631 The Might of a Divine General (2)
She married the general of the Helian family and gave birth to a son and a daughter. Her daughter had the holy artifact of Nanzhao, her son-in-law was the heir of the royal family, and her grandson was the youngest and most powerful Little Gu Elder.
This was a life that she had accumulated several lifetimes of luck.
On the other hand, the Little Princess was simply unbearable to look at.
The Emperor was exhausted from the matter at the border of Nanzhao and had not stepped foot into the harem for a few days. However, just because he did not come did not mean that the news would not come.
The heated discussion among the commoners had already spread throughout the harem.
The people in the harem were used to following the wind. After the Eldest Princess’s cheers gradually rose, Consort Yun’s treatment also rose.
Back then, Consort Yun had tainted the Emperor’s body when he was drunk and was despised by the Emperor and the Empress. Because of this, Consort Yun’s maternal family had distanced themselves from her. All these years, she had led a bitter life in the palace and did not have a maternal family she could rely on.
But it was different now. The best honey pomelo was sent to her palace the moment it entered the palace.
The Empress ate what was left.
This was naturally not the Emperor’s idea, but the Emperor had not visited the Empress for many days. In the eyes of the palace servants, wasn’t it because the Empress had lost her favor?
The Eldest Princess was already like this before she returned to the palace. If the father and daughter really reunited, how could the Central Palace survive?
“What does everyone say?” In the central palace, the Empress asked the eunuch who had come to report with a cold expression.
The eunuch braced himself and said fearfully, “Your Highness, the outside world said… said that the Old State Preceptor’s divination was wrong back then. The Eldest Princess is… is the lucky star of the heavens. Our Little Princess is… the jinx of the country…”
“Bastard!” The Empress slammed her fist on the table.
It was rare for her to be so angry. The palace servants knelt on the ground in fear.
Ever since the Empress entered the palace, everything had been smooth-sailing. If there was something, it would have been Consort Yun. However, Consort Yun and the Emperor were an accident. So what if Consort Yun climbed into the bed? She still couldn’t even keep the piece of meat in her stomach. Not only did she obtain the Emperor’s disgust, but the Emperor even treated the Empress better than before because of his guilt.
Perhaps because her days had gone much smoother, the Empress never dreamed that one change after another would happen.
The Empress composed herself and tried to suppress her boiling anger. “What else?”
The eunuch kneeling on the ground wiped his cold sweat and said, “Those unruly commoners even said that the war started because of the Little Princess and begged the Emperor to execute her.”
“How dare they!” The Empress stood up in anger.
The eunuchs and palace servants lay on the ground, not even daring to breathe loudly.
“Your Highness, the commandery prince requests an audience,” a palace maid reported from outside.
When the Empress heard that Nangong Li had arrived, she restrained her emotions and sat down. “Let him in. You guys can leave.”
“Yes.”
The palace servants tactfully left.
Nangong Li strode in and looked at the Empress, who could not hide her breakdown despite her efforts to suppress it. He took a step forward and held her hand. “Grandmother!”
The Empress patted the back of his hand and said tiredly, “Have a seat.” Nangong Li sat down on a stool slightly shorter than the Empress’s. The Empress touched the top of his head lovingly. “It’s been hard on you these days.”
Nangong Li shook his head. “I’m fine, but Grandmother, I heard that your situation isn’t good.”
“What’s wrong with me?” The Empress said.
“Has Consort Yun come to cause trouble for you?” Nangong Li had eyes in the palace, so he naturally heard a lot about Consort Yun. That woman had been restless since a long time ago, and now that her daughter had gained power, she was even more arrogant.
The Empress frowned. “She doesn’t have the ability yet.”
Consort Yun did not have any real power, but she had learned all the annoying abilities. Consort Yun came to her palace to greet her every day. When the Empress did not see her, she would walk around outside the palace door. In short, she could be annoying as she pleased.
It was not good to tell Nangong Li this. As an elder, she did not want her juniors to worry about her.
Nangong Li saw through it but did not expose her. He looked up at the Empress and said, “Grandmother, I’m here today to discuss something with you.”
“What is it?” The Empress asked.
