Chapter 44

 Chapter 44: The Court, the Mysterious Old Man

Inevitably, Emperor Shunhe glanced at the place where the two Cheng brothers once stood.

But he quickly looked away, with a hint of regret flashing across his eyes.

He had been planning for so many years just to wait for this day.

Finally, it was as he wished. There was nothing to regret!

There was nothing to regret!

If you want to achieve your wish, how can you not pay a price?

But what should I fear about the unrest in the army? !

But when his eyes swept over those ministers who wanted to bury their heads in the ground, saying nothing and pretending to be quails, Emperor Shunhe suddenly became furious.

"Why don't you say anything?"

"Didn't you speak quite loudly just now? Now that it's your turn to speak, have you all become mute?!"

The emperor was furious, and all the civil and military officials knelt on the ground and kowtowed.

"I am incompetent, please forgive me, Your Majesty."

The Minister of Rites gritted his teeth, stepped forward and stood out.

"Your Majesty, I believe that the most urgent task is to appease the Cheng family army first."

Emperor Shunhe looked impatient.

"Nonsense! Don't I know?!"

The Minister of Rites continued tremblingly.

"When Your Majesty was in the palace, Concubine Jin was your principal wife. If you posthumously confer the title of empress on Concubine Jin, it would be reasonable in terms of etiquette and law. This would also be a way to appease the Cheng family army."

As soon as these words were spoken, many ministers echoed them.

"I second the motion."

"No!"

The prince stood up, looked at the Minister of Rites with a stern face, and questioned in a cold tone.

"Isn't what Minister Wen said inappropriate?!"

"You posthumously confer the title of Empress on Consort Jin? I wonder where you are placing my mother?!"

As he spoke, a sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth, and there was a hint of sarcasm in his words.

"Relying on a dead man to quell the chaos in the army, won't that make the world laugh?!"

"What's more, Cheng had already been demoted to a commoner. If she is now posthumously named empress, wouldn't that be equivalent to admitting in front of the people of the world that my father was wrong before?!"

"presumptuous!"

Emperor Shunhe threw the memorial in front of him heavily at the Minister of Rites, with anger and murderous intent surging in his eyes.

"This is your idea?!"

He is the emperor, how could he be wrong?

How could it go wrong?

The Minister of Rites had already knelt on the ground when Emperor Shunhe was furious, and he took the blow.

The corner of his forehead was smashed in an instant, and bright red blood mixed with cold sweat slid down his forehead and flowed into his eyes, causing a stinging pain in his eyes, but he didn't dare to wipe or rub them, and could only kowtow continuously.

"Your Majesty, please calm down. I dare not do that. I have absolutely no such intention!"

Emperor Shunhe waved his hand impatiently and asked him to leave.

The Minister of Rites stood up carefully as if he had been pardoned, and returned to his seat in a dishevel, even his breathing subconsciously slowed down.

At this time, the Imperial Censor stood up.

"Your Majesty, I think it would be better to ask His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to personally bring military supplies to the southern border camp and comfort the soldiers on Your Majesty's behalf. This would firstly demonstrate the emperor's great grace and secondly, serve as a sign of comfort."

Hearing this, many ministers agreed.

"I second this motion."

Even Emperor Shunhe began to secretly ponder the feasibility.

The prince refused without even thinking.

"Father!"

As soon as he shouted it out, the prince realized that he was too impatient, but at this moment he could only bite the bullet and continue speaking.

He had a guilty look on his face and spoke earnestly.

"Of course I am willing to share your worries, Father, but the annual sacrificial ceremony is approaching, and I really can't get away!"

Just kidding, if we were to say who the Cheng family army hates the most now, apart from Nanjiang who killed Marquis Pingnan, it would be the Dayin royal family.

If he went to the southern border, wouldn't the Cheng family soldiers, who were filled with hatred, tear him into pieces? !

Emperor Shunhe nodded slightly, his face showing no emotion, but his palms, which had just been clenched, loosened slightly.

"The sacrifice cannot be delayed."

Moreover, he was worried about letting the prince go to the border. After all, there were 300,000 troops there. If...

