Jiang Wan and Er Lang exerted their strength together, slaughtering the two masters.
With the death of the two great masters, the morale of the Zhao family army, which was already precarious, collapsed completely. Many soldiers dropped their weapons and fled, regardless of how their generals tried to stop them.
Jiang Wan cupped her hand over her forehead and looked into the distance. She said to Er Lang, "Should we go help Gu Chenzhou?"
Before Er Lang could speak, they saw Gu Chenzhou galloping back on his horse from afar, holding a dripping human head.
It was Zhao Jingyun's head.
Er Lang felt a pang of dissatisfaction. How good it would have been if he had beheaded him.
Unexpectedly, Gu Chenzhou rode up to him and suddenly threw Zhao Jingyun's head over.
Er Lang caught it in a flurry, somewhat bewildered. "Why are you throwing it to me?"
Gu Chenzhou said, "It's yours."
His goal was achieved; he had avenged the more than three hundred souls of the Gu family by killing his enemy. As for military merit, he did not care.
Moreover, he knew very well that if Jiang Wan and Er Lang had not held off those two great masters today, he alone would not have been able to kill Zhao Jingyun.
Therefore, he was willing to cede this military merit to Er Lang.
Er Lang felt a little embarrassed by his actions. "Ah, this... this isn't quite right, do you know what this represents?"
It represented immense wealth!
Gu Chenzhou said, "It's yours if I give it to you. I don't need those things."
Er Lang immediately embraced Zhao Jingyun's head. "Then you can't go back on your word!"
Gu Chenzhou didn't look at him and turned to Jiang Wan, saying, "Thank you."
Jiang Wan waved her hand. "No need to be polite."
Er Lang couldn't be bothered with anything else. He hung Zhao Jingyun's head on his long spear, rode his horse across the battlefield, and shouted as he ran, "Zhao Jingyun has been executed! Surrender quickly!"
The remaining part of the Zhao family army, which was still resisting unwillingly, looked back upon hearing his shouts. Seeing Zhao Jingyun's ghastly state with his eyes wide open in death, they immediately collapsed.
The soldiers of the Han family army cheered loudly, "Deputy General Jiang, Deputy General Jiang!"
After Er Lang rode around the battlefield with Zhao Jingyun's head, he presented it to General Han. "General, Zhao Jingyun's head is here."
When General Han saw the head of his nemesis, he couldn't help but exclaim, "Good! Well done! My Han family army has finally achieved a great victory!"
The Han family army had won.
The cheers of the entire army resounded through the heavens, deafening.
Next, the army began to march towards the capital. Wherever they went, the common people lined the streets to welcome them.
Jiang Wan naturally followed within the army.
Many people gasped when they saw her. "Good heavens, that's a young girl! Such a beautiful young girl, why is she on the battlefield?"
Someone well-informed said, "I heard that female general is very capable. She killed the masters around the traitor Zhao, which gave her brother the opportunity to chop off Zhao's head."
"It's actually brother and sister fighting on the battlefield together. Tsk, whose children are they? So capable. With two generals who have made great contributions in one family, they are likely to reach the highest positions in the future."
"That goes without saying. I just wonder who will be worthy of this female general in the future?"
After traveling for nearly two months, the army finally arrived at the capital.
After a small skirmish with the last batch of city guards, the Han family army officially took control of the capital.
Next, there was naturally a lot of busy work.
General Han took up residence in the palace and began preparations for the establishment of the new court. His trusted generals were naturally not idle either, helping him to consolidate power in the capital.
Jiang Wan, who had wanted to slack off, could not escape and was assigned many tasks.
It took more than a month of hard work to finish everything.
The new emperor's enthronement ceremony was set for three days later. Before that, the new emperor had already sent people to Jiangnan to bring his wife, children, and elders, as well as the Jiang family and Magistrate Cheng's family, to the capital.
Wang Hongye still felt as if she were dreaming even after arriving in the capital.
She was the new emperor's first wife, and with his enthronement, she would be the Empress.
Along the way, all her ceremonial processions were conducted according to the specifications for an Empress's travel.
Several times, she couldn't help but call Chen Yuezhi over to whisper, saying she felt like she was dreaming, otherwise, why would she suddenly be about to become Empress?
After entering the capital, Wang Hongye proposed to become sworn sisters with Chen Yuezhi.
She always remembered that during her most difficult years, it was Chen Yuezhi and the Jiang family who saved her. Without Chen Yuezhi and the Jiang family, she would have long since perished, and would not have had the fortune to become Empress.
Chen Yuezhi did not refuse and happily agreed.
Wang Hongye was an ordinary peasant woman, and becoming Empress was not an easy task for her. If Wang Hongye did not have sufficient backing, she would likely be annihilated in the harem struggles within a few years.
Chen Yuezhi's current status was extraordinary, and with the military achievements of her children, becoming sworn sisters with Wang Hongye also meant that the Jiang family was Wang Hongye's support. Even if the new emperor had other women by his side in the future, it would not threaten Wang Hongye's interests.
This was something Wang Hongye only understood after several years as Empress. When she realized Chen Yuezhi's intentions, her gratitude towards Chen Yuezhi and the Jiang family deepened.
These were all matters of the future.
Three days later, the new emperor ascended the throne, conferring the title of Empress upon his first wife Wang Hongye, and his eldest son Han Qing as Crown Prince.
Jiang Pan was also enfeoffed as Duke Zhongyong, his wife Chen Yuezhi as Duchess Zhongyong, and their eldest son Jiang Jia became the heir.
Jiang Jia Sheng, the second son of the Jiang family, was enfeoffed as a Prince of the First Rank, with hereditary succession.
Jiang Wan, the youngest daughter of the Jiang family, was enfeoffed as a County Princess, with a stipend of ten thousand households.
Magistrate Cheng was enfeoffed as Duke Zhongcheng, and his eldest son Cheng Sinian as the heir.
Among the imperial edicts of enfeoffment, one was the most special: the imperial edict by the new emperor that cleared the unjust grievances of the more than three hundred souls of the Gu family.
The Gu family's reputation was finally cleared, and they were granted a feng shui auspicious burial ground by the new emperor, where Gu Chenzhou was to bury the remains of his entire clan.
Gu Chenzhou himself was also enfeoffed as a Prince of the First Rank.
After the enthronement ceremony, the Jiang family, as new nobility, naturally received flattery from the major aristocratic families in the capital. Various invitations arrived at the Jiang residence, inviting Jiang Wan to attend various banquets.
Jiang Wan was not very interested in these matters. Fortunately, her own status was extremely noble, and coupled with the status of her father and brother, no one in the capital dared to force her.
After the initial few days of discomfort, the Jiang family quickly resumed their normal lives.
The Jiang family's previous businesses were all in Jiangnan. Now that they had come to the capital, they did not abandon their businesses in Jiangnan, entrusting them to trustworthy people to manage.
In the capital, they began to operate new businesses.
Chen Yuezhi's medical clinic was directly opened in the capital. Since everyone knew she was the closed-door disciple of a divine physician, a long queue formed on the opening day of the new clinic.
Jiang Wan moved all her precious tea trees to the capital, preparing to open a tea house there as well.
However, before she could even get organized, Madam Cheng brought Cheng Sinian to propose marriage.