Chapter 35 Chapter 35 Your Highness.
On the banks of the Yishui River on the border of Yizhou, there are golden swords and iron horses, and dead trees and yellow flags.
As the leader of the Yunnan Army was knocked off his horse by Ji Sui's long sword and fled with his troops in defeat, cheers broke out on the battlefield.
Including the chief commander, Yong'an Hou, everyone had a happy smile on their dirty face. Only General Ji Bai, who had just made the greatest contribution, had a blank expression on his face, his chest heaving heavily, and his pair of black pupils fixed on the direction of the Dian people's retreat.
Marquis Yong'an rode forward and tightened the reins in front of Ji Sui. The horse under him raised its front hooves high and then landed steadily. He was forty-eight years old this year and had fought on the battlefield for several years. Now he was wearing silver armor and was still energetic, not inferior to the young soldiers at all.
"Brother Ji, I have remembered your contribution this time. When we return to the capital after completely defeating the Dian people, I will report this to the emperor and ask for a generous reward!"
Yong'an Hou smiled and clapped Ji Sui's shoulders, promising him a promise. After spending nearly a month together, he had grown quite impressed with this young man, treating him like a close friend, even though their age difference was significant.
Ji Sui retracted his gaze, and the darkness in his eyes dissipated in an instant. A smile appeared on his handsome face, covered in blood. "Thank you, my Lord."
Yong'an Marquis nodded gravely, then shouted to Shi Zhu, who was not far away, "Deputy General Shi, take a team of men and escort your general back to camp."
"The rest of you, soldiers, listen to my orders! Follow me as I pursue our victory and annihilate the Yunnan Army in one fell swoop!"
At the command, the soldiers' morale suddenly soared, and the pain and fatigue in their bodies seemed to be swept away. They chased after the enemy with high morale.
The iron cavalry marched across the Yishui River, splashing water a few feet high and ripples on the water surface that lasted for a long time.
Shi Zhu looked at the majestic figure of Yong'an Marquis galloping away, and gripped the reins tighter and tighter. The anger in his eyes almost turned into sharp arrows, shooting straight at Yong'an Marquis.
He was just feeling chest tightness and suffocation when suddenly there was a muffled sound behind him. Shi Zhu turned around and saw Ji Sui falling off his horse without any warning. He hurriedly staggered off the horse and ran forward, helping him up with all his strength: "General!"
Ji Sui's lips were thin and pale, his black hair mixed with blood stuck to his face, but his eyes were surprisingly bright. He tightly grasped Shi Zhu's arm and whispered in his ear, "Go, take people and follow them secretly immediately. The Marquis of Yong'an will definitely fall into an ambush."
*
The news that the commander-in-chief, Marquis Yong'an, had been captured reached the camp as soon as night fell. The deputy commander-in-chief, General Ji Bai, was also seriously injured and was sent to his mansion in the city for recuperation.
The camp, which was bustling and noisy not long ago, once again fell into a deep and dead atmosphere.
Who would have thought that the blocked Yunnan reinforcements would sneak into the Yizhou border in the form of refugees and ambush
On the complex terrain of Guangwei Road, when the commander-in-chief Yong'an Hou personally led his troops to pursue and kill the remaining enemy troops, they accurately ambushed them.
This was obviously a premeditated war, but by the time everyone realized what was happening, it was already too late.
Marquis Yong'an went to the battlefield at the age of seventeen and fought for more than thirty years. He was brave but not reckless, fearless but not rash. If the Yunnan Army had not won consecutive victories in the previous two months and had not carried out rampant burning, killing, raping and looting in the villages on the border, Marquis Yong'an would not have been so eager to win that he committed the biggest taboo of military strategy - do not block the retreating army and do not pursue the desperate enemy.
The commander-in-chief was captured and the deputy commander was injured, so the camp had to retreat fifty miles and report the military situation to Kyoto for a decision.
*
The dark stone walls were illuminated by the oil lamps, making them shiny black. There was not a single light-transmitting window in the entire stone chamber, making it difficult to tell whether it was day or night.
A man was sitting with his back to the armchair in the stone chamber, and the brazier in front of him cast a long shadow on the stone slab.
