Chapter 139 Rescuing the Emperor: I, your subject, left the northern border without being summoned and am willing to accept punishment. ...
The night in Yunzhou was trampled.
The lanterns hanging under the eaves of the official residence swayed, and more and more men in black surged in. Rong Jun dealt with several assassins in black in the courtyard, and in an instant another group of men in black jumped in.
Rong Jun's swordsmanship was wide-ranging and aggressive, a style of fighting that was entirely about risking his life.
Xie Wenjun handed the token to a subordinate, ordering him to immediately go to the prefectural capital to dispatch officers and soldiers.
Yunzhou's accounts are shady and cannot be brought to light, but since it was assassins who came instead of people from the Yunzhou government, it means that Jiang Wende still has some concerns and dares not openly disobey the Princess's orders.
As soon as the gates of the official residence opened, a large number of soldiers surrounded the courtyard, and they had already engaged in combat with the Changning Guards stationed outside the residence. The soldiers' outer perimeter was filled with swords and spears, and the archers had already nocked their arrows and drawn their bows.
They were the garrison troops of Yunzhou.
The leader was riding on horseback and wearing the official robes of a Lieutenant General.
Xie Wenjun remembered that Jiang Andong had a cousin who served in Yunzhou. Jiang Anren was listed in the military merit list submitted by the Ministry of War before the new year, and he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General.
Jiang Anren, clad in gleaming armor, stood at the front of the formation, riding a tall black horse. His face was grim, and at his feet lay the corpse of a pale-faced scholar. The man had a slash across his neck and lay in a pool of blood; he was none other than Wang Cheng, the registrar who had been checking the accounts on the field ridge during the day.
Jiang Anren said to another person, "Go tell Uncle that Wang Cheng suffered a sudden heart attack and passed away."
His gaze then settled on Rong Jun, who was fighting desperately with the men in black in the courtyard.
Rong Jun was tightly entangled by several assassins. He cut one down in the waist, and another assassin had his weapon knocked away by his blade. Just as he tried to retreat, the blade pierced his chest.
"Assassinating the eldest princess and besieging the imperial envoy are crimes tantamount to treason. Don't you and your entire families want to live?"
Jiang Anren's facial muscles twitched, and a hint of fear flashed in his eyes, which was then replaced by a deeper ruthlessness.
He glanced down at Wang Cheng's corpse.
Yongdu's secret order was only to kill Rong Jun, but the account books are now in the hands of the Eldest Princess. Although Jiang Anren is a military general, he is somewhat aware of the shady dealings in land and grain taxes. With so many accounts accumulated over the years, it is no wonder that he is guilty of confiscation of property and execution.
"Listen up, you people inside!"
Jiang Anren's cold voice drifted across the courtyard and into the study.
"Her Highness the Princess was unfortunately killed by a petty assassin. We have been ordered by the Governor to eliminate the assassin and protect Her Highness's remains!"
Rong Jun roared, "Protect His Highness!"
The garrison in Yunzhou numbered in the tens of thousands, with ten thousand standing troops in Yunzhou city alone, and countless more stationed outside the official residence. It was too dark to launch a blind attack. The Changning Guards retreated into the official residence and together closed the gates, keeping the Yunzhou garrison at bay.
The study window was broken, so Xie Wenjun and the maids who had followed her retreated to the side room and closed the door tightly.
Jiang Anren drew his sword from his waist and pointed it directly at the gate of the official residence: "Her Highness the Princess has been taken hostage by assassins! Soldiers, listen to my command!" His voice suddenly rose, "Avenge Her Highness the Princess! Kill them all! Break down the gate!"
The sound of wood being struck rang out loudly.
"Release the arrows!"
Arrows stung the wooden doors, windows, pillars, and eaves. Rong Jun shielded Xie Wenjun with his body and used his knife to deflect the stray arrows that flew into the windows.
Jiang Anren raised his hand, preparing to issue the final death order, but his warhorse began to become restless, pawing the ground anxiously.
The ground beneath my feet began to tremble.
The rumbling sound grew louder and more intense, as if thousands of iron cavalry were charging towards them.
At the end of the long street, a pure white warhorse charged forward.
Chen Liangyu held a horn bow drawn taut like a crescent moon.
Before the man arrived, the arrow was already released. The bowstring vibrated violently, and a second arrow was already nocked.
Jiang Anren instinctively tilted his head, and his helmet was blown off by a powerful force with a crisp "clang" as it spun away.
