In the great hall, he saw palace maids kneeling all over the floor, each trembling like chaff in the wind, not daring to breathe heavily, fearing that if the Son of Heaven flew into a rage, any one of them might touch his bad luck and lose their life with a single misstep…
Upon hearing the news, the Crown Prince rushed into the imperial palace. Hearing the Emperor cursing and shouting in his bedchamber, he hesitated, not daring to enter.
It was only when a young eunuch quietly told Gao Demao that the Crown Prince had arrived that Gao Demao hurriedly shuffled forward with small steps to greet him: “Your Highness, the Crown Prince, please go in quickly!”
The Crown Prince’s feet remained motionless as he looked at Gao Demao: “Is Father Emperor… very angry?”
“Indeed, he is! Before the battle report arrived, memorial reports from the new Prefect of Yanwo and Li Mingrui, son of the Left Chancellor, arrived one after another. Prince Liang failed to handle the disaster relief properly, inciting civil unrest. Now the region of Yanwo is waiting for His Majesty to send troops to suppress the rebellious people! His Majesty was already full of anger, and who would have thought that in less than half a cup of tea’s time, news of Great Liang going to war with our Jin nation would arrive! How could His Majesty not be furious?”
The Crown Prince’s fingers twitched. It seemed the people he had sent had accomplished their task. He was greatly pleased in his heart.
This time, with civil unrest in Yanwo and warfare at Chun Mushan, both incidents happening together, according to Father Emperor’s personality, Prince Liang would certainly bear the brunt of his anger.
Seeing the expression in the Crown Prince’s eyes, Gao Demao noticed he seemed much more composed than when he first arrived, with joy inadvertently showing between his brows. He hurriedly said, “If Your Highness has good ideas, please tell His Majesty quickly. His Majesty’s headache is acting up… and his anger won’t subside. If this continues, I fear something terrible might happen!”
The Crown Prince cleared his throat and spoke: “Eunuch, don’t be anxious. Let me think it over once more to ensure stability.”
The Crown Prince’s mind raced. Now that Great Liang and their Great Jin were at war, and with civil unrest in Yanwo, their Jin nation was short of troops!
He thought of Bai Qingyan. The battle at Chun Mushan against Great Liang might require a military talent like Bai Qingyan to lead, to achieve victory with fewer forces.
As for Yanwo… now that Prince Liang had already made a mess of things, no matter how he went to clean up the aftermath, Father Emperor couldn’t blame him. Moreover, those causing civil unrest and rebellion in Yanwo were just lowly commoners. Compared to Great Liang’s elite soldiers, they should be quite easy to deal with.
Having made up his mind, the Crown Prince followed Gao Demao into the main hall and respectfully bowed to the Emperor: “Your son pays respects to Father Emperor.”
“These are all the fine candidates you recommended!” The Emperor directly threw the memorial in front of the Crown Prince, so angry that he held his forehead while pacing back and forth before his desk.
The Crown Prince was frightened and trembled, immediately kowtowing: “Father Emperor, please forgive me. Your son also didn’t know Prince Liang would handle things this way. Since Prince Liang was recommended by your son, now that problems have arisen, as his elder brother, your son naturally must clean up his younger brother’s mess. Your son humbly requests that Father Emperor let your son personally lead troops to Yanwo to quell this civil unrest.”
Seeing the Crown Prince’s sincere and fearful appearance, and thinking that this son was also trying to help his younger brother out of pure kindness at heart, the Emperor closed his eyes: “Great Liang has started a war, and there’s civil unrest in Yanwo – both are urgent matters that brook no delay. Recalling the forces stationed at Rongdi will take time, and if we take away the capital’s garrison troops… the capital will be empty.”
The Crown Prince quickly straightened up and said: “Your son wishes to recommend the County Princess of Zhenguo to Father Emperor. The County Princess of Zhenguo is the legitimate eldest granddaughter of the Prince of Zhenguo, most skilled in battles where few defeat many. The Father Emperor could command someone to ride swiftly to Shouyang with an imperial edict, ordering the County Princess of Zhenguo to rush to Chun Mushan to take over the commander’s position. With the County Princess of Zhenguo there… it would certainly deter Great Liang to some extent!”