With the crackling sound of the brazier, Yong'an Hou slowly woke up. He raised his head with great effort, his vision obscured by a few strands of messy hair. After a long moment, he uttered a hoarse voice from his throat: "...Ji Sui?"
Marquis Yong'an unconsciously leaned towards the man sitting in front of him, followed by a rustling sound. He then noticed the chains tied to his hands and feet. His scarlet eyes hidden behind his hair slowly turned as he looked around the cold and dark cell. His gaze gradually changed from hesitation to rage.
He woke up as if from a dream and rushed towards Ji Sui with all his might: "You... you dared to collude with foreign enemies and frame me! You are harming our Great Zhou!"
He could die on the battlefield, but he would never endure such persecution and humiliation by traitors.
The iron chain nailed to the stone wall was suddenly pulled tight. The commander who was once so majestic on the battlefield now gritted his teeth like a madman, pulling the iron chain tightly, wanting to pounce forward and tear the man in front of him into pieces.
Ji Sui sat there indifferently, looking at the miserable Yong'an Marquis standing nearby. A smile slowly curled up at the corner of his mouth, and he said lightly, "Who told you to use such crude instruments of torture to restrain the Marquis? Why don't you take them off quickly?"
The two men guarding the door were stunned for a moment when they heard this, then they quickly stepped forward and pressed the Marquis of Yong'an back against the wall, took out the key from his waist, and with a clang, two iron chains as thick as wrists fell heavily to the ground.
Yong'an Hou was old and seriously injured. Even without the chains, he couldn't break free from the two strong men. He could only wheeze and gasp for breath, staring at Ji Sui. His eyes seemed to be burning with a scorching flame that wanted to burn him to ashes.
"Let's change this."
Two thick and long iron nails fell to the ground. Ji Wei faced the anger in Yong'an Marquis' eyes and looked at him with a smile.
A man's heart-wrenching roar was heard from the dark stone chamber. Iron nails pierced through his palms inch by inch, pinning him firmly to the stone wall.
Marquis Yong'an was in great pain, but he never uttered a word of begging for mercy from beginning to end.
This painful process, which seemed long to him, actually lasted only a moment. Ji Sui stood up leisurely, looked down at him, and said with a smile: "Do you feel it is painful? This is just the beginning."
Ji Sui came to the dark room every day. Contrary to what Yong'an Hou had expected, he did not interrogate him. After that day, Ji Sui did not even speak to him again. He always sat in the same chair, watching him suffer in silence.
Yong'an Hou's will gradually disintegrated in the endless pain and darkness, "Kill me... Kill me!"
The only response he got was the sound of iron clashing in the empty dark room, and Ji Sui's cold, indifferent eyes. After a moment of silence, Yong'an Hou suddenly opened his eyes wide and screamed at Ji Sui with all his might, "You, you are the kid who was picked up from the Lin Mansion?! How can you be worthy of Brother Lin's kindness to you by doing such a heartless thing!"
He had heard of the rising star of the past two years, the great General Ji Bai, but had never seen him. However, the first time he saw Ji Bai in Yizhou, he felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity. It was not until today that he suddenly realized that this was the frail young man he had met in the Lin Mansion.
Yong'an Hou tried to awaken the man's last bit of conscience, but all he got was an unbridled laugh: "It seems you don't know yet, Lin Yunfeng is already dead."
Ji Sui stood up and slowly walked towards him. Seeing this, the torturer on the side bowed and stepped back. His black boots stopped in front of the blood-stained Yong'an Marquis. He looked at him and said, "Don't worry, he died easily. It's just that you won't be so lucky."
As he spoke, he slowly stretched out his slender fingertips and pulled out the iron nails that had just solidified the blood in the palm of Yong'an Marquis inch by inch.
This time, Marquis Yong'an didn't make a sound. He shouldn't have any more illusions about this cold-blooded monster. He clenched his teeth tightly and looked into Ji Bai's eyes with wide eyes until the two nails were pulled out. Then he collapsed, supported himself with his knees, and knelt straight at Ji Bai's feet.
Marquis Yong'an, who had made great military achievements and held a red-lettered iron certificate, had only kneeled to one person in his life except the emperor.
