Chapter 394 Almost fell into the enemy's trap
Gushan South Garden.
Liu'er held the child who had just finished eating in her arms. Seeing that he was fast asleep, she handed him over to the maid and asked the maid to take the child back to the bed in the room.
Prince Rui and his subordinates were discussing matters in the study, and she wanted to go over to listen in and offer advice.
He entered through the small door inside the house and walked openly to Zhao Rui's side.
The guards inside the room made no attempt to hide when she entered, and continued to report to Zhao Rui on what had happened in the palace.
When Liu'er heard the guards say that Consort Su in the palace was pregnant, her expression changed slightly. All their previous efforts had been in vain.
He thought he could use rumors circulating outside the palace to put his son on the throne as crown prince.
Once Zhao Rui entered the court, he planned to seize the throne, but unexpectedly, Consort Su became pregnant again.
They haven't been idle during this time; they've spent a lot of manpower and resources to find fault with those ministers or to make some kind of deal so that they could speak on Zhao Rui's behalf in court and get Zhao Rui to come to the palace for an audience.
Zhao Xuan disagreed, probably intending to leave them alone and find another way to get rid of them.
Liu'er said, "Your Highness, it's all that damned divine doctor's fault for ruining our plans. Why don't we send someone to kill him and then find a way to get rid of Consort Su's child?"
"No, killing him would alert the enemy. It's better to get rid of the unwanted fetus first, and then get rid of him later."
"Yes, am I confused, or is Your Highness being more thoughtful? When does Your Highness plan to make your move?"
"No rush. Once they move here, we'll have plenty of opportunities to make our move."
They were in the southern courtyard of Gushan, while Zhao Xuan wanted to move the entire palace to the royal garden north of Gushan.
Since we're nearby, we can send a few experts to launch a night raid on the royal gardens of Gushan. If they fail, they won't be able to get a good night's sleep either.
If a pregnant woman doesn't sleep well, it can lead to miscarriage.
Liu'er felt this was inappropriate. The Imperial Guards and the Imperial City Guards were not to be trifled with. If they were caught and Prince Rui was implicated, it would be handing them leverage.
“Your Highness, I think we don’t need to take action. Above Consort Su, there is another Imperial Concubine and Consort Liu who are eyeing the Empress’s position. They will not stand by and watch Consort Su’s son be born.”
All we need to do is bribe a few palace servants to spread rumors in the palace that Consort Su is favored and will be made empress after she gives birth to a prince. The child in her womb will be a thorn in the side of Consort Yun and Consort Liu.
If this method doesn't work, we'll think of another way. After all, a woman carries a child for ten months; we have plenty of time. Even if the baby is born, the child's body is weak and they might die young at any moment.
Upon hearing this, Prince Rui affirmed, "This is a good idea. I was too impatient; Liu'er is much smarter."
Prince Rui took her hand, patted the back of her hand, and promised, "Good Liu'er, you are truly my wise and capable wife. Once I sit on that throne, I will make you a Noble Consort."
Liu'er was a concubine he brought back from a brothel. Although she was a virgin and followed him, her status was low, and being made a Noble Consort was already the highest honor she could attain.
Liu'er smiled and thanked him, "This concubine thanks Your Highness."
"No need to thank me. You have given me a son and performed a great service. You deserve it."
A hint of disdain flashed across Liu'er's lowered eyes. Bah!
She refused to be a powerless concubine confined to a corner of the court; she wanted to help a powerful ruler unify the world.
...
Xiao Xuance sent a secret letter to Zhao Xuan, revealing that he did not intentionally spare Zhao Rui's life.
Xiao Xuance sent a secret letter to Zhao Xuan. He did not intentionally spare Zhao Rui's life, but rather it was because Zhao Rui had left Dingzhou.
Da Jing suddenly launched a three-pronged attack southward, targeting the three prefectures of Dingzhou, Zhengding, and Hejian.
Marshal Ye was seriously injured. After making arrangements in Dingzhou, he rushed to Zhending Prefecture. Unable to leave, he sent his men to assassinate Zhao Rui.
Someone secretly helped Zhao Rui escape.
The border was running out of food and supplies, and soldiers had not been paid for several months. Some soldiers froze to death, and others deserted.
Zhao Rui ran too fast.
As a general, Xiao Xuance was not allowed to leave the border. In his letter, he explained his difficulties one by one and finally asked Zhao Xuan for forgiveness.
When Zhao Xuan saw the secret letter, he realized that Xiao Xuance had also had a tough time.
Could it be that he was overthinking things all along?
Xiao Xuance showed no sign of rebellion. Moreover, his family members were all in Lin'an. If he wanted to rebel, he would definitely find a way to bring his family members away.
Perhaps he was being too paranoid.
That night, Yun Jiaoyue served the emperor, and afterwards the two embraced and talked about important matters of the court.
The discussion focused on why Xiao Xuance did not kill Prince Rui.
Yun Jiaoyue said, "He is the border commander, with superb martial arts skills. Killing a prisoner returning from the enemy camp would be a piece of cake. If he failed, why didn't he send a message back sooner instead of waiting for someone to return before sending a message back?"
"I feel he doesn't respect you at all. There's something I've already said, but I'd like to add it again: you must be very wary of the Xiao family."
Yun Jiaoyue acted for two reasons: firstly, for the sake of the design, and secondly, for her own selfish motives.
Every time Xiao Xuance won a battle, Yun Zhaoxue's status in the hearts of the people rose by one level.
She was even more glamorous than the imperial concubine.
