After Gu Jinke returned to the military camp, he became extremely busy. As the army continued to advance deeper into the barbarian country, the pressure and constraints they faced became greater and greater. The barbarian country began to gather its forces to block Xu Yeliang's main force.
After several battles and learning enough lessons, they gradually realized that the three armies of Jin State cooperated with each other and beat them without any resistance. If they did not fight again, the destruction of their country was not impossible.
The resistance and desperate fight of the barbarian army finally brought the war to a stalemate.
At this time, the border was getting colder and colder, with thick snow piling up. Occasionally, if you stepped into it, you would sink half a calf into it.
Gu Jinke looked at the heavy snow falling outside the window and sighed slowly. The weather this year was indeed a bit bad. Even some old soldiers in the city were constantly sighing that they had not seen such heavy snow for a long time in their many years at the border.
Such weather slowed down the recovery of wounds, and the speed of marching and escorting food and fodder also became slower and slower. However, more calories were needed in cold weather, and the army still consumed food and fodder at a greater rate.
Gu Jinke and the generals who stayed behind at the border checked the map, pointed at the locations of Xu Yeliang, the fifth princess Gu Jinyun, and General Qi, frowned slightly, and finally sighed: "They are all in this position, let's slowly conquer this city."
The Barbarians faced the same bad weather as them. In comparison, the Jin army had sufficient supplies, while the Barbarians were short of food due to the poor harvest this year. In addition, the local people of other cities were frightened by the repeated capture of other cities before, and fled to the current city early to avoid the chaos, resulting in greater requirements and demands for water and food. It is also very easy to have friction and conflict with the native people of the city.
Even in wartime and under martial law, there were still constant frictions of all sizes in the city over food, clothing, housing and transportation. There are both external and internal troubles, so Gu Jinke believes that by slowing down the pace and reducing casualties, the city can be slowly taken down.
She thought about it, and ordered her soldiers to organize the past good news into a new report, explain the reasons for the slow progress this time, and send it to the capital again.
The army's speed was slow, so it was necessary to send reports of merit to the capital, not only to stabilize the morale of the army, but also to reassure the hearts of many old ministers in the court so that they would not make things difficult for Gu Jinke at this time.
This memorial was sent to the capital at full speed. When the empress received it, she quickly read it and a happy smile appeared on her face. The gloom that had been all over her face was completely dispelled. The ministers had been uneasy for a long time when facing the empress's gloomy face. Seeing that the memorial was so effective, they couldn't help but feel grateful to Her Royal Highness Princess Gu Jinke who delivered the memorial.
God knows, the Queen has been in this mood for more than half a month, and they have also been trembling in fear with this mood for more than half a month.
The memorial was quickly passed down to the hands of various ministers, who passed it around and read it. Now more ministers showed more sincere smiles on their faces. They bowed and praised the Crown Princess and the Queen for their wisdom and bravery, and did not mention the anti-war remarks at all, and fell completely silent.
After all the adults had left the court, the empress, sitting on the phoenix chair, stroked the memorial in her hand and smiled again. However, she started coughing violently while smiling. Fang Rui, who was serving her, skillfully patted her back to help her breathe, fed her a pill, and then gave her a cup of warm water. Then he advised: "Your Majesty, please go back to your bedroom first. This palace is too cold and it is not good for your health."
The empress nodded and stood up with the help of the handrail. The palace servants behind her hurriedly put a thick fur coat on her, then invited her into the windproof curtained sedan chair and carried her to the bedroom. It was quite cold and snowy in the capital, and even though the servants kept sweeping, there was still a thin layer of snow on the palace road.
The Queen's voice came from the curtains: "This time, the Crown Princess and the Fifth Princess did a great job."
Fang Rui responded in a low voice beside her, glanced at the curtain, and then looked away. Although it was said like that, the Crown Princess's achievements were the Crown Princess's achievements, and the Fifth Princess Gu Jinyun was using her merits to atone for her sins.
Not long after the war broke out, along with the first victory report being sent to the capital, there was also a secret letter from the fifth princess, Gu Jinyun, confessing her crimes.
The letter confessed many crimes and expressed deep self-reflection. After reading it, the empress seemed happy about the good news, but at night she was angry about the mistakes made by the fifth princess, Gu Jinyun. The weather was cold and she caught a cold.
Originally, this minor illness should have been cured long ago with the Imperial Hospital's day and night care and careful preparation of medicines. However, for some reason, the Empress' illness kept recurring and lingering, and it even became more serious. Although she was in a gloomy mood in the past two days, it was mostly because of the physical discomfort during the illness.
Just as they arrived at the bedroom to rest, they received a message from outside saying that the Queen had come. The Queen frowned, but still agreed. Since she fell ill, the Queen had always been considerate and always came to serve her medicine personally. The Empress' heart was truly broken, but she had been taking medicine for more than half a month. Now whenever she thought of the Emperor and Empress, she could only smell the bitter taste of medicine. But there was nothing she could do but see them, so she could only call someone in.
The Queen came in and looked at the Empress worriedly: "Your Majesty, are you feeling better today?"
The Queen nodded and said, "Your Highness, you have made great achievements on the frontier. I feel very happy. I think my illness has been mostly cured."
The gentle smile on the Queen's face almost froze. Is she almost healed?
He gritted his teeth secretly, but showed joy on his face: "That's great. Your Majesty has not been getting better, and I have been very worried. Since I feel so good today because of the good news, why not strike while the iron is hot, drink the medicine quickly, have a good sleep and sweat, and you will be well tomorrow."
As he spoke, he quickly ordered his servants and the servants in the bedroom: "Where are the medicines and candied fruits? Bring them up quickly so that His Majesty can take them and have a good rest."
