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In the Hall of Golden Luang, the officials and ministers fell silent for a moment.
Someone couldn’t wait to speak out, “Your Majesty, although General Qin died heroically, during the battle between the Northern Army and the Qianghu, General Qin, for his own selfish interests, abused his power, neglected his duties, and caused unnecessary casualties by sacrificing too many soldiers. The Qin family must be held accountable for this!”
The officials were completely taken aback by the audacity of the person who dared to be so confrontational at this moment. After all, the Qin family had been guarding the borders for so many years, even if they had not achieved great success, they had certainly endured hardships…
Looking closer, it was Yan Hua, it was you? Tsk, the Xie-Zhao-Qin-Lu factions are at it again?
Lu Desheng glanced over, your Xie family really knows how to kick someone when they’re down, you won’t stop until you’ve completely destroyed the Qin family, right? He rolled up his sleeves, ready to confront Yan Hua, who had no shame.
“Do you know anything about warfare? How dare you assert that the deaths of the soldiers were in vain? What if General Qin achieved the goal of annihilating the enemy by sacrificing the minimum number of soldiers?” Lu Desheng retorted without hesitation.
Yan Hua stiffened his neck and said, “I may not know much about warfare, but I do know that Qin Yue’s eagerness to shift blame and his impatience led to reckless actions! He could have achieved the same goal of annihilating the enemy with even fewer casualties!”
Lu Desheng bluntly fired back, “If you don’t know about warfare, then keep your mouth shut! What do you know?”
Yan Hua’s actions were naturally instigated by Xie Zhan. He truly intended to bring down the Qin family, and by supporting the Fourth Prince, he was showing his loyalty and protection.
He could have bribed other officials instead of using Yan Hua, but he had to consider Emperor Kang Cheng’s current impression of him. The Emperor already knew that the Xie family had sided with the Fourth Prince, and he couldn’t let Emperor Kang Cheng think that he was too calculating and meticulous.
Emperor Kang Cheng naturally understood that the Xie family was helping the Fourth Prince to crush the Qin family. Seeing that Yan Hua was still planning to continue, he raised his hand again, indicating that the matter should be temporarily set aside. It wasn’t urgent; the Qin family would be dealt with later, and no one would escape punishment.
Yan Hua felt uncomfortable in his heart. The Emperor was truly biased, why did he interrupt his words instead of Lu Desheng’s? He had just been retorted by Lu Desheng and didn’t have a chance to strike back, the Emperor was not giving him any opportunity at all!
The Fourth Prince, who had been silent all this time, sighed inwardly. The Qin family’s reaction was too swift. If they had followed Xue Huaimin’s plan, the best outcome would have been the death of the Crown Prince, leading to the Emperor’s sudden death. Then, he could blame both the Crown Prince’s death and the Emperor’s death on the Qin family, enough to bring about the downfall of the Qin family.
But things were not developing as they had anticipated. Qin Yue was too decisive; his death was enough to halt all accusations, and the situation was not escalating as they had expected.
A minister expressed his concerns, “Your Majesty, we mourn the death of the Crown Prince, but for the stability of the nation, it is necessary to appoint a new Crown Prince.”
Emperor Kang Cheng nodded and revealed his second purpose for the court session, “The immediate priority now is to appoint a Crown Prince. Let’s discuss and decide on who should be appointed.”
Some ministers exchanged glances; with the Crown Prince deceased, the position of Crown Prince was vacant, presenting an opportunity.
The ministers looked at the Second Prince, who was crying uncontrollably, and the slightly teary-eyed Fourth Prince, silently calculating in their hearts.
“Your Majesty, should we summon Prince Cheng back to the capital?” a minister suggested.
Prince Cheng was the Third Prince who had already been assigned to a fief.
“Prince Cheng is already on his way back to Chang’an,” Emperor Kang Cheng replied. Feeling unwell, he then said, “Think about the appointment of the Crown Prince and we will discuss it next time. For now, the court is adjourned!”
The Fourth Prince was taken aback; the Emperor could have directly announced his appointment as Crown Prince, why…
Wei Zili quickly went forward to support Emperor Kang Cheng as they left.
