In the shallow, sweet porcelain wide-mouthed fish tank, a red koi suddenly flicked its tail, splashing water all over the Yan Empress Dowager’s hand, which finally brought her back to her senses.
“This beast…” The Empress Dowager’s personal palace maid quickly stepped forward to take the fish food from her hands, drew out a handkerchief to wipe the back of the Empress Dowager’s hand, and instructed someone to immediately prepare clothes to serve the Empress Dowager in changing.
But the Yan Empress Dowager was absent-minded, pulling her hand from the maid’s grasp and asking: “The Ninth Prince… has he already reached the palace gates now? I heard A’Li personally led the court ministers out to welcome him, but why hasn’t anyone come to tell me whether the Ninth Prince has arrived?”
“Now that Great Zhou’s army is pressing at our borders, the Ninth Prince must discuss countermeasures properly with His Majesty upon his return. Once official business is discussed, His Majesty and the Ninth Prince will certainly come to see the Empress Dowager. Please set your mind at ease, Empress Dowager.” The maid comforted the Yan Empress Dowager.
The Yan Empress Dowager lowered her eyes, and seeing that there were no other people in the great hall, she said thoughtfully in a low voice: “I’m just afraid… A’Yan will blame me and won’t let anyone come tell me.”
The maid’s expression grew tense as she glanced around, while wiping the Empress Dowager’s sleeves, saying: “Empress Dowager, please don’t let your thoughts run wild. Even if the Ninth Prince is angry in his heart, the Second Prince has always been filial to you. Every time he returns from an outing, he certainly comes to pay his respects to you. Since the Second Prince hasn’t come, he must still be in front discussing with His Majesty how to deal with Great Zhou’s affairs!”
Hearing these words, the Yan Empress Dowager nodded, comforting herself somewhat, and smiled as she patted her personal maid’s hand: “These years, I’m fortunate to have you by my side, constantly consoling me!”
“Empress Dowager, what are you saying? This servant is merely a clear-headed bystander. How could I dare speak of consoling my master!” The Yan Empress Dowager’s maid smiled.
The Yan Empress Dowager smiled and, supported by the maid’s hand, entered the rear hall to change clothes.
The Yan Empress Dowager had just finished changing when she heard a eunuch outside reporting that the National Uncle had quietly sent a message, asking the Empress Dowager to come to the front hall.
“Didn’t he say what it was about?” the Yan Empress Dowager asked.
“Replying to the Empress Dowager, this servant doesn’t know…” the reporting eunuch said in a low voice. “The National Uncle only told this servant to quickly come ask the Empress Dowager to go to the front hall, and said nothing else.”
“Empress Dowager, will you go?” the maid asked the Yan Empress Dowager.
After thinking for a moment, she said: “Let’s go have a look!”
The Yan Empress Dowager’s maid responded, knelt to arrange the Empress Dowager’s hem, then rose to support the Empress Dowager’s hand as they walked out, calling loudly: “Prepare the sedan!”
Soon, the Yan Empress Dowager rode the sedan to the front hall. Before entering, she heard the noisy, clamorous voices coming from inside the great hall. She paused in her steps and hid outside the great hall to listen quietly.
“Face our country’s Empress Dowager for a confrontation?! Ha… just you two prisoners, what qualifications do you have to see our Yan Empress Dowager? Delusional!”
“You say you came to Yan to make deals with Cui Shanzhong and our Yan Empress Dowager—does that count as solid evidence? Who knows if it’s not that you Xiliang people were destroyed, and then you deliberately tried to sow discord between our Yan and Great Zhou, two allied countries, by saying this on purpose!”
“Exactly! Or perhaps, the Great Zhou is relying on their strong military might and wants to attack our Yan, deliberately finding such an excuse. You were bought by Great Zhou, or perhaps… you’re not trusted subordinates of Xiliang’s Cui Shanzhong at all, but Great Zhou’s people. Then it would be reasonable for our Empress Dowager to meet with people sent by her own allied country. This might be the Great Zhou setting a trap!”