Hearing her mention the medicine, the empress, who had just felt comfortable, felt bitter and nauseous when she heard her mention the medicine. She knew that it would not be good to drag on the illness for a long time, so she did not say anything and let the empress call for help. The servant hurriedly brought the medicine soup that had been boiled long ago and handed it to the empress.
The Queen smiled, picked up the bowl herself, and used the spoon in her hand to stir the medicine to cool it down: "Your Majesty, I will feed you the medicine."
The queen responded, half-sitting up and allowing him to serve her.
The Queen looked at the medicine, then at the Empress, a genuine smile in the depths of her eyes, and served even more attentively. Only after the Empress had finished taking the medicine and fell asleep did he come out of the bedroom holding up her clothes.
The servant held an umbrella for him and told him that the curtains to keep out the wind and cold were being prepared. The Queen looked at the falling snow, reached out her hand to catch a large snowflake, and said nonchalantly, "No need, I haven't walked on snow for many years, I will walk on the snow-covered road."
The servant did not dare to dissuade him and could only follow him. He then ordered others to prepare new shoes, socks, clothes, hot water and medicine, and then followed him closely.
The Queen walked slowly along the palace path, and suddenly asked, "What has the King of Zhaoxian Palace been busy with recently?"
The servant thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty fell seriously ill a few days ago and has been saying that he is recuperating in Zhaoxian Palace and has not seen visitors. We haven't seen him for a long time. I heard from the servants that during the days when Your Majesty was recuperating in Zhaoxian Palace, he just arranged flowers and embroidered, and secretly arranged the marriage for the Eighth Prince."
The Queen smiled gently. He thought that the virtuous Lord only had eyes for the former Third Princess Gu Jinxiu, but he didn't expect that there was still a place for his biological son, the Eighth Prince. However, he only remembered to arrange the Eighth Prince's marriage now. It seems that he finally responded to the message he sent.
His hand was supported by the servant, who was happy now, and tapped his arm with his fingers: "Is he still delivering things to the imperial mausoleum now?"
The servant shook his head and said, "No, ever since Lord Xian woke up from his illness, he seemed to be indifferent to... the former Third Princess. He didn't send her gifts, and he didn't mention her anymore."
The Queen smiled and said, "Don't worry, she has been demoted to a commoner and imprisoned in the imperial mausoleum. There is no need to call her the Third Princess. Just call her by her name, Gu Jinxiu."
He seemed to be teaching with great patience, and the servants were so nervous that they hurriedly said, "Your Majesty is right, it's Gu Jinxiu!"
The Queen patted his hands and said, "Good boy, you are teachable."
The Third Princess Gu Jinxiu is nothing but a bastard who took advantage of the situation. While her eldest daughter was sick, that bastard's father actually seduced His Majesty, causing the Empress to shift her affection and neglect the eldest daughter. Later, she was born after the eldest daughter died and secretly grabbed the Empress' attention. She was actually hidden by the Empress and hid under his nose for so many years. It was simply a great shame.
Ever since the Third Princess was deposed, he had wanted to let it go, since she no longer posed any threat to the position of the Crown Princess. However, he could not resist his curiosity and investigated more deeply. However, he did not expect that the more he investigated, the more disgusted he became, and the angrier he became. Since he was not having a good time, he wanted everyone to have a bad time with him.
For example, the third princess Gu Jinxiu, the empress who deceived him, and the adopted daughter Xian Guijun.
So, he generously and kindly gave the news to Xian Guijun of Zhaoxian Palace. As expected, Xian Guijun fell seriously ill after receiving the news, and also stopped supporting Gu Jinxiu in the imperial mausoleum. As for the empress, the queen stroked the jade hairpin on her head and smiled meaningfully...
Naturally, someone also copied what happened in the palace and secretly sent it to Gu Jinke. When Gu Jinke received the news, he had not had a good rest in the military camp for several days. He only slept for one or two hours a day and had a splitting headache. With the persuasion of people around him, he finally made some time to have a good rest.
She quickly read the contents of the message and felt her head aching more and more. She clenched the thin paper tightly in her hand and didn't know what to say or do for a moment.
The above not only focuses on the series of actions of the king and queen, but also records the reaction of the wise king. When Gu Jinke sent a message to Zhaoxian Palace for the first time, Xianguijun did not trust it. But when the Queen sent it a second time, Xianguijun became curious and could not help but check the timeline and verify it.
There was no mistake at all! He actually helped someone else raise a child and was used by the Queen!
Xianguijun thought about it, and suddenly felt that the favor he had received for so many years was like mist floating in the air, so ethereal that he could not be grasped. This blow made him seriously ill, and his feelings for Gu Jinxiu were mixed with love and hate.
The emotions formed by his years of upbringing made him feel pity for Gu Jinxiu. He felt that it was none of Gu Jinxiu's business and he still wanted to care about her. However, the truth in the news made him hate her. He hated the Queen's scheming against him and her favoritism towards the long-dead Yuan servant.
He even began to doubt whether he, who had been childless for a long time, was really not blessed enough to conceive a daughter of his own, or was it because someone had planned to make him infertile for a long time to make room for Gu Jinxiu?
After all, he had been infertile for a long time, but because he raised Gu Jinxiu, and after Gu Jinxiu was safely established, she soon became pregnant and gave birth to the eighth prince, which made him very grateful to Gu Jinxiu at that time.
Now, he had to be suspicious but did not dare to investigate. This forced him to shift his attention to his own son, the Eighth Prince. As for the Empress, his love turned into hatred.
Gu Jinke quickly skimmed over the news, then looked at the news that the empress was bedridden, and felt a mixture of emotions.
She lowered her head in frustration. Wasn't this exactly what she had imagined? Let the harem become chaotic and people start to fight each other.
But how come it has come to this, and she isn't filled with complete joy?
She held her head and buried her face completely in her knees.
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