Thirteen and Fourteen were truly skilled commanders. With them leading the charge, along with the generals who accompanied them on this trip, the Imperial Guards were quickly deployed in an orderly manner, successfully repelling several attacks.
Seeing the princes looking either radiant or worried, Bodell quickly returned.
Although he was an old general leading the expedition, he was absolutely decisive. On the day he led the garrison of Gu'an to the city, the rebel army almost reached the city gate.
Emperor Kangxi had long since fallen into a deep sleep. The Thirteenth and Fourteenth Princes, clad in armor and gripping long swords, stood imposingly at the entrance of the imperial palace, displaying the same heroic spirit as when the emperor personally led the campaign against the Dzungars.
Yinzhen had also long ago sent people to guard the area around Changning's courtyard with great care. If anything unusual happened, they were to protect their master and help him escape.
Even Honghui woke up. Before he could escape from the grief of his mother's passing, he was taken to Changning's courtyard.
For convenience, Changning simply called everyone together, so that it wouldn't be difficult to escape if something happened.
Looking at Honghui's thin and haggard body, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. She ordered someone to prepare rice porridge so that the children could eat some.
"There's chaos and war everywhere right now. Use what you have to conserve your strength. Honghui, your mother knows you're heartbroken. We're all devastated by the passing of the Fujin. But you've seen the current situation. Even Hongyan has gone to the battlefield, and his fate is unknown."
We can only pray that everything goes well. You must also take good care of yourself; this is your mother's and your mother's greatest wish.
Honghui, who had been somewhat numb with grief, showed a change in expression. He truly hadn't expected that even Hongyan would go to the battlefield.
Chun'e is right. He needs to take good care of himself now and not cause trouble for his father. Besides, his mother also hopes that he can live a good life.
Thinking of this, Honghui suddenly felt energized and began to drink the rice porridge. The porridge had been cooked for a long time, with a thick layer of rice oil on top, which warmed his stomach and intestines.
Seeing that he had the energy to eat, Changning felt relieved.
With the current conditions being so basic, and no time to prepare desserts like cream rolls, Fubuki can only use the fruit tea she carries with her to keep her masters energized.
Hongmin and Hongchen huddled around Changning. Despite their young age, their innate sensitivity to danger made them extremely vigilant. Even Hongyang felt uneasy and started crying in her arms.
Fearing that the young master's crying would tire Changning out, Chuixue quickly took Hongyang in her arms: "Master, things are calm outside for now, nothing should happen. Why don't you rest?"
Changning felt a little tired, leaned back on the cushion, and shook her head: "No need. Where are Hongzhao and Hutuli? Tell them to come in quickly and stop patrolling outside."
"yes."
Fubuki handed Hongyang over to the wet nurse to coax, and went outside to call Hongzhao and Hutuli.
Honghui looked uneasy: "Mother Chun, is it still going on outside? Can we really survive safely?"
Changning forced a smile and patted Honghui on the shoulder: "Don't worry, I believe in Hongyan, and I believe in your father too."
Looking at her forced expression, Honghui really wanted to say, "Mother Chun, stop laughing, you might as well cry."
However, he appreciated it. Having such an elder by his side was like having a pillar of support, preventing him from feeling lost and helpless.
Hongzhao and Hutuli entered like a gust of wind, bringing news with them.
"They're shouting at the palace gate! The two sides have already started fighting! Uncle Thirteen and Uncle Fourteen have gone to the battlefield. Mother, I want to go too!"
Hongzhao was still a bit impulsive, but Hutuli slapped him on the back of the head: "You brat, have you forgotten what you promised your father? We're going to stay here and protect Mother and our brothers!"
"Oh right, right." Hongzhao scratched his head sheepishly.
Changning remained calm, but her tone was still full of worry: "I wonder what's going on up ahead."
Hongzhao, on the other hand, had great confidence. In the past two days, he had followed others around to observe their military formations. Although he couldn't understand them, he felt they were very impressive and that there would definitely be no problem.
"Mother, don't worry. Why don't you get some sleep? My sister and I will go ahead and keep watch. We'll come back and tell you if we hear anything."
Changning saw that he looked restless and knew that if she didn't let him go and see, he would be extremely anxious.
"Go on, but don't go too far. If anything seems wrong, come back right away."
Hongzhao grinned from ear to ear: "Alright!"
Hutu quickly followed.
Seeing that Honghui's gaze was somewhat fixed and he seemed to be troubled, Changning had someone bring him a scripture to distract him, and handed it to Honghui: "Good boy, read it and calm your mind."
Honghui took the scripture; it was the "Ten Virtuous Deeds Sutra." His mother copied a scroll of Buddhist scriptures every day, and gradually, he also learned to recognize quite a few.
Opening the slightly yellowed scripture, Honghui began to read it slowly and in a low voice. Surprisingly, with each word he uttered, his restless heart gradually calmed down, and his mind cleared of many distracting thoughts, leaving only the scriptures before him.
Changning also felt much better, and her gaze gradually became unfocused. These past few days she had been on tenterhooks. Although history has been set, who says it cannot be changed?
Hongmin and Hongchen fell asleep next to Changning's legs while listening, and the wet nurses and nannies quickly carried them back to bed to rest.
No one knows how long Honghui had been reading, and even Changning was about to doze off when Hongzhao and Hutuli excitedly ran in, shouting, "Mother! Mother! Guoluomafa is back! Hongyan is back too!"
"Thump!"
A huge weight was lifted off Changning's shoulders.
"real?"
Hutu nodded vigorously, a big smile on his face: "Really! Guo Luoma arrived first and surrounded that group! Then Hong Yan and Chen Zhihuai arrived later, they seem to be from the Mongolian side, and they're already encircling and suppressing them everywhere!"
"Good, good, that's good." Changning breathed a sigh of relief, relieved that her father and Hongyan were both alright.
Honghui put away his scriptures and wanted to go outside to take a look, but Changning stopped him: "It must be a mess outside right now. There might be a lot of people putting up a last-ditch resistance. Honghui, wait a little longer. Your father will definitely be back by then. Don't worry."
Honghui nodded and obediently sat down.
By evening, before Yinzhen even returned, news of the victory and the complete annihilation of the rebel army spread like wildfire throughout the palace.
I've heard that in this war, Lord Fucha and his second son were the most valiant in fighting the enemy.
Meanwhile, from Mongolia came Tala, the leader of the Ujumchin tribe. He was a very fierce man, wielding a whip with extraordinary skill and shooting arrows with perfect accuracy. He managed to carve out a path to survival from the encirclement, which blinded many people at the time.
What's even more noteworthy is that Tara has a very gruesome scar on her face, running from the corner of her left eye all the way to her right cheek, which is quite terrifying.
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