The guard...
Tang Youyou couldn't detect anything amiss from his expression. It was calm, and he seemed more curious about how she knew General Lan'er.
"How did you know about Lan'er?"
His question was laced with suspicion. Although they had met at Dashuiwan before, neither of them had known the other's identity.
Tang Youyou realized she had slipped up. She had learned about General Lan'er's identity through Ye Yue's secret investigation, but she couldn't disclose this to him.
She quickly searched her mind for an excuse and said, "I overheard it from one of your guards. The name doesn't sound like someone from the Central Plains. Where's the bearded guy?"
She made up the excuse casually and spoke with confidence. Even when lying to Rong Xun, she could remain composed. Her mental fortitude was that strong.
"I see," Rong Jiangyu said. "He's already returned to the Xia Kingdom. After all, he's a general of a country. They can't do without him. Don't you think so?"
Tang Youyou didn't believe his nonsense. She knew a thing or two about the Xia Kingdom. Among the Nine Provinces, although the Xia Kingdom wasn't a major power, its overall strength couldn't be underestimated.
As a founding general, Lan'er would never easily hand over his military power to an outsider.
At the moment, Rong Jiangyu had already gathered more than half of the Xia Kingdom's troops, and there was no sign of Lan'er on the scene. It was hard not to be suspicious.
In the original story, Rong Jiangyu was a vengeful man. So in the end, he had been plotting against Rong Xun. But now, the story had deviated from its original path.
It was unknown whether he would still seek revenge for the three years he was imprisoned by Rong Xun, but one thing remained unchanged.
That was his nature. Rong Jiangyu was a man who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals.
He had feigned madness for so long to escape from the palace, which showed his patience. Now, in order to invade the Daming Kingdom, he had borrowed the Xia Kingdom's troops, but this must not have been unconditional.
Tang Youyou looked at the assembled troops below the city wall. The combined forces of the Western Regions and the Xia Kingdom numbered about 60,000 to 70,000. Such a large army would have no trouble attacking the vulnerable Daming Kingdom.
A confident smile appeared on Rong Jiangyu's face. With a wave of his hand, the flags of the Xia Kingdom fluttered in the wind. The battle flags in the air made people foresee the consequences of the war.
Although Tang Youyou was no longer the daughter of a country concerned about the nation's fate, if possible, she didn't want to see the innocent people suffer.
But now she could do nothing.
Rong Jiangyu separated the Xia Kingdom's troops and handed them over to his capable subordinate, Mo Xie, to command.
She was surprised to see that Mo Xie was holding the tiger tally used to mobilize troops.
It was already astonishing that he could mobilize the Xia Kingdom's troops, but she never expected the tiger tally to fall into Rong Jiangyu's hands.
This meant that half of the Xia Kingdom's troops were now at Rong Jiangyu's disposal.
It could be said that they had now become Rong Jiangyu's men.
A gust of wind blew, and Tang Youyou felt a chill down her back. She hugged her arms and rubbed them constantly.
The guard who had been following her noticed and immediately took off his cloak and put it on her.
"Thank you," Tang Youyou said politely and tightened the cloak around her.
As she tightened it, she suddenly smelled a familiar scent, a faint sandalwood. This sandalwood was different from others. It smelled fresh and calming.
This was the scent she often smelled on Rong Xun. Because it made her feel at ease, she remembered it deeply.
A bold idea flashed through her mind, but then she almost laughed at her ridiculous thought.
What was she thinking? It couldn't be. Rong Xun would never follow Rong Jiangyu and obey his orders submissively.
What was wrong with her recently? She saw Rong Xun in everyone.
Whether it was the doctor in Wanqiu or this guard in front of her, she could always see Rong Xun's shadow in them.
Could it be because she was pregnant that she had become so sensitive and suspicious?
Tang Youyou analyzed the reason. She didn't want to admit that she was having hallucinations because she missed him too much.
The guard noticed her staring at his face. Without saying a word, he silently turned his face away to avoid her gaze.
Tang Youyou realized that her gaze might have been too blatant. She had made the young man blush.
She didn't say anything. She calmly withdrew her gaze and coughed slightly to cover her embarrassment.
"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" Rong Jiangyu heard her cough and came back to her side with concern.
Tang Youyou said, "No. What are you going to do next?"
"Do you know the weakest and most vulnerable part of the Daming Kingdom?"
Although she was completely ignorant of geography, she had been the queen of the Daming Kingdom for a long time. She might not have eaten pork, but she had seen a pig run.
Although the harem was not allowed to discuss state affairs, she had heard a lot about the court's affairs in private.
If she had to say where the weakest part of the Daming Kingdom was, it must be the place under their feet.
However, this place had already been occupied by him. The prefect of Qianzhou had no backbone or responsibility. When he saw the troops outside, he had immediately raised the white flag and surrendered with both hands up.
Starting from Qianzhou, passing through Huizhou, and then reaching Chang'an, they could directly attack the imperial city.
This was the most convenient and quickest route. Now that Rong Jiangyu had chosen this place as their starting point, he must be planning to attack along this route.
This was also the closest place to the Western Regions. If there were any problems, the people left there could come to support at any time.
Tang Youyou stood on the city wall and saw the troops with black battle flags. She always felt that the troops from the Western Regions seemed a bit too few.
She had been to and learned about the Western Regions. When she had stayed in the imperial city of the Western Regions, she had seen the entire military strength of the Western Regions.
The troops under Rong Jiangyu's command now were only one-third of what they used to be, not even half.
Wasn't he the king of the Western Regions now? Why did he only have such a small number of troops?
Rong Jiangyu stood beside Tang Youyou. Seeing her staring at the flags below, he knew what she was thinking.
"You're wondering why I have so few troops under my command, right?"
Tang Youyou didn't expect him to be so direct. She simply said bluntly, "Yes. You're the king of a country. How could you only have so few men?"
It was even less than half of the Xia Kingdom's troops.