After a long pause, Wei Junyan said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, I believe that we should send the Marquis of Xuanping to lead troops to attack Yongzhou."
Before the Prince of Yan came of age, the southern border was guarded by the Marquis of Xuanping, who was quite well-known. Later, he was transferred by the late emperor to guard the Huaijiang Pass in the south, and he was considered a capable general in the Great Xia Dynasty... Chu Tianling nodded, "What do you all think?"
Minister of War, Lord Lü, hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, Marquis Xuanping is indeed the most suitable candidate." This man had some past grievances with the Prince of Yan, and he will certainly do his best to attack Yongzhou...
Chu Tianling said in a deep voice, "In that case, issue my decree to appoint Marquis Xuanping as the Grand General Who Pacifies the Bandits, leading an army of 200,000 to attack Yongzhou."
"Your subject obeys the decree."
Chu Tianling waved his hand, "Alright, everyone, go down now." Everyone quickly bowed their heads and retreated, but Zhang Yu, Wei Junyan, and Chu Wenzheng all stayed behind.
Chu Tianling then said coldly, "Uncle, aren't you going to explain?"
Chu Wenzheng gave a half-smile, "What does this have to do with me?"
Chu Tianling said angrily, "Did you already know about Seventh Brother's background?" Although he pretended not to believe it in front of everyone, he knew in his heart that Seventh Brother would never joke about such a thing suddenly.
Considering that Bai Chuxiao was clearly guarding Emperor Wenxuan that night, yet watched helplessly as he died of anger, it's highly likely that the Prince of Yan's accusations were true.
Chu Wenzheng smiled knowingly, "It should be the Duke of Zhenguo who explains this matter to everyone."
Wei Junyan snorted coldly, "What does it have to do with me? I only had some grudges with that old man Murong Yuan in my early years. The Prince of Yan is clearly using this as an excuse..." Now so many years have passed, and there's no way to verify anything. The late emperor is dead. As long as he doesn't admit it, what can we do to him?
Chu Tianling's eyes turned slightly cold as he looked at the people below him. He understood what his uncle had done back then, but the Wei family had risen to power through such means, which was how he, the son of a noble concubine, came to be. Naturally, he could only help the Wei family keep it a secret...
Zhang Yu also said with a gloomy expression, "There's no point in dwelling on those things. The Prince of Yan has included us all in his calculations. Once the Prince of Yan really attacks the capital, none of us will escape. Let's focus on the enemy."
...
Marquis Xuanping had just received the imperial decree and hadn't even set out when news arrived that the Southern Frontier army, decimated by the Prince of Yan, had suddenly returned with over 100,000 troops to attack Jieming Pass. At the same time, the Prince of Xiang had also rebelled.
While everyone's attention was drawn to the Prince of Yan, the Prince of Xiang swiftly seized the two prefectures of Tan and Pu south of the Huai River. He even raised a similar banner to the Prince of Yan: "Chu Tianling murdered the emperor and his brother, and kidnapped his mother, the Virtuous Consort. From this day forward, I, the Prince, will follow the trend of the times, eliminate the treacherous officials, and quell the national crisis..."
When Chu Tianling received the news, he smashed the imperial study to pieces. The Prince of Xiang had colluded with the Southern Frontier...
"Rebellious ministers and traitors"
"Rebellious ministers and traitors"
Subsequently, a new decree was issued, ordering the Marquis of Xuanping, who was originally scheduled to attack Yongzhou, to first attack the Prince of Xiang and the southern border. After all, the Prince of Xiang's fiefdom was in Huzhou, which was separated from Jiangnan by only the Huai River. If he were to cross the Huai River, Jiangnan would be in grave danger. The restoration of Jiangnan was far more significant than the western region occupied by the Prince of Yan.
But the matter did not end there. After the Prince of Yan withdrew from the Northwest, Pang Kun and Zhang Tuo, who had been released, took over the entire Northwest as they wished. Before they could spare any troops to retake Shuozhou, the Western Yue army broke through Yumen Pass, captured several cities in succession, and occupied the entire Dingzhou...
Pang Kun and his men had lost all interest in dealing with the Prince of Yan and could only focus their attention on the Prince of Huainan of Xiyue. Only when they actually fought did they realize how troublesome this Prince of Huainan was.
