From cute to empress

The pungent, musty smell hit me like a hammer, nearly suffocating me. The fighting was intense up front, and I anxiously rushed back to gather food and fodder, only to find this scene!

"Your Majesty, I am incompetent! I...I have done my job poorly and am willing to be punished!" General Li's legs went weak and he knelt heavily on the ground, his voice full of guilt and self-blame.

"General Li, please stand up and speak." I took a deep breath, suppressed my anger, and turned to look at the general who had stepped forward. "What's your name? Why do you say the food shortage is a man-made disaster?"

"I'm Ma Qiang, General Zhen's deputy general." He saluted with his fists, his tone firm. "Our army has won victory after victory, and morale is high. Logically, food supplies shouldn't be so scarce. But ever since General Li took over logistics, food supplies have been insufficient. There must be something fishy going on!"

General Li suddenly looked up, pointed at Ma Qiang and shouted angrily, "You are slandering me! I, Li, am devoted to my country. How could I do such a thing?!"

Ma Qiang fought back without showing any weakness: "Then tell me why the food and fodder became like this?!"

"I...I..." General Li was speechless, with cold sweat on his forehead.

"Enough!" I snapped, halting their quarrel. A vague suspicion welled up in my mind. General Li was a newly promoted general, young and energetic. He had considerable grievances against Zhen Youcai's methods and had repeatedly submitted petitions suggesting a change in strategy, but I had rejected them all. Now it seemed he had a problem with me, deliberately trying to embarrass me?

"General Li, tell me, what is going on?" I looked at him coldly, with unquestionable majesty in my tone.

General Li fell to his knees with a thud, and said in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, this general... this general..."

"Your Majesty, General Li is stubborn and self-willed. He ignored our advice and only pursued speed, which led to the shortage of food and fodder!" Ma Qiang took the opportunity to speak up. "I beg Your Majesty to investigate and prevent this traitor from succeeding!"

"Shut up! You're slandering me!" General Li suddenly raised his head, pointed at Ma Qiang and shouted, "It's obvious that Zhen Youcai was too conservative in the battle and missed the opportunity, so..."

"How dare you!" I slammed the table and shouted, "General Li, you are so bold! How dare you talk about war!"

General Li shuddered all over and suddenly became silent.

"Your Majesty, please calm down..." Ma Qiang wanted to say something else, but I interrupted him with a wave of my hand.

"You all should leave first. We can discuss this matter later." I rubbed my eyebrows and felt exhausted.

"His Majesty……"

"Back off!" I said in a cold tone, refusing to allow for further discussion.

General Li and Ma Qiang looked at each other and saw the dissatisfaction in each other's eyes, but they did not dare to say anything more and could only bow and retreat.

I watched them leave, feeling a mixture of emotions. The issue of food and fodder was just a trigger; the real problem was the lack of morale among the troops...

After they left, I slumped weakly into a chair, my annoyance flooding in. The issue of food and fodder was a matter of grave importance, no small matter, but it was truly worrying that such a huge disagreement had arisen within the army at such a crucial moment.

"Your Majesty, don't worry too much. It's not worth it to get sick from anger." Xiaolan, the personal maid, brought a cup of hot tea and comforted him softly.

I took the teacup and took a gentle sip. The bitter taste spread through my mouth, but it also helped my chaotic thoughts gradually become clearer. General Li and Ma Qiang are both important generals in our army. They each have their strengths, but they also have their own weaknesses. General Li is young and impulsive, but he also has a sincere heart to serve his country. Ma Qiang is calm and experienced, but he can also be stubborn. Now the two of them are at odds, and if they can't resolve their differences in time, I am afraid it will affect the morale of the army and even endanger the entire war.

After much deliberation, I decided to hold a military meeting to allow the generals to express their opinions and discuss countermeasures together.

In the evening, the setting sun's rays filtered through the windows of the meeting hall, adding a touch of warmth to the otherwise solemn room, but it couldn't mask the tension that permeated the air. General Li and Ma Qiang sat on either side, glaring at each other as if they were about to devour each other alive. The other generals also wore solemn expressions and remained silent.

"I've gathered you all here today to discuss how to address the food shortage," I said straight to the point, scanning the group. "General Li, can you first explain why the food supply is so low?"

General Li stood up abruptly, clasped his fists, and said, "Your Majesty, I am not at fault! The shortage of food and fodder is due to the long transportation route, which is full of mountainous roads and obstacles. In addition, the recent unpredictable weather has led to the slow delivery of food and fodder."

"That's nonsense!" Ma Qiang slammed the table and stood up, shouting angrily, "Our army's food and fodder has always been allocated from the nearest Qingzhou Prefecture, and the transportation route has long been determined. How can there be talk of dangerous mountain roads? As for the weather, that's even more nonsense! The weather has been sunny recently, and there's nothing unusual!"

"You..." General Li was so angry that his face turned blue, and his hand was shaking slightly as he pointed at Ma Qiang.

"That's enough!" I once again stopped the quarrel between the two of them in a stern voice. "Are you guys done yet?!"

The two men sat down reluctantly, but the anger on their faces did not diminish at all.

"Your Majesty, General Li is stubborn and self-willed. He refused to listen to advice and only pursued speed, which led to heavy losses of food and grass!" Ma Qiang attacked again and pointed the finger at General Li.

"You..." General Li was about to retort, but was stopped by my look.

"General Ma, do you have any evidence for what you said?" I asked calmly.

