Ning Wanwei initially gained his favor due to the favor of the empress dowager.
It was two years ago when Jiang Xuanjin was still teaching him “The Strategies of the Emperor” in the study, and just as he was talking about “not maiming family members or destroying bloodlines,” Li Huailin looked up and asked, “Then, how should we count the murder of the Lord of Pingling by the empress dowager?”
Jiang Xuanjin paused and replied, “So, she deserves the condemnation of the masses. It’s only right.”
Li Huailin was well aware that his empress dowager was hiding in the shadows, eavesdropping. He deliberately asked this to ease the hatred that he couldn’t shake off in his heart. However, seeing the empress dowager truly hurt and leaving dejectedly, he felt uncomfortable again.
This discomfort found a solution when he saw Ning Wanwei.
Ning Wanwei bore a slight resemblance to the empress dowager, which he noticed among a hundred others. He softly asked her, “What would make you happy?”
She was stunned by his question, staring at him in a daze, unable to speak for a long time.
But when she regained her senses, she knelt before him and said, “Being able to accompany Your Majesty is enough to make this servant happy.”
“Good,” Li Huailin responded, welcoming her into the palace, giving her the title of noble consort, and insisting on spending every night in her palace, just like the empress dowager, having her hum tunes to lull him to sleep. He set traps for the empress dowager and rewarded Ning Wanwei with gifts. After the empress dowager’s death, he spoiled her even more, making her stand out among all the concubines.
But Ning Wanwei never became arrogant.
She seemed to understand where his favor came from, serving him with discretion, comforting him, and never asking for anything.
Gradually, Li Huailin realized that when he looked at her, he no longer saw the shadow of the empress dowager. The person in front of him was her, someone who wholeheartedly cared for him.
He just didn’t understand why someone like himself deserved such treatment from her.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t believe in her feelings; he was just afraid… afraid that she would leave. Afraid that the ones he liked the most would eventually leave him.
He pursed his lips, got up, and walked over to her, squeezing the medicine she had just used and dabbing it gently on the wound on her forehead.
Ning Wanwei’s pupils contracted for a moment, then relaxed again.
This was always how the emperor acted. After getting angry, he would be good to her. She had gotten used to it.
As long as he didn’t drive her away again, everything would be fine.
“Liu Yunlie has ulterior motives.” As he carefully applied the medicine for her, he whispered, “I… will find a way to protect both our lives.”
Her eyelashes trembled slightly as Ning Wanwei reached out and grabbed his sleeve.
“Wherever Your Majesty goes, this servant will follow.”
Lowering his head to gaze at her for a long time, Li Huailin suddenly smiled, revealing two small tiger teeth, with a rare childishness in his eyes.
“Okay,” he said.
With a large number of troops from West Liang entering the borders and no imperial decree to act, the border situation was critical, but Jiang Xuanjin received the news with a solemn expression.
“As expected,” he said, “Liu Yunlie is from West Liang.”
Since learning that he had married his sister to a general from West Liang, Jiang Xuanjin had suspected it. After all, Liu Yunlie was prudent in his actions. If he had any connection to West Liang during this critical time, and if something went wrong, he would be condemned for eternity. Based on his calculations, if there wasn’t any other reason, he shouldn’t have made such a decision.
And now, he was amassing troops but not fighting, allowing the evacuation of the capital, and even allowing the troops of West Liang to enter North Wei. If he wasn’t from West Liang, he had no reason to make such a decision.
Leaning against the bed, Li Huaiyu couldn’t help but curse, “Traitor! He’s been lurking in the court for so many years just to open the door for West Liang!”
“Don’t get angry.” Putting down the documents, Jiang Xuanjin frowned. “Qijin said you need to rest.”
Not mentioning it would have been better. Once it was mentioned, Li Huaiyu was simply speechless. Since giving birth to their two children, Jiang Xuanjin had been treating her like a porcelain doll, not allowing her to stand or move, feeding her meals at her lips, and even wiping her body for her. When she couldn’t bear it anymore and wanted to move, he would coldly turn his back and walk a few steps into the room while carrying her.
Yes, he carried her, not letting her touch the ground.
“Are you trying to get back at me?” Huaiyu pointed at him accusingly. “Are you getting back at me for scaring you on the day of delivery?”
Jiang Xuanjin gently stroked her hair. “How could that be?”
He was! Look at the way he’s looking at her! Unable to voice her anger, Huaiyu smiled again. “Aren’t you going to say it today?”
On the day of delivery, he had promised her that he would say those three words to her every day.
江玄瑾 looked slightly uncomfortable, furrowing his brows as he said, “It’s been almost a month, and you’re still not tired of hearing it?”
“I never get tired of it!” Li Huaiyu waved his hand, smiling with sparkling eyes. “My greatest joy every day is hearing you say it.”
