Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

Shen Lang left in a great hurry. After receiving the telegram from Haizhou, he immediately assembled two brigades of 7,000 men and 12 warships in the city and headed north to Shengjing.

He originally didn't want to make things so extreme, believing that controlling Southern Zhili and locking the lifeline of half of Wu Zhao's country would be enough.

But the problem now is that Li Hong actually wants to take his own wife as a concubine?

This crosses the line.

Regardless of Li Hong's intentions in issuing this decree, Shen Lang will absolutely not let this matter rest.

Since you haven't grasped the current situation in Southern Zhili, I'll personally come to Shengjing to talk to you.

Shen Lang never believed in compromise, and even if it was a compromise from the other side, he would not accept it if it crossed his bottom line.

He only believed in the famous saying of the Iron Chancellor Bismarck:

The truth lies within the range of cannon fire!

A pointed bullet is better than a sharp speech!

From this moment on, the Chu army's attitude toward the war against Wu Zhao State changed once again.

Meanwhile, Li Hong, who knew almost nothing about the battles on the front lines, was in his study, reading through the "victory reports" sent from all over the country.

First came the reports from Haizhou. From the beginning of the year until late April, the reports gradually changed from utter defeat to "victory".

Win big, win big!

First came the report of victory from the garrison in Luyang, which was filled with flowery flattery and a large amount of praise for Li Hong, taking up a third of the document.

Then they would talk about the local garrison's determination to share the emperor's burdens, constantly spouting empty boasts such as "Your subject will surely repay the emperor's grace," "Our Wuzhao soldiers are united in their hatred of the enemy," and "We swear to fight against foreign barbarians to the very end."

The results were only reported at the very end: "We fought a fierce battle with the foreign barbarians. Our Wuzhao soldiers fought bravely and broke through the enemy's battle formation, annihilating more than 1,700 foreign barbarians."

Objectively speaking, this is indeed a rare piece of good news.

But Li Hong showed no joy upon seeing it; instead, his expression turned even more gloomy.

Since the beginning of February, he has received so many similar reports of victory that he has filled an entire box. They all report the number of enemy soldiers killed, ranging from dozens to hundreds or even thousands.

Not only the garrison troops, but also the military commanders in the military camps wrote these battle reports.

Initially, Li Hong believed these reports of victory and bestowed numerous rewards upon the local generals.

But as time went on, Li Hong gradually realized that something was wrong.

Because the total number of enemy casualties reported in all the victories has exceeded 20,000.

However, the battle lines remained between Huizhou and Quanzhou, and there was still no news of the recapture of Haizhou.

This made Li Hong realize that the local authorities might be exaggerating their battle achievements, so he immediately ordered the Military Affairs Department to investigate.

Besides that, Li Hong is currently most concerned about the war in Southern Zhili.

Southern Zhili is crucial to the finances and tax revenue of the Wuzhao Kingdom, and it must be recovered as soon as possible.

However, several months passed in the blink of an eye, and there was still no news about the war in Wu Zhao Kingdom.

There has been no news from Fu Heng or Ming Rui, which has made Li Hong uneasy these days.

This army is the strongest elite force that Li Hong can mobilize. If anything goes wrong, the consequences will be unimaginable.

Therefore, in recent days, besides paying attention to the situation in Haizhou, Li Hong has focused more on the battlefield in Southern Zhili.

Unfortunately, Li Hong, who prided himself on having sufficient control over the vast territory of Wu Zhao, never expected that the elite troops he commanded, which allowed him to rule the court and the country, had been almost completely wiped out.

Even more unexpectedly, Fu Heng, whom he trusted implicitly and who was hailed as the second Zhang Gui, actually suppressed the news of the defeat and stayed in Qingcheng to avoid fighting.

Li Hong flipped through some more memorials, but found them all to be the same and utterly devoid of any merit, so he simply set them all aside.

Accompanying him, a fifty-year-old official offered tea with a fawning expression: "Your Majesty, please have some tea and rest."

Li Hong glanced at him, then calmly accepted the teacup.

This official is named Ji Yun, and he currently serves as the chief compiler of historical records.

As for Ji Yun, she had no other skills, but she had excellent handwriting, which was highly praised by Li Hong.

Aside from that, Ji Yun doesn't have many redeeming qualities. If one had to pick one, it would be that her flattery skills surpass even He Yong's.

Unfortunately, Li Hong looked down on such people. Although He Yong also flattered him, at least He Yong had real skills.

Ji Yun, on the other hand, is only good at writing calligraphy, but her work ability is terrible. She spends all her time indulging in empty talk, which has nothing to do with actual work.

Logically speaking, such a person should not be given important responsibilities by Li Hong.

However, Li Hong still made an exception and appointed him as the chief clerk, entrusting him with the important task of compiling the history of the previous dynasty.

Its purpose, of course, was to let all the scholars in the world know that even if you are mediocre, as long as you are willing to be the emperor's dog, you can still live a good life.

Just as Li Honggang slid the lid of his teacup, Ji Yun said with concern, "Your Majesty, although you are very busy with official duties, you must take care of your health. If anything happens to you, the sky of Wu Zhao Kingdom will collapse."

Upon hearing this, Li Hong immediately threw his teacup onto the imperial desk: "Ji Yun, are you cursing me to die?"

Upon hearing this, Ji Yun was so shocked that she broke out in a cold sweat and immediately knelt on the ground: "Your Majesty, please calm down! That's not what I meant! I really didn't mean that!"

As he spoke, he continued to kowtow to Li Hong.

Li Hong frowned, looking disgusted.

He waved his hand until Ji Yun's forehead was almost bleeding from the banging, saying, "That's enough, get up."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Ji Yun then carefully got up and waited to the side for instructions.

"Any reports from Southern Zhili?"

Upon hearing this, Ji Yun shook her head.

"I don't know; it seems there hasn't been any news yet."

Upon hearing this, Li Hong said coldly, "Then go find someone who knows to serve you."

Ji Yun was taken aback. She was about to ask who she was looking for, but when she met Li Hong's cold eyes, she immediately shrank back and whispered, "Your subject obeys the decree."

After saying that, he walked out of the imperial study with a troubled expression.

"An incompetent person is not fit for important tasks."

Watching Ji Yun's departing figure, Li Hong felt increasingly frustrated.

Just as he was about to leave the palace for a walk, Zhang Gui walked into the imperial study with a dejected look on his face.

"Zhang Gui? What brings you here? Why didn't anyone announce your arrival?"

Li Hong was surprised to see Zhang Gui appear.

However, Zhang Gui's face was full of sorrow, and her eyes were red.

Li Hong was taken aback: "What's wrong, Zhang Gui? What happened? Why do you look like that?"

The next second, Zhang Gui knelt directly in front of Li Hong, suppressing his voice as he said, "Your Majesty, the army has been defeated. The 65,000 elite troops of the Wuying and Waifan armies were defeated by the Chu army on Zijin Mountain."

Only a few thousand elite troops remained to retreat with General Fu to defend Qingcheng, along with fourteen other main generals including Deputy General Mingrui, Loyal and Brave General Ao Rui, Anti-Rebel General Hulü Guang, and Valiant Guard Quan Xiancheng.

"Commander Fu Long of the Jianrui Battalion, along with 326 officers of various ranks under his command, have all perished on the battlefield, Your Majesty! The Wuzhao Kingdom has been defeated!"