Chapter 72 (1/2)

More than half of the fodder grass was intercepted by West Yi army’s sneak attack, the rest were burnt to ashes. Li Jin Tian tried to clean up his involvement, he even removed his own confidant, but that just caused Gao Min to doubt him.

Gao Min felt furious when he thought that he would not be able to conquer West Yi. After ninety-nine steps were finished, he now had to leave on the last step. Returning to Beijing a loser, to accept the courtiers’ accusations and Li Jin Tian’s forgiveness, how could he be willing to suffer such humiliation?

So, he wrote two letters, one to his brother, the other to his most trusted friend, Li Wang.

Li Wang and the Gao Lang secretly met after leaving Beijing, along the way, they raised rations to send to the border. Because of their high positions, the supply officials gave them the green light, even when they emptied the local granary, no one dared to interfere. But they didn’t need to interfere, Li Jin Tian had sent a spy to monitor Gao Lang and Li Wang, and they secretly reported the matter to the Emperor.

Li Jin Tian trembled after reading the news. When Gao Min faced a difficult situation, his first thought was not him, it was Li Wang, and Li Wang disregarded life and death to help him. Anyone could see how deep their feelings were.

He could no longer deceive himself that the two were not close. Who would be willing to die for someone they don’t care about? Who would risk leaving Beijing to go rescue someone they don’t love? He was also scared by Gao Lang and Li Wang’s boldness. They went all the way to West Yi as if they were kings, no official dared to defy their orders, giving them forage when they asked, giving them soldiers when they asked. Where do these people put the Emperor? If Gao Lang and Li Wang intended to rebel, they would be too afraid to tell their own Emperor.

Li Jin Tian was furious, but his performance was very calm in the court. He’d learned a lesson after all this time. He couldn’t reveal the slightest abnormalities, or Gao Jia and Li Wang would immediately know.

After his brother and Li Wang had rushed to the rescue, Gao Min finally set off back to West Yi. At this point, his prestige in Da Yanguo had risen to an unprecedented height. Whether it was dignitaries or commoners, they all endlessly praised the Great General Gao, they bluntly talked about the Great General Gao’s braveness, and how he brought great prosperity to the country.

All the great prosperity my Da Yanguo has, it all relied on Gao Min? Li Jin Tian stood at the top of the tower, slightly bowed, the crown blocking his cold smile.

The mighty army was returning from the war, marching in from the sunset. Gao Min sat on his horse, his armor emitting a cold light. He looked up at the tower, first to his little son who’d grown a bit taller, whom he gave a triumphant smile, then he looked at the Emperor.

Li Jin Tian waved, his eyes as gentle as always. Gao Min suddenly felt relieved, he even showed a rare soft expression.

A few days later, the court set off a whirlwind, urging the Emperor and Li Wang to pick an heir. You don’t have to guess who the candidate was, it was obviously Gao Min’s Five Princes.

The eunuchs helped Li Jin Tian tidy the piles of memorials, every memorial praised Gao Min and Five Princes. They were treated as two gods who descended to the world specifically to save Da Yanguo, the Emperor was lucky to have those two’s help.

“Good, even this throne I have is all because Gao Min is here. Great!” Li Jin Tian threw out the memorials, his eyes red.

The eunuch lowered his head, afraid to breathe.

Li Jin Tian’s chest violently undulated, then he unexpectedly calmed down. He personally picked up a memorial, patted it clean, then slowly said, “Okay, since this is what the public wants, then I will give them Gao Gui Jun, the court has picked a good candidate.” As for the legislation of the matter, he could delay it for however long he wanted. He liked Five Princes, but as long as he thought of who was standing behind Five Princes, he felt nauseous.

The Head Eunuch promised and transferred the written instructions to the court.

——————

In the Imperial study room, Li Xu Yan became the object of praise. Next to him was the second son of Gao Lang, Gao Nian. At the moment, Gao Nian felt higher than heaven.

“My small uncle is a great commander, if not for him, the people in the border couldn’t live as stable as they are now. Uncle has done great deeds, naturally, he deserves the supreme honor. You certainly can’t imagine how hard life was at the border. Unlike some of the rebels and remnants here, who do nothing yet live so comfortably. If it was up to me, I would cut them off, such a waste of food.”

“What do you mean by rebels and remnants?” A cold voice suddenly came from the door, before Gao Nian could turn around to look, he was grabbed by his hair and was smashed into the table, then punched repeatedly, he fell down, bleeding and unconscious.

Five Princes finally reacted, he quickly called people forward to hold on to Six Princes, the Royal study room was suddenly in chaos.

In the end, Gao Nian was seriously wounded and was carried back to Gao house on a wooden plank by his servants, no one knew whether he’ll have any sequelae when he woke up. Gao Lang ran to the Tian Chen Palace to complain and get justice for his son.

Because of Li Jin Tian’s extravagant favor on Zi Chen Palace, Gao Min didn’t dare to trespass, but he was always looking out for a way to discredit Qi Xiujie and Six Princes, so he also rushed to the temple to complain.

Six Princes’ status was just after Five Princes’, so the palace guards didn’t dare arrest him, they simply escorted him back to the Zi Chen Palace and left the punishing to the higher-ups.

Li Jin Tian heard about the matter from Gao Min and summoned the doctor to look at Gao Nian’s injury. It was very serious, so he immediately ran to the Zi Chen Palace. He hadn’t been inside the gorgeous lonely palace for a long time, so he was timid to enter. Even though he lived through two lifetimes, the person he felt most guilty about was not Gao Min, but Qi Xiujie. He felt that he could never recompense him for what he did to him.