Chen Liangyu fired a second arrow, and the jade hairpin that Jiang Anren used to tie his hair shattered.
"How did Chen Liangyu end up in Yunzhou? Who let her into the city?"
Yunzhou had no news of Chen Liangyu's arrival, and the city guards assumed she was just passing through, so they did not set up roadblocks to intercept her. The moment the Eagle Head Army appeared, Jiang Anren felt an instant, bone-chilling cold of death wash over him.
Flesh and blood were no match for the iron cavalry. The neighing of warhorses rose and fell, and the Yunzhou soldiers' formation collapsed and disintegrated in no time. Men and horses fell to the ground.
Jiang Anren roared, "Block them! Block them for me!" He took an arrow coated with grease, lit it with a torch, and aimed it at the official residence, shouting, "Fire the fire arrows!"
The arrow was still on the bowstring when Jiang Anren suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest. Looking down, he saw an arrow piercing through his transparent armor and firmly embedded in his chest.
He swayed and fell off the horse.
Rong Jun listened carefully to the sounds outside, remaining highly vigilant. "Where did these cavalry come from?"
Xie Wenjun looked out through the hole in the door that had been pierced by an arrow. The Changning Guards were still guarding the courtyard with their swords and spears.
The heavy thud of the gate stopping ceased, and the arrows became sparse.
Then, a rapid knocking sounded on the door, as if someone was banging on it relentlessly, one knock after another without any pause.
"Your Highness! Is Lord Rong inside?"
His voice was urgent, as if his eyebrows were on fire.
Yuan Rongxi said, "Your Highness, it is the Great General."
"Open the door!" Xie Wenjun said.
Rong Jun followed Xie Wenjun out of the room, still extremely wary, and said, "Isn't the General forbidden from leaving the northern border without an imperial edict? How come he's in Yunzhou?"
The moment Xie Wenjun saw Chen Liangyu, her tense nerves suddenly relaxed, and a tremendous sense of exhaustion washed over her.
A pair of hands caught her just in time.
The silver armor and iron bracers on Chen Liangyu's body were very uncomfortable.
"Your Highness."
Her gaze swept quickly over Xie Wenjun's entire body, making sure she wasn't injured, and she took a deep breath. The sound of her inhalation was exceptionally clear in the now quiet courtyard, and one could even discern a gasp tinged with panic.
"This humble general..."
Chen Liangyu spoke, trying her best to suppress the uncontrollable tremor in her voice. Her jaw was taut, as if she was trying her best to restrain something.
Rong Jun called out, "General."
Chen Liangyu seemed not to hear him.
“Ah Li.”
Xie Wenjun noticed that something was wrong with her expression and asked with concern, "What's wrong?"
A pair of eagle eyes, with something churning and shattering violently within them.
Chen Liangyu said, "This humble general has arrived late to rescue Your Majesty, please forgive me."
Xie Wenjun briefly squeezed Chen Liangyu's hand, then released it in an instant, saying, "I am fine."
Chen Liangyu nodded, turned and walked outside. The Eagle Head Army had already forced several leading Yunzhou generals to kneel on the ground. Jiang Anren was dragged over by his legs, his chest and abdomen still heaving, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
Chen Liangyu said, "Assassinating the Princess is a crime punishable by implicated relatives! Who gave you the audacity!"
Outside the mansion, a large number of Yunzhou soldiers knelt down, kowtowing, begging for mercy, and crying out incessantly.
A soldier carried Wang Cheng's body over as well. "Princess, General, this man looks like a scholar."
Xie Wenjun said, "Lift it up."
Wang Cheng's head was lifted, and Xie Wenjun recognized him at a glance. Thinking of the hidden compartment and account books in the study, Xie Wenjun immediately had a guess.
"I have been summoned to see the Empress Dowager Jiang Wende, the Prefect of Yunzhou."
This official residence is no longer habitable; the doors and windows inside and out are broken and riddled with arrows.
The doors and windows of the side rooms were riddled with holes from arrows.
Chen Liangyu, without even taking a sip of tea, asked, "Have you found anything suspicious about the accounts in Yunzhou?"
Xie Wenjun showed her the account books he had taken from the secret compartment. They revealed falsely inflated population figures, half-taxed grain levies for disaster relief, and doubled taxes... Each entry was shocking. They were all accounts of monstrous corruption that had devoured the people's wealth.
