Reborn to marry the emperor, I just want to confuse the emperor and seize the throne

Gongsun Lan said, "The Mu Qi family is different from the Bai family. Back then, the Mu Qi family was a powerful family in Licheng and always had ambitions. We don't know how many toad eggs they have. It's definitely not a coincidence that she appeared in front of the Empress at this time."

Jiang Fenghua said in a deep voice, "If she came for us, the red-eyed toad that was causing trouble in the Bai family must be in her hands."

Feng Qingyu said, "So Ruan Ruan's identity was exposed long ago. The person they really wanted to harm was actually the Empress."

Jiang Fenghua continued, “Many people are suspects, but I never expected the Mu Qi family to come looking for us. The people who came looking for the Bai family may also be from the Mu Qi family. In fact, the people behind Baili Chuan are also from the Mu Qi family. A thousand years ago, Baili Chuan was just a puppet of the Mu Qi family. Regardless of whether Baili Shang and Danji Aruan changed the fate of Yinchuan Kingdom, the Mu Qi family survived.”

"It's simple. We just need to arrest Mu Qi Aying and interrogate her. We won't have to worry about her not telling the truth," Gongsun Lan said.

“No rush. She didn’t come to Jiangzhou for us. There must be something else she doesn’t know about.” She added, “Regardless of whether Hu San is lying or not, there was a Golden Toad Murder Case in Jiangzhou. She probably wasn’t in Jiangzhou three years ago, so there must be other Golden Toads in Jiangzhou. Since the Mu Qi family has come looking for us, we’ll let her contact their people first, and then we’ll wipe them all out in one fell swoop.”

At this moment, Gongsun Ling also returned, bringing back shocking news: "The Living Buddha Temple is clearly a hypocritical fake temple. There are indeed many bones buried in the back mountain. They have harmed countless lives in order to make money. It should be related to Wu Yirong. He used the Living Buddha Temple to make money, but always portrayed himself as an honest official. The fake Hu San is very likely one of the victims."

"If he wanted to file a complaint with the emperor, he should have gone to Shengjing. Why did he go to the Yuzhou government office? And it just so happens that the empress was there too. Isn't that too much of a coincidence?" Gongsun Ling wondered.

"You mean there might be someone behind him instructing him to do this?" Jiang Fenghua said.

Gongsun Ling nodded. "Someone has a clear understanding of the Empress's whereabouts, but we don't know why he hasn't shown up. We don't know if he's friend or foe, or why he directed us to Jiangzhou to investigate Wu Yirong."

Jiang Fenghua said, "It's because of the Golden Toad. There's also a Golden Toad in Jiangzhou. Now all directions are pointing to the Golden Toad. The Mu Qi family wants to find the descendants of the person who owned the Golden Toad back then, and at the same time, someone deliberately led us to Jiangzhou."

Gongsun Lan suddenly said, "Fenghua, have you never suspected that your past life was actually related to Danji Aruan? Why can you see Danji Aruan from a thousand years ago through your dreams? Perhaps you are her reincarnation."

She always believed in karma and retribution, and that the fact that Qingyu and I met in this way must be a result of good karma.

Rather than saying that we are continuing the deep affection and fate from our past lives, it would be more accurate to say that God saw their kindness and granted them the blessing of continuing their predestined relationship.

"Danji Aruan and Baili Ayu are destined to be apart, because your true destiny is with Baili Shang. Your marriage to him in this life is precisely the reward for their personal salvation of Yinchuan Kingdom."

The group was stunned by Gongsun Lan's words, and they all looked at Jiang Fenghua and nodded in agreement that what she said made a lot of sense.

Jiang Fenghua did not refute it. If her and Xie Shang's past lives were Danji Aruan and Baili Shang, then they could be considered to have been entangled for three lifetimes.

In the stillness of the night, Jiang Fenghua pondered Gongsun Lan's words in her room.

I wonder how Xie Shang is doing now. Many things from his past life have been changed. Will he be able to defeat the enemy this time?

