CH 8

As soon as the Empress Ji Handan came back from the Great Qian Imperial Palace, she took two food boxes and rushed to the Tai Ning Palace where the Empress Dowager lived.

The braised fish and pastries brought from Lin Xuan had to be brought to the Empress Dowager immediately.

In the 26th year of Great Qian, Emperor Taizong, Ji Changkong conquered Wei Kingdom in the north, and returned with a great victory, but died suddenly in the palace on the way to triumph.

The prince at that time, that was, Ji Wuque, Ji Handan’s eldest brother, ascended the throne hastily under such circumstances, and became Emperor Qian.

There were rumours that after Emperor Qian Guang ascended the throne, he didn’t even arrange the funeral of the late emperor. He just sang every night in the palace.

Immediately afterwards, King of Wu entered the capital of Tiandu, and King Jin and King Zhao sent troops to Tiandu urgently, causing the prosperous Great Qian to fall into a war of three kings fighting for the throne.

At that moment, no one expected that the little princess Ji Handan took the imperial edict of Emperor Qian Guang to kill the King of Wu, seized the military power of the Beiluo Forbidden Army, ascended the throne in Tiandu, and ruled the world.

The whole process was extremely dangerous.

It could be said that if you take half a wrong step, you will be in the abyss of eternal doom, but Ji Handan walked over it with triumph.

Therefore, Ji Handan was also known as the legendary Empress among the people.

However, probably only the court ministers who were officials in Great Qian, the feudal officials can knew some of the truth behind this.

The reason why the Empress Ji Handan was able to succeed was because of the Empress’ biological mother, the current Empress Dowager Li Ningyan, who planned strategies behind her back and took control of the overall situation. Otherwise, how could it be so smooth?

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After that, the Empress Dowager Li Ningyan was even more non-stop, shared the internal affairs for Ji Handan every day and reviewed the bamboo slips.

After several years of hard work day and night, Empress Dowager Li Ningyan’s health went from bad to worse.

Therefore, Ji Handan specially invited the old medical sage out of the mountain to take care of the Empress Dowager’s body.

Today, when they were having dinner at Lin Xuan’s house, Lin Xuan mentioned the Empress Dowager’s situation, and even bluntly said that the she was about to die… Thinking of that incident, Ji Handan almost couldn’t restrain herself and was about to ask Li Mu to kill Lin Xuan.

However, what Lin Xuan said was more or less reasonable, which made Ji Handan a little worried, so she personally brought two food boxes to see the Empress Dowager’s physical condition.

“Your Majesty!”

Ji Handan strode into the Tai Ning Palace.

It just so happened that at that time, several young eunuchs were carrying out a box of approved bamboo slips.

“Her Majesty!”

When the young eunuchs saw the Empress, they immediately put down the box containing the bamboo slips and knelt on the ground.

This box of bamboo slips was full, almost stacked to the limit, and if there was one more, it would fall apart.

Ji Han walked over casually, picked up a few bamboo slips and looked at them, each of which had detailed comments.

“Empress, come in quickly, what are you doing standing at the door?”

“Here the wolfberry and lotus seed porridge for Your Majesty.”

Empress Dowager Li Ningyan stood up with the help of her maid, and was extremely happy to see Empress Ji Handan.

However, the tired look on her face could not be concealed with a smile and joy.

This made Ji Handan feel distressed for a while.

She put the bamboo slips back into the wooden box and waved for the little eunuch to carry them away.

“Empress Mother, don’t work so much. I just ate. This is a fish I brought specially. I request Empress Mother to taste it.”

“In addition to fish, there are also pastries, all of which are delicious.”

Ji Handan came to the table and personally brought out the fish for the Empress Dowager

What was worth mentioning was that when she opened the food box, the fish still kept a certain amount of heat and didn’t cool down. Who knew what method was used by Lin Xuan.

In an instant, the delicious smell of fish wafted through the room, making the Empress Dowager Li Ningyan whet her appetite.

“I will all go out!”

Empress Dowager Li Ningyan looked around and told the maids and eunuchs to leave the room.

“Is this the fish made by Lin boy again?”

“Please don’t worry, mother, I paid for it this time.”

Ji Handan smiled, revealing a playful side.

If this scene was seen by other people, they would probably be so shocked that their eyes would drop.

It was hard to imagine that the legendary Empress Ji Handan, who was like a killing god on the battlefield, had such a lively girl side.

“I don’t know what method Lin Xuan has used to keep the fish still warm, so there is no need to reheat it. Empress Dowager, taste it while it is hot.”

“Good, good, good!”

Empress Dowager Li Ningyan just took a bite and her eyes lit up. “It tastes good, it really deserves to be Lin’s craftsmanship.”

When she was about to continue eating, Li Ningyan suddenly put down her chopsticks. “I almost missed a major event, here is an urgent report for 800 miles, and I want you to deal with it.”

The Empress Dowager turned around, took a bamboo slip tied with a red ribbon from the table and put it in front of Ji Handan.

The bamboo slips were supposed to be sent directly to the empress Ji Handan, but the empress took the general Li Lin to Yongle Lane for a visit, so they immediately sent it to the Tai Ning Palace and handed it over to the empress dowager for decision.

“Okay, Empress Mother, eat the fish first.”

Ji Handan took the bamboo slips and unfolded them to browse through them.

“Wei Kingdom sent 300,000 troops, divided them into two routes, east and west, to attack Great Qian! Wei Kingdom actually sent troops?”

It never occurred to her when he mentioned in small courtyard that Wei Kingdom had recently dispatched troops, it would happen so soon.

This Lin Xuan knew a little too much.

He was foretelling things like a god, almost like a demon?

“What does the Empress Mother thinks?”

Generally, in this case, they need to make a first-stage approval as a coping strategy when they receive an urgent request at eight hundred miles.

Otherwise, if everything was negotiated before taking action, Great Qian had already been breached.

“Wars are not something I’m good at. I just sent an order to the Northwest Camp and King Ji Wuxing of Beijiang to assemble an army and be ready to attack at any time.”

“It’s up to you to decide exactly how to fight.”

“In addition, I am arranging people to take care of the supply of food and medicine needed for the war, so you won’t have any worries.”

Empress Dowager Li Ningyan put down her chopsticks, frowned slightly, and said, “This time, the Wei Kingdom came aggressively to avenge its shame. Whether it wins or loses, it will suffer a lot from it. If the imperial army under your command suffers too much damage in this battle, I am afraid it will be difficult. Stop your other brothers.”

“I suggest that you issue a call-up order to them, and let them lead their troops northward to face off against Wei’s army, and consume some of them first.”

Others might not know, but Empress Dowager Li Ningyan had always known.

There were many people who were dissatisfied with the Empress Ji Handan. If she showed any signs of weakness, it would be the time when other enfeoffed kings surnamed Ji would rebel and fight for the throne.

“It’s just that there is a problem in this way. The supply of food and medicine will become stretched. I haven’t figured it out yet.”

“Mother, eat fish first. Don’t worry about this matter. According to the normal emergency plan, you can supply food and medicine to the Northwest Camp and the King Ji Wuxing of Beijiang.” Ji Handan smiled and said with confidence, “If the army of my brothers is moved now, I’m afraid they will procrastinate and delay, and we will suffer loses. This time, only the king of Beijiang will go out to fight.”

Empress Dowager Li Ningyan was taken aback, and her expression changed. “Well, King of Beijiang only has 70,000 troops in his hands, how can he stop Wei’s 300,000 troops?”

“If that’s the case, I’m afraid the King of Beijiang will turn his back on us and join forces with Wei Kingdom!”

“No!”