Yan Huisheng didn’t want to waste words with Yan Lin anymore. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎
He turned and addressed the Emperor at the head of the assembly, "Father, you are wise. I am acting out of necessity. As the Crown Prince, well informed by you to guard against the Pingxi General’s Residence, having full authority over the affairs related to it, for the stability of the capital and the grand scheme of the court, I temporarily halted the deployment of troops from the Duke Residence to support Nanping. It wasn’t my choice, I had no other options. I hope you can forgive me, Father."
The Emperor’s face looked grim, yet he couldn’t possibly punish Yan Huisheng. After all, in retrospect, the Pingxi General’s Residence had indeed rebelled. Zhang Ping was clearly ambitious and sought to seize the nation. The position of the second prince Yan Lin seemed to be over. He could not blame the Crown Prince anymore, even for such a major act as consorting with the Duke Residence to deploy troops without his consent. Otherwise, it might destabilize the country, cause chaos, and even lead to the downfall of the dynasty. Then how can he stay on his throne?
Nowadays, Yan Huisheng was not the same as before, and the same was true for the Duke Residence. Under Yan Huisheng’s command, his divine imperial authority was gradually becoming merely ornamental.
But, what else could he do? He could only hope that his son harbored no intention of patricide.
Taking a deep breath, the Emperor said to Yan Huisheng, "The Crown Prince is indeed thoughtful."
He asked Yan Huisheng, "After you received the news, how did you deploy the troops?"
Yan Huisheng briefly explained his troop deployment to the Emperor.
Feeling reassured, the Emperor asked, "So does that mean Nanping will definitely be protected?"
"Perhaps not. However, Su Rong and Zhou Gu are both in Nanping. The Marquis of Nanping and his heir will do everything to defend Nanping. Young Masters Zhou Shen and Zhou Che will also march quickly to rescue Nanping." Yan Huisheng explained: "At present, while Nanping holds the top priority, it isn’t the only concern. I fear that Zhang Ping’s real intention is to divide his troops and attack the Capital."
The Emperor’s face turned white.
All the court officials also turned pale upon hearing this.
Yan Huisheng continued, "It’s very likely. Over the years, Zhang Ping has been indulged by Father Emperor and has fattened himself by exploiting the treasury, keeping private armies. I have investigated and discovered that he commands no less than 400,000 troops. He dispatched 200,000 of them to attack Nanping this time, leaving the remaining 200,000. They can’t possibly just stand by and guard Jibei."
The Emperor became flustered, "Where else would he attack besides Nanping? Have we received any news yet?"
Shaking his head, Yan Huisheng said, "I haven’t received any news yet, but that’s what is most terrifying. I suspect that the quickest and most efficient road to the Capital is through Qinghsan City. However, there’s been no news from them yet. I fear that Qinghsan City has already been bribed by him, surreptitiously opening the city gates. The next city is Longxi County, so counting the time, if he has indeed bribed Qinghsan City and attacked Longxi County, we should get news within three days."
For a moment, the Emperor was speechless, somewhat horrified by Yan Huisheng’s speculation. His heartbeat accelerated at the thought. If he remembered correctly, Longxi County only housed a few thousand troops.
One minister, his face pale, spoke up on behalf of the Emperor, "Crown Prince, since you have already made this speculation, why don’t you dispatch troops to Longxi County?"
Yan Huisheng shook his head, "The Duke Residence commands 300,000 troops, of which I have dispatched 200,000, leaving only a 100,000 to guard the southern pass. This is the only gateway to the Capital, I didn’t dare to move them rashly."
The Emperor became agitated, "I still have 100,000 Jinglu troops, why didn’t you deploy them?"
He was no longer dissatisfied with Yan Huisheng’s unilateral decision to deploy the Duke Residence’s troops. Instead, he felt that since Yan Huisheng had made this speculation, he should have used all the resources available, including the Duke Residence’s troops.
Yan Huisheng turned to look at the Emperor, his gaze sweeping over Yan Lin before responding calmly, "Father, are you sure you have control over the 100,000 troops in Jinglu?"
The Emperor immediately countered sharply, "What do you mean by that? If I’m not in charge, who else can be?"
"Older Brother, why don’t you tell Father Emperor that you have been sending Chen He, who commands the Jinglu troops, a hundred thousand taels of silver each year? Where did that money come from? And you’ve been doing this consistently for the past seven to eight years. Your Prince Residence is truly competent in making and spending money."
As soon as Yan Huisheng’s words were spoken, the entire court was in shock.
The face of the Emperor turned as dark as coal. He immediately stood up from his throne, "Yan Lin!"
Yan Lin looked at Yan Huisheng in disbelief, wanting to ask how he found out about it. This matter was kept secret, and the gift had been sent through Zhang Ping. Yan Huisheng was not supposed to know about it. Zhang Ping...
When Yan Lin thought of Zhang Ping, his heart sank.
If Yan Huisheng had realized that Zhang Ping had ulterior motives and sent people to investigate in Jibei, it didn’t seem surprising that he could find out about this.
The Emperor looked at Yan Lin’s rigid face. What else was left to doubt? He was furious, so furious that he nearly vomited blood. "Yan Lin, you really are a good son of mine. Even the Jinglu troops under my command, you dare to meddle with it."
He stormed down from the dragon throne, walked angrily towards Yan Lin who was in a state of shock and kicked him.
Yan Lin dared not dodge. The Emperor kicked with all his strength. Yan Lin fell to the ground with a cry of pain.
Unsatisfied, the Emperor kicked him a few more times, venting all his anger on Yan Lin, "You are truly a good son of mine. A very ’good son’. I will kill you today!"
He yelled, "Fetch my treasure sword."
All the officials were dumbstruck. For many years now, the emperor, even before his reign when he was still a Prince, was known to be weak. He ascended to the throne mainly due to the influence of the old Duke and Crown Princess Sheng An. Since then, he had been a mellow and rarely angry ruler.
Now he wanted to kill the second prince in the court assembly.
But considering Yan Lin’s act, perhaps it was not out of the ordinary.
Those were his personal forces, even more important than the imperial guards, which he clung onto the same way he did with the imperial guards. This was the assurance that allowed him to sleep in peace as the Emperor. However, he didn’t realize that since seven or eight years ago, there were already cracks in the structure. And throughout these seven or eight years, he was utterly oblivious, and even going so far as to oppress the Crown Prince. Throughout this time, he didn’t seem to feel anything was wrong.
"Father, Father, I was wrong. I was misled by Zhang Ping, Father, Father, think about it, over the years, didn’t you also allow Zhang Ping to privately raise troops? I was just trying to share your worries." Yan Lin was completely panicked. The Emperor’s kick made him spit out blood, but he didn’t dare pass out. He lay on the ground, hugging the Emperor’s leg and begging for mercy.
The Emperor was enraged, unable to move his feet. He stared at Yan Lin, and when he heard Yan Lin mention how he had indulged Zhang Ping over the years, the Emperor felt a strong discomfort in his chest. He blacked out and collapsed.
Yan Huisheng swiftly caught the Emperor and seeing that he had fainted, immediately shouted, "Summon the Imperial Doctor."
Then, kicking Yan Lin away, he sternly commanded, "Guards, throw Yan Lin into the Sky Prison. We’ll deal with him when Emperor Father wakes up."
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