Chapter 1 Frustration

Lord Zheng held the Son of Heaven Sword,
Sitting on the back of a Pixiu.
Helplessness,
Was inevitable.
Facing an army that respected him immensely and was extremely courteous to him, yet would not listen to his orders at all; and he, of all people, was nominally their "commander";

Moreover, at this moment, a major upheaval was still unfolding in Yanjing City.

Unaccustomed, truly unaccustomed;
Ever since being transferred from Tiger Head City to Green Willow Fort, in these past five years, he, Zheng Fan, had participated in almost every major event in Great Yan, and could be considered a witness to the development of Great Yan over these years.

He had followed the drama of the succession struggle for ninety-nine steps since entering the capital, but was kicked out at the very last moment, ending up here.

Unable to witness it to the end; a true regret.

And the one who caused all of this was that Emperor; his hand had arranged everything early on; "irrelevant people" could not play any truly critical role in this matter.

The succession struggle,
Was the Heavenly Family's affair,
It was necessary to give the world an explanation, and of course, to give the two princes a particularly important explanation;

But when it truly happened, outsiders should not join in the fun.

Lord Zheng felt somewhat anxious.

When eating hotpot with Old Tian, Old Tian had said that it didn't really matter to you, the Marquis of Pingxi, who became the new ruler;

And Blind Man had mentioned that if Ji Lao Liu (Sixth Prince) became the new ruler, it might be even worse for us, because he used to think Ji Lao Liu was cute when he ate cornmeal,

But the fundamental reason for his "cuteness" was that he had always been suppressed by the Yan Emperor and unable to reach the true core of power, or rather, the true authority of the country. Once he ascended to that position and inherited everything from the Yan Emperor, then this opponent would inevitably be more targeted in his moves;

Of course, Blind Man had always taken "rebellion" as a given.

In fact, Zheng Fan also understood this, but even setting aside their deal, emotionally, he still slightly hoped that Ji Lao Liu would have the last laugh.

Back then, in front of the Zhenbei Marquis’s mansion, one was a carefree and dissolute prince, and the other was a miscellaneous security escort;

Now,
One has been enfeoffed as a marquis, and if the other can ascend to the throne, when reminiscing about life, it seems like it would make for a fulfilling ending, setting aside personal interests, it would actually be quite beautiful.

As for the rest, we'll talk about it later.

Waiting,
Waiting,
And then,
The bell of mourning rang.

After the bell of mourning sounded nine times,
The soldiers all knelt down and began to weep.

Lord Zheng also got off the Pixiu, holding the Son of Heaven Sword, and knelt on the ground.

Some things could not be understood before; to be precise, you couldn't see them clearly until today.

That was the Yan Emperor's prestige in the army.

A wise and ambitious emperor, an emperor keen to pioneer and forge ahead, would inevitably be supported by the soldiers.

Even the Jingnan Army, loyal to Old Tian, would follow him in rebelling against Yanjing if Old Tian ordered it, but when they learned of the Yan Emperor's death, would they be sad, would they weep?

Yes,
They inevitably would.

A person is a complex vessel, and an army, a group composed of tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people, would only be more complex.

Because whether it was the Zhenbei Army or the Jingnan Army, the main body of the soldiers, oh no, to be precise, almost all of them were Yan people.

The Yan Emperor seemed to have delegated power, with Great Yan's two major field cavalry groups both under the control of the two princes, but in reality, the Yan Emperor was already the emperor of all Yan people; this prestige, this influence, was not fake.

Legitimacy and righteousness, often seeming useless, but sometimes, you really can't deny the value of their existence.

For example, Fatty Xu, in his early years, was a staunch supporter of the Zhenbei Marquis's rebellion; now, isn't he also a loyal official of Great Yan, governing one region?

Perhaps,
Only his, Lord Zheng's, Jindong Army, would be least affected by this news.

Because the main body of the Jindong Army was not purely Yan people, so they naturally could not empathize.

Then,
After a brief emotional fluctuation,
A very practical question came,
In the end,
Who won?
Was it Sixth?
Was it the Crown Prince?
Or did another prince eat this delicious meat bun?
Then,
What should he do?
It wasn't himself who was vying for the throne, but the problem was that outsiders were often more concerned and eager than the candidates themselves.
Fortunately,
This wait didn't last too long.
Eunuch Qu arrived with an imperial decree.
"Marquis of Pingxi, receive the decree."

