"The Crown Prince has shown me the list, and I agreed," said the Emperor. đđŤđđ˛đ¨đđđđđŻđđš.đđ¨đş
In response to the polite words of the neutral factionâs older officials, the Emperor affirmed Yan Huishengâs role as the Regent Crown Prince, and his authority over all departments was established.
An older official said upon hearing this: "Your Majesty, is this really appropriate? Since ancient times, official promotions have always been discussed. While there have been exceptions, they are limited in number. Now, dozens of people have been promoted all at once, which is quite astonishing."
"During exceptional times, the Crown Prince is also forced to act. If not, how can we handle both internal and external troubles amid this great turmoil within the Imperial Court caused by Yan Lin? In the Imperial Court, there is always a race to fill the vacant positions. Should we delay and let everyone vie for the positions, that would be a real hold-up and could easily cause chaos. Neutralizing Zhang Pingâs rebellion is currently our priority. We need to fix this big hole in the court as soon as possible to stabilize the situation," the Emperor replied. Though it felt unprecedented, he felt Yan Huishengâs reasons were valid.
Upon reflection, the older official conceded, "Your Majesty must recover soon! The Eastern Palace was brightly lit all night again. If this continues, the Crown Prince wonât be able to withstand it. Fortunately, the Fourth Prince is there to help shoulder some of the burden."
The Emperor nodded, "The Fourth is stronger than his two older brothers."
He contemplated raising Lipinâs rank after dealing with Zhang Pingâs case. However, it would require Yan Huishengâs approval.
Yan Huisheng had planned to allow the Old Duke to set out with his troops early the next day. Nonetheless, fearing that delay would breed trouble, the Old Duke set off with Su Xingze towards the military camp the very evening the imperial edict was issued. They carried hurriedly prepared provisions and headed out with 180,000 troops.
As the eldest spouse of the Sheng An dynasty, she sent them off at the city gate and joked, patting the Old Dukeâs armor: "Oh you old man. Who would have thought that at this age, youâd still be so useful. All these years of eating and drinking well seems to have kept you robust."
The Old Duke raised an eyebrow, "Why donât you mention that Iâm defending our country for your Yan family? You married me, so naturally, you would want to take good care of this old body of mine."
The Eldest Princess of Sheng An broke into laughter, "Enough. Werenât you always saying it was for the common people of Daliang?"
With a cough, the Old Duke lowered his voice noticing that Su Xingze had moved away discretely, "Thatâs what I tell others. When I married you, I vowed to guard your familyâs empire."
Moved by his words, the Eldest Princess of Sheng An knew his vow to be true. Tolerating many slights in the decades of their marriage, the Old Duke had aged considerably. With a smile, she dabbed her eyes, "I know, I always have. Iâll wait for you to return in the capital. You canât go before me."
"Of course. We made a pact not to let you leave before me. As for Zhang Ping, donât worry. He canât defeat me," the Old Duke reassured, pounding his chest. Looking at his wife, he urged, "Go home, itâs rather cold today. Youâre too old to be acting all affectionate and causing a scene."
Feeling a bit embarrassed, the Eldest Princess of Sheng An beckoned Su Xingze over, "Xingze, come over."
Su Xingze hurried over immediately.
She said to him, "Iâm entrusting this old man to you. Sometimes he doesnât take good care of himself."
With his hand covering his heart, Su Xingze gave his assurance, "You have my word. Iâll certainly take good care of the Old Duke."
The Eldest Princess of Sheng An chuckled and nodded her approval. Seeing the Old Duke roll his eyes, she waved them off, "Alright, you better get going, itâs getting dark."
"You finally acknowledge that itâs getting dark. Hurry home," grumbled the Old Duke. They climbed onto their horses and rode off to the military camp.
The Eldest Princess of Sheng An stayed a while longer, watching the Old Dukeâs figure disappear into the distance.
Only when the Duchess alighted her carriage and approached her did she wake from her reverie, "Mother, letâs go home. Itâs extremely cold. Please take care."
Nodding, the Eldest Princess of Sheng An let out a long sigh, "Today at noon, we heard from the Crown Prince again. Zhang Ping has not been training forty thousand troops but forty-five thousand. Zhang Cheng took twenty thousand of them towards Nanping, leaving the remaining twenty-five thousand to be personally led by Zhang Ping to the capital. Thatâs a difference of seven thousand troops. The Crown Prince reportedly turned pale, but dared not disclose this to the public. The official statement is that Zhang Ping has forty thousand troops split into two in equal numbers with Zhang Cheng. This is in order not to incite panic amongst court officials. It was also kept a secret that all of the Jinglu troops had been dispatched and not a soldier was left in the capital city. Despite this, there is still a shortfall of five thousand troops."
The Duchess turned pale upon hearing the news, "Mother, there have been countless battles in history where a smaller force emerged victorious. Fatherâs military strategy is unparalleled. He will surely be fine."
"But heâs aged and a personâs energy is limited. How can an old soldier be compared to young men?" the Eldest Princess of Sheng An said. Her heart was filled with worry, but she did not let it show, "It is said that the Zhou family is illustrious with remarkable military prowess, but I would rather do without these commendations, if only my husband, sons, and grandchildren could be safe. But I am a Yan, and I seem to be the only one who canât say no. Now that the old are old and the young have left, only one small man of the Zhou family is left in the residence."
That man was Zhou Yue, the only son of Zhou Wei, the Crown Prince. He was the only great-grandson of the Zhou family.
Due to the suddenness of Zhang Pingâs rebellion and the urgency of the war situation, Zhou Wei didnât even have time to return to the residence. His Consort couldnât even send him off like the Eldest Princess of Sheng An did for the Old Duke. After all, the military camp was quite far and wasnât a place for women and children.
With her eyes brimming with tears, the Duchess thought about her close relationship with her mother-in-law. Primarily because both of them were reasonable and kind, but also because both of them carried the responsibility of the Duchess of the Duke Residence, there was deep mutual understanding and empathy.
The Old Duke, along with a few sons, had left many years ago under the Eldest Princess of Sheng Anâs watch. The Old Duke was the only one who returned, all sons having fallen. Now, the same Eldest Princess of Sheng An was sending off the same Old Duke and her grandsons. Amongst them were her two sons; one at Nanping with unknown circumstances and the other about to leave the capital to suppress the rebellion. She desperately hoped that nothing would happen to them. If anything did, she wouldnât survive.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
