She mistakenly got into the bridal sedan chair and married a sickly but powerful minister, becoming

After sending the letter, Shen Qingtan looked down at the map unfolded on the table and circled Ningcheng with her pen.

Ningcheng is a mountain city with a rugged terrain, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Zhao Yi and Wang Qiaoxin's army was blocked here, and it would be too difficult to break through the city in a short time.

At this moment, Tingxue ran in from outside, folded up an oil-paper umbrella, and reported to Shen Qingtan, "Your Highness, the grain has arrived. Would you like to go and see it?"

"I have to go take a look." Shen Qingtan slowly rolled up the map on the table, and inadvertently glanced at the oil-paper umbrella standing by the door, and asked in surprise, "Is it raining outside?"

"Yes. This rain started without warning." Tingxue wiped her rain-soaked sleeves with a handkerchief and said with a look of relief, "Luckily, you had the foresight to instruct your subordinates beforehand to make sure that once the grain was collected, it was stored in the warehouse. Otherwise, this heavy rain would have soaked everything."

Shen Qingtan arrived at the door of the study and saw rainwater flowing down from the roof ridge and into the courtyard.

Their mansion in Yuncheng burned down, and they are now housed in another residence.

Originally, Shen Qingtan planned to go north with Zhao Yi, but Zhao Yi said that the conditions for marching were not only very harsh, but also very dangerous, so he asked her to stay in Yuncheng to guard the rear for him and procure food for the army.

But Shen Qingtan knew very well that this was only part of the reason. Another reason was that Zhao Yi was worried that if things went wrong, the Prince of Zhenbei would be able to bring her back to Da Zhou.

Although the court's exorbitant taxes and levies had greatly angered the people, who pleaded with Zhao Yi to execute the treacherous officials and rescue the Northern Qi emperor, the cities where these people lived were all far from the capital. Only those who had been exploited and oppressed the most dared to defy the government for survival, and thus cooperated with Zhao Yi from within and without to quickly breach the city walls.

However, the closer one gets to the capital, the more difficult it becomes to breach the city walls.

This was not only because these common people had not been subjected to extreme oppression by the government and would not help Zhao Yi like other common people, but also because, in the eyes of some wealthy gentry, Zhao Yi and Wang Qiaoxin's actions were damaging to their interests.

Not every courtier supported Zhao Yi; each had their own agenda, so they naturally joined forces with the Right Pillar General to resist Zhao Yi.

Among them were some relatives who were waiting to reap the benefits without lifting a finger.

Shen Qingtan waited until the rain subsided before going to the granary to inspect the grain. This grain was for the soldiers on the march, so she dared not be careless. She carefully checked each bag, and after confirming that there was no problem with the grain, she ordered her men to stop the rain and then transport it to Ningcheng.

As we returned to the main courtyard from the granary, it grew dark.

Although it was raining heavily outside and the weather wasn't so hot, Shen Qingtan felt extremely stuffy and uncomfortable inside, her body feeling damp and sticky.

So she instructed Liuyue to fetch some ice from the ice cellar and put it in the room. Then she ordered Tingxue to fetch a bucket of hot water and took a warm bath, only then did she feel a little refreshed.

Shen Qingtan was exhausted after working all afternoon. The soreness in her waist and the bloating in her abdomen became more and more obvious. She leaned on the couch with some discomfort and instructed Tingxue, who was beside her, "It's hot and I don't have much of an appetite. Have the kitchen prepare a bowl of Four Red Soup and send it over later."

Upon hearing about the Four Red Soup, Tingxue immediately realized that her master's period was approaching: "When you were in the Great Zhou, your period always came on the same day, either two days early or two days late. After coming to the Northern Qi, your period became somewhat unpredictable, either four or five days early or ten days late."

This time, it's been delayed by several days again since last month.

Shen Qingtan picked up "The Art of War" from the bookshelf and replied while reading, "I haven't had a good night's sleep since arriving in Northern Qi, so naturally I've been affected."

"Isn't that right?" Tingxue muttered, "You and the Prince are surrounded by enemies on all sides in Northern Qi, with wolves and tigers all around you. There isn't a single one who is on your side. Although Great Zhou also has many enemies, you have other helpers by your side. Unlike now, you are completely isolated and helpless."

Upon hearing this, Shen Qingtan seemed to be inspired and immediately sat up, saying, "Tingxue, prepare a brush, ink, paper, and inkstone for me." After a pause, she added, "Also, prepare some cinnabar and azurite."

"Yes." Tingxue immediately prepared the items Shen Qingtan needed and placed them one by one on the curved table on the couch: "This servant will grind ink for you."

Shen Qingtan spread out a sheet of Xuan paper and sketched Ningcheng with simple brushstrokes. She then used several different colors to mark routes in several directions around Ningcheng, and carefully checked it against the original map.

