“Your Majesty, this humble servant has a matter of great importance to report.
Last night, while observing the celestial bodies, I witnessed the conjunction of Mars and the Moon. I fear this portends an ominous event that may cause fundamental harm to Western Zhou.”
Upon hearing Yun Chunfeng’s words, Xiao Ao’s expression immediately turned grave.
“Can the State Preceptor divine the specific nature of this event?”
No sooner had he spoken than a young eunuch from outside the hall urgently announced: “An urgent dispatch from the border, eight-hundred-li express!”
Xiao Ao’s heart sank with a thud, a mix of anxiety and anger surging within him. “Present it quickly!”
Su Sheng scurried over, took the wax-sealed envelope marked with three chicken feathers from the sweat-drenched messenger eunuch, and handed it to the Emperor.
This was a matter of extreme urgency.
“Your Majesty, it’s from the Second Prince.”
Rip!
Xiao Ao snatched the letter and tore it open.
After just one glance, his hand, clutching the letter, clenched into a tight fist.
The civil and military officials were terrified, prostrating themselves on the floor, not even daring to breathe loudly.
Only Yun Chunfeng remained sprawled casually in his plain wheelchair, gently fanning Little Ya with his feather fan.
Little Ya blinked her curious eyes, looking around at everyone.
She didn’t understand why they always had to kneel.
Within a few days, everyone from Xiao Ao down to all the officials had grown accustomed to the presence of a little girl in the court.
Jiang Xingyan’s heart was filled with apprehension.
Huo Ci’s unique status and position meant that once war broke out, he would have to don his armor and head to the front lines without a moment’s delay.
If the military situation was truly urgent and required an expedition, she would have to sign the divorce agreement with him after the court session to swap their souls back.
“Insatiable greed!” Xiao Ao slammed the urgent report from the Second Prince onto the armrest of his dragon throne.
“Your Majesty, please calm your anger.”
Su Sheng hurried forward, carefully peeled the report off the armrest, and respectfully presented it to “Huo Ci.”
Jiang Xingyan solemnly accepted it. After reading the contents, her pupils contracted violently.
Northern Luo had secretly occupied two of Western Zhou’s iron ore mines for over six months!
This meant they had begun their actions immediately after being driven back by Huo Ci and signing the humiliating five-year peace treaty.
The two mines were located near the border, under the jurisdiction of Qingzhou.
The Second Prince, after some investigation, learned that the Governor of Qingzhou had suddenly fallen gravely ill half a year ago and had been bedridden ever since.
All affairs were being managed by the Qingzhou Chief Inspector on his behalf.
Fearing he might alert the enemy, the Second Prince did not reveal his identity.
He sent two close bodyguards—one to investigate the mining records at the Chief Inspector’s office, and the other to check the inventory at the warehouse where the iron ore was stored.
The results were horrifying.
The records showed everything was normal, even indicating a twenty percent increase in mining output compared to previous years.
But the warehouse was stocked with nothing but ordinary stones!
Even though Jiang Xingyan knew little of military or state affairs, a cold sweat broke out on her back.
She recalled a story her maternal grandfather once told her.
A shopkeeper not only embezzled the shop’s earnings but also falsely reported the daily income as twenty percent higher.
Nothing seemed amiss for a few days or weeks. But over time, the owner, believing he had substantial savings, decided to expand the business.
He committed to purchasing land and goods without prior investigation.
When the time came to withdraw the funds, he was met with an empty treasury and faced complete ruin.
Her grandfather used this story to emphasize the necessity of regular audits.
She never imagined a similar situation could occur in matters of state.
If there were no iron ore in the warehouses, and this was only discovered when there was an urgent need to forge armor due to war, it would be a catastrophic disaster!
This scheme of pulling the rug from under their feet was truly terrifying, making one’s hair stand on end.
In his urgent report, the Second Prince speculated that the Governor of Qingzhou had likely been murdered.
The current Qingzhou Chief Inspector had either defected to the enemy or had also been killed and replaced by an imposter.
In short, had this not been discovered in time, the consequences would have been unthinkable.
The Second Prince requested the Emperor to immediately dispatch elite troops for support, ideally to recapture the mines and restore order in Qingzhou.
After reading it, Jiang Xingyan felt a surge of anxiety.
After signing the divorce agreement, the soul swap had to be successful!
“General Huo, what is your view on this matter?”
Under the expectant gazes of everyone present, Jiang Xingyan steadied her mind and responded clearly: “Your subject believes that we must absolutely not issue an edict to mobilize troops. Doing so might allow spies in the capital to catch wind of it and relay the information, endangering the Second Prince.
