Ling Jinhua's expression darkened slightly. Was this someone guarding against her?
Fortunately, the study door opened shortly afterward, and General Zhou and the others came out. They looked at Ling Jinhua as if they hadn't seen her, and walked straight past without even saying hello.
Ling Jinhua didn't feel embarrassed and stepped inside: "Your Highness."
Recalling the harrowing experience of the previous night, Gu Yufan finally felt a pang of guilt when he saw Ling Jinhua again. He put his arm around her shoulder and asked with concern, "Why didn't you rest more?"
Ling Jinhua smiled and shook her head: "Whenever I think of the cunning and treacherous Duke of Qi, I worry about Your Highness's health and can't rest in peace."
She looked troubled, and only after Gu Yufan closed the door did she continue, "Your Highness, I heard that you punished General Chen and the others?"
Gu Yufan's face darkened abruptly, and he looked at Ling Jinhua with displeasure: "You should know what I hate most."
Even the princess wouldn't dare discuss these things in front of him, so who does Ling Jinhua think she is?
He only agreed to bring her here because he saw how obedient she was and wanted to see that old scoundrel, the Duke of Qi, die with his own eyes.
But this is no reason for her to be arrogant because of her favor!
Seeing his expression was off, Ling Jinhua quickly knelt down: "I do not wish to interfere in Your Highness's military affairs. I merely wish to remind Your Highness that while it is true that General Chen and the others drank heavily last night, General Zhou and the others were not entirely without fault either!"
Gu Yufan glared, about to reprimand, when he heard Ling Jinhua say, "His Highness is not feeling well, and General Zhou and the others didn't seem to be on guard. The enemy has already successfully launched a surprise attack, but they still couldn't react properly, which has disturbed His Highness..."
Ling Jinhua spoke slowly and her tone was not aggressive at all, but what she said left Gu Yufan speechless.
She frowned slightly, her voice full of worry for Gu Yufan: "On my way here, I overheard soldiers discussing this matter..."
She bit her lower lip and slowly knelt down: "Your Highness, General Zhou and the others are not innocent either. They were neither drunk nor ill, so why didn't they see the towering flames ahead?"
"Your Highness, you cannot let General Chen and the others' drinking cause them to lose heart."
"General Chen and his naval forces number in the hundreds of thousands."
Ling Jinhua was clearly reminding Gu Yufan that the navy had many people, and if this matter was not handled fairly, it could very likely cause dissatisfaction among the Jiangnan naval officers and soldiers.
Gu Yufan's expression suddenly turned ugly.
He sensed a strong threat in Ling Jinhua's words.
These naval forces were originally the imperial army. If these people betrayed him, with 100,000 naval troops against his 40,000 private soldiers, it would be obvious who would win and who would lose.
That old scoundrel, Duke Qi, disregarded his status as a prince and launched a sneak attack, causing nearly ten thousand casualties and the destruction of dozens of warships.
Gu Yufan clenched his fists. With internal and external troubles, it was indeed impossible to deal with only General Chen and others.
Most importantly, Gu Yufan believed that Ling Jinhua was right. Last night, the flames soared into the sky, and even Ling Jinhua, a woman, saw them. Why didn't General Zhou and the others react at all?
Could it be that they did it on purpose?
Once the seed of doubt is planted in your heart, it will quickly grow into a towering tree.
Because not long after, Gu Yufan heard the private soldiers mocking the Jiangnan navy, implying that General Chen and the others were foolish for drinking wine of dubious origin.
Gu Yufan's pupils contracted slightly. Thinking of what General Chen had said to him, he immediately understood that the wine must have been sent by General Zhou and his men to sow discord between him and the navy!
Two years ago, when he learned of the deep-seated grudges between the navy and the private soldiers, he carefully mixed the private soldiers into the navy, hoping to let them get along and eliminate their dissatisfaction with each other.
But after two years of trying to get along, they still couldn't get along, and now that they're on the battlefield, they still dare to scheme against each other!
Gu Yufan could not tolerate this, so he ordered a simple investigation. After receiving the expected answer, he also rewarded General Zhou and the others with ten strokes of the military rod and had the navy supervise them.
At the same time, Gu Yufan temporarily reorganized the already disordered navy and private army into new camps.
His original intention was to let General Zhou and General Chen lead their troops, so that there wouldn't be any more trouble, right?
As for the rest, we'll figure it out when we get back.
But what Gu Yufan didn't expect was that this move of temporarily changing the soldiers' commanders on the battlefield left the soldiers, who had become accustomed to their previous lives, completely bewildered.
Whether it was the navy or private soldiers, they were all hostile to the people who had been replaced. They distrusted each other and couldn't stop making sarcastic remarks even when they were sleeping in the same room. Not to mention when they were on patrol, they didn't even greet each other.
The private soldiers and the Jiangnan navy made no attempt to conceal their actions; the Duke of Qi only sent someone to sneak in once, yet he obtained such crucial information.
He would not let such a good opportunity slip by, and on the fifth day of his rest, he launched another attack on the Jiangnan navy.
Although this was a face-to-face meeting, the naval commander knew that it was the concubine who persuaded the King of Chu to punish his private soldiers, so he was naturally dissatisfied and refused to get up, using the excuse of recuperating from his injuries.
The private army commanders, on the other hand, were truly recovering from their injuries, because the navy that carried out the executions had tampered with the military rods, leaving the private army commanders nearly half-dead.
Without experienced veterans to command on the battlefield, only Gu Yufan, a half-baked commander, was temporarily put in charge. His poor command and lack of coordination among the soldiers led to a crushing defeat.
It wasn't until nightfall that the Duke of Qi and his men ceased their attack.
Hearing the other side sound their horn to retreat, Gu Yufan finally breathed a sigh of relief, his legs went weak, and he almost collapsed to the ground.
Ling Jinhua held him tightly around the waist, supporting him with all her might, and it took Gu Yufan a while to recover.
Back in his room, Gu Yufan could no longer control himself and began smashing things around the room again. A bodyguard silently appeared: "Your Highness, the casualty statistics are in. We suffered heavy losses this time: 13,000 lightly wounded, over 4,000 seriously wounded, and... death..."
The guard remained silent for a moment: "The death toll is close to 30,000."
Because of the war, the water in the canal turned a deep red, and under the moonlight, it even had an eerie black tinge.
Gu Yufan was so tired that his mind went blank. He just waved his hand and said, "Didn't we send people ashore? It's been several days, and people from Ningzhou and Yunzhou still haven't come to help?"
As long as the people from these two prefectures harass the Lingnan Navy from the rear, the pressure on them from the front won't be too great.
The guard was silent for a moment: "We haven't heard anything. They must have been intercepted."
He stepped forward and made a throat-slitting gesture: "Your Highness, does the Duke of Qi need my help...?"
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