The Rebirth of Han Yuxi

Chapter 0652 Enlistment

Four days later, the memorial finally reached the Emperorʼs desk. After reading it, the Emperor became so enraged that he fainted. Nothing had been going his way lately, and his temper had become increasingly volatile. Another blow like this was simply too much for him to handle.

Yuchen was practising calligraphy with Zhou Yan when Shiqin came running in, out of breath, crying: ”Wangfei, something terrible has happened! His Majesty has issued an edict to confiscate the Chiang familyʼs property!”

Having faced several shocks recently, Yuchen had developed excellent psychological resilience. She stood up and asked, ”What happened?”

Shiqin shook her head. ”The message came from one of Lord Shiziʼs personal attendants. Also, it was Marquis Tainingʼs Shizi, Chen Yu, who led the troops to carry out the raid. Wangfei, the news is probably true.”

When Yuchen heard the name Chen Yu, her expression changed drastically. He was one of the Emperorʼs most trusted confidants — if he was leading the raid, the matter was grave. ”Prepare the horses immediately. Iʼm going to the palace.” Due to her status, Yuchen could enter the palace and meet the Emperor directly without requesting an audience.

However, Momo Gui advised, ”Niangniang. Rushing into the palace might not be wise.” At worst, she might not only be unable to help, but also get dragged into it.

Yuchen shook her head. ”If I donʼt go to the Imperial Palace now, itʼll be too late.” Her cousins keeping a low profile lately and couldnʼt possibly have done anything that could bring Heavenʼs wrath and peopleʼs resentment. Besides, her Jiujiu was in Tong City — even if heʼd made a mistake, it shouldnʼt have led to a household raid. Something must have gone wrong with her Jiujiu. He had treated her even better than her own father. Now that the Chiang family was in trouble, how could she just stand by and do nothing?

MomoGui opened her mouth, but ended up saying nothing. ”Your Highness, Iʼll accompany you to the palace. I may not be of much help otherwise, but I can at least offer advice.”

Yuchen rushed to the Imperial Palace at top speed, and the Empress granted her an audience shortly after. The two sisters-in-law had always gotten along well, partly thanks to Empress Dowager Song. The Empress didnʼt hide anything and said, ”His Majesty received a memorial from Marquis Chiang. But he was shocked to read that the Marquis had defected to Yan Wushuang.” As for the insults directed at the Emperor, those had been omitted.

The Empress confided in Yuchen because she felt something about the letter was off. Even if Marquis Chiang had defected to Yan Wushuang, he would never be so foolish as to write a memorial to the Emperor admitting his betrayal. Besides, the Chiang family still had hundreds of relatives in the capital. Marquis Chiang wasnʼt the kind of man who would sacrifice his entire family just to save himself.

Yuchen immediately shook her head and said, ”Impossible! My Jiujiu would never betray the Imperial Court. He must have been framed.” Noticing the Empressʼs conflicted expression, she continued: ”Your Majesty, my Jiujiu is deeply filial towards my Waizumu, affectionate towards my Jiumu, and he dearly loves my Biaoge and Biaodi. He would never prioritise his own life over theirs. This must be one of Yan Wushuangʼs schemes.”

The Empress nodded slightly. ”Thatʼs what I told His Majesty as well. But the problem is, the memorial is in Marquis Chiangʼs handwriting.”

Without hesitation, Yuchen argued, ”Impossible — someone must have forged my uncleʼs handwriting.” That scoundrel Yan Wushuang was utterly despicable.

The Empress said, ”Donʼt be too anxious. My Zufu is in the imperial study right now, trying to persuade His Majesty. If this is a setup, justice will surely be done for Marquis Chiang.”

Grand Chancellor Yu had far greater insight than Yuchen and Yu Xiyu, the two women confined to the inner residence. He told the Emperor, ”If this old subject is not mistaken, this is a scheme by Yan Wushuang to sow discord. Either Yan Wushuang imprisoned Marquis Chiang, or he was already dead. If Your Majesty truly executes the hundreds of members of the Chiang family, the consequences will be endless.” If the Emperor acted without distinguishing between green, red, black, and white and orders the execution of the entire Chiang household based on just one memorial, without even an investigation, once the truth comes out, it would chill the hearts of all civil and military officials. Ultimately, that would be precisely what Yan Wushuang wanted.

The Emperor showed the second half of the memorial to the Grand Chancellor. ”Take a look — is this Marquis Chiangʼs handwriting?” The handwriting was identical — how could it be fake?

Grand Chancellor Yu glanced at it briefly and said, ”The handwriting does look like his, but the world is full of remarkable people — itʼs not unheard of to find someone who can mimic anotherʼs handwriting flawlessly. Your Majesty, this matter calls for careful deliberation. We mustnʼt fall into Yan Wushuangʼs trap.” Grand Chancellor Yu was already over sixty, nearly seventy and had failing eyesight, so asking him to verify the handwriting was practically a joke.

The Emperor was still hesitating.

Grand Chancellor Yu suggested, ”Your Majesty, as a precaution, letʼs imprison the Chiang family members for now. If itʼs confirmed that Marquis Chiang did defect, it wonʼt be too late to punish them then.” To execute the Chiang family, the evidence must be conclusive. Otherwise, the consequences would be dire.

Once he had calmed down, the Emperor realised that the Grand Chancellor had a point and nodded. ”Very well, then. Letʼs do as you suggest.”

Upon returning to the Yu residence, Grand Chancellor Yu told the Eldest Master Yu, ”Send someone to contact Yan Wushuang.” The fact that the Emperor could not recognise such an obvious divisionary scheme left Grand Chancellor Yu utterly disappointed. With an Emperor like this, how could they possibly outmanoeuvre Yan Wushuang?

