The Crown Prince led a young eunuch out of the palace the next day, and then had Manbao put on his clothes and brought her into the palace.
Manbao stood between two eunuchs with her head lowered, following the Crown Prince into the palace. The Empress was startled upon seeing Manbao, then turned to look at the Crown Prince, whose face remained composed.
She sighed and reached out to take Manbao’s pulse anyway.
After administering acupuncture to Manbao and changing the Empress’s prescription, Manbao instructed her to relax before the Crown Prince’s n escorted her out. She removed her outer garnt in the carriage at the palace gate and handed it to the young eunuch who had been waiting outside, then went ho with the guards who ca to pick her up.
The Eastern Palace was within the imperial palace, and the Crown Prince could co and go freely, but recently, with the Empress Dowager being gravely ill, most of the imperial sons and grandsons were tending to her in the palace.
Even the Third Prince, who was about to establish his own fief, kept finding excuses to enter the palace. Now that the Crown Prince was entering and exiting the imperial palace every day, it naturally attracted attention.
Though no one could find out where the Crown Prince was going, it was this lack of knowledge that fueled their suspicions.
Therefore, after the appearance of morials on the Emperor’s desk accusing the Crown Prince of being unable to control his emotions and having a violent temper, more officials presented morials criticizing the Crown Prince for being unfilial, neglecting to attend to the Empress Dowager and the Empress during their illnesses, and always leaving the palace for leisure.
Knowing this, the Crown Prince just rolled his eyes and ignored it.
In recent years, morials impeaching him sprung up like weeds in the springti—impossible to eradicate completely. He would actually feel uncomfortable without any such morials against him.
The Emperor also ignored it and suppressed the morials.
How could he not know why the Crown Prince was leaving the palace, even if others didn’t?
Seeing that their morials were not getting any response, two of the officials got annoyed and bluntly rebuked the Emperor in their morials, admonishing him.
They believed that the Crown Prince’s unruly and incorrigible behavior stemd from the Emperor’s indulgence. If you were stricter, would your son turn out this way?
If it were just your own son, that would be one thing, but he is not just your son. He is the Crown Prince, the heir apparent.
If the heir apparent behaves like this, what will beco of the nation and the people in the future?
Wei Zhi, who was on duty at the Central Secretariat that day, felt that this morial was very well-written, so he specially marked it and sent it to the Emperor.
Emperor: ...
The Emperor set the morial aside, continuing to ignore it, as nothing was more pressing than the matters of Yizhou at the mont.
He picked up a secret report; it was news from the people who had followed the Prince of Yizhou out of the capital. They had been spotted; a skirmish occurred on the road, and the Prince of Yizhou had escaped, but they had lost most of their n and couldn’t keep up.
The Emperor’s expression turned grim, calculating the ti, by now the Prince of Yizhou should have already entered the territory of Jiannan Road, but it was uncertain whether Yin Li would be able to stop him outside Yizhou.
The Emperor was unaware that the Prince of Yizhou had not returned to Yizhou at all, but was instead heading towards Maozhou.
And Yin Li wasn’t in Yizhou either; he was in Maozhou as well.
Yang Heshu parted the branches in front of him and climbed up to the middle of the mountain slope. Yin Li, who was standing at the edge of the mountain surveying the landscape from above, turned and nodded slightly: "Zhangbo has arrived."
Yang Heshu bowed, "Lord Yin."
He walked over to Yin Li, and also looked down, but could only see dense forests, nothing else.
Yang Heshu couldn’t help but look back at Yin Li.
Yin Li unfolded the map in his hand and showed it to him, pointing to a spot and saying, "Our n, disguised as hunters, roughly scouted the periter of these mountains. It is now certain that the person is hiding in this area."
"Have people returned?"
"One ca back, two did not. They are likely gone," Yin Li said with little change in his expression. "Based on the tracks, the food that was recently sent in can sustain two thousand eight hundred people for a month."
