EWRN - Chapter 38
Chapter 38: Two Families Join Forces
In recent days, news that Emperor Yuanjin’s noble consort had committed one of the Seven Grounds for Divorce, and that the enraged emperor had her drowned in a pig cage, had spread like wildfire throughout the Great Yuan Kingdom. From high officials and nobles down to the common folk, everyone was discussing the matter.
The Northern Garrison Army, on the northwestern border.
“What did you say? Say that to this general one more time!” Young General Hou Yuwen grabbed the soldier before him by the collar and lifted him up, questioning him furiously.
“Gen… General, I… I said that in the imperial city a few days ago, they drowned a woman in a pig cage.” The soldier’s legs trembled with fear, clueless as to how he had managed to ignite the temper of this formidable figure. He had only overheard the matter in the city and was boasting about it to his comrades on his return. He never imagined that the domineering and tyrannical Young General Hou would hear him. What rotten luck.
“This general is asking you! Who was that woman?! Stop wasting my time with nonsense!” Hou Yuwen was already frantic with anxiety, but this clueless soldier was still beating around the bush!
“Reporting to the Young General! The one drowned in the pig cage was His Majesty’s consort, Noble Consort Bai, Bai Qing!” The soldier took a deep breath and blurted it all out at once.
“Wh… What?” Hou Yuwen’s hand went slack in disbelief. The soldier he had been holding fell to the ground in a heap, then scrambled to stand ramrod straight before Hou Yuwen.
“Noble Consort Bai is truly dead?” the Young General muttered, repeating the question as if to himself.
“Reporting to the General, yes, she is dead,” the unlucky soldier replied, thinking the general was addressing him.
“Who the fuck asked you?!” Hou Yuwen kicked the unfortunate soldier in the abdomen, sending him flying a great distance before he crashed to the ground.
He paid the poor fool no mind and strode directly toward his own general’s tent.
“Damn you, Emperor Yuanjin!” Inside the tent, the Young General slammed his fist on the table. Who in the imperial city didn’t know that he, Hou Yuwen, had grown up playing and studying alongside the children of the Bai family? He and Bai Qing were childhood sweethearts with a marriage contract! Yet just a few months ago, that Emperor Yuanjin, having just lost his father and ascended the throne, had forcibly married his fiancée, Bai Qing. Hou Yuwen was far away at the border. By the time he received the news, the wedding in the capital was already over, the marriage already consummated!
That was the girl he had watched grow up! The girl he had held in the palm of his hand since they were children! He feared she would get scraped or bumped! He feared she would be unhappy or sad! He loved Bai Qing deeply and was willing to give her anything she desired!
And it was this very girl, the one he cherished in the palm of his hand, who had been killed by that old emperor! Emperor Yuanjin! Did he not understand how to cherish a woman?! If he couldn’t accept all of her, if he didn’t love her, why did he have to force her into the palace, only to make her suffer such a terrible humiliation and forfeit her life!
Emperor Yuanjin! He deserved to die!
As the Young General raged in his tent, he was unknowingly overheard by someone with ulterior motives.
Two days later, inside the imperial palace, within the Second Prince’s Xiangqi Palace.
The Second Prince had been under house arrest for a long time. It was as if Huo Jinyu had forgotten he even existed, never once coming to see him, nor ever rescinding the confinement order. Trapped in the small palace day after day, he was on the verge of madness.
A few days prior, he had heard that his mother’s family, the Bai clan, had met with disaster! The entire family had been exiled to the remote Southwestern Dian Prefecture, and Noble Consort Bai, Bai Qing, had met her tragic end. The only thing Huo Jinye was thankful for was that the blow against the Bai family had not implicated Dowager Consort Xian, nor had it implicated him.
The Second Prince took a delicate sip of tea, then poured the rest onto the floor. He couldn’t leave his residence, couldn’t leave the palace. No minister dared to visit him. He had finished all the good tea in his palace, and with none left, no one bothered to send more. It was truly suffocating!
Soon after, a eunuch requested an audience, claiming to have good news from the northwestern border.
Although Second Prince Huo Jinye appeared helpless and alone, his mother was not to be underestimated. When the late emperor was still on the throne, his mother had been favored, and the Bai family was at the height of its power. Dowager Consort Xian had naturally built her own network of connections. Huo Jinyu had only been named crown prince when the old emperor was gravely ill. Before that, the struggle for the throne had been fierce, with the various consorts of the rear palace secretly maneuvering to put their own sons in power. It was during those turbulent times that Dowager Consort Xian had amassed her considerable network. Now, that network was proving useful.
The young eunuch kneeling on the floor reported that Young General Hou Yuwen had learned of Noble Consort Bai Qing’s death by pig cage. The Young General, who loved Bai Qing deeply, had flown into a rage in his tent, endlessly cursing Emperor Yuanjin.
Huo Jinye thought to himself, since that Young General Hou Yuwen hated Huo Jinyu so much, and he, Second Prince Huo Jinye, also hated Huo Jinyu to the bone, why not have their two families join forces? If they could harass Huo Jinyu and give him no peace, that would be good. But if they could join forces to topple Huo Jinyu from the throne, wouldn’t that be even better?
The Northern Garrison Army, on the northwestern border.
For the past few days, the Young General had lost all appetite for food and drink. A knot of frustration was lodged in his heart, one he could neither raise nor release. He felt like he was suffocating.
Though he was called Young General Hou, it was only because he was the sole son of General Hou. In the army, the Young General was merely a Commandant. He didn't even have the qualifications for an audience with the emperor. Bai Qing was the girl he adored beyond measure. He had originally accepted the news of her entering the palace, thinking that one day he would earn a great merit, have a chance to return to the imperial city for an audience, and see his dear Bai Qing again. If she were living well, that would have been enough. But he never imagined that before he had the chance to earn any merits, before he could return to the capital, Bai Qing would be sentenced to death by Huo Jinyu! From that day on, her beauty faded and her life was lost; she was no more in this world!
