Shen Guiyan’s expression was pained. Her body convulsed twice, then she turned her head and coughed up blood, completely ignoring Xu Mengdie’s words as her whole body trembled.
This didn’t seem like pretending. Xu Mengdie was stunned for a moment before panicking and hastily going out to call for a military physician.
Her body was carried to the soft couch. Shen Guiyan kept her eyes tightly closed, only silently praying in her heart. She hoped Vice General Zhang was clever enough to heed her words and quickly return to defend Yecheng.
Vice General Zhang didn’t disappoint her hopes. Upon hearing her command, he sounded the withdrawal gong and led part of the defending forces back. Fortunately he retreated quickly. The moment the Empress disappeared into the yellow camp, the yellow and blue sides stopped fighting. Even some of the “corpses” lying on the ground stood back up, assembled into a single force, and counterattacked the red defenders.
At one glance, it was clear the Empress wouldn’t be returning. Vice General Zhang was grief-stricken and furious. The situation before him had changed too quickly, leaving no time to process anything else. He could only retreat swiftly into the city and close the city gates.
What should they do now? Vice General Zhang was completely at a loss. The enemy army clamored below the city. That rebel Gu Chaonan rode his horse to the front and shouted loudly: “His Majesty and the Empress are both outside the city gates now. Do you still dare not open them?”
The reinforcement commander also panicked, not knowing what to do. The soldiers inside the city also had low morale, sitting listlessly beneath the city walls to rest.
“Father Emperor and Mother Empress are both outside?” The First Prince was pushed onto the city wall by Xu Zhuangzhou. His tender voice sounded childish: “Then just lower a bamboo basket and have them send Father Emperor and Mother Empress up.”
Vice General Zhang was startled and turned to see the First Prince. He hastily said: “It’s dangerous here. Why has Your Highness come?”
“He insisted on pushing this prince out.” Ming Sigu honestly pointed at the person behind him.
Vice General Zhang frowned at Xu Zhuangzhou: “What does Young Master Xu mean by this?”
Xu Zhuangzhou lowered his eyes and said softly: “The Empress fell into a trap and was captured. Isn’t there still His Highness the Prince in the city? This Yecheng protects the entire realm. If they only wanted His Majesty and the Empress to enter the city, wouldn’t using a bamboo basket to bring people up be fine? If they insist on opening the city gates, isn’t it because they want to take the opportunity to occupy Yecheng?”
After listening in silence for a while, Vice General Zhang sighed: “That may be so, but the realm belongs to His Majesty. Now guarding this empty city while leaving His Majesty and the Empress outside—no matter what, it doesn’t make sense…”
“Mother Empress said the realm will be protected by me in the future.” Ming Sigu looked somewhat bewildered at the vast army below. The small child didn’t understand what the realm was or what protecting meant, but he remembered Father Emperor saying that Mother Empress wouldn’t harm him, and what Mother Empress said must be right.
So he said this sentence completely incongruous with his age.
It also shocked Xu Zhuangzhou and Vice General Zhang.
“Does His Highness the Prince mean not to open the city gates?” the reinforcement vice commander asked.
Several adults surrounded a child sitting in a wheelchair, while outside ten thousand people clamored. The scene was somewhat peculiar.
Ming Sigu didn’t understand what would happen if they opened the gates or didn’t open them, but when Mother Empress was here, what she said most often was—the city gates cannot be opened.
So he nodded.
Although only a three-year-old child, he was after all the current emperor’s only son and the legitimate eldest son. In his name, they could continue defending the city, couldn’t they?
Vice General Zhang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and cupped his fists in acknowledgment.
Yecheng still didn’t open its gates. Gu Chaonan continued leading troops to attack the city. In Gu’s army camp, Xu Mengdie was frowning at the military physician.
This military physician was a barefoot doctor found from a nearby town. He liked to call himself a divine physician, but his medical skills were somewhat haphazard. However, for the time being, they couldn’t find another military physician, so Xu Mengdie could only treat a dead horse as if it were alive.
After examining the pulse for a long time, the military physician muttered for quite a while before saying: “Vomiting blood, fainting, convulsing—I fear… she has some incurable illness.”
“You fear?” Xu Mengdie frowned: “Can’t you make a definitive diagnosis?”
The military physician trembled, then said stubbornly: “Who says I can’t? This lady’s pulse is chaotic—it’s a rare illness not seen in many years. It’s called… called broken intestine syndrome. Most ordinary doctors couldn’t even diagnose it.”
Xu Mengdie listened with skepticism: “Is this true?”
“It’s true!” the military physician said: “If you don’t believe me, go find other doctors to examine her!”
Xu Mengdie’s heart sank. This was difficult to handle. She had wanted to keep Shen Guiyan to threaten the Emperor. If Shen Guiyan died before the Emperor reached Yecheng, when the Emperor became enraged, wouldn’t he directly raze Gu’s army camp to the ground?
No, she had to think of a way to make the Emperor return quickly.
Originally, Gu Chaonan had used news of defeat to lure the Emperor to the border, then collaborated with the foreign tribes to draw the enemy deep, leading the Emperor all the way to the foreign border. After the Emperor pursued the foreign tribes relentlessly, they had the opportunity to leave the border with personal troops under the pretext of seeking reinforcements, first coming to capture Yecheng.
Once Yecheng was captured, when the Emperor turned back wanting to return to court, it would already be too late. Gu Chaonan would use Yecheng as a base to directly eliminate the Emperor’s troops under the pretense that they were imposter imperial forces. Finally, he would return saying the Emperor had been killed by foreign tribes, then elevate the First Prince to the throne and control court affairs.
