"Empress, disaster has struck!"
Su Pan’er still stood on the small hill without moving, flanked by Cao Imperial Historian and others. From afar, an elite soldier sprinted towards her and knelt down with a thud in front of her.
"Reporting to the Empress, a scout has reported an unusual sighting. A squad of about nearly a thousand people is heading towards the dock. By now, they should have reached the other side of the dock. May the Empress instruct us on how to proceed."
"What are the sentinels doing? Feeding on white rice? Thousands of people sneaked up behind you and you just noticed? Hmm!"
Su Pan’er scolded angrily.
The elite soldier who had co to deliver the ssage hung his head low, not daring to make any move.
"Subordinate, subordinate did not know..."
"Hmph! What a ’did not know!’ For rits, there are rewards; for faults, there are punishnts."
Su Pan’er turned her head to look at Cao Imperial Historian beside her, "Imperial Historian, His Majesty entrusted you with the important task of finding Lord Su, and you have control over twenty thousand troops. You also have command to mobilize the surrounding military. What do you think we should do now?"
Cao Imperial Historian did not respond directly; instead, he glanced at the remaining deputy officials.
After a mont, he bowed respectfully, "Empress, we should quickly send soone to check who those people are. What their intentions are, and who is the main commander. We should investigate all these details and report back."
"Has everyone understood? Now, quickly relay the order!"
Su Pan’er rebuked the elite soldier.
The elite soldier hurriedly departed, soon blending into the night.
However, Cao Imperial Historian beside her seed to have sothing to say but hesitated.
"Imperial Historian, there is sothing I would like to discuss with you," Su Pan’er said in a grave voice.
Cao Imperial Historian quickly bowed, "Please speak, Empress."
"The Lord Su you were ordered to find this ti is my brother, Su Ke. Lord Cao, you must understand, my affection for my brother Ke’er, and our parents’ great expectations for him."
Su Pan’er moved closer to Cao Imperial Historian, "Lord Cao, and you ministers, His Majesty entrusted you and the other ministers to investigate this case because he is entrusting my brother Ke’er’s life to you all. Here, on behalf of Ke’er, I express our thanks to you all."
Finishing her speech, she bowed deeply to them.
"Empress, you must not!"
Cao Imperial Historian and the other ministers quickly stepped aside, dodging Su Pan’er’s bow.
"Empress, by doing this, aren’t you putting us in a perilous position? As for the task His Majesty entrusted to us, we will certainly accomplish it. Please rest assured, Empress."
"You ministers need not feel embarrassed. This bow is on behalf of Ke’er to you all. You all certainly deserve this bow. Please accept it without refusal."
Su Pan’er insisted on bowing once more before standing back up.
The emotions among the ministers were highly stirred.
Clearly, everyone had not expected Su Pan’er to place such great importance on Su Ke. At the sa ti, everyone felt the weight of their responsibility increase.
Su Pan’er stood up and looked at Cao Imperial Historian, "Imperial Historian, since His Majesty has fully entrusted this matter to you and the other ministers, please quickly devise a strategy. What should we do next?"
Just now, Cao Imperial Historian had wanted to speak, but out of concern that the Empress might have her own decisions, he had repeatedly hesitated.
Hearing the Empress ask again, the slight worry in his heart disappeared.
He quickly bowed, "Empress, in my humble opinion, since this incident has occurred, we should imdiately have our n dive and cross the river or directly detour to the other side. Quickly verify the situation in that house. As for those nearly a thousand people who rushed here hastily, could they be the reinforcents called by the small residence?"
His words raised everyone’s heart.
"But our forces are stationed far away. Even the closest, moving at full speed, would take two hours to reach this place. I fear distant water won’t put out a nearby fire..."
The words of Cao Imperial Historian made the nearby deputy officials nod repeatedly.
They had rushed over in haste while the military had either stationed itself in Deicide Mountain to search for people or were resting in the county city of Changze County. Naturally, moving the troops now would take ti.
Su Pan’er was silent for a mont, "How many n can we mobilize right now?"
"Approximately, around three hundred n."
Cao Imperial Historian thought for a mont, "Right now, the elite forces I brought have been dispatched to the small residence. The remaining n are those I’ve kept to protect the Empress and in case of ergencies. So, there aren’t many n we can use."
He hadn’t expected that he would have to face such a situation just after arriving from Yongzhou City, his seat hardly even warm.
Hence, there was so unpreparedness in the arrangent of manpower.
"Three hundred n against a thousand, how certain are you?"
"I wouldn’t dare say how certain, but from what we can see, the purpose of the opposition is not clear. It’s not necessarily true that those nearly a thousand people are their reinforcents. Maybe we should wait and see?"
Cao Imperial Historian felt that those nearly a thousand individuals probably weren’t targeting them.
If they were targeting them, they should have taken action in Changze County or on the way here; opportunities were plenty. Yet these people did not act this way but rather ca to this place. It was mostly likely aid at Ponder.
His statent made Su Pan’er nod, "What Cao Imperial Historian said makes sense. However, this matter is of great importance, and it’s good to be prepared before the rain."
Cao Imperial Historian and others naturally agreed with this view, and after discussing, they quickly arranged for manpower.
And they quietly pulled out the military token to assemble forces, ensuring that they would arrive at this place as quickly as possible.
After a series of arrangents, Su Pan’er hadn’t even had the chance to catch her breath when news from the scout who was investigating finally arrived.
That herd of nearly a thousand was heading straight for the small residence!
Everyone’s heart was hanging in midair, feeling the load on their shoulders grow heavier!
The situation inside the small residence hadn’t been cleared up yet, but now nearly a thousand reinforcents had arrived. Combining the two teams, their own small force would face a situation of likely nine deaths and one life.
The deputy officials were discussing quietly, sharing their insights.
"Should we avoid the sharp edge temporarily and ponder another ti to explore the small residence..."
Soone suggested.
"No!"
Su Pan’er did not wait for Cao Imperial Historian and others to speak and instinctively rejected it!
"Since they have already discovered us and made a comprehensive deploynt, we can wait, but Ke’er cannot!"
Ke’er could not wait, better safe than sorry, just in case sothing irreparable happens... No amount of crying would find a place for tears.
Moreover, Shuang’er had also disappeared at the sa ti; she could not wait any longer!
"The Empress is right, now that our whereabouts have been exposed, our actions must be swift! To prevent the opposition from relocating the hostages or taking further steps."
Cao Imperial Historian’s words made everyone nod incessantly.
Argunts about how to surround and strategize were inevitable.
Soon, manpower was arranged, and they fully charged towards the small residence.
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