Chapter 159 On the Eve of the Expedition
Jiang Fenghua still felt lingering fear when she thought about how Xie Shang had stood in front of her earlier, his eyes filled with a dark and terrifying light, and how he had forcibly grabbed her and carried her outside before she could say a word. It seemed she had really offended Xie Shang.
After leaving Kunning Palace, Jiang Fenghua still seemed angry. "Where does Your Highness want to take me? What are you doing all of a sudden? Aren't you afraid that Consort Su will be angry?"
Xie Shang stopped and placed her on the corridor floor, his eyes filled with hostility as he stared intently at Jiang Fenghua's face. "What did you mean when you said that I have always treated you with the utmost respect?"
Jiang Fenghua said firmly, "It means exactly what it says."
Xie Shang almost laughed out of anger, "Are you saying that I treat you like a VIP?"
Jiang Fenghua was stunned and couldn't say a word. She only heard Xie Shang angrily say again, "These days I've fed my heart to an ungrateful wretch." He had devoted himself to her wholeheartedly. Did she think that their relationship was just that of a respectful couple?
"Your Highness said I'm an ingrate?" Jiang Fenghua didn't grasp what was making him angry, and what she said was enough to drive Xie Shang crazy.
"That's right, I'm talking about you, Jiang Fenghua, you ungrateful wretch."
Tears streamed down Jiang Fenghua's face like a burst dam. "So this is how unworthy I am in Your Highness's heart. No matter what I do, I can't compare to even a fraction of Consort Su's goodness. Your Highness thinks of me this way because you've never truly cared about me. But it's different with Consort Su. You'll always forgive her. This must be the difference between what Your Highness said on our wedding day—whether it was sincere or not!"
She rattled off a whole bunch of things. Xie Shang hadn't expected her to misinterpret him like this. She even brought up their wedding night, when he had sworn that he would only love Su Tingwan for the rest of his life and that there was no room for another woman in his heart. That's why she felt that he didn't care about her.
Seeing her cry, he regretted his words. How could Jiang Fenghua be an ingrate? He had just spoken carelessly. In his heart, Su Tingwan was not even one ten-thousandth as good as Jiang Fenghua.
This is what they mean by "spilled water cannot be gathered up again"! What he said can never be taken back, and the harm he caused her can never be undone.
If he really takes Su Tingwan to the border this time, Jiang Fenghua will definitely think that the only person he loves is Su Tingwan.
He explained, "That's not what I really think."
"Your Majesty, I shall take my leave now. Please make yourself at home!" Jiang Fenghua said with a distant attitude and a respectful bow.
She had to push Xie Shang to create a rift between him and Su Tingwan. She could feel Xie Shang's love, and he already had her in his heart.
Xie Shanghui is the emperor. She wouldn't be so foolish as to hold onto the emperor based solely on personal feelings. He's not a tyrant, nor is he a mere subject to a woman's advances.
At this moment, if she wants to deal with the Su family, she needs the help of the Cheng family. Xie Shang himself must win over the Cheng family. She and the Empress have already built the bridge for him, and it remains to be seen whether he will take action.
"Ruan Ruan," Xie Shang called out to her.
Jiang Fenghua stopped and adopted a respectful and polite attitude.
He then said, "I will prove it to you. You can stay in the palace and wait for my return."
Every argument he had with Jiang Fenghua was because of Su Tingwan. He couldn't even tell her that the reason he could tolerate Su Tingwan was because of the Su family.
Su Tingwan repeatedly provoked Jiang Fenghua, and he always managed to brush her off, unknowingly hurting Jiang Fenghua in the process.
He thought: There are always intricate relationships between the royal family and the ministers; it's just that he is not powerful enough and is still subject to others.
Why did the Emperor favor Consort Su? Wasn't it because of the Su family? The Emperor even knew that the Su family had embezzled military funds but couldn't do anything about it because the Su family had guarded the border and made great contributions.
Having figured this out, he went straight to the Imperial Study.
Once Xie Shang left, Jiang Fenghua wiped away her tears and said to Lianye, "Until the Prince returns victorious, I will be staying in the palace. Go and make the necessary preparations." She also wanted to inform Wuxin to act as a go-between between the Emperor and the Jiang family. Whether the Jiang family could be given important positions by the Emperor was ultimately up to him.
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Xie Shang arrived at the imperial study and knelt directly before the emperor, saying in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, I beg you to issue an edict to send troops as soon as possible. I have discovered that the one who advocated attacking my Great Zhou is Huyan Xiuluo, the leader of the Hu people. I suspect that he is sending troops to avenge his elder brother's death ten years ago. This matter arose because of me, and I also want to resolve it personally."
The emperor narrowed his eyes and said in a deep voice, "Can you guarantee that you will win this battle?"
"Yes." Xie Shang replied without hesitation, his eyes firm and cold, like a fearless eagle.
He had long wanted to prove himself to his father, to prove that he was not wrong ten years ago, and that he would not be wrong ten years later.
The emperor stared into his eyes and sneered, "Still the same as ten years ago, too arrogant."
"Your subject is not arrogant, but confident that he can protect the Great Zhou." Xie Shang was determined to prove it to his father.
The emperor said, "Once we're on the battlefield, life and death are unpredictable..."
"If I were to lose my life on the battlefield, it would be because I was less skilled than others, and I would have no complaints," Xie Shang said in a deep voice.
"The person is dead, who are you going to complain to? At that time, I'm afraid your mother will have even more resentment towards me." The emperor glared at him. "You're saying such unlucky things before you've even finished your mission. For the sake of your mother, wife and children, you should take care of yourself."
Xie Shang was stunned. Was his father concerned about him?
The emperor casually tossed the imperial edict from his desk in front of him, saying, "I await your triumphant return."
Xie Shang opened the imperial edict, which roughly stated that he appointed Prince Heng, Xie Shang, as General of the Cavalry, leading 100,000 elite troops to repel the Hu people and safeguard the peace of the Great Zhou, with Prince Yu as Commander-in-Chief to assist him.
Together with Xie Yu, he frowned and said, "Your Majesty, I would like to send Jiang Jinyan from the Ministry of Revenue with the army. He is talented and resourceful, but his official rank is too low and he is easily controlled by others."
"What official position would be most suitable for me to bestow upon him?"
"Your subject believes that with his talent and learning, he is fully capable of serving as the Vice Minister of Revenue. This time, when mobilizing grain supplies, we still need a reliable person." Even a good-for-nothing like Xie Yu was appointed as a Commander of Troops, while Jiang Jinyan has done a lot for him and made many contributions, yet he is still only a sixth-rank Assistant Minister. It is simply a waste of his talents.
Jiang Jinyan had previously assisted Prince Heng in controlling the floods in Jiangnan and was therefore eligible for a promotion. However, he declined the position and instead requested an imperial decree to grant him a marriage. The emperor asked him why, and Jiang Jinyan replied that he had already registered for the spring imperial examinations and was confident of passing. He said it was not too late to serve the country after that.
His eyes shone with a calm and confident light, just like Xie Shang in his youth.
The emperor smiled, a rare occurrence for him. "I await your triumphant return."
This means he has agreed to promote Jiang Jinyan to a higher official position.
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