The entire day, Qu Xing Xu's thoughts were all about how he could defeat the Chu empire's army the fastest. Though he was proclaimed as a God of War and a Star General in the four kingdoms, Qu Xing Xu still knew his and his soldier's limits. No war could be easily won by one person swinging down his sword and spear, and no war could be won by pen without any expenses and well-thought-out plans. And even then, no one really knows who would win.
It all depends on one's luck.
The Chu empire was not only the largest among the four kingdoms, it also possessed a great population. Hence, the soldiers were almost endless. Once the first batch was defeated, they could easily send the second, third, and fifth batch of soldiers to the battlefield. If the Zheng empire hadn't been passed on Emperor Yun's hands, there would have been no Great Chu empire that could arrogantly look down upon other kingdoms.
Nevertheless, Qu Xing Xu was not afraid of the Chu empire's might. The only problem was that the Zheng empire seemed to have given up on the soldiers they sent to battle against the Chu empire. It seems that they all planned this out.
'Bang!'
Ni Zixuan banged his fist against the surface of the table. The teacups and plates on top of it shook as the strength he used was not small.
With unrestrained anger, Ni Zixuan glared at the messenger that had just arrived. "What is the meaning of this? Are you saying that the emperor doesn't care about what happens to this city and its people?"
The messenger sent by the palace trembled under the intimidating gaze that Ni Zixuan was sending his way. He ducked his head down and gulped.
"Please don't get angry, young lord Ni Zixuan. The emperor was just too busy with other urgent matters and couldn't send any reinforcement," the messenger said.
Ni Zixuan huffed angrily, "Busy?"
A few weeks ago, they sent several letters of request for reinforcement and back-up supplies. However, even until now, nothing useful was sent to the city, but a messenger telling them that the emperor couldn't do anything because he was busy.
Busy with what? Busy with his upcoming birthday? Or busy lying on his bed beside his concubines?
It was not only Ni Zixuan who was angry at the emperor's response, Qi Yandi and Jiang Sheng were similarly angry. Especially Jiang Sheng, who was directly related to Emperor Yun.
Since young Jiang Sheng knew that his father was incompetent and lascivious. He wasted his days as soon as he ascended the throne in drinking and taking in pleasure with his thousand concubines in the back palace while letting his subordinates do all the court-work related matters.
When his mother, a court lady turned lower rank concubine, made a mistake, she was quickly thrown to the cold palace where the treatment was worse than the ones thrown at the prison. There, they would at least get a bowl of water and gruel. However, in the cold palace, the people sent there couldn't even wait for their trial and have a chance to get out of their cells, their ending could either grow old in that place or drink a bowl of deadly poison.
As for Jiang Sheng, he was only three years old when he was sent out in exile. The emperor didn't care whether this little prince shared his blood or not. To him, Jiang Sheng must have been just a pebble or bean he could easily kick away to make himself feel better.
"We understand." While everyone was angrily glaring at the poor messenger, Qu Xing Xu, who was sitting at the head of the table spoke. "The emperor is too magnanimous and his precious time could not be wasted. Escort the messenger and give him a healthier horse so he could come back quickly to the capital."
The messenger sighed in relief and thanked him for his understanding. He raised his head and was about to bow when his knees almost buckled underneath him as soon as his eyes fell on the man sitting at the head of the table.
The moment his eyes met those phoenix eyes, the messenger felt an indescribable feeling of oppression and felt like he was standing right in front of a deadly beast with its teeth bared at him, almost ripping his head off.
After the messenger was sent out of the room, Jiang Sheng looked down in embarrassment and said, "I'm sorry, everyone. I never thought that man's shamelessness and incompetence wouldn't be that terrible as he's growing older. It seems that I was wrong."
The person who first suggested asking for reinforcement and back-up supply from the palace was Jiang Sheng. He thought that since the war against the Chu empire was something that could boost the Zheng Empire's reputation and strength, the emperor wouldn't try anything foolish and even support them.
However, he overestimated the emperor and in the end, he made a fool of himself as well.
Qi Yandi patted his shoulder and shook his head, "This is not your fault. I also thought that the emperor would surely use this chance to not lose against the other kingdoms. However, we didn't think of this outcome. In any case, Sister-in-law brought us great help and solved our problems regarding the lack of food supply."
If Lin Xiaofei hadn't arrived in time, the city people would have already blasted through the city head's house and destroyed the food warehouse and seen that there was almost no more food inside. That would end in a very chaotic situation rather than having the emperor turn his back on them.
"Speaking of which... Why did the Emperor of the Rei empire come along with her? And didn't Gu Yan say that she's missing?" Jiang Sheng recovered quickly from his depressed state and finally asked. Then, he added, "But I'm more curious to know how the two of them know each other."
The two of them didn't seem to have a distant relationship. On the contrary, it feels like the two have known each other for a long time already and what was more suspicious was how Emperor Erkin treated Lin Xiaofei.
It was like how a nephew would treat an Aunt he treasure a lot.
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