Zhutian: My skills are not serious

Chapter 590 Chu Pingsheng: See? Those who believe in me will have eternal life.
"Pour the water out of the wooden barrel into the water bag over there, and then give it to the fire officer. Ask the stove soldier to add the bath... no, holy water to the porridge when he cooks it tomorrow morning."

"are you serious?"

Until now, Ling Longjiao still thinks that this is Mr. Chai's bad taste.

"of course."

"Don't say I didn't advise you. It's your Chai family's father and son's trademark that you mess up things."

"Just do what you're told to do, there's no need to waste time talking nonsense."

After saying this, Chu Pingsheng opened the curtain of the tent and walked away in his wooden clogs.

Ling Longjiao picked up the water bag thrown in the corner, walked to the wooden barrel, and began to scoop bath water into it. As she was scooping, she suddenly realized a problem. When she was making love with Chai Shao in bed, if she smelled carefully, there was a faint fragrance on his body, which was not floral, not honey, and not fruity. She thought it was the smell of the floral dew he used when bathing, but until today when she helped him bathe, she found that he only used heated water, without flower petals or floral dew, but the bath water he used was tainted with the smell of his body, but it was very faint and you had to smell it carefully to smell it.

Where on earth does this fragrance come from?

……

When the Sui army entered Lin Shihong's southern stronghold Wengyuan, a major event took place in Chang'an City - Yang You announced his abdication to Li Yuan, changed the country's name to Tang, changed the reign title to Wude, appointed Li Shimin as the Minister of the Chancellery, and appointed Li Jiancheng as the Grand Marshal of the Eastern Expedition. However, the matter ended there, and there was no rush to appoint a crown prince.

People in the world were talking about this, but most people thought that the Li family had finally torn off their disguise and showed their fangs. In this way, Li Yuan was no different from those mercenary rebels, and he had no scruples about attacking Luoyang, the eastern capital where Yang Tong was located.

A few days later, in Taiji Palace, Wude Hall.

Li Jiancheng slammed his fist on the desk, causing the four treasures of the study to rise more than half an inch high.

"hateful……"

Earlier, Pei Ji suggested at a court meeting that Li Yuan should appoint a crown prince early to calm the military's morale. However, Li Yuan hesitated for a long time and made up a random topic to evade the question.

This move caused many ministers in the court to be suspicious. Afterwards, a confidant reported that two generals of the Changlin Army had privately contacted Zhangsun Wuji of the Tiance Mansion.

Li Yuanji said, "Brother, today's incident... I didn't expect that Miss Shu Ni's prediction would come true."

"Dong Shu Ni? What did she say?"

"She said that Song Yuzhi agreed to marry my second brother in exchange for him sending Shang Xiuxun to Lingnan. Once the Li family and the Song family become relatives, they will become the strongest force in the world. Although according to etiquette, you should be the crown prince, but from the perspective of political interests, it is more beneficial to the Li family's ambition to let my second brother be the crown prince." After Li Yuanji finished speaking, he pondered for a moment and said, "Brother... did you... promise her that if you become the crown prince, you will make her the crown princess?"

"She...how could she tell you what we talked about in private?"

"Brother, it seems you don't know yet."

"what do you know?"

Li Yuanji took two steps forward and whispered, "Father...is also eyeing Miss Dong."

"Father is also eyeing Miss Dong?" Li Jiancheng was stunned.

"Brother, you can't be so slow to react, right?" Li Yuanji sighed and said, "The day before yesterday, I went to the back garden to relax and saw Miss Dong sitting alone in the pavilion, staring at the water in a daze. Her eyes were red and seemed to have tears. I was worried that she was upset, so I went over to ask her if she had any worries. She didn't say anything at first, but then I brought up my brother and threatened her that if she didn't say anything, I would tell you about it. She turned around, choked up for a while and told me that a eunuch in the palace asked her indirectly about her opinion of the emperor. Brother, what does this mean? You should understand it without me saying anything, right?"

Li Jiancheng groaned for a moment and asked, "What did Miss Dong say?"

"Miss Dong...didn't respond to this topic, but the eunuch kept talking about it, so she felt upset and went to the back garden to relax. Later, I comforted her a few words, and she told me that you promised her that you would marry her as the Crown Princess when you became the Crown Prince, and help the Wang family avenge and kill Xiao Meiniang and Dugu Feng. However, the Emperor has been on the throne for some time, and he has always been ambiguous about the matter of establishing a Crown Prince. If you can't become the Crown Prince, your second brother will take advantage of the momentum of marrying Song Yuzhi and take the position of Crown Prince. With his personality, in order to successfully seize the world, he will most likely take a conciliatory approach to Xiao Meiniang and the Dugu family. How can the great revenge of the Wang family be avenged? So at that time...even if she was unwilling, she could only ask the Emperor to help her avenge her hatred."