The Eldest Master Yu asked, ”Dad, are you planning to ally with Yan Wushuang?”

Grand Chancellor Yu didnʼt hide his thoughts from his son as he replied, ”If he agrees, we can sit down and talk. If not, who the deer ends up with will be anyoneʼs guess.”

The Eldest Master Yu nodded. ”Very well, Iʼll have Liu Di handle it personally.”

Grand Chancellor Yu leaned back wearily in his chair. At his age, he should have retired by now. But the Emperor would never allow it, and Grand Chancellor Yu himself couldnʼt let go. Besides, the third generation of the Yu family hadnʼt grown strong enough yet to take on such great responsibilities.

Unrest was brewing in the capital, but Yun Qing was unaware of this. At that moment, he had just conquered Jinzhou, a strategically crucial area bordering Sichuan and Hubei. Although it was called a conquest, Yun Qing had not used a single soldier or even one pawn.

In the past, whenever Yun Qing conquered a place, he would first loot all the valuables and usable supplies before releasing the prisoners. This time, however, he did not free the captives because he needed to recruit soldiers. Fortunately, they now had money and provisions, so recruitment was no longer a concern.

That evening, Gao Song handed Yun Qing a letter. ”General, itʼs a letter from your wife.” Gao Song found it a bit strange that Madamʼs letter this time was very thin.

After reading the letter, Yun Qing looked visibly worried. Yuxiʼs message was all about business — no mention of family, Zaozao, or Liu-er. This didnʼt sit right with Yun Qing.

Gao Song asked cautiously, ”General, whatʼs the matter?”

Yun Qing turned and asked, ”Besides my wifeʼs letter, have any other letters arrived?” When Gao Song shook his head, Yun Qing became more uneasy.

After a momentʼs thought, Yun Qing went into his tent, wrote several letters, and handed them to Gao Song. ”Send these back to Yu City immediately.” If he hadnʼt been tied down here, he would have gone back himself.

Cui Mo asked Yun Qing, ”General, are we continuing the attack on Hancheng tomorrow?” Hancheng was not far from Jinzhou.

Yun Qing shook his head. ”Guan Tai and his thirty thousand troops are more than enough to take Hancheng.” If he had to lead every battle personally, wouldnʼt that be exhausting?

When Guan Tai returned, he happily told Yun Qing, ”General, in just three days, weʼve recruited fifteen thousand troops!”

Yun Qing repeated what he had just told Cui Mo. ”Hancheng is yours.” Taking Hancheng wouldnʼt be difficult, and Yun Qing was confident that Guan Tai could handle it.

Guan Tai didnʼt refuse. Standing tall and straight, he replied, ”Rest assured, General. I will complete this task flawlessly.”

Yun Qing stayed an extra day and then returned to Haocheng with fifty thousand troops. As soon as he arrived, he heard that Feng Dajun had arrived.

Upon seeing Feng Dajun, Yun Qing asked, ”You should be resting and recovering in Lanzhou. Why did you come?” Yuan Ying had managed to get out of bed after just half a month, but he still panted if he moved too quickly, which deeply worried Yun Qing.

Feng Dajun patted his chest with a smile and said, ”Donʼt worry, General — Iʼve fully recovered.” He had a strong constitution and had received excellent treatment. Although the physician had said it would take at least six months to recover, he was already more than halfway there, astonishing the physician who had declared it a miracle. In truth, it wasnʼt a miracle — people like them just healed faster than most.

Yun Qing said, ”It just so happens that Iʼm planning to send troops to attack Yanzhou and Linzhou. Can you handle that?”

Feng Dajun smiled and replied, ”Rest assured, General. Iʼll capture both places as quickly as possible.” He was only worried the General might still want him to rest. Truth be told, Feng Dajun felt regretful — he hadnʼt been able to take part in the battle for Haocheng due to his injury.

Yun Qing said, ”If we can resolve things peacefully without drawing blood, that would be ideal.” A peaceful solution would allow them to conserve their strength.

Feng Dajun nodded. Times were different now; this wasnʼt like fighting northern barbarians. ”Donʼt worry, General. I know where to draw the line.”

As they spoke, Gao Song hurried in and reported, ”General, Iʼve just received word that Lu Boda has sent a hundred thousand troops to attack Jinzhou.”

Yun Qing frowned upon hearing this news.

Feng Dajun said, ”Donʼt worry, General. Even if Gao Rushan canʼt handle Lu Gang, we still have Guan Tai. Lu Gang may be a fierce general, but Guan Tai is no weaker.” Then, looking puzzled, he added, ”Still, itʼs strange — Lu Boda is fairly well known. This move seems odd.” The Emperor issued the decree at the start of the year, yet Lu Bodaʼs army had just arrived in Jinzhou — something wasnʼt adding up.

Yun Qing smiled and said, ”Not strange at all. In the early first month, a major rebellion broke out in Shu. Lu Boda had his hands full — how could he spare troops to help Ji Xuan?” Shu was home to many ethnic minorities whom the imperial officials had severely exploited, so uprisings happened every year. Yun Qing didnʼt know what had sparked this particular uprising, but it had definitely delayed Lu Bodaʼs deployment.

A smile appeared on Feng Dajunʼs face, too. ”Itʼs good that the Emperor only ordered Lu Boda to send troops to support Ji Xuan. If he had called on Henan and Hubei to send reinforcements too, things wouldnʼt have gone so smoothly for us.” One had to admit — Heaven had favoured their general!

Yun Qing shook his head. ”The fact that the weather has been good throughout this campaign is Heavenʼs blessing. As for the other provinces not sending troops, thatʼs just self-interest.” Not only had the current Imperial Court lost the support of the people, but even local warlords with military power all had their own agendas.