Just then, Gu Yufan's door opened again.
Ling Jinhua came out again and waved to the soldiers: "By the way, I think I saw those generals go to General Chen's room earlier. Go and look for him in General Chen's room."
The soldier thanked him profusely and went to General Chen's room without stopping.
Ling Jinhua hesitated for a long time before slowly closing the door after the soldier's figure had completely disappeared from sight.
She looked at Gu Yufan, who was still unconscious on the bed, and the mockery and hatred in her eyes finally became undisguised. She rolled her eyes and said silently, "If I didn't think it would be too easy for you to die now, I would definitely stab you to death!"
Ling Jinhua walked step by step to the bedside, her gaze falling on Gu Yuzhi's mouth and nose, wishing she could just smother him with a pillow.
She took deep breaths, and after a while, she managed to suppress the hatred in her heart. She pushed Gu Yufan with her hands and said anxiously, "Your Highness, Your Highness, please wake up! The Duke of Qi actually led men to launch a sneak attack!"
Gu Yufan had a splitting headache. When he heard Ling Jinhua's voice, he thought it was like a crow cawing. Without thinking, he slapped her across the face.
Ling Jinhua was hit squarely, and she rolled to the ground, her hair falling down in a mess.
She seemed oblivious, letting go of his hand and crawling over, shaking Gu Yufan vigorously: "Your Highness, Your Highness! Please wake up! It's extremely urgent! The Duke of Qi has already led his troops in a surprise attack!"
This time, Gu Yufan finally opened his eyes groggily and saw a disheveled woman staring at him with a ferocious expression.
He finally regained consciousness!
The next instant, Gu Yufan kicked Ling Jinhua hard, sending her rolling several meters away.
Ling Jinhua felt a metallic taste in her throat. She couldn't control herself and suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, crying out in anguish, "Your Highness! The Duke of Qi has launched a sneak attack. The warships ahead have been burned. The soldiers can't find their general. We beg Your Highness to give the order for the warships to turn around and withdraw from this fiery area."
Gu Yufan's head throbbed with pain, and his eyes were filled with disbelief as he looked at Ling Jinhua. His eyes were bloodshot, and his face was frighteningly contorted. He said, word by word, "What did you say?"
Ling Jinhua crawled forward, coughing up blood, looking pitiful and miserable. She raised her voice again and said, "Your Highness! The Duke of Qi has rebelled. If you hesitate any longer, we will only suffer greater losses!"
Gu Yufan's mind was buzzing, and his ears were ringing instantly. He could only see Ling Jinhua's mouth opening and closing as she spoke, but he couldn't hear anything clearly.
After a long while, Gu Yufan suddenly kicked over the stool in front of him and shouted angrily, "Gu Yuchen actually dared to let that old scoundrel, the Duke of Qi, attack me!"
He desperately wanted to tear the whole room apart, otherwise he couldn't quell the violence in his heart.
He could scheme and plot to kill Gu Yuchen and take the throne, but he would never allow Gu Yuchen to scheme against him!
Gu Yufan smashed things up before finally managing to calm down.
He knew that the most important thing now was to get the ships out of the Duke of Qi's attack range, otherwise she might really die here tonight.
Gu Yufan strode out, slamming the door shut with a loud clang.
After Gu Yufan's figure disappeared, Ling Jinhua stood up nonchalantly, spat out a mouthful of blood onto the ground, casually wiped her mouth, and then staggered out.
Just as she reached the door, Ling Jinhua slumped over and fainted. When she woke up, it was already the night of the next day.
Only a single candle cast a soft, dim light in the room. The door was tightly shut, and occasionally, the sound of orderly footsteps and hushed conversations could be heard from the deck.
Gu Yufan's bringing her to the battlefield had already angered her confidants, so she had no maidservants to take care of her.
Ling Jinhua didn't care, because her purpose in coming here was to deliver the final, fatal blow to Gu Yufan when he was abandoned by everyone.
Thinking of this, Ling Jinhua couldn't lie down anymore. She quickly got up, tidied herself up, made the injuries on her face more obvious, and then went out.
"Concubine".
The soldiers guarding the door heard the door open and quickly bowed their heads in salute.
Ling Jinhua nodded slightly, her voice hoarse, and asked, "What time is it now? We heard that the Duke of Qi has already attacked. How is the battle going? Are the soldiers suffering heavy casualties?"
The soldier hadn't expected Ling Jinhua to care about these things, and didn't mention the King of Chu at all.
Furthermore, rumors circulated that Consort Ling had been injured by His Highness in a fit of rage because she had tried to wake him up to order a retreat. As a result, the soldiers' hostility towards Ling Jinhua vanished instantly.
He said softly, "It is now 1:15 PM on the second day. The fighting has ceased, soldiers..."
The soldier lowered his eyes, his voice trembling slightly: "Fifty small warships ahead have all been destroyed, and more than ten medium-sized warships have been destroyed. Soldiers, the casualties exceed ten thousand."
Ling Jinhua gasped, clutching her chest and taking two steps back, blaming herself, "It's all my fault. If only I could have woken His Highness up sooner."
The soldier wanted to deny this, but when he looked up and saw the injury on her face, he quickly lowered his head again: "It has nothing to do with the concubine. Thirteen generals, including General Chen, were drunk on the battlefield and were each punished with ten strokes of the military rod by Your Highness."
Ten strokes of the military rod may not sound like much, but the people who did it were all Gu Yufan's private soldiers. These people would not show any mercy when they attacked the former navy.
After receiving ten solid blows from the military rod, General Chen and the others were unable to stand up and were now recuperating in their rooms.
The soldier was filled with resentment when he spoke of it.
The prince was the commander-in-chief, but he slept the soundest than anyone else. They suffered a defeat in their first battle, and the prince actually pushed all the blame onto General Chen and his men, which made the soldiers under General Chen's command feel extremely resentful.
Within half a day, the original navy and private soldiers had already clashed several times in secret.
Ling Jinhua looked up and saw the soldiers' undisguised resentment. She lowered her eyes and thought for a moment: "I'll go see His Highness and ask him why General Chen and the others, who had been drinking, didn't know what was going on, and why General Zhou and the others were also unaware?"
General Zhou was one of the generals in Gu Yufan's private army.
The soldier looked up abruptly, his eyes filled with surprise and delight: "Consort, you..."
Ling Jinhua raised her hand slightly: "You can go down now."
The soldier left, glancing back every few steps, and then knocked on General Chen's door, muttering about what Ling Jinhua had said.
As soon as Ling Jinhua arrived at the door of Gu Yufan's study, she was stopped by a guard who said expressionlessly, "Please wait, Consort. The Prince is discussing matters with General Zhou."
Ling Jinhua looked surprised: "Your Highness, you won't even see me?"
The guard simply nodded solemnly, unwilling to say another word.
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