Gold Medal Mediator [Quick Transmigration] 24p1

Chapter 24: The Empire This One Conquered For You (14-1)

Northwest, Jian City.

With Lan City, the closest to the Di Rong tribe’s grasslands, breached, the most realistic option for the Great Yong Dynasty to retake the city was to station troops in the nearby Jian City. This would ensure that the supply lines were not overstretched and vulnerable to being cut off by the highly mobile steppe cavalry.

However, because the Di Rong had previously shown a false weakness, the Great General sent by the Yong court had fallen for the trap and pursued them, leaving the rear, where Liu Ye was stationed in Jian City, to be infiltrated by the enemy in disguise, causing chaos in the city. If it weren’t for the general realizing something was wrong and turning back midway, the Emperor might have been lost.

Jian City had nearly fallen. The Great Yong’s army had shut the city gates and rested for a long time. The soldiers had gradually recovered, and the lost provisions had been tallied. There were two reasons why they had not launched another attack.

First, many non-Han people also lived in Jian City. The fact that someone had been allowed to sneak in was a lapse in security, and catching the spy had taken a great deal of effort.

Some in the army suggested driving all the non-Han people out, but others objected, because many of them had intermarried with the Central Plains people for several generations and could be considered subjects of the Great Yong Dynasty. How could they drive their own people out during a war?

Moreover, if those people were forced by the enemy to become a suicide squad to attack the city, how could the soldiers in the city bring themselves to strike them down?

The second problem was that Liu Ye had fallen ill.

This was something only Jiang Zhenhai, who was by his side, knew. After all, the Emperor personally taking the field served to boost morale. Being ambushed by the enemy could be explained as a small accident, as the losses were not too great.

But if they knew that just one attack from the Di Rong had left their emperor so gravely wounded, what was the point of this war?

“Cough, cough, cough…” A series of uncontrollable, low coughs came from the bedroom of the central residence in the city.

Jiang Zhenhai, in his heavy armor, with his red-tasseled helmet tucked under his arm, stood by Liu Ye’s bed, watching with concern as he exhaustedly read a memorial, his voice still steady and composed as he gave his orders:

“Relay my decree: strip General Yang Yicheng of his position as deputy commander and imprison him.”

That general, Yang Yicheng, was of noble birth. His father had assisted the late emperor and had led the Great Yong’s soldiers to repel the Di Rong tribes seven times. But because of his years on the battlefield, he had developed many ailments and had passed away not long after the late emperor.

Although he had never been on the battlefield with his father, he had grown up in military camps. Liu Ye had appointed him in this battle, thinking that with his father’s achievements, the son of a general couldn’t be too far off.

But he never expected…

The Great Yong to suffer such a humiliating defeat right from the start.

Jiang Zhenhai had suffered alongside the Emperor these past few days, and the yellow earth of the border had worn away much of his playboy-son-of-a-noble-family air. Hearing Liu Ye’s decree, he hesitated, wanting to plead for Yang Yicheng—

After all, the Great Yong Dynasty had always valued literature over martial arts. The entire court was filled with civil officials who could manage floods and disasters, but there were few who were skilled in commanding troops. Moreover, if it weren’t for the rear being infiltrated, Yang Yicheng had actually achieved some small merits on the front lines.

But before he could speak, he heard Liu Ye’s uncontrollable coughing. He even took a white handkerchief from the side and coughed up blood.

He was shocked and immediately cried out, “Your Majesty, the military physician has instructed that you must take care of your dragon body and not overthink things, which will worsen your condition!”

Liu Ye finally stopped his violent coughing, waved a hand at him dismissively, and smiled.

“Military physician? They can’t even identify the poison on the arrow, what talk is there of recuperating—since I have decided to launch this campaign, I must see it through to the end. Otherwise, to lose a city, to lose a country, so inexplicably, in a few days when I go down, what face will I have to see my ancestors?”

Hearing him speak as if his death were imminent, Jiang Zhenhai was shocked and knelt before him. “Your Majesty is in the prime of his life, and your merits will last for a thousand autumns. You must not say such things! The Great Yong still awaits your golden age of peace and prosperity!”

Liu Ye was not as resolute as he appeared. As a newly enthroned emperor, it was impossible for him not to want to achieve great things. But who could have predicted that fate would be so…

He still had a chest full of ambitions he had yet to realize.

Moreover, he had not even left behind a single child. If something were to happen to him in this place, it would not just be his own life that was cut short.

He would have thrown away the empire his ancestors had built with their own hands!

Thinking of this, he looked at Jiang Zhenhai before him. If he didn’t know that this man was incompetent, that the entire Jiang family had no other talents, that the fate of the royal manor rested solely on the Empress, and that Jiang Yao was completely devoted to him, he would not have kept such a person by his side.

Fortunately, this Jiang Zhenhai had no merits in leading troops, but he was good at keeping his mouth shut.

Liu Ye said in a low voice, “How is the search for the medicine I commanded you to find?”

He was now treating this brother-in-law as a trusted courtier.

A cold sweat broke out on Jiang Zhenhai’s forehead. “This subject is incompetent. I have not yet received any useful news—”

Liu Ye held out a memorial, his eyes narrowed, making his scalp tingle.