After confirming that there were no mistakes, Shen Qingtan put down the two drawings in her hand and wrote another letter to Zhao Yi.

Her inspiration all came from military strategy books, but when actually applied to the battlefield, it was very likely to be just theoretical. But what if it could give Zhao Yi some other inspiration?

With this in mind, Shen Qingtan wrote down all the tactics she had come up with.

Firstly, mountain cities are easy to defend and difficult to attack. They can find the weakest point in Ningcheng's defenses, the rear path, and then send elite troops to outflank and encircle it from several different directions, launching a sudden attack from the front, back, left, and right, thus attacking Ningcheng from the rear and breaking its original defensive deployment.

However, this plan also carries some risks, such as getting lost in the mountains and forests, and being ambushed.

Secondly, by encircling Ningcheng, the supply of materials to the city was effectively cut off. If Ningcheng were short of supplies, the defending army would find it difficult to hold out, and the city gates would naturally fall without a fight.

After writing down these two plans, Shen Qingtan frowned slightly, somewhat hesitant. In the end, she wrote down an incomplete plan, asking Zhao Yi and the others to adapt it to the circumstances.

She put them all into an envelope, wrapped it in oiled paper, and handed it to a trusted confidant to be delivered to Ningcheng by fast horse.

At this moment, a servant from the kitchen brought over a bowl of Four Red Soup and handed it to Liuyue, who was guarding outside the door.

Liu Yue brought in the Four Red Soup, scooped out a spoonful and placed it in a condiment dish. She went to a corner, lifted a piece of brown cloth, revealing an iron cage inside. Inside the cage was a rat.

She opened the cage a little, just high enough to fit a food dish, and quickly closed it. She waited a moment beside the cage, hearing the soft chewing sounds of mice eating, and breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Just as Liu Yue was about to bring the Four Red Soup to Shen Qingtan, she heard the rats in the iron cage scurrying around restlessly, even making "squeak" sounds. But after a while, they stopped moving.

Her heart sank. She quickly lifted the cloth covering the cage and saw the rat lying in the cage, foaming at the mouth.

Liu Yue turned pale with fright; the bowl of Four Red Soup was just a hair's breadth away from ending up in the princess's stomach.

"Your Highness, the soup is poisoned." Liu Yue felt a chill run down her spine and said with icy hands and feet, "There's a spy in our manor."

Shen Qingtan wasn't surprised. There had always been people trying to harm her, but she had managed to thwart them all. Now, the situation had changed drastically. Zhao Yi was attacking the capital under the pretext of purging the court of corrupt officials, and even more people wanted to harm her.

Just as she was about to say something, she heard someone announce from the doorway: "Your Highness, Provincial Governor Lin has arrived."

Shen Qingtan frowned slightly. After Wang Qiaoxin defected to Zhao Yi, Lin Youwei followed suit. At that time, Lin Youwei provided Zhao Yi with money and provisions to show his loyalty.

Zhao Yi outwardly accepted Lin Youwei's overtures, but in reality, he didn't trust Lin Youwei much, so he let Lin Youwei stay in Yuncheng to continue raising money and supplies.

Liu Yue, still shaken and shaken, whispered, "Your...Your Highness, is this poison...related to Lord Lin?"

Tingxue chimed in, "Lord Lin is a smart man. He should prioritize self-preservation, outwardly appeasing the court while secretly keeping the Prince in check, remaining neutral on both sides. Regardless of which side wins, he can keep his official position. By poisoning the Princess, isn't he courting death?"

After thinking about it carefully, Liu Yue also felt that Lin Youwei was not such a stupid person, and guessed, "Could it be... that Lord Lin has come to deliver money and provisions?"

"We'll find out what we're here for once we try." Shen Qingtan beckoned Tingxue and Liuyue to come closer and whispered a few words in their ears.

Upon hearing this, Liu Yue and Ting Xue exchanged a glance.

next moment.

The two pinched each other's thighs hard.

Tears streamed down her face.

Even his face was deathly pale from the pain.

Liu Yue grinned and overturned the Four Red Soup bowl. With a "crack," the porcelain bowl shattered into pieces, and the soup spilled all over the ground.

The maid standing outside, waiting for Shen Qingtan's reply, suddenly heard a commotion inside. Before she could figure out what was happening, she heard Liuyue call out "Your Highness" several times in a panic. Then she saw Tingxue rush out with tears streaming down her face and run frantically towards the courtyard.

The maid, unaware of what was going on, peered through the half-open door and saw Shen Qingtan lying on the wide couch. In the dim light, she couldn't tell whether the stain on Shen Qingtan's chin was blood or spilled red soup.

The fact that Liu Yue and Ting Xue were so anxious that they were in tears clearly indicated that Shen Qingtan's condition was not good.

