He Yunxiao was startled when he saw Yang Zhe.
He naturally knew who Yang Zhe was.
It can be said that if it weren't for the protagonist Chu Fan, Yang Zhe would be the brightest star in the entire Yinjing City.
At the age of twenty-three, he possessed martial arts cultivation at the peak of the ninth rank.
He's only slightly inferior to the protagonist Chu Fan, but still enough to make him stand out among countless peers. He also crushes the villain He Yunxiao by a mile.
On the Tingfeng Tower's Qingyun Ranking, this person ranks fifth overall, and among the outstanding young talents of Qi, he ranks third.
Of course, this doesn't include the two outrageous individuals, Chu Fan and Chu Xiaoxiao.
Especially Chu Xiaoxiao, this woman was the best in the world at the age of sixteen, which is simply the biggest bug in the novel.
He Yunxiao cursed the author inwardly for being an idiot. How could he write such an outrageous setting? Even if you started practicing martial arts from the embryonic stage, you still wouldn't become the best in the world after sixteen years!
But there's no way to reason with this, because this is the world of a novel, and Chu Xiaoxiao, this wicked woman, is very popular in the novel, basically on par with Princess Meng Qingqian.
Thinking of Meng Qingqian, He Yunxiao sat in the carriage of the He residence and turned his gaze back to Yang Zhe.
Yang Zhe was not wearing the armor of the Imperial Guard, but rather civilian clothes.
Years of martial arts training, coupled with his confidence as a martial arts prodigy, gave him a dashing and spirited appearance.
In terms of appearance alone, in the entire Yinjingcheng, only He Yunxiao dared to say that he was definitely superior to Yang Zhe; no one else had that kind of confidence.
The carriage from the He family slowly left Chunfeng Tower. He Yunxiao, sitting in the carriage, saw Yang Zhe plunge into Chunfeng Tower.
"Strange, why is Yang Zhe not staying obediently with Meng Qingqian, but instead coming to Chunfeng Tower?"
He Yunxiao lowered the curtain in the sedan chair, crossed his arms, and frowned in thought.
Yang Zhe was born into the Yang family of Hexi, a prominent clan in the northwest of the Great Qi Dynasty. Hexi was a remote region with a fierce and valiant people, and martial arts were highly developed. The Yang family was one of the best in the region, having produced many skilled generals. Even in the martial arts world, the Yang family had considerable influence.
What's even more commendable is that in recent years, as the imperial court has placed greater emphasis on civil affairs than military matters, the Yang family decisively transformed itself, relying on the imperial examination system to produce many high-ranking civil officials. For example, Yang Xingguang, the Minister of Works and a second-rank official in the imperial court, was a cousin of Yang Zhe.
Yang Zhe himself was even more remarkable. In the previous imperial examination, he won the top prize in both civil and military affairs, which was rare in the entire history of the State of Qi.
Originally, Grand Chancellor Han Wenxin intended to win him over and offered him the position of a third-rank general. Unexpectedly, Yang Zhe did not hesitate at all and directly pledged allegiance to the Princess, becoming a fourth-rank commander of the Imperial Guards.
Although there is only a one-rank difference between a third-rank general and a fourth-rank imperial guard commander, they are actually worlds apart.
The Grand General is a legitimate military officer with the authority to command a private army of up to 50,000, and in times of war, he can mobilize up to 200,000 imperial troops. Most importantly, while generals and Grand Generals, like the Commander of the Imperial Guards, are military officers, generals are authorized to lead troops into battle.
Only by fighting can one earn merit, and only with merit can one be promoted.
The Imperial Guards, responsible for protecting the palace, numbered only about 20,000. The Grand Commander and several other commanders divided the troops among themselves, giving each commander 3,000 soldiers. Most importantly, the Imperial Guards had no opportunity to fight; their daily task was simply to guard the gates.
Everyone thought Yang Zhe had lost his mind, giving up a high-ranking official position to become a lowly gatekeeper.
But He Yunxiao, who had read the novel, knew perfectly well that this guy was going to become the commander of the Imperial Guards, not to guard the gate. He was clearly after Princess Meng Qingqian from the very beginning.
