Chapter 400: Order to withdraw troops, peace talks between the two countries.
When the Imperial Guards found Su Wan'er at Jujing Garden, she was already unconscious.
The baby was still very young when it was hit and didn't receive timely treatment, so the baby couldn't be saved, and Su Wan'er will never be able to have children again.
"What did you say?"
Zhao Xuan flew into a rage, turned around, drew the swords from the waists of the imperial guards behind him, and held them to the neck of Imperial Physician Li, about to slit his throat. "Useless! You are all useless! What use are you to me?"
It's one thing if the child can't be saved, but after losing so much blood, it's another that the imperial physicians are incompetent.
Damn it!
Physician Li was so frightened that his knees buckled and he knelt down with a thud. "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, spare me! Consort Su has lost too much blood. Even if Physician Hua came, he would be powerless to save her..."
Yun Jiaoyue rushed over and hugged his hand holding the knife. "Your Majesty, please calm down. Have you forgotten what Physician Li said before? Those who have just lost their children must not kill, otherwise the children will not be able to reincarnate."
Liu Yiyi also stepped forward to persuade, "Your Majesty, Consort Su suffered an injury to her abdomen. Blame that thief. Physician Li has done his best."
Zhao Xuan suddenly flew into a rage, drew his sword, and was about to kill the imperial physician. The other palace servants were so frightened that they knelt down.
A palace maid was tidying up Su Wan'er's blood-stained old clothes and was just about to take them out.
She was so frightened that she knelt down, and the clothes in the basin fell out, from which a note fell out.
Liu Yiyi saw a note rolling out from the scattered clothes and pointed to the ground, saying, "What's that?"
The palace maid shook her head, "This servant doesn't know either. It seems to have fallen out of Consort Su's clothes."
The nanny next to Liu Yiyi stepped forward, picked it up, and handed it to her.
Liu Yiyi's expression changed slightly upon seeing this note. "Your Majesty, I suspect that Consort Su's visit to Jujing Garden is related to this note..."
Zhao Xuan took it and glanced at it, his brows furrowing into a deep frown.
Yun Jiaoyue also leaned over to take a look. After reading what was written on the note, she indignantly spoke up for Zhao Xuan, "Your Majesty, Consort Su's sister was actually because of another man..."
Su Wan'er went to Jujing Garden alone for her lover and even had her imperial heir aborted by him. This crime alone was enough to send her to the Cold Palace.
"Shut up!" Zhao Xuan's eyes swept over her like a thin blade tempered with ice. He clenched the paper in his hand so tightly that he crushed it to pieces, his knuckles sticking out.
He glanced at Su Wan'er, who was lying on the bed with a pale face, and his sinister peach blossom eyes flashed with intense murderous intent.
That man must die!
He turned and left.
Physician Li, who was kneeling on the ground, had been given another chance at life and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.
He tried to stand up, but his legs were too weak to stand, so he knelt back down.
Yun Jiaoyue instructed the palace servants, "Help Physician Li up."
Physician Li said gratefully, "Your Majesty, I thank you both."
If it weren't for their pleading today, he would have lost his head here.
Yun Jiaoyue and Liu Yiyi left the courtyard and went to a secluded place, where they dismissed everyone around them.
"Sister Liufei, you are truly ruthless. I underestimated you before."
Liu Yiyi frowned slightly. "Me, heartless? That idea came from the Imperial Concubine. I originally wanted to poison her to make her suffer less."
It was Yun Jiaoyue who suggested using Zhao Jiu to lure Su Wan'er away, so that they could sever their relationship. She even viciously ordered someone to violently abort the child.
The imperial physician said that if it had been any later, Su Wan'er would have died. She didn't want Su Wan'er's life, she only wanted her child's life.
“Consort Su treated you as a close confidante, speaking her mind without reservation, and entrusted her life to you. Yet you turned around and betrayed her. What is that if not heartless? And I am at odds with her, so no matter how I deal with her, it is not too much.”
She was the emperor's legal wife, and the position of empress should have been rightfully hers. Anyone who tried to take it from her would be killed without hesitation.
"Your Highness, there's no need to be so sarcastic. In the harem, there are only eternal interests, not eternal sisters. I need to go back to take care of Yun'er, so I'll take my leave now."
Yun Jiaoyue smiled and said, "She's just a princess. The Emperor would prefer a prince to inherit the throne. Instead of focusing on taking care of the princess, you should think about how to give the Emperor a prince."
She's just a princess, what's there to brag about?
She didn't care; she had carried princes in both her lives, and she was destined to have a son.
"I understand." Liu Yiyi curtsied and then turned to leave.
Turning around, a hint of disdain flashed in his eyes, looking down on Yun'er.
She has no princesses, and she never will.
The position of Empress can only belong to her.
...
Outside Youzhou City, in the Great Zhou camp.
Xiao Xuance personally led an army of 200,000 and stationed it fifty miles outside Youzhou City.
He personally led his soldiers to plant high-yield crops such as sweet potatoes, corn, cassava, and potatoes to achieve self-sufficiency. After several bumper harvests, they had stockpiled enough grain, so they no longer had to worry about food when fighting battles.
During the capture of Baozhou and Dingzhou, they seized horse feed that the enemy had not had time to take with them when they withdrew.
Alternatively, they could use local resources, such as in Dingzhou and Baozhou, where natural wild grasses are abundant.
With an army of 200,000, they were confident they could take Youzhou in one fell swoop.
The soldiers, led by Xiao Xuance, gathered in the main camp tent to discuss matters.
The day before yesterday, a challenge was sent to Wanyan Zonglie, but the other side put up a sign of truce.
They dared not leave the city to fight; to capture Youzhou, they had no choice but to launch a direct attack.
