Chapter 47 The Iron Cavalry pardons your crimes; you shall follow me…
Du Peisun presented the newly arrived official documents.
Xie Wenjun glanced through it and found that it was mostly about the deployment of officials. The only important information was the military situation of Dongyin gathering troops to invade Zhudong.
Dongyin has captured Dongqiu City.
The border defense of Zhudong was originally the domain of Prince Qi, Xie Xuan. After Xie Xuan was summoned back to Yongdu by Emperor Xuanyuan earlier this year, military power in Zhudong had not yet been taken over. Now, however, Xie Xuan, aiming to seize the throne, has transferred many troops, leaving Zhudong's military forces depleted.
Chen Linjun had no choice but to lead his troops along the Shuofang trade route to aid Zhuge Dong.
Bei Yong also stationed a large army on the border between the two countries, but only deployed troops without attacking. He remained on the sidelines and observed.
They rested at a border post station in Chong'an County.
Xie Yuan sent a letter from Linxia, saying that he was waiting for Chen Liangyu at the Linxia border.
The imperial edict ordering Chen Liangyu to return to Yongdu and Xie Yuan's letter arrived almost simultaneously.
The eunuch who delivered the imperial edict was Liang Shu, a palace attendant serving Emperor Xuanyuan. Xie Wenjun recognized him.
It seems that Xie Xuan has not yet forced Emperor Xuanyuan to abdicate.
With the Imperial Seal in Xie Wenjun's hands, it would be illegitimate for him to seize power at this time.
Chen Liangyu was in a dilemma.
Although a general in the field may disobey the emperor's orders, the rebellion in the Southern Continent had been quelled, and her prolonged absence with a large army inevitably aroused suspicion that she harbored rebellious intentions.
Yongdu has been occupied by Xie Xuan. If she goes back, it will only result in the disarmament of her troops; if she does not return, she will be labeled a traitor and everyone can attack her.
If she then wanted to send troops to defend the emperor, she would have no legitimate reason to do so.
There was still no response from the flying horsefly.
The flying fly only recognizes the iron letter tube for communication.
The iron-tipped message tubes were divided into "sub-tubes" and "mother tubes." The sub-tubes were tokens used by the flying flies at various relay stations and had to be verified to match. There were only four mother tubes, and the person holding the mother tube could directly issue commands to the flying flies.
The one Yan Baizhang gave to Chen Liangyu was the mother tube. The other three are now in the hands of Chen Yuanqing, Chen Linjun, and Yan Nian, respectively.
Xie Wenjun asked the eunuch who was delivering the imperial edict, "Where is the imperial edict?"
Liang Shu said, "Princess Jiangning, His Majesty has not issued an imperial edict, only a verbal instruction."
Xie Wenjun said, "Dispatching troops and generals is a major military and political matter. How could there be only a verbal order without an imperial decree? Liang Shu falsely conveyed the imperial decree and arrested people!"
The Eastern Palace guards took Liang Shu and his accompanying imperial guards away. Liang Shu was still shouting that he was innocent as he was being dragged away.
Xie Yu is dead.
Both Ke Yong and Xie Wenjun kept it a secret.
Xie Wenjun guarded this matter as if it were a mirage that could shatter at any moment.
She had not yet accepted the news of Xie Yu's death. She had not yet seen her brother's body with her own eyes, and when she saw that there was no news of national mourning in the official gazette, she couldn't help but feel relieved.
She still clung to a sliver of hope that her brother might have only been injured and had not died.
She tried to convince herself to accept the facts, yet desperately denied them.
They are deceiving themselves and indulging in a moment of peace.
But Liang Shu's appearance shattered her last hope.
If her elder brother were still alive, the imperial edict from Yongdu would have been to bring her back to the palace.
Xie Yu's death became a pawn in the power struggle between the two sides. When did he die? Was he assassinated or died of illness? Which side announced it to the world, and in what way? All of these would directly determine who would gain the upper hand and who would be imprisoned.
Xie Wenjun stood facing the wind, which tugged at her clothes and hair. She gazed ahead, seemingly searching for something amidst the endless howling of the wind.
It was Chen Liangyu who awakened her.
"Your Highness."
Xie Wenjun responded, "Let me think about it. Give me some more time."
The door was gently closed from the inside, without being bolted.
Chen Liangyu waited from midday until dusk, frequently looking back, but ultimately did not knock on that door.
