The Emperor raids the Chiang family after receiving memorial from Marquis Chiang; Yun Qing is busy doing enlistment to fill his army
Four days later, the memorial finally reached the Emperor's desk. After reading it, the Emperor became so enraged that he fainted. Nothing had been going his way lately, and his temper had become increasingly volatile. Another blow like this was simply too much for him to handle.
Yuchen was practising calligraphy with Zhou Yan when Shiqin came running in, out of breath, crying: "Wangfei1, something terrible has happened! His Majesty has issued an edict to confiscate the Chiang family's property!"
Having faced several shocks recently, Yuchen had developed excellent psychological resilience. She stood up and asked, "What happened?"
Shiqin shook her head. "The message came from one of Lord Shizi2's personal attendants. Also, it was Marquis Taining's Shizi2, Chen Yu, who led the troops to carry out the raid. Wangfei1, the news is probably true."
When Yuchen heard the name Chen Yu, her expression changed drastically. He was one of the Emperor's most trusted confidants — if he was leading the raid, the matter was grave. "Prepare the horses immediately. I'm going to the palace." Due to her status, Yuchen could enter the palace and meet the Emperor directly without requesting an audience.
However, Momo Gui advised, "Niangniang3. Rushing into the palace might not be wise." At worst, she might not only be unable to help, but also get dragged into it.
Yuchen shook her head. "If I don't go to the Imperial Palace now, it'll be too late." Her cousins4 keeping a low profile lately and couldn't possibly have done anything that could bring Heaven's wrath and people's resentment5. Besides, her Jiujiu6 was in Tong City — even if he'd made a mistake, it shouldn't have led to a household raid. Something must have gone wrong with her Jiujiu6. He had treated her even better than her own father. Now that the Chiang family was in trouble, how could she just stand by and do nothing?
MomoGui opened her mouth, but ended up saying nothing. "Your Highness, I'll accompany you to the palace. I may not be of much help otherwise, but I can at least offer advice."
Yuchen rushed to the Imperial Palace at top speed, and the Empress granted her an audience shortly after. The two sisters-in-law had always gotten along well, partly thanks to Empress Dowager Song. The Empress didn't hide anything and said, "His Majesty received a memorial from Marquis Chiang. But he was shocked to read that the Marquis had defected to Yan Wushuang." As for the insults directed at the Emperor, those had been omitted.
The Empress confided in Yuchen because she felt something about the letter was off. Even if Marquis Chiang had defected to Yan Wushuang, he would never be so foolish as to write a memorial to the Emperor admitting his betrayal. Besides, the Chiang family still had hundreds of relatives in the capital. Marquis Chiang wasn't the kind of man who would sacrifice his entire family just to save himself.
Yuchen immediately shook her head and said, "Impossible! My Jiujiu6 would never betray the Imperial Court. He must have been framed." Noticing the Empress's conflicted expression, she continued: "Your Majesty, my Jiujiu6 is deeply filial towards my Waizumu7, affectionate towards my Jiumu8, and he dearly loves my Biaoge9 and Biaodi10. He would never prioritise his own life over theirs. This must be one of Yan Wushuang's schemes."
The Empress nodded slightly. "That's what I told His Majesty as well. But the problem is, the memorial is in Marquis Chiang's handwriting."
Without hesitation, Yuchen argued, "Impossible — someone must have forged my uncle's handwriting." That scoundrel Yan Wushuang was utterly despicable.
The Empress said, "Don't be too anxious. My Zufu11 is in the imperial study right now, trying to persuade His Majesty. If this is a setup, justice will surely be done for Marquis Chiang."
Grand Chancellor Yu had far greater insight than Yuchen and Yu Xiyu, the two women confined to the inner residence. He told the Emperor, "If this old subject is not mistaken, this is a scheme by Yan Wushuang to sow discord. Either Yan Wushuang imprisoned Marquis Chiang, or he was already dead. If Your Majesty truly executes the hundreds of members of the Chiang family, the consequences will be endless." If the Emperor acted without distinguishing between green, red, black, and white12 and orders the execution of the entire Chiang household based on just one memorial, without even an investigation, once the truth comes out, it would chill the hearts of all civil and military officials. Ultimately, that would be precisely what Yan Wushuang wanted.
