Chapter 114

 

Compared with the inconveniences Hua Yang experienced following the troops, Prince Yu, who rebelled, lived much more comfortably in the army.

The war was the business of the Commander-in-chief Guo Jixian and his soldiers. Prince Yu only needed to march with the army. The young prince who usually indulged in pleasure had brought two beauties with him this time, not to mention the other maids, eunuchs and cooks who were serving. Originally, Prince Yu wanted to live even more leisurely life, such as bringing two more carriages full of singers, but Prince Jing was worried that this show of stupidity would seriously affect the morale.

Logically speaking, the late Emperor had just passed away and Prince Yu, who was still in mourning, should not even favor these two beauties, but he insisted on favoring them secretly. The sycophants around him dared not dissuade him, nor did they want to. Prince Jing, on the other hand, intentionally indulged him.

Prince Yu was not virtuous, and after the army captured the capital, Prince Jing would have the opportunity to reap the benefits of a fisherman, kill the donkey, and ascend the throne as the emperor himself.

Then again, if Prince Yu was a virtuous man, Prince Jing would not be able to instigate him to rebel, and Prince Yu would not be able to listen to him.

As night fell that day, when Prince Yu was drinking and having fun in his tent, Guo Jixian came to Prince Jing’s tent.

“The march went smoothly, dear brother, why are you frowning?” Prince Jing asked Guo Jixian to take a seat. He followed his beloved concubine Guo to address the general, treating Guo Jixian as if he was a family member.

Guo Jixian explained: “It just went too smoothly. In the important area surrounding the capital, the defenders should not be incompetent. However, the defenders we encountered along the way retreated quickly after the confrontation, as if they had no intention of fighting.”

Prince Jing smiled and said: “We have an army of 200,000. How could those local defenders with only tens of thousands of people dare to fight us? They just pretend so they’d be able to deal with the court in the future.”

If the rebellion failed, the entire prince mansion would follow him and lose its head. Prince Jing dared to start a rebellion at this time, the only chance of victory was the speed of his troops.

As long as he reached the capital before the army mobilized by the imperial court besieged him, and as long as he killed both the young emperor and Prince Yu, he, the uncle prince, would become the first choice to succeed and the most suitable candidate that the courtiers could think of.

Benefits were often accompanied by dangers, but as long as the benefits were large enough, most people who had the ability to give it a try would take the risk.

In Prince Jing’s opinion, what kind of prestige could the fledgling emperor have in the hearts of local officials? The local generals neither had enough troops to confront him, nor did they have the need to serve the court desperately. It was expected that they would be defeated in one blow.

It was true that Guo Jixian did not take the young emperor seriously, but he did not dare to underestimate the chief assistant Chen Tingjian, nor would he underestimate the three guard generals of Daming Prefecture, Guangping Prefecture, and Shunde Prefecture. Some of these three guard generals he had met while drinking together, some he had only heard their reputation. Even if the soldiers in their hands were far from able to withstand an army of 200,000, how could they not even try.

A true general regarded the responsibility and honor of protecting the country more seriously than his life. Even if he knew he was losing, he would fight to the death, trying to delay the rebels as much as possible, waiting for the imperial army to come to rescue him.

Guo Jixian seemed to see a big net, waiting for them to jump into it.

He wanted to retreat, and he had even planned an escape route for Prince Jing. He intended to lead his 200,000 strong army through northern Hubei after crossing Henan, and then directly advance into Sichuan and Shu. By seizing control of Sichuan and Shu and leveraging the natural defenses, he could recruit more soldiers and horses while waiting for another opportunity. Staying in Henan was definitely not an option as it would make it too easy for the imperial army to catch turtles in the jar.

Prince Jing rejected his kindness without even thinking. He admired Guo Jixian’s ability in commanding troops, but at this time he disliked Guo Jixian’s overcautious nature.

Tomorrow the army would be able to advance into Jizhou. There was only more than half the distance to the capital. Seeing that victory was in sight, it would be foolish to retreat now!

But what Prince Jing didn’t know was that when the rebels marched north, the generals of Daming Prefecture, Guangping Prefecture, and Shunde Prefecture who were repelled by them or simply avoided fighting had received a secret letter from the Chief Minister long before the rebels rose up, asking them to prepare for the rebellion of Prince Yu in advance. If there was a war, they were also asked to avoid the edge to preserve their combat power. They should gather together behind Prince Yu’s army and wait for the defenders of Jizhou and Zhending Prefectures along with the imperial court army to attack together from front and back.

