Chapter 1311: The Virtuous Consort's Virtue, A Shift in Course

On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, with a bright full moon hanging in the sky, at the temporary imperial residence in the inner city of Youzhou, Emperor Liu gathered together the consorts, princes, and princesses accompanying him to hold a family banquet, drinking wine, eating mooncakes, and admiring the moon. It was just this one family—even Li Ye, the maternal relative among the accompanying ministers, was not invited.

Spending the festival together to celebrate reunion—this was the imperial family's celebration. Compared to previous years, though it lacked some solemnity and dignity, it gained a rare warmth.

Within the imperial household, ever since the Empress Dowager's passing, the word "warmth" had drifted further and further away. However, this Mid-Autumn family banquet had a fairly lively atmosphere, and the family enjoyed themselves well enough.

Liu Xu and his brothers and sisters performed a dance tune they had composed together earlier. Liu Xu and the seventh brother Liu Hui played instruments, Liu Jia and Liu Jian, the sisters, chanted, while Liu Xi and the fifth brother Liu Yun led the other brothers and sisters in singing and dancing...

Such a harmonious scene was not easily achieved, and it would likely only become rarer in the future. Still, this scene was not without its flaws—there were consorts, princes, and princesses in Luoyang who had not been able to accompany the imperial carriage, so it was not a complete reunion, and there were still three princes on the battlefield...

Emperor Liu's feelings were also somewhat complex—both joyful and unavoidably worried about his sons. After drinking some wine and maintaining a slightly tipsy state, he went to Lady Zhe's quarters that night, which was actually a reminder from Empress Fu.

The night was already deep, and a thin mist seemed to hang between heaven and earth, making the moonlight spilling into the courtyard seem less bright. The bedchamber was quiet, with warm candlelight dispelling the autumn chill. Emperor Liu sat at the edge of the bed, habitually soaking his feet, but this time it was his Worthy Consort, Lady Zhe, who was attending to him.

As one of Emperor Liu's early women, Lady Zhe had accompanied him through more than twenty years, and she was also the consort who had borne him the most children—four sons and one daughter, five in total.

Although Emperor Liu had rarely favored her in recent years, their feelings had not faded much; rather, the passage of time had allowed their emotions to settle and deepen. To this day, in Emperor Liu's heart, only Empress Fu, Noble Consort Gao, and Consort Zhe held unshakable positions. Even Worthy Consort, the younger Lady Fu, and Pure Consort, the elder Lady Zhou, could hardly be compared. As for the other consorts, there was no talk of feelings at all—only physical pleasure and enjoyment...

Naturally enjoying Lady Zhe's attentions, Emperor Liu looked at her with a somewhat gentle gaze. Lady Zhe was also approaching forty; her youthful beauty was gone, her years were fading, and her figure had somewhat changed. Thanks to proper care, she still possessed some of the charm of a noble lady, but it was truly difficult to describe her with words like "gorgeous" or "radiant" anymore. Moreover, among Emperor Liu's consorts, Consort Zhe was not the type of breathtaking beauty.

Of course, Emperor Liu did not disdain her for this—even he himself was no longer the dashing and handsome youth of his younger days, having grown somewhat paunchy, so why should he demand more of Consort Zhe, who had reached her age?

Beautiful faces and alluring bodies—Emperor Liu would never lack these, and thus they became less important. On the contrary, it was feelings that he treasured more.

"Does Your Majesty not think I've grown old?" Noticing Emperor Liu staring at her, Lady Zhe suddenly looked up and asked frankly.

"How could that be? Your youthful charm remains, dignified and graceful—still a beauty of the age!" Emperor Liu immediately snapped back to attention and shook his head, saying, "Surely someone has been gossiping again?"

Hearing this, Lady Zhe smiled and replied, "Old is old—why need others to discuss it? Your Majesty need not comfort me!"

In this regard, Consort Zhe was clearly more open-minded than Noble Consort Gao or Worthy Consort Fu. As the lamplight flickered, Emperor Liu's bright eyes reflected Lady Zhe's figure. He did not know what kind of person Lady Zhe had been in the original history, but as his consort, after all these years, she was indeed not as legendary as in the romances—but at least she was worthy of the character "Worthy" in her title.

"At the banquet just now, I noticed you seemed listless—you were thinking of Liu Fang, weren't you?" Emperor Liu said softly.

Although Lady Zhe had always shown generous support for Liu Fang's campaign and rarely displayed a worried demeanor in daily life, a mother worries when her son travels a thousand li—and Liu Fang had gone to a perilous battlefield, venturing into the dragon's pool and tiger's den that was Mobei. How could she not be concerned? The more it was a time of reunion, the more the absent ones were worth remembering, and the stronger the feelings became.

