Chapter 88: The Ambition of the Emperor (4)

Translator: Storm in a Teacup

Bathroom Lord, who was sitting opposite to me, smiled and introduced the man next to him, “This is General Yang Yu.”

I was confused and it took me a while to realize that this was Yang Yan’s father. No wonder he looked familiar. Some time ago, I had seen him from distance outside the Taixing City.

However, wasn’t he squashing the rebellion in Yunxi? And Qi Sheng just received his war report a few days ago, so why was he secretly returning to the capital now?

As if he sensed what I was thinking, Yang Yu smiled and said, “Your Majesty needn’t worry. I have made arrangement in Yunxi, so nothing will go wrong.”

I suppressed the surprise inside me, looked at him and asked, “General Yang wants to meet me?”

If it was not him that wanted to meet me, Bathroom Lord wouldn’t need to put so much effort in this.

Yang Yu exchanged a look with Bathroom Lord and slowly nodded, “Indeed, it is me who wants to meet Your Majesty. A lot of things are at stake, so I have to speak with His Highness and Your Majesty in person.”

As he put it in such a serious way, I straightened up and asked, “What is it that you want to tell me?”

Yang Yu paused for a second and asked, “Do Your Majesty know why His Majesty ask me to squash the rebellion in Yunxi?”

I contemplated at his words and then replied calmly, “At first, he sent you away, then he grounded me. It is all for inducing Your Highness to collaborate with my family. Then he will be able to kill two birds with one stone. He can decrease the power of Your Highness and in the meantime damage my family, after which he will have full command over the army and politics.”

Bathroom Lord and Yang Yu didn’t seem surprised at all.

Bathroom Lord smiled and told me, “The only reason why I engaged with the third lady of Zhang Family is to assure His Majesty. At first, I wanted to explain to you but since you looked so calm, I believed that you had already figured everything out.”

Yang Yu looked at me with some appreciation, “Your Majesty is indeed smart. His Highness has trusted the right person.”

I wanted to play modest but then changed my mind. He didn’t say this to compliment my smartness but the judgement of Bathroom Lord.

Then Yang Yu continued, “Your Majesty only know part of the story.”

I raised my eyes to look at him.

“His Majesty sent me to Yunxi so His Highness would have no one to back him up. But there was a hidden meaning in it.” Yang Yu paused and pursed his lips. Then he continued, “What he wanted most is to take me away from Jiangbei and trap me in Yunxi, so he could take the military power away from me without anyone noticing. I didn’t overthink it at first, but I started to realize it after I arrived at Yunxi. The rebellion in Yunxi was not as serious as it was said in the court. Family He has been in Yunxi for years and they have strong soldiers. Meanwhile, He Liangchen is a veteran general, so how come he had no idea as to how to deal with the rebellion, and why do I have to come from Jiangbei to help with the rebellion?”

I had thought about his questions. Family He was Qi Sheng’s henchmen and one of the three giants in the army. If he couldn’t even squash a revolt in Yunxi, then he was such a reassuring and unexpected disappointment.

Then Yang Yu continued, “After that, His Majesty commanded He Bingze to guard the border in Western Hu territory with the army of Zhang Ling of Jingyang City, but meanwhile, he commanded the Xue Family and the Mo Family to send more soldiers to Jingyang and Xinye. It seemed to be a defensive adjustment to suppress the power of the Zhang Family , but if you really think about it, there was something more. If I’m not mistaken, after the rebellion in Yunxi is settled, His Majesty won’t ask me back to Jiangbei but ask me to stay in Yunxi. Then he’ll dispatch the main force of the He Family to the north.”

Yang Yu stopped and looked at me quietly.

These military deployments made my head ache. I dipped my finger in the tea and randomly drew the locations and deployment directions Yang Yu just mentioned.

If Bathroom Lord conducted political marriage with the Zhang Family , Qi Sheng would for sure find an excuse to eliminate him and cut an arm off the Zhang Family. By then, Yang Yu would be trapped in Yunxi with no actual military power. All of these would be stamped with a sign of internal feud: Qi Sheng fought with his brothers, with his relatives pf the Zhang Family, with Yang Yu…

However, the truth was that all critical cities in Jiangbei were already guarded by Qi Sheng’s trusted generals, and the Northern Frontier was slowly becoming a place with heavy military forces.

Then I was suddenly enlightened, “Is he planning on attacking the Northern Desert?”

There had been a long-lasting feud between the Northern Desert and Nanxia, and there was a six-year battle more than five decades ago. That was when Emperor Cheng rose from a posthumous child of a former crown prince to the one sitting on the throne, becoming a reputable emperor. General Mai, Yang Yu’s father, was a legend in Jiangbei. Starting from an infantry soldier, he became the general that commanded the whole Jaingbei army in such a short time and in countless battles within six years, never had he suffered a single defeat.

There were others, such as Zhang Sheng, grandfather of Zhang shi, He Yanzhao, grandfather of He Bingze, Mo Hai from the Mo Family , Xue Wu from the Xue Family and so on. They were all warriors that earned their reputation in Jiangbei.

