When Gong Xinyue woke up, she found herself lying in bed.

“Your Highness.” She sat up, dragged her aching, bruised body off the bed, and knelt before Noble Consort Ya.

“This servant was useless. I failed to deliver the letter to the First Prince in time. Please punish me, Your Highness.”

“Get up.” Noble Consort Ya gently set down the cup in her hand.

Gong Xinyue stood and leaned forward slightly. “Your Highness, since the letter is gone, does it still need to be sent?”

“Of course.” Noble Consort Ya picked up a letter from the table, turned, and held it out.

“This letter is very important. You must deliver it personally into the First Prince’s hands.”

She looked at Gong Xinyue’s bruised and swollen face, her expression darkening somewhat.

“If there is another mishap, you won’t need to remain here any longer.”

Gong Xinyue took the letter with both hands and dropped to her knees with a thud.

“Please rest assured, Your Highness! I will personally hand this letter to the First Prince.”

“Go.” Noble Consort Ya waved her hand.

“Yes.” Gong Xinyue nodded, stood, turned back to put on a coat, and left.

The next day, just before dawn, Feng Jiu’er received a letter delivered by carrier pigeon from Gong Xinyue.

“Jiu’er, what’s going on?” Zhao Yusheng asked, watching her brows knit slightly.

“There are still sixty thousand Gao Family troops on their way.” Feng Jiu’er squeezed the letter tightly, and it turned to ash in her palm.

“Along with the thirty thousand already approaching, that makes ninety thousand in total.”

“That’s far more than what we originally expected.”

Zhao Yusheng set down the tray in his hands. “Come, let’s eat first.”

Feng Jiu’er nodded and took the chopsticks Zhao Yusheng handed her.

On this westward march, she had long expected Chen Hong to come chasing after them.

She had just not expected that the troops in Chen Hong’s hands would be the Gao Family army—all of the Gao Family’s forces.

It seemed Noble Consort Ya truly had gone too far, all for the sake of a man—it wasn’t worth it!

“Zhao Yusheng, let’s go,” Feng Jiu’er said quietly a moment later.

Zhao Yusheng set down his chopsticks and picked up his teacup. “Leaving right away?”

“Yes, right away.” Feng Jiu’er stood up.

If they couldn’t win by fighting, could they not simply retreat? Their objective was never here in the first place.

Feng Jiu’er’s purpose in leading troops westward was to open the capital’s west city gate.

The Ninth Imperial Uncle would lead troops in a direct assault on the capital from the northeast, while their own force would enter through the west gate.

These past days they had traveled somewhat slowly. Aside from enemy forces occasionally obstructing them, Feng Jiu’er had also been waiting.

The army led by the Empress and General Yao had already entered Feng Clan territory. If both forces could converge at the agreed time, casualties could be minimized as much as possible.

Now, with the sudden addition of ninety thousand Gao Family troops, they clearly could not afford to wait any longer.

“Good, I’ll prepare right away.” Zhao Yusheng put down his cup and left.

The well-trained sixty thousand soldiers left the valley silently in the shortest possible time.

When Chen Hong led her troops into the valley, there was not a single figure to be seen.

Furious, she slapped the first person she saw the moment she spotted him.

“Where is everyone? Weren’t they supposed to be in the valley? Why is there nothing here?”

If she could not find Feng Jiu’er, her face would truly be beyond repair!

Even if Jian Yi did not despise her for it, she despised herself.

What was more, she would soon be meeting Jianfei, and she could not lose to Tang Xiaohua—absolutely not!

“Deputy General, don’t!” someone hurried forward to stop her. “The general didn’t mean it. Deputy General, please don’t act rashly.”

The one who had been slapped was Gao Lingzhi, Noble Consort Ya’s cousin, who was in charge of the thirty thousand Gao Family troops following Chen Hong on this campaign.

Slapped without cause in front of everyone, Gao Lingzhi drew his sword and pointed it at Chen Hong.

“You ugly monster, how dare you strike me—tired of living?”