Taking a towel to wipe Emperor Liu's feet, Lady Zhe nodded in response and sighed, "How could I not be concerned? I wonder what situation the fourth son is in at Mobei right now? How are his circumstances?"

"Perhaps Liu Fang is admiring the same bright moon in the sky as we are!" Emperor Liu pulled Lady Zhe to sit beside him as he tucked his legs into the blankets, speaking gently.

"Let us hope so!" Feeling the comfort in Emperor Liu's words, Lady Zhe suddenly let out a breath, raised her head, and smiled, saying, "It's not only my son who risks life and limb fighting for the country. I shall simply be like all mothers who send their sons to war, silently praying and blessing them!"

Hearing this, Emperor Liu was briefly at a loss for words, then a look of respect appeared on his face. Grasping Lady Zhe's hand, he said seriously, "The love for one's children is the same for all, but among the mothers of this world, how many can be so understanding of the greater good?"

Gently patting her hand, Emperor Liu's tone relaxed again as he said warmly, "It is already Mid-Autumn now. According to the Bureau of Military Affairs' analysis of the military situation, Mobei is no place to linger. The Hexi and Yulin armies should already be planning their return march—perhaps they are already on the way back. They managed to break through the heavy defenses and advance north, and achieved results—they will surely return safely!"

"May it be as Your Majesty says!" Lady Zhe replied.

"It will be!"

In fact, with Liaodong newly taken, the northeastern Han army entering a rest period, and the war situation stabilizing, Emperor Liu's attention had for the first time shifted away from Liaodong, beginning to devote more focus and energy to other fronts.

All along, compared to the spectacular and bloody battles on the Liaodong front, the progress of the Han army in other directions always felt somewhat lukewarm.

But looking back and examining carefully, the other battlefields were not so uneventful either. The two Han armies striking far beyond the northern frontier—their valor and arduousness needed no further elaboration. On Liu Tinghan's side, he had made several sorties northward; though his gains were few, he had been constantly entangled with the Liao army, matching wits and courage, effectively pinning down the Liao forces in the Shangjing region.

As for Guo Jin's army, ten thousand Han infantry and cavalry advancing into the Western Regions brought even more unexpected surprises. As early as two months ago, the former Xizhou Uyghur towns and territories south of the Tianshan Mountains that had been occupied by Liao had all been captured by Guo Jin's army.

Now, the Liao forces in the Western Regions were reduced to only a few thousand remnants retreating northward, led by Yelu Dilie and Yelu Sha, holding the two cities of Luntai and Beiting in the north, barely surviving, unable to advance or retreat. If not for the Kara-Khanid kingdom to the west taking advantage of the situation to raid and sending troops eastward, Guo Jin would have long led his army north to completely annihilate them.

That's right—the Western Regions were now a tangled mess again, except that with the Liao army in retreat, the leading roles on this land were played by the Great Han and the Kara-Khanid kingdom.

Moreover, the situation was not optimistic. Guo Jin was facing enemies on two fronts. The Kara-Khanid army had come even more fiercely, having already captured the Yanqi region that they had previously failed to take from the Liao army, and continued advancing eastward, with their spearhead pointed directly at Gaochang.

As for Guo Jin, due to insufficient strength at his disposal, he had to focus his main efforts on dealing with the threat from the Kara-Khanid army. Although there were many vassal troops in the Western Regions who had submitted to the Great Han, they were truly useless—even fighting a favorable battle required caution, let alone resisting the enemy at a disadvantage.

If not for Lu Duoxun actively organizing support in Hexi, Guo Jin might not have been able to hold on—even defending Gaochang would have been dangerous, especially with those several thousand stubborn Liao troops in the north still clinging to life and tying him down.

By comparison, the one that was truly lukewarm was Wang Yanchao's army—campaigning against the Xi tribes, fighting in mountainous terrain, after several months, suffering some casualties and consuming much money, grain, and military equipment, yet only capturing two cities. After Yelu Xian transferred Gao Xun south to garrison the Xi King's residence, the fighting had stalled again.

However, just as Zhao Kuangyin had commented, Wang Yanchao might struggle to advance, but at least there was no fear of a major defeat.

For the other fronts, Emperor Liu had no further demands for the time being—if the current situation could be maintained, it was acceptable.

If adjustments to the overall northern campaign strategy were needed, perhaps it would have to be on the Liaodong side. Counting the conscripted laborers and able-bodied men, there were still nearly four hundred thousand people there. Whether it was necessary to continue maintaining such a massive force was worth considering.