Chapter 144: The Imperial Court and Old Acquaintances

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince departed the Chongde Hall in nervous trepidation. Not until he crossed the threshold did he lean against a pillar, gasping for breath without stop!

The conversation just now had genuinely been terrifying. It was abundantly clear that when the Emperor brought up the matter of Yuezhou, he was merely using it as a casual lead-in; his true objective was to steer toward the discussion that followed.

That was the sudden and violent deaths of Xuanzhou Prefect Tian Jing and Xuanzhou Vice-Prefect Cao Rong.

As the Crown Prince, he naturally maintained his own faction of loyal adherents and operated within his own exclusive circle.

Yet, having not yet ascended the throne, he had not attained supreme authority, nor did he even hold sway over personnel appointments. Consequently, maintaining this personal faction required resources.

Thus, His Royal Highness incurred considerable expenses, particularly over the past few years, during which these costs had been far from negligible.

It was precisely for this reason that his brother-in-law had actively assisted him in rallying influence on all sides and gathering wealth.

Originally, Xuanzhou was an utterly inconspicuous backwater. When Young Master Pei made that trip to Xuanzhou, he treated it merely as a leisure excursion to relax his mind, casually handling a minor affair along the way.

Yet somehow, the matter leaked, to the extent that Gu Wenchuan’s subsequent journey to Xuanzhou resulted in the virtual sweep of all officials within the prefecture.

Among them, Tian Jing and his associates had implicated the Crown Prince himself.

Given the gravity of the situation, and to prevent any foul water from splashing onto the Crown Prince, his subordinates had no choice but to devise a means of disposing of Tian Jing, Cao Rong, and the rest.

However, Gu Wenchuan and the other officials of the Censorate refused to let the matter rest, ultimately carrying the affair all the way to His Majesty the Emperor, which thus gave rise to the father-and-son dialogue of today.

Fortunately, His Majesty merely utilized the incident to issue a mild reprimand to the Crown Prince without probing any further.

In the end, the price the Crown Prince had to pay was merely exiling his brother-in-law from the imperial capital.

Given such actions, the Emperor had presumably seen right through the Crown Prince's maneuvers over recent years, intending for him to halt his activities here and exercise greater restraint henceforth.

Even so, the preceding exchange had left His Royal Highness trembling with fear. It was not necessarily because the affair had exacted an immense toll upon him, but rather because matters he had believed to be thoroughly concealed...

...had actually been observed in their entirety by a father who had historically shown little diligence in state affairs!

After drawing several deep breaths, the Crown Prince finally composed his thoughts and, carrying the memorial in his hands, proceeded all the way to the Hall of Governmental Affairs.

At that moment, three Grand Chancellors were present within the hall. Upon seeing His Royal Highness arrive, they all rose, cupped their hands in salute, and bowed. The Crown Prince pressed his hand downward slightly and spoke, "My lords, there is no need for such formality."

"By your decree."

Holding Su Jing's memorial, the Crown Prince handed it to the nearest chancellor, Wang Du, and instructed, "Pass Su Jing's memorial to the rest of the chancellors."

After a brief pause, the Crown Prince continued, "It is the imperial will that I, alongside you lords, jointly deliberate on how to process this memorial."

Wang Du received it, read through it himself, and then passed it along to Chancellor Cui Yuan. Before long, all three chancellors had reviewed the document. By this time, the Crown Prince had already seated himself within the hall and inquired, "How do you my lords propose we handle this?"

The three chancellors exchanged glances. Finally, Chancellor Cui smiled and said, "Your Highness, there are five Grand Chancellors in the Hall of Governmental Affairs. Since the sacred intent is for us to handle this together, ought we not invite the other two as well?"

The Crown Prince pondered for a moment before nodding. "Very well. I shall wait here a little longer."

Shortly thereafter, the remaining two chancellors hurried to the hall. Upon catching sight of the Crown Prince, they looked somewhat startled, but after reading the memorial, they both took their seats.

The upright Wang Du was the first to speak.

"Your Highness, Grand General Su arrived at the front lines only recently, yet he has already achieved such military success—this is no small feat. Moreover, the troops fighting at the front are temporarily levied soldiers; what is most urgently needed at present is to boost morale and inspire the people."

"This, I imagine, is why Grand General Su specifically mentioned this junior officer named Li Zhao."

"Having won a victory at the front, Li Zhao has made contributions that cannot go unacknowledged. I believe he should be exceptionally promoted and heavily rewarded."

Wang Du's words were grounded in conventional wisdom and proper reasoning. Yet, the other chancellors did not immediately express their stance upon hearing this, turning their gazes toward the Crown Prince instead.

At that moment, the Crown Prince was preoccupied with thoughts of his brother-in-law's situation and had zoned out slightly. Only when all eyes converged upon him did he snap back to reality, realizing belatedly, "I did not catch that clearly. Chancellor Wang, repeat yourself."

Patiently, Wang Du reiterated his statements. Upon hearing them, the Crown Prince first nodded, then remarked, "Chancellor Wang's words are reasonable, but the contents of Su Jing's report cannot be entirely trusted either."

He offered a slight cough and continued, "In my view, Li Zhao originated merely from a local county magistrate's constabulary and has never commanded troops before, making it all the more impossible for him to possess any grand capabilities. Even though the memorial states that Su Jing's son, Su Sheng, defended Linshui alongside Li Zhao..."

"Su Sheng is an accompanying captain, while Li Zhao is at most a junior officer. Who was truly managing affairs in Linshui is self-evident."