The birds began to return to their nests.
The guards at the entrance of the post station rushed in from outside, "General Chen, someone has brought this item to see you."
The guard presented a jade hair clip with both hands.
Chen Liangyu took it in her hand and looked it over; it was her stuff.
Where are they?
"Wait outside."
Chen Liangyu went out and found the one-armed beggar who had asked her for money on the Lantern Festival.
Her hair was disheveled, and her sleeves were empty. She looked older than before.
Chen Liangyu said, "Weren't you supposed to be dying? How come you're still alive?"
The man found her words unpleasant to hear and sneered, "Even more unpleasant than your father's."
Chen Liangyu said, "You said you needed to make arrangements for your funeral, so I gave you the hairpin to pawn for money. Since you didn't use it, it's not appropriate for a young lady to have such a thing on you. I'd better take it back."
"That's my savings for my funeral!"
Ignoring his chest-beating and stamping, Chen Liangyu asked, "What do you want?"
"I say you're incredibly rude, woman. I'm of the same generation as your father, so you should respectfully address me as your senior uncle!"
Chen Liangyu said, "You haven't introduced yourself, so I don't recognize you. May I ask your name?"
"Jiang Bojin."
He didn't elaborate further, seemingly certain that Chen Liangyu would bow and scrape before him as an honored guest upon hearing his name.
Thinking of this, he straightened his back and straightened his posture.
Chen Liangyu: "Rong Jun, give him some money and send him away."
Taking two steps forward, she turned her head and said, "The world is not peaceful these days, you'd better behave yourself and stop trying to scam people. Look at you, a lonely old woman, if you get hacked to death, no one will collect your body."
Jiang Bojin said, "Don't you want the news about the flying flies anymore?"
Chen Liangyu paused in his steps.
Jiang Bojin slightly raised his chin and let out a haughty "humph" from his nose.
"Just by looking at you, I know that Chen Chongming and Yan Baizhang have never said anything good about me."
Chen Liangyu said, “You have been studying under my maternal grandfather and entered the world, but you are full of treacherous schemes and have been an accomplice to evil. You have repeatedly tried to harm my father and Uncle Yan, and you still dare to ask me to respect you as your senior uncle! I have spared your life because you are old. If you know what’s good for you, you should leave as soon as possible and never appear in front of me again.”
"Aiding the wicked? Who is the wicked one? Since ancient times, the victor is king and the loser is villain. If it is Prince Fengde who ascends the throne, then your father will become the one you call aiding the wicked!"
Jiang Bojin's voice was deep and his enunciation was extremely penetrating.
"In chaotic times, everyone fights for their own master. How can they be so shameless, thinking I set them up? Aren't they just chasing after me to kill me too?"
"Further words are pointless," Chen Liangyu said. "Give me information about the flying gadflies."
Jiang Bojin stood still.
"How much do you want?" Chen Liangyu asked.
Jiang Bojin said, "Why talk about money? That's vulgar."
"Then what do you want?"
Jiang Bojin said, "I was defeated more than 20 years ago. Now, in my old age, I am able to witness the struggle for the crown prince again. Naturally, I want to resume my old ways and support a new ruler. Don't be in a hurry to refuse. I will not be picky. You can choose whoever you want to be emperor. I will let whoever you say be emperor."
"If you truly possess such great abilities, how could you have lost both arms?" Chen Liangyu replied, "With an impure heart, it's difficult to achieve great things. Giving you countless more chances would be futile."
This person is someone who has taken the principle of "all's fair in war" to its extreme. Yan Baizhang once taught her how to analyze Jiang Bojin's tactics, which were extremely insidious. The Hundred Deceptions Sect takes "scheming" as its guiding principle and uses covert tactics. Although it is based on "covertness," He Niangong was still generally benevolent when he founded the Hundred Deceptions Sect.
However, when it reached him, it completely deviated from the essence, interpreting its core meaning as unscrupulous and ruthless.
To achieve a scorched-earth policy, they did not hesitate to massacre entire cities.
"Are you really so righteous?" Jiang Bojin sneered. "If you were so righteous, why have you been holding such a large army and yet haven't returned to Yongdu?"
Jiang Bojin took two steps to the side and squatted down against the wall.
"Now you can only communicate with people through flying flies, right? The flying flies are mine; I can create them, and I can destroy them. You decide for yourself."
Chen Liangyu said, "That depends on the weight of the information you have."
