pdf-ebookys Chapter 119 Rebellious Officials of the Former Dynasty 50
Chapter 119 Rebellious Officials of the Former Dynasty 50
Just as everything was thriving and construction began on the two satellite cities of the new city, a letter from the capital shattered the joy.
Ling Yi looked at Xiao Yao's sudden silence and took the letter from his hand.
It was someone she hadn't expected—Angor.
The child was only four years old when they left, and is not even ten years old now.
Yet this little one's handwriting is already quite good, and the words on the letter are even more composed.
He wrote in the letter that his mother had died.
Ling Yi's fingers suddenly tightened, and her expression turned cold.
Throughout these five years, they maintained constant correspondence with Anger and never stopped providing assistance to the mother and son.
As the emperor's great-grandson and the grandfather of the deceased crown prince, An'ge'er's position in the court was awkward.
No one wanted to provoke the last remaining bloodline of the former crown prince, lest it remind the emperor of painful memories and trigger a massacre.
But everyone wanted to win him over, hoping that this great-grandson of the emperor, who was often invited into the palace by the emperor, would say a few good words for them.
With the struggle for the crown prince becoming increasingly intense, some being demoted, others dying, leaving only the third and sixth princes vying for power, this situation became even more pronounced.
The emperor was nearing his death, and old people always love to reminisce about the past.
Whenever he thought of his eldest son, whom he had raised himself, he would summon his great-grandson, who looked remarkably like him, to the palace to enjoy family time.
As he grew older, An'ge'er's importance in the old emperor's heart gradually increased, surpassing that of Xiao Yao in the past, and also surpassing the third and sixth princes who were now fighting to the death in the court and coveting his position.
Last year, the increasingly bloodthirsty emperor even exiled him to Yazhou because he said the crime did not warrant death.
How could we not let the third and sixth brothers fight for such an important role?
Are Anger and his mother completely unyielding?
It's alright, Ange'er's mother still has her family, doesn't she?
That family was affected by the previous conflict, and only two of them held minor official positions in the court. As long as they offered substantial benefits, they would certainly not refuse their demands.
Therefore, the two uncles of the imperial grandson's wife, on the orders of the two princes, came to her door.
Even at this point, they still remembered not to put all their eggs in one basket, and each allied themselves with two different forces to ensure that no matter who persuaded the imperial grandson's wife, the family would not be completely ruined.
They had good intentions, but they never expected that the imperial granddaughter would be unable to accept betrayal from her own family.
Even before leaving the capital, Ling Yi discovered that the Imperial Consort's depression was already very serious, and even found evidence of self-harm in her.
At that time, because Ange'er was still young and alone, and because her family did not show their ugly side to her, she was able to barely persevere.
But as Ange'er grew older, her last support collapsed due to the betrayal of her relatives.
Royal suicide is a serious crime. She didn't want Ange'er to be disliked by the current emperor because of his mother's suicide, nor did she want Ange'er to be hated by the future emperor because his mother was tactless and refused to be recruited. So she chose not to seek medical treatment when she was sick.
After immersing herself in a chilly bath for an hour in the early spring air, the Imperial Concubine remained bedridden for a whole month, refusing to take any medicine, before finally passing away.
"Grandpa Jiu, Grandma Jiu, I want to go to the Northern Desert, is that alright?"
The child, who had methodically explained everything to his two distant relatives using the secret letter writing technique taught by Ling Yi, finally revealed his vulnerability at the end of the letter.
He wanted to come to the northern desert; he wanted to be with his only remaining relative.
The emperor in the palace was not his relative, because he was looking at his grandfather through his own eyes, and would occasionally say in a strange tone that it was good to be young.
His maternal grandparents, who killed his mother, were not his relatives. They killed his mother for their own gain, and they were mortal enemies.
The other grandfathers, however, were all smiles masking malice, trying to squeeze every last drop of profit out of him.
Now, his only relatives are the couple who used to take him flying around and explore every corner of Beijing, eating local snacks.
He wanted to escape that vortex and go to the northern desert to find them.
Hearing that the sky was high and the clouds were low in the northern desert, he wanted to stay there with his Ninth Grandfather for the rest of his life, and not care about the affairs of the capital.
The letter was crumpled between her fingers. Ling Yi looked at Xiao Yao, who had grown into a warm and refined man over the past five years and was finally able to face the storms of the capital, and said, "Let's go back to the capital!"
"Let's go back to Beijing."
As she looked at Xiao Yao, Xiao Yao looked at her and said the same thing.
About six months ago, the wind direction in Beijing started to change.
As the emperor grew older, he also became suspicious of his sons on the frontier.
The time between the delay in the payment of food and wages to the complete halt to the payment of food and wages to the border troops in the northern desert was only three months.
If it weren't for the huge profits that the new city and the border market brought to Tongcheng, which Xiao Yao misappropriated, the iron army trained by Ling Yi would probably have been rendered useless again.
If it were the Xiao Yao of the past, he would not understand why his wise and mighty father, who raised the butcher's knife for the border army, would become like this.
But now, Xiao Yao can only pity the emperor who is nearing the end of his life.
He was making a final struggle with his power, displaying his last authority to his son in his prime.
But everyone knows that he was only at the end of his rope.
"Since Father wants me to go back, then let me go back."
After a slight smile revealed by their unspoken understanding, Xiao Yao pursed her lips and spoke.
Whether it's the issue of paying the border troops or Ange'er's letter, it's all the Emperor forcing him to return.
The little child, unaware of his scheme, wrote a letter for help in a daze.
Xiao Yao felt only sorrow that the emperor, who ruled over the four corners of the world, would resort to such a trivial method.
Perhaps he did this because his father wanted to see his long-lost son before he died, or perhaps the emperor who ruled the world wanted to send a powerful pawn who had not yet entered the game into the fray, or perhaps the aging emperor wanted to get rid of this troublesome and unruly figure for the new emperor...
But no matter what, he was going to return to Beijing.
It was for his mother, for Ange'er, and for his father who once loved him dearly.
"Yi Yi, let's muster the troops." Xiao Yao said this with an extremely calm expression.
He will go back, but he will not go back as a prince at the mercy of others.
He was the Prince Rui, who shared the northern border with his queen. They had 30,000 iron cavalry, a border market that contributed more tax revenue than Jiangnan, and the hearts of the people of the entire northern desert.
Regardless of his father's intentions, he had only one purpose in returning to the capital this time—to seize the throne!
He had seen eagles hunt small birds fighting in the air, and now he was finally going to be that eagle.
He looked up at Ling Yi: "Yi Yi will stay with me, right?"
He clutched at a straw and whispered, "I will give Yi Yi everything I have—my throne, my life. Yi Yi will not leave me, right?"
When his closest family members revealed their ugly side, Xiao Yao showed his most vulnerable side.
He wanted to give everything he had so that his children would never change, and that their future would always be as clear as it is today.