Was the Dayan army too strong, or was his Nanyue simply too weak? It couldn't be that Gan Chengyuan was holding back, could it?
Didn't he want to be emperor? Surely he wouldn't just hand over his own territory.
Wu Jiang's face turned grim for a moment. He glanced at Fei Yongxing before saying, "Prince Cheng's war report didn't go into detail, but according to what our spies have reported, Dayan has a very clear understanding of the deployment of our forces everywhere.
Therefore, Your Majesty, I suspect... there may be a problem with the defenses."
They were the defenders in Nanyue. When Dayan attacked, the allocation of troops along various routes was clearly targeted.
Although he hadn't directly said someone inside was compromised, Gan Sheng, who was the most adept at playing political games, could still read between the lines.
"Minister Wu means... there's a traitor inside our court?" Gan Sheng's words came out in fragments, his spirit clearly flagging after that mouthful of blood.
"Your Majesty, I... I'm merely speculating that our military deployment was leaked. Whether or not it was an insiders' problem is still hard to say."
As he finished speaking, he cast a sidelong glance at Dai Ping'an, who stood cold and erect, silent as a clay or wooden statue.
Catching spies and investigating court colleagues—that wasn't the responsibility of the Minister of War.
This kind of thankless, offending task was best left to Dai the Infernal.
Gan Sheng waved his hand at them. "I understand. All of you may withdraw."
"Minister Dai, stay a moment."
"We await Your Majesty's leave."
"Father, please take care of your health. I take my leave."
After everyone had left, Gan Sheng said to Dai Ping'an, "Ping'an, come closer."
Jixiang automatically withdrew to the palace gates. He had absolutely no desire to know what the emperor and his top enforcer were discussing. In this palace, the more you knew, the faster you died.
Gan Sheng stared at the canopy above his bed, the fading footsteps of Dai Ping'an and Jixiang echoing in his ears. Their footsteps were light and distant, as far away as the clouds in the sky, yet also near—so near he could hear exactly where each step fell.
The hall fell silent again. The mingled scent of aloeswood incense and medicinal herbs seemed to seep into Gan Sheng's frail body. It was a decaying, cloyingly sweet aroma that slowly, bit by bit, rotted away his very last shred of strength.
And the sister he was scheming and plotting to kill was, at that moment, also concerned about his 'illness' and his life.
"Your Highness, Shen Liu reports... that one has now missed court for five consecutive days." Gan Tang's chief maid, Nan Feng, leaned in and whispered at her ear.
Gan Tang paused as she wrote. Outside the study, the sun shone brightly; but thanks to Junior Preceptor Yue's three consecutive rainfalls, the capital city was not suffering drought.
The trees outside her study were lush green, clusters of small flowers blooming cheerfully. The afternoon sunlight slanted through the tree shadows onto her windowsill, casting patches of deep and light shades of green—the color that life should be.
Gan Tang withdrew her gaze. "Are you certain he can no longer get out of bed?" Five days ago, the news she had received was that Gan Sheng had not held court for two days due to illness.
Now, after missing court for several consecutive days, while the Nanyue army was still fighting Dayan on the front lines—she could well imagine the chaos in the Nanyue court.
And then there was her good uncle, Gan Chengyuan. During her father's generation's struggle for the throne, he had been too young to participate. By the time their generation came around, he had been kept firmly in check by their father as well, ambitious but powerless.
Now that Gan Sheng was gravely ill, no one knew what kind of mess this uncle, sent to the front lines to fight, might make of the war.
"What is the reaction of the ministers in the court?" Gan Tang put down her brush completely, leaned back, and settled into a comfortable position.
Naturally, Nan Feng understood what the princess meant by 'reaction.' She chose her words carefully and said softly, "Prime Minister Li and several other officials, including the Crown Prince and that Dai the Infernal, were summoned into the palace three days ago.
Moreover, the Crown Prince has been officially appointed as the Crown Prince!"
"Crown Prince?" Gan Tang let out a derisive laugh. Her dear elder brother—neither earlier nor later—had chosen precisely this moment to appoint the heir!
"He knows he doesn't have much time left!"
Nan Feng nodded in agreement, glanced out the window, and continued, "Our people couldn't get close to the emperor's bedchamber, but according to those stationed outside, they were inside for nearly half an hour."
"Half an hour? Being able to keep the ministers talking for that long—it seems my dear brother's health isn't so bad after all!" A sarcastic smile curled at the corner of Gan Tang's mouth. She hadn't been ruthless enough, always trying to take it slow, giving him too little of the medicine. That gave him the chance to send her off as a peace bride to Dayan.
"The Ink Shadow Guard discovered that after seeing His Majesty, Prime Minister Li and the others secretly met with several officials separately after leaving the palace. The details of their conversations are unknown, but it's certain they were probing.
Testing their stance toward the new Crown Prince's succession, and testing how much they knew about the deployment of Weicheng's defenses."
Hearing that the Nanyue court was investigating the leak of defensive information from Weicheng, Gan Tang chuckled softly. "So, the information we sent has taken effect!"
It wasn't a question. From these fragmented details, she could already deduce that Nanyue had definitely been defeated—had even lost Weicheng.
"Your Highness means Nanyue has lost? But... this is Prince Cheng!" Prince Cheng was also considered a 'famous general' in Nanyue. He had only led troops three times before, but each time had been a resounding victory, which was why the emperor had appointed him as the commanding general this time.
"I expect this news will soon spread to the Dayan court. By then, with Dayan's great victory, Emperor Mingxi certainly won't keep it hidden from his subjects."
Gan Tang was certain. This was news that would boost military morale and win people's hearts. Even she would publicize it heavily; failing to exaggerate the victory would be considered restraint.
Then she thought about Nan Feng's mention of the ministers' probing attitudes toward the new Crown Prince. "What's the situation with Prince Cheng?"
Gan Tang didn't believe that the information she could uncover, Prince Cheng, who had always coveted the throne, wouldn't know that Gan Sheng was dying, and had even chosen his successor before his death.
She even suspected that Prince Cheng's failure at Weicheng might also be part of some ulterior motive.
Those 80,000 troops at Weicheng were all his personal loyalists. Even if Dayan's forces attacked directly, with the defense map she had provided, this would have taken at least ten days to a fortnight to crack. But Weicheng fell in just four or five days... that was suspicious.
Her slender fingers tapped lightly one by one on the desk, producing a steady thumping sound. After a long silence, she said, "Prince Cheng is conserving his strength!"
If Gan Sheng were still the same powerful, vigorous ruler he once was, even if Prince Cheng didn't fight to the death, he would have held out longer.
But with Gan Sheng's life hanging by a thread and it being clear he wouldn't pass the throne to him, Prince Cheng had likely chosen to preserve his forces after learning the news, to help secure his own ascension.
Since you won't give it to me, then I'll take it myself!
"Nan Feng, tell the Ink Shadow Guard to keep a close watch on the court's movements, especially Prince Cheng. I suspect he will use the defeat as a pretext to request permission to return to the capital and plead guilty!"
While Nanyue was engaged in a hot war with Dayan, and the Nanyue court was in turmoil over the succession, Yue Fuguang's carriage had already traveled from Quanzhou to Yunzhou, through Yingzhou and Xuzhou, all the way to Xinzhou.
[Master, with your current power, you can now send rain over an area of over two hundred li with a single spell. Do you really still need to travel with these people? Isn't this just a waste of time!]