The Emperor showed the second half of the memorial to the Grand Chancellor. "Take a look — is this Marquis Chiang's handwriting?" The handwriting was identical — how could it be fake?
Grand Chancellor Yu glanced at it briefly and said, "The handwriting does look like his, but the world is full of remarkable people — it's not unheard of to find someone who can mimic another's handwriting flawlessly. Your Majesty, this matter calls for careful deliberation. We mustn't fall into Yan Wushuang's trap." Grand Chancellor Yu was already over sixty, nearly seventy and had failing eyesight, so asking him to verify the handwriting was practically a joke.
The Emperor was still hesitating.
Grand Chancellor Yu suggested, "Your Majesty, as a precaution, let's imprison the Chiang family members for now. If it's confirmed that Marquis Chiang did defect, it won't be too late to punish them then." To execute the Chiang family, the evidence must be conclusive. Otherwise, the consequences would be dire.
Once he had calmed down, the Emperor realised that the Grand Chancellor had a point and nodded. "Very well, then. Let's do as you suggest."
Upon returning to the Yu residence, Grand Chancellor Yu told the Eldest Master Yu, "Send someone to contact Yan Wushuang." The fact that the Emperor could not recognise such an obvious divisionary scheme left Grand Chancellor Yu utterly disappointed. With an Emperor like this, how could they possibly outmanoeuvre Yan Wushuang?
The Eldest Master Yu asked, "Dad, are you planning to ally with Yan Wushuang?"
Grand Chancellor Yu didn't hide his thoughts from his son as he replied, "If he agrees, we can sit down and talk. If not, who the deer ends up with13 will be anyone's guess."
The Eldest Master Yu nodded. "Very well, I'll have Liu Di14 handle it personally."
Grand Chancellor Yu leaned back wearily in his chair. At his age, he should have retired by now. But the Emperor would never allow it, and Grand Chancellor Yu himself couldn't let go. Besides, the third generation of the Yu family hadn't grown strong enough yet to take on such great responsibilities.
Unrest was brewing in the capital, but Yun Qing was unaware of this. At that moment, he had just conquered Jinzhou, a strategically crucial area bordering Sichuan and Hubei. Although it was called a conquest, Yun Qing had not used a single soldier or even one pawn15.
In the past, whenever Yun Qing conquered a place, he would first loot all the valuables and usable supplies before releasing the prisoners. This time, however, he did not free the captives because he needed to recruit soldiers. Fortunately, they now had money and provisions, so recruitment was no longer a concern.
That evening, Gao Song handed Yun Qing a letter. "General, it's a letter from your wife." Gao Song found it a bit strange that Madam's letter this time was very thin.
After reading the letter, Yun Qing looked visibly worried. Yuxi's message was all about business — no mention of family, Zaozao, or Liu-er. This didn't sit right with Yun Qing.
Gao Song asked cautiously, "General, what's the matter?"
Yun Qing turned and asked, "Besides my wife's letter, have any other letters arrived?" When Gao Song shook his head, Yun Qing became more uneasy.
After a moment's thought, Yun Qing went into his tent, wrote several letters, and handed them to Gao Song. "Send these back to Yu City immediately." If he hadn't been tied down here, he would have gone back himself.
Cui Mo asked Yun Qing, "General, are we continuing the attack on Hancheng tomorrow?" Hancheng was not far from Jinzhou.
Yun Qing shook his head. "Guan Tai and his thirty thousand troops are more than enough to take Hancheng." If he had to lead every battle personally, wouldn't that be exhausting?
When Guan Tai returned, he happily told Yun Qing, "General, in just three days, we've recruited fifteen thousand troops!"
Yun Qing repeated what he had just told Cui Mo. "Hancheng is yours." Taking Hancheng wouldn't be difficult, and Yun Qing was confident that Guan Tai could handle it.
Guan Tai didn't refuse. Standing tall and straight, he replied, "Rest assured, General. I will complete this task flawlessly."
Yun Qing stayed an extra day and then returned to Haocheng with fifty thousand troops. As soon as he arrived, he heard that Feng Dajun had arrived.
Upon seeing Feng Dajun, Yun Qing asked, "You should be resting and recovering in Lanzhou. Why did you come?" Yuan Ying had managed to get out of bed after just half a month, but he still panted if he moved too quickly, which deeply worried Yun Qing.
