The matter of going to Yongzhou was something Noble Consort Liu firmly opposed. Yet Yun Chuhuan pestered her relentlessly the entire day, clinging to her like a shadow.
In the end, she was finally swayed by just one sentence.
"Your Son does not wish to remain a pampered prince nestled within the capital. Your Son also desires to grow."
With that, Noble Consort Liu could only relent and nod, albeit helplessly.
What happened afterward was unclear, but somehow, Noble Consort Liu managed to sway even Emperor Xuanwu—who had never once considered letting this troublesome child accompany the campaign to Yongzhou. In the end, even he gave his reluctant approval.
However, before allowing Yun Chuhuan to depart, Emperor Xuanwu summoned him into the imperial study for a stern reminder.
"There is still a contingent of soldiers your Fifth Elder Sister requested who have yet to set out from the capital," the Emperor said. "We shall arrange for you to depart with them and proceed to Yongzhou together.
But on one condition: you must follow their lead and conduct yourself properly along the way. You are not to throw temper tantrums like a spoiled prince.
If, midway through the journey, you complain of exhaustion and refuse to move, or should you throw a fit insisting on lingering in some city for a few days of amusement, Our Dragon Shadow Guard will return you to the capital at once."
"Oh."
So every day would just be traveling from dawn till dusk? That already sounded exhausting!
Yun Chuhuan lowered his head, clearly disgruntled, his expression as glum as a rain-soaked dog.
Seeing his sulking face, Emperor Xuanwu felt even more uneasy.
"Once you arrive in Yongzhou, you are absolutely forbidden from acting without orders. You are to follow your Fifth Elder Sister's command in all matters. Do you understand?"
"Your Son understands," Yun Chuhuan replied, nodding obediently. "Your Son promises not to make trouble for Fifth Elder Sister."
"You had better not!"
Emperor Xuanwu let out a cold snort.
"We shall have the Dragon Shadow Guard monitor your every move. Whether you remain quietly at your sister's side or become a disgrace we must haul back to the capital in the dead of night, that will depend on your own conduct.
Go now."
"Yes, Father Emperor. Rest assured, Your Son takes his leave!"
At last, he was allowed to go to Yongzhou!
He had never traveled so far before. The thought of it thrilled him. To walk such long roads, to see such distant lands—just like those wanderers in travelogues. Most importantly, he would not need to attend classes or do his homework for quite some time.
Yun Chuhuan practically skipped with joy. All that nonsense he said about wanting to grow, that was clearly just a clever trick to fool Noble Consort Liu and Emperor Xuanwu.
In truth, he simply wanted to have some fun.
…
Meanwhile, unaware that Yun Chuhuan had somehow managed to turn what everyone assumed was a childish whim into actual royal approval, Yun Shu was already well on her way.
She and her entourage of guards had spent days traveling swiftly alongside General Wei Yuan. It had taken no small effort to bring reinforcements from Qianzhou all the way to Yongzhou.
But just as they arrived at the city gates, they were met with grim news.
The Yongzhou army had suffered a crushing defeat the night before.
"What do you mean we lost?"
General Wei Yuan could hardly believe what he was hearing. He stormed into the central command tent, so focused on his fury that he completely forgot the presence of the Crown Princess.
The moment he laid eyes on Yongzhou's commanding general, he grabbed the man by the collar and shouted in outrage.
"Even if it was a night raid, you had thirty thousand against their three! And you still managed to lose nearly ten thousand men?
"What in the blazes were you doing?"
"We fell into their trap."
The general looked weary, his spirit visibly crushed. After all, they had barely managed to kill a thousand enemies, while losing ten times that number of their own.
Even now, with spittle flying into his face and his collar clenched in another's grip, he did not resist. He merely answered in a subdued voice.
"These past days, Annan has only harassed us, shouting insults from beyond the city walls. Sometimes they would launch arrows or stones, but it was always small in scale, the kind of skirmishes meant to provoke and retreat.
Over time, our men grew increasingly agitated.
Last night, Annan sent three thousand men with siege logs to attack the gates. They were quickly repelled and fled in panic.
I recognized one of their vice generals among them and… I lost my composure. I led a pursuit into the nearby woods.
But once inside the forest, their soldiers moved like phantoms, never engaging us directly. They used every underhanded trick in the book."
"You still dare blame them for using trickery?" General Wei Yuan nearly exploded.
"War is deception. And how many times must we teach you not to chase desperate enemies?
Seems to me you've grown too comfortable over the years. You've forgotten the most basic principles of commanding troops!
You had neither the strength nor the sense, and worse, you didn't even realize it! If you had just held your ground until I arrived, those ten thousand soldiers would not have died at the hands of those Annan bastards!"
The general had no retort. He stood there, head bowed, shoulders slumped, silent from start to finish.
Yet that silence did little to cool General Wei Yuan's temper. He scolded the man for the time it took a stick of incense to burn before his fury finally abated.
He turned to the guards standing outside the tent and barked an order.
"You have one cup of tea's time. Summon all vice generals, strategists, and key officers. Tell them the Crown Princess and this General have arrived!"
"Yes, sir!"
The guards rushed out, and not long after, the tent filled with officers who had already been waiting in anticipation upon hearing of the Crown Princess's arrival.
"We pay respects to the Crown Princess. May Your Highness live for a thousand years!"
"At ease, all of you."
Though she was the Crown Princess, Yun Shu was well aware of her own limitations in the battlefield. She made no move to sit in the commander's central seat before the sand table, instead quietly taking a place in a corner.
"This Princess has never set foot on a battlefield. I know nothing of military tactics or commanding troops. Father Emperor sent This Princess here so that I might learn from each of you."
"Your Highness is too modest…"
From the very start, Yun Shu had made her stance clear: she would not pretend to understand what she did not, nor would she attempt to meddle with matters beyond her ability.
This attitude brought great relief to all present, including General Wei Yuan.
After all, a battlefield is no place for pride. One misstep could cost tens of thousands of lives.
Worse still, a single defeat could mean the loss of an entire city or the start of a complete collapse.
Even imagining such a scenario was enough to send chills down their spines.
General Wei Yuan shook his head, brushing aside such dreadful thoughts. His face grew solemn as he began explaining the current state of the war.
"By now, you all understand the situation we face.
The Seven Kingdoms have declared war on Tian Sheng. If we continue this war of attrition with Annan, simply holding the walls and waiting them out, it will only wear us down.
Our daily expenditures are already seven times that of these small states.
If this drags on, time will not be on Tian Sheng's side."