"yes."
Ji Shaocheng accepted the order, bid farewell, and withdrew. Inside the main hall, apart from Ye Lingfeng and Hai Ling, even the palace maids and eunuchs breathed a sigh of relief, their faces filled with joy. The person who had been secretly plotting against them in the palace had finally been eliminated. This was wonderful! A spring breeze swept through the hall.
However, it was already late at night. Hai Ling yawned, and Ye Lingfeng dismissed everyone. He carried Hai Ling into the palace to rest. The two lay on the bed, unable to fall asleep for a while. Hai Ling gently stroked Ye Lingfeng's chest and softly asked him, "What are you planning to do next?"
Having eliminated the people behind the scenes in the palace, their greatest enemy now is Feng Zixiao. Feng Zixiao now has his own power, and he is suspicious and acts eccentrically, making him not so easy to deal with. Therefore, they must be careful in dealing with this person.
"I plan to order the Ministry of War to send more troops to Hongxue Lake."
Red Snow Lake is a border river between the Great Zhou Dynasty and the Northern Lu Kingdom. Half of it belongs to the Great Zhou Dynasty, and the other half belongs to the Northern Lu Kingdom. This is the most direct border between the two countries. Although the Red Snow Lake has a rapid current and whirlpools with many twists and turns, and is home to many large fish, and has a lot of red algae growing on its surface, hence its name, very few people can get out of Red Snow Lake. However, there are some exceptions. On the western side of Red Snow Lake, there is a small island belonging to the Northern Lu Kingdom. The people on the island have their own set of survival principles regarding Red Snow Lake. They live on the island year after year, rarely leaving, and live by catching fish from the lake, making them self-sufficient. Moreover, they know Red Snow Lake very well. If Feng Zixiao were to master a set of water skills, it would not be impossible for him to attack the Northern Lu Kingdom from Red Snow Lake. Therefore, he must defend it well.
Hailin knew about Red Snow Lake. It was extremely dangerous, and ordinary people could not get out even if they went in. It was full of twists and turns, making it easy to get lost. Not only that, but it was also full of swamps, with rapid currents and whirlpools. It was impossible for an ordinary person to survive after going in. But there are always exceptions.
Red Snow Lake is still the border between the Great Zhou Dynasty and Northern Lu, and it is a border without any passes. If they were Feng Zixiao, they would start from Red Snow Lake if they wanted to attack Northern Lu. Therefore, Feng Zixiao might do the same. So, deploying troops here is a matter of course.
"good."
Hai Ling nodded, still thinking about Red Snow Lake. That night, Ling Feng leaned down and kissed her lips. Hai Ling couldn't help but squirm and mutter, "What are you doing?"
"Since I can't sleep anyway, I might as well do some exercise. I'll fall asleep when I'm tired."
Ye Lingfeng spoke with a cunning smile, then entwined himself around Hai Ling, not allowing her to resist. Soon, the palace was silent, filled only with the lingering sounds of their passionate lovemaking.
Early the next morning, Ye Lingfeng got up to attend the morning court session and make arrangements for the following matters. After Hai Ling got up, she took Xiao Mao'er to pay her respects to the Empress Dowager.
Inside Lanqing Palace, the Empress Dowager already knew about the commotion last night, so when she saw Hailing coming over, her face was full of relief and a loving smile. Without waiting for Hailing to bow, she beckoned her over and spoke happily.
"I heard about what happened last night. The person who scared the palace maids and eunuchs to death has been caught."
"Yes, we've caught them. Don't worry, Mother, we're safe now."
Hai Ling felt relieved to have caught the mastermind behind the scenes. At present, apart from Feng Zixiao, there was nothing else to worry about. However, Feng Zixiao was the biggest cancer, so they still dared not be careless. However, she did not want her mother to worry, so she smiled.
The Empress Dowager reached out and took the kitten from her arms. The kitten was growing more and more adorable; it was already over eight months old. Now, it looked nothing like it had when it was a kitten. It was pink, cute, and clever. As soon as it was in the Empress Dowager's arms, it gave her a big smile and then started babbling. Although no one could understand what it was saying, the Empress Dowager happily played with it.
“Our little kitten can talk now, it’s grown up, and it calls out ‘Grandma, Grandma.’”
Every time the Empress Dowager took care of the kitten, she liked to teach it to talk, hoping that the first person her beloved grandson would call her "Grandma" would be her. That would make her extremely happy.
Hai Ling looked at the grandmother and grandson with amusement. Suddenly, she saw her precious son actually open his mouth and make a soft, sticky sound: "Grandma, Grandma."
After he finished speaking, he found it amusing and chuckled. The Empress Dowager and Hailing were stunned. Although Xiao Mao'er's pronunciation was still not very fluent, he had just spoken like a real child and even called her "Grandma Empress." Could they have misheard? The Empress Dowager turned to look at Hailing: "I didn't hear wrong, did I?"