Yang Heshu furrowed his brow, "So many people are hidden in these mountains?"
Yin Li said, "Don’t underestimate this mountain range. Look at these continuous peaks and the dense trees. It could hide not just twenty-eight thousand but a hundred thousand people without much notice—the only question is whether the Prince of Yizhou has that much food."
"The people we’ve sent to pose as hunters are proficient scouts, but even they dare not venture too deep. Ferocious beasts are the least of their worries compared to the countless venomous insects and snakes, and the risk of getting lost, all of which can be fatal."
Yang Heshu finally understood, "No wonder they have hidden them here."
"Exactly, hiding in these deep mountains, even if there are nearby villages, they can be easily deceived. So people in the small villages might spend their whole lives without leaving the mountains once, and any excuse we make up can fool them easily."
Even if they can’t be fooled, killing them is an option. As long as soone is paid to deliver the village tax to the County Governntal Office annually, there’s assurance no suspicions will arise within.
If the state and counties are also taken care of, then there’s even less of a problem.
Yang Heshu asked, "Lord Yin, when do you plan to take action?"
Yin Li put away the map and said, "No rush."
Yang Heshu frowned.
Yin Li had brought out a total of fifty thousand troops this ti, leaving twenty thousand in Yizhou City for County Magistrate Tang, as that was after all the Prince of Yizhou’s stronghold that needed defense.
The remaining thirty thousand were here, consuming no small amount of provisions even on days without marching.
Humans have to eat, and so do horses.
Yang Heshu asked, "What is Lord waiting for?"
"Waiting for soone," said Yin Li, "waiting for one person."
Before Yang Heshu could ask who, a scout suddenly ca running up from the base of the mountain, knelt down, and handed a piece of intelligence to Yin Li.
After glancing at it, Yin Li handed it to Yang Heshu and said, "The person we’ve been waiting for has arrived."
Yang Heshu took it and his expression shifted slightly, "The Prince of Yizhou has arrived?"
He looked up, his eyes sharp as he viewed Yin Li with disapproval, "Why must Lord Yin wait for the Prince of Yizhou to arrive before taking action? That will cost us more and might even lead to a military disaster..."
Acting early, telling the secret army in the mountains that the Prince of Yizhou has been captured, would leave them headless. With further disarray sown among their ranks, they could be taken down with minimal cost.
But it’s different if the Prince of Yizhou arrives. With a leader, their combat power could rise tenfold, and that’s putting it simply.
Moreover, once we step out of these mountains, there’s the extensive farmland and villages of Maozhou—a battle between two armies there...
Yin Li said, "Only this way can we eradicate the root of future problems, and also give an explanation to the heroes of the world."
Yang Heshu wasn’t convinced, but Yin Li didn’t care about his opinion. Instead, he pointed to a Colonel and said, "Lord Yang, this is Captain Song. He will command a thousand n who will obey your orders. After nightfall, you can lead them away from this mountain. Do as you wish."
Yang Heshu’s face showed displeasure.
However, Yin Li’s gaze was resolute; he reached out and patted Yang Heshu’s shoulder, saying, "How many people you can save will depend on your capability, Lord Yang."
Yang Heshu, unlike Bai Shanzhou and Zhou Man, who were still naive and innocent youths, understood Yin Li’s intention imdiately. He intended to leave the main force connected to the Prince of Yizhou trapped here.
This strategy would allow for decisive action, avoiding all the trouble of later interrogations and sentences.
Otherwise, given the status of the Prince of Yizhou, this case could drag on for half a year, and in the end, the Prince of Yizhou would likely be demoted to commoner status and exiled at most.
But as a royal relative, even if reduced to a beggar, people would probably still follow him.
Clearly, Yin Huo intended to cut off this perpetual trouble, which was why he had been holed up in these mountains for so long.
Yang Heshu refrained from further persuasion and, taking Captain Song with him, returned to his tent. He couldn’t leave yet.
User Comments
0 comments from readers