At that moment when Emperor Kang Cheng left, his face looked defeated. As the ministers left the court, despite whatever schemes they may have in mind, they all appeared solemn and somber.
After the court session, Lu Desheng did not return home but headed towards the palace. He had to meet the Emperor as they had agreed yesterday. He had originally planned to leave the palace quickly and deliver the news of General Qin’s death to his daughter. However, he realized that the Emperor had already mentioned it during the morning court session, so there was no need for him to do so personally; his daughter and the Qin family would already know.
At this moment, the Empress Dowager was in the Emperor’s Yuqi Palace.
A palace servant came to report, “Your Majesty, Lord Lu requests an audience.”
Before Emperor Kang Cheng could give his order, the Empress Dowager interrupted, “What does he want? Don’t see him!”
Emperor Kang Cheng was helpless; his mother still disliked Lu Desheng as always.
So, Lu Desheng received the palace servant’s response: “Lord Lu, please return. His Majesty will not see you.”
Lu Desheng: ??? Impossible! The Emperor wouldn’t be…
Seeing him dazed, the palace servant, remembering that Lu Desheng had never made things difficult for them when he was favored, looked around and whispered, “Lord Lu, the Empress Dowager is in the Emperor’s palace.”
Understanding, he realized that the Empress Dowager was trying to make things difficult for him.
He needed to go see his daughter! He knew his daughter had just married into the Qin family yesterday, but he couldn’t care less. At such a critical moment, the Empress Dowager was too hostile towards his family. They needed to take precautions!
Moreover, why couldn’t he go? His daughter had married into the Qin family, not sold to them! He wanted to go, so he would go, just like that.
Qin Family
On their wedding night, after Qin Sheng sent off the guests and returned to their courtyard, he fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.
Lu Songli understood he must be extremely tired after nine days of running around.
When she woke up in the morning, she found that Qin Sheng was already up and his gaze towards her was somewhat off.
“What’s wrong?”
Qin Sheng struggled to resist the urge to rub his shoulders. He had only slept for about two hours last night and then couldn’t fall back asleep. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to sleep, but after catching a bit of rest, his sleep was not as deep. Plus, he was constantly disturbed and couldn’t sleep again.
To put it simply, he had been kicked awake in the middle of the night. He discovered that her sleeping posture was really bad. Not only was he kicked, but he was also pushed! Later, when she seemed to be subconsciously unable to get comfortable, she came closer, hugged his arm, rested her head on his neck, and draped her legs over him, clinging to him like an octopus!
Qin Sheng deeply suspected, was this really the sleeping posture of a noble lady?
At this moment, a voice came from outside the door, “Sixth Young Master, Sixth Young Mistress, the Eldest Young Master requests your presence—”
Since Mo Bing accompanied the bride, she needed to change her address.
The couple exchanged glances; something was wrong. The elder brother wasn’t the kind of person who would have no manners, so if he came to invite them so early, something must have happened!
When Lu Songli and Qin Sheng arrived, they saw Qin Heng sitting in the main seat. He looked up from the letter, his eyes red, “You’ve come? Sit anywhere. Wait for your third brother.”
It wasn’t long before Qin Sanlang also arrived, evidently also hastily awakened. Last night, he and the elder brother had been arranging the mourning hall and hadn’t slept until very late.
“Father was killed in battle,” Qin Heng said as he handed the letter to Qin Sanlang.
“How could this be?” Qin Sanlang murmured in disbelief as he took the letter and began reading.
“Brother?” Qin Sheng suddenly looked up at his elder brother. “Is this not true?”
Qin Heng turned his face away, unable to bear it. “It’s true.”
With his words, tears streamed down Qin Sheng’s face!
Dying in battle—Lu Songli pondered these words. These words are as final as a coffin lid. This is the better outcome; at least it won’t be classified as suicide due to guilt.
After reading the letter, the three Qin brothers’ eyes were red. They all knew that their father died protecting them.
Lu Songli also lowered her head sadly. Her father-in-law was admirable, whether in defending the country or protecting his family, he was self-sacrificing.
After a while, everyone managed to calm down. The fate of the Qin family now depended on the emperor’s decision. However, their actions were limited. Qin Yue, as the head of the family, had done what he could. They discussed what they could do next.