In this brief moment, he suddenly raised his lowered head, his bloody fingertips trembled slightly, he looked at the back that was walking towards the door, his voice hoarse and choked.
"Your Highness... Your Highness the Princess..."
The only person that Marquis Yong'an had ever knelt before, besides the current emperor, was the eldest princess who died in a fire in the princess's mansion five years ago.
In the 37th year of Xiping, Your Majesty was still only the Crown Prince. That year, the State of Tan, which had been fighting openly and secretly with the State of Zhou for many years, finally showed its claws and officially launched a war against the Zhou Dynasty.
The Zhou and Tan states were originally equally powerful. Logically, the Zhou Dynasty was not afraid of the attack from the Tan state. However, that year, a drought occurred in the Ling'an area of the Zhou state. The court allocated funds for disaster relief many times but failed to stabilize the disaster. Instead, the situation became more and more serious, and the situation of selling children and girls appeared in many places.
Therefore, when Emperor Xiping proposed to fight, he was the first to speak out against it in the court.
At that time, the 25-year-old Yong'an Hou was already a young and fierce general of the Zhou Dynasty. It was not that he was afraid of death and did not dare to fight. The soldiers fought bloody battles on the battlefield, but in the end they were only wrapped in horsehide and returned home. He had long since put his own life and death aside.
However, once a war is launched, it will inevitably consume a huge amount of food and money. Even if victory is achieved, the disaster may be out of control, and there will only be widespread misery and starvation.
Indeed, the Zhou Kingdom safely weathered the internal and external troubles that year only because he privately offered advice to the crown prince - to make peace with the Dian Kingdom.
At that time, the territory and power of Dian State were far less powerful than they are now, but its geographical location was excellent. It bordered Zhou State and Tan State, and Dian State was rich in war horses. If it could get their help, it would not only reduce some of the war expenses, but also end the war as soon as possible, minimize the casualties of soldiers and the loss of food and wages, so that it could devote energy and financial resources to disaster relief more quickly.
The eldest prince born to the Queen of Dian is already married, and Princess Da Zhou is a married woman, so she cannot be a concubine. Moreover, the emperor has only one daughter, and she is also the prince's sister, so her status is naturally more respected.
Among the remaining princes of Dian Kingdom, only the Seventh Prince has outstanding appearance and is good at fighting. However, due to his mother's low status, he has always been an unpopular prince, and it is even more impossible for him to compete for the crown prince.
But if he could get the support of the Zhou Kingdom, it would not be a problem for him to ascend to the throne one day.
Therefore, as soon as the Marquis of Yong'an proposed the plan of marriage with the Kingdom of Dian, the prince immediately thought of the seventh prince of Dian, who was talented but of humble origin. If the princess was married to him, he would be grateful and would definitely use her for his own benefit in the future.
This is also a win-win situation for the prince. The emperor is old, but he is reluctant to give up power. Although he is the crown prince, he does not have much real power. On the contrary, the second prince Qi Huan, who has been raised by the empress dowager since childhood, is quite popular among the people and has become his biggest threat.
If this marriage is successful and the Zhou Kingdom wins, his position in the court will naturally be more stable.
As for the princess, no matter which minister she was married to, how could she be more honored than being the mother of a country? If she gave birth to a crown prince with the blood of the Zhou Dynasty, it would be a great help to the Zhou Dynasty.
The prince never expected that such a good plan would encounter an obstacle in the first step of implementation. His sister, the only princess of the Great Zhou, was unwilling to marry.
Even when the seventh prince of Dian Kingdom brought an envoy to Beijing, she stayed in the temple on Yueqing Mountain outside the city and refused to come down the mountain.
The prince wanted to send someone to "invite" the princess down the mountain, but she was the daughter of the emperor after all, and would most likely be the mother of a country in the future. No one dared to take on such a hot potato, and in the end it was Marquis Yong'an who took on the task.
On that day, a strong wind blew over Yueqing Mountain, and soon it began to drizzle. Two rows of imperial guards stood solemnly outside a small Zen room hidden in the mountains.
After a while, the door was slowly pushed open, and a figure in a snow-blue skirt stepped into the rain.
