Chapter 296 Triumph
Seeing Lin Hao leaning against the soft pillow and still reading the letter, Baozhu reminded her, "Miss, it's time for dinner."
"Is it so late?" Lin Hao rubbed his sore eyes and looked towards the window.
March is about to begin. The greenery outside the window is bathed in the sunset, and there is a gentle tranquility.
She gathered the scattered pieces of letter paper and put them back into the envelope. Her heart was filled with joy and she couldn't help wanting to show off a little.
"I didn't expect that time would pass by so quickly just by reading a letter."
Baozhu glanced at the thick letter in the girl's hand and nodded: "Yes, it would take a long time to read such a long letter. It would waste too much time."
Lin Hao's mouth twitched.
Can't this girl praise her son-in-law for his deep love and loyalty to make her happy?
Forget it, I won’t make things difficult for this simple-minded girl.
"Let's set the table."
After Baozhu left, Lin Hao fell on the bed with the letter in his hands and started grinning foolishly again.
On Emperor Tai'an's dragon desk, the war reports from the north were also read many times, for fear of missing anything.
"Good, good, good!" Emperor Tai'an said it countless times. After waiting for the important officials from various departments to arrive, he patted the battle report and said, "Everyone, take a look."
The ministers exchanged glances, their expressions noticeably more relaxed.
Judging from the emperor's expression, it must be a good thing.
They glanced at the Minister of War and saw that Han's face was wrinkled with smile, which made them more certain of their guess: they must have won the battle.
All battle reports are submitted to the emperor through the Ministry of War.
It’s hard to guess which side it is, after all, there are three places fighting - thinking about this, the good mood of the ministers is inevitably dampened.
It's too tragic. Even though the Great Zhou has a lot of troops, they can't withstand a one-on-three situation. The victory is probably a narrow one.
The first Minister of Personnel who took over the battle report took a look at it and his hands shook so much that he almost dropped the report.
"What's wrong? What's wrong?"
The flesh on the Minister of Personnel's cheeks trembled constantly, and tears streamed down his face: "Great, great, great victory!"
Several hands reached out and snatched the battle report away. After all the ministers had finished reading it, they wept and congratulated Emperor Tai'an: "May Your Majesty be blessed with great fortune, and may Heaven bless the Great Zhou!"
It was rare that Emperor Tai'an didn't feel upset by the crying of these old ministers. No matter how cunning he was, it couldn't hide his good mood at the moment, and the corners of his mouth were always raised.
"This great victory is thanks to the bravery of the soldiers, especially Prince Jing and his son." Emperor Tai'an was indeed happy to hear the compliments of his ministers. After all, who doesn't like to hear flattery? But there were still some reasons why the victory was achieved.
After hearing what the emperor said, the ministers became excited.
"I never thought that Prince Jing, at such a young age, would have such strategy and courage, daring to venture alone into the depths of the Tiger Cave..."
"That's right. If there's any mistake in this matter, we'll lose our lives..."
"Wu Ye, whose hands were stained with the blood of countless Great Zhou people, is dead. The traitor Guan Changliang is also dead. Prince Jing and his son have made great contributions!"
The more the ministers spoke, the more excited they became, and the more excited they became, the more praises flowed out like they were free. Cheng Maoming, the commander of the Jinlin Guard, who was standing there like a wooden man, saw that the emperor's face was not right and quickly interrupted, "It's mainly thanks to the emperor's blessing."
The excited ministers shuddered and came to their senses: "Yes, it's all thanks to the emperor. Long live the emperor!"
Emperor Tai'an's slight unhappiness was not directed at Prince Jing and his son, but was mainly due to the vigilance that he could not let go of as an emperor.
After the ministers left, he took the tea handed to him by Liu Chuan, took a sip, and sighed, "This nephew of mine really makes me look at him with new eyes."
Liu Chuan smiled and filled up his tea cup, but tactfully chose not to respond.
"I wonder what's going on in the south." Emperor Tai'an was temporarily relieved about the north, but he was also worried about Master Mingxin and his group heading south.
Speaking of which, because of the change in Master Mingxin's position, he was looking forward to the victory of the south. Unexpectedly, while there was no movement in the south, good news came from the north.
This is a huge pleasant surprise.
Good things always come in pairs. Within two days, there was news from the south.
Under the guidance of Master Mingxin, elite troops from the south sneaked into the hiding place of Emperor Pingle and captured the old emperor in a lightning speed.
There were not many people who had been following the old emperor. Although he recruited a large number of soldiers in a short period of time under the banner of restoration, they were just a group of rabble with mediocre combat capabilities. Without a leader, they quickly scattered like a pile of sand, and far more people fled than died.
Yu Liu was the best at being a fence-sitter. Upon learning that Emperor Pingle had been captured and that the Northern Qi god of war Wuye had died, he stopped fighting and asked for peace without even a moment's hesitation.
Although Emperor Tai'an hated Yu Liu's despicable behavior, he couldn't have asked for more at this time.
Now that the situation in the south has calmed down, Yu Liu can withdraw more troops to fight against Northern Qi if he signs a ceasefire.
Wuye's death caused considerable internal shock within Northern Qi, particularly as they struggled to understand why Wuli had been instigated by the Great Zhou. Facing the Zhou army again, their conventional attitude of condescending from a military perspective shifted. As one side gained strength while the other lost, the Great Zhou won another victory.
The situation suddenly became serious for Northern Qi, and under pressure, internal divisions grew even greater. Before long, a prince who had been suppressed by Wu Ye for many years rebelled.
As a result, the Emperor of Qi hurriedly asked for peace with the Zhou Dynasty in order to resolve internal conflicts and was willing to offer 3,000 war horses.
When Emperor Tai'an received the expedited letter of peace, he wanted to agree immediately, but for some reason he flipped through the previous military report and changed his mind.
If we leave the peace talks to Prince Jing, perhaps we will have unexpected gains?
Prince Jing was shocked when he received the task of peace talks.
He has experience in this matter!
So the envoy sent by the Emperor of Qi received the sympathetic look from the previous envoy.
When the negotiation results were quickly transmitted back to the capital, even the calm Emperor Tai'an couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Hahaha, Prince Jing really lived up to my expectations!"
Not only did the number of war horses increase from 3,000 to 5,000, but two horse farms were also given as a bonus!
For a moment, Emperor Tai'an was curious about how Prince Jing negotiated, but unfortunately the battle report was too concise, so he could only wait until he returned to Beijing to ask in detail.
Once the war stops, Prince Jing and his son should indeed return in triumph.
Although Emperor Tai'an never interfered with the performance of frontline generals during the war with Northern Qi, once the war was over, especially in the case of a great victory, the emperor's caution and suspicion would not allow him to let Prince Jing stay in the north for long.
The decree to summon Prince Jing back to the capital was quickly issued.
When they set out, the battle was urgent, and they traveled under the stars and moon. Naturally, the same wouldn't be necessary on their return. At a normal marching speed, by the time Prince Jing led his troops to the capital, it would have been a prosperous time, with spring turning into summer.
It was a beautiful day with green willows and red flowers. Emperor Tai'an personally led all the officials out of the city to welcome the triumphant soldiers.
The clatter of horse hooves came from far away, stirring up clouds of dust. Amidst the fluttering flags, the soldiers' armor gleamed coldly in the sunlight.
Prince Jing dismounted first and walked quickly on foot.
"Your Majesty, I have seen you—"
Behind him were soldiers kneeling down.
Emperor Tai'an hurriedly helped Prince Jing up, his face full of emotion: "Fifth brother, you have worked hard."
Finally back!
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