Jiang Bojin glanced at her and said, "Prince Qi has placed the Emperor under house arrest and blocked all news. Your parents have already died in the Marquis's mansion."
Chen Liangyu: "What nonsense are you talking about?"
"If you don't believe me, just wait and see. Someone will make you believe."
Chen Liangyu ignored him and turned to enter the post station. She didn't believe Jiang Bojin's words; that man was utterly unreliable. Yet, she was still restless, pacing anxiously back and forth in the courtyard.
"...General Chen."
Someone called her, but she didn't hear it.
"General Chen!"
Rong Jun appeared behind her without her noticing, and it seemed he had been waiting for a while.
He called her several times, but she didn't seem to hear him, so Rong Jun raised his voice. Chen Liangyu was startled.
What happened to my parents?
Rong Jun scratched his head and said, "Lord Chen and his wife are both in Yongdu. I don't know their current situation."
"Oh," Chen Liangyu finally snapped out of her reverie and asked, "What is it?"
Rong Jun said, "The person named Zhao Mingqin that Your Highness asked me to find has been brought here. Your Highness, please come over."
A post station was set up every thirty li. The post stations were divided into upper, middle and lower halls. Food and lodging were provided according to the rank of the officials who came and went. Even the horse feed was divided into different grades.
Xie Wenjun naturally lived in the main hall, which had a main hall and side rooms.
Inside the hall, a man was about to kneel and bow when Xie Wenjun quickly stepped forward and helped him up.
"No need for formalities, please rise."
The man, dressed in plain, disheveled clothes, looked weathered and haggard. He was flattered and overwhelmed by Princess Jiangning's gesture of helping him up.
Xie Wenjun offered him a seat.
His face seemed veiled in confusion, as if he hadn't expected such courtesy. He slowly raised his hand, tidied his disheveled hair and wrinkled robes, and then sat down nervously.
Chen Liangyu entered the hall, bowed to him, and said, "General Zhao, I have long admired you."
Zhao Mingqin once served as Zhaowu Colonel in the army.
Zhao Mingqin had just sat down when he stood up again and returned the greeting.
"I have long admired General Chen's name."
Chen Liangyu said, "General Zhao once commanded the Xuanjia Iron Cavalry of the Southern Border and was highly respected. I have long heard that General Zhao has the same style as his father."
Now that I see it, I don't think it's particularly outstanding.
One can only glimpse a hint of otherworldly grace in the corners of one's eyebrows and eyes.
Xie Wenjun said, "Effective immediately, Zhao Mingqin is appointed General of Huaihua, commanding the garrison of Chong'an. Rong Jun, proclaim the decree."
Rong Jun received the order at the door and then announced it downwards.
Zhao Mingqin hurriedly knelt down to receive the imperial decree. After expressing his gratitude, he couldn't help but ask, "Princess, may this humble subject ask why?"
Why suddenly promote someone who is guilty of a crime?
Xie Wenjun didn't hide anything and said, "I want you to contact the old troops of General Zhao's Xuanjia Iron Cavalry in the southern border and follow me. I will also pardon the crimes of your surviving family members, and I have already sent people to settle them."
Zhao Mingqin's lips trembled, and his hands gripped his robe tightly, making the already wrinkled fabric even more crumpled.
The words caught in his throat, and after a long while, he finally knelt down and said, "This sinful subject is willing to serve Your Highness like a dog or a horse! Thank you for your great kindness, Your Highness!"
"Go, take a bath and change your clothes, wash away this stable smell, and become the spirited General Zhao again."
Zhao Mingqin moved his lips, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped himself.
Xie Wenjun said, "Is there anything else? Tell me."
Zhao Mingqin said, "There is another person, a descendant of my father's former subordinate. That former subordinate was a day late in delivering military rations and was beheaded according to military law. My father secretly took his descendant back to the mansion to raise her as his adopted daughter, but she was never added to the family genealogy or registered. Therefore, when the family was punished, she was sent away and her whereabouts are now unknown."
"You want to find her?"
Zhao Mingqin replied, "Yes."
Where was the person sent?
Zhao Mingqin said, "It was Father who made the decision. Perhaps it's still in Cangnan County."
Chen Liangyu asked, "What's your name?"
"Ping'er".
Zhao Mingqin said, "Her surname is Bu, and her name is Bu Ping'er."
Author's note: Thank you for reading this far!
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