"Your Highness, I am here to welcome you back to the palace by your order." Marquis Yong'an bowed his head and saluted.
The sound of raindrops hitting the oil-paper umbrella gradually approached, and a charming but not coquettish voice rang in his ears: "What if I don't agree?"
He had anticipated this before coming, and simply replied loudly, "Your Highness, please consider the people."
"...Ten thousand people?"
Following the woman's cold laugh, Marquis Yong'an looked up in astonishment. The princess was stunningly beautiful, with a pair of phoenix eyes that were even more charming, but the light flowing in those eyes at this moment made it impossible for him to look directly at her.
Marquis Yong'an lowered his head in panic.
Is the princess really marrying for the sake of the people?
Why has the drought not been alleviated yet?
Can the money and food needed for war preparation only come from the national treasury?
He could ask His Majesty to conduct a thorough investigation of those responsible for disaster relief, or he could risk his life to make a suggestion and ask the royal family and ministers to cut off a piece of their own flesh to help overcome the national crisis.
But all these things will undoubtedly cause an uproar in the court. Although the current Zhou Dynasty is stable and powerful, the court is also complicated and each of them protects each other.
This is why the proposal of the Crown Prince to marry a woman attracted the support of all the ministers as soon as it was put forward. If they wanted to solve those problems, what could be cheaper than sending a woman to marry a woman?
She did not marry for the sake of all the people.
They wanted her to marry into the Zhou Dynasty because of the unbearable corruption and decay...
The dull dripping sound of the oil-paper umbrella gradually faded away, and raindrops as big as beans soaked into the eyes of Yong'an Hou. He came to his senses and knelt on one knee towards the woman in the snow-blue dress. Seeing this, all the soldiers followed suit and knelt.
In any case, it seems that Her Royal Highness the Princess has agreed to the marriage, which is the best outcome.
But he hadn't expected that the imperial guards escorting the princess would be stopped by the Seventh Prince of Dian before entering the palace. To this day, he still clearly remembers those wolf-like, cold, fierce black eyes and the low, arrogant voice: "The princess is temporarily staying in Feixue Tower before her wedding. This is the order of your dynasty's crown prince. Marquis Yong'an intends to disobey it?"
The Crown Prince was cautious and suspicious by nature, so in order to avoid complications, he decided not to allow the princess to enter the palace to meet His Majesty before the wedding. The safest solution was to leave her in Feixue Tower, where the Seventh Prince of Dian lived.
But even so, the marriage still could not go on smoothly. The princess suddenly fell ill before the wedding. At first, several imperial doctors went there secretly, but later even Feixue Tower was closed.
Although the marriage proposal failed, the seventh prince was willing to continue cooperating with the Great Zhou, but changed his requirements: the cities and treasures obtained by defeating the Tan State must be shared with the Dian State.
For the Zhou State, this only meant sacrificing some of its interests. If it could not get help from Dian, the whole country would be in trouble. The two sides quickly reached an alliance.
Before the war even started, there were already banquets one after another in the palace.
As for the princess detained in Feixue Tower, it was not until the Second Prince Qi Huan returned to the capital on tour that he asked for permission to send her back to Yueqing Mountain. Next to Yueqing Mountain was the training camp of the Ji family army led by Ji Yuanju, which was a safe place.
The princess recuperated in Yueqing Mountain for three years and came down the mountain after recovering from her illness. Soon after, she married Ji Yuanju.
Because of the three years that had passed and this happy event, many people had completely forgotten the princess's strange illness, but it became a hidden thorn in the heart of Marquis Yong'an.
For this reason, after winning the battle against the State of Tan, Marquis Yong'an refused all rewards and gifts and asked to go to Yizhou, which was far away at the border, to garrison.
But just a moment ago, his guess from that year was completely confirmed.
Ji Bai's icy peach blossom eyes looked very much like the late princess, and the first time he saw Ji Bai appear in the Lin Mansion was after the fire in the princess's mansion.
Obviously, Brother Lin already knew his identity.
If I had led the imperial guards to fight hard and bring the princess back to the palace, what would the situation be like now?
Ji Sui should hate him, he should hate him so much...
The figure at the door paused for a moment after he called out softly, then strode away.
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