It seems that the villain is targeting me.

From the moment the imperial army set out, Lawrence I became restless all day long. He had no appetite and even ran to the city wall to look in the direction of the army, ignoring the attempts of his attendants to stop him, as if he could see the army fighting in front of him.

But in reality, even if Lawrence stared his eyes out of their frames, he could only see a faint khaki color on the distant horizon - he couldn't tell whether it was withered grass or dust raised by the marching army.

The emperor only knew that in that direction, an army formed with the whole country's strength was fighting a bloody battle, and his general, his prime minister, and his eldest son were all in danger of life and death.

The battlefield is unpredictable, and no one can guarantee to the emperor that someone will return safely.

He had been having nightmares over and over again for the past few days. Sometimes he dreamed of a blood-soaked guard running towards him, saying that the army had been defeated and the enemy was at the gates of the city. Sometimes he dreamed of the Duke's eldest son, heartbroken, kneeling in front of the palace, saying that the general and the prime minister had all died...

Lawrence regretted it constantly: How could he have sent both the Grand General and the Imperial Prime Minister at the same time? Even leaving one behind would have been fine, but the frontline relied on Banur's judgment, and Lord Butcher was rarely so insistent. He simply couldn't resist...

Ugh.

Lao Yezhu muttered something in his mouth, and his mood was

Very bad.

But today, a difficult guy came to the door - Lao Yezhu couldn't just ignore him, it was really troublesome.

Lawrence I looked to the right of his throne.

A new chair, soft red velvet, with cherrywood arms inlaid with delicate gold trim, had been placed there.

An elderly but elegant woman sat there quietly, with an expression of indifference on her face.

That was Lawrence's wife and the country's only legal queen: Katherine Hamilton.

The marriage between the two was the product of a political alliance. When Lawrence started out, he had severely insufficient assets and capital. When he captured the capital, the power of the old nobles was still rampant, posing a great threat and could not be easily touched.

As a compromise with the old noble forces, Lawrence married the daughter of an old and powerful duke and gained the support of her family, which enabled him to survive the most turbulent period of the country when he ascended the throne.

Lawrence had no feelings for this woman. He knew very well that this woman felt the same way about him. The relationship between the two was extremely cold.

Catherine only cared for her two sons and treated her husband like a stranger; Lawrence spent all day hanging out with his mistresses and might not see his wife for half a month.

And Queen Catherine came today for only one reason: her eldest son, Prince Charles.

As a mother who doted on her children, she was obviously extremely dissatisfied with the emperor for sending her own son to fight in the war.

"You have so many generals under your command. Why not send any of them?" Catherine's words were filled with ice. "Why do you have to send your own son to fight? If anything happens to Charles..."

Catherine snorted coldly: "Yes, what does a biological son mean? Your Majesty has a heart of stone."

Lawrence felt dizzy and his brain was overloaded after hearing these sarcastic words.

He really didn't want to argue with this woman, nor did he want to go through the trouble of explaining to her the political implications of letting the prince lead the troops into battle - after all, the sense of déjà vu that this woman had was a little too strong.

As his wife spoke, Lawrence seemed to see the figure of his barbecued pork son in a trance.

The emperor suddenly realized that Charles got his head from his mother.

Lawrence felt his head begin to hurt.

The pampered Queen Catherine looked at the wild boar coldly, with a look of condemnation that was completely emotionless and without any skill.

Lawrence:…

LAWRENCE: Never mind.

Just when Lao Yezhu was having a headache over his wife's accusation, a guard officer suddenly came running from outside, shouted "Report! News from the front line--" and then knelt down outside the hall.

Lawrence was shocked. He held his swollen and aching knee, not even paying attention to his wife beside him, and asked hurriedly: "How is it? Win or lose? What are the casualties?"

The guard raised his head, looked eagerly at the emperor, then looked at Queen Catherine who was sitting next to the emperor, and hesitated a little.

Lawrence was getting angry: "What's going on? Tell me!"

The emperor was afraid to hear the news that the general or the prime minister had met with an accident, but when the guard spoke, he felt a myocardial infarction in another strange way.

"The Crown Prince, in his reckless pursuit of glory, nearly wiped out the Griffin Knights he led," the Royal Guard officer said dryly. "The Crown Prince himself has fallen into the hands of the enemy."