The Yan ministers spoke one after another, their words growing increasingly indignant.
“So then?” Xiao Rongyan slowly spoke. “Even if this matter is Great Zhou setting a trap, now that Yan’s main forces are trapped in Xiliang and Great Zhou’s army is deployed at Yan’s borders, if Yan gives Great Zhou such an explanation, saying this matter is Great Zhou setting a trap for themselves… can this withdraw Great Zhou’s army?”
As soon as Xiao Rongyan said this, the ministers who had just been emotionally agitated… framing this as Great Zhou setting their trap, immediately looked nervously toward old National Uncle Zhong Xingxiao, then quickly retreated into the crowd of court ministers.
“At that time in the military camp, General Chu admitted to betraying Great Zhou first, and later, Great Zhou captured trusted subordinates of General Cui Shanzhong and learned that it was Mother who betrayed Great Zhou’s army!” Murong Ping stood with his hands behind his back, brows tightly furrowed. “So even without considering military strength, just speaking of reason, this matter… no matter where it’s discussed, it’s our Yan that’s in the wrong! The Great Zhou gave us more of the war spoils, yet we stabbed them in the back. This will certainly make people throughout the world despise us, and also give Great Zhou a legitimate reason to send troops against us.”
“In this matter… indeed it was our Yan that betrayed Great Zhou. I have already investigated clearly, no need for further discussion.” Murong Li slowly spoke. “But pursuing who was right or wrong in this matter no longer has any meaning. This time, we Yan ourselves delivered the reason for sending troops into Great Zhou’s hands, and we were at fault first!”
He raised his head, his gaze sweeping over the ministers in the great hall.
“Your Majesty, admitting that we Yan, betrayed the Great Zhou?” A court minister following the Ninth Prince pretended to look shocked, widening his eyes as he looked toward Murong Li. “Could it be that what these two trusted subordinates of General Cui Shanzhong said is true—that the Empress Dowager secretly ordered General Chu to betray the Great Zhou allied army? Leading to the Great Zhou Emperor’s brother, the Fifth Young Master of the Bai family, being captured alive?”
The court ministers following Regent Prince Murong Yan all wished they could pull that ignorant woman from the inner palace down from her position of assisting in government. Not only could she not help with proper matters, but she constantly caused trouble. The Regent Prince assisting a young ruler was already headache enough, and he still had to constantly clean up after the Empress Dowager—it was simply preposterous.
Murong Li pressed his lips together without speaking. After a long while, he raised his hand to signal the guards to take Cui Shanzhong’s two trusted subordinates away.
Only when there were no outsiders left in the Yan court did Murong Li slowly say: “I know that when the Fifth Young Master of the Bai family was captured alive, Great Zhou’s Emperor’s anger was unquenchable, and he deployed troops at Yan’s borders. From that time, I began thinking about how we should respond if the Fifth Young Master and Seventh Miss of the Bai family truly perished this time, and what Yan’s future should be…”
Xiao Rongyan sat in the chair beside the imperial throne, his body lazily leaning against the armrest. Knowing that Murong Yan was about to speak of the strategy to merge the two countries, he listened quietly.
“I thought left and right, calculated our Yan’s military strength, and also calculated with the Minister of Revenue how much grain our Yan can still mobilize.” Murong Li looked toward the Minister of Revenue.
The Minister of Revenue quickly bowed deeply to indicate this was indeed so.
“General Xie’s main forces cannot return, and Yan has insufficient provisions and military strength. Once Great Zhou’s army advances westward…” Murong Li’s voice was heavy. “Our Yan… actually has no chance of victory!”
The ministers in the court hall fell silent, and even National Uncle Zhong Xingxiao remained silent. He knew that what Murong Li said was not false—the current situation was very disadvantageous for Yan.