On the evening of the nineteenth day of the fourth month, over one hundred Japanese pirates entered through Pinghu in Zhejiang, wildly pillaging and plundering around Hangzhou in Zhejiang. The casualties among Zhejiang civilians, militia, and garrison troops actually reached several hundred!
On the evening of the twentieth day of the fourth month, approximately three thousand more Japanese pirates attacked Tongshan, nearly massacring the entire village. The Fujian Naval Commander had already led troops to defeat the enemy.
Emperor Jianzhang in the main palace showed no emotion on his face, the corners of his mouth even curling into a cold sneer. On one hand, they sent envoys who vowed earnestly to seek marriage with a Great Zhou princess for the sake of peace between the two nations. On the other hand, they sent troops to burn, kill, and plunder while the Great Zhou let down its guard. This group of Eastern Ying people simply didn’t regard the Great Zhou as anything, didn’t regard him, the Great Zhou Emperor, as anything!
Originally, he had been somewhat moved by this proposal, thinking to use the smallest price in exchange for the greatest benefit, to let Fujian, Guangdong, Zhejiang, and South Zhili all catch their breath. But he never expected that the Eastern Ying people would be so fickle, serving Qin in the morning and Chu by evening.
Consort Song had breathed a sigh of relief the moment Cen Biliang spoke the four words “urgent report from Fujian.” When returning to her sleeping quarters while holding the Eleventh Princess, she had to exert great control to prevent herself from revealing anything. But once they reached the sleeping quarters, she shed her mask and exhaled heavily, her eyes slightly reddening as she sighed, “Now we can finally breathe easier for the moment.”
The Eleventh Princess didn’t understand all the twists and turns involved, but seeing that after this urgent report was sent up, Emperor Jianzhang’s expression changed dramatically and he went to the main palace with a group of trusted ministers to discuss matters, she knew the Eastern Ying envoys’ marriage proposal wouldn’t go so smoothly. She couldn’t help but reveal a joyful smile.
In the evening, Zhuying hurriedly brought news: “I heard that Japanese pirates have invaded Fujian again. The entire village at Tongshan or somewhere was completely massacred…”
With Eastern Ying invading the Great Zhou at this time, if Emperor Jianzhang still married off a princess to them, it would simply be slapping his own face and the face of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Consort Song thought of Consort Xian and the Ninth Princess, who had seemed to anticipate everything, and couldn’t help but smile. The higher one stands, the harder the fall. The more arrogant they had been in recent days, the more dejected and embarrassed they would be next.
The Eastern Ying envoys were still confused about the situation even as they were being bound, thinking that Prince Duan’s people had actually deceived them. Not only did they fail to obtain the promised princess, but the envoys of a nation had actually become prisoners. They were exceptionally furious, but before they could even express their anger, they had already been stuffed with cow dung and thrown into the dungeon to be temporarily confined. Although it was said that envoys weren’t executed during warfare between nations, what Eastern Ying had done this time was truly too underhanded. Openly seeking marriage while secretly sending troops to attack Fujian was equivalent to viciously slapping the Great Zhou Dynasty across the face. How could Emperor Jianzhang possibly listen to their explanations? Even dismembering them into eight pieces probably wouldn’t be enough to vent his anger.
Even Grand Secretary Chang, who usually maintained his composure better than anyone, couldn’t maintain his composure this time. After leaving the main palace, he furiously threw down his memorial tablet. Fujian had been fighting Japanese pirates for who knows how many years, and the manpower and resources spent were enormous. This time when Eastern Ying sent envoys earnestly seeking peace, he had reported this matter to Emperor Jianzhang with the intention of not exhausting the people’s strength and wealth, and had vigorously promoted the Ministry of Rites to expedite the implementation of this matter. That was why the Eastern Ying envoys could come so quickly and see Emperor Jianzhang so smoothly.
