Chapter 059 Chapter 59
Chapter 59
The moment Marshal Bai heard the news, he felt a buzzing sound in his head and a sharp tone in his ears.
He couldn't hear anything, only five big bloody words in his mind.
Ningyun Pass was massacred!
Marshal Bai immediately spat out a mouthful of blood, and his whole body was on the verge of collapse.
"Dad!" X2.
The two uncles of the Bai family rushed forward immediately. Emperor Yuanxing didn't want to let old Marshal Bai be angered to death in the court meeting, so he quickly asked someone to call the imperial physician and help the man down.
After Marshal Bai left, the officers and soldiers who were supposed to hand in the urgent document of the 800-mile journey did not leave, but continued to talk about why the border was breached.
"…General Liu was originally guarding Ningyun Pass well, but Zhang Jianjun insisted that General Liu leave the city wall, saying that he would replace him with someone else. The person he replaced was a fool. General Liu saw that the situation was not right, so he killed Jianjun Zhang directly, only to find out that Jianjun Zhang had already accepted bribes from the Xiongnu people."
"Zhang the military supervisor just wants money to be transferred back to the capital. He only collects beauties and gold, silver and jewelry at the border. Whoever gives him the most money will be appointed. This time, he even forged a military order to transfer General Liu away."
The officer and soldier spoke with tears in the court. Zhang Dehai had hinted to him many times to shut up, but the officer and soldier just wouldn't stop. In the end, he even revealed all these underworld stories to everyone.
"But by then the Huns had already broken through the pass. General Liu sacrificed himself in the city, protecting other soldiers and civilians as they fled. But the Huns came too fast, and in the end they broke through three cities before they were stopped..."
Emperor Yuanxing could no longer suppress his anger, which was certainly not directed at the Huns, but at this officer and soldier.
How could this lowly soldier tell everything in public? Moreover, it was he who sent Military Supervisor Zhang, so isn't this a slap in his face?
Emperor Yuanxing really wanted to have the soldier dragged out and beaten to death, but he looked at the eyes of all the officials present and the pens of the historians who were ready to act.
"...Someone take him down to have a good rest, and let the imperial physician take a look at him."
Emperor Yuanxing said helplessly, so the officials present watched the two officials leave at the beginning of the grand court meeting.
Unfortunately, King Chungnyeong didn't come this time because there was a problem in the dyeing room and he went to press for an order.
Originally, the officials thought it was a good idea for King Chungnyeong to urge for the order. Half of those who wanted the Fairy Clouds hoped that King Chungnyeong would urge for more fabrics, while the other half who did not want the Fairy Clouds thought that King Chungnyeong was not at the court meeting, and the emperor would not be able to see him and would not give him any rewards every time.
——The reason was still ridiculous, but King Chungnyeong obediently went to the battlefield.
But now they were eager for King Chungnyeong to return from the suburbs.
At least with this fire extinguisher, His Majesty won't want to kill someone to put out the fire like he does now.
The officials present wanted to bow their heads as low as they could, fearing that they would offend the emperor and be dragged out to be slaughtered as a warning to others.
However, Emperor Yuanxing looked at the officials below who only lowered their heads and dared not even look at him, and the anger in his heart became even stronger.
"My dear ministers, what can we do?"
Hearing the emperor's murderous voice, the officials present bowed their heads even more tightly. Emperor Yuanxing could only see a sea of black official hats and not a single face.
Emperor Yuanxing gritted his teeth, and finally asked directly.
"Liu Xiang, you go ahead."
Prime Minister Liu Lishan's face suddenly turned bitter. He should not have coveted the prime minister's wealth and glory in the first place. Now he has to take the lead in everything.
Although he thought so, when he raised his head, his face showed a righteous look.
"Your Majesty, this time the Xiongnu's attack on the pass was extremely dangerous. It is clear that we need brave and courageous generals to fight against the Xiongnu in order to save the face of our great Dafeng."
Prime Minister Liu is indeed a seasoned veteran. He was able to find a way out when faced with the death problem posed by Emperor Yuanxing.
What about the Ningyun Pass being breached by Zhang the military supervisor appointed by Your Majesty? What about the border being in need of rescue? All of this gets out of the way for Your Majesty's sake. Watch me use the Spring and Autumn style of writing to put the blame squarely on the military generals.
