jdhmnovel Chapter 266 Crow’s Mouth
Chapter 266 Crow’s Mouth
"Qionghua, have you heard? We've suffered another defeat at the border. The three cities we recaptured have fallen back into the hands of the Chen State. The Emperor has been furious in the court these past few days."
Early in the morning, Luo Xiyao came to the Shen Mansion and discussed the matter with Shen Qionghua in the room.
The entire capital has been in a state of panic recently. Luo Xiyao had to sneak out of the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion with great difficulty to find Shen Qionghua.
Shen Qionghua paused, then frowned and nodded, "I heard about it."
During this period, she discussed this matter with King Rui almost every day.
It's just a matter of war, and the emperor didn't send Prince Rui to fight, so there's no point for her and Prince Rui to worry.
Luo Xiyao suddenly perked up. She lowered her voice and said, "The emperor has received another battle report. I heard that the border was defeated again and two cities were lost."
Shen Qionghua's eyes widened, startled, and asked, "Is this true? Who told you that?"
Prince Rui did not tell her about this when he left Shen's house last night.
Luo Xiyao rolled her eyes in annoyance and said, "How could I lie to you? The battle report was delivered to the palace this morning. I got the news from my father."
"As for whether it's true or not, you'll know after the morning court is over. This is fresh news. My father only found out about it right before he left for court."
Hearing Luo Xiyao say this, Shen Qionghua knew that the news was almost certainly true.
It turned out that the news was just received this morning. It was strange that King Rui did not mention this matter to her last night.
Shen Qionghua was very anxious. They had already lost three cities, and if they lost two more, the total number of cities they lost would be five.
I don’t know how many people will be displaced because of this war.
Luo Xiyao felt a little strange. She said, "Qionghua, don't you think this is strange? When Prince An first entered the battlefield, he won battle after battle and made many military achievements. The people of Prince An's faction in the capital even boasted that Prince An was a talented general and his ability to lead troops in battle was no worse than that of my cousin."
"How come it's only been a short time, and they've already suffered a crushing defeat? Their ability to lead an army in battle isn't something they only have now and then, right?"
It’s no wonder that Luo Xiyao felt strange, because Prince An’s battle report was indeed a bit weird.
It is said that victory and defeat are common in the military, but for someone like King An, who had won more than ten battles in the beginning without a single defeat, and was in an unstoppable momentum, he suddenly took a sharp turn for the worse, losing every battle and going on a downward spiral.
In such a situation, not to mention Luo Xiyao, even the Duke of Zhenguo was secretly muttering in his heart.
Faced with Luo Xiyao's doubts, Shen Qionghua was unable to answer.
Because in the previous life, after Prince An framed the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion for treason, the Emperor sent him to fight, and Prince An did win many battles.
It’s just that in the previous life, they returned victoriously and marched back to the capital, unlike now, where they took back the city but were beaten back again.
Not only was the city that was recovered lost again, but two more cities were lost.
Is there a shortage of food now as in the previous life?
Without her support, we will be defeated if the battle line is extended?
But that's not right. With her three million taels of silver for disaster relief in this life, the Ministry of Revenue should still have some money.
Although she didn't have to buy fine steel to make weapons for King An's soldiers like she did in her previous life, she didn't have to worry about food shortages either.
Besides, she hadn't heard of any food shortage?
Thinking of this, Shen Qionghua's eyebrows knitted even tighter. She asked hesitantly, "Could it be that we're short of food and fodder, and the soldiers are hungry and have no strength, so we can't win?"
Luo Xiyao looked at Shen Qionghua in surprise when she heard this: "Qionghua, what are you talking about? How is this possible?"
"Right now, the border war is the highest priority of the court. How could there be a shortage of food supplies for the front lines?"
"If there really was a shortage of food and fodder, and the Ministry of Revenue had no silver, they would have reported it to the Emperor long ago. There's no such news in the capital."
Shen Qionghua knew he had spoken out of turn and said, "I was just saying it casually. I wonder if the Emperor will have any other plans after receiving the battle report."
It won’t do if we keep losing battles on the border.
Luo Xiyao was immediately misled by Shen Qionghua's words when she heard this. She said, "What countermeasures can we have? I guess they will change someone to lead the troops. We can't let Prince An lead the troops while they keep losing battles."
"I just don't know who is so unlucky to take over such a mess."
If someone takes over at this time, all the pressure will be on him. If he wins, it's fine, but if he loses... I'm afraid Prince An will be able to take advantage of the situation and get out of it.
Having said that, Luo Xiyao paused, and suddenly laughed with a hint of gloating.
"When Prince An won the battle, his faction became quite arrogant in the capital, and the Yongning Marquis's Mansion and the Lin Mansion also became more prominent. There were very few visitors in front of the mansions."
"Now, I dare not even fart, for fear of the emperor's wrath."
"What's that saying? Don't be too happy too soon. It's still uncertain who will win."
If it weren't for the people living in dire straits at the border, Luo Xiyao would probably be even happier seeing Prince An and his party suffer a setback.
It's also because Prince An and his party have been too high-profile in the capital recently, which is very annoying. Lin Xiyan always sends invitations and holds banquets, provoking them openly and secretly, otherwise Luo Xiyao would not be so complaining.
Seeing her like this, Shen Qionghua smiled mischievously.
As he laughed, the smile on his lips fell again, and a hint of sadness appeared between his brows.
Luo Xiyao sneaked out of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion while the Duke of Zhenguo was in the palace for the morning court session. The two chatted for a while and it was almost time to leave the court session.
Luo Xiyao hurriedly bid farewell to Shen Qionghua and returned to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion.
Shen Qionghua sent Luo Xiyao away and sat on the embroidery stool for a while, thinking about the news Luo Xiyao had just told her, and always felt that something was going to happen.
She asked Shaoyao to take out the account book and wanted to do the math, but she was in a state of anxiety. She calculated four or five times, and the results were different each time, so she simply gave up.
After changing clothes, I went back to the couch and took a nap.
After waking up, he called Shaoyao to ask about the situation outside, but found out that the morning court had not yet ended.
This morning court session lasted really long.
After calming herself down, Shen Qionghua took Shaoyao for a walk in the Shen family's garden.
After returning to the house, it was time for lunch, and Shaoyao went to the kitchen to bring out the food.
The meal was placed on the table. Shen Qionghua had just taken a bite when he received the news that the morning court was over.
Before Shen Qionghua could even send anyone to inquire, the emperor's edict came down immediately.
The news that Prince Rui and the Duke of Zhenguo were ordered to go to the border immediately, Prince An and the Earl of Yongning were summoned back to the capital, and General Lin was stationed at the border to guard against the enemy spread throughout the capital like a thunderclap.
Shen Qionghua: “…”
Luo Xiyao in the Duke Zhenguo's Mansion: "..." He slapped himself on the mouth.
Let you talk too much!
What a crow's mouth!