Alcohol was strictly forbidden in the army, but the Young General, relying on his status, ignored the rules. He specifically ordered someone to bring several jars of fine wine to his tent, and he drank it down, one large bowl after another.
“Reporting to the Young General! A letter from the imperial city!” a soldier’s voice called from outside the tent.
“The imperial city?” the Young General said, puzzled. He had no friends in the capital to speak of. Any letters from there should have been delivered to his father, General Hou. Had the messenger taken a wrong turn today?
“Come in,” the Young General called out loudly.
A soldier lifted the tent flap, entered, and knelt. “Reporting to the Young General, it is a letter from the imperial city. It specifies that the Young General is to receive it.”
Hou Yuwen nodded. “Bring it here.”
The soldier rose, handed the letter to Hou Yuwen, and then retreated from the tent.
Hou Yuwen tore open the envelope, unfolded the paper, and carefully read the words written on it.
After a moment, he frowned. He never would have expected to receive a personal letter from the Second Prince in the imperial city! The letter’s content was all about forming an alliance with him. The Second Prince was a cunning one; he first recounted his own tragic experiences, then claimed that when Huo Jinyu had sent him to welcome the princess for the political marriage, he had actually dispatched a large force to assassinate him. By a stroke of luck, he had survived, but not before having the tendons in his hand severed. From then on, he could only wield a sword and write with his left hand.
Hou Yuwen had frowned earlier because the handwriting on the letter was truly awful. Reading this, he nodded slightly. So that was the reason.
He continued reading. The Second Prince wrote that he was being oppressed by Huo Jinyu in the palace, living a life worse than death. He even pointed out that his third imperial brother was made Prince Qin at just over five years old, while he himself had nothing. The recent dismissal and exile of his uncle’s family to Southwestern Dian Prefecture had cut off his left and right arms, robbing him of any chance for a comeback. His only remaining hope, he claimed, was Young General Hou. The Second Prince also poked at Hou Yuwen’s sore spot in the letter, saying that Bai Qing’s death was a setup by Huo Jinyu. He asked if the Young General truly believed Bai Qing was the kind of promiscuous woman she was made out to be.
Upon reading this, Hou Yuwen deeply agreed. He thought to himself that regardless of whether his idealized white moonlight would do such a thing, even if she had, so what? Whatever she liked, he would have willingly given her.
Having read the entire letter, the Young General was tempted. However, the great distance between them made further discussion difficult. The Second Prince had clearly thought of this as well. At the end of the letter, he wrote that the imperial family’s Rite of Heaven was in half a month. It was a time of national celebration, and General Hou would certainly bring his son back to the imperial city. They could discuss matters then.
After finishing the letter, the Young General pondered for a long time. The allure of joining forces with the Second Prince was immense. If this succeeded, and one day they overthrew Huo Jinyu’s regime, the Second Prince would become emperor, and he would be a meritorious official! Then he could bring glory to his ancestors, instead of being an unknown little Commandant in this godforsaken borderland, looked down upon by everyone!
The Young General burned the letter to ashes in the candle flame, clapped his hands, and rose to walk toward his father’s tent. He needed to ask for the details about returning to the imperial city in half a month.
The Imperial City, the Imperial Palace.
Huo Jinyu had been enjoying a leisurely few days. The only unpleasantness was Dowager Consort Xian showing up to demand that she lift Second Prince Huo Jinye’s house arrest.
“Your Majesty, this consort has not seen my pitiful son for a very long time. When will Your Majesty lift the Second Prince’s confinement order?” At that moment, Dowager Consort Xian had arrived uninvited and was questioning her right there in the imperial study.
“Your Majesty, now that the Empress Dowager has passed away, in terms of seniority, you should call this consort ‘mother.’ I am begging you. Your Majesty, look, the Rite of Heaven is approaching. How can the Second Prince be locked away in the deep palace on a day of national celebration? This is against propriety.” This Dowager Consort Xian was a patient one. She had been speaking pleasantly for a full hour, yet showed no sign of losing her temper.
As the saying goes, the older the ginger, the spicier it is. Dowager Consort Xian was an old ginger, but Huo Jinyu was no simple character either. The two of them remained at a stalemate in the study.
“Dowager Consort Xian, We did not intentionally confine Jinye. We did not expect him to disregard royal etiquette, use coarse language, and neglect his studies. He truly worries Us,” Huo Jinyu said, slowly perusing a memorial as she spoke.
“Yes, yes! Your Majesty is correct. This consort will go back and discipline him properly, so that he does not lose the bearing of the imperial family. About this house arrest, Your Majesty…” Dowager Consort Xian’s face was nearly stiff from smiling. For the past hour, she had tried threats and inducements, but the emperor simply wouldn’t budge. He was truly a tough bone to chew.
“Very well. Seeing as Dowager Consort Xian is so concerned for Our imperial brother, We shall grant it! He is still not to leave the palace for the next few days, but the confinement may be lifted three days before the Rite of Heaven. We will entrust the arrangement of the Rite of Heaven banquet to Our imperial brother. We hope he will not disappoint Us!” Seeing that it was getting late, Huo Jinyu had no intention of arguing with Dowager Consort Xian any longer. She issued the decree to lift the house arrest and sent her away. At the same time, she handed the matter of the banquet over to Huo Jinye. She didn’t believe for a second that with such a golden opportunity, Huo Jinye
wouldn’t stir up trouble.
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