Chapter 1205: Chapter 1194: The Wealthy Merchant
"Where is the Prince? Where is the Prince?" Ye Lu dragged her weakened body, her eyes fixed intently on the maid.
The maid was somewhat frightened by her gaze, her voice as soft as a mosquito: "The Prince is with the Princess Consort, saying not to let you, the concubine, be troubled in spirit and to have you recuperate well."
"With the Princess Consort?" Ye Lu’s voice was sinister, but she didn’t do anything excessive ultimately, "You can leave, I want to be alone for a while."
The little maid was eager to escape, afraid Ye Lu might change her mind and kept running out swiftly.
Ye Lu’s expression grew darker; her hands, made even more slender due to recent weight loss, bulged with veins as she clutched the quilt tightly, it took a long time for her to calm down.
Though everyone believed that her miscarriage was self-inflicted because she was overly suspicious and deliberately avoided taking the fetus-preserving medicine, she intuitively felt it wasn’t that simple.
How did the Princess Consort happen to be near the flowerpot so coincidentally at that time? And coincidentally smell the scent, and then have Doctor Li inspect? Clearly, she had just changed the pot a few days ago, there shouldn’t have been much medicine in it.
The only possibility was that the Princess Consort was constantly monitoring her, and had tampered with things unbeknownst to her; evidently, she underestimated her, thinking reading books would allow her to foresee everything, little did she know the ingenuity of the ancients is anything but simple.
Unfortunately, by the time she realized this, it was too late, the child was gone, and now the Prince seemed cold towards her because of the miscarriage.
However, she hadn’t lost too badly; regardless, the Prince only blamed her for being overly suspicious which led to accidental miscarriage, he also cared about her, most importantly, she invented the black gunpowder, Heavy Crossbows, and Crossbows for him, plus she had many excellent strategies in mind, the Prince couldn’t despise her for this matter alone.
With this lesson learned, she must be cautious around the Princess Consort in the future; her child is gone, but can the Princess Consort, who hasn’t had a child in four years, hope for anything? Even if the Princess Consort accidentally gets pregnant, can’t she still act?
Who wins, who loses is still uncertain! The true battle is just beginning.
Meanwhile, as the King of Xichuan launched an attack on Lishan Prefecture, amidst the counterattack of Prince Linsan, Prince Donghe suddenly changed direction, aiming his assault towards Miyun State, almost with a desperate resolve, using all his strength.
He had no path of retreat, only by conquering Miyun State could there be a shred of hope; thus, both generals and soldiers were putting in their utmost effort, under such formidable momentum, it was simply unstoppable.
Even with Miyun State’s advantage of being easy to defend and difficult to attack, it was captured in just two days, the people inside the city didn’t even have time to seek help from Prince Linsan.
No one expected Prince Donghe to act this way, it stunned the King of Xichuan who was attacking, and even more so Prince Linsan who was defending; although he safeguarded Lishan Prefecture, one of the granaries, Miyun State, was lost, no matter what, he had already lost the war.
After losing Miyun State, Prince Linsan was even less likely to let the King of Xichuan take another piece, thus counterattacked mercilessly; the King of Xichuan was already exhausted from the long march, plus Prince Linsan had black gunpowder, Heavy Crossbows, and Crossbows as secret weapons, hence the losses were not small.
Through several battles, the world observed the forces of the King of Xichuan, Prince Linsan, and Prince Donghe all weakening, leaving only the sudden and unexpected rise of Prince Ye, who reaped the greatest benefits, dividing the world into five parts.
The Empress Dowager and the Little Emperor held only the capital and five neighboring states, yet within these five states people were struggling to survive, rebels were springing up everywhere; the King of Xichuan retreated shamefully to the west, occupying six cities and ninety-eight towns, Prince Linsan was southward, left with four states, while Prince Donghe in the center despite holding Miyun State, the granary, was encircled on all sides, in a dire situation; the easternmost territory became Ye Qiu’s domain, four major cities with countless small towns.
However, between Ye Qiu’s domain and the Little Emperor’s territory, lay a large tract of land originally belonging to Prince Donghe, now divided by rebel factions formed by his former subordinates and local refugees.
Among the major powers, Prince Donghe is now the least threatening, also the most perilous.
Firstly due to Miyun State’s location, it’s an easy target; it’s also a granary, none can afford to ignore it; thirdly, his current forces are weakest, making it easiest to be defeated.
Prince Donghe’s men having just captured Miyun State exerted full strength, then relaxed, aware of their predicament, regardless of the opponent faced, they were bound to lose.
Even the soldiers lost morale, how could other Vassal Kings miss such an opportunity?
Yet whoever moves first fears becoming prey to a more cunning predator, none willing to suffer loss; this hesitation allowed Prince Donghe some respite.
During this peaceful period, Ye Qiu however did not lose out, though his foundation was the weakest, he seized the opportunity to expand his influence, now the Ye Family Army had grown to ten thousand, with twenty percent elite soldiers.
These twenty thousand should not be underestimated, well-equipped, with exceptional skill, each one loyal and courageous, anyone encountering them would be astonished by their imposing presence.
Bai Xianyi was among them, when she meticulously organized the ragtag troops assigned to her by Ye Qiu, confidently pitting them against Ye Qiu’s personally trained troops, the outcome could only be described as disastrous.
However, this ignited Bai Xianyi’s fighting spirit, although a woman, she prided herself on being no less than any man; if Ye Qiu’s trained troops could achieve success, so could she.
It was this indomitable spirit coupled with her real capabilities, thus within mere months, Ye Qiu’s other generals and Ministers almost unanimously acknowledged her.
Just as Ye Cheng initially stated, having Bai Xianyi as an exemplar, women’s eagerness increased, men’s prejudices diminished, society became more harmonious.
Yet at the same time, all major Vassal Kings thoroughly investigated Ye Qiu’s background, upon discovering the result, were left in disbelief.
"A mere merchant, he turns out to be merely a merchant." Prince Donghe repeatedly murmured; he lost to a merchant, the same one he once disdainfully recruited! How could this be?
Upon hearing the news, Ye Lu also widened her eyes in disbelief, Prince Ye turned out to be her direct brother? How did he accomplish this?
The Ye Family was just a commercial household, how could he recruit an army? What ability enabled him to seize Prince Donghe’s territory? Was there truly no other secret?
As familiar as she was with the Ye Family’s capabilities, this world doesn’t allow one to act freely just because of wealth, is warfare akin to trading?
No matter her disbelief, Ye Qiu indisputably demonstrated with facts, sometimes wealth truly allows one to act freely!