"How did you end up in Yunzhou?"
Chen Liangyu said, "Ever since you sent me the letter saying that you were going to Yunzhou to inspect the fields and check the accounts, I have had people keep an eye on the movements in Yunzhou. Just a few days ago, I discovered that Yunzhou City was secretly sending small groups of troops into the city. After calculating the date you arrived in Yunzhou, I rushed here."
She was still shaken, "but thankfully I came."
Xie Wenjun was surprised to hear this and said, "I did not send you a message by flying gadfly about inspecting Yunzhou."
"What?"
Xie Wenjun grabbed Chen Liangyu and said, "Go! You must return to the Northern Border immediately."
"Does Your Highness suspect that someone led me away from the northern border without permission?"
"It's not suspicion. You should leave now!"
Chen Liangyu felt slightly relieved. "Have I told you about the origin of the flying horsefly?"
Xie Wenjun said, "You only said that it was for passing down family letters."
"Is Jiang Bojin willing to serve Your Highness?"
Xie Wenjun nodded and said, "Before I came to Yunzhou, Gu Xie had already delivered Mr. Jiang's pledge of allegiance to Sifangguan. In the afternoon, he was taken into the palace by the Imperial Guards."
Chen Liangyu said, "He was the one who first created the flying gadfly."
"Was it Mr. Jiang who informed you of my arrival in Yunzhou?"
"There's no one else but this old man."
Xie Wenjun said, "Leaving without being summoned is a serious crime of disobeying imperial orders."
“When I tricked the guards at Yunzhou city wall into opening the city gate, I said I had an urgent military report to deliver to the palace and asked to pass through Yunzhou. Now, even if I disobey the imperial decree, I have no choice but to return to Yongdu, otherwise I would be deceiving the emperor, and my crime would be even more serious.”
Chen Liangyu stood up. “I only borrowed half an hour from Yunzhou. It’s not advisable to linger too long. The situation in Yunzhou is complicated. Since Jiang Anren dared to mobilize troops to openly besiege it, Jiang Wende must know about it. Perhaps Jiang Wende was also instructed by someone, otherwise he wouldn’t have the guts to exterminate nine generations of his family. Even a powerful dragon can’t suppress a local snake. Your Highness must leave as soon as it’s light.”
She handed Xie Wenjun a military tally, saying, "The war in the northern border is not over yet. Even with the pressure from above, Jiang Wende doesn't have the guts to kill the elite troops in the north. I'm leaving the Eagle Head Army to you."
At the north gate of Yongdu, Chen Liangyu, still covered in the dust of battle, led only a few dozen personal guards to escort prisoners of war from Beiyong through the city gate. The guards at the gate, seeing his blood-stained silver armor, forgot to stop him.
Inside the Chongzheng Hall, a figure in a bright yellow dragon robe stood with his back to her. "I didn't summon you, yet you've returned."
Chen Liangyu knelt down and bowed, saying, "The war in the northern border has temporarily ceased, and I have returned to Yongdu to report on my duties."
"Reporting on duty?" Xie Yuan turned around and tapped the military report on the table. "The military report was delivered the day before yesterday, and you're here before me today. If you were coming back, why did you send the military report first?"
Chen Liangyu lowered his eyes and said, "I returned without being summoned and I am willing to accept punishment."
"Chen Liangyu, do you really think that because the enemy in Beiyong has not yet retreated and the northern border still needs to rely on you, I would not dare to kill you?"
Chen Liangyu looked up and saw that the person on the dragon throne had a deep gaze.
Before she could report Xie Wenjun's assassination attempt in Yunzhou, Xie Yuan suddenly bent down and threw a secret letter in front of her, saying, "The thousand Eagle Head Army's night raid on Yunzhou was a bit too much of a commotion."
“Jiangning was assassinated, and the Changning Guard failed to protect their master,” Xie Yuan pushed a token in front of Chen Liangyu. “Since you have left the Eagle Head Army in Yunzhou, Rong Jun and the Changning Guard no longer need to stay by Jiangning’s side. If you are unwilling to take action yourself, the governor of Yunzhou, Jiang Wende, will obey your orders.”
“I will not kill her. I will grant her a fiefdom so that she can live out her life in peace.”
Xie Yuan leaned back slightly, his tone returning to normal, "It's done. I will forgive and forget everything from the past."
Author's note: Thank you for reading this far!
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