Frost for a Thousand Years

Chapter 63 Shuofeng City!
"Second brother!"

As they walked briskly through the alleyway leading out of the palace, Wei Yiyuan, who was walking quickly with Prince Jin, raised his voice because the other party remained unmoved.

"Let's talk about it after we get out!"

The Prince of Jin glanced at him, his expression somewhat serious.

Wei Yiyuan had no choice but to leave the palace with him.

The two stopped not far from the palace gate.

"Second brother, did you hear what Father Emperor said?" Wei Yiyuan deliberately provoked.

The Prince of Jin's face darkened: "Of course I heard it."

"If you've donated your family fortune to the army, why did you do it so quietly? If you did it, then say so. It's a good thing and deserves praise. Zisheng, you're an honest kid. If you only think about harming yourself for the country, others won't see your good deeds."

"Is Fourth Brother an honest kid? He's not!"

Mentioning this, Wei Yiyuan said with great excitement, "Back when we were studying at Chongwen Academy, he insisted on taking us hunting. The next day, the tutors at the Imperial Academy tested our memorization, and he was the only one who could recite it correctly. Do you remember what his little palace maid said? 'After returning from hunting, Fourth Brother studied all night until the middle of the night.' Tell me, could he really be an honest child?"

He's so honest!
"Why bring that up? Let's talk about the present."

After giving Wei Yiyuan a glare and a slight 'warning' to calm him down, the Prince of Jin said, "He did the right thing in this matter. But that doesn't mean we were wrong."

"Then tell me, Second Brother, why are we not at fault?" Wei Yiyuan asked anxiously.

He sensed that the Prince of Jin and his own strategies had run into problems.

"My father said that he should be greatly rewarded, but he did not make it public. He only talked about it with a few of us in this royal garden."

The Prince of Jin remained calm and confident: "As long as Your Majesty doesn't say anything, at least Zisheng won't win the hearts and minds of the people."

"Second brother."

Looking at the other person, Wei Yiyuan calmed down: "You're right, His Majesty has always been biased towards you."

He donated all his family's wealth, only to receive a single sentence from his father, the emperor: "You did a good job."

There was not even any public recognition.

That praise from a father is incredibly precious.

"Then what do we have to worry about?" the King of Jin asked in return.

With a subtle smile, Wei Yiyuan slowly asked his respected eldest son, "If Father didn't want Fourth Brother to compete, why did you praise him like that?"

"..."

One sentence was enough to leave the Prince of Jin stunned.

His pupils also trembled.

His fist slowly clenched.

At this moment, the King of Wu also emerged from the alley.

He walked slowly toward the two of them.

The eyes of the King of Jin and the King of Wu met from a distance.

The subtle sense of impending doom seemed to freeze the air itself.

.........

"Erlang."

In the palace, Empress Hua approached the emperor, who was sitting on the bed with a palace maid massaging his legs, and asked in a puzzled tone, "You asked me to favor the Princess of Jin, but you said those things to the Prince of Wu. What exactly are you trying to do?"

Seeing this, the palace maid slowly rose, bowed, and left the inner room.

The emperor, who had been resting with his eyes closed, slowly opened them and looked at her.

"It's not that I want to interfere in politics." After stating her position, Empress Hua said somewhat anxiously, "If you favor Prince Jin, then you should have made him the crown prince long ago, so that Prince Wu wouldn't have such thoughts. If he were the crown prince, he would be willing to assist in governing. Now, you favor Prince Jin and praise Prince Wu. Isn't this just forcing the two of them to fight each other?"

"I want them to fight."

The emperor's words struck the empress like a mountain crashing to the ground, giving her a jolt.

He raised his finger, pointed it at the ground, and with each powerful word, he pointed down heavily: "I will make them fight to the death."

"I want them to fight it out and find a winner."

"I want them to know that if they don't fight for the throne, they won't get it!"

"But these are your own flesh and blood! They are your brothers!"

With a trembling voice tinged with pain, Empress Hua said sorrowfully, "Second Prince, why can't they coexist peacefully?"

The emperor gave a cold laugh and asked in return, "You ask Ji Yuan if he is willing to coexist peacefully?"

……

"General! Ji Yuan—"

Before the soldier who was reporting had finished speaking, Zhao Xiang, who was lying on the desk in the "temporary general's mansion" that had been converted from the county government office and was dozing off, suddenly kicked his leg and knocked over all the military reports and official documents on the table.

Then, snapping out of his shock: "Ji Yuan! Where did this Ji Yuan come from?!"

"..." Kneeling on one knee, holding a letter tube in both hands, the soldier whispered, "A letter from Ji Yuan..."

"Can't you just say it all at once!"

After angrily yelling, Zhao Xiang breathed a sigh of relief, put her legs down on the table, and sat down.

The chief clerk, Zheng Tong, walked over and took the letter. Then he waved his hand, signaling the soldiers to leave.