Emperor Shunhe narrowed his eyes slightly.

The 300,000-strong army must not be out of control!

Hearing the prince's words, the Imperial Censor took a deep breath, looked at him with a look of regret, and closed his eyes heavily.

How foolish!

Why did he only see the danger and not the opportunity?

The Cheng family army was leaderless now, so what if they were loyal to the Pingnan Marquis' Mansion?

The Cheng family has all died out, don't they still have to consider the future?

If His Royal Highness could take advantage of this opportunity to recruit him for his own use, how much of a help would it be for both the Crown Prince and Dayin?

Just wanting to get the benefits without paying the price?

Where in the world is there such a good thing? !

One of the father and son is timid and the other... is really...

I'm confused!

Emperor Shunhe's eyes swept over the ministers one by one.

"Where is the Minister of Personnel?"

Someone replied.

"Your Majesty, Minister Sun has suddenly fallen ill and has asked for leave for a few days."

Emperor Shunhe frowned slightly, the air pressure around him dropped, and asked again.

"Where is Meng Can, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War?"

Someone else whispered back.

"Minister Meng is also on sick leave."

Shunhedi gripped the armrests of the chair tightly and gritted his teeth.

"Yeah?"

If they are not allowed to resign, they will just claim to be sick, right?

"Your Majesty! I am willing to go to the southern border camp!"

An old man with white hair and beard walked into the hall. He was none other than General Zhou, who had just returned to Beijing from the southern border camp three days ago to report.

"Ahem."

"Your Majesty, I, as an old minister, request your permission to go to the southern border camp to stabilize the Cheng family army on behalf of Your Majesty and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Emperor Shunhe's eyes flickered, and he looked at General Zhou with a worried look on his face.

"Is General Zhou feeling better?"

General Zhou covered his mouth and coughed twice, his face still pale.

"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I am fine."

Emperor Shunhe sighed helplessly.

"General Zhou is old and has just returned to the capital after a long journey. I really can't bear to see him suffer from the bumpy ride again, but right now, General Zhou is the only one who is most suitable to handle this matter."

General Zhou knelt on the ground.

"To relieve your majesty's worries, I will not hesitate to die!"

Hearing this, Emperor Shunhe nodded with satisfaction.

"Immediately announce the order! Appoint General Zhou Huai as the Grand Marshal of the Southern Border Army, to take up the post immediately!"

General Zhou kowtowed and accepted the order.

"I accept your order. Thank you."

Although the Imperial Censor felt regretful, he could do nothing about it.

Well, fortunately General Zhou does not belong to any faction.

If the Cheng family army fell into his hands, although it would not be a help to the prince, it would never be used by other princes.

So, this is good news.

The prince felt even more relieved.

For a moment, it seemed that the entire court was satisfied with the result.

But who would have thought that this was all part of someone's plan?

…

Beihuang City, thousands of miles away.

"Yijiang, let's go back. I'm a little scared."

Suddenly coming to a strange environment, Yu An's eyes were full of anxiety.

Chen Yjiang turned around and pulled him forward.

"Don't be afraid, I will protect you!"

Through Zaizai's perspective, Anluo saw the scene in Beihuang City clearly for the first time.

The streets were full of people in ragged clothes and in a miserable state.

These people had numb expressions and dead eyes, like the walking dead.

Seeing this, Anluo felt inexplicably heavy.

There may be some extremely sinful and vicious people here, but how many of them are loyal and good people who have been framed by the North like the Cheng family?

"Little kid, this is not the place for you to come."

Yu An looked in the direction of the voice and saw an old man with white hair and wearing coarse linen clothes, looking at him with a smile.

Yu An tilted his little head and asked him.

"Who are you?"

The old man smiled and shook his head.

"It doesn't matter who I am, what matters is who you are."

Then he squatted down and looked at Yu An, and whispered in a voice that only the three of them could hear clearly.

"Little Cheng, you shouldn't have sneaked out."

Yu An's eyes widened in horror, and he subconsciously took several steps back, his mouth wide open.

"How do you know?!"