Chapter 142 Inheritance (Revised) Should your family business go to your daughter or your nephew...?

He Qinglan established the Yun Kingdom and declared himself king.

This was expected; there have been many moves and a lot of commotion in Jinzhou, and many people have received the news.

However, no one expected her to be so quick!

Lu Hong in the capital and Sun Yannan in Maozhou both had obvious ambitions, but neither of them took any further action. Instead, they pretended to each use an "emperor" as a shield.

Then, standing on moral high ground, they accused the other party of disloyalty and injustice, while wantonly taking action against other feudal lords, eliminating dissidents and expanding their territory.

Unexpectedly, He Qinglan became the first to announce to the world that she was severing ties with the Great Wei Dynasty and would seize the throne.

This put Sun and Lu in an awkward position: should they abandon the shield they had just erected and declare independence as well?

But if he doesn't stand on his own two feet, and watches He Qinglan become the King of Cloud while he himself is relegated to the so-called regent, that would be too unbearable!

Lu Hong was both angry and annoyed. He issued several proclamations to denounce He Qinglan. Then he mobilized troops and prepared supplies, intending to "annihilate" the Yun Kingdom in the name of the Emperor of Wei.

Sun Yannan was currently attacking Qingzhou and had no time to wage war against He Qinglan, but he still issued a lengthy proclamation in the name of the emperor.

He Qinglan didn't care about them.

She has just become independent and has so much to do.

First, officials were rewarded and their positions rebuilt; second, the army was reorganized and military ranks reassigned; then, arrangements were made for industry, agriculture, and commerce to ensure normal development;…

Of course, the military is also prepared to fight at any time and guard against any sneak attacks.

Ningzhou.

Cao Ruheng covered his mouth and coughed violently. Ye Hui quickly brought him a bowl of honey water. He took it and drank most of the bowl in one gulp, suppressing his cough.

"I don't know if I'll survive this winter," Cao Ruheng said suddenly, looking at the withered leaves outside the window.

Ye Hui's expression changed. "Don't talk nonsense."

Cao Ruheng smiled and shook his head. "I know my own body."

Before Ye Hui could reprimand him, Cao Ruheng changed the subject, "What do you think Lu Hong and Sun Yannan will do next?"

Ye Hui took the honey water and placed it on the table next to her.

Cao Ruheng laughed and said, "Now that He Qinglan has suddenly declared himself king, even if the two of them are willing, it is not good to abandon the 'Son of Heaven' and declare themselves independent at this critical juncture."

Ye Hui smiled and said, "They won't be able to keep it a secret for long; they'll announce it sooner or later."

"Yes, sooner or later." Cao Ruheng raised his hand and grasped Ye Hui's hand. Ye Hui instinctively grasped it back and asked softly, "What's wrong?"

Looking at his wife's gentle yet resolute face, Cao Ruheng suddenly said, "Shall we also pick an auspicious day and announce our independence?"

Ye Hui was taken aback, and she frowned slightly. "Why?"

Cao Ruheng coughed twice and said humorously, "I don't know how much longer I can live. I want to be buried as the King of Ning."

Ye Hui was annoyed by him and glared at him.

Cao Ruheng was serious, and the next day he summoned his strategists and generals to discuss the matter.

Although Ye Hui had some minor objections, she was only worried about the timing. Seeing that Cao Ruheng was really so insistent, she believed that Cao Ruheng wanted to be king, so she didn't say anything.

After the meeting, everyone left, but Zhu Yunwei stayed behind to chat privately with Cao Ruheng.

Zhu Yunwei looked at Cao Ruheng's pale face with concern and asked, "Your health..."

Cao Ruheng covered his mouth with a handkerchief, coughed violently for a while, and coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Zhu Yunwei's expression changed drastically. He rushed forward and cried out urgently, "My lord!"

Cao Ruheng waved his hand, his eyes looking at Zhu Yunwei with relief, trust, and a touch of sadness. "Jingzhao, if I am gone in the future, please continue to assist Huihui. Ningzhou will depend entirely on you."

Zhu Yunwei felt a sudden pang of pain in her heart, "It might not have come to this! Doctor Zhu is in Jinzhou, isn't he..."

Cao Ruheng shook his head. "Even a divine doctor can only save lives; he can't change my death date from the Book of Life and Death."

If he could have lived a few more years, he would have tried his best, but alas...