Given the power of the Yang clan of Hexi, coupled with Yang Zhe's own talent and potential, marrying a princess would have been more than enough for him. However, the current emperor is only eleven years old; he has neither a princess nor an empress, let alone a princess.
Everyone knows about the princesses of the previous dynasty. The eldest princess, Meng Qingqian, is written as "elder princess" but read as "female emperor." The entire Meng imperial family, along with the prominent Li family of Jiangnan, relied on her and Prime Minister Han's power struggle to maintain their rule. Under such circumstances, they would absolutely not marry her off to Hexi.
As the saying goes, "the onlooker sees more of the game than the player," and the more difficult the task, the more Yang Zhe took it to heart.
This is not Yang Zhe's fault. He is a renowned young talent in Qi, with first-rate literary and military skills, elegant appearance, and distinguished family background. If the emperor were to come to power in the future and the princess were to retire to the background, Yang Zhe would indeed be one of the few who could marry Meng Qingqian.
He offered advice and strategies, was always available when called upon, personally rewarded his subordinates, and even openly recruited assassins for the Princess within the Imperial Guard...
After two years of ups and downs, Yang Zhe's affection for the eldest princess is now common knowledge throughout the Great Qi court.
In He Yunxiao's words, Yang Zhe is a total sycophant.
The crux of the matter is this: why did this old sycophant go to Chunfeng Tower?
If he were to have an affair with a woman of the night, there would be no possibility of a relationship between him and a noblewoman of such impeccable character as the Princess.
Sleeping with the courtesan and then wanting to sleep with the princess? Don't even think about it.
As the top scholar in both civil and military examinations, Yang Zhe certainly knew this; he wasn't stupid.
"unless……"
The bumpy, swaying of the carriage did not disturb He Yunxiao's thoughts at this moment.
He slapped his forehead!
"Unless Yang Zhe's chosen courtesan is Du Yinyun!"
Once you think about it that way, everything becomes clear!
The reason why the Eldest Princess protected Chu Fan after Chu Fan killed He Yunxiao and when He Yuanhao wanted to take action against Chu Fan was not only to counterbalance the power of Prime Minister Han, but also because of her expectations for the martial arts genius Chu Fan.
When the previous emperor died and ordered the empress and prime minister to assist in governing the country, their power was roughly equal. However, after the current empress dowager's machinations, when she actually transferred her power to Princess Meng Qingqian, the empress dowager's side was much weaker than the prime minister's.
The biggest weakness is military power.
With the exception of a few, almost all the generals in the imperial court sided with the prime minister, including He Yunxiao's father, He Yuanhao.
Over the years, the eldest princess had secured Yang Zhe, which stabilized military power in the capital, but she had consistently lacked strength in external military affairs, placing her in a position of absolute weakness.
However, the emergence of a genius like Chu Fan made up for this. With such martial arts talent, if he joined the military, it was entirely possible for him to become a general within a few years.
If the eldest princess can get Chu Fan to stabilize the external military power, then she can turn the disadvantage into an advantage in the confrontation with Prime Minister Han.
Therefore, after Chu Fan killed He Yunxiao, the Eldest Princess spared no effort to protect him.
If you want to control military power, besides supporting your own generals, winning over your old subordinates is also a good way.
Back then, Chu Tianzhu was murdered, and the Chu family army was scattered and dispersed among various units. But even so, the former members of the Chu family army still maintained frequent contact with each other.
Of the three generals of the Chu family army, Chu Tianzhu is gone, Fan Yu has retired, and Du Lie is naturally the only leader of the Chu family army.
Now that Du Lie is gone, his daughter, Du Yinyun, is the best link connecting the various units of the Chu family army.
After some deduction, He Yunxiao figured out Yang Zhe's motives for coming to Chunfeng Tower, but he didn't care what means Yang Zhe and Meng Qingqian used to regain control of the military.
In short, you absolutely cannot make a move on my wife!
He Yunxiao lifted the curtain and said to the coachman, "Go back! Someone's trying to steal my wife!"
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