zChapter 877 - With This Prince, There Is No Fairness (2/2)
He finished reading the letter before turning his attention to Jiang Xuan; however, he did not notice that the person had kneeled, reported his identity and paid his respects, thus he asked: “Who did you say you were?”
Jiang Xuan felt even more resentful; however, he did not dare to act out. He could only say: “This subordinate is the deputy general of the Southern Army, Jiang Xuan.”
“Oh, the deputy general of the Southern Army.” Xuan Tian Ming nodded, “Did you come to see this prince for something?”
Jiang Xuan furrowed his brow and said, was this not a waste of words? You took over the right to command the Southern Army and led my people to this side. How many days had it been? Aside from bringing people to fix the city wall, what else was done? They were just left there without any interaction. If I did not come today, did you just plan on leaving us out to dry the entire time?
Jiang Xuan complained internally; however, he did not dare to say anything out loud. But he did say with a bit of a plaintive tone: “Your Highness the ninth prince, we are soldiers. We have been stationed in the South for many years. Ever since general returned to the capital, the 300 thousand soldiers here have been without a leader. Now that we have finally seen Your Highness get sent here, we never thought that Your Highness would attack Sha Ping City without saying anything to us. After taking the city, we continued to be ignored. The soldiers are all extremely puzzled. This subordinate could only shamelessly come and ask. What plans does Your Highness the ninth prince have for us in the Southern Army?”
He spoke with quite a bit of conviction that he had justice on his side, and he felt that reason stood on his side. He could not help but also look up and had a very unhappy expression.
But Xuan Tian Ming still had that lazy look while leaning back in his chair. Staring at him with an evil gaze, he did not speak. He just watched; however, this gaze caused Jiang Xuan to begin sweating a cold sweat on this hot day. “Since general has received the rights to the army, we should all be treated without discrimination.” He gritted his teeth and squeezed out these words. It was as though he had used up all of his strength. It was only at this point that Jiang Xuan found out that His Highness the ninth prince was far more frightening than His Highness the eighth prince. Without even getting angry, just looking was enough to make him feel frightened.
Finally, Xuan Tian Ming spoke but asked him: “Are you speaking with this prince? If you call old eighth, who has already been relieved of his duties, general, why would this prince treat you as soldiers? You are just decorations that act like soldiers!” He leaned back some more in his chair and found a comfortable position, “Also, when it comes to what this prince does, where is there any room for you to interfere? Whom this prince uses and doesn’t use, ignores and pays attention to, when have you ever had a say in this?”
This question caused Jiang Xuan to tremble. He also realized that the earlier anger had allowed the other side to look for trouble. Although he had indeed said that deliberately, he never thought that the ninth prince would be so proficient at finding problems with the things that were said. He did not hold back in the slightest when pointing it out, which left him feeling quite embarrassed. But… “But in the past, His Highness the eighth prince was not like this.” He felt that what he had said was reasonable, “When His Highness the eighth prince was the general, he treated all of the soldiers equally.”
“Since you miss your eighth prince so much, just go and seek him out. Just go now! Soldiers!” Xuan Tian Ming suddenly shouted, and some soldiers entered the tent, as he said: “Take this person that calls himself the deputy general of the 300 thousand troops of the Southern Army called Jiang something… drag him out for this prince. Remove his title and have someone send him back to the capital. He must be sent to His Highness the eighth prince. Allow the master and subordinate to recognize each other properly and embrace each other in tears. Don’t forget about this prince’s compassion towards the soldiers in the South.”
“Your Highness the ninth prince! No! General!” Jiang Xuan was a little incoherent, as he desperately waved his hands and said: “General, you must not be like this. This isn’t just! This subordinate has been deputy general for many years. How can I lose my position just because you said so?”
Xuan Tian Ming shook his head, “Just? When it comes to this prince, there is no such thing as just. This world itself is not just. If you want a just world, create it yourself. Unfortunately, you won’t have that chance. Creating your own world would mean rebelling. Who knows if the things you said mean you yourself want to rebel or if your master, old eighth, wants to rebel. This prince needs to write a report back to the capital to have Father Emperor investigate it carefully.”
Cold sweat dripped from Jiang Xuan’s forehead. Why was the ninth prince like this? How could he speak such nonsense? Things were progressing without any order! He felt as though he was speaking with a rock that would automatically spit out responses. Whenever he said something, the other side would argue back.
Another person entered the tent and dragged him away with the person that had entered earlier. Jiang Xuan had lost it and loudly shouted: “Your Highness the ninth prince! If you do things like this, you won’t get the hearts of the 300 thousand troops in the Southern Army! Even if you have the rights to command them, it’s just an empty position. Nobody will willingly listen to you! If you do things like this, you will be a failure of a general!”
He screamed at the top of his lungs, and the hatred in his heart for Xuan Tian Ming was sky-high. As a result, it was met with a care-free shrug and a smile…