Her little face flushed red with anger. She had kindly sent him something, and he dared to be picky in front of her. That was simply too much.
"I didn't say I didn't want it. How can one take back something that has been given?"
Fearing Feng Jin would snatch it back, Ling Mohan quickly hid the hand warmer.
"However, why is the one you made for me different from the others?"
Feng Jin's mouth twitched uncontrollably. This was endless. She stopped pretending and laid it all out: "Because yours is the only one I made. The rest were made by Yunyun and the embroiderers."
After speaking, she pulled the quilt over her head, silently cursing Ling Mohan countless times in her heart.
A man's light chuckle came from above her head. Feng Jin's anger intensified. She forcefully suppressed the urge to kick Ling Mohan out and warned him fiercely, "If you dare to laugh again, don't blame me for being rude!"
"I am just happy that you will keep this hand warmer with you, given your thoughtfulness."
Knowing that Feng Jin treated him differently, Ling Mohan's smile never faded.
"But why did you embroider a little chick on it?"
Feng Jin's face darkened. She gritted her teeth and squeezed out a few words: "That's a wild goose!"
Was he blind? How could he see a chick there? That was clearly a wild goose, a wild goose.
Ling Mohan tried hard to recall the pattern. He couldn't see it as a wild goose no matter how he looked. However, since Feng Jin said it was a wild goose, then it was a wild goose.
"Whatever my wife says it is, then it is."
Feng Jin smiled, clearly satisfied with Ling Mohan's current demeanor.
"How is the war going? When will the reinforcements arrive?"
With the current troops in Yingzhong Commandery, the chances of victory against the rebels were slim. They had already sent a memorial requesting the Emperor to dispatch more troops, but it had been nearly ten days, and the reinforcements had yet to arrive.
If they delayed any longer, once the rebels gathered their forces and launched a counterattack, how many more days could they hold on?
"His Majesty dispatched the Third Prince to lead a hundred thousand troops to aid Yingzhong Commandery, but we haven't seen a single soldier from those hundred thousand."
"The Third Prince?"
Feng Jin exclaimed in surprise. Was Emperor Xuanwen's mind addled to dispatch the Third Prince?
It seemed that the hundred thousand troops would not arrive anytime soon.
"That's right. According to the timeline, the hundred thousand troops should have arrived by now." Ling Mohan also sensed something was amiss. It appeared the Third Prince intended to use a borrowed knife to kill.
"That Third Prince looks like a bad sort. If we ask him to lead troops to support Yingzhong Commandery, he's bound to obstruct. This is all his deliberate doing, and we must guard against it!"
Feng Jin couldn't help but worry. It seemed they couldn't count on reinforcements and would have to find another way.
"We still need to go out and seek help. We can't just sit and wait for death."
"My wife is right, but... I can't think of anyone to ask for help at the moment."
Feng Jin's expression turned grim. After pondering for a moment, she suddenly had a realization: "Chu Chenyi!"
Ling Mohan's eyes darkened, and he immediately understood Feng Jin's meaning: "You intend to help Chu Chenyi?"
"I help him... Didn't you and Chu Chenyi conspire long ago? Why do I need to help him? Even if I didn't mention it, you would have done it, wouldn't you?"
She was essentially helping them achieve their goal, saving Ling Mohan the trouble of worrying about it. If they could defeat those rebels sooner, the people of Yingzhong Commandery could have peace, and they could return to the capital sooner.
"Regarding the establishment of the Crown Prince, the Ling family has always maintained neutrality. For you to openly support Prince Jing like this will put the Ling family in a difficult position."
The establishment of the Crown Prince concerned the foundation of the nation. The Ling family had always stayed out of such matters, never getting involved in the court's pointless struggles, only seeking self-preservation.
Even though he was the Emperor's tutor, he never involved himself in the matter of establishing the Crown Prince, and no one knew about his association with Prince Jing.
"Now is not the time for us to make a choice; it is the Third Prince who is forcing us to choose. The Third Prince now views us as a thorn in his side. To get rid of us, he is willing to sacrifice the lives of the people of Yingzhong Commandery. If such a ruthless person ascends to the throne, will we even survive?"
Feng Jin, a keen enthusiast of palace intrigue dramas, could easily guess that if Chu Yanxi took the throne, he would absolutely not let them off.
Everything they were doing now was merely to save their own lives.
"There is no other way."
Ling Mohan was not one to procrastinate. Since he had decided to support Prince Jing's ascension, he immediately sent someone to rush a report of the situation to Chu Chenyi overnight.
...
In Prince Jing's mansion in the capital, Chu Chenyi looked at the secret letter in his hand, his face grim. He tightly clenched the paper.
The Emperor had ordered Chu Yanxi to lead a hundred thousand troops to reinforce Ling Mohan, yet he dared to deliberately delay, neglecting the urgent military matters and treating the people of Yingzhong Commandery and the soldiers as children's play.
"Your Highness Prince Jing, Yingzhong Commandery is besieged by rebels. Yingzhong is in peril. My young general and the soldiers are defending Yingzhong with their lives, fighting fiercely against the rebels. I implore Your Highness Prince Jing to inform His Majesty of the situation in Yingzhong and to send aid to Yingzhong Commandery." httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
"Since I am aware of this matter, I will certainly not stand idly by. I will go to the palace immediately to report this matter to His Majesty and ask His Majesty to dispatch troops to Yingzhong."
"Thank you, Your Highness Prince Jing!"
Chu Chenyi went to the palace that night, but instead of meeting Emperor Xuanwen, he went to see the Empress Dowager to report the matter.
"What!" the Empress Dowager shouted angrily, a surge of rage rising to her head, causing her to cough violently.
"Your Majesty, your anger is harming your health. Please take care of yourself!" Eunuch Yun quickly supported the Empress Dowager, had a maid fetch the pills made by Feng Jin, and urgently had the Empress Dowager place one in her mouth.
"Empress Dowager, please do not be angry and take care of your health."
Chu Chenyi also panicked. In the entire palace, only his Imperial Grandmother truly cared for him.
Without his Imperial Grandmother's protection, how could he have grown up safely? He would have died long ago.
After taking the medicine, the Empress Dowager rested for a while before feeling much better. She sighed softly, "I should have stopped the Emperor earlier. I shouldn't have let Chu Yanxi lead the army. What a grave mistake!"
"Summon the Emperor here immediately."
"Yes!"
A quarter of an hour later, Emperor Xuanwen rushed over in a hurry.
"Your humble son greets Mother. I heard Mother was unwell. Is Mother's health still greatly affected?"
As soon as Emperor Xuanwen heard that the Empress Dowager was furious and almost fainted, he dropped everything and rushed over.
"I am fine. This old bone of mine is not so easily taken!"
"Mother, please do not speak nonsense!"
The Empress Dowager snorted coldly, stood up with the support of Eunuch Yun, and walked to Emperor Xuanwen. Her eyes held a chilling gaze as she looked at him. She took the scepter from Eunuch Yun.