Hai Ling was also pleasantly surprised and shook her head to indicate that the Empress Dowager had not misheard.
Now, not only the Empress Dowager and Hailing, but also Qingzhu, the palace maids, and others in the main hall all gathered around, looking at the little prince in astonishment.
The little prince can talk now that he's just over eight months old! He's so smart! He always looked intelligent, and now it's even more evident.
The Empress Dowager excitedly teased the kitten again: "Little kitten, call me 'Grandma' again."
When the kitten saw that everyone was looking at him and that everyone had a smile on their face, he couldn't help but feel a little proud. Although he didn't understand why the adults were so excited, he was happy to see others smiling, so he opened his mouth and called out again, "Grandma, Grandma."
It's soft, sweet, and sticky; it sounds wonderful.
The hall was filled with laughter, and the kitten became even happier, meowing twice: "Grandma, Grandma."
After saying that, he laughed again. Everyone in the hall stared at him. The Empress Dowager kissed him directly: "Grandma's good grandson, you really call me Grandma now, you are so smart." After saying that, the Empress Dowager pointed at Hailin and teased the kitten: "Mother Empress, Mother Empress."
When the kitten saw Hailing smiling at him, he happily opened his arms for Hailing to hug him. Hailing reached out and hugged him, and he immediately smiled obediently and ingratiatingly, "Mother, Mother."
Hai Ling was also excited. She never expected that her son could finally speak. Although it was not very clear and he was only speaking one word at a time, he was only eight months old. This showed that he was much smarter than his peers.
"Son, you're too kind."
When Hailing was happy, she hugged the kitten and spun it around in circles. The kitten laughed heartily, and the whole hall was filled with a joyful atmosphere.
On the other side, the Empress Dowager directly summoned the kitten's wet nurse and the female officials who served him, and said with a smile: "The kitten has been well-mannered. I am in a good mood today, so everyone will be rewarded."
Your Highness, all the servants who were attending to the kitten knelt down to express their gratitude: "Thank you for your grace, Empress Dowager."
Hai Ling added, "I will also reward you later."
The palace servants were even happier, their faces beaming with smiles: "Thank you for the reward, Your Majesty the Empress."
The Empress Dowager remembered the palace maids and eunuchs in Lanqing Palace, and everyone was overjoyed. So she said to the eunuchs and palace maids in the palace, "They will all be rewarded later."
"Thank you, Your Majesty the Empress Dowager and Your Majesty the Empress."
Inside the Lanqing Palace, a joyful atmosphere prevailed. Outside the palace, Fuyue entered and bowed respectfully: "Your Majesty, the Jade Immortal from the Sanqing Temple has come to visit the young prince."
Upon hearing that Yu Zhenzi from the Sanqing Temple had arrived, Hailing stopped what she was doing and left the kitten in the Empress Dowager's Lanqing Palace. She had something to discuss with Yu Zhenzi, but unexpectedly, he arrived.
Hai Ling led the people out of Lanqing Palace, and behind her, the Empress Dowager went to play with the kittens again.
In the main hall of Liuyue Palace, Yu Zhenzi was sitting and drinking tea. Upon hearing footsteps at the palace gate, he quickly got up and looked over. He saw Hailing leading a group of palace maids into the hall. Yu Zhenzi quickly bowed. Although he was highly respected, this was the inner palace, and he could not afford to be careless. Therefore, he bowed politely.
"Yu Zhenzi greets Your Majesty the Empress."
"Master Yu, please stop bowing and sit down."
Hai Ling spoke gently, gesturing for Yu Zhenren to sit down, then looked at Yu Zhenzi: "Yu Zhenren, I had something I wanted to talk to you about, but I didn't expect you to come to the palace."
"What business does Your Highness have with me?" Yu Zhenzi asked curiously, raising his eyebrows to look at Hai Ling. Hai Ling frowned, thought for a moment, and decided to tell Yu Zhenzi the truth: "We in Bei Lu are very likely to have a war with the Great Zhou Dynasty. Although we don't want to fight, Feng Zixiao is bound to fight. We have no choice but to fight. I am very worried about leaving the little cat in the palace. I would like to ask Master Yu to take the little prince to the Sanqing Temple to be raised for a period of time. After this war is over, I will send someone to bring him back."
Upon hearing Hai Ling's words, Yu Zhenzi stroked his white beard with one hand, his face grave, and slowly said, "I'm afraid many people will die in this battle."
Hai Ling knew that Yu Zhenzi had the ability to predict the future. Since he said so, this battle would probably indeed result in a lot of casualties. However, it was impossible not to fight. They could not keep compromising. Feng Zixiao would think that they were afraid of him and would probably keep pressing forward. Therefore, they would never back down this time.