Tang Dynasty: Father, if you don't rebel, I will!

"The situation has deteriorated to this extent?! What on earth are you all doing?!"

Inside the Cabinet Office.

The more Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui read the investigation reports about the two situations, the more their faces lost color.

Du Ruhui slammed a memorial into the face of Zheng Jiang, the Minister of Personnel, who was standing in front of him. The latter looked ashen-faced, even though he had been released from prison and was still wearing the official robes of the Minister of Personnel.

But the heavy shackles and chains never left him.

He was still a criminal, but he was only temporarily released because Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui personally pleaded with Crown Prince Li Chengqian. He was then led by the Embroidered Uniform Guard to continue handling the current affairs of the Ministry of Personnel in the court.

Zheng Jiang, his face filled with shame and bewilderment, clasped his hands in a gesture of respect, causing the shackles on his hands to clang.

"Prime Minister Fang, Prime Minister Du, I misjudged people. I... alas... things have come to this point, and I have no way to refute it. But please, for the sake of what I did for the court in the past, save my Zheng family!"

As he spoke, he knelt down with a thud, intending to kowtow to the two men.

"Enough! Stop crying and wailing. If this is all you can do at times like this, then you should just go back to the imperial prison with the Imperial Guards and wait for His Highness to quell the rebellion so that your entire clan can be executed!"

Fang Xuanling shouted angrily.

He was also furious. Just before his retirement, such a major case had occurred, even causing a local rebellion.

This will undoubtedly be a major stain on the resumes of these key figures in the imperial court.

Ma Zhou, one of the cabinet members, calmly spoke up.

"Now His Highness's Eastern Palace Six Guards are ready, and the five thousand elite new troops from Taiyuan Prefecture who are equipped with firearms have also arrived in Chang'an. The cannons and muskets have been loaded onto the ships. Even if it is slow, His Highness will send out troops in three days at most, at which time the situation will be even more difficult to control."

"If we want to mend the fence after the sheep are lost, then we must mobilize troops to quell the rebellion before Your Highness does!"

He walked to the geomantic map to the side and pointed to the areas around Jiangnan Road and Huainan Road.

“Lingnan Road is too far from us. Even if we send a message by carrier pigeon, it will be too late. Jiannan Road is under His Majesty’s command. The governor of Hongzhou, Zhang Zhenzhou, was recommended by His Majesty back then. His Majesty knows his character. Therefore, His Highness will not directly judge him as a traitor. He will definitely send someone to inquire. This is a force.”

"What we need to do now is to mobilize the surrounding troops as quickly as possible, before the Prince of Liang and the Prince of Yan arrive, to first quell the rebellion in Huainan Province. This situation is not yet beyond saving!"

Minister of Rites Tang Jian said with some concern: "But even if we go through the formalities, the mobilization of troops still requires His Highness's permission before the court can mobilize them. His Highness has already decided to send several vassal kings to lead troops. Will he allow us to mobilize troops to quell the rebellion?"

Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui exchanged a glance and took a deep breath.

This is why it's time for those two old bones to step in again.

Empress Zhangsun looked helplessly at Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui, who were kneeling on the ground, weeping uncontrollably, even though they could not be helped up. It was the two of them who led the guards at the Prince of Qin's residence during the Xuanwu Gate Incident.

Now, almost ten years have passed, and both of their hair has turned completely white.

Du Ruhui was overworked and needed to take herbal decoctions to recuperate every day.

Du Ruhui's words were vehement.

"Your Majesty, the collusion between officials and merchants in Jiangnan and Huainan has caused chaos and disorder. This is the fault of the court's failure to govern and the dereliction of duty by all officials. However, a wise ruler should allow for reform. If the power of the regional military governors is directly used to quell the rebellion, it will damage the authority of the court and undermine the emperor's wisdom. The court and the emperor are as closely connected as body and head; how can one abandon one's own body and rely on an outsider? Now, instead of holding the officials accountable for their mistakes, the imperial clansmen are allowed to overstep their bounds. This not only disrupts the relationship between the emperor and his subjects but also sows the seeds of a situation where the strong branches weaken the central government."

Empress Zhangsun paused, realizing that only these two men would dare to say such things in front of her, words that could be suspected of "inciting their brothers to commit immoral acts."

However, this was only true in front of her. If the Crown Prince or other vassal kings were present, even Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui would not dare to speak.

Empress Zhangsun sighed inwardly. The court, the emperor, and the local princes—this was inherently a triangular power struggle.