Lawrence was incredulous, his eyes wide open like bells.

When Queen Catherine suddenly heard the bad news, she screamed subconsciously and covered her mouth.

"...The Imperial Army has now stabilized the situation, but the fate of the Crown Prince remains uncertain. They are unsure whether to continue the encirclement and suppression of King Jialan's remaining forces." The Royal Guards officer stepped forward and presented the letter with both hands. "This is an urgent letter from Prime Minister Butcher, Your Majesty."

Lawrence ordered the letter to be brought to him and read it quickly with a dark face.

The guards below were waiting anxiously.

After a while, Lawrence slammed the table hard, his blood boiling, and shouted in a gruff voice, "Send a message back! Tell the general to follow the plan and encircle and attack the enemy! There must be no mistakes!"

"Your Majesty, you can't do this!" Catherine exclaimed, clutching the emperor's hand tightly and begging with tears streaming down her face. "Charles is still in their hands. If we attack him now, he will die - he's your own son!"

Lawrence shook off his wife's hand without a word.

The emperor swung his arm and swept across the table, knocking over an exquisite feather pen holder. The golden base hit the ground and cracked.

The meeting hall was silent for a moment, with only the sound of Queen Catherine's soft sobs.

The guard officer who was waiting for orders hesitated: "Your Majesty, how should I reply to the messenger..."

Lawrence glared at the guard fiercely, anger spurting from his pupils.

"Still asking! What are you asking?"

"If I lose my son, I can just have another one! If the world is gone, everything is over!"

"Let them beat me! Beat me hard!!!"

Chapter 45: King Jialan's Messenger

Before the message of the wild boar's rage arrived, the army was under the command of the general.

Under the dual guarantee of the Prime Minister and the Empire, orderly arrangements began.

They spent more than a day treating the wounded and prisoners, and then allowed the remaining soldiers who were still able to fight to rest and recuperate.

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General Banur did not become careless because of the victory in the siege.

He raised his vigilance to the highest level, strengthened the defenses around the camp, and quadrupled the intensity of patrol alerts to guard against any possible sneak attacks by the Galan people.

As expected, the camp was harassed and attacked by the Jialan cavalry for two consecutive nights.

However, due to their thorough preparation and quick response, these people's sneak attack not only failed to gain any benefits, but also left a lot of corpses around the military camp.

"At times like these, the most important thing is patience," General Banur called his two children over to teach them the ropes of leading troops in battle. "You must understand that while you may be anxious, the enemy may be even more anxious. Whoever strikes first will be vulnerable."

"Don't let your guard down just because you have the advantage. Controlling the battlefield is difficult because of the word 'change'. You may have a vast army, but war only gives you one chance. If you miss it, you'll lose everything."

Gwyneth listened very attentively. This was invaluable knowledge and experience. It was hard to imagine that General Banur would pass on this knowledge to a girl who was about to get married.

Gwen relished the opportunity.

But then again, her engagement with the eldest prince should be off.

Regardless of whether Charles can come back alive this time, as a member of the royal family who has made a big mistake, he will undoubtedly lose his status as heir to the empire and may even be removed from the family.

Even Gwyneth, not particularly politically savvy, could see that.

Of course, the eldest daughter of the Tudor family would not marry such a man, not to mention that Gwen had made considerable military achievements on behalf of her father this time, and it was time for the emperor to reward and appease their family.

This engagement will probably be terminated in a way that everyone understands.

From a secular point of view, this was not a good thing for Gwyneth: marriages between noble families were limited, and young people of suitable age were engaged at a very young age.

In a case like Gwyneth's, it would probably take a lot of time for her family to plan a decent marriage for her. And according to local customs, it would take nearly a year from the finalization of the engagement to the holding of the wedding.

From the public's perspective, Gwyneth's best years have been wasted.

Therefore, in these days, when some informed officers saw the eldest daughter of the Tudor family, there was a hint of sympathy in their eyes.

As for Gwyneth herself——

It is not something that outsiders can tell her how complicated her feelings are about this.

For now, Gwen doesn't have to worry about the engagement anymore.

Now she only needs to concentrate on waiting, waiting for the moment when King Jialan's army reveals a flaw, waiting for the opportunity given by the war.