That war ended with the victory of Nanxia. Emperor Cheng planned to wipe out the whole Northern Desert following their victory. However, Mai Sui, the commander of the Jiangbei army at that time somehow disobeyed the order and returned to Sheng City with his trusted soldiers and put Emperor Cheng’s life in danger.

Emperor Cheng was furious about this and jailed General Mai. However, the two of them both started from Jiangbei and there were so many things between them that no one else could understand. Somehow, Emperor Cheng did not hold General Mai accountable and released him.

General Mai was also a man of character. After he was released, he abandoned all the glories and wealth in Sheng City, as well as his wife and son at home, leaving alone on a horse. Rumor had it that he had returned, but with a new wife and new kids. People said that though General Mai was a hero, he was too relentless to his wife Xu shi. Xu shi had saved General Mai when he was in danger. It took her quite some effort to raise a son, who was later given away to someone else by General Mai. And in the end, she lived in the empty Mai’s mansion for her whole life.

Maybe this was the reason why Emperor Cheng took extra care of Xu shi and her son, especially Yang Yu.

But this was what happened a good half century ago, and I only heard it from the gossips of the maids.

After that war, though Nanxia and the Northern Dessert never got along, and there were some frictions at the border once in a while, the two countries only condemned each other verbally, or showed their regret in diplomatic ways, and there was no more major war.

Qi Sheng had only become the Emperor for less than two years, and now he wanted to start a war against the Northern Desert. And he was so thoroughly prepared and was willing to start a rebellion in Yunxi.

The Zhang Family, Yang Family , Bathroom Lord, and I were no more than chess pieces. He was playing such a grand chess game!

I had heard that his grandfather made his way to the throne by using the rebellion in Yunxi, and now it seemed that he bore such a resemblance to his grandfather, even the methods they utilized were quite the same. No wonder they described him as “Emperor Cheng’s reincarnation”.

Yang Yu’s eyes now shone with admiration. He straightened up and saluted to me, “Your Majesty has such a sharp mind and is indeed a heroin.”

Bathroom Lord looked at me with a bitter smile, “When His Majesty was still a crown prince, he was already making plans over Jiangbei and spent months in Jiangbei Central Army Camp. Now it seemed he was planning on attacking the Northern Desert for quite some time, let alone it was an unfulfilled wish of the Emperor Cheng.”

I felt dizzy. I didn’t care whose wish it was. What I knew was that I should update my understanding on Qi Sheng.

He was someone who could maneuver this game for such a long time. Everything aside, his tenacity made people shudder.

I remained silent for a long while, then I was reminded of something else. I asked Yang Yu, “Yang Yan once told me that your family had a principle, which said that when facing an external threat, you would always put the safety of the realm first. So since he’s willing to let you deal with the rebellion in Yunxi, why won’t he ask you to lead an army to the Northern Desert?”

After all, Yang Yu was a decedent of General Mai, and he was respected in the army, so the Northern Desert feared him.

Yang Yu was a little surprised at hearing my question. After a pause, he calmly answered, “I also have the Northern Desert blood running in my veins so His Majesty won’t trust me with that. And this is also the reason why His Majesty had to send me away to Yunxi and take away all my power. He didn’t do it just to deal with His Highness as everyone thought.”

I gaped, shocked by the news.

General Mai and Xu shi were all pure Nanxia citizens, so how come their son had Northern Desert blood? Did General Mai cheat on Xu shi or it was the other way around? Thinking about how General Mai treated Xu Shi and her son, so maybe Yang Yu was not General Mai’s son.

Bathroom Lord gently coughed and continued, “Since we already know what His Majesty is up to, what are we going to do?”

Then he turned to look at me.

I believed there was a hidden meaning in his words. Did he include me as he used the word “we”? I looked at him for a while and said, “Since you’ve already known what His Majesty is planning to do, Your Highness can cancel your engagement with the third lady of the Zhang.Family

However, Bathroom Lord shook his head, “If he wants to exterminate me, something is inevitable. If I marry the third lady of Family Zhang as he wishes, when the time comes, he might spare me for the sake of High Official Zhang. Otherwise…”

He didn’t continue, but looked at me with a faint smile.

I believed a fox family would never raise a sheep. Even though he wore the sheep’s clothing, he was still a carnivore.

Therefore, I didn’t buy it that Bathroom Lord tried to form an alliance with me only to keep his promise. He could still take advantage of me as an Empress or else, he would go straight to the Zhang Family without informing me.

Since they came to me, it meant I was critical in their plan.

I admitted they were always one step ahead of me so the best way for me was to dealing with changes with constancy.

I cast a glance to Yang Yu, and asked Bathroom Lord, “I am slow in mind so I can’t quite guess what you are thinking about. If Your Highness have anything in mind, just spit it out.”

Bathroom Lord smiled and replied, “I’ve already discussed with General Yang, and we all agree that your way is the safest.”

My way? My way was always to play dumb. It was easy to learn and every one could do it.