Chapter 855: Chapter 679: Chaos in the Capital Region
Dowager Empress Xiao’s words were neither light nor heavy, but her old eyes flashed brilliantly, full of wisdom.
Jiang One heard this, lowered his head and thought for a moment, finally waving his hand to the few brothers around him, and said, “The troops retreat thirty miles, camp outside the Ten Miles Long Pavilion, and respectfully await the master’s return to the court for further discussion!”
“Big brother!” General Er heard and disagreed, General San and others also shouted in opposition.
At this moment they retreat, these scholars standing up for Mr. Ban Shan are destined not to have a good outcome; under absolute military force, scholars are ultimately too fragile!
Moreover, Emperor Zhoulin and Mr. Ban Shan are still in the city. Although there has been some estrangement between Emperor Zhoulin and their master, and they know well the reason their master hasn’t been to the Capital City for over a decade, in the end, Emperor Zhoulin accepted Lady Changsheng, and the relationship with their master clearly improved, with their master even promising that the grand wedding would be held in Capital City. Therefore, Emperor Zhoulin and Mr. Ban Shan are crucial, no mistakes are allowed!
The words of Jiang One were clearly heard by everyone watching.
Retreating or not retreating, it didn’t matter much. Fortunately, as long as the city gate remained closed, Prince Mu’s subordinates wouldn’t enter the city unless they committed treason and rebellion, but they were concerned about the next sentence, awaiting the master’s return to the court!
The master Jiang One referred to was none other than the famous undefeated legend, Prince Mu, Zhou Mu!
Zhou Mu is about to return to court!
In an instant, this news echoed in everyone’s hearts, even the Prince Liang on the city gate instinctively shrank his neck!
Resolute in killing, whose temperament is unpredictable, invincible, divinely powerful… all these words have appeared in descriptions of Zhou Mu, who could resound through the Four Kingdoms, indeed not undeserved fame.
“Do not disobey orders, retreat the troops!” Jiang One sternly commanded his brothers, then without even glancing at the scholars stalemated with the soldiers at the city gate, directly raised his head, looked up at Prince Jin standing above, his eyes were like torches, faintly carrying the bloodiness of battlefield slaughter, similar to Zhou Mu’s aura, all unmistakable, “Your Highnesses, His Majesty and Mr. Ban Shan are safe, the rest you can mess with as you wish, we will naturally hold the troops in place, quietly await the return of our master and Emperor Changsheng. Otherwise, if any trouble arises from Capital City, don’t blame Jiang One for making independent decisions, leading the army into the Capital Region!”
These words carried endless coldness, as if in an instant the bloodiness of battlefield carnage swept in!
Leading the army into the Capital Region, how utterly treasonous is that?
Yet now no one paid attention to these things, everyone was stunned, even Prince Jin furrowed his brows, seething with anger internally!
A fine Jiang One, indeed worthy as Zhou Mu’s first great general under command, with one phrase of independent decision-making, he has cleared Zhou Mu from the accusations of rebellion, if anything really happened in Capital City, his army entering the Capital Region had nothing to do with Zhou Mu!
This… this really infuriates!
Zhou Mu’s army, always known for its strict discipline, the half heading to Liaodong led by Jiang One, now as he said, naturally no one dared to disobey, and in the blink of an eye, hundreds of thousands of troops along with countless expectant women began to retreat in an orderly manner!
“Is this really Great Zhou’s Capital Region, Capital City? Why does it seem like those Vassal Kings are in charge? Are they rebelling? Are they sidelining Great Zhou’s emperor, commanding the nobility with the Son of Heaven as hostage?”
The carriage originally at the front now was at the very back, inside came the voice of a young woman, speaking was Jin Zhuer.
“Royal sister speaks rightly, in this Capital City, one is Prince Mu’s grandfather, the other is Emperor Changsheng’s foster father, at this time both are likely held by these greedy Vassal Kings, using them to restrain Prince Mu and Emperor Changsheng? Hehe…”
Another playful voice came, faintly carrying a bit of schadenfreude.
The onlooking commoners hearing the sporadic conversations from the carriage were all taken aback, lifted their heads towards the city tower with expressions faintly questioning, could it really be as the people inside the carriage said?
Prince Jin and Prince Liang among the Vassal Kings saw the troops at the city gate retreating, initially quite pleased, but in the blink of an eye, the glances from beneath the city gate changed, upon investigating they found it caused by insiders of Dowager Empress Xiao’s carriage, and immediately grew furious!
“They are people from Liaodong, they are the enemy! Do you trust even their words? Zhou Mu’s troops are colluding with the enemy, spreading rumors and misleading the public, their crime deserves execution!” Prince Liang was outrageously angry, again becoming the leading troublemaker.
Retreating Jiang One looked back from the war horse, full of disdain, “This General colluding with the enemy? Crime deserving execution? What a big hat! This General is stationed with troops thirty miles away, if you dare, you can come to execute, this General is waiting! If you don’t dare…”
Jiang One spoke here, sneered, and continued, “If you don’t dare, stop bluffing there, this General has been on the battleground for over ten years, never grown up from being frightened! Hmph!”
Hmph!
For a moment, everyone at the city gate was dumbfounded, even those intending to capture the scholars forgot to move, staring dumbly at the person on the retreating tall horse!