Then, he walked back to Zhao Xiang's side and asked, "General, shall we see?"

"Ji Yuan is currently launching a fierce attack on Wuwei, how come he has time to write me a letter..."

Zhao Xiang was somewhat puzzled. After a brief hesitation, she said, "Open it."

So the registrar opened the mailbox and took out the letter.

Inside was a piece of paper.

But on the paper, the surface was mostly white, with only a few short numbers.

The moment he saw it, Zheng Tong tilted the paper slightly to the side so that Zhao Xiang wouldn't see it out of the corner of her eye.

"What did you write?"

Zhao Xiang looked suspicious.

"General, perhaps we shouldn't look at it," Zheng Tong shook his head. "It's not very important."

"Give me."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xiang immediately reached out her hand in displeasure.

That's just how people are; if you show them something, they become uninterested.

But the more he was forbidden from doing something, the more mysterious he became.

Logically speaking, those words would definitely hurt him.

Left with no other option, Zheng Tong had to hand over the letter.

Zhao Xiang, who took over the position, instantly became a sensation.

—You brat, bring your father upon yourself!
"Beast thing!"

He tore the letter to shreds, leaving Zhao Xiang utterly speechless: "Is this guy bored? So arrogant, someone'll take care of you sooner or later!"

That being said, there really isn't anyone who can take him away right now.

"General," Zheng Tong reminded him, "it seems that Wuwei cannot hold out for more than a few months, and Ji Yuan's army has not suffered heavy losses. If reinforcements arrive, he still has the ability to besiege the city and attack the reinforcements. I think the court will not send reinforcements."

"It is common knowledge that Shuofeng City cannot be defended. From now on, we will definitely have to shrink our defenses, abandon Beiliang, and station troops in Nanliang to confront Ji Yuan."

Zhao Xiang was very clear about this.

"We have gathered the remnants of our army, and with the wounded soldiers, we have over ten thousand men. They are not militia, but rather elite border troops. The court should not let us suffer any more losses in vain; they will probably adopt a scorched-earth policy and wait for our retreat to the south," Zheng Tong said.

"That's exactly what I said: preserve our forces, and after retreating south, I will commit suicide to atone for my sins."

Zhao Xiang said this because he was certain that his father would not let him die in vain, that the nobles would have to jointly protect him, and that the emperor would not kill him due to their past loyalty to the emperor.

Besides, if someone is killed after a defeat, who will dare to lead troops in the future?

My great-grandfather followed Emperor Taizu in fighting the enemy and making meritorious contributions; he has already endured all the hardships for me.

It's nothing more than being demoted to a common soldier first, and then gradually promoted later.

Whether he would be sentenced to death after returning south is hard to say, but if he continues to stay here to guard the north wind, he is truly doomed.

"Sweep it away, sweep it away."

Looking at the letter she had torn to shreds on the ground, Zhao Xiang waved her hand in frustration.

Just then, another soldier entered the tent to report.

Moreover, he was drenched in sweat and panting heavily.

"Is this from the imperial court?" The clerk recognized the messenger who traveled eight hundred li.

Zhao Xiang also quickly stood up.

"Imperial edict—"

After catching his breath, the messenger spoke in a high-pitched voice.

Upon seeing this, the two quickly stepped forward and knelt down.

"Zhao Xiang's greed for merit and reckless advance caused severe losses to our army, plunging Northern Liang into a perilous situation. He deserves to die ten thousand times over for this heinous crime. However, given that the two armies are engaged in battle at this time, killing a general would be inauspicious. Therefore, he is demoted from Left General to Centurion, to atone for his crime by serving in the army, and his title of Marquis of Changxiang is revoked. His punishment will be determined after the war!"

Upon hearing this imperial edict, Zhao Xiang blushed with shame and indignation.

"Thank you for Your Majesty's grace and power. The guilty general Zhao Xiang hereby receives the decree—"

Zhao Xiang raised her hands and accepted the imperial edict.

He stood up hesitantly, a little scared.

Although he knew the emperor wouldn't order his execution, the emperor would naturally be furious after such a major defeat.

"General... Centurion." The soldier awkwardly corrected himself, then presented the military report, "Your Majesty has also issued a military order."

Zhao Xiang took it and quickly opened it.

However, upon seeing the words on the military report, he was immediately dumbfounded: "The imperial court ordered us to hold our ground..."

"Huh?" Zheng Tong was also stunned, then hurriedly asked, "Where are the reinforcements? Are there any reinforcements?"

"Have."

"That is not bad……"

"Only one thousand."

"Huh?" Zheng Tong looked incredulous again. "Then who will be the commander-in-chief to replace the general?"

"Sixth Prince."

After uttering those three words, Zheng Tong was completely dumbfounded.

Zhao Xiang, her face pale, slowly raised her head.

This time, I'm really going to die.

(End of this chapter)