Yi Mu knew that Xu Zang's trip to the palace was not simple, but he never expected that when they met again, Xu Zang would be wearing the dragon robe.
The prayer beads obscured his face, so Yi Mu couldn't clearly see the expression on his face.
Xu Zang stood tall, taller than everyone else.
He was revered by the people, and the officials shouted, "Long live the Emperor!"
The fool Xu Zang was indeed a fake. This man had no foolishness whatsoever; he was as dazzling as the midday sun, his radiance so intense that it was impossible to look directly at him.
Xu Zang's coronation ceremony went unexpectedly smoothly, with the third and seventh princes showing submission throughout.
Yi Mu no longer needed to live in the dilapidated Crown Prince's residence outside the palace; he moved directly to the Emperor's bedroom, which was only separated from Xu Zang's bedroom by a courtyard.
Shortly after the new emperor ascended the throne, the seventh prince, Xu Heng, returned to the frontier and was shot and killed by a northern general during a battle in the north.
The entire Xu Kingdom was shocked, and countless military officers volunteered to rush to the frontier to repel the northern bandits and avenge the Seventh Prince.
Xu Zang suppressed all other memorials and dispatched Zhuo Lin, the Imperial Guard, with 20,000 elite troops to attack the northern border.
Zhuo Lin was not born into an official family; he was born into poverty and was upright and incorruptible. When the late emperor sent him to lead troops into battle, he offended many people because of his straightforward and unyielding nature.
While his fellow military officers were promoted to the rank of third-grade officials, he only managed to become a lowly imperial bodyguard.
Xu Zang disregarded so many capable military officers and appointed such a controversial person, which drew criticism from many officials.
However, the scene of Xu Zang dealing with the prime minister was so shocking that even if people had grievances, no one dared to disobey the emperor's orders and risk their lives to remonstrate.
Xu Zang used Zhuo Lin for no other reason than that when he was sent out of the palace, that wicked woman Li had long ago sent people to keep watch in the shadows, wanting to kill him.
Zhuo Lin happened to be out of the palace at that time, and drew his sword to help, saving Xu Zang.
Xu Zang remembered everyone who had been kind to him, as well as those wicked people with bad intentions.
Zhuo Lin won a battle as soon as he arrived at the border.
He was highly skilled in martial arts and had studied military strategy books extensively since childhood; he was a military genius.
Back then, the general was jealous of his talent and feared being overshadowed, so he tried to slander him, causing him to miss the opportunity for promotion.
Xu Zang had summoned him out of seclusion, and Zhuo Lin, fueled by a burning desire, effortlessly routed the barbarian tribes of the Northern Frontier.
When the army returned to the capital, Xu Zang prepared a grand welcoming banquet, appointed Zhuo Lin as the Left General, commanding 100,000 troops of the Xu Kingdom, and bestowed upon him a tiger tally.
Zhuo Lin rose to fame in one battle.
The late seventh prince's maternal uncle, the Feng family, was also present. Watching Zhuo Linchun proudly accept congratulations from others with his colleagues, he thought of the cold treatment the Feng family had suffered during this period and was so angry that he wanted to grind his teeth to dust.
The current head of the Feng family is the same general who tripped up Zhuo Lin back then.
Fortune changes every thirty years. Now, Zhuo Lin is favored by the emperor, while the Feng family, having previously sided with the seventh prince, is receiving unprecedented neglect.
The Feng family didn't actually know when Xu Heng and Xu Zang had joined forces to fight against the Empress's faction.
They didn't even have time to inform Xu Heng before he returned to the frontier and perished on the brutal battlefield.
The Feng family suffered a loss without any explanation, and had no way to appeal. They could only grit their teeth and swallow their bitterness, suffering in silence.
The banquet lasted until late at night. The officials were helped out of the palace, and Xu Zang returned to his bedchamber, familiarly making his way to Yi Mu's bedside.
The bed is big enough to comfortably sleep two people.
Xu Zang quietly climbed onto the bed, thinking he was being careful, but he still woke Yi Mu up.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
