Chapter 154
Chapter 154
11.10 – It was really too frustrating!!!
editors: alamerysl & Macabre
“What happened?” Li Yuan lifted his robes as he came in. He frowned at the mess in the imperial study, and wondered why Ji Ronghan was becoming more and more irritable these days. “Why did you hurt him?”
“Ying Sheng is rebelling!” Ji Ronghan felt like his breath was stuck in his chest and spoke angrily, “What did you say back then? You said that as long as he had glory and wealth, he would not make a move against us in the near future?! The South is spreading word that my ascension to the throne was improper, and that without the imperial jade seal and tiger insignia, it is not recognized by the heavens! He is clearly building up momentum! If he really kills his way to the Capital, how will our soldiers hold up against him? Do you want me pulled down from my position to flee the Capital the same way Ji Yunhua did?!”
Li Yuan frowned and spoke to the subordinate who was still kneeling on the floor. “Withdraw first.”
“Yes…” The man remained bowed down low as he retreated backwards.
Li Yuan slowly began to pick things up from the ground and said, “Your Majesty, there’s no point being so anxious. Even if you rush to act, those who would fight their way over would still do so. For the sake of today, you can only prepare as quickly as possible. That would be better than having no plan of resistance and appearing as though you made no effort when they arrive.”
“The surface of the river will thaw with the onset of spring, and ships from the South will be able to come up to the Capital directly. What kind of preparations can We make? Shall we go out to sea to intercept them?” Ji Ronghan threw himself into the chair, gripped the armrest tightly, and spoke angrily, “This is all Ji Yunhua’s fault!”
Li Yuan frowned. He had changed Ji Ronghan’s fate and the future had turned muddy and unclear. In his previous life, Ji Yunhua had not been on the throne for long, and there had been no information about how he died. The court had been under Deng Shi’s control, and there were other forces in the Capital vying for power. Later on, the news he received from the Capital slowly dwindled after he left.
But according to the general information that he had obtained from his previous life, Ying Sheng should not have made a move so early.
Li Yuan was no longer certain about the choice he made back then. Ji Ronghan was not fit to be an Emperor; his heart was not steady, which made it easy for his views to change once he rose to power. He had pushed him into this position due to his own selfishness, and he still did not know if he had done the right thing. But if he were to allow Ying Sheng to kill his way to the Capital the way he had in his previous life, and then take over the country step by step, the peace that he wanted would become difficult to achieve.
Ying Sheng was good in all aspects, but his means were too sinister. He would not let off anything that threatened him, and once he decided to take the throne, he would wash this kingdom in blood. Back then, he had visited his elder brother in that battlefield as a spirit, and it was also during the battle that his elder brother had died. He knew what had happened to this kingdom because of that war, so he had been trying to prevent it from occurring.
Unexpectedly, he had calculated and plotted, but at the end he had missed a variable, Ji Yunhua…
Li Yuan smiled sadly and said, “No matter what happens, I will advance and retreat with Your Majesty.” He reached out to hold Ji Ronghan’s hand, but the other party simply shook him off. Li Yuan stayed where he was, watching as Ji Ronghan’s expressions became more and more unstable.
He let out a drawn out sigh. “Your Majesty, don’t overthink it. I’ll have someone tidy things up here first.”
Ji Ronghan maintained his silence. Li Yuan shook his head and did not try to talk to him again, instead, he turned around and left.
He did not salute, nor did he back out of the room. He still treated Ji Ronghan according to how they had interacted before, but Ji Ronghan was no longer the Xian King who lived on in dishonor and lay in the Capital like a poisonous snake, waiting for an opportunity to strike. He was now the Emperor who stood above all and held all the power in his hands.
Li Yuan did not know how wary Ji Ronghan was towards him at this moment. It was caused by how indifferent he seemed, or perhaps it was because he had interfered with his affairs too frequently these days.