He looked at Zhu Yunwei, his eyes becoming unusually resolute, and solemnly said, "Therefore, I must declare Ningzhou independent while I am still alive, and then become the Prince of Ning."

Cao Ruheng became the King of Ning, and Ye Hui became the Queen of Ning. She and Zhu Yunwei were able to choose a child from the Cao family to become the next King of Ning and continue the unfinished cause.

No… thinking of He Qinglan, Cao Ruheng had other thoughts.

“Jingzhao, Huihui and I only have one daughter. Logically speaking, my heir should be chosen from a collateral branch of the Cao family.” Cao Ruheng paused here.

Zhu Yunwei met his gaze, understood what he hadn't finished saying, and was slightly taken aback, "You mean...you want Miss..."

Cao Ruheng's eyes gleamed. "With He Qinglan, the Prince of Yun, as an example, how can my daughter not become the Prince of Ning?" A hint of disgust flashed in his eyes. "I don't want to hand over my family business to someone else's son!"

Zhu Yunwei: "..."

Ah yes, it wasn't easy for our lord to ascend to the throne back then, and he absolutely hated those uncles, cousins, and other relatives who were vying for his position.

Now that he is seriously ill, this position will be left to the children of his uncles and brothers, which is infuriating just to think about.

Jinzhou.

He Qinglan received a personal letter from Cao Ruheng, who first congratulated her on becoming a queen, and then said that he would soon become a queen as well, and sincerely invited the King of Yun to visit Ningzhou.

He Qinglan: "..."

She handed the letter to Cheng Hui, then said expressionlessly, "He wants to use me as a tool to publicly announce that his daughter is his heir."

Cheng Hui's hand trembled as he took the letter.

He and Fang Wangshu exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with shock.

Fang Wangshu: "His daughter?!"

Cheng Hui: "Cao Ruheng is...so open-minded?"

He Qinglan asked calmly, "Would you rather leave your family business to your daughter or your nephew?"

Cheng Hui narrowed his eyes. "My family business will naturally go to Xiao Mo." He has no children; his only heir is his disciple, Mo Jingchun.

Fang Wangshu said "Oh," and added, "Although my siblings and I have a good relationship, if I had a choice, I would definitely choose to leave her to my daughter! She's my daughter!"

He Qinglan said, "That's exactly right."

Cao Ruheng invited He Qinglan, the Prince of Yun, to the event to leverage her influence.

The Cloud Queen is a woman; who would dare say to her face that a woman cannot be a queen?

Although Cao Ruheng's daughter is not as good as He Qinglan, He Qinglan will give Cao Ruheng and Ye Hui face and support his daughter as the successor of Prince Ning on the spot.

Speaking of successors… He Qinglan suddenly thought of something and said to Cheng Hui and Fang Wangshu, “My successor is also a woman.”

Fang Wangshu: "!!!"

Cheng Hui: "!!!"

The two looked on in astonishment. "Your heir???"

Fang Wangshu asked anxiously, "Do you want to choose a consort to produce an heir?"

Cheng Hui pondered, "Or would you rather use a drop of divine blood or a rib to become human?"

Who knew that their young master was actually just an ordinary person like them.

He Qinglan: "Oh no, it's a child I chose from another world. He's incredibly talented and a born politician."

Fang Wang breathed a sigh of relief.

Cheng Hui was somewhat disappointed: the origin of this place was so normal!

Cheng Hui asked, "When will you bring her here?"

He Qinglan replied, "At least we should wait until we arrive in the capital." Bringing people here now would not be as prestigious as having an heir appear out of nowhere after we arrive in the capital.

Besides, Xiao Han is very good at taking care of children, so let him take care of them for a while longer.

Meanwhile, in Shengzhou, Ning Huai'an received a message from Yue Yao via carrier pigeon, a plea for help.

After reading it, Ning Huai'an was shocked. He immediately went to find Fang Qin, and the two of them went to the women's military camp to see Mo Jingchun.

Mo Jingchun is training his troops.

"Drink!" A tall, muscular young woman swung her fist decisively, breaking a wooden stake as thick as an adult man's thigh with a single punch.

The wheat-skinned girl drew her bow, aimed at the moving target, released it, and the arrow flew out, landing steadily in the bullseye.

"Drink!" "Drink!" "Drink!" Dozens of young women stood in five rows, holding long spears, thrusting them out again and again under the captain's command.

