On the wedding day, my wife was abnormal

February 15th, the second year of Shenghui.

While Murong Yan was resting his troops in the bloody ruins of Haizhou City and preparing for the next offensive, Pyongyang, the capital of Goguryeo, thousands of miles away, had fallen into unprecedented panic and chaos due to the fall of Haizhou and the subsequent horrific massacre.

The news spread to the palace like a plague through the scattered defeated soldiers and fast horses from the border who had managed to escape. Every detail was filled with bloody cruelty, shattering the last bit of luck among the Goguryeo ruling class.

Pyongyang Royal Palace, Gyeongbokgung Hall.

Although it is named "Jingfu", the palace is now shrouded in a chill that is even more biting than the bitter spring cold outside.

No matter how fiercely the charcoal brazier burned, it could not dispel the fear and despair that permeated the air.

King Go Zang of Goguryeo, a pale-faced boy of only sixteen years old, huddled on the gilded throne, trembling like a frightened bird.

The regent Gao Yun, who was truly in power, had lost his usual sinister composure. His face turned ashen, and he paced restlessly in the center of the hall with his hands behind his back. His hawk-like eyes were filled with bloodshot from a mixture of shock and anger.

Your Highness, the civil and military officials were standing on both sides, everyone's face was pale, and the whispers were like mosquitoes, adding to the oppression.

The news of the massacre in Haizhou City was like a huge rock pressing on everyone's heart.

"Waste! They are all a bunch of waste!" Gao Yun stopped suddenly and punched the Panlong Pillar beside him, making a dull sound, which scared the young king so much that he trembled all over.

"Jin Wucheng is such an idiot! With 20,000 elite soldiers defending a fortified city, he couldn't even hold out for three days! And he still has the nerve to say that the women of Daqian are vulnerable? Now, he himself is trapped. Haizhou City, Haizhou City..."

As he finished speaking, his voice trembled with anger and a hint of undisguised fear, and he could hardly continue.

Tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians in Haizhou City were slaughtered. This was no longer a defeat, but an atrocity bordering on genocide!

"Uncle, what should we do now?" the young king Gao Zang asked in a weak voice with tears in his eyes.

Gao Yun took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his surging blood. He swept his gaze over the courtiers below the stage, "Everyone! Speak now! That enchantress Murong Yan has gone mad! Next, she will undoubtedly aim for Pyongyang! For Goguryeo, whether to fight or make peace, a decision must be made today!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the hall suddenly exploded like a boiling pot.

The pro-war faction, led by General Park Jung-woong, immediately stepped forward. Although he was still frightened, he still maintained his courage and roared, "Regent! Your Majesty! Murong Yan is a cruel and inhumane woman, hated by both humans and gods! She dared to massacre Haeju today, and Pyongyang tomorrow! Seeking peace? Seeking the skin of a tiger! How could she truly stop? We must mobilize the whole country and fight her to the death! Our Goguryeo has rugged mountains and rivers, and the people are brave and sturdy. As long as everyone is united, we may be able to keep her out of our country! Even if we fight to the last soldier, we will never surrender to this evil woman who crows at dawn!"

His words were indignant, but they could not conceal his lack of confidence.

"General Park, you're wrong!" Wen Zhengchun, the mature and prudent minister, immediately refuted. His hair and beard were all white, and his face was full of worry. "War? What are we going to fight with? Haizhou is our western barrier. Our elite soldiers and generals were destroyed in an instant! Murong Yan's troops are so powerful and their artillery is so powerful. How can flesh and blood stop them? What's more..."

He paused, a look of extreme fear on his face, and lowered his voice even more, "What's more, Murong Yan is not an ordinary person at all!"

Wen Zhengchun's words resonated with everyone, and many ministers nodded, with fear deepening on their faces.

"Why do you say that, Minister Wen?" Gao Yun asked with a frown.

Wen Zhengchun trembled as he spoke, "Prince Regent, please understand! According to the soldiers who escaped, Murong Yan wasn't wearing military armor when she attacked the city and even ordered the massacre. Instead, she was wearing an extremely strange and luxurious black dress embroidered with gold phoenixes, resembling a nightgown!"

As soon as he said this, there was a sound of people gasping for air in the hall!

Many people had already heard the rumors, but when it was spoken by an important official like Wen Zhengchun himself, the shocking effect was still astonishing.

"Ridiculous!" Park Jung-woong exclaimed angrily. "How can someone wear a nightgown in front of two armies? The defeated soldiers must be frightened and talking nonsense!"

"That's absolutely not nonsense!" said another minister, Minister of Rites Cui Minghao, his face pale.