"This..." Ma Qiang was speechless for a moment. Although he suspected that General Li had tampered with the supply of food and fodder, he had no solid evidence.

"Your Majesty, I..." General Li was about to speak, but was interrupted by me waving my hand.

"Alright, now's not the time to argue about who's right or wrong." I looked around at everyone and said in a deep voice, "The most urgent task is to find a way to solve the problem of food shortages."

"Your Majesty, I think we should change our battle strategy immediately, abandon the siege and switch to defense to save food and fodder," suggested an old general.

"No!" General Li was the first to object. "Our army has won consecutive battles and morale is high. If we give up the siege now, won't all our efforts be wasted?"

"General Li, you..."

"Everyone!" I raised my voice again, "Now is the time to discuss matters, calm down!"

Everyone finally quieted down, but the expressions on their faces varied. I took a deep breath and turned my gaze to Zhen Youcai, who had remained silent the entire time. "General Zhen, what do you think?"

Zhen Youcai slowly stood up, his eyes firm and calm: "Your Majesty, I think..."

"Your Majesty, I believe..." Zhen Youcai paused, his deep gaze sweeping over everyone present before finally landing on me. "The issue of food and fodder is indeed urgent, but more importantly, we must recognize the current situation."

He walked to the center of the conference room, unfolded a map, pointed to two marked areas, and said in a deep voice, "The enemy is powerful and has a favorable terrain. We have been unable to defeat them for a long time. Now we have a problem with food and fodder. If this continues for a long time, it will be very disadvantageous to our army."

"General Zhen means that we should give up the siege?" General Li asked in a bad tone, his eyes full of unwillingness.

"General Li, don't be anxious. Listen to what General Zhen has to say." I signaled Zhen Youcai to continue.

Zhen Youcai nodded and pointed to the location of our army's garrison on the map. He said, "Although our army has won victory after victory, the soldiers are exhausted and in urgent need of rest. Moreover, enemy reinforcements are on the way. If we continue to attack blindly, we will likely be attacked from both sides."

"So, you're saying we should stay put and let the enemy go unpunished?" General Li stood up abruptly and said excitedly, "Your Majesty, I beg to lead the troops into battle and will annihilate the enemy without a single piece of armor remaining!"

"General Li, calm down!" I shouted in a deep voice. "General Zhen only said to maintain a solid defense, not to give up the attack."

"Your Majesty, I believe that the best defense is offense!" General Li retorted uncompromisingly, "We cannot sit idly by and wait for death. We must take the initiative to break the deadlock!"

His words were passionate and generous, and many generals nodded in agreement.

I sighed inwardly. While General Li's words were a bit extreme, they were not without reason. Our army's morale is high right now. If we can seize this opportunity and crush the enemy in one fell swoop, we can indeed resolve our current predicament.

"Your Majesty, I believe General Li's proposal is too risky," Lieutenant General Ma, who had been silent until then, suddenly spoke up. "The enemy's strength cannot be underestimated, and we know very little about their situation. A rash attack would only lead to the loss of our soldiers' lives."

"Deputy General Ma, you're only boosting others' morale and destroying your own!" General Li shouted angrily. "Are we supposed to hide here like cowards and let others slaughter us?"

"Alright, stop arguing!" I slammed the table, and the meeting room suddenly fell silent. "What you all say makes sense, but now is not the time to argue. We need to come up with a practical plan."

I turned to look at Zhen Youcai and asked, "General Zhen, do you have any other suggestions?"

Zhen Youcai pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "Your Majesty, I believe..." "Your Majesty, I believe..." Zhen Youcai paused, his deep gaze sweeping across the silent crowd before finally resting on me. "The issue of food and fodder is urgent, but not unsolvable. The real crisis lies in the generals' lack of unity."

At his words, General Li's face paled, but he stiffened his neck and refused to refute. Lieutenant General Ma gave Zhen Youcai an approving look and echoed, "General Zhen is absolutely right. The enemy outnumbers us. Further internal disputes will only give the enemy an opportunity to exploit."

"Your Majesty, I did not mean to contradict you. I was just worried, so..." Seeing my unhappy expression, General Li softened his tone, but his words still revealed his dissatisfaction with Zhen Youcai's conservative strategy.

"General Li is truly loyal, I understand." I rubbed my aching temples, feeling completely drained. The intense fighting and the shortage of food supplies these days have already left me utterly exhausted, and now the generals' disagreements are exacerbating the situation.

I looked around, seeing these generals, usually so loyal to me, now arguing endlessly over a disagreement, and a sense of powerlessness rose within me. Was I really going to watch them fight among themselves over their own opinions, only to have the enemy reap the benefits?

"Your Majesty, I believe that both General Zhen and General Li's suggestions have merit." The previously silent General Wang Bo suddenly spoke, his cloudy eyes gleaming with wisdom. "We must strengthen our defenses to avoid being overwhelmed by the enemy, but we must also wait for opportunities to strike and inflict heavy damage on the enemy."

Wang Bo was highly respected, and his words undoubtedly carried great weight. General Li and Lieutenant General Ma remained silent, their expressions differing, clearly still brooding over their previous insistence.

"General Wang, that makes sense." I nodded and turned my gaze to Zhen Youcai. "General Zhen, what do you think?"

Zhen Youcai was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "General Wang is absolutely right. I also think that we should..."

His next words were drowned out by the clamor of footsteps. A messenger rushed into the meeting room in a panic, knelt on the ground, and shouted, "Report—"

My heart sank suddenly and an ominous premonition came over me.