Chapter 540 The News is Absolutely Reliable

Chapter 540 The News is Absolutely Reliable

On this day, just as Mo Jiuya had finished preparing dinner and was about to go out to call people to eat, Xiao Bai returned with a personal letter from Mo Qing.

After opening the letter and reading it, Mo Jiuya could no longer think about calling people for dinner.

He led He Zhiran to Minister He's study.

"Father-in-law, my father's letter states that the barbarians have gathered a large number of troops and are attacking our Western Region."

Minister He was currently reviewing official documents on his desk, as these had been handed to him by Emperor Shunwu.

His resignation had already been approved, but before leaving, he needed to handle some matters within the office.

Upon hearing Mo Jiuya's words, Minister He set down his brush and stood up abruptly.

"What did you say? The barbarians are attacking our Great Shun Dynasty? Why hasn't the court received this news yet?"

"Father-in-law, a few days ago I had Xiao Bai take a letter home to assure them of our safety. Xiao Bai just returned with this news.

The court doesn't know because the messengers from the Western Region cannot match Xiao Bai's speed.

My father wrote the letter four days ago, by which time the barbarians had already been attacking the Western Region on a large scale for two days."

"So, the Western Region has been under attack for six days?" To Minister He, this matter was of grave concern.

Although the Great Shun Dynasty had also stationed troops in the Western Region, if the barbarians launched a large-scale attack, these people would not be able to hold them off.

"Jiuye, what do you think we should do about this?"

Mo Jiuya had come only to inform his father-in-law of this news and did not intend to let him worry about it. Even if his father-in-law had not planned to resign, how could a mere civil official like him resolve such a matter?

"Father-in-law, I plan to go to the Third Prince and inform him of this news."

"Yes, yes, this matter should be told to the Third Prince. After all, the manner in which we obtained this news is rather unique and cannot be openly discussed."

He Zhiran remained behind to keep her father company, while Mo Jiuya used his *qinggong* (a form of light-footed martial arts) to rush to Nan Yu's residence.

At that time, Nan Yu was still residing in the Fei Mansion. The Emperor had fully recovered and had resumed holding morning court, during which he formally announced Nan Yu's identity before all the court officials.

At the same time, he bestowed the Qi Prince's Residence, where Nan Qi had once lived, to Nan Yu. However, due to the numerous recent matters at court, Nan Yu had not yet found the time to relocate.

Naturally, the Emperor would grant the Prince's Residence to his own son, but what the court officials found noteworthy was that the Emperor had bestowed the residence to the Third Prince without naming it.

What did this imply?

It implied that there was a high possibility that this residence would later be named the Crown Prince Residence.

Nan Yu was in his study, going over official documents when Mo Jiuya arrived. Without further delay, Mo Jiuya directly conveyed the news he had received.

"Ninth Master, can the news be trusted?" Nan Yu did not ask how Mo Jiuya had learned of the barbarians' large-scale attack, as he knew that Mo Jiuya had a very intelligent carrier pigeon. He asked this because he found the situation quite unexpected.

According to Nan Yu's understanding, the barbarians usually attacked the Great Shun Dynasty in winter.

Winter was when they were short of food, and if the attack was successful, they could harvest some winter provisions from the Great Shun Dynasty.

Initiating an attack in this season was indeed quite unexpected.

"The news is completely reliable. It is estimated that the messengers from the Western Region will arrive in about ten days."

From the Northwest to the Imperial City, it would take about half a month to travel by fast horse, but Little Bai only took four days. Therefore, the messenger from the Western Region would take at least ten to eight days to arrive.

Nan Yu stood up.

"Thanks for the heads-up, Ninth Master. I'll head straight to the palace to hash out a plan with my father."

Little did others know, Emperor Shunwu was pretty impressed with Nan Yu's skills, especially when compared to his previous three sons, which made him even more impressed with Nan Yu.

Emperor Shunwu had privately revealed to Nan Yu his intention to abdicate and retire, but due to the Empress's faction, the political situation in the court was still unstable. Rushing to hand over the throne to Nan Yu could stir up trouble.

Nan Yu was well aware of this.

With barbarians storming the Western Region, it felt like they were snatching his future crown. How could he possibly stand by and do nothing?

He couldn't just sit back and let this slide.

Nan Yu didn't reveal how he got the news when he entered the palace. At the next morning's court session, Emperor Shunwu dropped the bombshell.

The Great Shun Dynasty had seen its share of foreign invasions before. At that time, with the Mo family around, Emperor Shunwu only needed to issue an imperial decree, and the men of the Mo family would immediately lead the troops to battle.

Now, the once-mighty court was left without a single capable general.

General Jin, already old, had recently been tricked by the Ninth Prince and hit with a puppet curse, almost costing him his life.

Now, the old general was still recuperating at home, so much so that when the Empress's faction caused a major incident, he did not participate.

With the Mo family gone and General Jin still on the mend, Emperor Shunwu felt the weight of the world on his shoulders.

The once-great Shun Dynasty was now embarrassingly short on capable generals.

He immediately thought of the Mo family and the false charges the Xue family had pinned on them.

Indeed, he'd wronged the Mo family out of paranoia, afraid their success would eclipse his, leading to a dumb move.

If Mo Jiuya were around, he wouldn't be stuck in this embarrassing bind.

It's not like there was no one at all; there were still a bunch of generals in court.

But as Emperor Shunwu scanned the room, none of them seemed up to the task of leading.

"What's your take, Yu'er? How should we handle this?"

Nan Yu was swamped, just taking over court duties and cleaning up corruption, so he hadn't had time to think about generals.

But back when he was Nan Qi's strategist, he'd done his homework and knew the court's officials inside out.

Right then, he and Emperor Shunwu were on the same page, both feeling they were out of options.

The generals knew their limits. They'd always followed the Mo family or General Jin, just taking orders.

Now, the Emperor and Third Prince needed a leader.

Even if they wanted to be Grand Marshal, they wouldn't jump at the chance.

If they messed up, losing their lives would be the least of their worries; defeat would mean serious consequences.

No one was eager to step into that minefield.

As Nan Yu stayed silent, Emperor Shunwu shot a displeased look at the stiff generals.

"Who among you is brave enough to lead troops to the Western Region?"

With the Emperor asking, they couldn't just stand there; they'd been collecting paychecks for years.

A general stepped forward, bracing himself.

"Your Majesty, I volunteer to lead the charge against the barbarians, under the commander's guidance."