Chapter 107 The Consequences of Resisting Without a Voice
Hancheng.
"What are we going to do now? We just repelled the Di army, and His Highness has fallen. Now everything in the city is waiting for His Highness to take charge!"
"Yes, His Highness the Crown Prince is still nowhere in sight when he will arrive in the Northern Frontier. The casualties in this city are already in complete chaos!"
"Where is General Liu? Why don't we invite General Liu back to take charge of the overall situation?"
"Stop talking! General Liu just recovered from his fever the day before yesterday. He barely survived and is still unconscious."
"What should we do then? Are we really going to be without a leader in our army? Perhaps we should invite the King of Wu?"
"King Wu? Forget it, King Wu isn't King Tai. Can't you tell he's been in the Northern Frontier all this time?"
......
Inside the gate, the generals were in chaos due to the collapse of King Huan, leaving them leaderless. Just a wall away, Jiang Lin was feeding Jiang Yu medicine, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get it down. After several attempts, the spoon in his hand clattered back into the bowl, just like his frustrated mood.
"Big brother, what should I do...?"
Even if the generals didn't say it, he knew he didn't have the ability to lead the camp. But at this moment, he was indeed the highest-ranking officer in the army and shouldered heavy responsibilities. Jiang Lin really didn't know what to do. He sat in front of Jiang Yu's bed, unable to do anything.
If it were my older brother, he could definitely do a better job than me, right?
Although he was the grandson of the Qi family, he was not like the King of Thailand who inherited his maternal grandfather's bravery. He only longed for freedom and liked to travel around the mountains and rivers. He had no interest in the idea of winning unparalleled military exploits on the battlefield.
However, his father, out of fear of his elder brother, pushed him out. He was ignorant of military strategy and martial arts. He could rely on the two old generals before, but in the battle of Tacheng, both old generals fell. General Liu's fate is still unknown, and General Lu was old and was sent back to Xiajing after being seriously injured. He was all alone in the northern frontier and often felt extremely lost.
He didn't even know what the point of his being here was. If the King of Thailand were here, he certainly wouldn't be as useless as he was.
Fortunately, King Huan arrived later, stabilized the morale of the army, and rallied the overall situation, leading the soldiers to recapture Tacheng. But now... Jiang Lin turned around and looked at Jiang Yu, who was pale and in pain. He hugged his head in despair.
"Knock knock knock—"
The wooden door behind him was knocked on from the outside, startling the King of Wu so much that he immediately sat up straight.
"Your Highness, I request an audience."
"uncle!"
Jiang Lin stepped forward and opened the door. The person who came in was none other than Qi Mao, the Left General under the command of King Huan.
“Your Highness,” Qi Mao grabbed his arm and casually closed the door behind him. He pulled the Prince of Wu to the window, opened it a crack, and cautiously peered outside while lowering his voice, “Your Highness, now that the Prince of Huan has fallen, the army is leaderless. Your Highness should take this opportunity to seize the Northern Frontier Camp.”
"What is Uncle saying!"
King Wu flung Qi Mao's hand away, turned to look at King Huan who was still unconscious, and whispered, "This battle was won by my elder brother. How can I take advantage of the situation?"
"Your Highness!" Qi Mao turned to look at him with a look of disappointment. Jiang Lin took a half step back when he was met with his uncle's sharp gaze.
"If we don't seize military power now, Your Highness, when will we?" Qi Mao stepped forward and firmly gripped Jiang Lin's shoulders, saying each word clearly, "The Crown Prince has already led his troops north and is currently on his way to the northern frontier. Once he arrives, who else will have the right to call the shots in the army!"
"The Crown Prince is leading troops this time. General He Zhiju, the Left General, is the Crown Princess's sworn brother. He grew up in the Shen family. General Jiang Zhigong, the Right General, is the Empress's younger brother. With such capable men, how are they different from my general Liu?"
A brother-in-law and a maternal brother-in-law are natural allies who stand on the same side as the commander-in-chief. Not only will they never betray each other, but they are also a true community of shared interests.
"If Your Highness can win another battle before the Crown Prince arrives, then the Northern Frontier Camp will surely fall into our hands!"
Looking at Qi Mao, whose expression was somewhat delirious, King Wu pushed him away in disbelief: "Uncle, you can see the state of the soldiers in the city. They have just fought fiercely for several days, and now is the time for them to recuperate. You want them to go and fight the Di army again? How can we win?"
Even someone as ignorant of military strategy as him understood that this was no time to fight again.
The Northern Barbarian army relied on its iron cavalry, but the Xia army did not. They also knew that there was a heavy cavalry battalion in the Northern Frontier camp, but no one except He Zhiju and General Liu could mobilize this unit. Without the orders of these two, the heavy cavalry battalion was never stationed in the army.
With the city of Hancheng currently filled with the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled, Qi Mao actually dared to suggest that Jiang Lin lead troops in pursuit. Jiang Lin felt that he was indulging in wishful thinking.
“Uncle, you’re right. The Crown Prince’s left and right generals are no different from you and Brother Liu, but I am not my brother! I don’t have the confidence to successfully pursue a city full of wounded soldiers, and I can’t go against my conscience to steal the military merit that Prince Huan earned with his life!”
"You—" Qi Mao raised his hand high, almost bringing it down, but in the end he clenched it into a fist and slammed it against the wall. He turned to look at King Wu, his eyes filled with anger at his incompetence: "How could I not know! You are not King Tai! But do you even know how much effort King Tai put in to enable you to go to the northern frontier? Are you willing to let all his efforts go to waste in your hands?"
Jiang Lin was speechless at his question. He couldn't even bring himself to retort that it wasn't his choice to come. Whether it was his mother, his brother, or his maternal grandfather's family, they were all determined to obtain that supreme position. He could choose not to compete, but he couldn't let Jiang Yan's years of painstaking efforts go to waste.
