Having many children brings many blessings; the struggle for power begins with marriage.

Chapter 345 The Minister Impeaches the Eldest Princess

Upon hearing the sounds coming from outside the main hall, the ministers inside instantly became excited.

Urgent report from Youping County?

Youping County is adjacent to Yong'an County. This is a battle report from Youping County. Doesn't that mean that the Great Wu army has already captured Yong'an County?

But then again, is the Northern Kingdom's army really that useless?

At this moment, Chai Jiliang frowned, his expression turned very unpleasant, and a look of worry appeared on his face.

He didn't believe that Da Wu's 300,000-strong army could take Yong'an County after the war started. Yong'an County had 50,000 heavy cavalry, and the Northern Kingdom had also sent hundreds of thousands of troops to garrison Yong'an County.

Furthermore, if the Great Wu army really took Yong'an County in such a short time, it means that the Northern Kingdom's forces in Yong'an County are definitely insufficient. In that case, the Northern Kingdom's forces are very likely to have gone to other places.

The easier it is to capture Yong'an County, the greater the resistance the main force of the northern army will encounter.

No matter how you look at it, the battle report sent back from Youping County this time is not good news.

Just as Chai Jiliang was thinking this, a messenger entered the main hall. He immediately knelt on the ground and, under the expectant gazes of the ministers, loudly reported: "A message from Youping County via carrier pigeon reports that General Ying's army of 300,000 was defeated by the Northern Kingdom's army. General Ying has retreated to Lingyun City, and his current situation is unknown!"

Upon hearing this, the hall erupted in uproar.

They all thought the Northern Kingdom had been defeated, but unexpectedly, it was the Great Wu that was defeated.

How is that possible?

Ying Feiyu was a seasoned general who had fought countless battles, and the soldiers of their Great Wu were all elites. How could they have been defeated in such a short time? It had only been a few days. What exactly happened in Yong'an County?

Now they are using carrier pigeons, which are usually used to send urgent reports and are not very detailed. They will only know the actual situation when the real battle report arrives in the capital.

But no matter what, a loss is a loss.

This result is basically confirmed.

Ying Feiyu's defeat means that Lingyun City is likely to fall. If Lingyun City is lost, then Youping County will not be far from being occupied by the Northern Kingdom.

Youping County is a vital route for the main force's logistics. If Youping County is captured, the main force's logistics will be completely disrupted. However, if the main force fails to conquer the Northern Kingdom immediately and its logistics are cut off, the morale of the main force will inevitably suffer.

The court was completely silent, the atmosphere incredibly heavy. No one spoke, and cold sweat broke out on everyone's foreheads.

The war had only been going on for a few days when Da Wu's 300,000 troops were defeated. Although they hadn't expected their 300,000 troops to achieve much, they at least wanted to be able to hold off the Northern Kingdom's army stationed in Yong'an County. But they were defeated so quickly. Wouldn't the Northern Kingdom's army be able to return to reinforce them soon?

Once the Northern Kingdom's army returns to Yong'an County to reinforce, Da Wu's main force will likely be unable to enter Yancheng, thus Da Wu's plan will fail.

The ministers dared not speak, fearing they would anger the Empress. After an unknown amount of time, the Empress finally spoke, cursing, "Useless! A bunch of useless trash!"

"That good-for-nothing Ying Feiyu couldn't even last half a month before he was defeated! What use is he to me! And he's supposed to be a seasoned general who has fought countless battles!"

Seeing that the Empress was angry, the ministers in the hall didn't dare to even breathe loudly.

After the Emperor Wu vented his anger, Chai Jiliang stepped forward and said directly, "Your Majesty, now is not the time to be angry. Ying Feiyu's army has been defeated, and we don't even know how many soldiers they have left. We must send someone to Youping County as soon as possible to find out the situation and then send reinforcements."

"If the Northern Kingdom occupies the entire Youping County, the main force of Da Wu will be cut off from supplies, and the morale of the soldiers on the front line will definitely be affected."

Seeing that Chai Jiliang actually dared to stand up and speak at this time, the ministers in the hall had to admire him.

As expected of Chai Jiliang, only he would dare to provoke the Empress at a time like this.

Upon hearing Chai Jiliang's words, Emperor Wu quickly calmed down. Although he was still very angry, the overall situation was of utmost importance. He had to defend Youping County and absolutely could not allow the soldiers from the Northern Kingdom to launch a counterattack.

Youping County must not be lost under any circumstances; if it is lost, the entire situation will collapse.

Thinking of this, the Emperor immediately said, "Send Tang Ming to lead an army of 200,000 to reinforce Youping County. We cannot afford to lose Youping County. Also, issue an order to Ying Feiyu to come back to the capital immediately. I want to know exactly how he was defeated!"

