Jiang Xingyan led the soldiers who had been driven out of the military camp back in a furious charge.
She heard Xin Zhui roar in fury: “Does the First Prince truly believe that acting this way is worthy of heaven and earth?!”
Xiao Mingxu’s impatient voice rang out: “Enough nonsense—apply the punishment!”
“Let’s see who dares!”
Jiang Xingyan’s shout brought the tense atmosphere to a sudden halt.
“Miss Jiang!”
Tears glistened in the soldiers’ eyes as they automatically parted to make way for Jiang Xingyan.
Looking over, she saw Xiao Mingxu sitting carelessly in the main seat on the command platform, brimming with smug satisfaction and bossing everyone around.
Beside him sat Li Yishu, dressed in gorgeous, brightly colored clothes.
She wore a short cross-collared jacket of lotus-pink cloud brocade, paired with a moon-white horse-face skirt woven with gold thread in a pattern of a hundred butterflies threading through flowers. The skirt was adorned with lustrous, plump South Sea pearls the size of thumbs, each strung with gold thread.
Unfortunately, she was far too frail—her narrow, small face couldn’t support the weight of the pearl and jade ornaments on her head, making her look like a slender bean sprout.
Jiang Xingyan hadn’t seen this cousin of hers in a long time and hadn’t realized how favored she was in Xiao Mingxu’s palace.
No sooner had Xiao Mingxu’s grounding been lifted than he brought her out to show off in public.
Xiao Mingxu also spotted Jiang Xingyan below the command platform.
A flicker of admiration flashed through his eyes. He rubbed his chin with his right hand and squinted, sizing her up from head to toe.
He hadn’t known that Huo Ci would abandon such a beautiful wife and almost let a beggar have her.
Seeing this, Li Yishu abruptly clenched her fingers, gripping the handkerchief in her hands tightly.
You shameless merchant wench—seducing my cousin wasn’t enough, now you want to seduce the First Prince too.
Truly shameless beyond belief!
“Jiang Xingyan, you’re just a merchant’s daughter—how dare you set foot in a military camp?
Someone, drag her out of here this instant!”
Li Yishu flicked her handkerchief, and the guards Xiao Mingxu had brought started walking toward Jiang Xingyan.
“Let’s see who dares!”
Yun Chunfeng instantly stepped in front of Jiang Xingyan, clutching a thunder-summoning talisman he’d swiped from his senior brother. Without a word, he hurled it.
Boom!
The two guards at the front were struck dead-on by lightning, black smoke pouring from their mouths as they crashed to the ground, their fate unknown.
Xiao Mingxu panicked and scrambled to his feet, retreating behind Li Yishu.
A cold sneer tugged at the corner of Jiang Xingyan’s lips.
So much for favor—she was just a human shield.
Li Yishu noticed Jiang Xingyan’s gaze and flushed with shame, her eyes growing even more venomous.
Li Yishu thought: Jiang Xingyan, don’t get too cocky.
One day, I’ll make you kneel before me and beg for your life!
Xiao Mingxu pointed at Yun Chunfeng with a trembling finger:
“Yun Chunfeng, you are no longer the state preceptor of Western Zhou—you’re just a commoner. How dare you lay hands on me?
Do you know this is a crime punishable by death by a thousand cuts?!”
Yun Chunfeng said coldly: “Would the First Prince like to try?
Shall we see who dies first—you or this humble one?”
This fool’s gaze at the young miss just now was enough to make him want to gouge out those dog eyes of his!
Xiao Mingxu knew this man had some skills, so he backed down and softened his tone:
“Why must the state preceptor go to such lengths?
I was merely sent by imperial decree to take over the Huo family army—why drag things to the point of life and death?”
Jiang Xingyan narrowed her eyes, and two cold gleams shot straight at Xiao Mingxu like arrows.
“By imperial decree? Whose decree?
Do you have the military seal and command tally?”
Xiao Mingxu froze.
What military seal and command tally? His third brother hadn’t told him about that.