Meanwhile, at midnight, the fighting finally ceased, and a sense of death washed over everyone like a tide. Everyone was exhausted but dared not fall into a deep sleep, for fear of being suddenly ambushed by the enemy and never waking up again.

Xie Shang, far away on the northwestern border, barely managed to repel the enemy. Ge Ming repeatedly advised him not to go to the battlefield personally, but he could not watch the soldiers of the Great Zhou die in vain in the face of the powerful iron cavalry of the Northern Xiao Kingdom.

Peng Fei said, "Your Majesty should prioritize your health. Please leave the war to me."

His face was covered in blood, and his eyes were as sharp as an eagle's. He said in a deep voice, "I went to the battlefield to boost the morale of my soldiers. The iron cavalry of the Northern Owl Kingdom is indeed powerful, and the soldiers of the Great Zhou Kingdom do have shortcomings. After this battle, I will give the soldiers of the Great Zhou Kingdom a strong training program."

“Now let’s study the topographic map again and find a breakthrough,” Xie Shang said coldly. “The Northwest Indigenous people have been entrenched in this area for hundreds of years. Their foundation is solid. If we want to break through, we must find their weakness.”

Ge Mingdao said: "The biggest difficulty we are facing now is the climate. The weather is getting colder and colder. We need to find a way to collect cotton-padded clothes and send them to the soldiers so that they can get through the harsh winter. Food shortage has also become the biggest problem. It is a protracted war. Military supplies such as food, medicine, and weapons must keep up."

They brought a large quantity of sulfur to the Northwest, but due to the harsh climate, it was easily affected by moisture and was not usable in such an environment, so they put it aside.

The Northern Owl Kingdom had long been prepared to go to war with the Great Zhou. The soldiers of the Northern Owl Kingdom were used to such harsh weather, but the environment and climate conditions that the soldiers of the Great Zhou usually lived in had now become their biggest problem.

In short, the soldiers of the Great Zhou Dynasty are not resistant to the cold, and they will suffer if they go to war in this season.

At this moment, someone suggested, "In my humble opinion, the best course of action now is to preserve the strength of the Great Zhou. Why not send an envoy to the Northern Xiao Kingdom to negotiate and see what their demands are..."

Peng Fei said, "General Wang means that we should take the initiative to negotiate peace with the Northern Owl Kingdom."

Upon hearing this, the other generals present also spoke up, saying, "The harsh winters in the Northwest can freeze people to death. Many of our soldiers couldn't endure it and died of illness."

They didn't dare say they were frozen to death; how could a living person be allowed to freeze to death? Saying that would only damage morale.

"The Northern Owl Kingdom is fully prepared for this battle." Peng Fei originally thought he couldn't hold out, but the Emperor suddenly led people to save his life and repel the enemy.

That battle made him realize that he still had many shortcomings.

Seeing that they all seemed somewhat dejected, as if they were displeased with the soldiers, Xie Shang said coldly, "You are the commanders of tens of thousands of soldiers. If you don't even have the confidence to repel the enemy, how can the soldiers have any confidence?"

"This battle is crucial to the future of the Great Zhou. Any deserters will be executed without exception. Anyone who dares to propose peace again will have their entire family executed." He spoke with an imposing and resounding voice.

Everyone immediately clasped their hands and knelt on the ground, saying, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. Your health is of utmost importance."

Seeing that the emperor was angry, Ge Ming quickly said, "It's late now, why don't we tell everyone to go and rest so that they will be in good spirits to fight the enemy tomorrow?"

Xie Shang knew that it was already snowing heavily outside the tent, so he didn't insist that they stay any longer in the middle of the night. "Go back and rest for a while. We'll discuss it again tomorrow."

After everyone left, Xie Shang stood in front of the topographic map again. The climate in the northwest was indeed harsh, which happened to be the weakness of the Great Zhou soldiers. This battle could not be resolved by sending envoys to sue for peace.

He needed to find a quick and decisive strategy to deal with the enemy.