Nangong Li said, “I believe you’ve heard about the Great Zhou’s cavalry approaching the border.”
The Empress was at her wits’ end. “With Xiao Zhenting personally serving as the commander, the morale of the Great Zhou soldiers is high. This battle won’t be easy. Your grandfather’s hair has turned white from worrying about this.”
Nangong Li smiled. “I have a way to make the Great Zhou retreat.”
The Empress shook her head. “What can you do? Hand the Prince Consort over? That won’t do. Not to mention that no one knows where the Prince Consort has gone, even if he’s found, he’s your father. You can’t hand him over!”
Nangong Li said, “The Great Zhou Emperor doesn’t have any killing intent towards Father, don’t worry. However, I don’t plan to hand Father over.”
The Empress asked in confusion, “Then what do you want to do?”
Nangong Li’s eyes turned cold. “Kill Xiao Zhenting!”
The proposal to assassinate Xiao Zhenting had been carefully thought through. With Xiao Zhenting dead, the soldiers of the Great Zhou would definitely lose their backbone. Their morale would definitely plummet, and it would be much easier to attack. Once this situation was resolved, the comments about the Little Princess bringing disaster to the country and the people would no longer stand.
The Eldest Princess’s daughter had contributed to the recovery of the holy artifact. Wasn’t he also a great contribution to calming down the chaos?
Of course, he had his own selfish motives.
Xiao Zhenting was Yan Jiuchao’s stepfather. Although he was his stepfather, he treated Yan Jiuchao better than Prince Yan treated his biological son, Nangong Li. Getting rid of Xiao Zhenting was equivalent to breaking Yan Jiuchao’s arm.
Nangong Li would spare no effort to do all the things that would harm Yan Jiuchao.
The Empress did not think too much about it. She only thought that her daughter was currently in the limelight. If Li’er could make military contributions, her daughter’s situation would be much better than now.
As long as she thought of Consort Yun’s smug face, the Empress felt that she could not let the Eldest Princess take over no matter what!
The Empress held Nangong Li’s hand and said, “Not to mention how tight the defense of the hundred thousand cavalry is, just Xiao Zhenting himself is skilled in martial arts. It’s difficult to find his match in the world. Are you confident in killing him?”
It was difficult to find an opponent in the world, but they did not know that there was an Asura outside.
Asura was a heaven-defying existence to begin with. It was unrealistic for Asura to sweep through a hundred thousand cavalry, but it was not a problem to assassinate Xiao Zhenting.
Nangong Li gave the Empress a comforting look and said solemnly, “Grandma, don’t worry. I won’t ask you if I don’t have a foolproof plan. You only have to help me beg Grandpa for mercy and agree to let me go to the front line. I will definitely be able to bring Xiao Zhenting’s head back!”
On the other side, the Helian family had also received news of the army approaching the border. The difference was that they did not hear it from anyone, but from a courier who personally handed Xiao Zhenting’s handwritten letter to Yan Jiuchao and Yu Wan.
...
Yu Wan read the letter and her eyes lit up. “Father is here!”
The contents of the letter were different from the ones circulating on the market. The Great Zhou Emperor was indeed angry and asked Xiao Zhenting to send his troops south. However, Xiao Zhenting was not willing to lead troops to please the Emperor.
He was here for Yan Jiuchao and Yu Wan. He heard that Prince Yan was still alive. He heard that he had married and had children. He also heard that the couple had gone to Nanzhao and were fighting quite fiercely with that family.
As their father, he had brought a hundred thousand cavalry to support them.
“Wait.” Yu Wan blinked when she saw the last line. “Father said that he’s coming to the Capital to look for us!”
The Empress took action and finally convinced the Emperor to agree to Nangong Li going north and conferring him as the North Garrison General.
Nangong Li had made a military pledge. If he did not take Xiao Zhenting’s head, he would not return to the Capital!
Nangong Li was filled with confidence in this mission. Asura also patted his chest, indicating that assassinating Xiao Zhenting was not a problem at all!
Nangong Li valiantly brought Asura to the border, but he missed.
Xiao Zhenting was not in the camp at all!!!
Nangong Li looked at the military pledge in his hand and immediately went berserk!
...
Ahhh!
Where did he go!!!
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