On the day when the old Duke returned to the Capital City unobtrusively, Yan Huisheng received the news and personally went out of the city to welcome him.
It was snowing heavily in the Capital City that day.
Not many people were going in and out of the city gates, carriages parked for an hour were covered in a thick layer of snow, and the soldiers guarding the city were also covered in snow.
The old Duke had excellent eyesight and he asked his trusted aide beside him: "Is that the carriage from the Eastern Palace?"
He had told the Crown Prince that he would return in a few days, but he had not specified the exact day.
His aide carefully identified and then nodded affirmatively, "In response to the old Duke, it is indeed the carriage from the Eastern Palace. It appears the Crown Prince has received news of your return to the city and has personally come to receive you."
The old Duke nodded.
Arriving at the city gate, Yan Huisheng had already descended from his carriage. He did not use a little eunuch to hold an umbrella for him, and a layer of snow had fallen on his shoulders. Seeing the old Duke about to dismount, he waved his hand to stop him, "Old Duke, there’s no need to dismount. I will accompany you to the Duke Residence and we can talk further there."
Upon seeing the Crown Prince, it would naturally be inappropriate for the old Duke not to dismount. If word got out, what would it look like? He didn’t listen to Yan Huisheng and still dismounted, paying his respects to Yan Huisheng, "Your Highness, during my absence from the city, I must admit I haven’t achieved much. It’s hardly deserving of your personal reception."
Yan Huisheng laughed, "Old Duke, how can you say you’ve achieved nothing? If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have been able to stay in the city peacefully, waiting for news from outside. Because you stepped in, I could sit securely in court, completely at ease."
The old Duke laughed heartily, "Your Highness, it’s true that you should have some peace, but to say that you’re completely at ease is a stretch. That Zhang Ping has 250,000 soldiers while I only led 200,000. The Jinglu Troops were quite a predicament, and weren’t as reliable as expected. This time around, I had to rigorously drill them."
He presented the Tiger Talisman, handing it to Yan Huisheng, "This is the Tiger Talisman of the Jinglu Troops. Your Highness, please take good care of it."
Without rejecting it, Yan Huisheng accepted the Tiger Talisman and wanted to laugh, "Since the day you left, I’ve been racking my brains, thinking about where I can find more soldiers to reinforce our forces. If it really came to a crunch, I would have had to start recruiting. To my surprise, the matter was resolved so easily."
"Huh, who could have expected it? We have to thank that little Miss Su Rong." The old Duke felt the story was long, "If Your Highness doesn’t mind, shall I tell it in the carriage?"
"Please do!" Yan Huisheng naturally didn’t mind.
And so, the two of them boarded Yan Huisheng’s carriage together.
The inside of the carriage was warm, with a heater and thick curtains providing warmth.
Yan Huisheng personally poured a cup of tea for the old Duke to warm his hands, then quietly waited for him to finish his tea before speaking. Although he received short letters from Su Rong every few days, the specifics were hard to discern from the cryptic sentences.
After the old Duke had a cup of hot tea, he started to talk, beginning with what Zhou Che told him after Zhou Gu and Su Rong had arrived successively in Nanping until they entered the Duke Residence and there was still more to say.
In the Duke Residence, Princess Sheng An and the Duchess heard that the old Duke had safely returned to the city with his troops and were overjoyed to tears. After all, the old Duke was advanced in age and faced an urgent military situation this time - who would dare to hope that he could return safely? Now that the rebellion was successfully quelled and the war didn’t reach the Capital City, and he had returned safely, wasn’t it a cause for immense joy?
Seeing his old wife, sons-in-law, grandsons’ wives and young great-grandson, the old Duke was filled with emotion but had a smile on his face, "His Highness the Crown Prince will dine at our residence today. I need to go to the study with him first. Why did you all come out in such cold weather? Hurry back inside!"
Princess Sheng An scolded the old Duke lightly, knowing that he had a lot to discuss with Yan Huisheng after just returning. They, as womenfolk, had to step back even if they had a lot to say. The important thing was that he was back. She waved her hand with a smile, "Alright, let’s all go back. Let them go and talk."
And so, the old Duke and Yan Huisheng went to the study.
Princess Sheng An called over the old Duke’s trusted aide, "Come over here, tell us about what happened outside this time. You know it all, don’t you? Make sure you speak in detail."
The aide nodded, "I am aware of it all."
When the third son was telling the old Duke about Zhou Gu and Lady Su Qi, he was listening very carefully on the side. Knowing that he’d be asked for details when he returned, he even took special notes of the more exciting parts.
The study was warm from the charcoal fire. The old Duke took off his armor, changed into lighter clothing, and continued talking with Yan Huisheng.
Upon hearing about three thousand soldiers confronting the Jibei Army of two hundred thousand, about Zhou Gu leading soldiers to infiltrate the Jibei Army twice to assassinate their general, about Su Rong recruiting Zhang Mao and burying the hatchet to send a personal letter through Zhang Mao’s people to Zhang Yun, persuading him to ally with her, about Zhang Yun actually agreeing to ally and to smoothly take over control from Zhang Ping’s doctor by using poison to trigger his heart disease, resulting in his sudden death, about twenty-five thousand soldiers smoothly switching sides to support Su Rong, about Su Rong clearing the snow on the ten-mile-long street to welcome Zhang Yun, and how he dismounted and walked that distance to express his gratitude and loyalty to her, and so on.
Yan Huisheng was moved when he heard this. Although he hadn’t witnessed it personally, he could imagine from the old Duke’s narration how much effort Zhou Gu and Su Rong had put into quelling this domestic dispute. Especially Zhou Gu, his growth was so fast that even Yan Huisheng, who had spent the most time with him since childhood, was taken aback.
The old Duke finally finished speaking after his throat got dry, and sighed, "Ah, I’m getting old. In the future, it will be a world for the younger generation. Who would have thought that these two youngsters were capable of this? They used the least resources to resolve a major domestic conflict."
Yan Huisheng smiled, "Old Duke, you should be happy. This block of uncut jade, Zhou Che, has finally been carved."
This reminded the old Duke, and he wasn’t pleased, "What’s the use of him being carved? He was swayed by that little girl, alas."
Bringing to mind Zhou Gu’s satisfied expression, he couldn’t bear to look, "You wouldn’t know. That brat flaunted Su Rong’s marriage proposal letter in front of me. If I so much as accidentally used a little force on it, he would panic as if it were a treasured relic. And that Su Rong, that devilish girl, I originally thought she would return directly to Nanchu. I had someone call her to see me intending to reprimand her, so she wouldn’t let my grandson be aggrieved by the three thousand ladies in the Imperial Harem. But she shockingly showed no awareness. She said I should not be worrying about Zhou Gu but should worry about her. With Zhou Gu by her side, who would dare come within an inch of her? Given his temper and that double-handed sword of his, he even dared to break into the military camp to kill. Is there anything he wouldn’t dare to do? She left me speechless."
The implication was that his grandson was too promising, leaving him, as a grandfather, both angry and amused, with no room to intervene. It was indeed a case of the grandson not listening to the grandfather.
Yan Huisheng chuckled, "Those with marriage contracts are brimming with confidence. They can’t be compared to before."
No wonder Su Rong broke off her engagement with Ye Guixue and chose instead to polish the uncut gem.
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