Chapter 194 The Emperor's Secret Letter
"Stop, you just said that if Bai Li hadn't come this time, the throne of my Great Zhou would have changed hands.
Now you and I can sit here peacefully, all thanks to Bai Li.
If she wanted to, she would be worthy of being the emperor. What's the point of a mere title?"
"Your Majesty, please be careful with your words!"
Several old ministers knelt down in fear, and Minister Wu followed suit reluctantly.
He is not in the same camp as them, but he has to pretend not to go against them openly.
"You want to be ungrateful, I can't do that!"
"Your Majesty, that's not what we meant. What we meant was that as a citizen of the Great Zhou, Bai Li should shoulder the heavy responsibility of sharing the country's worries. She deserves some rewards for her military achievements, but a title is too much!"
"Oh! I didn't know that Grand Tutor Li and Prime Minister Li were so shameless!"
"The Great Zhou has so many people, why don't we see others stepping up to help the country?"
Zhou Yu's eyes were fixed on Prime Minister Li. "The enemy army is approaching. Everyone in the court is ready to surrender the land of Great Zhou. But who dares to lead the army to resist?"
"Only Bai Li, only the Bai family is not afraid of powerful enemies, and will not care about life and death to come out and turn the tide!"
Every word Zhou Yu said was like a heavy hammer, every word like a needle, and when it fell into the ears of several people, they felt deafening, and then their old faces turned red with shame, as if there were thorns on their backs, and cold sweats broke out.
"Also, I have already investigated Bai Zongren's treason and collaborating with the enemy. It was a complete frame-up by the King of Wei. Although I have long since issued an order to reinstate his civilian status, his military rank has not been restored. Restoring his military rank now is just compensation for what he did before, and has nothing to do with his meritorious service."
"This time, the alliance between the two countries directly attacked the Great Zhou. Qianxi and Yuanzhou were able to achieve a complete victory. Bai Li made extraordinary contributions, and Bai Zongren also played an indispensable role.
Take this matter for example, I would not be too much of a fool to give half of my kingdom to Bai Li, a mere title is nothing!"
Prime Minister Li trembled, his lips shaking, and he dared not say anything more.
"Since my dear ministers have no objection, Grand Tutor Li will draft an edict for me. Bai Zongren will first be reinstated as a general, then be promoted to a first-rank military officer, inheriting the title of Marquis, and the General Bai Mansion will be renamed the Marquis Bai Mansion."
"As for Bai Li, she was granted the title of First Rank Princess, the fief of Donghu County, and a gift of ten thousand taels of gold. She enjoyed a salary of a thousand counties, and she never had to attend court..."
Based on the memorials from Nangong Min and Li Dazhuang, Zhou Yu appointed other deputy generals and junior generals.
Among these people were Wu Lanzhi, the daughter of Minister Wu, Luo Yang, Bai Dalang, Bai Erlang, and so on.
"Lord Wu, is this Wu Lanzhi your daughter who just joined the army three months ago?"
"Your Majesty, it is my daughter."
"Very good, this woman is a role model for all women in the world. You are blessed, Lord Wu!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your praise!"
Minister Wu knelt down again, this time he was excited and grateful.
Quietly wiping away the tears from the corners of his eyes, he knew that the emperor was supporting him to save his face. When his daughter was rescued, all his relatives, friends and colleagues laughed at him, saying that his daughter's life was ruined. If she came home, she would bring ridicule to the family and ruin the family's reputation. If she didn't hang herself with a white silk, she would have to spend her whole life in an ancient temple, worshipping Buddha with a green lamp, to get rid of the filth in her body.
Now his daughter has become a general defending the country. She has made great contributions by following Marshal Bai and has been commended by the emperor.
From then on, he wondered who would dare to ridicule his family or his daughter!
As soon as Zhou Yu's imperial edict came out, there was an uproar in the court.
However, this time Zhou Yu acted on his own, not being influenced by the court officials, and acted according to his own wishes.
A month later, along with the imperial edict of reward, a secret letter from the emperor to Bai Zongren arrived in Yuanzhou.
"The emperor was quite sensible and made my father a marquis, otherwise I would not have forgiven him!"
When everyone dispersed and only Bai Li and her father were left, she started to speak without restraint.
"Li'er! Don't say that again!"
Bai Zongren was almost furious. He thought that his Bai family had been loyal to the emperor and patriotic for generations, so how could such a rebellious person come out?
Look, is what she said something a subject should say?
Bai Li glanced at her father and saw that his chest was heaving with anger, and she was afraid that he would get hurt.
"Dad, is it okay if I said something wrong? Okay, okay, I won't say it again!"
After Bai Li repeatedly assured him, and when she was about to raise three fingers to swear an oath, Bai Zongren finally spared her.
"Dad, what did the emperor say to you?"
Bai Li approached with curiosity with a shy face, but before he could see the words, Bai Zongren put it away.
"This is confidential. I can't tell you."
"Humph, if you don't want to tell me, then don't tell me. What's so strange about that?"
Bai Li pouted and glanced at her father. Bai Zongren quickly turned his back and hid the secret letter on his body.
Tsk! It's like an underground party meeting. What other secrets do the emperor and her father have?
"I'm going back to Qianxi tomorrow. Do you have anything to bring to your mother and the others?"
"I want to go back too. It's not fun here at all."
Bai Li returned to her carefree and carefree self. She had been away for so long and she missed home!
"You can't go back yet. Wait for the emperor to bestow the title. Then you have to return to the capital and go to the palace to thank him!"
"No, you are the one who was conferred the title of Marquis, so you should be the one to express gratitude, right?
Besides, I am just an idle princess and I will never have to attend court."
Bai Li became anxious and stopped his father who was about to leave and started arguing with him.
Bai Zongren was too lazy to argue with her and wanted to push her aside. He tried once, but she didn't move. He tried again, but she still didn't move at all.
Forget it, Bai Zongren gave up and walked around her and out.
His daughter was born strong, and he forgot about this.
"I am returning on the emperor's secret order..."
Bai Zongren let the cat out of the bag and quickly changed the subject.
"You want to go back and tell the emperor, but I can't make the decision."
Um?
There is something fishy!
Bai Zongren seemed afraid that his daughter would come to pester him, so he left in a hurry.
Bai Li's curiosity was completely aroused. She had to know everything her father couldn't tell her!
Bai Li secretly made up her mind that she also wanted to go back to Qianxi. She wanted to eat the food cooked by Aunt Bai!
"Marshal Bai, this is unacceptable. If the Emperor blames us..."
Li Dazhuang became anxious when he heard that Bai Li was leaving. He didn't know since when Bai Li had become his backbone. What would he do if she left?
"What are you afraid of? If you don't tell me and I don't tell anyone, how is the emperor going to know from the capital thousands of miles away?
Besides, I will leave sooner or later, whether I leave early or late is the same."
"Can……"
"Okay, okay, now Yuanzhou City has hundreds of eight-ox crossbows and thousands of new soldiers. Even if I'm not here, Simon won't dare to harass me again."
At first, the common people in the city went up to the city wall to help defend against the enemy. Under Bai Li's command, they were all brave and performed well. Later, Bai Li asked those who volunteered to join the army to stay, and those who were unwilling to do so could take five taels of silver and leave.
Most of the people stayed, and together with Wang Haisheng and others who came to Yuanzhou with the Eight Ox Crossbow, there were more than 5,000 new recruits.
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