novelraw Chapter 456: Emperor, Are You Going to Lead the Battle Yourself?
Chapter 456: Emperor, Are You Going to Lead the Battle Yourself?
Matchmaking matters truly seemed to be an endless stream of troubles, one wave subsiding only for another to rise.A few days later, a small trickle of gossip began to spread in the boudoir circles of the Capital City.
"I heard that Miss Ni was already being neglected by her future in-laws before even getting married! The Xia Family gave a bunch of junk as betrothal gifts, and Lady Ni was so furious she sent them all back!"
"Really? Weren’t Miss Ni and Commander Xia’s marriage granted by the Emperor himself? How could the Xia Family dare to do such a thing?"
"What’s there to fear? The matriarch of the Xia Family is a second wife, and she has her own legitimate son. Why would she care about the life or death of one born of a concubine?"
"So Commander Xia was born of a concubine then!"
"Indeed, that’s the case!"
"Now it seems like it’s not such a good match after all. Those born of concubines, even if they achieve success, will always be suppressed. Alas..."
"Suppressed is putting it mildly. I heard... Commander Xia doesn’t even have his own residence!"
"He’s merely a low-ranking military general with an uncertain future, and without any family support, he’s living off his salary alone. He’d be desperately poor!"
"Consort Xian Pin isn’t his biological sister either; she’s the legitimately born one!"
"Haha, precisely!"
Every piece of gossip was filled with malice.
Some jeered, some sighed, and others, unable to obtain the grapes themselves, claimed they were sour.
In short, there was all sorts of talk!
After Miss Ni attended a flower-viewing party, she returned with red-rimmed eyes.
No matter how Lady Ni questioned her, she refused to speak, only shutting herself in her room.
Lady Ni, worried sick, sent people to inquire and, sure enough, the matter had leaked out.
Lady Ni was furious and immediately ordered an investigation.
The culprits turned out to be a few gossipy old women, whom she had sold off on the spot.
Under this stern crackdown, the affair gradually subsided.
However, within the Capital City’s boudoir circles, everyone slowly began to exclude Miss Ni.
Her good friends from former days all turned their backs on her.
They were polite to her face but spoke ill of her behind her back, eagerly waiting to laugh at her misfortune.
Deeply hurt, Miss Ni became even more reluctant to leave the house.
Day after day, she would work on her embroidery, refusing to hear, see, or ask about anything outside her room.
Lady Ni was greatly worried and also regretted her actions. "It’s all because I was soft-hearted for a moment, and now you’re the one suffering!"
With her daughter’s prospects, although she couldn’t marry into a marquis or duke’s family, she could still have married a legitimate son from a good family with proper character; that would have been more than enough. She would have become a distinguished and rightful lady of the house, not like this current situation. Following a poor young master born of a concubine, she has to endure such suffering and people’s gossip behind her back. Being born of a concubine meant having no family support; they would have to establish their own household in the future. Establishing their own household! Oh, in the Capital City, there would be so many hardships to endure!
She had thought her daughter would regret it too.
But her daughter’s gaze was gentle yet steadfast.
"Mother, I’m marrying a man, not gold and silver, nor glory and wealth. Since I love him, I won’t regret it!" Ni Manxue declared.
Lady Ni sighed again.
"My foolish girl, you are still young and do not know the difficulties of life."
Ni Manxue suddenly smiled.
"Mother, you know me!"
Ultimately, Lady Ni could only give her daughter a wry smile.
"Never mind, never mind. Your temperament is just like mine! Your father may not have achieved great things in his life, but our household lives quite comfortably! I hope you will be well too. Since you’re willing, I will support you!"
Ni Manxue’s eyes turned red.
"I’ve been unfilial and made you worry, Mother!"
Lady Ni stroked her daughter’s hair.
"Silly girl!"
...
The turmoil surrounding the marriage discussions gradually subsided, and we shall speak of it no more for now.
