C201

Mu Qianxue didn't say anything. She took over the brocade box that was placed by her side, and inside, she placed a pair of exquisite white jade pendants. She handed it over to 19 and said, "Go to the prince's mansion and pass this to Chief Steward Cai, tell him that this is my congratulatory gift to the prince."

"Your highness refused to listen to your advice and insisted on marrying that girl, Zhao Pingqing, who didn't seem to be on the same side. Why do you need to send me more gifts?" Nineteen said in a huff. She was the one who had accompanied Mu Qianxue to buy this pair of Luan Pendants and had spent several hundred taels of silver to buy them. They thought that Mu Qianxue would like them, but who knew that she would actually gift them to Dongfang Zhi.

"No matter what, getting married is a matter of great happiness. I have been under the care of Prince Meng for so long, how can I not express anything?" Saying this, she said to Nineteen, "Quickly go. Also, if you have the chance to meet with King Mu, find a way to find out about the Fallen Sun Valley and see if he knows about it."

When she arrived at the prince's mansion, she just so happened to be in time to pay her respects as a newbie. She gazed at Dongfang Gu, who was saluting his wife in the distance, and felt a wave of grief, not just for herself, but also for Dongfang Gu …

"Nineteen, why are you here?" Cai Yuan's voice woke his up. She suppressed her thoughts and handed the embroidered box over. "This is a gift from the princess to the prince for his grand wedding. I wish him and the two consort a hundred years of harmony."

"Princess is too kind." Cai Yuan took it over and asked with concern, "Have you gotten used to living there? Are you lacking anything?"

"I'm still used to it, so I'm not lacking in anything."

"That's good. If there is anything less, just tell me. The prince has told me that even though the princess has moved out of the palace, the prince's residence is still responsible for the expenses."

"I know." After answering, Nineteen noticed that the newbies in the main hall had already bowed and sent to their respective rooms. At the same time, Dongfang Cong, as the one in charge of the wedding, didn't immediately return to the palace. Instead, he went to the side hall with Prince Pingyang, the Minister of Revenue, and the Minister of War.

After she sent Nineteen away, she quietly arrived at Dongfang Ze's side. When she asked about the matter of Yangguan Valley being lost, Dongfang Ze's face was filled with surprise. After he pulled Nineteen to a secluded place, he urgently asked, "Where did you get this news from?"

After listening to Nineteen's explanation, Dongfang Ze suddenly said, "I was wondering why His Majesty would invite the Pingyang King and the others to the side chamber so quickly. How could something so big happen?"

"In other words, the nine kings don't know about the situation in the Yang Pass Valley?"

Dongfang Ze bitterly smiled and spread out his hands. "If you didn't mention it, I wouldn't have known that such a big thing happened in Yangguan Valley. Anyway, the military newspaper that was delivered two days ago was still fine. Why did it suddenly fall?"

Nineteen frowned and asked, "Then what do we do now?"

Dongfang Ze rolled his eyes and whispered, "Follow me."

In the side hall, Prince Pingyang cupped his hands and said, "I don't know why His Majesty is summoning me here. What orders do you have for me?"

"Take a look for yourselves." Dong Fang Qian took out the bloodstained military intelligence report from his sleeve. The Pingyang King quickly took it with both hands and read it one by one. The faces of the three high ranking officials of the imperial court, who wielded great power, changed.

The Minister of Revenue said in a low voice, "It seems that the Qi Kingdom has made sufficient preparations for this invasion."

"Li Qing, how much money does the Ministry of Revenue have left, and how much food does it have?"

When Li Hong heard this, he hurriedly clasped his hands together and said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, the treasury now has 30 million silver taels, and the rations are around 10,000 stones."

His answer made Dong Fang frown even more. "It's only been a short time since the autumn harvest, why is there only so little as ten thousand stones?"

"To reply your majesty, most of the provisions are stored in the official warehouses. If we want to use them, we have to transfer them from other places. The total is about 70,000 stones."

Dong Fang Qian's brows furrowed, and he changed his tone. "How long will it take for you to transfer to me?"

"Required... Need... " After mumbling for a while, Li Hong whispered, "About a month."

"One month?" Dong Fang Qian used his strength to pat Zi Tan's long legs, and coldly said: "Qi Kingdom will be arriving soon, but you said that it will still be a month. Do you think Yangguan Valley can last for another month, or do you think Qi Kingdom can be delayed for another month before attacking?"

Seeing him get angry, Li Hong quickly said, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. Your subject … This subject will think of a way, I should... It can be shortened for a few days. "

Dongfang Qian snorted coldly, then turned to look at the skinny old man on the other side. This old man was the Minister of War, Jiang Ming, he had a strange temper, and at times, he didn't even buy Dong Fang Qian's account, but he was very loyal to the Zhou Empire, his prestige was high, and he was also one of the three dynasties elders.

While they were talking, Jiang Ming had already calculated the situation of the military department and said, "Your Majesty, in ten days, we will be able to gather around eighty thousand soldiers. With the addition of the elite battalion outside the city, we should be able to withstand the advance attack of the Qi Kingdom and give us enough time to deploy more troops, but …" He glanced at Li Hong and bluntly said, "But we need to have enough food to support us. Otherwise, we can only wait for a month, as Li Shangshu had said."

His words caused Dong Fang Qian to be even more dissatisfied with Li Hong. "We must dispatch troops within ten days!"

Li Hong had a bitter face, not daring to make a sound. The transmission needed time, and the transportation needed more time. Even if he peeled off the skin, it would be impossible to gather enough food in a short ten days.

Prince Pingyang lowered his head and thought for a moment. He said, "Your Majesty, from Jinling to Yangguan Valley, we will pass by several big prefectures. We should let the soldiers gather some food there."

Li Hong's spirit was roused as he quickly said, "Prince Pingyang is right. This subject remembers that both Dingping and Jingyang's residence have granaries. Adding them all together, it is about five thousand stones."

After calculating for a moment, Jiang Ming said, "One hundred and eighty thousand soldiers. In addition to the man in charge of carrying the rations, fifteen thousand stones won't last for long."

Afraid that Dong Fang would blame him, Li Hong hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, your subject will prepare the food from the nearby prefectures. We need to hurry and arrive before the food is interrupted."

"As soon as possible?" Dong Fang Qian said indifferently: "Are you trying to put me in my place?"

"This official dares not!" Before Li Hong had finished speaking, Dongfang Qian had already said in a cold voice, "Do you know how much it will affect our morale once the food is used up? We won't have to fight with the Qi Army and we'll be the first to lose. When the Qi Army reaches Jinling City, will you be able to shoulder this responsibility?"

Li Hong was sweating profusely and did not dare to wipe the blood off his face. Just as he was panicking, a loud shout came from outside, "Who is it?"

Following a series of hurried footsteps, as well as a faint sound of fists and feet, Dongfang Shao signaled to Wyon, who walked out knowingly. Not long later, he returned to the side chamber and whispered into Dongfang Ru's ear.