But now that the eldest princess has arrived, Lu Hong felt a slight sting in his nose.
To put it bluntly, Xiaoyue is not from the Great Chu, yet the Princess still cares about her so much.
He had never seen a princess who was pregnant and still working so hard.
At this moment, Lu Hong once again felt that the prophecy of the Imperial Advisor from a hundred years ago was true, and that the Emperor was indeed Xiaoyue's savior, because he had the Eldest Princess behind him.
Su Ruojin was unaware that Lu Hong had already thought so much in that instant. She had called Lu Hong over because she had something to tell him.
"Lord Protector of the Nation, sulfur is a key material for making explosives. Now that Bei Li has occupied Liuzhou, they must have already taken away a lot of sulfur."
If they continue to occupy the territory, not only will Xiaoyue lose its land and face, but the explosives that Beili uses to make with this sulfur will surely bring countless disasters to the countries of the Nine Provinces.
Lu Hong, of course, knew the gravity of what Su Ruojin was saying, and nodded repeatedly, "The Princess is right."
"I am now taking Yuan Hong to Liuzhou to find a way to deal with the demon soldiers and reclaim Liuzhou. I can only entrust the affairs of Xiaoyue Court to you for the time being."
"When we need backup, you need to arrange for reinforcements to come and support us," Su Ruojin said directly.
"Ah? Ah!" Lu Hong was first delighted, then startled, before realizing what was happening. He suddenly looked up at Su Ruojin in disbelief, "Princess, you and the Emperor are going to Liuzhou?"
“Yes!” Su Ruojin nodded.
"Ah! Princess, you mustn't! You are pregnant, and the Emperor is the supreme ruler. This Liuzhou is extremely dangerous, and the demon soldiers are so treacherous. If anything happens to you, Xiaoyue will be in grave danger. I beg you to reconsider, Princess!" Lu Hong hurriedly advised.
"Duke Protector of the Nation, Yuan Hong is not a flower in a greenhouse. He needs to grow and experience. As you have seen, how many people in the Xiaoyue court outwardly call Yuan Hong Emperor, but inwardly they are not convinced of his authority? If this continues, how can Yuan Hong govern Xiaoyue well?"
"Duke Protector, Yuan Hong has just ascended to the throne, and his power base is unstable. He needs an opportunity to prove his abilities and gain the submission of the people of Xiaoyue. Now is the best opportunity!"
Lu Hong wanted to say something, but Yuan Hong interrupted him, "Duke Protector of the Nation, the eldest princess is six months pregnant and has traveled thousands of miles from Great Chu to help Xiaoyue. If she can go to Liuzhou, how can I, as the emperor of Xiaoyue, not go?"
If we're talking about being noble, aren't the regent's wife of the Great Chu, Princess Chang Le, and Princess Xiao Yue, noble?
"Duke Protector of the Nation, I know you are thinking of me, but if I can't even shoulder this much responsibility, do you think I would still be a good emperor? With a formidable enemy at hand, if I continue to cower like a coward, how will the people of Xiaoyue view me?"
Lu Hong was stunned. He had always felt that the emperor was still young and needed time to grow.
But in that instant, Lu Hong felt that the Emperor had grown up and saw Xiao Yue's hope in him, which filled him with a sense of relief.
Since that's the case...
He knelt before Yuan Hong, saying, "Your Majesty, please rest assured, this humble subject will certainly keep a close watch on the affairs of Xiaoyue!"
With things having come to this point, Su Ruojin gave the order directly: "Set off first thing tomorrow morning."
Xiaoyue is not a large city, and it takes only half a month to travel to Liuzhou. In order to save time, Su Ruojin still ordered that they keep traveling without entering the city or the post station.
Thus, they arrived near Liuzhou City ten days later.
Since Liuzhou City had been occupied by the Northern Li, they could not directly storm the city and instead set up camp in a secluded place.
Liu Jing brought back news that the city of Liuzhou is now heavily guarded, with entry and exit strictly prohibited, and the people of Liuzhou are all confined inside the city.
Not far from the city of Liuzhou, there was a constant stream of horse-drawn carts carrying loads of sulfur away from the sulfur mines, presumably to be transported to Beili.
The villages near Liuzhou City are all empty; they were probably either massacred by the Northern Army or turned into mutants and ran away.
As for the whereabouts of Ye Xunzhi and Fu Linglong, no information could be found.
Just then, a guard shouted sharply, "Who goes there?!"
Upon hearing this, Liu Jing dashed out of the tent and returned shortly with two people.
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