The plan was good, but they hadn’t expected Shen Guiyan to be so difficult to deal with. With just that few defending troops guarding Yecheng, she had forcibly delayed them for nearly a month. Now that they had finally caught her, they must make good use of her.
No sooner said than done. Xu Mengdie immediately went out to order someone to use express letters to inform Gu Chaobei that Shen Guiyan had fallen into Gu Chaonan’s hands.
This way, the Emperor, who was scheduled to arrive at Yecheng in eight days, would probably arrive in five or six days. If Shen Guiyan could hold on for five or six more days, she could fulfill her final purpose.
Xu Mengdie went out and stationed a large number of people to guard the tent—they were just short of having a few more people stand on top of the tent. Even if Shen Guiyan could fly, she couldn’t escape.
The military physician was still in the tent rambling to the maid responsible for serving: “This lady’s illness is truly severe. Look at this complexion, and the bloodstains at the corners of her mouth…”
Shen Guiyan felt that the fortune the National Preceptor had calculated for her back then was truly accurate—she had naturally good fortune. She had originally planned to bite her tongue to produce blood, hoping to deceive the doctor. Who knew she would encounter such a doctor who loved putting on airs.
She had absolutely nothing wrong with her. She had merely bitten her lip to cough up a little blood, then fainted with a terrible expression, yet he said she had an incurable illness.
This was truly wonderful.
Lying on the bed, only now did she have the energy to slowly think about how to escape.
She didn’t know the situation in Yecheng. From Xu Mengdie’s words, she could also tell that Gu Chaobei hadn’t died. So the pressing matter was to find a way to leave this place. Having fallen into Xu Mengdie’s hands, she had only two choices: either escape or die.
She absolutely couldn’t give her the opportunity to threaten Gu Chaobei.
It wasn’t that she was noble, but since ancient times, people who were threatened, even if they compromised in the end, wouldn’t obtain the person or thing they wanted to protect. Xu Mengdie was ruthless and scheming. Using herself to threaten the Emperor—even if the Emperor yielded, choosing beauty over the realm and giving up everything, would Xu Mengdie really keep her word and truly release her and the Emperor?
The outcome would certainly be both of them losing their lives while also losing the realm.
Rather than that, she might as well resolve herself first.
The little maid serving in the tent was Shuang’er from Xu Mengdie’s side, a trusted confidant among confidants. Trying to build rapport with her was unnecessary. As someone who had contracted an “incurable illness,” she still had to act the part convincingly.
So when Shuang’er came to wipe her face and tidy her clothes, Shen Guiyan didn’t move at all. When Shuang’er was nearly asleep leaning against her couch at night, Shen Guiyan suddenly opened her eyes and sat up rigidly.
Shuang’er was startled: “What are you doing?”
Shen Guiyan didn’t speak. Her eyes were half-open with no light in them at all. Her entire face was expressionless and gloomy. After sitting for a while, she lay back down on her own.
Shuang’er frowned. She didn’t dare sleep at night, keeping watch on her the whole time, afraid she was playing some trick. But afterward, Shen Guiyan continued sleeping peacefully.
The next day when she woke, Shen Guiyan’s spirits seemed somewhat better. After leaning against the headboard and coughing up blood, her eyes looked brightly at Shuang’er: “Why do you look so haggard?”
Of course—having not slept all night, she naturally wasn’t energetic. Shuang’er yawned and asked: “Why did Your Majesty suddenly sit up last night?”
Shen Guiyan leaned softly and weakly against the couch, looking completely bewildered: “This palace didn’t sit up.”
Shuang’er’s expression changed slightly. She turned and went out to ask the military physician. After asking, she learned it was called sleepwalking, which was also an illness. Though not fatal, it could potentially be fatal to others—that was true.
So at night, Shuang’er stayed far away from Shen Guiyan. Even when she saw her sit up again, she didn’t pay attention.
The siege warfare continued. Yecheng was more defensible than Shen Guiyan had imagined. Three days had passed, and Gu Chaonan returned empty-handed every day.
“Your Majesty truly encounters benefactors wherever you go.” Xu Mengdie came to the tent to see her, saying sarcastically: “With so many reinforcements in the city, how did Your Majesty obtain them?”
Every time Shen Guiyan saw Xu Mengdie, she coughed particularly severely. Her face was extremely pale, and her eyes very weak: “I requested them. How else would they come?”
Xu Mengdie laughed softly: “Reinforcements cannot be mobilized without military tallies or imperial edicts. Your Majesty must have used some special method?”
Shen Guiyan looked up at her.
Xu Mengdie stood up, moved closer to her, and pinched her chin: “Your Majesty’s beauty could topple nations and cities. Presumably those commanders, for this reason, are especially loyal to Your Majesty?”
She really dared say anything. Shen Guiyan’s face darkened: “Madam Gu, have some self-respect.”
“This subject’s wife has nothing to be self-respecting about. Your Majesty is the one who should.” Xu Mengdie smiled: “This subject’s wife has already sent news of the Yecheng situation to His Majesty. What does Your Majesty think—how will His Majesty praise Your Majesty for using special methods to request reinforcements?”
Threats weren’t enough—she also had to defame? Shen Guiyan snorted coldly: “It would be better if His Majesty misunderstood. Then he would be even less likely to be coerced by petty people because of this palace.”
“How noble of you, preferring to be misunderstood rather than wanting to protect your husband’s realm?” Xu Mengdie laughed derisively: “What a pity. Over all these years, this subject’s wife has seen most clearly—His Majesty won’t be able to bear parting with Your Majesty.”