Zhong Yan only reacted after a while that they had arrived somewhere. He immediately perked up and sat up. The thin quilt slid off his body. Although he was fully clothed, he couldn't help but shiver.
"It's so cold," he said, pulling the quilt closer.
"It's going to snow here soon."
Zhuo Lian pushed open the car window. The street outside was silent. This place was not like the capital with its blue bricks and white tiles. Many houses here were directly rammed with yellow earth, leaving only small windows. Occasionally, wisps of cooking smoke could be seen.
She closed the car window, turned around, and took a snow-white fox fur from the side. She handed it to the person next to her: "You won't be cold if you put this on."
Zhuo Lian felt that he was too affected by this body. His soul had integrated well with this body. He shouldn't have been bothered by the changing seasons, yet he was so afraid of the cold now.
Zhong Yan wrapped himself up. After thinking for a moment, he loosened part of it and draped it over Zhuo Lian's shoulders: "It's really cold. Let's share."
"I'm not cold."
Zhuo Lian touched his hand. Although she had woken up first, and Zhong Yan had moved from the quilt to the fox fur, Zhuo Lian's hand was warm and dry, feeling very comfortable.
"You're so warm."
The carriage gradually stopped. The person outside said softly, "Master, we've arrived."
Zhuo Lian nudged him: "We're here, let's get down."
After speaking, she first lifted the curtain of the carriage and jumped out. Then she reached out her hand to the person inside.
Zhong Yan smiled and placed his hand in hers, and followed her as she lightly jumped down.
And then he didn't let go.
So warm.
He couldn't help but tickle her palm. Zhuo Lian glanced at him sideways. Just as she was about to say something, the gate of the General's Mansion opened. Prince Qin, leading a group of people, walked out. Seeing them, his expression was extremely complicated.
The most prominent emotion was surprise.
"Your subject, greets His Majesty, the Emperor Consort. Long live His Majesty, long live the Emperor Consort." The people behind her also knelt and saluted.
"My dear minister, there is no need for such formality. Please rise."
There was still a layer of white frost on the ground. After they came out, their exhaled breath turned into white mist, indicating how cold it was.
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Prince Qin stood up first, then welcomed them in.
"I received Your Majesty's letter earlier and have been eagerly awaiting your arrival. To finally see you now, my emotions are beyond words. I heard that His Majesty and the Emperor Consort have been traveling afar. Have you encountered any injustices during these months? Has your dragon body been harmed? There were no imperial physicians accompanying you on this journey. Someone, please fetch a doctor."
"I am fine," Zhuo Lian was somewhat bewildered by her enthusiastic attitude.
Whether it was the plot or her own observation, this Prince Qin was a loyal subject. The last time they met in the capital, this person had simply reported her duties in a proper manner, without so much idle chatter. Now, acting like this, Zhuo Lian found it hard to cope.
"His Majesty's dragon body is of utmost importance."
After speaking, she also composed herself a little, ordered tea and food to be served, and while they were conversing, they waited for the imperial physician to arrive. During this time, Zhuo Lian also roughly understood the current situation of the two armies clashing.
There was a gap of one hundred thousand soldiers between them.
However, if commanded properly, a difference of one hundred thousand soldiers could not be considered a gap.
"The messenger sent to gather intelligence has returned. The Emperor of the Azure Dragon Kingdom is personally leading the army. He arrived beyond the pass a few days ago. However, he is old and frail, and the journey has been arduous, affecting his health. Therefore, he has not immediately launched an attack, but it is expected to happen within these two days."
"Are the provisions all in place?"
"A batch was sent by the Regent a fortnight ago. It will be sufficient for the winter. Even with their larger army, as long as we can hold out until spring next year, the Azure Dragon Kingdom's army will inevitably retreat."
Zhuo Lian smiled: "There are only a thousand days for a thief, but never a thousand days for a guard. If they dare to attack, then we will surely defeat them thoroughly and make the Azure Dragon Kingdom never dare to invade again."
The Azure Dragon Kingdom was originally weaker. If Vermillion Bird had not eliminated them directly when the country was prosperous, they would have taken advantage of Vermillion Bird's natural disaster to invade. Zhuo Lian certainly would not let them leave easily.
Prince Qin heard the unspoken meaning in her tone. While surprised, a surge of valor filled her heart.
She had been stationed here for decades, and the wars with the Azure Dragon Kingdom were countless. Several times, they could have attacked, but too many considerations made them have to let the other side offer some benefits to settle the matter.
Now, His Majesty had finally decided to deal with the Azure Dragon Kingdom, and she could not be more pleased.
"Your Majesty is right. Guarding against them for a thousand days will eventually lead to them taking advantage of our weakness. So this time, let's strike directly at the heart of their capital and utterly destroy the Azure Dragon Kingdom."
Zhuo Lian: "..."
That was not necessary.
She had no intention of destroying another country, only the determination to unify the world.
There were already few people in this world, and dividing them into several countries would further reduce their numbers. In order for Zhong Yan to gain more merit points, she had to unify the world.
Prince Qin did not know of her ambitions. At this moment, he was only thinking about how to defeat the Azure Dragon Kingdom and teach them a lesson.
The Emperor of the Azure Dragon Kingdom recuperated for a few days and his health finally recovered. He eagerly beat the war drums and marched. It was a feat for him to personally beat the drum to boost morale with a body weighing nearly 200 jin.
The forty thousand strong army of the Azure Dragon Kingdom approached within thirty li, almost reaching the city gates of Qiu Ling Pass. To prevent becoming targets for their arrows, there was still a distance of about two li between the two armies.
They prepared fire stones, intending to throw a batch in first.
From a distance of one li, they could only vaguely see figures on the city wall. They began to throw fire, unaware that Qiu Ling Pass was almost an empty city now. As their attack began, the figures on the city wall also left.
The Azure Dragon army threw for almost a quarter of an hour. The entire Qiu Ling Pass was almost burned down. Only then did they stop and send people to investigate.
The city gates remained tightly shut, and there was no one on the city wall. Fires raged everywhere. The person who came over was overjoyed, thinking that everyone had died under their fire stones.
Upon closer inspection, they realized there were no corpses at all.
The Emperor of the Azure Dragon Kingdom was furious upon hearing this news and immediately ordered the gates to be breached.
Their soldiers carried a pillar to ram the gate, but after ramming for a long time, there was no movement. Someone climbed up using a ladder and looked around. Except for the houses that were in disarray and full of smoke from the fire stones, there was still no one, alive or dead.
Could it be that the people of the Vermillion Bird Kingdom had fled in fear of battle, all running away?
After the observation, they still decided to open the city gates first.
However, the people outside could not break it open. When the people inside went down, they discovered that the city gate was not secured by bolts. There was a strangely shaped lock that tightly fastened the two door leaves together and then connected to the city wall. It seemed that unless the lock was opened, or the entire city wall was destroyed, the city gate absolutely could not be opened.
When this news was reported back, the Emperor of the Azure Dragon Kingdom nearly died of anger.