The maid didn't dare go into the room to investigate. For some reason, she turned and chased after Tingxue to the south room.

As soon as she entered the room, the maid saw Tingxue crying and sniffling as she said to the royal physician, "Doctor Qin, the princess ate a few mouthfuls of the Four Red Soup, and her face turned pale and she was covered in cold sweat. In the blink of an eye, she lost consciousness. Please go and see what happened to the princess."

Upon hearing this, the physician hurriedly grabbed his medicine box and followed Tingxue to the main courtyard.

The maid stared at the backs of the physician and Tingxue for a long time before heading to the front hall, her mind preoccupied.

Seeing the maid approaching alone, Lin Youwei asked, "Where is the Princess?"

The maidservant's heart tightened as she recalled Shen Qingtan's condition. She said tactfully, "Lord Lin, the Princess...the Princess Consort is not feeling well and is not fit to receive guests."

"The princess just checked the grain in the granary, how come she's already ill?" Lord Lin said with displeasure, "It seems I've come at the wrong time."

As he spoke, he slammed the teacup down on the table.

The sound seemed to strike the maid's heart hard. She trembled and turned pale. She hurriedly explained, "When I went to the main courtyard to deliver the message, I saw Sister Tingxue coming out of the room and rushing to the south room to fetch the family doctor."

She hesitated for a moment, then secretly glanced at Lin Youwei. Seeing that he still looked angry, she continued, "When Sister Tingxue came out, the door to the main room was wide open. I peeked out out of curiosity and saw the Princess lying unconscious on the couch with blood on her chin. She looked like she was in a bad situation."

Having gotten what he wanted, Lin Youwei glanced at the maid who was quite frightened by him, and his expression softened slightly: "Since the Princess is unwell, I will visit her another day."

After leaving those words, Lin Youwei got up and left.

Just as he reached the door, he saw a servant brush past him, hurriedly untie the reins tied to the doorpost, and ride away on a fast horse.

Lin Youwei stopped and stared thoughtfully in the direction the servant had left. After thinking of something, he boarded the carriage, gave a few instructions to his attendants, and then knocked on the carriage wall to signal the driver to start the journey.

Upon returning to the Lin residence, Lin Youwei went straight to his study, took out a letter from his sleeve, and placed it on his desk.

This was a letter from the Ningcheng Commander, instructing him to find a way to cut off Zhao Yi's grain supply. However, Shen Qingtan was very thorough, specifically choosing a fireproof grain warehouse with a stone brick structure and iron-cast doors and windows.

So he came up with a plan to secretly poison Shen Qingtan.

Given how much Zhao Yi values ​​Shen Qingtan, he would definitely rush back to Yuncheng from the battlefield once he learns of Shen Qingtan's accident. Even if Zhao Yi doesn't return to Yuncheng because of Shen Qingtan's death, control of Yuncheng will fall into his hands after Shen Qingtan loses control.

At that point, he could stop supplying provisions to Zhao Yi's army.

"Knock Knock-"

There was a knock on the study door, and a servant's voice sounded outside: "My lord, I have something important to report."

Lin Youwei said in a deep voice, "Come in."

The attendant pushed open the door, closed it behind him, and came to Lin Youwei's side, whispering, "I lost track of the person, and then went back to the residence where the princess was staying, and found a secluded place to hide. After waiting for about a quarter of an hour, I saw the servant bring a doctor back to the residence."

Lin Youwei had initially worried that the maid was lying to him, but now that he heard the servant had gone outside the mansion to fetch a doctor, he was certain that something had happened to Shen Qingtan.

He pondered for a moment, then picked up his pen and wrote back to the Ningcheng Commander.

After much deliberation, Lin Youwei felt that the matter had not been handled properly, so he ordered someone to secretly spread the news of Shen Qingtan's accident.

-

Zhao Yi and Wang Qiaoxin were in their tent discussing a plan to capture Ningcheng. The only method they could think of was to outflank Ningcheng.

This is because most of Ningcheng's troops were stationed at the city gates, and all the heavy defensive weapons were mounted on the city walls, leaving the defenses in other areas relatively weak.

However, Zhao Yi had other concerns. If they split their forces into several groups to encircle Ningcheng, the troops guarding the city gates would be dispersed.

If the soldiers of Ningcheng were to launch a surprise attack, their camp would fall.

At that time, when their soldiers take shortcuts to attack Ningcheng's weak rear, Ningcheng's soldiers will likely be able to quickly turn back and drive them into a series of defeats.

At this moment, Jiang Mu entered the tent and handed a small bundle to Zhao Yi: "Master, this is something from the Princess Consort."

Zhao Yi took the bundle and was about to put it aside to open it later.

"Report—" A soldier's rough voice came from outside the tent: "Your Highness, something has happened to the Princess."