Chapter 542: End (3)
Editor: Atlas Studios
The ministers did not speak, but the Second Prince saw that they were somewhat resistant. He narrowed his eyes slightly.
Obviously, the officials who let Qi Xiuyuan and General Yuan pass did not acknowledge him as the Emperor.
At this moment, outside the city, Qi Xiuyuan was reading a secret letter. After burning the letter, he said with a smile to Rong Xuan, “My wife and the children are very safe.”
Beaming, Rong Xuan said, “Congratulations, General.” He lowered his eyes and thought for a moment before saying, “But Lord Qi is still in Lin’an City.”
Qi Xiuyuan lowered his eyes and said, “General Yuan’s family is inside. We just need to follow General Yuan.”
Rong Xuan nodded. As it was not the time yet, this was indeed the best solution.
“Is there any news of the Eighth and Tenth Princes?”
Rong Xuan shook his head. “Our men haven’t found them. They’ve already lost track of them. Should we send more people?”
Qi Xiuyuan thought for a moment and shook his head. “Forget it. They’re just two children. Let’s deal with the matters in Lin’an City first.”
Unlike Qi Xiuyuan, General Yuan had sent most of his men out to find the two princes.
He would never allow the Second Prince, who had killed his father and brothers, to become the Emperor. With that in mind, he could only find the two princes and help them ascend the throne.
After General Yuan sent his men out, he finally had the time to send a message to Qi Xiuyuan and ask him to come over to discuss something important.
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Qi Xiuyuan openly brought only a group of people to General Yuan’s camp. This satisfied General Yuan and earned his admiration.
General Yuan assumed that Qi Xiuyuan wanted to assist the little prince in ascending the throne as much as he did, so he only exchanged a few pleasantries before cutting to the chase. He planned to surround the city and only launch an attack after all the loyalist forces arrived. Aside from capturing the rebels and West Xia cavalrymen in the city, they had to find the two little princes as soon as possible. After all, the country could not be without a ruler for a day.
After a moment of silence, Qi Xiuyuan agreed. However, he suggested joining forces with General Yuan to enter the city and save the families of the generals.
Qi Xiuyuan was worried. “General, this is embarrassing, but my eldest son is only two years old this year, and I haven’t seen him since he was born…”
General Yuan’s eyes reddened when he thought of his aged mother, wife and grandson who were trapped in Lin’an City. He patted Qi Xiuyuan’s shoulder sympathetically and said, “Alright, but I don’t have many people here…”
General Yuan found it difficult to speak. His power was greater than Qi Xiuyuan’s, and he had been in power longer than him. He had more manpower and was more skilled than him, but most of his men had been sent out to find the two princes. Thus, there were very few people who could be spared. Therefore, to save them, he would probably need more manpower from Qi Xiuyuan’s side.
Qi Xiuyuan clearly did not expect such a situation. He sighed in his heart that General Yuan was indeed devoted to the Great Zhou. He could only try his best to mobilize manpower and secretly infiltrate Lin’an City.
Fortunately, Fan Zijin was still inside, and the operatives they had previously nurtured were also hidden within the city. After sending people into the city, they waited for the arrival of other loyalist forces while anticipating news from within the city walls.
The Second Prince acted very quickly. The next day, he invited Madam Shen and Qi Feng to the city tower and let General Yuan and Qi Xiuyuan enter the city alone to have an audience with them.
Neither of them was willing to acknowledge the Second Prince as the Emperor, so the term ‘have an audience’ probably didn’t apply.
Not to mention that they wouldn’t be able to come out after entering alone, so General Yuan and Qi Xiuyuan just looked at the people on the city gate tower with red eyes and didn’t say a word.
The Second Prince’s envoy had been threatening them using Madam Shen and Qi Feng for a long time. When he saw that the two of them were completely indifferent, he was furious. However, not daring to really push the two of them down or behead them, he could only turn around and get someone to report to the Second Prince.
On the other hand, Shen Mu and Rong Xuan had finally drafted a denunciation with their advisors, listing the Second Prince’s sins and indicating that they were following the Way of Heaven by crusading against the Second Prince.
The Second Prince’s response was simple and rough. He wanted General Yuan and General Qi to ask their men to retreat 20 miles away first. Otherwise, he would kill one of their family members each until they retreated.
General Yuan’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets. His heart was filled with pain and hatred, but there was nothing he could do. The next day, when he saw his young grandson on the city wall, he could only wave his hand and ask his men to retreat and station themselves 20 miles away. Even so, he still brought troops to surround the city every day.
This time, the Second Prince did not threaten them again. After two days, when General Guo and the rest of the loyalist forces arrived, the Second Prince’s envoy quietly left the city and entered the generals’ tents.
Including General Yuan and Qi Xiuyuan.
Qi Xiuyuan watched the envoy’s back disappear before he slowly exhaled. Then, he turned around and walked towards the small dirt slope at the side. Standing on it, he asked, “Jinyu, what do you think General Yuan will choose?”
Rong Xuan lowered his head and thought for a moment. “That position is too tempting. Although General Yuan is loyal to the country, he often goes against the previous Emperor’s decree. I can’t grasp his thoughts. Besides, even if General Yuan doesn’t have such thoughts, his subordinates might have them too.”
“General Yuan cherishes his reputation very much.” Qi Xiuyuan said meaningfully, “If we can save the Yuan family and stage an uprising before he did, do you think General Yuan will still raise the flag to fight with us?”
Frowning, Rong Xuan contemplated his words. General Yuan indeed cherished his reputation very much, in fact even more so than his own life. If they did him this favor, it might just work.
“But we don’t have full confidence. I wonder if Young Master Zijin…”
“No.” Qi Xiuyuan refused. “We can’t involve Zijin in this matter. We don’t have enough manpower.” He thought for a moment and said, “Order Bai Li to come over immediately. Since the envoy has just arrived, we can delay for about three days. We must save the hostages within three days.”
“Then what about Madam and Young Master…”
“There’s Ah Ling. Bai Li is good at hiding and killing, while Ah Ling is good at defense. With her around, Bai Li is dispensable.”
Rong Xuan immediately agreed and sent a messenger pigeon for Bai Li to rush over immediately.
At this moment, General Yuan, who had also sent off the envoy, seemed to have aged five years. Yuan Zhao walked in quickly and shouted, “Father.”
General Yuan said tiredly, “The two princes are dead. They died at the hands of the West Xia people. The other princes in Lin’an City are all… In the entire Great Zhou, the only prince left alive is the Second Prince.”
Yuan Zhao was silent for a moment before saying, “Father, the Guo family still has other clans. The late Emperor was not the son of Emperor Gong back then. He’s just his nephew.”
General Yuan pulled himself together slightly.
Yuan Zhao lowered his eyes and said in a low voice, “Father, the most important thing now is to save Grandmother and Mother. Otherwise, we won’t be able to attack with the Second Prince holding the hostages.”
General Yuan nodded slightly. “Call everyone back and think of a way to sneak into the city. We must save them.”
Yuan Zhao was a little anxious. “It will probably take two to three days for our men to rush back. Considering the fatigue of the army, I’m afraid mistakes will be made. Father, why don’t we ask General Qi for help? Aren’t his men already in the city? Grandmother is old, I’m afraid she won’t be able to wait long.”
General Yuan sighed and nodded. “I’ll go see General Qi tomorrow.”
The upper echelons of the various armies already knew that other than the Second Prince, all the princes had died. They also knew that even the Eighth and Tenth Princes, who had originally escaped, had been found and killed by the West Xia people. As a result, everyone’s hearts wavered and they became restless.