In other words, the grand alliance of Goguryeo with Fusang and their submission to the Jin Kingdom ultimately only served as a bridal gift to Great Yan.
The war between Great Yan and the Jin Kingdom had reached a point where it was unavoidable.
Those ministers who advocated for peace no longer had any grounds for opposition.
When the enemy provokes you at your doorstep, failing to retaliate would only make you a coward, wouldn’t it?
While Jiang Xinyue used her feminine advantages to elevate the status of won, she also helped the emperor realize his dream of unifying the world.
The emperor’s eyes sparkled with emotion as he gazed at Jiang Xinyue for a long ti before pulling her into his embrace: “Xinyue, I will never betray you in this lifeti.”
It was only right that he wouldn’t betray her, after all, she had already devoted herself wholeheartedly to loving the emperor, always considering his interests and putting him first.
To truly love soone is to do as she did.
She had even borne the emperor three children, sothing she wouldn’t have done without a life-and-death bond between them.
Of course, to secure her position, these were her own choices, and she didn’t bla anyone.
Leaning against the emperor’s chest, she smiled softly: “Your Majesty, I will never betray your deep affection in this lifeti.”
The sweetest words of love were also a reminder to him: loving you deeply is impossible, but as long as you don’t act foolishly, I won’t betray you. However, if your affection for fades, then my attitude toward you will change as well.
She wanted the emperor to understand one thing: relationships are reciprocal. If you treat well, I will treat you even better.
If you treat poorly, I can discard you like worthless trash.
No one is indispensable; everyone can live well without the other.
In that room filled with tenderness, the emperor and empress pretended not to see the truth, and their days were warm and happy.
Sotis, it’s better to feign ignorance. If you insist on scrutinizing everything, there will be endless argunts.
Just like when Jiang Xinyue first entered the palace and was bullied, the emperor, needing to stabilize both the court and the harem, had allowed her to suffer many grievances and sches.
Now, the tables had turned. Whoever loved more had to pretend to be more oblivious.
On the battlefield, with the support of the Cavalry General, ng Qingyu, and Shi Ruojun lying in wait, Great Yan was far more united than the alliance of Fusang, Goguryeo, and the Jin Kingdom, each with their own ulterior motives.
This was the source of Jiang Xinyue’s confidence.
Fusang was, of course, a nation of opportunists, a fence-sitter that would sway with the wind. They might talk about alliances, but if you weren’t careful, they would stab their allies in the back. Everyone knew this.
Goguryeo wasn’t much better. Despite being smaller than a single province of Great Yan, they loved to boast about being the origin of the universe, as if the entire world belonged to them, completely lacking self-awareness.
The Jin Kingdom itself was a major power. If it weren’t for their desire to bring down Great Yan, they wouldn’t have even glanced at these vassal states.
Crushing them would be as easy as squashing an ant. Of course, they would first join forces to suppress Great Yan, and then these smaller nations would be no trouble at all.
Were the people of Fusang and Goguryeo all fools? Didn’t anyone in their nations understand the principle of “when the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold”?
Of course, they did.
So, they would certainly take action.
Jiang Xinyue was certain they would sche, so she preemptively sowed discord among them, spreading rumors to make them distrust each other.
Once the seed of suspicion was planted, it was only a matter of ti before it blood into sothing spectacular.
“Cough, cough, cough…”
“Your Highness! You’re coughing up blood!”
Shuxiang held the blood-stained handkerchief, her voice trembling with tears: “Your Highness, let’s inform the Empress Dowager. She’s so powerful; she’ll surely find a way to save you.”
Consort Liang’s throat itched uncontrollably as she breathed, and she coughed violently a few more tis, clutching her aching chest: “The emperor and the Empress Dowager are busy every day with state affairs and the war at the border. How can I trouble them with such a trivial matter?”
A person’s energy is limited; it’s impossible to handle everything at once.
The Empress Dowager is human, not a god. It’s just that the won of this world admire her so much that they’ve turned her into a savior, an omnipotent deity.
“Your Highness, Noble Consort Ye is here. She said she had an appointnt with you yesterday to pick up a embroidery pattern for Princess Three’s swaddling clothes.”
Consort Liang took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to cough: “Let her in.”
A mont later, Noble Consort Ye entered with a smile, but her expression changed drastically when she saw Consort Liang: “Sister Liang? What’s wrong? Are you ill?”
Consort Liang’s face was devoid of color, pale and sallow to the point where even makeup couldn’t hide it.
The weather hadn’t ward up yet, and the Empress Dowager was preoccupied with the war. The sisters hadn’t gathered to play cards for a long ti.
Seeing Consort Liang in such a state, Noble Consort Ye was genuinely shocked.
Consort Liang forced herself to sit up and smiled: “Don’t make such a fuss. I just caught a cold. A few days ago, I thought I could tough it out, but I coughed for two nights without sleeping well, so my complexion looks bad. I’ve already called the imperial physician this morning and taken dicine. I’ll be fine in a few days.”
The room was indeed filled with the bitter sll of herbal dicine. If she had only started drinking it this morning, the sll shouldn’t be so strong.
Consort Liang, having been drinking dicine all day, had grown accustod to the sll. She didn’t notice it, but Noble Consort Ye, who hadn’t visited in a while, felt as if the room had been steeped in dicine for so ti.
She looked at Consort Liang with suspicion but didn’t show it on her face. Instead, she joked lightly: “Then Sister Liang must recover quickly. Spring is almost here, and the Empress Dowager said we could host a wine-brewing banquet to let the sisters in the harem relax!”
Since last October, there had been no banquets in the palace. The emperor hadn’t visited the harem, and the concubines were bored to death.
By March, when spring returned to the earth, they could finally have so fun together.
The main reason was the continuous stream of victories from the frontlines. In the battle against Goguryeo’s famous general Piao Minda, ng Qingyu had captured and released him three tis, causing Piao Minda to lose all confidence. No matter how much ng Qingyu’s side taunted him, he refused to co out and fight.
This incident had turned Piao Minda, once Goguryeo’s god of war, into a laughingstock among the border people, his reputation in ruins.
In contrast, ng Qingyu’s fa soared as he trampled Piao Minda’s pride, becoming the new god of war in the eyes of the border people.
Humiliated, Goguryeo now refused to accept individual challenges and joined forces with Fusang to launch a full-scale attack on the border.
The Jin Kingdom’s army, dispatched to the mountains, had been intercepted. Seeing the situation turn unfavorable, the Jin general, who had only intended to put on a show, fled.
But they were cunning. Knowing that the Cavalry Army wouldn’t pursue them, they turned around and prepared to bypass Fusang.
After all, they weren’t fighting on the frontlines. The ones dying were the Fusang and Goguryeo troops. They were rely there to show support for Goguryeo, providing advanced artillery and logistical supplies.
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