The generals who were also bowing their heads: ...
Prime Minister Liu, thank you and your whole family!
None of the military generals were happy when they heard about this quota. Being a military general in Dafeng was indeed a tough job. The emperor was suspicious of military generals. It was not easy to get a crown princess who came from a military general's family, but she was killed by the previous emperor.
The current emperor has the same problem as the old emperor. He is extremely afraid that someone will seize the military power and usurp the throne. They are supervised by eunuchs and their family members are used as bargaining chips, but they endure all of this.
After all, what the brothers of the previous dynasty did was not very authentic. They really did try to seize power and usurp the throne by using military generals, and even the founding emperor Taizu did so.
But if you want to suppress the military generals, then suppress them. You can't just deny them military power during a serious war, right?
Now the generals are in a dilemma. The war is still going on in the front line and the eunuchs are still fighting for military power. They cannot win even if they have the strength of oxen and dragons!
If they lose the fight they will be killed. Only a fool would work for the Pei family.
Over the years, the only one who could barely survive under the Pei family was Marshal Bai. He was truly a natural born general. How could they possibly compare with him?
Besides, even this man is not living a good life now. He just came back from the border, and the Ningyun Pass that he had guarded for his whole life was breached. He was so angry that he vomited blood. Emperor Yuanxing just said lightly, "Ask the imperial physician to take a look." He didn't even say anything about punishing General Zhang. They were also heartbroken.
After figuring out the problem, the generals present immediately began to shirk responsibility.
One said that Brother Li was braver than ten thousand men, another said that Brother Zhou was as good as the Overlord of Chu, and some generals began to cough weakly in the court and even spit out blood in front of Emperor Yuanxing.
These eight immortals crossed the sea, each showing their magical powers, which left the civil servants standing by dumbfounded.
They also underestimated these generals. They looked stupid and suppressed by them, but in fact they were quite smart.
However, Emperor Yuanxing did not want this kind of cleverness at all. The more happy these generals made a fuss, the heavier his breathing became, until he could no longer bear it and then he roared.
“That’s enough!”
He gasped for breath and shouted at the generals who immediately shut their mouths and looked obedient.
"I have used high positions and generous salaries to support you, but in the end, you have only raised a bunch of generals. When it comes to going to war against the Huns, you push the responsibility onto others. Am I supporting generals or young ladies in the boudoir?"
Emperor Yuanxing yelled at these generals angrily, but they looked heavy-hearted but actually didn't care.
They really didn't care. Which of the generals who could survive in the court of the Feng Dynasty was not experienced in many battles? Those rookies didn't even have the chance to stand in the court, and were sent out by Emperor Yuanxing to fight against the Huns as cannon fodder.
Although those who were able to stay originally had dreams of serving the country and the people, they were soon disheartened by the suppression of the royal family.
They don't care at all.
Emperor Yuanxing didn't know whether he had discovered what these generals were thinking. After scolding them for a while, he shouted directly at them.
"——Who is willing to go to the front line to fight back the Xiongnu for Dafeng?"
However, after the shout was made, the court fell into silence.
Emperor Yuanxing's face turned purple with anger. Just when he was about to lose his mind and push all those generals out to be chopped to pieces, he heard an old voice shouting.
"I am willing to go!"
When Emperor Yuanxing looked up, he suddenly felt cold all over.
Marshal Bai was standing there supported by his two sons. There was a trace of blood on his mouth and he looked injured. However, his eyes were extremely firm, as firm as a wild wolf.
Emperor Yuan Xing was stared at by those old eyes and wanted to speak, but it was as if his throat was strangled and he dared not make a sound.
At this time, Marshal Bai spoke again firmly, and his voice echoed throughout the empty hall.
"I am willing to fight for your majesty!"
*
In the end, Emperor Yuanxing did not allow Marshal Bai to go to the battlefield.
Of course, Emperor Yuanxing's words were quite high-sounding.
"The Marshal's old illness has relapsed and he should recuperate in the capital. The Marshal has worked hard for Dafeng all his life. How can I bear to let the general continue to work so hard?"
There was sadness on Emperor Yuanxing's face when he said this. He looked as if he was sad that the old marshal did not care about him. He did a good job of pretending.
