Yongzhou.
The garrison camp.
By the time the tonics and medicines sent by Gu Chengzhou arrived, Gu Jingheng had almost fully recovered.
However, Lian Yingtong still forced him to drink and eat. Seeing the renewed good complexion on Gu Jingheng's face, Lian Yingtong's guilt, which had been lingering in his heart for many days, was slightly relieved.
That day, after dealing with military affairs, only Gu Jingheng and Lian Yingtong remained in the military tent.
"Yingtong, the Seventh Prince said that the failure is not our fault?"
Although Gu Jingheng was simply repeating Lian Yingtong's words in a calm manner, his expression was anything but composed.
"Yes, the Seventh Prince has always been kind and benevolent. He knows that the General is not a cunning or deceitful person. General, please do not put any more pressure on yourself."
Gu Jingheng paced back and forth in front of the hanging map of the territory: "The shortage of provisions involves all the soldiers. The Seventh Prince finally persuaded His Majesty to investigate thoroughly, and finally found a clue, but all he did was hand over the witnesses to us for safekeeping. We failed to do a good job either. I..."
“General!” Lian Yingtong interrupted Gu Jingheng’s self-reproach loudly, “General, you have been traveling day and night for more than thirty days to return to the capital to report on your duties. After finishing, you did not rest for a moment and went straight back. On the way, you even took a long detour to pick up the witnesses of the grain draft. Even if you are a man of iron, you can’t avoid getting sick. Why are you always so harsh on yourself, General!”
Gu Jingheng sighed and shook his head.
Last year, a conflict broke out between civilians at the border between Tianyong and the neighboring Northern Qi. Gradually, the conflict escalated and eventually developed into a dispute between the two states. Finally, Northern Qi used this as a pretext to mobilize its army, and Tianyong immediately sent troops to fight back.
Gu Jingheng was the commander of that great battle.
In war between two countries, food supplies are crucial. As a result, the food supplies that should have arrived in five days took more than twenty days to arrive. Moreover, the supplies were underweight, and much of them were moldy, with pebbles and sand mixed in.
The soldiers fought despite hunger and thirst, and finally won the battle, driving the Northern Qi cavalry fifty kilometers away from the border.
Gu Jingheng made a great contribution, and the court naturally rewarded him. However, no one inquired about the problematic grain supplies and what exactly happened.
Gu Jingheng raised the issue with the emperor multiple times, and the emperor wanted to investigate thoroughly, but for some reason, nothing came of it.
After more than half a year, thanks to the efforts of the seventh prince, Gu Chengzhou, the emperor finally issued an edict to conduct a thorough investigation.
This time, after several months of secret investigation, the seventh prince finally found a witness.
Considering that there must be a traitor in the court, and that the traitor's identity was unknown, Gu Chengzhou decided to send the witness to the frontier camp for safekeeping.
Therefore, after returning to the capital to report on his duties, Gu Jingheng deliberately took a detour to pick up the witness and head towards the camp's encampment.
But then those things happened on the way.
Therefore, Gu Jingheng felt extremely guilty, believing that he had dragged the whole thing down.
Lian Yingtong was about to say something when he suddenly heard the sound of wings flapping.
A moment later, a carrier pigeon flew in through the lifted curtain and landed directly on Gu Jingheng's shoulder.
"It's the Seventh Prince's carrier pigeon."
Lian Ying recognized him at first glance.
The seventh prince, Gu Chengzhou, entered the army in his teens, starting as a lowly soldier and rising through the ranks to become a general. In essence, he grew up in the military.
Several years ago, Tianyong and Nanyue fought a fierce battle. In the end, Gu Jingheng escorted the seventh prince out of the encirclement.
However, Gu Jingheng was seriously injured that time and was only saved after being transported back to Beidu.
Therefore, after this battle, the seventh prince regarded Gu Jingheng as a brother who had risked his life for him, and he also had absolute trust in Gu Jingheng.
Because he knew Gu Jingheng's character too well, Gu Chengzhou was worried that Gu Jingheng would take all the blame upon himself. So, no sooner had Gu Chengzhou sent over the tonics and medicines than he personally wrote a note instructing Gu Jingheng not to overthink things and to get some rest.
After reading the note, Gu Jingheng stared at the carrier pigeon, lost in thought.
"General? General?"
Lian Ying was curious as to why Gu Jingheng was suddenly staring at a pigeon in a daze.
"Yingtong, has the Seventh Prince mentioned his investigation into the carrier pigeons?"
"I think I mentioned it, but I didn't get any results."
"What if His Highness has investigated the wrong person?"
"General, I don't understand."
"Seventh Prince's investigation of the grain draft always started with those who would handle it. What if the source and transmission of information came from someone who appears to be unrelated to the grain draft?"
“Unrelated people?” Lian Yingtong frowned. “But General, wouldn’t that involve even more people?”
"That's exactly how it works, so the enemy can hide even deeper. But if you try to find them, it'll be like looking for a needle in a haystack."
Gu Chengzhou wrote down his thoughts on a note and released the carrier pigeon.
Watching the carrier pigeon fly straight into the distance, becoming a small dot on the horizon and gradually disappearing.
***
Yongning City.
The Sun residence.
After Sun Wanqing ate Su Yun'er's food, she felt much better the next day. Her fever subsided, she was able to eat, and she was much more energetic.
After taking medication and resting for several days, I finally recovered.
On this day, Sun Chengye made a special trip to visit Sun Wanqing.
Sun Wanqing, now in good spirits, still looked unwell, but her mental and physical condition had almost fully recovered.
"Grandfather, Madam Su is really amazing. Look, she's the one who cured my daughter." Sun Wanqing hugged Sun Chengye's arm and said coquettishly.
"Alright, alright, whatever you say. Grandfather didn't say it had nothing to do with her, he just said she doesn't know medicine and is not as good as a doctor."
"Oh, Grandfather, haven't you ever heard of the term 'food therapy'? Never mind, Wanqing doesn't care, Grandfather must reward Lady Su handsomely! Please!"
Sun Chengye was so dizzy from being shaken by Sun Wanqing that he laughed and begged for mercy, "Alright, alright, whatever you say, I'll do it. Stop shaking your grandfather, he's about to fall apart."
The servants around all lowered their heads, not daring to look.
Sun Chengye, who is usually stern and rarely smiles, only smiles like an ordinary old man in front of his granddaughter, Sun Wanqing.
"How will Grandfather thank Madam Su?"
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