After listening to his third brother's explanation, Li Jiancheng gritted his teeth and said, "Li Shimin..."

Although he was angry at Li Yuan's actions, he was his biological father after all and he dared not disobey him. Li Shimin was different. He and Li Yuanji had not had a good relationship with Li Shimin before, and now they were even more resentful of each other.

"Before, we proposed to use Shang Xiuxun to coerce Chai Shao, but he disagreed. He said a lot of righteous and high-sounding words, and then turned to the Lingnan Song family to ask for the person, and he agreed. He also sent Hong Fu and Xiuning to take the person to Yulin. Now I understand. He didn't agree to do this at the beginning because he got Yang Gong's treasure house, and the things in it belonged to the entire Li family. We have a share of the credit. Now, after marrying Song Yuzhi, Zhennan King Song Que is his big backer. Can father not consider the feelings of the Lingnan Song family when appointing the crown prince? The future queen and princess have a big gap in status."

Li Yuanji sneered, "When Father received Song Zhi's letter and asked for his opinion, he looked very embarrassed. Father felt that he sacrificed his personal reputation for the benefit of the family, so he felt guilty about him and tried to make amends. Humph, in the end, he took all the benefits."

"Despicable villain!" Li Jiancheng clenched his fists tighter and tighter, his knuckles turned white and made a crackling sound.

Li Yuanji stole a glance at his eldest brother's expression and thought, go ahead and fight with Li Shimin. It would be best if both of you are injured or die. Only then will I, the "third son", have a chance to come to the fore.

"Yuanji, in your opinion, what should we do now?"

"This……"

Li Yuanji thought for a moment and said, "In the battle of Yang Gong's Treasury, the Tian Ce Mansion lost many soldiers and generals, and more than half of Li Shimin's black armor elite cavalry were killed or wounded. Although the Changlin Army also lost some personnel, the main force is still there. Now my father has reached an agreement with Jie Li Khan and Xue Ju in the west, and is preparing to join forces with Liu Wuzhou and Liang Shidu in the north, and Li Mi and Yu Wenhuaji in the east to attack Yang Tong and take Luoyang in one fell swoop. Imagine if something unexpected happens in this war, as long as we preserve our strength and have the Changlin Army in hand, can my father still blame us too much? At that time, if I don't make my eldest brother the crown prince, who else can I make the crown prince?"

Li Jiancheng stared at Li Yuanji's eyes for a while, then understood. He slowly loosened his clenched fists and stroked the smooth armrests on both sides of the couch.

……

Seven days later.

Lingnan at the end of September has a hint of autumn. At least the mornings and evenings are no longer so hot and humid, and the sight of sunrise in the east and rain in the west has not appeared for many days.

The eighteen elite cavalrymen rushed to the front of the team, their golden helmets covering their mouths and noses, and only their eyes full of murderous intent could be seen. Their eyes were as sharp as the long swords in their hands. Behind the eighteen elite cavalrymen were the iron cavalrymen wearing silver armor and fine long spears produced under the guidance of Dongming craftsmen. As the thousands of cavalrymen galloped, the armor pieces reflected the sunlight, making people dizzy. The roar of the horses' hooves was connected together, more urgent than the war drums, and as deafening as thunder.

Linglong Jiao reined in her warhorse and tucked her wind-blown black hair behind her ears. She looked at the cavalry in front of her, and then at the infantry behind her who were marching hurriedly with some holding spears, some carrying strong bows, and some holding ladders. Her snotty face was no longer there, but one that looked as if she had seen a ghost.

Call...

Dugu Feng stopped the black-maned horse of the same color as her outfit, and looked at Linglong Jiao, but did not find anything unusual.

"Why don't you leave?"

Ling Longjiao has been like this ever since she left Wengyuan. No one knows what she is surprised about. Even her image as a cold and aloof saint is no longer valid.

"No...Nothing, I'm fine."

Linglongjiao looked dazed and her tone was strange, she didn't look like everything was alright at all.

"Nothing? You don't look like you're okay."

"I was just thinking about the holy water."

Coincidentally, a general and his soldiers passed by below, and the breeze carried the conversation between the two.

