The vassal king's territory originally consisted of only three cities, and now two more had been captured. Gu Yankai, in charge of defense, immediately sent an urgent report to the capital upon arriving at the territory. He also dispatched spies to investigate the current situation. That way, when the capital gave the order, whether to defend or attack, Gu Yankai would be confident.
When the throne changes hands, it is not uncommon for one or two vassal kings from various places to emerge.
Within a day, an imperial edict arrived from the capital. The new emperor's message was that they must fight and not allow the enemy to grow stronger. They simply needed to wait a few days until food and elite troops arrived before they could start the war.
Gu Yankai accepted the imperial edict and thought about the mention of the Eighth Princess. He had no recollection of it. However, since he would be stationed in Sichuan and Yunnan, and the Eighth Princess was to marry a close confidant of a local prince, some interaction might be necessary. Currently, he had no one to manage his household affairs, so asking a concubine to entertain the princess would be impossible. Furthermore, Bai was already far along in her pregnancy, so having her come to Sichuan and Yunnan was also not feasible.
After thinking for a long time, Gu Yankai stood up and decided not to think about it anymore. When the time comes, we will just have to deal with it. When the time comes, we will find a way out. Thinking this way will not solve the problem.
The journey from the capital to Sichuan and Yunnan began with a boat out of the city, then a horse-drawn carriage after crossing the border. Molan, who never got seasick, vomited and had diarrhea. By the time she disembarked, she had lost a significant amount of weight, and her once-fitting wedding dress had become baggy.
Once they were on the carriage, it was moving very fast. Later, Molan realized that the date on her wedding itinerary had been moved up by half. It was originally supposed to take ten days, but now it only took six.
When she saw Ningyuan Hou coming to greet her, Molan sat upright, acting like a noble princess. It was not until Ningyuan Hou and the others had knelt for a quarter of an hour that Molan allowed them to stand up.
The thought of Ning Yuanhou, whom she could never reach in her past life, now kneeling before her, suddenly eased her anxiety.
After setting off again, most of the people in the wedding procession followed Ningyuan Hou, and those who remained continued to head towards Sichuan and Yunnan.
Just five days later, Ningyuan Marquis Gu Yankai and his deputy general stormed into the vassal king's residence. With a bang, the door of the room was kicked open, revealing a middle-aged man sitting in the center of the room. Upon seeing the soldiers rush in, he slowly picked up the cup on the table and drank the water in one gulp.
Gu Yankai was the first to speak: "King Xian, those of your men who died surrendered, and you have no one left to use now."
The seated Prince Xian, wearing a dragon robe, said in a deep voice, "I am the new emperor appointed by the late emperor. Why don't you kneel before me?"
Gu Yankai twitched his lips and said, "Prince Xian, the country already has a crown prince, and he is the legitimate son of the Empress. How could the throne be passed on to a nephew?"
Prince Xian sneered, "This is a royal scandal. Now that it has come to this, I no longer need to worry about the dignity of the royal family."
Prince Xian cleared his throat and continued, "What kind of crown prince is he? He's obviously a bastard, otherwise why would Queen Jing'an be imprisoned for three years?"
Gu Yankai wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. This Prince Xian was clearly spreading rumors and dragging him into this. If he wasn't careful, he might even be disliked by the new emperor.
Thinking of the red seal and iron certificate that Ningyuan Marquis Mansion had managed to secure with great difficulty, Gu Yankai narrowed his eyes, took a few steps forward and said, "Prince Xian, do you have any evidence?"
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