It took nearly a quarter of an hour for Ning Wanjun to finish listening to the other party's story.
The transformation of the Gaoguo army from being ambushed to the ambusher can be said to have predicted Qiguo's actions, but the planned joint attack with friendly troops was delayed, which cannot be explained by the opponent's clever tactics.
What is even more shocking is that before the final attack began, the friendly troops clearly sent a signal that they were in place. To achieve this, it is definitely not something that can be achieved by bribery of one or two senders! If what this person said is correct, it can only mean one thing - Zuo An, another frontier general, completely betrayed Ba Xingtian.
This battle is not so much an encirclement battle between Ba Xingtian and Zuo An, but rather a trap set by Zuo An and the Gaoguo army!
Ning Wanjun suddenly felt a stinging pain in her palm.
She lowered her head and realized that her clenched fingers had pierced the skin due to excessive force.
"Ba Xingtian...where are the others?"
"I don't know about my humble position..." Zhang Shi replied in a hoarse voice, "It was so chaotic during the breakout. Only four people in my team escaped from Baixi Lake, and I was the only one who returned to Leizhou Mansion alive. . Master Ba ordered us to get out of there alive no matter what, and then tell more people about the traitor... Ahem... "
After speaking, his voice was difficult to distinguish.
The princess poured him a glass of cold water herself and handed it to him. "Take a breath first and drink some water before talking."
There were many questions in her mind, such as where Ba Xingtian would go, such as whether the enemy stopped him... but she could not ask these questions after all. Because she knew that firstly, the other party was only a commander, and once they were separated due to a breakout, it was impossible to take into account the situation of others. Second, she already had a vague answer in her mind - in more than a month, soldiers had struggled out of the swamp and fled to Jinxia City. If Ba Xingtian was safe and sound, there was no way he could be slower than these ordinary soldiers.
In fact, she had a similar premonition when she heard about the fall of Leizhou. After all, the most common outcome for a general who leads an army is to die in battle and be shrouded in horse leather. But at that time, in order to prevent her subordinates from wavering, she did not show any pessimistic thoughts on the surface. Later, she used busy political affairs to cover up the past.
And now, that premonition is getting closer to reality.
"General Zuo'an—have you seen him?" When Ning Wanjun spoke again, her voice was as cold as the cold wind in the first month.
"As far as I know, his army was also killed and scattered, and Leizhou Mansion fell into the hands of the enemy with almost no resistance."
"What did you say?" Xu Sanchong, who was standing by, couldn't help but exclaimed.
"That's what I saw. Moreover, after the fall of Leizhou Mansion, the blockade started soon. I didn't dare to stay longer, so I had to escape overnight."
Zhang Shi gritted his teeth and said, "Your Highness, although I don't know what is going on, it seems that it was not Zuo An alone! The real murderer is probably hiding behind him!"
"You don't need to say anything, I know everything." The princess said solemnly, "If this matter doesn't come to light, it will definitely not be over."
"Then... please, Your Highness." Zhang Shi shook twice and suddenly fell to one side.
Xu Sanzhong immediately supported him.
"How is he?" Ning Wanjun asked quickly.
"Your Highness, this person is not seriously ill. He is probably just overtired." Xu San checked again and then replied, "I had been holding my breath before, and suddenly relaxing can easily cause fainting."
"Send someone to the side hall and find a doctor to take care of it."
"yes."
After handing it over to the guards, Xu Sanzhong frowned, "Your Highness, I don't understand. If it were just the first half of the content, it could also be understood that Zuo An was too greedy and wanted to dominate the border town. After all, without Lord Ba, he can't do it alone. We can rely on fortified cities to block the Gao Kingdom army. But the second half is a bit incredible - who has such great ability to treat both the border army and the Gao Kingdom people as pawns in their hands at the same time?"
"Zuo An is a cautious person by nature. He cannot attack Ba Xingtian based on his own greed. Someone must have promised him a lot of benefits, and his reliability is very high." Ning Wanjun said anxiously, "In the army The only person with such influence among the people, apart from the Minister of War, is His Highness the Crown Prince. If Contract Gao is also included, the latter is basically the only possibility. The question is, what benefit will the fall of Leizhou bring to him? "
This question obviously would not be answered for a while, so Xu Sanchong changed the topic, "The matter about General Naha—"
"Don't spread it out. This is always just a guess on our part." Ning Wanjun took a deep breath before speaking out, "He may have been seriously injured and was hiding somewhere to recuperate, so the evacuation was delayed."
"I feel the same way even if I am in a humble position." Xu Youyi nodded heavily, "A person as determined as him will not fall into the hands of a traitor so easily!"
"But the real culprit behind this cannot be tolerated!" Ning Wanjun gritted her teeth and said, "When I find out the truth, no matter who this person is, he will-"
"Your Highness!"
Her words were interrupted by a guard who hurried into the inner hall. The latter briefly saluted and presented a letter to her with both hands, "The most urgent secret message, sent from Gyeonggi!"
There are three red lines drawn on the letter, which means that the matter is of vital importance. Although it is impossible to use the post station to expedite delivery like the government does, when encountering such a letter, the people she arranged in Shangyuan will still do their best to rush it. The letter was delivered by JFX.
Ning Wanjun broke the seal immediately.
Then she was shocked!
"How...how could this happen?"
"Your Highness?" Xu Sanchong asked in surprise, "Is there anything going on over there in Gyeonggi Province?"
"Read it yourself." Ning Wanjun threw the letter on the table.
Xu Sanzhong reached out and picked it up, and after looking at it for a few times, he couldn't help but froze in place.
There are only a few sentences in the letter, but each sentence can cause a big stir when it is spread.
"The Emperor is critically ill and has voluntarily announced his abdication and abdicated the throne to His Highness the Crown Prince."
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has decided to hold an enthronement ceremony in the near future to officially take over power."
…
Ning Weiyuan closed the door, blocking out the noise of the ministers' quarrels.
He passed through the entrance halls and finally entered a quiet hall.
In the center of the hall is a huge Buddha statue. The light from outside passes through the specially designed high windows and falls on a small area in front of the Buddha statue, illuminating this small area. Compared with the surrounding darkness, this ray of soft light seems to come from the sky, making the Buddha statue appear majestic and solemn.
Where the light focused, there stood a graceful woman.
She was wearing a set of robes that were embroidered with many patterns and looked extremely luxurious. She was looking up at the statue in front of her. Hearing the sound of the door opening and closing, he slowly turned around.
Following her move, there was a clear knocking sound in the hall - it was the strange sound made by the woman's shoes, as if to highlight her figure, these strange shoes were thin and close to the feet, and the back half was still standing A long, thin piece of iron root.
"Is this the god you believe in?"
She pointed at the Buddha statue and asked in a crisp voice.
"No, Miss Olina." Ning Weiyuan walked to her side, "None of us believe in it."