Although the Empress Wu still couldn't accept the fact that Ying Feiyu had been defeated, she wasn't stupid. Ying Feiyu was, after all, a veteran general who had fought in many battles and defeated the armies of many enemy countries. He was the one who led the army when they attacked the Great Xia.

How could they have lost so badly this time? They must have encountered problems they hadn't anticipated. The Emperor knew that the battle report would arrive in the capital in a few days, but he wanted to hear Ying Feiyu's account in person.

At this moment, Emperor Wu stood up, flicked his sleeves, and walked away without even saying goodbye.

Seeing the Emperor leave, the ministers hurriedly said, "Respectfully seeing off Your Majesty!"

After the Emperor left, the main hall was thrown into chaos. People were discussing the battle that had taken place in Youping County, and they still couldn't believe it was true.

How could Ying Feiyu have lost so quickly?

That was an elite army of 300,000, and they couldn't even hold them off for half a month.

The fighting power of the northern soldiers is terrifying!

They initially thought that the Northern Kingdom's victory over the northern barbarians and the Tianqi King's army was due to some luck. They believed that if it were the Great Wu's army, the Northern Kingdom would be easily defeated. Now it seems that they seriously underestimated the Northern Kingdom's military strength.

Not long after.

Inside the Qingyun Palace, smoke swirled, and Wu Junwan's face was extremely pale within the red silk curtains.

She received the news from the front lines immediately. Although she had long felt that the Northern Kingdom was not so easy to defeat, she did not expect that the Great Wu army would collapse so quickly.

At this moment, Chai Jiliang entered the main hall.

"Your subject pays respects to Your Highness, the Eldest Princess!"

Wu Yunwan asked coldly, her face expressionless, "Lord Chai should already know what happened in Youping County, right?"

Chai Jiliang said, "I already knew about this in court."

Wu Yunwan asked, "What is Lord Chai's opinion on this matter?"

Chai Jiliang replied, "If the Da Wu army can hold Youping County and continue to hold back the hundreds of thousands of troops from the Northern Kingdom in Yong'an County, then as long as General Zhan and his men invade the Northern Kingdom, there is still hope of victory."

"but……"

Chai Jiliang did not continue speaking.

Wu Yunwan then asked, "Why has Lord Chai stopped talking?"

Chai Jiliang then continued, "But judging from the fact that the 300,000-strong army of Youping County was defeated so quickly, the military strength of the Northern Kingdom and the fighting power of the Northern Kingdom soldiers have far exceeded our expectations. No one knows what kind of trump cards the Northern Kingdom still has. Even if General Zhan and his men invade the Northern Kingdom's homeland, they may not be able to successfully reach Yancheng and destroy the Northern Kingdom."

The battle between Yong'an County and Lingyun City directly shattered Chai Jiliang's confidence. The army of Da Wu was so powerful, yet it was defeated in just a few days. Not only did Chai Jiliang lose confidence, but now there were very few people in the court who still had high hopes for this war launched by Da Wu.

After hearing Chai Jiliang's words, Wu Yunwan pondered for a moment, then murmured, "It seems I'm in for a lot of trouble."

Wu Yunwan thought to herself that it must be the effect of those mysterious weapons from the Northern Kingdom that caused the Great Wu army to be defeated so quickly.

If I fail to ascertain the details of those weapons in a timely manner, and the war is lost, someone will inevitably use this as a pretext to impeach me.

Thinking about this, Wu Junwan felt uneasy and began to think about how to avoid this crisis.

If someone were targeting her, she really couldn't say anything, after all, she was in charge of intelligence. She hadn't provided any information about the terrifying weapons of the Northern Kingdom, which led to the Great Wu army's crushing defeat, and she was largely to blame.

After thinking for a while, Wu Junwan had an idea. There was no other way but to use the Qian family as scapegoats.

She could shift all the blame onto the Qian family, claiming they had misled her and prevented her from providing intelligence about the Northern Kingdom. While she would still bear some responsibility, she could absolve herself of most of the blame, making it appear as if she had simply been deceived by her subordinates.

Thinking of this, Wu Junwan immediately said to the female guards in the hall, "Xiaoyu, immediately send men to arrest Qian Xingchang and his family. We can't let the Qian family escape!"

"yes!"

The female guard immediately turned and left the hall, sending people to capture the "culprit".

Seeing this, Chai Jiliang instantly understood what Wu Yunwan was doing; the princess was preparing to shift the blame.

Wu Yunwan then said to Chai Jiliang, "Lord Chai, I am likely to face many impeachments from ministers in the coming days, so I would appreciate your help in handling them."

Chai Jiliang immediately replied, "Please rest assured, Your Highness, I will not allow any villains to tarnish Your Highness's reputation."

Chai Jiliang would never allow Wu Yunwan to be caught up in the controversy of losing her title. Even if Wu Yunwan were to fall into a crisis, he would stand by the Princess's side without abandoning her. After all, this woman not only represented his political interests but was also the object of his affection.