“Don’t you think you’re shameless?” Jiang Xuanjin frowned slightly, a hint of annoyance in his tone. “It’s been so long, and you’re still setting traps.”
After pondering for a moment, Li Huaiyu nodded. “YeAh I think I’m quite shameless. So, you absolutely shouldn’t learn from me! Just say what needs to be said. Come on!”
Jiang Xuanjin: “…”
He truly understood why this person chose to be a villain. Because a villain didn’t need to care about face; they could do whatever they pleased. Unlike himself, who felt like his promises were slowly killing him.
With her hand in his and her eyes fixed on him, Jiang Xuanjin tensed his face and murmured very softly.
“Hmm?” Huaiyu dug her ear, teasingly. “I didn’t hear that.”
“You’re doing it on purpose!” Jiang Xuanjin was annoyed.
“Who’s being mean?” Huaiyu blinked innocently, then pulled the bed curtains, looking pitiful. “You’re being mean!”
His temples throbbed as Jiang Xuanjin asked, “Who’s being mean?”
“You’re still asking?” Huaiyu pouted, twisting her waist playfully and throwing him a coquettish glance.
Jiang Xuanjin got up, ready to leave.
“Hey hey hey, don’t go.” Huaiyu reached out and grabbed him, grinning mischievously. “I’ll stop messing around.”
He sat back down beside the bed, and she approached, cupping his face and kissing his lips.
“Be careful with your body,” he frowned, catching her midair waist.
“Hmm?” She licked his lower lip with her small tongue and smiled. “Then you must support me properly.”
As she spoke, she let go of his hand.
The weight suddenly increased on his hand, and Jiang Xuanjin grunted, realizing that this shameless person was using his support to kiss him. However, he couldn’t let go, or she would fall off the bed.
“You…” he was both angry and amused.
She lightly rubbed against his lips. Li Huaiyu said candidly, “I’m spoiled and fearless!”
Was she bold enough to say that? It was outrageous!
Taking a deep breath, Jiang Xuanjin closed his eyes, following the fine tradition of the Jiang family, always finding faults with himself. Ultimately, he concluded: that it was all his fault for spoiling her!
What could he do to her?
The atmosphere in the room was so good that even Cheng Xu and Yu Feng wanted to pretend they were incense burners.
Did these two even consider them? Huh? With two grown people like this sticking around, did they have any respect for them? Ah? How could two people be chatting about serious matters and suddenly get intimate?
What about Liu Yunlie’s matter? Was there still room for discussion?
Cheng Xu was annoyed; he felt like he and Yu Feng deserved a raise. They couldn’t do anything like this anymore!
Yu Feng asked with his eyes: Retreat or stay?
They would stay! Cheng Xu signaled mischievously: They were waiting for the lord’s decision before spreading the news!
Yu Feng nodded understandingly, then unexpectedly, he kicked Cheng Xu’s butt.
Unprepared, Cheng Xu stumbled back, crashing into the nearby sandalwood round table and knocking over the candlestick with a loud “thud”!
Jiang Xuanjin jerked, quickly pinching Huaiyu’s waist and pushing her back onto the bed.
Then he turned, his gaze chilling as he looked at the person beside the table.
“M-Master…” Cheng Xu’s entire body was covered in cold sweat as he hastily waved his hands. “I-I’m not… not your subordinate!”
Looking at the fallen candlestick on his table and then at the person nearest to it, Jiang Xuanjin smiled thinly.
Cheng Xu broke out in a cold sweat, glaring at Yu Feng with an almost desperate look.
A true brother would have one’s back, but this damned guy seemed to enjoy stabbing him in the back!
Yu Feng remained impassive as if it had nothing to do with him.
Cheng Xu could only muster up the courage to step forward and ask, “May I ask Your Majesty, how should the orders be issued?”
The loyalist army already numbered two hundred thousand. If they pursued the emperor all the way, they would surely capture him. However, this would leave the border defenseless, and the army of West Liang would continue to ravage. But if they divided their forces, they would be vulnerable on both fronts, facing both West Liang and Liu Yunlie, and they couldn’t be sure of the outcome.
“In the name of the Princess Consort, issue an edict to the border, commanding the border guards to resist West Liang with all their might,” Jiang Xuanjin said, pulling out pen and paper. “Then send troops from Changlin and Nanping to support the border, while the rest will quell internal unrest.”
As he spoke, he detailed the deployment of forces and the arrangements for dispatch on paper and handed it to Cheng Xu. “Take this to Changlin Jun.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Cheng Xu took the letter and felt like he had just escaped a disaster, relieved as he wanted to run.
However, just as he took a step towards the door, the voice of his lord came from behind.
“After delivering the letter, go clean the stables twice,” Jiang Xuanjin said.
Cheng Xu: “…”
What had to happen would happen eventually; there was no escaping it.
