Chapter 119 The imperial envoy who announced the decree turned out to be her.
Cong Ying could not bear the long ride, so the two of them occasionally switched to a carriage, switching back again when the weather was clear and the roads were good. In this way, they galloped through the night and finally arrived in Zhanzhou before the end of the first month.
When he entered the city, he found out that Xie Xuanlan was not there.
"General Xie, he conquered Tiehuaer City, it was truly a miracle! But no one knows where he is now. We want to know, and the Tartars want to know even more." said the innkeeper.
After hearing this, Cong Ying sighed, threw down two copper coins and left.
She and Cong He had just left the restaurant when a sturdy, capable middle-aged man approached and bowed to her. "Is this the Imperial Military Supervisor, Her Royal Highness the Princess of Jin?"
Cong Ying looked at the person coming and asked, "Who are you?"
The man said respectfully, "My surname is He. We belong to the Prince of Jin's Palace. We were previously stationed in Zhanzhou with Commander Chen Zhang. The other day, we received a letter from Commander Chen via carrier pigeon, saying that Her Royal Highness the Princess would be arriving soon, and that we should await her arrival."
He showed his official seal to prove his identity. Congying was short of help, so he nodded and said, "Please escort me to Tiehuaer City."
As soon as the group left, the storyteller handed two copper coins to the plainclothes assassin. The assassin rode out of the city on horseback and reported the copper coins and the pigeon letter he had just received from Xuan Zhiyuan to Xie Xuanlan in Tiehuaer City.
Xie Xuanlan placed the copper coin on the note that had been delivered by carrier pigeon. The note contained only a few words:
Your Lord recommended the military supervisor to secretly go to Xizhou with the imperial edict.
The assassin said, "The storyteller reported that two emissaries with Yunjing accents came to inquire about your whereabouts."
Xie Xuanlan stood in front of the hall and smiled when he heard this: "You came so quickly, I wonder if you are rushing to fulfill your duties or rushing to die."
Zhao Mingchuan, who was standing by, heard his unfriendly tone and his eyelids twitched: "He's an imperial envoy. If you're not polite, I'm afraid he'll report you for rebellion."
Xie Xuanlan said, "He secretly brought the imperial edict and quietly entered the city. If he is not plotting to frame me, then he is trying to collude with me. This military supervisor is so dishonest, how can I be polite to him? Come, select two hundred elite cavalrymen, I will go and kill this imperial supervisor as a sacrifice!"
He was still wearing his light armor. He took the cloak and threw it on, picked up the Yanzhi knife, and strode out.
The two groups of people met at Heshou Hill outside Tiehuaer City.
Cong Ying and Ah He were leaning against each other, drowsy, when they were awakened by the sound of iron hooves hitting the ground. They opened the window and looked out, and saw a team of elite cavalry running towards them in the distance, looking very aggressive.
Guard He, who was escorting the carriage, held his knife in his hand. "I don't know if the person coming here is friend or foe. Please be silent, Princess."
Congying nodded, closed the window, lowered the felt curtain, and made a gesture to Conghe to keep quiet.
Elite riders arrived and surrounded the convoy. Their armor gleamed, their saddles new, their horses plump, and they didn't look like an ordinary patrol. Guard He lied, claiming he was an ordinary citizen on his way to visit relatives in Tiehuaer City. Just as he finished his story, he heard a cold sneer fall to the ground.
The elite cavalry separated to both sides and nodded respectfully. A young general came forward on horseback. It was Xie Xuanlan.
Guard He was startled: "Thank you, Third Young Master."
Xie Xuanlan glanced down at him and said, "Brother He, how are you? I didn't know when you settled down in Xizhou?"
It turns out that these two people know each other.
Before, Xie Xuanlan massacred Chunfeng Tower and was almost killed on the spot by Kang Zhizhou. It was Chen Zhang who intercepted him with his men and resettled him elsewhere, among whom was the guard He.
Since his identity had been discovered, Guard He had no choice but to tell the truth: "The person in the carriage is the Imperial Military Supervisor. He is going to Tiehuaer City on official business. I beg for your leniency, Third Young Master."
Xie Xuanlan smiled upon hearing this and flicked his whip: "What a coincidence, the one I caught was the imperial envoy."
He raised his hand and hooked his knuckles. A group of soldiers jumped off their horses and restrained the guards escorting the carriage. Guard He, with his hands trapped, saw them trying to move the carriage and shouted, "How dare you be so disrespectful to the imperial envoy! Xie San, are you planning a rebellion?"
Xie Xuanlan said, "I really don't intend to rebel. Since Brother He feels it's inappropriate, I will personally ask the imperial envoy to get off the carriage."