"Minister Chai is truly a contemporary genius. He went to Chang'an alone with one servant and not only defeated the Li family's army, but now he even knows how to pray to God for blessings. I led an army of 800 people. Before arriving at Wengyuan, 40% of them had already suffered from water and soil incompatibility, and 20% had completely lost their fighting power. However, since Minister Chai used the holy water bestowed by the heavenly officials to cook porridge for everyone, in just three to five days, those who were suffering from water and soil incompatibility were all cured. Look at the soldiers in front, each of them is full of energy, eating and sleeping well. If they are bitten by ordinary poisonous insects, they just need to drink more water and rest for half an hour and they will be fine. It doesn't look like they have traveled a long distance or that the Northern Army is marching south."

"Yes, this holy water is so magical. The generals and counselors of various departments all said that the Empress Dowager led the army in person, and it was a blessing from heaven. We will definitely win this battle."

"..."

The corners of Linglongjiao's mouth and cheek muscles seemed to be out of control, twitching back and forth.

The whole army thought that Minister Chai was a star descended from heaven, able to communicate with the spirits of the gods, and to obtain holy water to regulate the health of everyone. Only she, who served Minister Chai every day, bathing and changing clothes, scrubbing his body, and occasionally sleeping with him, understood that what holy water was that? That was his bath water.

Boiling porridge with bath water can cure acclimatization and various dampness and toxic sores. It is really out of the ordinary.

This is also the reason why she has been managing her facial expressions poorly since leaving Wengyuan.

"Drive, drive, drive..."

At this moment, Xiang Siren, who was wearing a black armor with mountain patterns and carrying two maces on his horse, and Shangguan Long, who had a pale face and a pair of goldfish eyes, approached from behind, accompanied by Chu Pingsheng, whose hair was much shorter.

"We just received news from the rear troops that the Zhennan Prince Song Que is fighting fiercely with the Jiangnan Army that is escorting our food and supplies in Zhenyang County. The dry food that the vanguard troops are carrying can only last for two days."

The sound rolled, and Chu Pingsheng's words resounded through heaven and earth, and could be heard by all the eight thousand pioneers.

No matter whether it was the generals, staff officers, soldiers, or even Dugu Feng and Ling Long Jiao, they were all stunned and their faces looked unhappy. The army's food supply was cut off, and one could imagine how bad the situation would be next.

The two of them couldn't understand why he would inform the entire army of such bad news?

"Ten miles south of here is Cangwu City. The commander in the city is Song Que's younger brother Song Zhi. Cangwu City is the gateway to Yulin. Because it is surrounded by mountains and water on three sides, it is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Therefore, the city has stored heavy troops and food and grass enough to support us for several months. Now Song Que has cut off our food supply, and there are problems with our supply. If we don't want to starve to death, the only way is to capture Cangwu City in one fell swoop and chop off Song Zhi's head to let Song Que see that his self-righteous tactics are nothing but a mantis trying to stop a chariot in front of the Empress Dowager's might."

Chu Pingsheng rode forward, holding high the shining purple sword in his hand, and shouted: "My fellow soldiers, join me in the battle, kill Song Zhi, and conquer Cangwu."

The soldiers looked at him in admiration and shouted:

"Kill Song Zhi and defeat Cangwu!"

"Kill Song Zhi and defeat Cangwu!"

"Kill Song Zhi and defeat Cangwu!"

"..."

The soldiers all waved their swords and guns and responded loudly with astonishing courage and murderous intent.

As he kicked the horse's belly, the precious horse galloped forward with all its hooves flying. The eighteen elite cavalrymen in the front, who were well protected, each led a squad of 120 cavalrymen and urged their horses to move forward quickly.

Xiang Siren and Shangguan Long looked at the army with high morale, and their admiration for Minister Chai was like a surging river, endless.

It was obvious that before arriving at Nankang County, he deliberately allowed the morale of the expeditionary army to continue to decline, and only when it reached rock bottom did he give the next drastic measure to change the situation.

What about asking the heavenly officials to bestow holy water? The soldiers and the petty officials believed this, but the martial artists like them did not. Just imagine if they used "holy water" to make porridge as soon as they entered Jiangnan, and everyone was used to it today, and then they used it after entering Lingnan, the soldiers would not only be grateful to them, but would also regard it as God's will. You can imagine how this would help boost morale.

In this situation, Song Que cutting off the army's food supply would only stimulate the soldiers and give them the courage to fight to the death, and Minister Chai could also use this to rally the army's morale and defeat the enemy.

Just like that, with this momentum, Chu Pingsheng led a vanguard of 8,000 people and rushed all the way to Cangwu City, an important town in Lingnan and the gateway to Yulin.

The Song army, which had received the news long ago, had already made defensive deployments. In order to deal with the cavalry units, several rows of chevaux de frise were placed on the open space in front of the city gate, with trenches in between. Soldiers holding spears and shields could be seen inside - the spears were for stabbing the horses, and the shields were for protecting against rain of arrows.

(End of this chapter)