Feng Dajun patted his chest with a smile and said, "Don't worry, General — I've fully recovered." He had a strong constitution and had received excellent treatment. Although the physician had said it would take at least six months to recover, he was already more than halfway there, astonishing the physician who had declared it a miracle. In truth, it wasn't a miracle — people like them just healed faster than most.
Yun Qing said, "It just so happens that I'm planning to send troops to attack Yanzhou and Linzhou. Can you handle that?"
Feng Dajun smiled and replied, "Rest assured, General. I'll capture both places as quickly as possible." He was only worried the General might still want him to rest. Truth be told, Feng Dajun felt regretful — he hadn't been able to take part in the battle for Haocheng due to his injury.
Yun Qing said, "If we can resolve things peacefully without drawing blood, that would be ideal." A peaceful solution would allow them to conserve their strength.
Feng Dajun nodded. Times were different now; this wasn't like fighting northern barbarians. "Don't worry, General. I know where to draw the line."
As they spoke, Gao Song hurried in and reported, "General, I've just received word that Lu Boda has sent a hundred thousand troops to attack Jinzhou."
Yun Qing frowned upon hearing this news.
Feng Dajun said, "Don't worry, General. Even if Gao Rushan can't handle Lu Gang, we still have Guan Tai. Lu Gang may be a fierce general, but Guan Tai is no weaker." Then, looking puzzled, he added, "Still, it's strange — Lu Boda is fairly well known. This move seems odd." The Emperor issued the decree at the start of the year, yet Lu Boda's army had just arrived in Jinzhou — something wasn't adding up.
Yun Qing smiled and said, "Not strange at all. In the early first month, a major rebellion broke out in Shu. Lu Boda had his hands full — how could he spare troops to help Ji Xuan?" Shu was home to many ethnic minorities whom the imperial officials had severely exploited, so uprisings happened every year. Yun Qing didn't know what had sparked this particular uprising, but it had definitely delayed Lu Boda's deployment.
A smile appeared on Feng Dajun's face, too. "It's good that the Emperor only ordered Lu Boda to send troops to support Ji Xuan. If he had called on Henan and Hubei to send reinforcements too, things wouldn't have gone so smoothly for us." One had to admit — Heaven had favoured their general!
Yun Qing shook his head. "The fact that the weather has been good throughout this campaign is Heaven's blessing. As for the other provinces not sending troops, that's just self-interest." Not only had the current Imperial Court lost the support of the people, but even local warlords with military power all had their own agendas.
Footnotes Full List
- 王 wáng: king, 妃 fēi: consort
- 世子 shìzǐ: heir of a noble house
- 娘娘 niángniang: addressing or referring to an empress or an imperial concubine), we don't yet know the dragon's origin and where its veins go (While the literal translation refers to dragons and veins, the idiom, 来龙去脉" (lái lóng qù mà), actually means "the whole story", "the complete background", or "the sequence of events"—much like tracing the path of a dragon (a metaphor for a mountain range in feng shui) to understand its origin and flow.
- The author used the word tánggē (堂哥) here, but Yuchen was talking about the sons of her late mother's older brother, so they should have been called biǎogē (表哥). 🤷🏻♀️
- 天怒人怨 (tiān nù rén yuàn: outrageously offensive): Literally "angered the heavens and incurred public wrath" — a strong idiom used to describe deeds so evil they provoke divine and human outrage.
- 舅舅 jiùjiu: mother's brother; maternal uncle
- 外祖母 wàizǔmǔ: maternal grandmother
- 舅母 jiùmu: wife of maternal uncle; aunt
- 表哥 biǎogē: older male cousin via the female line
- 表弟 biǎodì: younger male cousin via the female line
- 祖父 zǔfù: paternal grandfather
- The phrase, 不分青红皂白 (bù fēn qīng hóng zào bái)! is used to describe someone who does not distinguish between right and wrong, truth and falsehood, or good and bad—acting rashly without proper judgment.
- 鹿死谁手 (lùsǐshéishǒu): Classical idiom meaning who will win the power struggle; metaphor from ancient warfare where the "deer" represents the prize or the throne. Implies a looming competition for dominance.
- 六 liù: six/sixth, 弟 dì: young brother
- The idiom, 没费一兵一卒 (méi fèi yī bīng yī zú), is used to describe an action or victory achieved without any effort, cost, or casualties.
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