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While the army of Prince Yu set up camp in the south of Jizhou, more than 50,000 soldiers and horses led by Hua Yang and Ling Rucheng finally arrived at Wuyi County in the north of Jizhou before dusk after traveling day and night.

At this time, the horses were exhausted to move, and the more than 50,000 soldiers were also too tired.

Ling Rucheng brought Zhao Zeqing, the guard general of Zhending Prefecture, and Huang Lang, the guard general of Baoding Prefecture, to ask for an audience with Hua Yang. He also called Chen Jingzong to prevent the delicate grand princess from feeling afraid when facing the three generals alone.

Hua Yang solemnly received them in the grand princess’s tent.

Zhao Zeqing and Huang Lang, both in their early forties, were pure military generals. They have the calmness and restraint of Ling Rucheng and the strong physique of Chen Jingzong. Their appearance and demeanor alone were very reassuring.

After saluting, Zhao Zeqing explained the current battle situation.

Prince Yu’s army would march into Jizhou tomorrow afternoon. He and Huang Lang would lead troops to pretend to intercept, and then retreat north. It would be evening the next day before Prince Yu’s army arrive near Wuyi County. Therefore, the more than 50,000 soldiers and horses led by Ling Rucheng could reserve their strength, to wait at one’s ease for the exhausted enemy.

After listening to this, Hua Yang finally sensed her father-in-law and mother empress’ early response.

In the previous life, Prince Yu suddenly rebelled, and the three guards of Daming Prefectures and the others fought desperately. Although they successfully delayed the rebels, they also suffered heavy casualties. It was not until they fought against Zhending Prefecture and Baoding Prefecture that the rebels began to really encounter resistance. With the addition of the imperial court’s 50,000 troops, more than 100,000 soldiers and horses, under the command of Ling Rucheng, gradually turned defeat into victory, and gradually forced Prince Yu’s rebels to retreat southward step by step.

But now, the nearly 50,000 troops of the Daming Prefectures and the other two prefectures have been almost completely preserved. Prince Yu’s army, which thought they were invincible, was about to enter the court’s first trap.

Hua Yang nodded, indicating that she understood, and then looked at Ling Rucheng.

Ling Rucheng said: “If the rebels want to enter Wuyi County, they must first pass through Hu’er Mountain in the south of Wuyi. Tomorrow morning we can set off to Hu’er Mountain and pretend to be the defenders of Zhending Prefecture and ambush there, waiting for General Zhao and General Huang to lure the rebels over, we will first demoralize the rebels. After this battle, the rebels will inevitably camp in that area to rest and recuperate. The next day, our army of 100,000 will escort the Grand Princess to negotiate peace with Prince Yu.”

Hua Yang smiled and said, “Commander Ling’s plan is very good.”

After resting for a night in the camp here, the next morning, the two generals Zhao and Huang had long disappeared. Ling Rucheng personally led 20,000 troops to ambush at Hu’er Mountain.

Hua Yang stood outside her tent and saw that Chen Jingzong was also among those troops that went this time.

He was very busy, and only when he was about to mount his horse, he looked towards her from a distance.

The early morning sun shone from behind him, it was so dazzling that Hua Yang couldn’t see Chen Jingzong’s face clearly, but she could see him smiling, showing his white teeth.

Then he rode away.

After all the 20,000 soldiers and horses had gone, Hua Yang was about to turn back to her tent when he suddenly saw her cousin Qi Jin walking towards him.

Hua Yang smiled at him.

Qi Jin stopped three steps away from her.

Ironically, despite the late emperor’s passing for so long, he hadn’t had the chance to offer her condolences privately. Now, she seemed to have stopped grieving altogether. If Qi Jin were to mention condolences again, it might actually stir up her sadness.

“Prince Consort is going to battle for the first time. Is Cousin worried?” Qi Jin asked with concern as a cousin.

Hua Yang: “Fortunately, Commander Ling is there.”

Her tone was relaxed and there was no trace of worry on her face.

Qi Jin laughed and said, “I originally wanted to say a few words of comfort, but it turned out to be in vain.”

Hua Yang glanced around the barracks and advised, “Cousin, go and get busy. I’ll be fine.”

Qi Jin nodded, turned around and left.

Chao Yun and Chao Yue didn’t think much about it. Only Wu Run took a few more glances at Qi Jin’s back. He remembered that when the princess was only thirteen or fourteen years old, and Qi Jin was still a young man, his gaze toward the princess seemed to reveal his feelings. However, Empress Dowager clearly didn’t support this marriage, and soon after, Qi Jin’s marriage was arranged elsewhere. Since then, the number of times Qi Jin and the princess met became few and far between.

