Chapter 407 (2/2)
It was good to not show forgiveness. She wouldn't relent to him, and he shouldn't show her affection. After all, she was only a pa.s.serby, and she didn't want to leave behind any reasons for sorrow.
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The army sent by the imperial court was already stationed at Xi River when Ning Yuxuan arrived at the army camps.
Seeing his cousin's unpleasant expression, Ning Mingjie chucked and asked, ”What's wrong? Didn't you rush to come here? Why do you seem unhappy?”
Ning Yuxuan expressionlessly answered, ”It's too cold. I'm frozen stiff. I can't move my face.”
Ning Mingjie wasn't sure how to respond. He gestured for him to come over. ”I've sent people over to Zhangjun to announce the imperial decree, but looking at their stance, a battle is inevitable. I've already written a military report requesting for reinforcements. The report is on its way to the emperor now.”
”En.” Marquis Moyu went over to the side to look at the pile of correspondence on the desk. He lightly said, ”Let's bide our time and wait until the imperial court has sent reinforcements before attacking Zhangjun.”
”That's what I was thinking too.” Ning Mingjie slightly smiled. ”This war will probably last a long time. Who knows how old our children will be by the time we return?”
Ning Yuxuan froze in surprise for a moment. Thinking of how Haohao was still in the palace, he couldn't help sighing.
Zhangjun Prince refused to accept the imperial edict, tightly closed the city's gates, and gathered the twelve surrounding cities with Xi River as a boundary line. He threatened to purge the emperor's court of its evil officials as his political slogan for fighting against the current regime.
This news traveled to the capital, and the emperor was furious. He sent the requested reinforcement to Ning Mingjie and put the dowager empress under house arrest. Zhao Li also wanted to take the opportunity to deal with Xiao Clan.
(T/N: Just in case it was too long ago, the dowager empress is Zhao Zhe's mother, and Xiao Clan is her maiden clan.)
The news quickly spread from the imperial court to the commoners like smoke. Xiao Clan had a centuries-old foundation, so how could it be possible to remove it in a single move? Xiao Tianyi incited the common people, and the civil and military officials also jointly pet.i.tioned to protect Xiao Clan. It was only now that Zhao Li woke up from his dream. When he swept his gaze over the imperial court, he realized that most of the officials that had once been loyal to him had been pulled to Xiao Clan's side without him noticing.
He had previously arranged for his own people to take over duties in the Six Ministries. To his surprise, other than the people in the Ministry of Revenue, most of those people had become traitors. Every one of them was saying that Prime Minister Xiao was a good official that worked for the benefit of the common people and the country and that Xiao Clan couldn't be harmed. It was a clan that had always taken on the responsibility of supporting the reigning emperor.
Under this pressure, Zhao Li could only back down and leave Xiao Clan alone.
After he gave Kangyuan Junzhu the rank of virtuous consort, her father, Yong'an Prince, took the opportunity to enter the capital and serve the emperor by lending his troops to Ning Mingjie. Surely, this would help Ning Mingjie seize Zhangjun.
As a result of all this, the situation in the imperial court suddenly became tense. Zhao Li was at a loss. When he turned back to look, it had already been a long time since Pengyue was willing to see him while Kangyuan was whole-heartedly devoted to him. It was only... He didn't know why. His heart felt empty.
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An endless stream of reinforcements were sent to Zhangjun, but Ning Mingjie continued to bide his time. By the beginning of spring, there were already fifty thousand soldiers camping outside of Zhangjun's city. The grain reserve was running low, and the imperial court was struggling, but support continued to be provided. The emperor had sent four imperial edicts to order Ning Mingjie to start attacking as early as possible, but Ning Mingjie ignored them.
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Spring was already heavy in the air when the war against Zhangjun finally and officially started.
T/N: Little Bamboo Spirit will be moving Fortunate Wife here =). It's a very different novel from The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir. Click here to read my . I wrote out almost all of things that I like and disliked about it, so it might be a bit too long ^^;;.