Mourong Qi received wind of the situation and came to find Jiang Xuanjin and Li Huaiyu.
“I know you’re seeking help from neighboring countries. Why can’t you two figure things out?” She frowned at them. “My Eastern Jin Dynasty is powerful, much more formidable than that of West Liang. I’m willing to support you two and guarantee to overthrow that throne.”
Jiang Xuanjin calmly said, “There’s no need.”
Li Huaiyu, unusually, chimed in, “Indeed, there’s no need.”
“Can’t you see how tense the situation is outside?” Mourong Qi raised her eyebrows. “With West Liang involved, your chances of winning are slim. If you lose the battle, everything will be over.”
Jiang Xuanjin tactfully replied, “We’ll handle our affairs. Lady Baihua doesn’t need to worry.”
Li Huaiyu smiled and straightforwardly said, “Young Huailin is easily deceived due to his age. It’s easy for someone to lead the wolf into the house. Between the two of us, we’ve lived nearly fifty years. How could we fall for such a trick? The outcome, whether victory or defeat, concerns the North Wei. Your Majesty, if you have any spare time, why not go out for a walk?”
A cunning person was not scary, but two cunning people together could be terrifying. Mourong Qi felt quite resentful; she had been waiting in North Wei for so long, hoping for an opportunity to take advantage of a weak moment. With West Liang about to get involved, her Eastern Jin army wouldn’t be able to enter the territory.
Fortunately, given the situation in North Wei, chaos was inevitable. The position of Eastern Jin wouldn’t be shaken within the next ten years.
Relaxing her body, Mourong Qi couldn’t be bothered to discuss this further with them. She turned and said, “I just went out for a walk, but I don’t know why, there were a lot of people following me.”
Li Huaiyu rolled his eyes. “With your face flashing on the street, is it surprising that many people are following you?”
“No, usually the people following are quite gentle, even blushing. But today, there was this group with fierce momentum, holding pitchforks and hoes, like they wanted to attack me,” Mourong Qi shrugged. “But I stood there and let them come to me. They didn’t move, which was strange.”
Li Huaiyu was astonished. “What did you do on the street?”
“Nothing much,” Mourong Qi recalled, staring at the ceiling beam. “I accidentally kicked over a couple of stalls, grabbed a girl’s handkerchief, and drank a bottle of wine.”
Jiang Xuanjin and Li Huaiyu: “…”
Mourong Qi thought for a moment and felt something was off. She asked them, “Do you have to pay for drinks here?”
“What nonsense!” Huaiyu slapped the bed. “Not paying is called robbery!”
“Oh,” Mourong Qi nodded, counting on her fingers. “So, I kicked over two stalls, grabbed a handkerchief, and took a bottle of wine.”
Her triumphant tone made it seem like she had done something commendable.
Jiang Xuanjin instructed Yu Feng, “Go out and pay them.”
“Why bother,” Mourong Qi snorted. “I act like this in Eastern Jin too, never paying for anything.”
Huaiyu clasped his hands towards her. “You’re such a true rogue and still receive praise. Truly admirable.”
“Too kind, too kind,” Mourong Qi got up. “Since you two won’t fall for my tricks, I’ll go out for a stroll again.”
Jiang Xuanjin watched her leave, then thought for a moment before saying to Yu Feng, “Find someone else to guide Lady Baihua. She’s not very familiar with the First City.”
If you’re going to steal, you should pick the right shops. For example, Lujia in the First City is a good target.
Understanding his lord’s meaning, Yu Feng bowed. “Yes.”
North Wei was now in internal turmoil. Dividing the capital into two, all the western fiefs recognized Prince Ziyang as the ruler and were no longer under imperial control. In the east, there were troops loyal to the emperor wandering around, as well as the marauding soldiers of West Liang. The difference between the two sides was that Liu Yunlie led his troops for self-defense, while Jiang Xuanjin split his forces to guard the border against West Liang.
At the Jiang family ancestral hall, Jiang Lao Taiye knelt for a day.
“Grandfather,” Jiang Yan whispered, trying to persuade him, “You should understand. Little Uncle did nothing wrong. It’s His Majesty’s mistake this time.”
No matter what, they couldn’t allow foreign troops into North Wei’s territory. This was the ancestral precept, and the emperor had completely violated it.
Jiang Lao Taiye remained silent, only staring at the characters on the memorial tablet.
The Jiang family had been loyal for generations, always supporting the emperor. Even if they encountered an unwise monarch, they had always adhered to their duties, loyal and patriotic.
Jiang Xuanjin was his most beloved youngest son, the most promising one in the Jiang family. But now, he had driven the emperor out of the capital with his own hands.
Even if he knew he had his reasons, he was wrong. He should kneel here and apologize to the ancestors on his behalf.
Also… he pleaded for the ancestors’ blessing, to protect this unworthy son, and let him return safely.