The Crown Prince swept his gaze across the assembly and went on, "Constrained by his status, it is inconvenient for Su Jing to request rewards for his own son, yet the imperial court cannot simply turn a blind eye. What do you lords think?"

Wang Du furrowed his brow and was about to speak when Cui Yuan, stroking his beard, smiled and said, "Your Highness possesses discerning eyes; your words are profoundly sensible."

The other chancellors chimed in with agreement one after another.

Nodding in satisfaction, His Royal Highness declared, "Let it be as such, then. Promote Su Sheng to the rank of General and have him follow his father in pacifying Yuezhou."

"As for this Li Zhao..."

The Crown Prince frowned, deliberated for a moment, and then stated, "Grant him some commendation and elevate him to the rank of junior officer."

Presently, Li Yun was merely a temporary junior officer within a temporary army. With an official appointment from the imperial court, he would become a legitimate, formal junior officer of the state.

From that perspective, this already constituted a substantial promotion. Yet, compared to Su Sheng's advancement, it remained infinitesimal.

Su Sheng was being elevated directly from a captain to a designated general with an honorary title, putting him on equal footing with Deputy General Jiang Yan from then on!

The chancellors exchanged glances. Only Wang Du appeared slightly displeased, while the others nodded repeatedly, approving this arrangement.

Standing up, His Royal Highness waved a hand and commanded, "Then let the matter be settled thus. Dispatch the court's decree of reward as swiftly as possible. I have other matters to attend to and shall not linger."

With that, he rose and strode away.

Indeed, His Royal Highness had pressing business; he needed to seek out his father-in-law to discuss the destination for his brother-in-law's exile.

Once the Crown Prince departed, Wang Du re-read Su Jing's memorial, shook his head, and sighed, "If Grand General Su's report is true, the court's handling of this matter will likely cause this young man named Li Zhao to immediately turn against the father and son of the Su family."

Cui Yuan patted Wang Du's shoulder with a smile and said, "With Su Jing there, Yuezhou will not remain in turmoil for long. Since it will not remain chaotic for long, what does a mere junior officer matter?"

"Chancellor Wang has yet to perceive the underlying truth."

Cui Yuan remarked indifferently, "It is likely that His Majesty is still holding a grudge against the old General Su to this day."

Wang Du knitted his brows deeply.

"More than a dozen years have passed! Besides, how can personal grievances be dragged into affairs of state!"

"It is merely a junior officer after all; it has no bearing on national affairs."

Chancellor Cui smiled. "Chancellor Wang, you simply take things far too seriously. If you take everything so seriously, you cannot serve as a chancellor—you will exhaust yourself to death."

The remaining three chancellors laughed softly upon hearing this.

"That is true. If one is too earnest, nothing can ever be accomplished. Chancellor Wang must learn the art of compromise."

Wang Du let out a sigh.

"Since the decision has already been made, I harbor no delusions of changing it. I merely feel within my heart that something is amiss."

Stepping forward, the chancellors offered a few smiling words of consolation before returning to their respective stations to resume their duties.

Prompted by His Royal Highness, the imperial court's decree of reward was swiftly issued and dispatched to the front lines via a six-hundred-li urgent relay.

Meanwhile, a full three days had elapsed since Li Yun's initial "Defense of Linshui."

Over the course of those three full days, following their crushing defeat, the rebel forces had not sent a single detachment back. Li Zheng led a group of scouts nearly to the gates of Qiantang City, yet saw no sign of any rebel forces emerging.

Several more days passed in this manner, with the rebels remaining cooped up inside Qiantang City without the slightest movement.

By the seventh day—the deadline agreed upon by Li Yun and Su Jing—Grand General Su led a force of three thousand men to formally garrison Linshui, transforming the town into a strategic bridgehead for the offensive against Qiantang.

Once his troops were settled, Grand General Su, accompanied by his son Su Sheng, Li Yun, and a cavalry escort of roughly a hundred men, rode out of the city. The party pressed eastward until they reached a vantage point where Qiantang City came clearly into view, whereupon they reined in their horses.

Dismounting, Grand General Su gazed into the distance at Qiantang City. After a long moment, he sighed and said, "The rebel Zhao is far shrewder than we imagined."

Narrowing his eyes, he continued, "It would appear he no longer intends to sally forth from Qiantang, nor does he plan to advance westward. Instead, he has shifted from offense to defense, relying upon Qiantang City to bar us from entry."

"As for the Yuezhou rebels, they will likely expand toward the southeast."

Slowly, Grand General Su stated, "Prefectures such as Mingzhou will be unable to withstand the Yuezhou rebels. If they truly manage to seize several prefectures and drag this out for a few years, they will genuinely become a formidable force."

At that moment, Li Yun was conversing with Su Sheng and paid no heed to the Grand General's soliloquy. After muttering to himself for a bit and finding no one responding, the old general turned his head to glare at Su Sheng and Li Yun.

"The two of you have certainly grown close!"

Su Sheng hastily lowered his head, not daring to utter a word.

Li Yun stepped forward with a smile and said, "I heard from Brother Su that the rebel Zhao who occupies Qiantang is a junior of the Grand General."

"It seems he indeed possesses a measure of capability."

Glaring at his son, Grand General Su then cast a glance at Li Yun. Instead of answering directly, he turned his gaze back toward Qiantang City and let out a long sigh. "In the blink of an eye, so many years have already passed."

Stepping closer behind the Grand General, Li Yun asked, "What are the Grand General's intentions?"

"Since he has chosen to hunker down, our time has become more abundant. We can continue training near Linshui for a few more months and simply keep them contained."

"As for the southeastern prefectures..."

Grand General Su looked from Li Yun to the distant horizon.

"We shall... devise another plan."