The Emperor had just passed away, what kind of decree was this?
Was it a posthumous edict, or one from the new ruler?
Lord Zheng knelt down, preparing to receive the decree.

Of course, he, Zheng Fan, would not be Fusu; if the decree told him to drink a cup of wine or commit suicide, Lord Zheng would rebel in a matter of minutes.

But the content of the decree was short and unexpected to Lord Zheng:

"Order Zheng Fan, the Marquis of Pingxi, to quickly mobilize the Jingnan Army outside the city to enter the capital and protect my sacred person."

"..." Zheng Fan.

This didn't seem like the Yan Emperor's posthumous edict, nor did it seem like a new ruler's edict issued by the Crown Prince or other princes; it especially didn't seem like an edict that Ji Lao Liu would issue. He, Ji Lao Liu, knew what kind of person he was!

In the mutton soup restaurant in Beifeng County, the two had long ago expressed their feelings and analyzed their true nature.

But,
Lord Zheng still:
"This subject receives the decree."

Who cares about anything else; at this moment, the most important thing was to have troops he trusted and who would absolutely protect him by his side.

When he got up after receiving the decree, he discovered that Eunuch Zhang, who was close to Sixth Prince, was standing behind Eunuch Qu.

Oh,
He seemed to understand.

Lord Zheng took the Son of Heaven Sword, mounted the Pixiu, and first said to Fan Li beside him:

"Go back and send the family members back to the Prince's mansion."

"Yes, Master."

Fan Li left.

Accompanied by Eunuch Qu, Lord Zheng returned to the east gate again.

The city gate was opened.

No one questioned the arrangement of the decree; everything seemed very smooth.

But this was clearly not long after the bell of mourning had sounded; there should have been suspicion and procrastination from all sides, but right now, things were exceptionally smooth.

Lord Zheng left the city and arrived at the camp outside the city.

Lord Zheng, who could try to use his face as identification, still took out the Jingnan Prince's token under the watchful eyes of Eunuch Qu,

Then,
Without the slightest surprise,
Ten thousand Jingnan Army iron cavalry, plus the personal soldiers Lord Zheng brought from Fengxin City, all rose up to obey orders.

When the army entered the capital, there was no obstruction.

Everything, everything was as smooth as silk.

So smooth that Lord Zheng was a little unaccustomed to it.

Lord Zheng left the city,
Lord Zheng returned,
And,
He brought back tens of thousands of soldiers who obeyed his orders.

Shouting, "I, Hu Hansan, am back!" would be too embarrassing;
But at least, he had a sense of security, his spirits were lifted, and he felt like he could do anything again.

"Eunuch Qu, where should this Marquis go next?" Lord Zheng asked a rhetorical question.

"Lord Marquis, you should naturally go to His Majesty to thank him for his grace and report for duty."

Zheng Fan nodded,
Waved his hand,
The iron cavalry formed ranks and drove towards the palace.

A few days ago, when he took the Son of Heaven Sword from the Yan Emperor and was ordered to leave the city to mobilize troops, Lord Zheng thought on the road whether he could become Dong Zhuo;

Now,
His troops had been mobilized into the city.

Ten thousand iron cavalry was definitely a force to be reckoned with in the capital.

Don't underestimate the Zhenbei Army in the city; if they really went crazy, whoever struck first would gain the upper hand, and it wasn't impossible to fight them off.

Moreover, rebellion,
Even if there was only a 10% chance of success, it would be enough to make countless ambitious people rush forward,
What's more, he could barely manage a fifty-fifty chance now.

But the more it was like this,
The more puzzled Zheng Fan was.

When you don't have the opportunity, you can't help but think about it; when it's "within your reach," a sense of blandness suddenly arises in your heart.

Of course,
There was also the factor that everything, everything, was too smooth.

This meant that Yanjing City had not fallen into chaos due to the Yan Emperor's death; on the contrary, this imperial city was still operating in an orderly manner in key positions.

If the water wasn't muddy, how could you fish?

The so-called "fifty-fifty chance" was only on the surface; in reality, it would only be lower.

Most importantly,
The Yan Emperor had passed away, and Lord Zheng also felt a sense of relief. The appearance of Eunuch Zhang probably proved that Sixth Prince had won;

Good days were visibly coming, so why would he risk it now?

In short,
All sorts of thoughts intertwined in Lord Zheng's mind, and he led the army to the gate of the palace.

