Chapter 82: The move to Ningzhuo 2 (1/2)
The Present: The courtroom of the imperial palace of Northern Wei.
Emperor Zhong sat on the Dragon Throne at the centre of the wide palace hall, seething with anger as yet another military official came forward to support the petition for the appointment of Lu Yaozhu as the military governor of Chengxu submitted by The Minister of war Tian Ke.
Even after he had dismissed all their numerous written petitions, they dared to bring it up in courts. These military officials had a lot of guts to submit a verbal request in court and the presence of the delegates from Chu state.
Emperor Zhong clenched his teeth, he glanced at the quiet Lu brothers and Minister Tian, their co-conspirator. This must be the two brothers plan, they couldn't get him to give Lu Yaozhu more power through the usual methods, hence they decided to go all out.
Emperor Zhong didn't like to be cornered but since they were determined to bend his hands he will deal with them. Emperor Zhong had already made plans to handle these greedy bunch, starting with Lu Yaozhu. He waited for the current speaker to finish speaking before swooping in for the kill.
”I have some really good officials, look at how you are all jumping up and down about the appointment. I understand that the urgency in choosing a new military governor for Chengxu. With our extending kingdom, these things are necessary.
”However, after giving it some thoughts, I don't think it is necessary to send General Lu to Chengxu. Sending over a military governor of General Lu's calibre is a waste of his talent. A military governor was necessary when there was still unrest in the south.
”The Previous Governor did a good job in quenching the unrest, Chengxu is now in peace. I am sending the sixth prince Zhongshan Cheng to take charge of that seat. General Lu's talent is more needed to curb the wide clans in Ningzhuo”
A chill spread around the entire hall as he said that, it was so quiet that even the sound of a pin when dropped would be heard in the hall. Everyone looked at the Emperor in shock, they could help but glance at the quiet young General who stood on the second role of long lines of the military officials.
Who is the Emperor trying to fool by pretending to send General Lu to where ”his talents” was needed. This isn't a promotion but a curse, how is sending him to the far north something good. The Emperor was just sending him to suffer, was far not a cold land where it was winter for the majority of the year.
Even when it wasn't snowing the weather was too cold. Ningzhuo was the capital seat of the far north region where there was constant unrest and other problems. It was known as the barren lands for a reason.
The unfavourable weather conditions coupled with the constant bandit's attack and unrest with their northern neighbours made life unfavourable for the inhabitants. Lu Yaozhu wasn't going to have it easy there.
Ningzhuo never had the typical summer weather because of its location. it was either winter or spring and even when they did, it was extremely hot. Everything was to the extreme in that region, compared to the other towns in the far north, Ningzhuo was a breeze. Sending Lu Yaozhu to Ningzhuo was an obvious punishment ser up by the Emperor.
Everyone expected Lu Yaozhu to challenge the Emperor's decision and try to get sent to another border town but that wasn't the case. They were surprised when Lu Yaozhu walked forward and accepted the ”promotion”.
Bad news they say travels fast, by the end of morning court the news of Lu Yaozhu's ”promotion” had gone wide.
****
At Minister Zhu's residence, the main madam's room.
Zhu Feifei rushed over to her mother as soon as the news of the sixth Prince's posting got to her. Zhu Feifei spent her entire life in the capital, the prospect of leaving her familiar place for a smaller city scared her. she immediately rushed over to seek her mother's advice.
Zhu Feifei rushed to sear next to her mother as soon as the maids were dismissed. ”Mother something bad has happened, his highness has been posted out of the capital! Did we lose favour with his Majesty! What do I to do!”
Patting her hands gently, Madam Zhu tried to console her troubled heart, Zhu Feifei was heavily pregnant, it wasn't good for her to be worried. Especially since she was pregnant with the Emperor's first grandchild.
”Feifei'er, calm down! There is no need to worry, his Highness is his Majesty's favourite child. Her Majesty would do anything to hurt him, his majesty sending him to Chengxu is sudden. However is not a bad thing, on the contrary, It is a wonderful idea.”
Zhu Feifei stopped fretting and looked up ”really!” She said.
Madam Zhu nodded ”yes, Chengxu is one of the biggest cities in Northern Wei. Ningzhuo is considered a ghost town compared to Chengxu. Everything from the weather to the standard of living is all on par with the capital. You will not be disappointed”