How could a noble consort like her allow the wife of a courtier to anger her?
Zhao Xuan pulled him into his arms again. "I know what I'm doing. Let's not talk about that anymore. It's rare to have a moment to rest. Go to sleep."
"Yes." Yun Jiaoyue wisely shut her mouth, lay in his arms, closed her eyes, and went to sleep.
Zhen Ding Prefecture.
Xiao Xuance once again led his army to repel the enemy. On the city wall, he urged his soldiers to clean up the battlefield and seize the enemy's weapons, armor, warhorses, siege equipment and other supplies.
The enemy's corpses were all gathered together and burned.
The bodies of our own soldiers were carried away on stretchers, buried in a pit, and a tombstone was erected.
Just as I climbed down from the wall, I heard the sound of horses' hooves.
Gu Huai rode his horse this way, quickly dismounted, and said excitedly:
"Marshal, look who's here!"
Xiao Xuanwu arrived shortly after, quickly dismounted and ran towards him, rushing over to hug him, "Third Brother, Third Brother, I'm here."
Xiao Xuance patted him on the shoulder, "Xiao Wu, it's been more than a year since I last saw you. You've grown taller again, almost as tall as your third brother now."
Xiao Xuanwu glanced at Xiao Xuance beside him, and realized he had to look up to see the top of Xiao Xuance's head. He raised his hand to show that the top of his head didn't even reach below Xiao Xuance's ears.
"No way, my third brother and I are still missing a head."
"Actually, I'm not that fast. Da Bao and Er Bao are growing much faster. I go home every two or three months after I start practicing martial arts with my master, and every time I go, I find that they are different from before. They've grown up like bamboo shoots all of a sudden..."
To appear more composed, Xiao Xuanwu rarely talked so much on the road, but now that he saw his loved ones...
He couldn't stop for a while; he was really bored on the way.
"How is your third sister-in-law? Have Da Bao and Er Bao been causing any trouble?"
Although the couple communicated once a month, he worried that Yun Zhaoxue might encounter some trouble and would only report good news and not bad. She was raising two children alone and had many other things to do. What if the children got sick or became fussy and clung to her?
"No, no, they are very obedient. I heard that the Emperor also likes Da Bao very much and even wanted to arrange a marriage between him and the little princess. However, it didn't work out because Da Bao was unwilling and farted in the Emperor's arms. When Mother found out, she was terrified and even wanted to go to the palace to apologize to the Emperor. But Third Sister-in-law stopped her, so she didn't go to the palace."
He wasn't home at the time; I heard all this from my fourth sister.
The two brothers chatted about family matters, and then Xiao Xuance shifted the topic to official business.
Knowing that everything was alright at home, he was relieved.
The main military camp.
Xiao Xuanwu reported to Xiao Xuance, who was standing in the main seat, "Reporting to the Marshal:
150,000 shi of grain have arrived at the Zhen Ding Prefecture camp. Additionally, the Ministry of War has allocated 200,000 taels of silver, locked in iron-clad grain carts. Please send someone to verify this, Marshal!
Xiao Xuance sent several generals out to investigate.
The amount of grain and fodder matched the report given by Xiao Xuanwu, so they ordered the grain and fodder to be moved to the granary.
Lu Xiao said, "Marshal, the army hasn't received its pay for several months. Two hundred thousand taels is simply not enough, and there's also the compensation for the fallen soldiers."
"Yes, Marshal, the brothers under your command are all waiting for the pay as soon as they heard it has arrived. They haven't even had time to eat."
Xiao Xuance said, "Let's do it the old way. Soldiers first, then generals; living soldiers first, then dead soldiers. Remember the pensions for the fallen soldiers and we'll distribute them when the next batch of military pay arrives."
In recent days, the Da Jing state has been frequently attacking Zhen Ding Prefecture, and when they can't win, they run away.
The enemy, believing the city was out of food, launched repeated harassment raids to test the waters, but discovered that the Zhou soldiers were still incredibly powerful, and thus hesitated to send their main force for a frontal attack.
Knowing the enemy's purpose, Xiao Xuance ordered elite archers to guard the city gates, while the others continued their light training as usual, ready to fight at any time.
After delivering the grain, Xiao Xuanwu had nothing more to do, but he wasn't in a hurry to go back and wanted to stay at the border for a while.
He watched the soldiers train inside the military camp.
The guard at the gate led over a soldier with a wound on his face.
The soldier saw him, knelt down on one knee, clasped his hands in greeting, and told him some bad news.
"Transport Commissioner Xiao, something terrible has happened! The grain supplies being sent to Dingzhou have been intercepted by mountain bandits. Furthermore, some people who have escaped from Dingzhou say that Dingzhou is about to fall. They are begging Marshal Xiao to send troops to provide support."
Xiao Xuanwu recognized the man; he was a soldier responsible for escorting grain supplies to Dingzhou.
If there is a problem with the food supplies, he will not only be held responsible, but he will also cause the soldiers to go hungry, lack food and strength, and ultimately lead to defeat. He will then become a sinner.
My first reaction wasn't suspicion, but rather the desire to retrieve the supplies. "Supplies? The supplies were stolen? Where were they stolen?"
"In the Taihang Mountains, Lord Lu has also been arrested..."
"Li Ye, quickly gather men and come with me to rescue people and retrieve the grain."
Li Ye was a junior commander in charge of escorting the grain supplies. He was young and got along well with Xiao Xuanwu.
I came to Zhen Ding Prefecture with him this time.
Li Ye clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Yes, sir, I will go right away."
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