"I've verified the dress from various sources. The fleeing soldiers' descriptions differ, but they all agree on a few key points: it's composed entirely of dark black and dark gold, and the material resembles brocade, yet it's incredibly thin and stiff. Embroidered with gold thread is a massive phoenix, covering her entire body and even trailing a long tail behind her. They claim Murong Yan cherishes it like her life, never leaving it except for bathing. Even amidst a sea of ​​blood and corpses, it remains spotlessly elegant. They privately call it the 'Divine Phoenix Dress'!"

"Divine Phoenix Dress" Gao Yun murmured the name, feeling a chill running from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

A piece of clothing was given such a name, and the wearer used it to dress up for marching to war and ordering the massacre of the city. This was completely beyond his understanding of "normal"!

This is no longer a simple clothing preference, but an almost evil symbol!

"That's not all!" Wen Zhengchun added, his voice trembling. "The defeated soldiers also said that she often wore a black and gold mink cape. It was incredibly luxurious, but on the day of the massacre, she sat on a high place, and the cape and the train of her nightgown were left to drag messily on the blood-stained ground. She didn't care at all. And when she turned around to give an order, the hem of her skirt fluttered, revealing a dazzling golden lining! The golden light shone like the fire of hell!"

Wen Zhengchun's description was vivid and full of vivid images, making everyone who heard it in the hall seem to see the image of the female devil wearing a gorgeous and strange nightgown, sitting on a sea of ​​blood and a mountain of corpses, with a dazzling golden light shining from under her skirt!

This extreme contrast, this visual impact of juxtaposing extreme luxury with extreme cruelty, makes people feel more psychologically uncomfortable and fearful than any image of a green-faced, fang-toothed demon!

"Witch! It really is a witch!" A minister exclaimed in shock.

"This is definitely not a match that can be won by human power!" another person echoed with a pale face.

The voices of the peace faction immediately gained the upper hand: "Regent! Your Majesty! Murong Yan is no longer a normal person! To resist her head-on is like hitting a rock with an egg! The lesson of Haizhou is right before our eyes! The only solution now is to send envoys to seek peace! Even if it means ceding territory, paying compensation, or becoming a vassal and paying tribute, it is better than having the entire nation slaughtered!"

"Asking for peace? She just massacred tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians in Haizhou! How could she agree to peace now? I'm afraid you'll only bring humiliation upon yourself!" Park Jung-woong retorted with his neck stiff, but his momentum had weakened a lot.

The thought of fighting against such an unpredictable and cruel opponent made him feel uneasy.

"That's better than just sitting there and waiting to die!" Wen Zhengchun said excitedly. "We can offer a generous gift, hand over the officials who previously advocated for contacting Wang, or even punish those involved at her request as a sign of sincerity, just to ask her to stop the war."

In the court, the pro-war and pro-peace factions were arguing fiercely, with spit flying everywhere. But no matter which faction it was, their words were filled with deep fear of Murong Yan and the divine phoenix dress.

That dress has become a symbol of Murong Yan's cruelty, power, and unreasonableness, and is deeply imprinted in the hearts of every Goguryeo minister.

Gao Yun was upset listening to the quarrel below.

Doesn't he want to fight?

But the tragic situation in Haizhou made him realize that there was a huge gap in military strength between the two sides.

Murong Yan's strange style of behavior and ruthless methods made him feel an unknown fear.

Asking for peace? As the war advocates said, asking for peace right after the massacre was a sluggish hope.

What's more, if he were to hand over his own people and kneel down to beg for peace, how would he maintain his dignity as the regent?

Where is the national dignity of Goguryeo?

He looked up at his nephew who was trembling on the throne, and then at the ministers who were arguing in the audience but all looked frightened. A huge feeling of powerlessness and despair seized him.

He seemed to see the dark gold nightgown embroidered with a giant phoenix, with its messy train, crossing thousands of mountains and rivers and spreading towards Pyongyang. Beneath the hem of the skirt was a sea of ​​blood, golden light, and destruction.

"Enough!" Gao Yun suddenly shouted, interrupting the quarrel.

The hall instantly became quiet, and all eyes were focused on him.

Gao Yun panted heavily, his eyes sweeping over the crowd. Finally, he said dejectedly, "Send an order. Reinforce the defenses of Pyongyang and all surrounding cities! Mobilize all available troops! Prepare for a decisive battle. At the same time, send someone to the Daqian military camp to test Murong Yan's attitude."

It was a conflicting and desperate decision.

They were prepared to fight to the death, but also hoped for peace.

This precisely reflects that the ruling class of Goguryeo was already in chaos under Murong Yan's absolute military force and strange intimidation.

The court meeting dispersed in depression and panic.

Gao Yun stood alone in the empty hall, looking at the gray sky outside the hall, as if he could see the blood energy rising into the sky from Haizhou City.

He subconsciously tightened his robes, feeling that a chill with a bloody smell coming from the west was penetrating the walls of the palace and invading him.