——If Emperor Yuanxing was not unwilling to release even the uncles of the Bai family, Marshal Bai would have really believed his lies.
Emperor Yuanxing did not say a word, and even Marshal Bai could do nothing about it. However, when he was helped out of the hall by the eunuchs, Marshal Bai could not help but spit out blood again, and fell on the couch when he returned to Prince Zhongning's Palace.
He was really sick this time.
News from the court continued to come in continuously, and finally some people went to the expedition. However, when they arrived at the Huns, they were not defeated much. The Huns found a way out and sent people to confuse the eunuchs who supervised the army, and they were defeated again.
This time they captured four cities in a row, and now seven cities on the entire border were in the hands of the Huns.
Emperor Yuanxing was finally a little panicked. The people he sent this time finally learned their lesson and did not send eunuchs to supervise the army. They also provided enough food and supplies. The general finally resisted the attack of the Huns, but he only resisted. If he wanted to counterattack...
It can only be said to be a fantasy.
As time passed, it was almost New Year's Eve, but there was no festive atmosphere in the whole capital. Even the carefree children were kept at home by their parents and were not allowed to go out.
After all, there are too many refugees coming from the north.
Lu Yirou saw pity in the eyes of the refugees outside the city, but she gritted her teeth and pretended not to see it. Every day she just asked her strong servants to bring enough people to give some hot porridge to the refugees.
There were stones mixed in the hot porridge. This was the lowest quality food that Lu Yirou had deliberately bought, otherwise the hot porridge would never reach the mouths of the refugees.
Lu Yirou sat in the carriage and looked at the refugees, who were fighting over a mouthful of hot porridge and were bleeding from their heads. She closed her eyes and quickly shifted her gaze elsewhere without any mercy.
Just then I saw some hungry civilians gradually appearing on the streets of the capital.
The price of grain increased, and because there were so many refugees, only a few large grain merchants dared to transport grain to the capital.
Although the price of grain could not be raised too significantly because they were under the emperor's rule, some civilian families in the capital could not afford it.
The businessmen who used to collect swill and sell it outside the city never left the city again. After all, they could sell the swill for a good price in the city.
In Lu Yirou's eyes, the scene before her gradually overlapped with her previous life, and she tremblingly reached under the carriage seat.
The cold touch made Lu Yirou feel relieved. She pulled out the object and placed it in the palm of her hand - it was a pair of exquisite large scissors.
After Princess Funing's maternal family, the Bai family, came to the capital, Old Madam Bai would often visit their designer studio.
Old Madam Bai was born into a military family. She seemed to have little in common with these young ladies from wealthy families, but in reality, both the princesses and the young ladies from official families got along well with her.
An elder who speaks kindly and doesn't embarrass them is still quite welcome.
Occasionally, they would talk about some methods on how to kill the enemy and protect yourself on the battlefield.
Of course, it was only a rare occurrence, and the princess and the ladies didn't take it seriously, but now Lu Yirou was just glad that she had listened to Madam Bai's words.
This pair of exquisite and gorgeous scissors was made by a blacksmith on a whim at that time. Now this pair of scissors is much better than the so-called exquisite dagger.
——At least this pair of scissors, which is as long as Lu Yirou’s forearm, is enough of a deterrent to bad guys.
At that time, you can put your hands on the handles of the scissors and stab randomly with your eyes closed, which is better than using a delicate dagger.
Reassured, Lu Yirou watched the servants distribute the porridge, struggled to break away from the refugees, returned to the carriage, and immediately ordered the servants to leave.
On the way, they happened to meet the carriage of Prince Chungnyeong's palace. Lu Yirou ordered the coachman to stop and give way, and just in time, her eyes met with Prince Chungnyeong's as he lifted the curtain of the carriage.
King Chungnyeong's once lively eyes were now dead silent, and looked full of resentment.
Lu Yirou was startled. After King Chungnyeong left, that expression was still in Lu Yirou's mind.
However, the carriage of Prince Chungnyeong's palace left soon, and Lu Yirou once again saw the civilians staggering around on the streets.
Lu Yirou only felt pity when she looked at those hungry people, while her grooms and servants only felt fortunate.
