed.

Lu Yanluo naturally understood what he meant, and said sadly: "The imperial physician said that the prince was overly worried and anxious, and he could not share his father's worries. He could only watch the enemy's cavalry trample on the Tianji territory, but he was powerless to do anything. The prince was unwilling to accept this."

Qin Xuelin sighed and comforted him, "Our Tianji is a great country, so we don't need generals to lead the army. Let the prince rest assured and recover soon. Your Majesty, don't you agree?"

"Of course." The emperor looked at the people in the arena and said loudly, "You are all military generals in the court, or the descendants of military generals. Now that the country is in crisis, I personally set up this fighting arena. The winner today, I will personally appoint him as the Marshal of the Northern Expedition and lead the troops to the north! Who among my Tianji men is willing to go?"

The emperor spoke passionately, but the crowd reacted little. They all expressed their own difficulties. In a nutshell, I will not go to the battlefield, and whoever wants to go can go.

Qin Xuelin snorted coldly, pointed at the son of Marquis Jianning, and said directly: "I heard that the wife of Marquis Jianning went to Wanhua Tower yesterday and dragged the prince out of the courtesan's room. In just one night, the prince caught a cold. Could it be that he caught a cold when he came out of Wanhua Tower?"

"This..." The prince of Jianning quickly denied: "I stayed at home yesterday and did not go out. As for the cold... it's just a minor illness. I will be well tomorrow."

Qin Xuelin smiled and nodded: "That's good, since it's just a minor cold, it won't delay the prince's competition, so why not let the first match be started by the prince of Jianning."