Upon hearing Chai Jiliang's statement, Wu Yunwan smiled slightly and then said, "Then I'll have to trouble you, Lord Chai."

Chai Jiliang said, "This is what I should do."

……

A day or two later, the real battle report reached the capital. By then, the 200,000 reinforcements from Da Wu had already headed to Youping County.

The imperial court was completely silent; not a single minister dared to speak, not even Chai Jiliang.

They all knew that the latest battle reports had reached the capital, but currently only the Emperor Wu was viewing them. The Emperor Wu summoned them to court, most likely to discuss the battle reports.

At this moment, Emperor Wu took out a battle report and said, "The battle report personally written by General Ying has reached my hands."

"According to Ying Feiyu, a mysterious weapon has appeared in the Northern Kingdom. These weapons look like iron balls and are launched using catapults. Once the iron ball lands in the crowd, it will explode immediately. Once the iron ball explodes, it is like a grandmaster making a move."

"The Northern Kingdom possesses a large quantity of these weapons; the Great Wu army's formation crumbled in less than a quarter of an hour before these iron spheres!"

Upon hearing this, the hall erupted in uproar.

Like a grandmaster making a move?

What kind of weapon is this?

How could it be so powerful?

The more powerful a weapon is, the more difficult it is to use and the rarer it should be. How could the Northern Kingdom possess a large number of such mysterious weapons?

Could it be that Ying Feiyu was defeated and is therefore in a hurry to shift the blame?

If the Northern Kingdom truly possesses such a weapon, then the Great Wu's campaign against the Northern Kingdom will undoubtedly fail. A single iron ball is like the work of a grandmaster. If the Northern Kingdom possesses thousands upon thousands of such balls, how could the Great Wu possibly be a match for the Northern Kingdom?

For this campaign against the Northern Kingdom, the Great Wu only sent two Grandmasters.

Just as the ministers inside the hall were discussing amongst themselves, suddenly, a messenger's voice rang out from outside, "Urgent report from Lingyun City!!!"

Upon hearing this voice, the Martial Emperor's expression turned even more grim. If Ying Feiyu had not lied in the battle report, it likely meant that Lingyun City had already been lost.

Just then, a messenger entered the hall, knelt in the center, and tremblingly held up the latest battle report above his head, saying, "Lingyun City has fallen. Our 300,000-strong army has been completely annihilated. General Ying's fate is unknown!"

Upon hearing this, everyone in the hall gasped. The first battle report had only been in the hands of the Martial Emperor for a short while, and now the second one had arrived, this time reporting the fall of Lingyun City. This proved that Lingyun City had fallen in just one day, and Ying Feiyu hadn't even been able to hold out for a day.

Has the fighting power of the Northern Army become so terrifying?

After a moment of surprise, the eunuch beside the Empress Wu hurriedly went to the messenger, took the battle report, and immediately presented it to the Empress Wu.

After receiving the battle report, the Emperor opened it and only glanced at it briefly. He did not speak, but his face was gloomy, and it was clear that he was in great pain.

Since his ascension to the throne, he has launched numerous wars and has almost never lost one. Each war has enabled Great Wu to expand its territory and bring it a lot of land. However, this time, he not only failed to gain any land, but also lost such an important city in such a short period of time.

If everything is as described in the battle report, then Youping County will surely be occupied by the Northern Army within half a month.

Imagine an army composed entirely of "Grandmasters." How many countries could possibly stand against them? No matter how strong their city walls are, they could not possibly withstand the combined attack of hundreds or thousands of Grandmasters.

Although "Grandmaster" is just a metaphor, this weapon from the North, when used on the battlefield, truly resulted in one-sided slaughter.

Now, we can only hope that the main force of the Northern Kingdom is in Yong'an County, and that their main force can successfully invade the Northern Kingdom's territory and capture the Northern King. Otherwise, given the Northern Kingdom's military strength, if Da Wu fails to destroy the Northern Kingdom this time, they will soon be destroyed by the Northern Kingdom instead.

The Emperor's expression changed repeatedly; he still couldn't understand why such a terrifying weapon existed in the world.

He now finally understood why the Northern Kingdom was able to wipe out the northern barbarians and defeat the Heavenly King's army in such a short time.

With such a world-destroying weapon, wouldn't the Northern Kingdom be able to destroy whomever it wants?

The 300,000 elite troops of the Great Wu were defeated in a single day; what are those barbarians compared to them?

The hall was utterly silent; not a single minister uttered a word, and one could even hear their breathing. Suddenly, the Imperial Censor Zhang Yuanbai spoke, saying, "I impeach the Princess for neglecting her duties, disregarding human life, and abusing her power!"

Only one chapter today. I wasn't feeling well and slept all day.

(End of this chapter)