Now that Qi Jin has a good wife, and the princess also has a prince consort, the feelings of youth should be over, right?

In the tent, Hua Yang took out the letter that her mother empress had sent to her along with the imperial decree before departure. It contained words of response that might be used in the peace talks.

In this kind of scene, Empress Dowager was definitely better than Hua Yang.

Hua Yang already remembered it by heart, but she also imagined several situations and secretly prepared some countermeasures.

Hua Yang would go through it several times in her mind every day, so as not to lose the majesty of the imperial family before the army.

However, she was still able to prepare these calmly today. On the second day, when she knew that Chen Jingzong and the others would encounter Prince Yu’s rebels at Hu’er Mountain, Hua Yang could no longer calm down.

The battle situation of the two lifetimes had changed, and she couldn’t remember whether there was a battle at Hu’er Mountain in the previous life.

The battlefield was not a martial arts field. Swords and arrows have no eyes. No matter how powerful Commander Ling, it was now a case of less against many. Will something happen to Chen Jingzong?

People could control their breathing until they could no longer hold it in, but it was difficult to control those complicated thoughts.

Knowing that it was unlucky, Hua Yang had already guessed several ways for Chen Jingzong to die in just a short period of time, either by accidentally falling from the top of the mountain, or by being shot in the chest by an archer from the rebel army below, or he ran down and fought hand to hand with the rebels, and slashed with the sword…

“Is Princess worried about Prince Consort?” Wu Run suddenly asked.

There was a dozen years difference between the two of them. It could be said that Hua Yang was personally raised by Wu Run, so Hua Yang also regarded him as half an elder. Meeting Wu Run’s insightful gaze, Hua Yang smiled lightly and said, “I’m not really worried, but it’s his first time on the battlefield, so I feel a little uneasy.”

Wu Run: “This is human nature. Even if this servant gave you countless reasons to reassure you, you will still be thinking about Prince Consort. It would be better to go out for a walk, or practice calligraphy and needlework to distract your mind.”

Hua Yang didn’t want to go out. It was hot outside and she could smell horse manure at all time.

For practicing calligraphy, it was not convenient to lay out brush, ink, paper and inkstones in the tent, so Hua Yang asked Chao Yun and Chao Yue to prepare needle and threads.

Hua Yang spent the entire afternoon sewing a purse.

The green silk was embroidered with green bamboos with light green needlework, which means “bamboo reported safety”.

Hua Yang was not good at needlework and she was in a restless mood. At first, she wasted two pieces of material, and then slowly settled down.

The sound of thousands of horse hooves galloping suddenly came from the distance.

Hua Yang stopped the needle.

Before Chao Yun and Chao Yue could run out to check the situation, Zhou Ji had already come over to report: “Princess, Commander Ling and the others has returned!”

Chao Yun knew that her master was most concerned about prince consort, so she asked anxiously: “Have you seen Prince Consort?”

Zhou Ji said awkwardly: “It’s still far away, so I can’t see clearly.”

Chao Yun: “Then go check it quickly!”

Zhou Ji ran all the way outside the camp.

Those who returned this time were not only the more than 20,000 people brought out by Ling Rucheng, but also the 50,000 troops under Zhao Zeqing and Huang Lang.

The generals fought fiercely, stirring up a cloud of dust.

In accordance with his official position, Chen Jingzong rode behind the commander-in-chief and the two generals.

Still some distance away from the camp, he first saw Zhou Ji, a fair and jade-faced guard standing among other soldiers with black and yellow faces, which was very eye-catching.

But he didn’t know that in Zhou Ji’s eyes, his own prince consort was equally eye-catching. After all, Ling Rucheng and the other three were all in their forties or fifties, and their faces were more tanned. Only Chen Jingzong was young and had less tan, as the men in the Chen family were all naturally have fair complexion!

After making sure that the prince consort was safe and sound, Zhou Ji did not continue to wait to greet him, but turned around and ran towards the grand princess’s tent.

“Princess, Prince Consort is also back. He is riding on the horse. He should be uninjured!”

Chao Yun and Chao Yue were very happy.

Hua Yang looked indifferent, put the half-embroidered purse into the sewing basket, and asked the maids to put it away.

Chao Yun shouted: “Aren’t you going to welcome…”

Hua Yang raised her eyebrows.

Chao Yun: “I mean, aren’t you going to welcome Commander Ling?”

Hua Yang:…

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