On the way,
He saw incredibly sorrowful commoners;

At the same time, the imperial city, because it housed too many troops, to some extent, did curb the chaos that might have arisen due to the Yan Emperor's death, such as looting and smashing.

And when Lord Zheng arrived at the palace gate,
The carriage carrying Ji Lao Liu and the Crown Prince had not yet arrived.

Because that carriage was moving very slowly; it was intentionally slow.

The palace had not been cleaned since the Yan Emperor returned from the back garden;

Now that the new ruler was about to enter the palace, it had to be cleaned up.

Whether it was Wei Zhonghe or Lu Bing, both were experts in this; they had long known where the dust was and who was being an eyesore in the palace, but cleaning it up still took some time.

Moreover, since the new ruler had issued his first decree, some respect had to be given; it was impossible to make the new ruler wait for the Marquis of Pingxi at the palace gate, right?

This was the emperor's considerate treatment,
Ji Chengjue was enjoying it.

At the palace gate,
Fourth Prince Ji Chengfeng first heard the bell of mourning,

In an instant,
He wanted to laugh, but he forcibly held it back, held it back so painfully that it brought tears to his eyes.

Afterward,
A skyful of panic began to overwhelm him!

When Father was around, he always felt suffocated, and Little Seventh was too young. Among the princes who were already adults, the Crown Prince and Sixth Prince were naturally the first group, Eldest was the second group, Fifth was outside building river dams,

So,
When all was said and done,
The most useless prince, who might end up like Third Prince and be burned as firewood, was him.

Having to be prepared at all times to sacrifice for Father and for Great Yan was a truly terrible torment.

Now,
Father was gone,
After the initial intense emotional fluctuations ended, Ji Chengfeng suddenly realized that the pillar of the family had collapsed.

Then,
What should he do?

The Emperor had passed away, what about the throne?

Damn it,
Who exactly won,
Give me a clear answer soon!

In any case, there was one thing Ji Chengfeng was very clear about, and that was that it had nothing to do with him; it was impossible for him to have won. But he was now guarding the most important position at the palace gate.

If he was careless and revealed any flaws in his performance, he might not even be able to be a leisurely member of the imperial clan!

It was also in his unease that,
The Jingnan Army cavalry appeared.

Ji Lao Liu's army was the Jingying that he had built up; there were some veterans in it, but overall, they had never really been on the battlefield and seen blood;

In fact, even Li Liangshen's Zhenbei Army had not had many battles to fight in recent years;

Weapons rust if they are not used for a long time, and the same goes for soldiers; if they don't fight for several years, even the most powerful army will become impetuous, especially since this Zhenbei Army was stationed in the capital, this prosperous land of Great Yan, which was much more interesting and nourishing than gnawing sand in the desert.

And Zheng Fan's own guards and the ten thousand Jingnan Army under the direct command of the Jingnan Prince had almost fought in all the foreign wars of Great Yan in recent years; that aura of murderous intent could be said to be so thick that it would drip water.

Many soldiers' armor still had fresh damage and dents; these were honor badges for the armor, and the most direct deterrent to outsiders!

So,
When the Marquis of Pingxi led this army to appear at the palace gate,

Ji Chengfeng immediately realized one thing: the troops under his command could definitely not stop them.

Of course, it wasn't impossible to close the palace gate and rely on the palace walls for defense.

After all, the defensive fortifications of the palace, these towering palace walls, were designed with practicality in mind from the very beginning.

But the problem was that over hundreds of years, especially during the reign of his Imperial Grandfather, who built many Taoist temples and Buddhist temples in the capital, and then during the reign of his Imperial Father, who simply turned those Taoist temples and Buddhist temples into government offices, the palace suddenly expanded, and for the convenience of the court officials, some places were changed to extremely unreasonable layouts.

Most importantly,
Throughout history,
How many have really been defended by guarding the palace gate when faced with foreign enemies or rebellion?

When it really came to that, people's hearts would be scattered, and even the best palace walls would be useless.

"Defense!"

Ji Chengfeng ordered,

The spearmen among his soldiers immediately stepped forward to form a line,

Swordsmen and shieldmen were behind them,

And at the very back,
Were archers and crossbowmen.

In addition, soldiers on the palace walls also began to be on guard.

But this kind of formation did not put any pressure on the knights behind Lord Zheng.

Experts could tell at a glance whether something was real or not.