Now they have ample supplies and everything is ready. If they launch a strong attack, they are 70% confident they can take Youzhou.
After discussing the specific offensive operation plan.
The scouts sent out to gather information have returned and are requesting an audience.
"Enter."
The scout strode into the tent, clasped his hands, and said, "Reporting to the Marshal! This humble general has approached the enemy camp within ten miles and observed that the city walls of Youzhou still display the sign of truce."
Lu Xiao laughed loudly: "Wanyan Guisun has been scared by us and is hiding in Youzhou City, afraid to leave the city."
"Da Jing is utterly shameless and despicable. They have torn up peace agreements multiple times. Those agreements are like blank sheets of paper in their eyes. Only our Da Zhou has been fooled by them time and time again."
“We’ve known all along that they’re a bunch of untrustworthy barbarians. From the emperor to the ministers, they’ve all been pro-peace. Whether we fight or not isn’t up to us.”
"Fortunately, the current emperor supports our fight. If it were the retired emperor, he would definitely choose to negotiate peace."
Gu Huai also said, "If you think you can negotiate peace after losing, dream on! The people are all hoping to reclaim their homeland and avenge their families."
The homes of the people were trampled to pieces by the iron hooves of the Da Jing, and families were destroyed and people died. Those who were lucky enough to survive lived under the enslavement of the Da Jing soldiers. They were usually treated as slaves, and when food was temporarily out of stock, they became the army's rations, commonly known as "two-legged sheep".
To avoid being used as military rations, the people hid in the deep mountains and forests, forming numerous civilian organizations dedicated to resisting the Jing and surrendering to the Zhou. The most famous of these was the Red Turban Army, which hid in the Taihang Mountains.
They were mainly composed of able-bodied men who made their own bows, arrows, swords, spears, halberds, and other weapons. Some of them even trained soldiers. They found an army and hoped to be included in the attack on Youzhou.
They obeyed orders, and some civilians, worried that the Zhou army would withdraw due to insufficient food supplies, sent their hard-earned rations to the army camp.
Xiao Xuance did not accept the money. Instead, he gave some sweet potatoes and sweet potato vines to some of the thin, bony old men and taught them how to plant them.
The retired emperor and his ministers advocated peace and did not want to fight, but as a result, the capital was captured and looted, leaving not a single animal behind.
The man was humiliated and dragged to Stone City to be led around like a sheep; the woman was brutally raped and died. This is a disgrace to the royal family, and a disgrace to all the people of the Great Zhou. This time, we will surely avenge this humiliation!
The people wanted to reclaim Youzhou, and the soldiers were eager to attack the city overnight and reclaim Youzhou.
A sharp, tearing sound suddenly rang out from outside the tent, shattering the solemnity of the military camp:
"Imperial edict has arrived!—"
The last syllable was drawn out, carrying the unique sharp and feminine voice of the father-in-law.
"Commander of the Zhenbei Army, Prince Xiao Xuance, receive the imperial decree."
Xiao Xuance was puzzled. Why would an imperial edict arrive at this time?
Others assumed it was the imperial court sending military pay, thinking, "It must be the imperial court sending military pay."
They went out to greet him with joy.
"By the mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees:"
I am greatly pleased to hear of the repeated victories at the front. However, Youzhou is a formidable and strategically important place, and cannot be taken in just ten days. Therefore, I hereby order your troops to immediately reorganize and retreat to defend the strategic pass of Baozhou. All three armies must strictly obey this order. Anyone who delays or disobeys this order, whether a general or a soldier, will be punished according to the law of treason and executed without pardon.
So be it!
After Eunuch Wang finished reading the imperial edict, Xiao Xuance and the others in front of him remained standing still. He reminded them, "Prince Zhenbei, please accept the edict."
Just as Xiao Xuance was about to receive the imperial decree, protests erupted from the soldiers behind him.
"Marshal, everything is ready except for the east wind. As long as we attack the city together, we can recapture Youzhou and take Wanyan Zonglie's head in no time. We cannot retreat."
"Yes, Marshal, the people are waiting for us. We cannot break our promise to the people and disappoint them."
When Eunuch Wang heard that they dared to defy the imperial decree, he sneered, "What do you mean by this? Do you intend to rebel against the imperial edict?"
Lu Xiao, with his fiery temper, retorted angrily, "A general in the field may disobey the emperor's orders."
A eunuch who has never even been on the battlefield knows nothing of how far they've come, with their army at the city gates, just one step away from wiping away their shame and welcoming back the retired emperor. And yet he stands here pointing fingers and gesturing.
"I won't speak to a mere junior like you; your opinion doesn't count. Marshal Xiao, what do you say?"
Xiao Xuance replied, “My lord, the land our army occupies has thousands of people who have donated grain to the royal army and rely on its protection. If we withdraw suddenly, the enemy will surely send troops to retaliate. Please grant us five days to allow the people to move to Baozhou to avoid being slaughtered.”
If we give him another five days, he can take Youzhou.
Eunuch Wang refused to grant even one more day. "Five days? The imperial edict says that any delay will result in immediate execution! Not even a single day can be delayed," he said.
This time, ordering Xiao Xuance to withdraw his troops was also a test of him, to see if he would become arrogant with his military power and disregard the imperial edict.
Eunuch Wang leaned close to Xiao Xuance and whispered, "Marshal Xiao, let me kindly remind you that your relatives are all in Lin'an. You wouldn't want the beautiful Princess Zhaoxue and the two handsome young masters to be implicated, would you?"
Princess Zhaoxue often brings her two young sons to the palace, and the Emperor treats them as his own. Marshal Xiao, I hope you will not fail the Emperor's high regard for you.”
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