Chapter 421: Heading to Liao Dong Again

Chapter 421: Heading to Liao Dong Again

Su Youyue was momentarily speechless.

In truth, her thoughts were quite simple. Because she was a citizen of Great Shen, she did not want to see its rivers and mountains fall to ruin, nor its people suffer.

She hadn’t pondered anything deeper than that.

But after hearing her mother’s words, she felt that she understood more.

In a trance, she suddenly felt that perhaps her mother really should have become a female official.

The confines of the inner quarters and even the Female Doctor Clinic were indeed too restrictive for her.

“Thank you, Mother…”

A thousand words gathered at her throat, but all Su Youyue could utter was this single phrase.

The time they had was running out.

With her mother’s support, she could now set her mind at ease and proceed with her plans.

“Mother, we can’t make the weapons relying solely on ourselves. We still need the Emperor’s approval. Right now, the Emperor must be troubled by the military situation, and this is exactly the time for us to offer our strategy.”

Lu Xixue quickly understood her daughter’s intention. The current Emperor was enlightened and sometimes summoned her to the palace to seek her advice. He had always wanted to appoint her as a female official, so if she went to the palace to present a strategy, the Emperor would most likely accept and adopt it.

So she promptly replied, “We must not delay. We should head to the palace now.”

Su Youyue nodded and walked out of the house with her mother. Outside, the sunlight was just right, golden and warm, as if nothing had happened—no military situation, no war, and no national crisis.

Everything would definitely get better.

Just like this sunshine…

The mother and daughter left the house and headed straight to the palace instead of the front hall.

When Madam Su learned of this, although she didn’t know their intention, she took the others back to wait for news.

Things went even more smoothly than Su Youyue had imagined. Not long after they entered the palace, they were able to meet the Emperor. With her mother’s introduction, the Emperor quickly agreed and even promised to assign the entire Ministry of Works to assist them, along with access to resources from nearby mines.

Before leaving, she hurriedly presented the beneficial reforms for Great Shen written by Xie Yuan from her previous life. However, she dared not take credit and attributed them all to Xie Yuan.

Knowing it was Xie Yuan’s work, the Emperor would naturally pay attention.

When they left the palace, Su Youyue felt it had gone too smoothly to be real.

Was the Emperor really that easy to talk to?

If those who claimed the Emperor was unpredictable in his anger and joy saw this, wouldn’t they be stunned?

But she also noticed that the Emperor indeed had some admiration for her mother.

If her mother wanted to become a female official, he would arrange a position for her immediately. In fact, he probably had the position ready long ago.

Su Youyue thought it was a pity that her mother didn’t become a female official, but she quickly immersed herself in the task of making weapons.

Chunya and Jin’er, the two maids, had been inseparable from her since she returned, afraid of losing her again, always cautious.

Su Youyue told them off several times, but when it didn’t work, she simply let them be.

With time, they would stop being like this.

For a month, she kept a close eye on any news of Xie Yuan returning from Liao Dong.

Prince Rong was rapidly expanding his forces in Liao Dong and soon set his sights on Jiuyuan Pass.

But when his general led twenty thousand men to Jiuyuan Pass, planning to take Jiuyuan Town smoothly as before, they were caught off guard by a small team of a thousand who burned all their supplies and killed nearly a thousand of his men, while the small team escaped unscathed, leaving the general cursing.

When he returned, he learned that the small team was made up of city guards and officials assembled by Xie Yuan to defend Jiuyuan Town.

Bearing a grudge, when he went again, he brought an additional ten thousand men, proceeding cautiously, but was ambushed again, losing hundreds of military horses and having sixteen hundred men captured.

When news of Xie Yuan’s two successive victories with fewer men reached the capital, the imperial court, which had been under pressure for many days, finally breathed a sigh of relief. The Emperor had already dispatched newly appointed generals with fifty thousand troops to Liao Dong. Although it still seemed like a drop in the bucket, it was the most the court could mobilize on short notice.

The people of Yanjing, seeing the large army leave the city, felt the dark clouds that had been hanging over their hearts for many days finally lift a little.

But soon, they heard that Prince Rong had gathered one hundred and seventy thousand men, with one hundred thousand already gathered outside Jiuyuan Pass.

When the news reached Yanjing, the people despaired.

The court only had fifty thousand troops, while Prince Rong had one hundred and seventy thousand. How could they not lose?

If things really didn’t work out and Prince Rong attacked, they would flee with their families first and return when a new emperor was in place…

But most of the people still hoped that the fifty thousand troops sent by the court would arrive at Jiuyuan Pass as soon as possible and hold out as long as they could.

Which commoner would like to fight in a war? They just wanted to live in peace.

When the news reached Su Youyue, she could no longer wait. She brought forward her plan and set off again for Liao Dong with the first batch of secret weapons she had rushed to produce.

The last time she was forced to go to Liao Dong, enduring a turbulent journey, this time she took the initiative, her state of mind completely different.

To avoid further persuasion from her family, she left secretly first and then let her mother inform the family.

When Su Zhenyun learned of this, he was anxious. His daughter had just returned, and they were both so busy they hadn’t seen each other much before separating again!

But Lu Xixue persuaded him, “Let Nuan Nuan go if she wants to. She’s grown up, and we can’t keep holding her hand forever.”

Since she had already left, there was nothing Su Zhenyun could do. He could only weakly ask his wife, “Xixue, do you really think the weapons you made can turn the tide?”

Lu Xixue mentioned those weapons, her expression finally lightening a little. "What? Don't trust me?"

Su Zhenyun hastily shook his head, but given the gravity of the matter, he couldn't help but feel anxious.

Lu Xixue was aware of this and took his hand. "Rest assured, with our secret weapon and Xiao Xie's skills, even the Jade Emperor himself would be taken down if he came!"

If not for this, how could she possibly feel at ease letting her daughter go.

The world believes that the Great Shen is now caught between wolves in front and tigers behind, merely prey on the plates of Prince Rong and Dongrong. But she felt that who would end up eating whom was still uncertain.

Su Zhenyun was drawn in by the picture his wife painted, and his earlier anxiety lessened, replaced by a hope that their daughter would arrive at Xie Yuan's side soon.

Just as the couple was speaking, the wife of the Marquis of Jinghai rushed into the Su residence and immediately asked about Xiao Feiyan's whereabouts.

The couple looked at each other blankly.

"Feiyan hasn't been here."

The more the Marquis' wife heard this, the more it confirmed her suspicions, and she was close to tears. "That crazy girl probably secretly followed her third and fourth brothers' troops and headed to Liao Dong!"

ps: They will meet in the next chapter (Xiao Feiyan: Move aside, let me appear first)