"One, two, one, one, two, one!" The women running in circles were already covered in sweat, but none of them showed any impatience and kept running forward.

...

Being a soldier is really tough.

Looking at the female soldiers who were training hard, Fang Qin thought to himself that he hoped they would live up to the sweat and tears they shed today when they went to the battlefield one day.

Mo Jingchun was very surprised to learn that Ning Huai'an and Fang Qin had come to see her, but she also realized that something had happened, so she handed over the training to the person in charge of the female soldiers' battalion and went to see the two of them first.

Ning Huai'an showed Mo Jingchun Yue Yao's letter pleading for help.

"After the defeat at Mao'er Mountain, Yue Yao fled with the elderly, women, and children, and they are now heading towards Shengzhou. Zheng Jiming's troops are pursuing them," Fang Qin quickly explained. "He asked us for help."

Mo Jingchun's expression turned serious.

After reading the letter, she looked up at Ning Huai'an and Fang Qin and asked, "What do you think?"

Fang Qin said, "According to what Yue Yao wrote in his letter, if we save the people he is protecting and let them stay in Shengzhou, he is willing to serve the goddess from now on and do his best to repay her."

Ning Huai'an didn't think too much about it and said, "This business is worth doing." He paused, then added with a slightly sour tone, "The goddess seems to like Yue Yao quite a bit."

Fang Qin: "..."

Mo Jingchun: "Huh? How come I didn't know?"

Mo Jingchun agreed to the deal.

They couldn't bear to watch Yue Yao and the group of elderly, weak, women and children who had fled die at the hands of Zheng Jiming.

Ning Huai'an immediately summoned the cavalry captain and arranged for him to lead troops to rescue Yue Yao.

The captain was puzzled, but said nothing. He loudly agreed and then mustered his troops to set off, heading straight for Yueyao.

Xie Yingshi, who works at the newspaper, was writing a proposal when Pei Wenzhao wrote to her, suggesting that they hold a forum. This gave Xie Yingshi a sudden inspiration.

She spent two days in the library, reading all the books about debate competitions. Afterwards, she began writing a proposal day and night, intending to submit it at the morning meeting the next day: she wanted to suggest holding a debate competition throughout the entire Yun Kingdom, with a team format.

She bit her pen and continued writing, "...Our printing shop can offer low-cost book publishing services to all participants, attracting a large number of students to participate."

"Furthermore, I think we can deliberately publish some provocative articles in the newspapers to attract more attention, incite their anger, and make them want to come to Jinzhou to cause trouble..."

"The winner's prize can be..."

She had written a third of it when she heard hurried footsteps coming from the corridor outside. She looked up and saw someone running quickly past the door.

Xie Yingshi was puzzled, so she got up and went out to ask what had happened.

A colleague excitedly replied, "Yu Wenjiang of Xuantai Lake has been defeated!"

Xie Yingshi: "!"

There are wars everywhere now; you fight me, I fight him.

In any war, there will be a winner and a loser; either you win or I win.

The people of Xuantai Lake failed to defend their territory; the flagpole was cut down, and the flag fell into the blood.

The scattered leaders, along with their surviving brothers, embarked on their respective escape routes.

Guo Lang wiped the blood from his face, looked at Lü Feng who was with him, and asked in a hoarse voice, "Strategist, how do we reunite with our elder brother and the others?"

Lu Feng closed his eyes. "Let's escape first. After we find a new place to stay, we can find out where the others are and write to them."

Guo Lang agreed.

He asked, "Where do we go now?"

Lu Feng thought for a moment, "The border between Chuzhou and Chaozhou."

Lu Feng and Guo Lang were unaware that their brother, Zhao Sanxiang, had been caught up by pursuers on the run and had died from their arrows while covering Fang Liniang and the others' escape.

Fang Liniang's face was covered in tears. She glanced back at Zhao Sanxiang, who was kneeling on one knee, and tears fell into the air. She resolutely led the others and continued running forward.

Never look back.

Yu Wenjiang was also seriously injured. He and his two brothers who were taking care of him hid in a small village to recover, while the others escaped first.

Everyone was reluctant to abandon their leader, but Yu Wenjiang feigned anger, saying, "What? Now that Xuantai Lake is lost, you've all stopped recognizing me as your leader? You don't even listen to me anymore?"

The others had no choice but to leave him behind and begin their escape.

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Author's Note: 13000/20000

This story has about 20 chapters left to finish, ending with Xiao He becoming emperor.