「Meanwhile, in the palace.」
On the night Lady Yao entered the palace, the Emperor visited Qingya Residence with a dark expression.
Xia Ruqing didn’t pay much attention, thinking, The Emperor must have encountered some vexing matter.
Then, on several more occasions, Zhao Junyao came over still wearing a grim face.
Xia Ruqing was so frightened that she didn’t dare utter an unnecessary word, trembling in apprehension.
Eventually, she could no longer contain herself and hesitantly asked, "Emperor, what exactly is the matter with you? Have you encountered some trouble?"
His constant scowl is terrifying! My poor heart can’t take it anymore!
Zhao Junyao looked at her with perplexity, moderating his voice as much as possible. "You... noticed?"
Xia Ruqing, caught between laughter and tears, replied, "Emperor, your face is practically an ice block! In this blazing heat, even I feel cold!"
It was almost May, and the weather was already quite hot.
Zhao Junyao softened his expression and coughed lightly, speaking in as gentle a tone as he could manage. "It’s nothing, just affairs of the imperial court."
Upon hearing this, Xia Ruqing refrained from asking further.
After dinner and washing up, she went to sleep.
Zhao Junyao, however, still couldn’t sleep.
As for why? He was simmering with suppressed anger.
The next day in the imperial court, the young emperor read a memorial and finally exploded.
"A bunch of idiots!"
All the civil and military officials quickly knelt.
"Emperor, please calm your anger!"
Zhao Junyao didn’t tell them to rise as usual but instead swept his sharp gaze over them one by one.
"Calm my anger?! How can I possibly calm my anger! Enough! This time, I will go personally!"
It turned out that a month ago, robbers had suddenly appeared on the canal waterway more than thirty miles from the Capital City.
Not only were they robbing cargo ships traveling north and south, but they were also frequently causing fatalities.
Right under The King’s nose, how could such things be ignored!
Zhao Junyao had immediately dispatched men to suppress the bandits.
But the bandits were extremely cunning, hiding in the dense mountains flanking the canal, appearing and disappearing like phantoms.
The terrain in that area was rugged and unpredictable, and the thick forests acted as a natural barrier, completely concealing the bandits’ tracks.
General Xiao had selected several officers from Weihu Camp to lead troops and eliminate the bandits.
But who would have thought that a month had passed, yet one officer returned injured, then another on the subsequent attempt.
Several officers had come back wounded, and Weihu Camp had also suffered the loss of several dozen soldiers.
In the end, that group of bandits had still managed to escape. No wonder the Emperor was so furious!
"Emperor!" General Xiao stepped forward, knelt on one knee, and clasped his fists in salute. "Your humble servant is willing to lead the troops. Please grant your permission, Emperor!"
Zhao Junyao glanced at him indifferently and scoffed. "You? Didn’t you fall from your horse last time and break your leg? Is it healed?"
General Xiao stiffened. The leg where the cast had recently been removed still throbbed with a dull ache.
Yet, he clenched his teeth and nodded. "It is healed, Your Majesty!"
Zhao Junyao scoffed, "Healed or not, it won’t do. This time, there will be no horse riding; we must traverse mountains and cross ranges. If you were to go, you would most likely slow us down!"
With that, Zhao Junyao rose and walked forward slowly.
"This time, I shall go myself. No one need say anything more!"
The civil officials, who had been listening to the lengthy proceedings until their heads spun, were jolted alert by this pronouncement.
It was a moment of sudden realization for everyone, and the same four words sprang to their minds: An imperial expedition!
"What? Emperor, you wish to lead an imperial expedition?" Grand Tutor Shih was the first to jump out and object.
As the head of all civil officials in the empire and a first-rank Grand Tutor, although his ambition was indeed great, it wasn’t so great that he wanted to watch the Emperor walk to his death.
After all, without the young Emperor’s backing, he wouldn’t have everything he possessed today.