Ji Ronghan had basically not visited the Empress’ Palace at all ever since the start of the new year. Although Li Yuan felt unhappy, he attributed it to the fact that he had only just assumed the throne and had too many things to attend to, causing him to be unable to slow down even during New Year, and had not said too much about it. Ji Ronghan was not nearly as good of a person as Li Yuan had assumed. The gap between him and Li Yuan seemed to be growing. Li Yuan’s elder brother, Li Fan, who was the one whose assistance had helped him take throne back then, was still in control of the military, and had not returned the troops to him.
When Li Yuan married Ji Ronghan, he naturally regarded him as a member of his family, and did not feel that there was anything wrong with his brother holding military power.
Exiting the door to the great hall, the attendant next to him rushed over to announce, “Gongzi, Yue Hua, who stays by senior gongzi’s side, is requesting an audience.”
Li Yuan nodded. He turned his head back to look at the imperial study and sighed rather helplessly.
Although he loved Ji Ronghan, he was not blinded by love. Perhaps choosing Ji Ronghan back then was not the best choice. Maybe he could take advantage of the fact that Ji Ronghan had not yet climbed out of the muddy waters in order to bring him out of this abyss and away from this situation.
Li Yuan’s head ached even more at the thought of what had occurred in the South recently.
He had already gradually become shaken from the firm stance that he had had at the beginning. If the South really planned to fight their way into the Capital, they had no chance of winning. Rather than sit here and wait to die like this, perhaps it would be better to agree to that person’s conditions, and make a deal with Ji Yunhua…
Spring began in March. The winter snow began to melt, and the ice on the river began to break apart. Many places turned muddy, and with the coming of spring, life started to reemerge and green began to appear before people’s eyes.
The army in Zhanjing had been assembled, and was waiting for the Zhennan King’s command. They were ready to kill their way up to the Capital.
Inside Zhennan Palace, the deputy generals helplessly watched as their Royal Highness paced back and forth in front of them. In their hearts, they were giving their own past selves all kinds of criticism.
After more than two months together, these people had become very familiar with Xue Ling, this youthful Emperor of theirs. At first, they had thought that he was just a little ger that Ying Sheng had taken a fancy to who might become their Princess in the future. But Ying Sheng had put an end to their delusion on the spot, and told them that this was the Emperor from the Capital, and what they needed to do was to put him back on his throne.
At the beginning, everyone had expressed that His Royal Highness must be kidding. A little ger?! Even if they first ignored what kind of identity he had, regardless of what he was, they couldn’t just push him to become an Emperor!!
Later, the people who expressed this idea were beaten up by their Royal Highness, and then beaten up again by Mu Ge. When all of them felt bitter but could say nothing about it, Xue Ling came out cheerfully, and beat them up again.
He beat them even more harshly than the other two, and had not shown mercy at all. The deputy generals all had psychological shadows in their hearts now, and were completely terrified of mentioning the fact that he was ger.
Xue Ling had concealed the matter of him beating them up from Mu Ge and Shu Heng, so they still treated Xue Ling like a vase that was easily broken. Every time the deputy generals saw them carefully protecting Xue Ling, they could feel their hearts clench in pain.
Later, the deputy generals learned that their General had fallen in love with the little Emperor, which was why he had become blue with anger and prepared to attack the Capital.
At the start, some people had been worried that their General had been fooled, and was being used by the little Emperor. They thought that after the little Emperor ascended the throne, their General would be tossed aside in the blink of an eye. Later, after spending more time together, they no longer felt thus. After all, they were always, inexplicably, being shown all kinds of shows of unconscious displays of affection, and understood that this kind of trickery would not happen between these two people.
Chen Jingzhen was different from the others. He seemed to have understood right from the start how important Xue Ling was to Ying Sheng. More importantly, he knew what kind of person Xue Ling was, and what Xue Ling’s plans for the future were.
Now that everything had changed, there was no problem if he did some things to move history forward, and there were no concerns about changing the course of history.
Therefore, he was glad that Xue Ling would become the Emperor. After all, Xue Ling promised that he would become the Prime Minister in the future after he ascended the throne. Chen Jingzhen was not a person who would be content to be left in a corner. Since he had travelled through time, he maintained his own ambitions. Just like how he had managed to persuade Ying Sheng to send troops to the Capital in the original story, he had never planned to stay in the South and spend his days enjoying a good life.