Fortunately, it was the eldest lady’s housekeeper at the time, and fortunately, the eldest lady was deceived and bought a lot of food to store at home.
Otherwise, in this weather, it would be a luxury for servants like them to have enough food, let alone maintain their previous standard of food.
Haven’t you seen that the wives of some poor officials have started to starve?
It is said that even the old emperor in the palace has reduced his meals, and the fact that these people can still eat enough is considered to be extremely lucky in their previous life.
The servants drove the carriage home without even looking at the person lying on the street.
At most, he showed a look of pity and passed by, not thinking that these people's lives were precious. If they hadn't been lucky enough to meet a good master, they might even be the ones lying on the ground now.
The people of Fengchao adapted well to this.
Unfortunately, there are still some non-indigenous people who cannot adapt.
For example, Lin Caoer, who was preparing to enter the city and take refuge in the city with the prince and princess.
“…”
Lin Cao'er looked at these skinny refugees fighting for food like wild beasts, and subconsciously clutched the corner of Lin's mother's clothes, her eyes widened in horror.
She originally thought that when she first came to this world, the changes in the scene in Lijia Village were shocking enough. At that time, she even thought she had traveled to a primitive tribe.
A child without clothes or shoes, running naked on the ground with thick calluses on his feet and hands.
Their faces were numb, and they were only in their 20s, but they looked like men and women in their 50s.
But now Lin Caoer truly understood what shocking meant. At least the people in Lijia Village still had some meat on their bodies at that time.
It’s not like now, where a group of people as thin as skeletons gather together and fight for food like wild beasts.
Seeing a girl who was about the same age as her being exchanged for a piece of meat, and that piece of meat didn't look like livestock meat, could it be...
Lin Cao'er began to tremble.
Seeing her little granddaughter so frightened, Mother Lin quickly lowered the curtain of the carriage, held Lin Cao'er in her arms, and comforted her.
"Grandmother...Your Majesty, won't you care about them?" After a long time, Lin Cao'er squeezed out a thin sentence from her throat.
Mother Lin paused, her eyes darkened, then she patted Lin Cao'er on the back and spoke softly.
"There are too many people. How can His Majesty take care of them? He also has to supply food to the front line."
"But, that's a human life..." Lin Cao'er said tremblingly.
She was born with a stronger ability to empathize than others, and the extremely impactful scene made Lin Cao'er subconsciously put herself in the shoes of those refugees.
If she wasn't lucky enough...
Lin Cao'er struggled hard to snuggle into Lin's mother's arms.
Mother Lin's originally deep eyes returned to normal. Looking at the frightened girl, she realized that her granddaughter was just terrified and was talking nonsense.
Mother Lin said as a matter of course: "These people are just unlucky, there is nothing we can do about it, so Cao'er, you must repay the princess and the prince well..."
Listening to Mother Lin's nagging voice, the fear in Lin Cao'er's eyes not only did not diminish, but deepened.
Lin Cao'er had never been so aware as she was at this moment, just how terrifying and crazy the world she lived in was.
And she can only rely on her neighbors to survive. Her original cleverness is simply worthless in such a terrifying world.
She couldn't even protect herself.
Lin Cao'er's body was trembling, but the space bag that the young prince had shown her before popped up in her mind.
——She had never longed for power so much.
The third and fourth princes, who helped escort King Chungnyeong and Princess Funing, were also shocked by the scene before them.
The third prince was better off. When he was supporting his uncle, he also went to the countryside. There was a famine at that time, and the villagers there were not much better than refugees.
Pei Muli was truly shocked. He was targeted in the palace, and at most he had to eat rotten rice. No one dared to really deprive him of food.
But now these refugees in front of him didn’t even have rotten rice, and they were all skinny. The scene looked no different from the underworld.
The third prince and the fourth prince even shuddered when they saw the looks in those people's eyes.
Those refugees could no longer be called human beings. The extreme hunger and cold left them with only the most basic desire for food.
When they saw this group of people, there was no envy or awe in their eyes, and they didn't even subconsciously bow their heads when they saw the distinguished people.
There was only desire for food in their eyes.
The two brothers shuddered in unison.
There was the same fear in their eyes when they looked at each other.
I finally made it into the city, but I didn't expect to see this kind of sight on the street.