He had a smile on his face, but his words were full of sarcasm and childishness, making him seem even more provocative.
Xie Xuanlan dismounted, stepped forward, and placed his foot on the shaft. He wiped his sword on the corner of his robe and said slowly to the closed carriage door, "Your Excellency, no matter how comfortable this carriage is, it can't compare to a sedan chair. If you continue to hide in it, I will dismantle this carriage and carry you back to the army."
A clear female voice came from inside the car: "No need."
Xie Xuanlan was stunned for a moment, then suddenly raised his eyes, and the smile in his eyes gradually disappeared.
He suspected he was hallucinating.
With a creak, the door was pushed open from the inside. A slender white hand reached out to hold the door. In the cold wind of the vast desert, it was like a white magnolia suddenly blooming. Then the magnolia blossomed from a single flower into a tree, and like fireflies emerging from the carriage, it was like a sudden brightness between heaven and earth, dimming even the new armor of the elite cavalry.
Everyone was shocked as they didn't expect that the imperial envoy was a beautiful girl. Of course, the most shocked person was Xie Xuanlan.
He stared at Cong Ying intently, his pupils dilated as if his eyes were about to burst, and his gaze like a surging wave swept across her face inch by inch. He trembled constantly, and after a while, he narrowed his eyes slightly.
All emotions, whether surprise, doubt, joy or resentment, are hidden deep in eyes as dark as night and as cold as snow.
Only the knuckles holding the knife turned white, and the lion head pattern on the handle almost cut into his palm. He used the pain to repeatedly confirm that this was not a dream, and the person standing in front of her was indeed Jiang Congying.
"The Emperor's Imperial Envoy, the Imperial Military Supervisor...Princess Jin?"
Absurd, sneer, gnashing of teeth.
While he was looking at Congying, Congying was also looking at him.
But she was not as surprised as he was - she had already been surprised when she heard him talking nonsense in the carriage just now.
We've only been apart for one winter, but it feels like we've been strangers for years.
He had lost a lot of weight, and the outlines of his eyebrows and eyes were carved by the wind and frost of the northern frontier. He looked like an eagle or a tiger, his deepness overshadowed his beauty, and his spirit was extremely fierce. Just one look at him in the crowd showed that although he was young, he had the authority of thousands of soldiers.
Cong Ying felt very complicated. She tried her best to make her voice sound normal: "Yes, I am the imperial envoy, here to announce the decree. Thank you, General. Please accept it."
Still standing on the step of the carriage, she took the scroll from her sleeve, unsealed it, and revealed the bright yellow satin inside.
Xie Xuanlan's gaze slowly shifted from her face to her hands, his voice stagnant, "I wonder whose decree the imperial envoy announced?"
"Of course it's the imperial court's order."
"The court has Xie Dang, the Prince of Jin, and the noble Lord. I wonder where the imperial envoy's heart lies? Some want me to live, some want me to die. I wonder what the imperial envoy's intentions are."
He was questioning her, and his attitude was completely different from the letters she had received before.
Was that letter really written by him? Another face emerged in Ying's mind, and when she pondered the gentle and considerate tone of the letter, she finally understood.
I'm afraid the letter she received was not from Xie Xuanlan, and Xie Xuanlan didn't get a reply from her.
Cong Ying's knuckles turned slightly white as she gripped the imperial edict, knowing that something had gone wrong. However, as they were in front of everyone and had official business to attend to, any misunderstandings had to be discussed in private.
She insisted, "Thank you, General. Please accept the imperial edict."
Xie Xuanlan looked at her silently.
His deputy was a newly-cultivated confidant, unaware of the past between his general and the imperial inspector. Seeing General Xie's hesitation, he boldly advised, "This imperial envoy is acting suspiciously. Who knows if she holds a genuine imperial edict or a forged one? If it harms the general, wouldn't it be difficult to back down? General, do not accept this order. I will arrest her and torture her!"
Xie Xuanlan glanced at his deputy: "How outrageous."
The voice was not loud, but it was like a knife scraping across ice. Its cold and sharp meaning made the deputy's heart shudder. Knowing that he was really angry, he quickly shut up.
While staring at Cong Ying, Xie Xuanlan threw the Yanzhi knife to the ground, raised his hand to untie his helmet and put it down, took a step back and knelt in front of the car.
"Your servant, Xie Shixuanlan, respectfully complies with the Imperial Edict and wishes you well."
Behind him, hundreds of elite cavalrymen including his deputy dismounted, bent their knees, and leaned forward on their horses, kneeling in a mass. From those standing on the footboards of the carriage, they looked like the dense, silver-shining scales of a dragon.