Even with the help of the Qingzhou Chief Inspector, if Northern Luo wanted to occupy two iron mines undetected, they must have used elite forces to seize them secretly in a surprise attack.
Deploying a large contingent would require supplies and provisions that couldn’t be hidden for so long.”
Although she knew little about military strategy, she understood business.
Walls have ears; success depends on secrecy.
“Consider how many troops would be stationed at a single mine—a hundred men at most is sufficient.
The miners used by Northern Luo are likely the original workforce.
Such a setup is not formidable.
I humbly request Your Majesty’s permission to select five hundred elite soldiers from the Huo Army’s assault battalion. We will travel swiftly by night, laying low by day, and move with discretion.
We will rendezvous with the Second Prince three evenings from now, scout the mountains together, and then decide our course of action.”
Xiao Ao nodded repeatedly. “Excellent! Approved!
Western Zhou is fortunate to have you, General Huo! It is the people’s blessing and mine as well!”
The officials hastily chimed in with praises: “General Huo is mighty! You will surely achieve immediate victory, recapture the mines, and meet with instant success!”
Jiang Xingyan cupped her hands in a modest salute.
Yun Chunfeng had stopped fanning, leaving the fan resting on Little Ya’s belly, allowing her to pluck at its feathers with her small hands.
He spoke calmly: “Your Majesty, this humble one believes there are still Northern Luo spies within the capital, which has hindered many of our actions.
If we can root out these eyes and ears of Northern Luo, Western Zhou can regain the initiative in our overt and covert struggles with them.”
When “Huo Ci” had mentioned this earlier in passing, Xiao Ao had only frowned and glanced displeased at the Third Prince, intending to reprimand him privately in the study after the court session.
He hadn’t expected Yun Chunfeng to lay the issue out so explicitly, dissecting it openly.
He might as well have pointed directly at the Third Prince and accused him of incompetence.
Xiao Zhonghua lowered his head, a faint smile playing on his lips.
This Yun Chunfeng was truly vindictive.
He accepted the gifts but still had to throw a stumbling block in his path.
This was a warning not to entertain any deceitful schemes.
A truly troublesome opponent.
If his father learned that he had neglected his official duties and harassed Huo Ci and Yun Chunfeng, the image he had painstakingly built would surely be severely diminished in the Emperor’s eyes.
Before Xiao Ao could reprimand him, Xiao Zhonghua proactively knelt forward, wearing an expression of remorse and self-reproach.
“Your son is guilty!
I have failed in my duty by not purging the capital of spies.
However, I privately thought that suddenly rooting out all of Northern Luo’s spies might be counterproductive.
If they detect something and hide their tracks more deeply, Western Zhou would be in a more passive position.
Therefore, after identifying the locations of several spies, I have already dispatched guards to watch them, monitor their every move, and obtain firsthand intelligence promptly.”
“Oh? So, according to you, we shouldn’t kick their doors down and arrest and bind them with great fanfare?” Yun Chunfeng wore a cold smile, clearly not prepared to let Xiao Zhonghua off easily.
Xiao Ao, of course, knew what had happened.
Sitting in his position, he trusted no one, not even his own sons.
He had already received reports from his spies about the previous afternoon’s events.
If no one mentioned it today, he would have grown suspicious of potential collusion between the three.
After all, his third son had spent a fortune trying to bribe both Huo Ci and Yun Chunfeng.
Unexpectedly, both had brought it up.
One was just more subtle, the other more blunt.
Xiao Ao felt inwardly satisfied. He feigned a few words of reprimand towards Xiao Zhonghua, penalized him three months’ worth of salary, and then concluded the court session, instructing “Huo Ci” to make haste with the preparations.
As soon as the court adjourned, Jiang Xingyan and Yun Chunfeng rushed to the military camp.
Wang Qi drove the carriage at breakneck speed, arriving at the camp gates in half the usual time.
“Wang Qi, wait here. I’ll bring Xia Feng out, and then we’ll return to the General’s manor.” Jiang Xingyan instructed hastily as she hurried into the military camp.
She heard soldiers panic passing messages: “He’s back, he’s back, the General is back!”
“Hurry, hurry, put it on Vice General Xin!”
Jiang Xingyan had no time to deal with whatever mischief they were up to now.
She rushed to the tent in a few quick strides and called out, “Xia Feng, grab the bamboo tube and come back to the manor with me—”
Turning around, the sight that met her eyes choked off the rest of her words in her throat.