A tiger would not be overly nervous because of a group of cats baring their fangs and claws;

In fact, many knights even had smiles on their faces; they really didn't take it seriously.

They had charged through the square formations of the Great Chu infantry; how could they be afraid of this scene in front of them?

In fact,
Many knights were even eager to try; they were just waiting for their Lord Marquis to give the order; without even needing to deliberately allocate command, the rear team would naturally use cavalry archers to suppress the palace walls, the vanguard would use iron hooves to squeeze the other side's army formation, and the center army would fearlessly directly pierce through them!

These things were all imprinted in their bones, honed step by step in actual combat.

Showing off fancy moves,
Did they really think they were ordinary people on the street?

As for launching an attack on the Jingying guarding the palace gate, launching an attack on the palace, what that meant, it wasn't that they didn't know, but they didn't care.

Many knights actually had red eyes; they shed tears and grieved for the Yan Emperor's death;

But they had experienced too many times when comrades-in-arms died on the battlefield and they continued to charge forward, and they understood even more what it meant to pick up and let go.

These were soldiers brought out by Old Tian,

This,
Was also the reason why he, Lord Zheng, dared to fantasize about becoming Dong Zhuo on the road out of the city last time.

However,
Lord Zheng didn't directly order a charge,
Instead, he took out the imperial decree,
He planned to convince people with virtue.

He cleared his throat,
Opened the imperial decree,
And then,
He was stunned.

The imperial decree was completely blank, with only the jade seal stamped where it should be.

"..." Zheng Fan.

Damn it!
Lord Zheng immediately turned his head to look at Eunuch Qu, who had accompanied him in mobilizing troops, and found that Eunuch Qu was returning his gaze with a polite and gentle smile.

At this moment,
Even the quick-witted Lord Zheng was a little confused,
Was he now a loyal official of Great Yan or a rebellious traitor?

What the hell was this blank imperial decree with the seal stamped on it!

What was the difference between this thing and the radish seal he gave to the Great Prince back then?

Then,
Did Ji Lao Liu win, lose, or get killed?

Lord Zheng, who always liked to watch from the sidelines and have a sense of insight into everything, was now truly experiencing the feeling of being lost in the mountains.

And Ji Chengfeng on the opposite side naturally recognized the Marquis of Pingxi.

It was hard not to recognize him; the two princes rarely went out, and the only people in the city who could ride a Pixiu were the Marquis of Pingxi and his eldest brother.

But Ji Chengfeng hesitated; he didn't dare to come out and ask questions.

He was worried that after he came out, he would be directly cut down by the Marquis of Pingxi, and then the Marquis of Pingxi would wave his hand, and the army would enter the city.

But at the same time,
He was worried that the Marquis of Pingxi would directly choose to attack by force,

Because since the Marquis of Pingxi had led troops in, it was likely that he was going to help Sixth Brother; he, Ji Chengfeng, could at least be considered half of Sixth Prince's party, right?

His Father had already passed away; which brother became emperor was none of his business; anyway, he was guarding here and would die in battle, and the throne could not be his.

So, Ji Chengfeng was now wondering, if he went out, he was afraid of being cut down, and if he stood still, he was afraid of being trampled by horses; he was truly in a dilemma.

And just then,
That carriage finally arrived at the palace gate.

The driver,
Was Eunuch Wei,

The person sitting next to him was Lu Bing.

Lu Bing got out of the carriage first, walked to Lord Zheng, bowed first, and then said:

"Marquis of Pingxi, His Majesty invites you to see him."

Lord Zheng rode the Pixiu and leaned over.

At this moment, he was not afraid of being killed with a knife, because there was no need to waste time by waiting for him to bring troops over to kill him, which would only add variables.

Eunuch Wei, holding the reins on the carriage, gave him the same warm smile as always.

Lord Zheng also nodded in response;

Eunuch Wei shifted his gaze, his face with a hint of sigh and regret.

Then,
Lord Zheng's Pixiu came to the window of the carriage.

Lord Zheng, sitting on the Pixiu, gently knocked on the window with the Son of Heaven Sword.

The window was opened from the inside,

Revealing Ji Chengjue's face,

Ji Chengjue looked at Lord Zheng outside the carriage and said:

"Bastard, I have become the Emperor."

Lord Zheng nodded, the stone in his heart finally completely fell to the ground,

Said:
"Good, beast."