The Crown Prince clenched his fist and nodded, willingly accepting this blame with an extremely respectful attitude: “Chancellor Lu speaks truly! Therefore, I… am working to remedy the situation.”

Quan Yu looked at the Crown Prince. Having followed the Crown Prince for so many years, he had never seen the Crown Prince take responsibility for anyone other than His Majesty and Old Fang.

Who would have thought that this time, taking responsibility for Princess Zhenguo, he would shoulder such great blame?

Quan Yu understood that the Crown Prince had taken Bai Qingyan’s loyalty to heart, which was why he protected her so. He let out a long breath in his heart – he had finally not spoken wrongly before the Crown Prince, had not caused the Crown Prince to lose trust in Princess Zhenguo.

Seeing the Crown Prince’s earnest admission of fault, Chancellor Lu didn’t pursue the matter further, saying: “The current plan cannot concern itself with whether court officials are dissatisfied. Everyone in court knows that Princess Zhenguo’s body became frail after blocking an arrow for Your Highness. Princess Zhenguo taking to the field despite her illness for the nation – shouldn’t dispatching troops and generals be appropriate? Can Li Mingrui, with his strong and healthy body, compare to Princess Zhenguo? Your Highness need not worry about court criticism and should consider the big picture, prioritizing national affairs. If anyone speaks against this matter, this old minister will be the first to disagree! Let them come debate with this old minister first!”

Toward the Bai family, Chancellor Lu felt both admiration and heartache.

The Bai family, whether men or women, all possessed upright and strong character.

“Chancellor Lu speaks wisely. Let us report thus to Father Emperor at this morning’s court!” the Crown Prince said.

The Crown Prince, together with Chancellor Lu, Minister of War Shen Jingzhong, Minister of Revenue Chu Zhongxing, and Fan Yuhuai, left the Crown Prince’s residence together for morning court.

The Crown Prince had prepared a stomach full of words, but this morning the Emperor did not attend court.

The Emperor showed every sign of wanting to devote himself to seeking the Way. Since the Crown Prince was already governing, and military matters brooked no delay, the Crown Prince immediately ordered the Anping army to march and rendezvous with Princess Zhenguo, to follow her commands.

Chancellor Lu, Shen Jingzhong, Chu Zhongxing, and Fan Yuhuai led in agreement. Even Zhen Zeping concurred. Left Chancellor Li Mao, after his initial shock and seeing Chu Zhongxing’s meaningful glance, hurriedly joined in agreement.

On the twenty-second day of the eighth month in the seventeenth year of Xuanjia, Princess Zhenguo Bai Qingyan, who had been bedridden with illness for nearly a year and had hovered between life and death several times, donned armor and took up a sword to lead troops on campaign. The Crown Prince of Jin deployed the Anping camp to rendezvous with the five thousand Shouyang troops led by Princess Zhenguo. Provisions and medicines were prepared through the night and followed closely behind.

When Great Liang’s court made inquiries, officials throughout the court were all shocked.

Great Liang’s court officials approached the aged Emperor, whose complexion was poor as he sat on the dragon throne. Standing in the center of the great hall where the floor had been polished to a shine, they solemnly bowed to the Emperor before saying: “Although Jin’s Princess Zhenguo has a resounding reputation, her body ultimately cannot sustain itself. Our spies have reported several times this year that Princess Zhenguo was dying. Jin’s Crown Prince forcing Princess Zhenguo to emerge this time shows… that now our Liang army’s morale is greatly flourishing, and we have indeed beaten Jin so badly they cannot cope, forcing them to send a dying person to resist our Great Liang’s fierce generals! It seems that the so-called God of Death Princess Zhenguo… this time coming to our Great Liang will be a one-way journey! Your Majesty need not worry!”

Hearing these words from his court official, the Liang Emperor let out a long breath, adjusted his sitting position, leaned against his cushion, and felt that these words made sense.