Xue Ling not only wanted to regain his throne. After he returned to power, he would naturally take back control over the Southern, Northern, and Western territories that belonged to Xue Kingdom. Preferably, he would widen the borders of his kingdom; Xue Ling had no plans to lazily while away the time after he had spent so much effort to regain the throne. Changing these four protagonists’ future would affect the fate of the entire dynasty. Only by doing this would he be able to thoroughly avoid the sufferings of the future.
“Xue gongzi is here.” The guard rushed in to report this message as soon as he saw Xue Ling’s carriage. When they heard his words, the people in the room straightened up, put serious expressions on their face, and righted their previously lazy attitudes.
“Since he’s arrived, let’s set out.” Ying Sheng stopped pacing, waved his hand, and spoke in a thunderous voice, “Send orders to the three armies. We’re setting out!”
“Yes!” Xue Ling’s arrival was like a signal. The deputy generals accepted their orders and turned around to leave the palace. Their horses were ready and waiting outside of the palace. One by one, they mounted their horses and called out loudly, row after row of soldiers following them to set out together.
Xue Ling went all the way into the palace, passing by a few deputy generals as he entered, and finally came face to face with Ying Sheng.
Instead of wearing his long scholar’s robes today, he was wearing fitted clothes that made him appear very neat and tidy, his long black hair tied into a ponytail. He looked much more energetic than usual. “You’ve sent down the order?”
Ying Sheng lifted his hand and fixed up the hair that had fallen over his forehead because he had been in a hurry. “Yes. The fleet will depart from the dock this afternoon.”
“Good.” Xue Ling curved his lips. “There has been news from the Capital. Li Yuan is willing to agree to that deal with us. When we disembark, his people will come to receive us. The arrangements within the palace have also been completed. They’re only waiting for our return.”
“He agreed so quickly?”
“I said this before. With Ji Ronghan’s character, once he ascends to the top, he will change to the point where no medicine can cure him. Li Yuan still loves him now, and asked me to spare his life, but I am certain that Ji Ronghan will not thank him.”
“I’m not like that. After you’ve regained that position, I will still like you very much.”
He had leaned in very close. Xue Ling stretched out his hand and pushed his face away. His face was expressionless as he said, “You’re not the one who will sit up there. If anyone were to change, it would be me.”
“No matter how you change, I would still like you.” Ying Sheng tugged on his hand and pulled him outside. “I can tolerate any change as long as you don’t leave me. You can be as capricious as you want. Even if you become a useless, self-indulgent ruler, I will still ensure that you can stay in that position safely and securely.”
Xue Ling was dissatisfied, “Who are you calling a useless, self-indulgent ruler?”
Chen Jingzhen, who had no sense of existence and had been following behind them: “…” He really wanted to kick over this bowl of dog food…
The army set out. The fleet broke through the ice floes on the river and sailed out of the Zhanjing dock. The common people all gathered around the shore to wave goodbye, and their cheers were particularly loud as they cheered for the true Dragon Emperor to retake his position. It was no longer like before, where they had not had justifiable reason to go to war, so everyone had their heads held high with pride.
The common people did not know what kind of ruler Xue Ling would be, but they trusted in Ying Sheng. The Zhennan King had provided them with a rich life that was free from worries, so the Emperor he chose to be loyal to would naturally also be able to bring them peace and happiness.
Unlike them, the leaders and factions from all sides were more inclined towards hoping that Ying Sheng would keep a firm hold on the Emperor and command the nobles in his name. After all, most people knew what kind of person Ji Yunhua was. They could only regret that Ji Yunhua had not fallen into their own hands. Otherwise, the ones who could make a move at this moment and send troops to the Capital without condemnation would be themselves.
Meanwhile, the person that everyone else regarded as a chess piece, Xue Ling… was currently lying in the cabin, pale and half dead, because his body could not handle the stress of sailing…
Really, what the hell was this! The system really had to choose a better body for him in the next world. What kind of weak-ass constitution was this, getting seasick at the drop of a hat!!!
It was really too frustrating!!!