Chapter 152: Prince of Anqing
Zhao Xiaofei hated being interrupted when he was being intimate with his wives. Since Xiao Si hadn't been brought along, there were no rules in the mansion. After scolding him, Zhao Xiaofei reluctantly pulled up his pants and put on his clothes.
When the door opened, the messenger saw our Lord Kenan coming out with a sullen face. He was so frightened that he knelt on the ground and trembled. Zhao Xiaofei raised his foot and kicked him on the shoulder, making him stumble. He said, "You don't know the rules at all! If there is something bad going on, come in and report it only when there is urgent military information! Why rush for a happy event?"
The messenger was so frightened that he dared not speak again. Zhao Xiaofei asked, "What's going on? Tell me!"
The messenger stammered, "Congratulations...congratulations...the court conferring upon you the title of Prince of Anqing!"
"Prince? Okay, I got it! Go down! Remember next time, notify me if there is any urgent military information or bad things. Don't worry about good things!" After Zhao Xiaofei finished speaking, he closed the door and went back into the house.
As soon as Zhao Xiaofei closed the door, he jumped up with joy. He hugged his two wives, kissed each of them, and said, "You two are concubines now! Are you happy?"
Li Sihong and Kou Baimen were filled with joy, though a little shy. Before they could even put on their clothes, Zhao Xiaofei simply hugged his two wives and returned to bed. Zhao Xiaofei said with a lewd smile, "Come and wait for me to go to bed!"
After finishing, the two women massaged Zhao Xiaofei's waist. Zhao Xiaofei asked the two women, "Is there any ceremony for becoming a prince?"
"I'm really not sure, but you'll know when you return to Nanjing! Such a big event will definitely have a ceremony." Li Sihong said.
"Princess of a County? I've never thought about it!" Kou Baimen said.
Zhao Xiaofei wondered how the people in the court could possibly confer the title of a prince on him. He didn't know that Nanjing had been clamoring for the title of a prince.
The imperial court was practically broke, but the Jianlu had already moved south. Wu Sangui and Aqige Shang Kexi were marching into Shanxi, while Duoduo, Geng Zhongming, and Kong Youde were on their way south, heading through Shandong and into Anhui.
Duoduo and his men advanced at breakneck speed, reaching the borders of Shandong. All Shandong officials surrendered, effectively ceding power at the mere sound of a proclamation. Their advance was unimaginably rapid. They had already reached Yanzhou, their main force heading straight for Xuzhou.
The Xuzhou garrison commander, Li Hongji, a subordinate of Liu Zeqing, fled south upon seeing the Jianlu army. Anhui was easily within their grasp, and the Nanjing court panicked. They needed Zhao Xiaofei to return immediately to defend Nanjing. Zhao Xiaofei, however, was in Wuchang dealing with the aftermath, gathering craftsmen and preparing to build warships in preparation for the Yangtze River defense. He also hoped to see the Jianlu and the rebels clash, hoping to gain an advantage. This behavior led Nanjing officials to believe that Zhao Xiaofei was dissatisfied with the court's reward.
They had indeed guessed correctly that Zhao Xiaofei was dissatisfied. They had only given him a hereditary title as a reward, and nothing else. But Zhao Xiaofei was only complaining inwardly, and he planned to return to the capital after completing his mission in Hubei.
Who knew that the Jianlu would march south at this time? Seeing that Zhao Xiaofei would not return to Nanjing, they immediately agreed to make him a king. However, he could only be a county prince, not a prince. So the cabinet agreed and issued an edict to make Zhao Xiaofei a king.
Zhao Xiaofei felt that the Jianlu couldn't march south immediately because Li Zicheng hadn't been defeated yet. His rear was vulnerable to conflict, so Li Zicheng had to be killed first. Furthermore, the Jianlu were too weak to advance southward. Without Zuo Menggeng's 800,000-man army in historical times, the Jianlu wouldn't have been able to advance south of the Yangtze River!
So Zhao Xiaofei got the title of Prince for free, and he was so happy! When he goes out, people can call him Prince. It sounds so majestic, and he doesn't let his servants call him Young Master anymore. When they see him, they all call him Little Prince! Why Little Prince? Because it sounds so high-class, and others who don't know him would think he is the second generation of the royal family!
However, when the eunuch who delivered the imperial edict arrived in Wuchang, Zhao Xiaofei obediently accepted the order and shouted "Long live the emperor!"
The eunuch Zhao Xiaofei, who was delivering the imperial eunuch's decree, didn't recognize him, but he still gave him the reward. The young eunuch didn't dare to accept it, so Zhao Xiaofei said, "If you don't accept the reward, don't even think about leaving Wuchang!"
"Thank you very much, Your Highness! The King of Anqing is the only one in the Ming Dynasty who claims to be king with a different surname! Congratulations, Your Highness!" said the little eunuch.
"What's your last name, young eunuch?" Zhao Xiaofei asked.
"I dare not. Even if my surname is Li, you can just call me Little Li!" said Little Li.
"Little Li, do the Emperor and the Queen Mother have anything to say to each other privately? No other instructions?" Zhao Xiaofei asked.
"No! But the emperor did mention that he wanted to eat hot dry noodles, and said that the prince promised to bring it to him!" said Little Leo.
"What about the Queen Mother?" Zhao Xiaofei asked.
"Empress Dowager? The Empress Dowager hopes that the prince will go back quickly! Anyway, the people in Nanjing are uneasy now, and they are all afraid that the Jianlu will move south!" said Little Li.
"Doesn't my elder brother live in Nanjing? And there's Huang Degong!" Zhao Xiaofei said.
"We don't have much confidence in the prince's elder brother! If he gets sick, we still have confidence that he can ask the governor for treatment, but we are not sure whether we can defend Nanjing! Lord Huang has been in poor health recently, and Admiral Zhao crossed the river to personally treat Lord Huang!" said Little Leo.
Zhao Xiaofei understood now that Huang Degong was ill, and if he did not return to Nanjing, the Qing army would march south and he would become the prince.
Zhao Xiaofei smiled contemptuously at this thought. It seems that although the court now has more officials than in the past, it has no money! It is difficult to recruit soldiers. And since he is so good at fighting, they have no choice but to bow down.
It's time to go back! He's been given the title of prince, so he has to behave himself. He's also rested enough, leaving 10,000 men in Wuchang, and he'll take the rest back. Besides, there's no guarantee of a chance now. What if the Jian Lu really cross the river? After all, history has been altered by him, and it's hard to say for sure. However, he has General Zhou in Wuchang, cooperating with He Tengjiao to reorganize the military and wait for an opportunity to recapture the Jingxiang region.
So Zhao Xiaofei took his two wives back on the boat, while Wanshan led his men to Nanjing. A few days later, Zhao Xiaofei arrived at the Nanjing dock first. There was a huge crowd of people coming out to greet him. Zhao Xiaofei thought to himself: What's going on?
It turned out that Zhao Xiaofei's heroic deeds had been adapted into an opera in Nanjing and sung throughout Jiangnan. Everyone wanted to see what the storyteller, General Zhao, looked like!
Zhao Xiaofei was riding his horse and waving to the crowd. At this moment, an arrow shot out from a window of the restaurant next to him and shot straight at Zhao Xiaofei.
"There's an assassin! Protect the prince!"
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