Godfather, is this truly Prince Mu’s foremost great general under command? Truly… truly formidable in valor!
If the face hadn’t been torn earlier, this phrase surely was now openly challenging the Vassal Kings atop the city gate!
Having some courage or not… Godfather, that is Great Zhou’s Imperial Family! As if it were bricks and tiles?
“You! You!” Prince Liang was immediately choked, his face turning purplish, stumbling for a moment, barely stabilizing, his old eyes blazing at the retreating Jiang One, “How dare you!”
“You are audacious!” The straightforward retort, issued from Jiang One’s mouth.
Everyone: “…”
For a moment it seemed like heaven and earth turned upside down…
“You! You! You are trying to rebel!” Prince Liang was unwilling.
“Rebel? Haha… Prince Liang, you’re exaggerating. My master is noble as the Crown Prince, awarded in the field, already the heir, why need to rebel? Who truly wants to rebel, everyone knows well!” Jiang One also stopped now, sitting coldly on his horse, looking back with disdain in his eyes. “Originally, I meant to enter the city to report border affairs properly, but since you all wish to disrupt this Capital Region further, then let it be chaos. Fortunately, my master and Emperor Changsheng have not returned, so you can cause a ruckus. Just make sure to take care of His Majesty and Mr. Ban Shan; otherwise, bear the consequences yourself!”
This overt threat made everyone on the city tower turn pale with anger.
The gathered citizens were truly scared this time!
Godfather’s fourth grand-aunt, could this be the original unyielding spirit of Prince Mu’s general? This is utterly lawless!
“Oh, and to the prince who would convict this general, please forgive this general’s poor eyesight, I can’t tell who you are!” Jiang One, who was about to leave, turned back again and looked at Prince Liang, his gaze full of contempt. “But judging by this prince’s attire, hasn’t he been granted the rank of Commandery Prince yet?”
Upon hearing this, Prince Liang’s body trembled violently, almost collapsing forward.
“Hmph!” At this moment, Jiang One snorted coldly and continued, “This general hails from under Prince Mu, leading fifty thousand troops at the border for over a dozen years. Let this general think, seems there were several imperial edicts elevating this general that I left gathering dust; one, as I recall, promoted this general to First Class Marquis of An? So, by these measures, this general among Great Zhou’s nobility, counts as first-class!”
On hearing this, the spectators were utterly dumbfounded!
This isn’t just a twist of the earth and sky, it’s literally flipping stars and moons!
Just a mere general under Prince Mu, yet a first-class noble?
This young general seems only in his twenties yet stationed at the border over a dozen years to earn a first-class marquis title, so how old was he when he first took station? In his teens?
Godfather, someone pinch them, wake them up…
“A mere uncrowned vassal king dares to contend with this general? Utterly senseless!” Jiang One snorted coldly again, “In Great Zhou, only His Majesty and three Commandery Princes can judge this general; you… tsk tsk… though vassal kings, your rank cannot compare to this general. To convict this general, first get a Commandery Prince title before coming back!”
Saying this, Jiang One waved a hand toward the city gate behind him, “Alright, this general is leaving, you all continue your chaos!”
Then, under the dumbstruck stares of the crowd at the gate, Jiang One waved his sleeve, not taking away a cloud, and rode off.
Prince Liang staggered, this time truly tumbling forward. If not for Prince Jin grabbing him with a darkened face, he may have fallen straight off the tower!
No one refuted Jiang One’s words, and no one doubted the truth of his claims!
So, did they just send off a first-class noble? One ranked above vassal kings?
Just a general under Prince Mu, yet esteemed above vassal kings, ranked as a first-class noble? Then what about the other generals?
“Great Zhou was founded on military might, with illustrious service leading to ennoblement; these people are all under Prince Mu, following him in campaigns north and south, their accomplishments notable, so their titles likely aren’t far off!”
“Godfather! Is this true or false?”
“My heavens, there was once someone suggesting a marriage for my niece, saying it was to a soldier under Prince Mu’s command, but our family refused, thinking them worthless!”
“Something’s wrong, the General-Sealing Platform hasn’t opened for ten years, and no marquis have been sealed for ten years at the borders, how did a First Class Marquis of An suddenly emerge?”
“…”
Before the city gate, everyone whispered among themselves.
“Dong! Dong!…”
At this moment, majestic bells resounded within the Capital City, their echoes shaking the skies.
The crowd heard it and turned back in panic.
“Heavens! This is from the Meridian Gate, it’s the bell of the General-Sealing Platform!”
“The General-Sealing Platform has opened, quick, quick! We should go see!”
“…”
In an instant, the crowd before the gate dispersed in a rush, surging towards the Meridian Gate. There, a high tower stood, and upon it, a great stele, where from the founding of Great Zhou, the names and ranks of sealed generals have been engraved…
On the city tower, a group of vassal kings gnashed their teeth.
“It must be Imperial Father! He actually pulled such a move!” Just awakened, Prince Liang’s face darkened immediately upon hearing the bell, stomping his feet as he spoke.
“The General-Sealing Platform opens, merits and fame vying for noble titles; we, though vassal kings, are of the imperial family yet have brought no merit to the nation, what then can we count as?”