Cultivation Begins with Caring for Sister-in-law-Chapter 497: Jin Xia: The Collapse of the Eastern Front
Within the side room of the Marquis Mansion’s rear courtyard.
The weather was getting colder, and the women seldom ventured outside.
Wu Mi, in a loose light-colored dress, her long hair scattered, lay sideways on the bed covered with thick soft bedding. She gently caressed her rounded belly as she listened to the sisters chatting below, a hint of wistfulness appearing on Wen Ning’s jade-like face.
Speaking of which, Wu Mi’s feelings for Chen Mo hadn’t been deep before.
After all, it was an arranged marriage by their parents, and the two had no emotional foundation.
However, after the marriage, their affection gradually increased, leading to a sense of dependency.
Once she became pregnant with Chen Mo’s child, Wu Mi’s feelings for Chen Mo grew exceedingly fervent.
For instance, when Chen Mo wasn’t around before, Wu Mi would miss him but would not dream of him.
However, after becoming pregnant, she dreamed of him every night and wished for Chen Mo to come back sooner to accompany her.
Not far off, Han Anniang halfheartedly chimed in a few words, her thoughts occupied with the child in her belly.
Beside the bed, Chu Juan focused intently as she peeled a pear with a small knife.
Yi Shiyin was the most lively, chatting about recent interesting events.
Xia Zhiqing exchanged a few smiles and words before preparing to leave.
Wu Mi was Chen Mo’s main wife, so the ladies came daily to greet Wu Mi and chat with her.
Since everyone lived in the same courtyard, they’d already exhausted the topics of conversation, so they would sit for a while and then leave.
Nangong Ru, Liang Xue, Ning Wan, Xiao Yunxi, they all got up as well.
With Chen Mo absent, it was somewhat dull.
"Ninth Madam, someone outside claims to be your relative and wishes to see you. Here is the token he gave." At that moment, a maid walked into the room, holding a jade pendant in her hand.
Ninth Madam was the servant’s way of addressing Chu Juan.
Chu Juan, upon hearing this, handed the peeled pear to Wu Mi, put down the knife, and walked over.
Taking the jade pendant from the maid’s hand, Chu Juan was startled because the jade was something her mother carried with her.
"Is Mother sending someone?"
This was the first thought that flashed through Chu Juan’s mind, and she quickly put away the jade pendant and asked, "Where is he?"
...
Although the token matched.
Chu Juan, as Chen Mo’s inner chamber woman, naturally couldn’t meet a man alone.
In the living room, accompanied by a maid, Chu Juan met the man.
As soon as the man saw Chu Juan, he knelt down: "I beg Your Highness to save the Li family."
The man was associated with the Li family but did not bear the Li surname, named Wang He.
He’s a relative of the half-sister of Madam Hui’s brother’s wife.
Because of Prince Huai’s relationship with Chen Mo.
Linzhou was far from Fengzhou, so if the Li Family sent someone themselves, it would easily leak the news, hence they asked Wang He as their relative by marriage to help them.
The Li family’s request was simple.
Because of Li Mingfan and Li Mingzhong’s "defection," Prince Huai had already lost trust in the Li family, and there was no hope for the crown prince position; Fengzhou had become untenable, so they thought they might as well defect to Chen Mo.
Since Chu Juan was Madam Hui’s daughter, to better affiliate, they came to Chu Juan to leverage connections.
The Li family’s idea was that although they were defecting to Chen Mo, they wished to rely on Chu Juan.
After all, "having connections in the court makes things easier."
The Li family wanted Chu Juan to whisper to Chen Mo on the pillow.
Actually, this was also beneficial to Chu Juan.
After all, having foreign relatives help would also give her more confidence in the inner household negotiations.
Thus, considering both blood relations and personal reasons, Chu Juan agreed to help the Li family.
She planned to write a letter to Chen Mo.
...
Jin Xia.
Imperial City.
Imperial Study.
Jin Xia Khan Tuoba Hui was convening officials of Fifth Grade and above from the Six Ministries in the Imperial Study.
What was being discussed was mostly military affairs.
Tuoba Hui was in a good mood at the moment, after all, the Western Army and Eastern Army had been consistently reporting swift victories, with the Western Army even annihilating a nation; the latest reports mentioned they had captured Great Song’s Longyou and were advancing towards Yu State.
The only thing that displeased Tuoba Hui was that the Eastern Army hadn’t sent their battle reports for a long while; the last report was when they occupied Great Song’s Gaozhou, threatening Qingzhou.
Logically, by now, the Eastern Army should have taken Qingzhou and be on the verge of meeting up with the Western Army.
Tuoba Zhu wasn’t sure what they were up to; as the Military Supervisor, there had been no news for quite some time.
The Ministry of War’s chief officer said: "Great Khan, this humble servant received the latest military report from the Western Army today. Recently, temperatures have dropped sharply, and the army lacks winter clothing. We urge the Ministry of Revenue to dispatch supplies for warmth to the front lines."
"Approved." Tuoba Hui agreed without hesitation and instructed the Ministry of Revenue to implement it swiftly.
After pausing for a moment, Tuoba Hui continued: "Has there been any recent military intelligence delivered from the Eastern Army?"
The officials of the Six Ministries all shook their heads.
At this moment, a eunuch’s voice came from outside the Imperial Study: "Great Khan, urgent report from the eastern line!"
The officials in the Imperial Study were taken aback upon hearing this.
From the tone, something significant had occurred.
Soon, the eunuch delivered the intelligence from the Eastern Army to Tuoba Hui.
Tuoba Hui’s expression changed slightly, taking the military report and began reading the text, a sudden jolt ran through him, his complexion paling.
It stated that the entire Eastern Army was annihilated, Tie Muer, Yelv Nuku, along with many generals were killed in battle, only Tuoba Zhu and several hundred soldiers escaped.
The reason Tuoba Hui was only informed now, though it had happened a while ago, was because after Tie Muer’s initial defeat, Tuoba Zhu planned to report when the situation was salvaged, hence he concealed it and didn’t report, and continued concealing due to continuous losses.
Being officials in the same court, seeing each other constantly, Tuoba Zhu concealed it and Wanyan Xiaji naturally wouldn’t report for the Eastern Army either.
Now the matter escalated, Tuoba Zhu couldn’t keep it hidden, thus had to report it.
Tuoba Hui felt the thin sheets of paper were as weighty as a thousand pounds at the moment, and said sternly: "Where is the messenger who delivered the report? I want to question them."
The eunuch replied: "Returning Great Khan, they are waiting outside."
"Summon them." Tuoba Hui said sternly.
The officials in the Imperial Study immediately sensed something amiss, the chief officer of the Ministry of War stepped forward and said: "Great Khan, what is contained in the eastern line’s report?"
Tuoba Hui was about to speak.
The messenger, led by the eunuch, had already entered the Imperial Study, and upon seeing Tuoba Hui, fell to his knees with a thump.
All the officials’ expressions changed; kneeling upon entering indicated a major issue.
Sure enough, under Tuoba Hui’s questioning, the content of the report was described more detailedly.
Knowing that the Eastern Army was nearly completely obliterated, the eastern line had utterly collapsed, with only Tuoba Zhu returning with a few hundred men, everyone felt icy cold, their breaths halted slightly.
How did this happen?
Wasn’t the Eastern Army achieving swift victories before, how come it was defeated so thoroughly in such a short span?
The Eastern Army had as many as eighty thousand troops.
Now almost entirely destroyed...
This cost was indeed a tremendous loss for the entire Jin Xia.
"Ah..."
Tuoba Hui slammed the table heavily, letting out a roar.