Although this powerful silver dragon had retracted its claws and fangs at this moment, its arrogance remained undiminished. Cong Ying could understand why many people in the court, including Emperor Feng Qi, regarded Xie Xuanlan as a threat rather than a savior.
She calmed herself down, unfolded the imperial edict in her hand, and was about to read it, but when she saw the content of the edict, she was stunned for a moment.
This is...how could this happen?
The consensus at court was clear: Prime Minister Xie, Prince Jin, and the noble lord all supported allowing Xie Xuanlan to temporarily assume command of Western Province, allowing him to redeem himself for meritorious service and repel the Western Tartars. Emperor Fengqi also approved the ministers' opinion, but the imperial edict in his hand accused Xie Xuanlan of crimes tantamount to treason, demanding he surrender his military power and be escorted to the capital for trial. Xuan Zhiyuan would then temporarily assume command of Western Province.
What's going on?
Thoughts raced in Ying's mind. Yes, originally, this imperial edict should have been read out by Xuan Zhiyuan.
Xuan Zhiyuan had built up a reputation within the Xizhou army for many years, commanding the four loyal and devoted generals. Xie Xuanlan's rise to become the uncrowned king of the Xizhou garrison was due not only to his impressive skills but also to Xuan Zhiyuan's reputation.
If Xuan Zhiyuan read out the imperial edict in front of all the leaders, it would destroy the legitimacy of Xie Xuanlan's command of the troops and put the two of them on opposite sides.
On one side is the traitor Xie family, with whom he has only a superficial relationship, and on the other side is the opportunity to command the army and revive the former glory of the Xuan family army. Emperor Fengqi is certain that Xuan Zhiyuan will obey the imperial edict and read it out as ordered.
What's more, this imperial edict was contrary to the court opinion. It was unexpected and caught everyone off guard. When Xuan Zhiyuan read it out in front of all the generals, even if he wanted to save Xie Xuanlan's situation, he had no chance. He would never have the motive or courage to tamper with the imperial edict on the spot.
Xuan Zhiyuan certainly didn't have it, but Jiang Congying did.
Xie Xuanlan knelt on one knee for a long time. He did not hear Cong Ying reading out the decree, so he raised his eyes slightly and looked at her.
His gaze met hers, which was like a fleeting glance of snow, with a hint of gentleness and firm affection. His heart moved slightly, and when he was about to take a closer look, she turned her gaze back to the imperial edict.
He cleared his throat and read slowly:
"I have been entrusted by Heaven to defend the four corners of the country. Now the Western Tartars are invading and are eyeing our country."
"I advise you, Mr. Xie, you are a military strategist and a talented general who has repeatedly achieved remarkable feats. Although you have made minor mistakes, they have not harmed the overall situation. I will today appoint you the title of General Dingbei and grant you the rank of Second Rank Northwest Commander. You will be in charge of the troops of the four border states, and all officials in the states will be at my disposal. I hope you will serve with all your might, plow the fields, and sweep the snow, and defend our land."
As soon as Xie Xuanlan finished speaking, before he could do anything, the soldiers behind him suddenly cheered and shouted "Long live the emperor".
The deputy envoy, who had just been reprimanded, began to get carried away again and bowed to Xie Xuanlan to congratulate him: "Congratulations, Grand Marshal, congratulations, Grand Marshal!"
Xie Xuanlan curled his lips and said in a low and casual voice: "Why should I be happy? It only adds to your laughter."
His eyes were always fixed on Congying. He stood up and walked towards her. Although she was taller than him, her imposing presence was overwhelming.
He held out his hand to her and said, "Show me the imperial edict."
Cong Ying said, "Although the imperial edict has been announced first, it will be delivered together with the seal of the commander-in-chief after it arrives—"
Before she could finish her words, Xie Xuanlan grabbed her wrist, easily snatched the imperial edict away, and quickly scanned it.
Cong Ying's face flushed with anger: "How dare you! You are absolutely crazy!"
After Xie Xuanlan read the imperial edict, he rerolled the bright yellow brocade and looked at her with complicated eyes. In a voice only the two of them could hear, he said, "I think you're crazy. Why don't you stay in Yunjing and wade into this mess?"
He stretched out his hand and exerted a little force, then pushed Cong Ying back into the carriage and slammed the door shut.
Then he gave a sanctimonious order: "Release the brothers who are guarding the carriage. Welcome the imperial envoy back to Tiehuaer City. A banquet will be held tonight to welcome him. Everyone can drink three cups of wine!"
There was another thunderous cheer outside the carriage:
"The Marshal is mighty!"
"The Imperial Envoy is wise!"
"Long live the Emperor!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
