The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the Somersault Cloud, Old Zhu was so envious he cried!

Upon hearing Empress Ma's question.

Xu Da then realized that this was not the time for idle chatter.

The situation is critical at this moment.

More than half of the soldiers suffered from vomiting and diarrhea, and felt weak all over, after drinking contaminated water.

Let alone asking them to take up knives and kill people,

Being able to control oneself from peeing in one's pockets,

That already shows how capable they are.

As for the remaining small number of soldiers who were lucky enough not to contract the disease, they were not much better off.

The continuous raids and operations, coupled with the loss of water supply, have exacerbated the situation.

Their lips were cracked and peeling, and their eyes were lifeless; they had long since exhausted all their strength.

"Your Majesty, why are you going to the battlefield in person? Did His Majesty send you?"

Before Empress Ma could reply, Xu Da continued to ask:

"How many troops and how much food and supplies did you bring on this trip?"

From beginning to end, Xu Da always believed that Empress Ma and the others had come with the army.

Although I don't understand why His Majesty would allow the Empress and the Sixth Prince to accompany him on this mission!

But as long as reinforcements arrive...

Even if you gave him ten thousand elite soldiers,

He even dared to make a pledge to hang those remnants of the Northern Yuan and beat them until their own parents wouldn't recognize them.

But who would have thought that he would hear the question?

Empress Ma and Xu Miaoyun both turned their heads away awkwardly, too ashamed to look at him.

Xu Da was taken aback.

What's going on?

How many soldiers do you think there are?

If you don't have 10,000, 5,000 will do!

What does it mean if you don't speak?

Just then, a childish voice came from below.

"Uncle Xu, you don't need to ask. There are only the three of us here; there's no one else!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Da froze on the spot, his eyes nearly popping out of his head in disbelief.

He first looked down at Zhu Ming, then looked up at the Empress.

It's as if to say: Are you kidding me?

Empress Ma extended her right index finger, scratched her cheek somewhat guiltily, and finally nodded in response to Xu Da's gaze.

Xu Da was completely dumbfounded.

This place is more than 3,000 li away from the capital, not to mention the rugged mountain roads and bandits along the way.

Xu Da didn't dare to think too much about how the three of them had managed to get here.

How many dangers and hardships did they encounter along the way, and how much injustice did the three of them suffer?

Thinking of this, Xu Da felt a surge of anger rush to his head, making him so angry that his hair stood on end and he felt like he was about to explode.

At this moment, he disregarded all etiquette between ruler and subject and immediately launched into a tirade: "Zhu Chongba, is your brain filled with shit?!"

"The capital is so far from here, the mountain roads are difficult to travel, and bandits roam everywhere. How dare you let the three of them go out alone!"

He was halfway through his sentence when

Xu Da abruptly turned to look at Empress Ma, his eyes filled with both anger and heartache, then asked in a deep voice, "Sister-in-law, tell your brother the truth, did he force you to come?"

It's not surprising that Xu Da reacted so strongly.

In his heart, Empress Ma was the sister-in-law he respected most in his life.

In those days, heroes vied for power and the world was in chaos. Zhu Yuanzhang and his brothers from Huaixi fought bloody battles year after year, surviving countless close calls.

Empress Ma was stationed at the rear, single-handedly managing all family affairs and settling all the soldiers' families.

She personally managed all the affairs of the household.

He took good care of the families of all the generals, ensuring that the soldiers fighting on the front lines had no worries about their families.

When food and supplies were scarce, she distributed her personal wealth to reward the army; when morale was low, she personally comforted the soldiers, sewed armor, and treated the wounded.

In times of crisis, she even risked her life to protect the military clerks and safeguard the families of the soldiers.

It can be said that the fact that these people could fight on the front lines with peace of mind and make contributions without any worries is largely due to Empress Ma.

Even though these old brothers from Huaixi are now all granted titles and honors, living a life of glory and prestige.

But in their hearts, Empress Ma is still the sister-in-law they respect most in their lives!

Let's put it this way.

While others need military tokens to mobilize troops, Empress Ma only needs to show her face.

The thought that the Empress and the Sixth Prince almost got into trouble...

Xu Da could no longer suppress his anger and immediately turned to shout at his deputy general beside him.

"Gu Shi!"

The lieutenant immediately clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Your subordinate is here!"

"Pass on my order: assemble all available soldiers!" Xu Da's voice boomed, filled with rage. "We're heading back to the capital immediately. I want to confront my superior and get to the bottom of this! What is he trying to do, daring to leave my sister-in-law and his own son in this deadly place!"

The lieutenant panicked upon hearing this.

The war was not over yet, and there was no notification from the imperial court.

If they take their troops back now, wouldn't that be considered a rebellion?

Actually, the deputy general was wrong. This was not a rebellion, but clearly a purge of corrupt officials and an attempt to quell internal strife.

This is a fine tradition of the Zhu family; there's no need to make a fuss about it.

Just then, Empress Ma finally came to her senses.

After a moment's thought, he guessed what Xu Da was thinking and was immediately at a loss for words.

"Tiande, you've misunderstood. Your elder brother didn't know we were here!"

"what?"

Xu Da's anger instantly froze on his face.

Xu Miaoyun, who was standing nearby, quickly added an explanation:

"Yes, Father, His Majesty doesn't know we're here. To be precise, we were with His Majesty just an hour ago!"

Xu Da: "..."

No, what are you guys even talking about?

Are you bullying me because I never went to school?

"You mean, just an hour ago, you were in the capital with His Majesty, and an hour later, you've arrived in the northern desert?"

Once this question was asked,

Xu Da himself found it utterly absurd.

How is that possible?

"That's right!" Xu Miaoyun and Empress Ma nodded in agreement.

Xu Da's vision went black for a moment, and he shook his head repeatedly, immediately retorting, "Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

"Do you know how far this place is from the capital? It's nearly four thousand li (approximately 2,000 kilometers). In an hour, did you fly here?"

After saying that, Xu Da seemed to be amused by his own words and immediately threw his head back and laughed a few times.

"Hahaha...why aren't you guys laughing?!"

Xu Da laughed for a while and then fell silent.

Because Empress Ma and Xu Miaoyun were looking at him with serious expressions.

Zhu Ming: "..."

I've been putting up with you for so long, author!

You can't ignore me just because I'm short.

I'm practically just background noise now, who's the main character here?

……

Closer to home.

Xu Da said in a deep voice, "Are you serious?"

Empress Ma and Xu Miaoyun nodded.

Xu Da gasped in shock, nearly choking on his own clenched fist.

"Um... it's not that I don't trust you, it's just that this kind of thing is too outrageous, I..."

Before Xu Da could finish speaking, Zhu Ming shouted, "Somersault Cloud!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a streak of light flashed by.

A golden, fluffy, and soft auspicious cloud came to rest steadily in front of Xu Da.

Xu Da immediately shut his mouth.

He pointed to the auspicious clouds floating in front of him, then turned to look at Zhu Ming, who had just spoken.

Then he grinned, and the next moment his eyes rolled back and he fainted.

"Father, what's wrong?"

Just before Xu Da lost consciousness, he vaguely heard his daughter's exclamation, and then everything went black, and he lost consciousness completely.