The Emperor clenched his teeth tightly, his head beginning to throb with pain again. He raised his hand to cover his forehead, walked around the desk to sit on the dragon throne, closed his eyes, and pondered carefully.
The Emperor had not failed to consider sending Bai Qingyan, but even though Bai Qingyan was a woman, the Emperor was extremely afraid that Bai Qingyan would become another Prince of Zhenguo, Bai Weiting.
After all, Bai Qingyan’s way of doing things was even more decisive and ruthless than the Prince of Zhenguo’s. Whenever she acted, it was like turbulent waves, never stopping until her goals were achieved.
What the Emperor feared even more was – what if this Bai Qingyan, taking advantage of the civil unrest in Yanwo, went to Chun Mushan and then boldly led troops in rebellion?
Even when Prince of Zhenguo Bai Weiting had sworn an oath to the Emperor beforehand, the Emperor still harbored considerable wariness toward Bai Weiting, let alone toward Bai Qingyan, whose methods were even more fierce than Bai Weiting’s.
Seeing the Emperor remain silent for a long while, the Crown Prince looked up toward the Emperor and said: “Father Emperor, your son is confident that the County Princess of Zhenguo will certainly be able to resolve Great Liang’s threat to our Great Jin. Your son will also do his utmost to properly handle the civil unrest in Yanwo.”
The Emperor looked at the Crown Prince’s solemn face, tapped his fingers on the desk, and asked: “Before Bai Qingyan left the capital, she visited the Crown Prince’s mansion. Did she mention the Chun Mushan war to you? Did she say… that if Great Liang went to war with our Jin nation, you should recommend her to lead the troops?”
The Crown Prince saw the Emperor’s eyes filled with wariness and quickly shook his head: “It’s true that the County Princess of Zhenguo was concerned about the Chun Mushan war, but she never said that your son should recommend her to lead troops. Your son believes… the County Princess of Zhenguo’s concern for the Chun Mushan war was entirely out of loyalty to our Jin nation. On this point, your son dares stake his life to vouch for the County Princess of Zhenguo!”
The Emperor recalled the Crown Prince’s previous account of the divine deer incident and felt that his son, probably because of that incident, had let down his guard against Bai Qingyan and trusted her too much.
“After that… did Bai Qingyan mention the divine deer incident to you again?” the Emperor asked.
The Crown Prince shook his head: “She did not, as if it had never happened at all. Therefore, Father Emperor… your son believes in the County Princess of Zhenguo’s loyalty, and please, Father Emperor, believe as well.”
The Emperor gritted his teeth, inevitably thinking again of the oath Bai Weiting had once sworn to him.
But even with that oath, when Bai Weiting’s reputation grew day by day, when the border people regarded the capital as their savior and completely forgot that he was the true Emperor of Great Jin, he would still be filled with anxiety and unease.
The Emperor closed his eyes and said to the Crown Prince: “This person, Bai Qingyan – you can use her, but you must never trust her! Moreover, you must keep her in check… otherwise, if her reputation grows day by day and surpasses yours, that would not be a good thing! The art of being an emperor… lies in combining grace with authority. The more capable a minister is, the more you cannot let them grow too powerful. Do you understand?”
The Crown Prince was stunned. Was his Father the Emperor, teaching him the way to control people?
“Although your son doesn’t fully understand Father Emperor’s words, I will certainly ponder them carefully after returning! I won’t disappoint Father Emperor!”
The Emperor nodded, looking at his son’s receptive expression, and spoke to Gao Demao: “Gao Demao, issue an edict… command County Princess Gaoyi, Bai Jinzhi, to rush to Chun Mushan to assist General Zhang Duanrui.”
The Crown Prince had originally wanted to ask the Emperor whether to have County Princess Gaoyi lead troops there, but fearing that Father Emperor would think him stupid, he forcibly held back from asking.
“Crown Prince, tomorrow morning at dawn, personally lead troops to Yanwo to suppress the rebellious people! Bring that fool Prince Liang back to me!” The Emperor gnashed his teeth when mentioning Prince Liang.
He couldn’t even handle disaster relief properly, yet the Emperor had thought Prince Liang was the white tiger prophesied in his dreams. Now it seemed he had been overthinking it – Prince Liang probably didn’t have that capability.