Although he no longer holds the title of emperor, Crown Prince Li Chengqian has already wielded the power of an emperor. He has chosen to be closer to his younger brothers whom he raised since childhood, something that the empress cannot say anything about.

However, Fang Xuanling and the others were not wrong. If the authority of the court were truly crushed, the royal family would ultimately suffer as well.

"Very well, I will speak with the Crown Prince. However, I cannot guarantee whether it will succeed or not."

Immediately, Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui were overjoyed and bowed repeatedly in greeting.

After the two left, Empress Zhangsun helplessly spoke to a screen beside her.

"You heard it too. The officials in the court are ultimately the emperor's hands and feet. If you want to govern the country, you can't rely entirely on your younger brothers and sisters. After all, you don't want the country that you've worked so hard to rebuild to fall apart again, do you?"

Li Chengqian came out, but his face showed a hint of displeasure.

He scoffed, "They've been too lax!"

Empress Zhangsun pulled him to sit down and began to persuade him gently and kindly.

"You will be the emperor and the father in the future. If Xiangyu and Pinu make mistakes, will you, as their father, not teach them a lesson and help them correct their mistakes, but instead throw them to the culprits who bullied and instigated them to make mistakes, so that they will suffer even greater setbacks?"

"You should be angry, and you should reprimand the officials, but not in this way..."

Li Chengqian took a deep breath. Empress Zhangsun was right. What he couldn't refuse even more were Empress Zhangsun's gentle eyes.

He gave a disgruntled snort, but ultimately conceded.

"I will give them a chance, but I will also lead troops out. If they are slow, then I will continue to punish them!"

Empress Zhangsun smiled and nodded in satisfaction, then suddenly seemed to remember something.

"I've been dreaming about the Empress Dowager a lot lately. In my dreams, your grandmother always holds my hand and asks you how you're doing. This must be because she misses you. You should go and pay your respects to her."

Li Chengqian's eyes widened, and in an instant he understood what his mother was trying to do.

"Mother! You should at least come up with a different reason. Even if you want me to give those old fogies time to mobilize troops, you can't use Grandmother as an excuse, can you?"

Empress Zhangsun smiled, a rare slyness appearing on her face that seemed out of place for her age.

She pulled Li Chengqian down to sit again: "Gao Ming, has your mother ever lied to you? Your mother really dreamed that the Empress Dowager said she missed you."

Li Chengqian's lips twitched: "Mother, you never lied to me before, but... I feel like you're lying to me now."

"Then consider it a lie. As a son, being lied to by your mother once is a form of filial piety, isn't it?"

Li Chengqian: "......"

"Two days! Quickly! The Ministry of War, quickly mobilize troops! Her Majesty the Empress can only delay His Highness for two days! This is our last chance to salvage the situation!"

When Fang Xuanling, excited and supported by others, hurried back to the cabinet.

Upon receiving the news, all the court officials showed joy and immediately sprang into action.

Even Zheng Jiang, the Minister of Personnel, was carrying a heavy burden of shackles at this moment, and hurriedly signed one order after another to temporarily fill vacancies in the two circuits and mobilize officials from several surrounding circuits.

"Giddy up! Giddy up! Make way! Make way right now!!!"

When imperial messengers rode steeds worth hundreds of gold coins toward the gates of Chang'an, the military officers along the way hurriedly ordered the people to make way.

Ministry of War, Ministry of Personnel, Ministry of Rites, Ministry of Works, Ministry of Revenue, Censorate, Court of Judicial Review...

Today, the people at the gates of Chang'an truly witnessed what it meant to be in dire need of an emergency, and what it meant for the fire to reach the backsides of the court officials.

Hebei Circuit, Yanzhou Prefecture.

Prince Yan, Li Yun, looked with satisfaction at the well-prepared personal guards and road protection troops before him and nodded.

"Let's go! Follow me to quell the rebellion!"

At Yanzhou Railway Station, amidst the sharp sound of whistles, trains loaded with troops began to slowly pull out of the platform and head south.

Lingnan Circuit, Guangzhou Prefecture.

King Li You of Chu gave his future Queen Consort Feng Jinsi a fierce kiss on the lips, and without caring about the jeers and jeers of those around him, he ran onto the Chu King's treasure ship with a loud laugh.

A big wave of his hand.

"Let's go! Follow me to deal with Zhang Zhenzhou's mother!"