This opportunity came soon.

At dawn on this day, the sentries on night patrol carried a tall and thin Galan man towards the tent.

This man was not wearing armor and did not carry any weapons. He appeared around the imperial army riding a skinny horse and claimed to be a messenger sent by King Jialan.

The patrolling soldier searched the messenger thoroughly, tied him up, and prepared to take him before the general.

The courier looked unhappy. He tried to negotiate with the soldiers: "Gentlemen, can we try another method of transportation? For example, can I walk there myself?"

The soldier looked the messenger up and down, admiring the knot he had tied, and smiled slightly: "I think this is good enough."

Then the soldiers carried the messenger all the way to General Banur's tent.

This messenger was a pure Jialan person, with bright blue eyes and decent-looking clothes. He was probably a minor officer on the Jialan side.

At this moment, he was tied up by the soldiers and thrown into the general's tent, looking quite embarrassed.

Gwen noticed with her sharp eyes that the man had been secretly staring at the pieces of wheat bread on the camp table and swallowing his saliva.

Gwyneth thought: It seems that they really don’t have enough food, and King Galan can’t sit still any longer.

The tied-up messenger probably knew in his heart that he was not welcome here, so he sat down on the ground with his legs stretched out carelessly, trying to take advantage of the situation: "General, Master, can you give me some food first?"

The soldier behind him walked over and kicked him politely.

The messenger sat cross-legged on the ground and looked at General Banur with a serious expression.

"Our king sent me a message to the Imperial Army," the Jialan messenger craned his neck to look at the general sitting on the main throne. "He wants to invite the general to the hillside for a chat and a good exchange of feelings."

Banur leaned on the camp chair and glanced at the Jialan messenger with a half-smile.

That look seemed to be saying: What a joke, you ask me to go and I have to go?

The soldiers around couldn't help but burst into laughter, and the tent was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

The messenger's face flushed immediately, he turned his head away fiercely and said: "--You don't go

That's fine, but I'm afraid that guy named Charles will be in trouble."

But what surprised the messenger was that General Banur did not seem to be very moved. He just stared down at him with eyes that showed no emotion.

He didn't say he was going, nor did he say he wasn't going. His expression even looked a little bored, as if he was just waiting to see what else the messenger would say.

The messenger's heart sank.

Before he came, he received guidance and instructions from the king, and also carefully considered the reactions and choices that Banur might make.

Seeing the general's reaction, the messenger knew that the most unfavorable situation for the Jialan people had already occurred.

But the messenger still decided to struggle one last time. No matter what, he would not give up until the last moment.

The messenger remembered what the king had said to him.

"General," Messenger Jialan looked up at Banur and chuckled. "My king asked me to tell you that we can resolve this problem in a more peaceful way."

"You don't need to lead your army to such a waste of time, nor do you need to engage in such an ugly melee and let your soldiers die in vain."

The general's brow twitched. He really didn't want a bloody fight anymore. When he thought of the soldiers who were hastily buried not long ago, he still felt a dull pain in his heart.

The messenger, or King Jialan, accurately grasped General Banur's mentality at the moment.

"Let's resolve this in a more civilized way," King Jialan said. "No more soldiers will die, and we won't waste days. You can even bring that reckless boy back with you intact."

"Come find me on the hillside, Banuer Tudor. I have been looking forward to this duel for decades."

"Let's put an end to this under the witness of the great Changshengtian!"

"My old rival!"

Chapter 46: Destiny, Destiny

After the messenger delivered his message, he didn't want to stay long and prepared to go back.

The soldiers below warmly tried to persuade him to stay and wanted to take him to see the customs and culture of the imperial army, but he declined.

If the Internet was well developed at that time, the messenger would probably leave a comment like this about this trip: one-star praise, the quality of the reception staff is extremely poor, thank you brothers and sisters for clearing the minefield.

The tall and thin Jialan messenger rode away on his horse, leaving the rest of the people there in a state of confusion.

The general invited all the people who could make decisions to come to the tent to discuss the matter together.

The Duke's eldest son, Eric, was more straightforward and spoke directly to his inner thoughts: "Father, I think this is a trap."

Gwyneth was worried that her father would fall for King Galan's provocation, so she spoke anxiously, "This must be a trap—Father, we can't go."