Only then did they realize how difficult it was for the Prince of Yan and Murong Yuan to stop the Prince of Huainan's advance with forces weaker than those of Xiyue.
The series of bad news was so devastating that even the self-proclaimed powerful Chu Tianling was so enraged that he coughed up blood and fainted.
...
Without interference from the imperial army, Ji Province, which was easy to defend and difficult to attack, was quickly captured. Thus, the four provinces of Yong, Yu, Ji, and Shuo, which were connected together, all fell under the control of the Prince of Yan.
Murong Cheng, along with Murong Che and Murong Shuo, remained in Shuozhou to guard against the imperial army, while Shen Tao and Song Fei took over the defense of Ji and Yu prefectures.
Chu Tianze and Bai Chuxiao then returned to Yongzhou with Murong Yuan, Yu Fengyang, Murong Xuan, Cui Hao, and part of the army.
On the way back to Yongzhou, upon receiving the news, Chu Tianze, unusually angry, said, "Useless."
Bai Chuxiao said helplessly, "The matter of Xiyue was entirely expected, wasn't it?"
Murong Yuan sighed softly, "Fortunately, the people of Dingzhou were not harmed."
Bai Chuxiao smiled bitterly. The Murong family had guarded Dingzhou for many years, and she had grown up in Dingzhou. Now, however, Dingzhou had been occupied by Xiyue. They were also heartbroken, but they had no choice but to withdraw from the Northwest...
Fan Ziming said in a deep voice, "Your Highness, Your Highness, and the Marquis, there is no need to blame yourselves. Although we have recruited quite a few soldiers from the three prefectures, our current strength is still nothing compared to the Western Yue army and the millions of troops of the imperial court. Right now, we should recruit soldiers as soon as possible."
Murong Xuan said slowly, "The Prince of Xiang's rebellion came at a good time, temporarily relieving us of a lot of pressure."
Chu Tianze sneered, "He's got guts; he actually dared to conspire with Southern Xinjiang."
Bai Chuxiao raised an eyebrow and said, "The Southern Frontier doesn't have many troops either. It seems unlikely that he can quell the national crisis. Let him be; it'll give us a chance to catch our breath."
Chu Tianze nodded. He had foreseen this day when he ordered the Xuanjia Army to withdraw from the pass. The west was barren, and neither the King of Xiang in the Southern Frontier nor the King of Huainan in the Western Yue would give up other good territories to bother attacking them. They could use this opportunity to reorganize their troops.
Let's postpone the conscription until after the New Year.
...
At the gates of Yongzhou, everything was in perfect order. The people were surprised by the decision made by the Prince of Yan's mansion, but quickly accepted it. Unlike other war-torn prefectures, Yongzhou was peaceful and serene, with red lanterns hung up early to welcome the arrival of New Year's Eve...
Inside Yongzhou City, the people on the streets curiously observed the woman on horseback beside the Prince of Yan at the front of the procession.
"Is that the princess...?"
"The princess and the prince are a perfect match..."
Feeling the gazes and whispers of the people, Bai Chuxiao raised an eyebrow and whispered to the man beside her.
"You've governed Yongzhou quite well."
Chu Tianze said calmly, "Madam flatters me."
Bai Chuxiao blinked. "But let's hurry back to the manor." These people are looking at her like she's a monkey...
In front of the Prince of Yan's residence, the Prince's chief steward and his men were already waiting.
Chu Tianze waved his hand, not wanting to make a big fuss, and together with Bai Chuxiao, helped Murong Yuan into the mansion. After all, Murong Yuan was getting old, and his health had deteriorated somewhat after the series of events in the past few months...
Madam Murong and Madam Xu, who had been sent back to Yongzhou ahead of time, along with Princess Murong Shen, who had been brought back from Jiangnan, were already waiting in the hall.
"Greetings, Your Highness and Your Highness."
Chu Tianze smiled and said, "We're all family, no need for formalities."
Murong Yuan had barely sat down when he started coughing uncontrollably.
Everyone looked over with some concern, and Bai Chuxiao said worriedly, "Grandfather..."
Murong Yuan laughed and said, "It's nothing, just a little cold."
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