Jiang Zhenhai kept his head down, cursing silently in his heart: When is someone from my sister’s side going to come? I really can’t hold on much longer!

He thought for a moment and tentatively suggested to the Emperor, “Your Majesty, now that you are unwell, and this camp is full of men, they are somewhat clumsy in caring for you. Why not—” let my sister come over?

“I have my own judgment on this matter. You may leave,” Liu Ye said coolly.

Jiang Zhenhai acknowledged, took his leave from the Emperor, and had just stepped outside when he breathed a sigh of relief. He then saw someone run over, lean in, and whisper something to him.

“Your Highness, someone from outside has reported that a palace attendant has come with the Empress’s private seal, on Her Majesty the Empress’s orders, to find you on an urgent matter.”

Talk about the devil!

Jiang Zhenhai’s eyes widened. He grabbed his clothes in excitement. “Are you serious? Quick, take me to them!”

Although his sister hadn’t come herself, she had sent someone. It was a temporary relief for his urgent situation. He just hoped that the person who had come was truly useful!

**

In the distant capital.

Huan Xi rolled up her sleeves and squatted by the water basin, laboriously beating the endless pile of clothes with a heavy wooden stick. Her fingers were already swollen from being soaked in water all day. The cold wind she endured every morning and night soon made her hands rough, with many small, chapped cuts.

From a distance, she heard the fawning voice of a managing nanny. “Consort Jing, why must you do this?”

Huan Xi was stunned for a moment. She wiped the sweat from her forehead, a sour feeling rising in her heart.

Sure enough, a short while later, Chun Tao came in, supporting her mistress. Without even looking at the surrounding square pools, she walked straight down the narrow path towards her, scaring the managing nanny of the laundry bureau so much that she almost knelt down and begged her not to go any further.

If something were to happen, even if the Emperor wasn’t in the palace, the Empress had always been strict. She wouldn’t have enough heads to compensate for even a slight mishap to Consort Jing.

She hurriedly shouted, “Huan Xi! What are you still standing there for! Your mistress has condescended to see you. When did it become your turn to put on airs?”

People like Huan Xi, who were favorites in the various palaces, were usually untouchable by these managers. So, when such a person fell to a place no one wanted to go, they would also be subjected to the cruelest suppression.

But those people in the Department of Laundry hadn’t been able to lord it over her for long before the place was graced by the presence of Consort Jing. This one was also a favorite of the Emperor and was allied with the Empress. No one dared to offend her.

So, Huan Xi was freed from the basic task of scrubbing toilets and was transferred to help out in the laundry bureau, finally free from the stench that clung to her day after day.

Hearing the nanny’s words, she quickly wiped her hands and went to meet Shen Qingyu, curtsying to her. “Greetings, Consort Jing.”

Chun Tao spoke for her, saying to Huan Xi, “It is not convenient to speak here. Come out with us.”

Huan Xi looked around, gave them a grateful smile, but her feet did not move. “Your Highness, you have seen this servant’s situation now. Though I have fallen to this state, it is what I deserve. Your Highness need not waste any more effort on this servant. As this concerns my mistress, this servant will not say another word.”

Even though the Empress no longer allowed her to serve by her side and had stripped her of her status, in her heart, she still had only one mistress: Jiang Yao.

Chun Tao was annoyed at this. “Huan Xi, open your eyes and see clearly. The one who has been thinking of you every day is not your mistress. My mistress, seeing your pitiful state, has extended a helping hand to you many times, and has even come to see you every day for the past half a month. How can you be so ungrateful!”

Huan Xi’s eyes reddened. She didn’t know what to say and could only bow low to Shen Qingyu. “Huan Xi will remember Your Highness’s kindness. If there is a chance in the future, I will surely repay it.”

How could she not have felt Shen Qingyu’s kindness?

But, from the way Shen Qingyu’s words never strayed far from Qing Jia, she had already guessed something. Whether for Consort Jing’s own good, or for the good of the Empress and Qing Jia, she could not say anything about this matter.

Not in this lifetime… she could never say it.

She trembled from the extreme struggle and pain and could only take a step forward and say softly to Shen Qingyu:

“Your Highness, if you wish to remain in alliance with Her Majesty the Empress, please—stay away from Qing Jia. This is for your own good, and for Qing Jia’s good as well.”

“This servant has said all she can. Please do not worry about this servant in the future, Your Highness. This servant is terrified.”

Even after leaving the laundry bureau, Shen Qingyu was still in a daze. She clutched her handkerchief tightly, walking on the long palace path, and asked Chun Tao beside her:

“Chun Tao, what did she mean by that just now?”

Chun Tao hadn’t understood either, but she had been in the palace for many years and sometimes had an intuition for danger. Now, she spoke up to persuade her, “Your Highness, in this servant’s opinion, that Maiden Qing Jia is, after all, someone by the Empress’s side. Although you have frequent contact with Her Majesty the Empress, that is ultimately a matter of the Palace of Eternal Joy. It is best that you do not interfere.”

But Shen Qingyu felt she was missing something important.

She thought for a moment, then patted Chun Tao’s hand. “No. Find someone to inquire at the Palace of Eternal Joy. See who Qing Jia was in contact with before she left.”

Chun Tao’s face was full of disapproval. “Your Highness!”

But Shen Qingyu was firm. “Go quickly!”

**