“Elder brother, does the emperor know about this?” Lu Songli asked. Her father-in-law died in battle on the fifteenth, which was yesterday. They received the news early this morning, most likely through carrier pigeons?
“The emperor uses carrier eagles, so he probably knew even earlier than us.” Pigeons can’t compare to eagles in speed.
Lu Songli sent someone out to inquire and soon received a reply. The officials who attended the morning court hadn’t returned home or gone to their offices, indicating that the emperor had convened the court. Thus, the emperor had received news from the northern borders.
“Let’s find a suitable time to tell Mother,” she suggested. It’s better for her to hear it from us than to find out by surprise.
“Alright.”
As Lu Songli and Qin Sheng left their elder brother’s courtyard and were on their way back to their own quarters, Lu Songli asked Qin Sheng, “Can you help me with something?” Besides Qin Sheng, she couldn’t think of anyone who could bypass the palace guards’ strict surveillance.
“Of course.”
“You need to…”
Xue Residence
Qin Sheng avoided the gaze of all palace guards and appeared in Xue Huaimin’s bedroom.
“Qin Sheng?”
“Lord Xue.”
Xue Huaimin, trembling, took a couple of sips from the cup on the low cabinet by the bedside.
Qin Sheng: “Lord Xue should be able to guess why I’m here.” This was something his wife had taught him to say; he didn’t really understand it himself.
Xue Huaimin gave a self-deprecating smile. “Yes, I guessed.” After plotting for half a lifetime, it all amounts to nothing.
Xue Huaimin was not foolish. He had sensed something was wrong in the past few days, especially the night before when he inexplicably came down with a fever and couldn’t get out of bed or attend the court. On closer inspection, he found that his residence had been under surveillance by the palace guards. Information could come in, but not go out. Moreover, he knew the Fourth Prince was unharmed. What else was there to understand? The emperor was clearly trying to punish him.
“The Fourth Prince has decided to follow the new strategist’s plan and abandon you. Lord Xue, you’re clever enough not to hold any illusions, right?”
“I know why you’re here. You want the incriminating evidence I’ve collected on other officials in the court, right? But why should I hand it over? I, Xue Huaimin, have brought trouble upon myself, but the Qin family’s troubles are not small either.”
“Lord Xue, I think we can cooperate. You’ve been plotting for the Fourth Prince for so long, doing so much, only to be abandoned by him in the end, with the peaches picked by others. Don’t you resent this? Moreover, Lord Xue, you must anticipate the outcome for yourself and your people in the Xue residence. Don’t you want to preserve a bloodline for yourself?”
Xue Huaimin laughed, “Do you think you can save the lives of the children in my household?”
“No, but we can cooperate. At least you can protect what’s in Xinghua Hutong. Lord Xue, helping the Qin family is also helping yourself.”
The smile on Xue Huaimin’s face disappeared. He stared intensely at Qin Sheng, “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that cooperation benefits both parties. For Lord Xue, it means preserving what’s in Xinghua Hutong.”
Xue Huaimin laughed again, “You’ve convinced me, or rather, your backer has convinced me.” Since his lifeline was in someone else’s hands and they promised revenge, why wouldn’t he agree?
Qin Sheng frowned. Was Xue Huaimin trying to deceive him?
Xue Huaimin ignored him, stood up, and went to the Duobao Pavilion nearby. Shortly after, he came out with a brocade box and handed it to him.
Qin Sheng accepted it.
In the end, Xue Huaimin couldn’t help but say, “It was Lu Songli who sent you to find me, wasn’t it? The Qin family really has a good wife.”
What Xue Huaimin didn’t say was that he had once suggested to the Fourth Prince to marry Lu Songli after everything was settled. The Qin family was too loyal—they were skilled in warfare but naive in political maneuvering. The fact that Qin Sheng came to find him today undoubtedly meant that his wife, Lu Songli, was behind it.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Qin Sheng frowned. He didn’t want to reveal her, not because he wanted to hide her achievements but because he wanted to protect her.
Xue Huaimin snorted twice, not exposing him but saying one last thing, “Tell Lu Songli to be careful of Xie Zhan.” He already knew who had stabbed him in the back and taken what belonged to him. He was looking forward to Lu Songli and the Qin family helping him get his revenge.