Although the two princes felt some pity for these people and thought about using some money to buy some food and porridge for them after returning, this gaze still made them feel uncomfortable.
After sending King Chungnyeong and Princess Funyeong back to their residence and the royal guards taking up their posts, the two princes fled back to the palace. The originally cold palace now seemed so safe.
The Third Prince was once again thankful that he had allowed his uncle to stay at home a few days ago, and he also sent several guards to guard their house after delivering the food.
There are only three people in my uncle's family.
Thinking of this, the third prince couldn't help but shudder again.
Until the next day's grand court meeting, Pei Musen, Li Yan and Pei Muli had not recovered from the shock of yesterday. The two brothers seemed unusually silent at the grand court meeting.
No one noticed that Marquis Weiyuan was, for the first time ever, moving a little further away from Prince Zhongning.
*
Marquis Weiyuan thought back to what his daughter had said to him last night, looked at Prince Zhongning whose resentment was almost materializing, and nodded secretly in his heart.
"Prince Chungnyeong was forcibly brought into the capital this morning. He is probably still angry. Father, you better be careful."
Of course, he was still angry. He could see that King Chungnyeong was about to explode with rage.
Seeing Prince Chungnyeong's tightly clenched fist, Marquis Weiyuan subtly moved away from Prince Chungnyeong within the maximum range allowed by etiquette.
It didn't take long for Marquis Weiyuan to be glad of his actions.
Because the Huns finally agreed to negotiate.
"Your Majesty, after our unremitting efforts, the Xiongnu finally agreed to peace talks."
The civil servants who said this all had a smug tone in their voices, as if promoting peace talks was some remarkable thing.
"Oh? My dear, please tell me quickly!"
However, judging from Emperor Yuanxing's excited tone, Your Majesty probably really thinks this is a remarkable move.
Marquis Weiyuan thought aimlessly. After all, everyone knew that the civil servant had risen to his position by flattering others.
"Your Majesty, we have managed to obtain only 100,000 annual tributes, and the Xiongnu will stop attacking. Moreover, the Xiongnu Zuoxian King has even asked to marry our princess!"
The civil servant said happily.
“Crack!”
Just as the officials were in an uproar, Marquis Weiyuan keenly caught the sound of grinding teeth. He looked down and saw that the neck of the young prince standing in front of him had turned red.
"Do you have any candidate, my dear?" asked Emperor Yuanxing.
Now even the dumbest officials could see clearly that this was a double act between Emperor Yuanxing and this official.
And the official lived up to Emperor Yuanxing's expectations and named the candidate.
"I dare to say that Princess Funing can take on this important task—ah!"
The official was about to explain his reasons123, but he felt a pain in his lower body and then screamed.
The officials around were stunned as they watched a small figure rush out from the nobles' side, and then knocked the civil servant down with one punch.
"Shut your stinky mouth, my king!"
Marquis Weiyuan saw it clearly. When the official said the words "Princess Funing", the young prince's face turned red and he rushed out of the team.
A punch hit the official in the lower body.
After kicking the man down, fists rained down on the official, who could only scream.
After finally reacting, the official screamed and spoke intermittently.
"Prince Chungnyeong...Princess Funing has enjoyed the offerings of the common people for so long...It's time for her to contribute! This is for the sake of the entire Feng Dynasty!"
The officials who were awakened by the screams also rushed forward to separate the two.
"Your Majesty, please stop now. Although this person's words are a bit rough, they are right."
"Your Highness, stop it! This is in the court!"
"Your Majesty, please stop. His Majesty is watching us."
However, when King Chungnyeong heard this, he not only did not stop, but he hit even harder. He even swept his leg and knocked all the officials who were trying to stop the fight to the ground.
He punched the civil servant again and again.
His clear and fierce childish voice echoed throughout the hall.
"Dynasty offerings, huh? You speak as if the princes don't enjoy them."
One punch.
"For Feng Chao? It's to cover up for you bunch of losers, right?"
Two punches.
"My sister didn't make the decision."
Three punches.
"My sister didn't fight the battle."
Four punches.
"She is not even qualified to attend court!"
A kick in the heart!
"You officials are so useless that you have to cede territory and pay compensation—"
"What. Do. Her. Business!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