"I'll ask you one more time, are you going to fight or not?"
When questioned like this by his own uncle, Jiang Lin closed his eyes in anguish and remained silent.
"Lin'er! Will you fight, or not!"
"Uncle! Don't force me!"
Jiang Lin suddenly opened his eyes, which were now brimming with tears. He almost roared as he answered, "I can give up my life! But what about all those soldiers? I can't lead so many people to their deaths! Even my brother wouldn't use so many lives to accumulate military merit!"
"This illegitimate son! He is beyond redemption!"
Qi Mao nearly fainted from anger. He nodded to calm himself down while pacing in front of Jiang Lin. Finally, whether he had figured things out or not, he pointed at Jiang Lin's nose and angrily said, "Fine, you don't want to sacrifice them, and you don't want to steal the military merits of Prince Huan, right? Fine, then you can stay here and take good care of your good older brother!"
As he spoke, Qi Mao strode out of the room with a loud bang, which startled Jiang Lin, who immediately turned to look at Jiang Yu. Seeing that Jiang Yu looked unwell, Qi Mao rushed forward to check on him.
But in just a short while, before he could even react and call for help, a military doctor was pushed in unsteadily. Before the doctor could even stand up straight, the door was locked from the outside. Jiang Lin realized what was happening and quickly ran to the window. But as soon as he reached the window, he met Liu Ziyue's gaze.
“Your Highness,” unlike Qi Mao’s earlier anger, Liu Ziyue’s eyes were deep and unfathomable, devoid of any emotion: “Since Your Highness is unwilling to send troops, then you should stay here and take good care of Prince Huan. There are guards outside the gate. With Your Highness’s skills, it would be better to behave yourself.”
Jiang Lin's eyes flashed with anger. He gripped the window frame with both hands, looking from the outside like a trapped cub struggling in a cage: "Liu Ziyue! How dare you!"
Standing outside the window, Liu Ziyue seemed completely oblivious to his threat and calmly said, "From today onwards, this military doctor will examine Prince Huan every day. Your food and medicine will be delivered to you three, and your toiletries will be replaced on time. Your Highness only needs to wait until the army returns to the city before you can leave."
Realizing what they were about to do, Jiang Lin reached out the window and grabbed Liu Ziyue by the collar: "You, you're going to your deaths!"
"Nonsense!" Liu Ziyue was not the weak King Wu. With a twist, he broke the King Wu's hand. "On the battlefield, how can people not die? As long as we can win, what does it matter how many people die? Your Highness only needs to wait until we pursue our victory and capture another city before climbing the city wall. King Tai sent you to the northern frontier not for you to play around."
After saying that, the window in front of Jiang Lin was slammed shut. He took several steps back, clutching his right hand that Liu Ziyue had twisted. Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, but the pain in his hand was far less intense than the panic in his heart.
They've gone mad! Qi Mao and Liu Ziyue have gone completely insane! They're willing to sacrifice the lives of the remaining 50,000 troops in the Northern Frontier Camp to gain military merit for the King of Tai and seize control of the Northern Frontier Camp. For this, they're even willing to let tens of thousands of people die with them!
"Open the door! Open the door! Let me out!"
The sound traveled clearly through the door to the outside, but it remained tightly shut. Princess Yong'an slumped wearily on the ground, and Shi Yang knelt down to help her up, feeling sorry for her: "Princess, don't strain yourself."
To outsiders, everything from the Li Lu incident to the Crown Prince's personal expedition to the northern frontier showed the Emperor's high regard for the Crown Prince and his trust in the Kunyi Palace. However, unbeknownst to them, within the palace walls, the Emperor had already used various methods to place the Empress and Princess Yong'an under house arrest, while Consort Yao and Princess Yongjia were able to regain favor.
Since losing favor the year before last, Princess Yongjia had been confined to the palace and unable to go out. Suddenly regaining the Emperor's favor, she naturally came to Princess Yong'an to vent her anger.
As for the emperor, it is true that he dotes on Consort Rong, but he does not extend his affection to Princess Yong'an. This daughter has never been very close to him. Princess Yongjia is different. Jiang Yu has been cultivating her favor for more than ten years to pave the way for his own success. Even if he doesn't remember her for a while, he can still be moved when they meet again. Not to mention that Consort Rong is currently bedridden, Princess Yong'an is basically the empress's daughter.
The person the emperor least wants to see right now is the empress.
The two were childhood sweethearts who weathered decades of storms together. On the throne of Emperor and Empress, they went through countless trials side by side. To the Emperor, she was not only his wife and Empress, but also an unbreakable ally.
However, it was this very empress who released the crown prince from Kunyi Palace and sent him to Qianyuan Palace.
The moment the emperor could no longer control the crown prince, cracks appeared in his unbreakable relationship with the empress, and the empress fell out of favor.
However, since the emperor was able to establish his eldest son as the crown prince twice, he could not stand by and watch the empress completely lose power. Therefore, he tacitly approved the court's order to reinstate Jiang Zhigong, promised the crown prince to sign a military pledge, and tacitly approved the complete transfer of the northern frontier camp to the crown prince's command.
The current emperor and empress are in an extremely delicate relationship. The emperor is dissatisfied with the empress and the crown prince's actions, but he has not completely given up on the heir apparent. Therefore, he tacitly approves of the little actions of Consort Yao and her daughter right under his nose.
Consort Yao was the most favored concubine in the harem, and Princess Yongjia became arrogant because of this favor. The emperor turned a blind eye to this.
However, within the deep palace, the emperor's tacit approval was enough to crush too many upright spines in the harem.
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