Zhao Sheng, who had once been captured alive by Jin forces and only released after peace negotiations, bit his teeth and stepped forward to address the Liang Emperor: “Your Majesty, besides being invincible in valor, this Princess Zhenguo’s methods of commanding troops on the battlefield can be called supernatural. She cannot be underestimated. Even if Princess Zhenguo’s body is frail and unsuited for warfare, she can still strategize for Jin’s army. Your Majesty must not forget… it was precisely this Princess Zhenguo and Jin’s current commanding general, Liu Hong, who dealt our Liang army a great defeat!”

“Hah… General Zhao was captured once by Jin forces and had his courage cut away by Jin’s army!” someone in Liang’s court mocked Zhao Sheng.

Zhao Sheng turned to look at that unconvinced civil official, then knelt and bowed to the Liang Emperor: “Please grant Your Majesty’s favor to dispatch Zhao Sheng with the Zhao family army to provide reinforcement. Zhao Sheng has fought Princess Zhenguo before and has been defeated by her! Currently, our Great Liang’s most important natural barrier, Qingxi Mountain Pass, is in Jin forces’ hands! And Princess Zhenguo has already led troops rushing toward Qingxi Mountain Pass. Once Princess Zhenguo arrives, the manpower and resources our Great Liang will need to expend to retake Qingxi Mountain Pass will be even greater! Zhao Sheng dares to stake his head this time – if I cannot retake Qingxi Mountain Pass, I will bring my head to see you!”

Zhao Sheng solemnly kowtowed and swore an oath.

Ever since following General Xun Tianzhang on campaign, being defeated and captured by Jin forces, Zhao Sheng had never been employed by the Liang Emperor again. This time was Zhao Sheng’s opportunity. Even if he died, he had to seize this chance, or he feared he would never again have the opportunity to lead troops on campaign in this lifetime!

If a military general could not lead troops on campaign, spending all day idly in the capital, drawing a salary while passing days in leisure, how could he face his parents who brought him into this world?

As a military general, he should either be like his grandfather, who fought throughout his life with countless military achievements, or be like Great General Xun Tianzhang, dying on the battlefield.

Moreover, Qingxi Mountain Pass was Great Liang’s last dangerous barrier. If it were truly taken by Jin, then Jin’s army could march straight in… directly taking Great Liang’s capital, Han City.

Great Liang’s Prime Minister glanced at Zhao Sheng, who was earnestly kowtowing to the Liang Emperor, then stepped forward and said to the Liang Emperor: “Your Majesty, Princess Zhenguo indeed cannot be underestimated. Among our Liang court’s generals who have fought Princess Zhenguo, only General Zhao Sheng remains. For safety’s sake… this old minister earnestly requests Your Majesty to permit General Zhao to lead the Zhao family army to provide reinforcement!”

“Your Majesty, currently our Great Liang has epidemics within, with physicians helpless, and warfare without – the national treasury truly cannot sustain this!” The Minister of Revenue hurried forward, making a deep bow to the Emperor. “Speaking of campaign sounds easy, but it always requires money and grain! Currently, this epidemic has not been controlled, and even our capital, Han City already has the epidemic! This minister risks death to speak… Your Majesty should set aside hatred, make peace with Jin, and first obtain the formula to control the epidemic – this is the best strategy! Otherwise, if we only focus on warfare without regard for the people’s lives, and the people all die from epidemic disease, can this nation… still be called a nation?”

The Liang Emperor’s most beloved son was originally supposed to go to Jin for peace negotiations, but he died at Jin forces. How could the Liang Emperor not hate?

His heart burned for revenge, so when Jin previously sent envoys with medicine for the epidemic to negotiate peace, the Liang Emperor disregarded everything and executed Jin’s peace envoys to demonstrate his determination to fight to the death to avenge his son.

“Father Emperor!” The Liang Emperor’s round-faced Third Prince knelt in the great hall, fine sweat appearing on his forehead, his body trembling almost imperceptibly. “Your son dares to boldly request that Father Emperor temporarily endure humiliation, suppress Fourth Brother’s great revenge, and settle the score another day! Father Emperor, you are Fourth Brother’s father and ruler, but you are also the father and ruler of Great Liang’s people, the heaven of Great Liang’s people. You must still consider the livelihood of Great Liang’s citizens! You cannot forget the lives of Great Liang’s people because of private vengeance. The people are innocent!”