But he never expected that this damned group of Japanese pirates were wolves that couldn’t be tamed. They could seek peace here, then turn around and continue sending troops to attack Fujian. Truly, the hunter who spent all day hunting geese had his eyes pecked out by geese. He should have listened to Guo Huaiying from the start—this bunch of barbarians really couldn’t be dealt with without force.
The Inner Cabinet was busy to the point of exhaustion, processing documents through the night. Yet Song Jue had been relieved of his duties and gained an evening of leisure, running over to chat with Song Chuyi. Who knew he wouldn’t be able to see Song Chuyi—Song Chuyi had gone to Princess Duanhui’s place.
Yu Shi reached out and poked Song Chuyi’s forehead, shocked to the point of not knowing what to do. “Your courage is truly extraordinarily great.”
Both Cui Shaoting and Guo Huaiying were well aware of Eastern Ying’s current situation—the feudal lords were engaged in endless internal warfare, all busy fighting over territory. There was simply no question of the entire nation’s strength being used to seek marriage with a princess. Prince Duan had only persuaded one of the daimyo, using the reason that this daimyo could borrow Zhou Dynasty military force to unify Eastern Ying in the future.
But as long as this news was leaked to other daimyo, they weren’t fools either. Could they really watch this daimyo marry a Great Zhou princess, then use the Great Zhou’s military and national strength to turn around and deal with them?
Since they refused to sit and wait for death, naturally they could only rise up and struggle. If they couldn’t obtain benefits themselves, they couldn’t let others obtain benefits either, right? Thus came today’s scene of Cen Biliang rushing in holding Fujian’s eight-hundred-li urgent report.
Only now did Yu Shi understand why Princess Duanhui and Song Chuyi both looked so calm and unruffled when discussing the Ninth Princess’s matter. It was one thing for Prince Duan to cause such an incident, but the Ninth Princess wasn’t someone who could keep her mouth shut. How many times had she overtly or covertly mocked the Eleventh Princess about being sent away for a marriage alliance?
Even if Emperor Jianzhang had indeed favored the Ninth Princess more and wanted to send the Eleventh Princess away for the marriage alliance, he would probably now feel uncomfortable about this decision in his heart. And every time he thought about it, he probably wouldn’t forget the background of the Vice Minister of Rites who had facilitated the Eastern Ying envoys’ visit to the capital—wasn’t this person a presented scholar from Zhangzhou, Prince Duan’s fief?
And once these suspicions emerged even slightly, countless pieces of evidence would appear to corroborate them—for instance, how well-fed and well-dressed the Vice Minister’s parents and family in Zhangzhou were, how respected they were, and how his income could possibly allow him to acquire so many properties in the Zhangzhou area…
Madam Cui looked at Song Chuyi with a stern expression. “It’s not that she’s bold, it’s clearly that Shaoting indulged her too much. How could such a major matter be left to a child’s whim? That’s… that’s so many lives!”
Yu Shi thought of this and couldn’t help but fall silent as well. Although it was to shatter Prince Duan’s conspiracy, the price was ultimately too great.
Song Chuyi hadn’t expected Guo Huaiying’s side to make such a big commotion. From the looks of it, Zhou Weizhao probably also wanted to knock Prince Duan down completely in one go. She lowered her eyelids in silence.
Although it was said that those who achieved great things didn’t concern themselves with small matters, Madam Cui and Yu Shi were right—in the end, these were so many lives. Although the Japanese pirates were insane and often came to the coast to burn, kill, and plunder, and wouldn’t change this nature in the future, this particular incident was one for which she truly bore undeniable responsibility. If she hadn’t devised the strategy, the casualties shouldn’t have been this great.
Of course, she could push this matter onto others—for instance, the actual implementation was done by Guo Huaiying and Cui Shaoting, the decisions were made by Zhou Weizhao and Song Chengru, and there was Prince Gong’s instigation behind it all. But she couldn’t get past it in her own heart. She spread open her palm and examined it carefully, slowly closing her eyes.