After the morning court session that day, Xiao Zhenhuai and Xiao Chonghua had gone together to Jingyang Palace to visit Xiao Mingxu, who had been grounded for three months.
Xiao Chonghua said with deep distress: “Elder Brother, now that Huo Ci has pacified Beiluo, he actually defied the imperial decree in open court and refused the marriage, and has been thrown into prison.
Now the Huo family army is without a leader, and Father is waiting for us to help share his burdens. It was wrong of me as your younger brother before—I caused you to be punished by Father for so long. I’ve come specifically to apologize to you.
At today’s morning court, Father, in front of all the civil and military officials, sent me to visit you, Elder Brother.
Doesn’t that mean he wants to lift your grounding and make you Father’s right-hand man?
I beg you, Elder Brother, to see how sincere I am and not to hold a grudge against Father in your heart—Father still values you most.”
Xiao Mingxu was thoroughly pleased and secretly smug, not noticing that Xiao Zhenhuai gave Xiao Chonghua a deep, knowing look.
“Second Brother, you handle things reliably. In your opinion, what should I do?”
Xiao Zhenhuai coughed lightly a few times and pondered for a moment before saying: “In my humble view, what worries Father most right now is that the Huo family army has no commander and might mutiny.”
Xiao Mingxu’s interest was instantly piqued: “What do you mean?”
Xiao Zhenhuai sighed: “Elder Brother, you know Huo Ci’s prestige within the Huo family army.
Now that he has angered Father and been thrown into prison, his soldiers are bound to harbor grievances. If someone with ill intentions stirs them up, it could be bad for the court’s stability.
If someone could suppress the restless intentions of the Huo family army at this moment and restore to Father a military force with strict discipline, solving Father’s urgent problem—would you still worry about not being valued by Father?”
Xiao Mingxu slapped his thigh: “Second Brother really hits the nail on the head—you understand Father’s heart best!
I know what to do now. Thank you, Brother, for keeping me in mind. In the future, you’ll certainly share in the benefits.”
Xiao Zhenhuai and Xiao Chonghua thanked him profusely and left Jingyang Palace. The two exchanged a glance and saw the mockery in each other’s eyes.
Xiao Zhenhuai couldn’t help but remark with feeling: “Brother, you really know how to set a trap for Elder Brother.”
Xiao Chonghua curved his lips into a smile: “Second Brother didn’t let him off the hook either.”
And so it came to pass that Xiao Mingxu made a grand entrance, arrived at the Huo family army camp, bossed everyone around, drove out a group of wounded and disabled veterans, and even tried to have Xin Zhui punished.
Jiang Xingyan was truly fed up with this fool. She strode up onto the command platform, completely ignoring the two of them, and addressed all the Huo family soldiers solemnly:
“Soldiers, the Huo family army’s pay is supplied by me, Jiang Xingyan. No one has the right to drive you out of this camp.
You are all brothers who followed me—followed Huo Ci—through life and death. Without you, Beiluo could never have been pacified so quickly!
So whether it’s His Majesty or me, we will support you for the rest of your lives!
Just rest easy and stay in the camp. The houses for your families aren’t built yet, are they?
If you all leave, who’s going to live in them? I can’t let all my money go to waste, can I?”
These soldiers had weathered plenty of storms, but now, one and all, their eyes brimmed with tears.
The tough ones could hold out a while longer; the younger ones had already dissolved into tears.
“At today’s morning court, His Majesty gave his golden word—he agreed to build monuments for the fallen soldiers.
He specifically sent me to the camp to survey the terrain and determine the location for the monuments.
If you leave, who will remember them?!
Who will sweep their graves? Who will make offerings to them?
Are we going to let the heroic spirits of the martyrs who followed us back go hungry?!”
“No! We’re not leaving!”
“Miss Jiang, we’ve let you down—we won’t leave even if it kills us!”
“I’ll die in this camp if I have to.”
Tears welled in Jiang Xingyan’s eyes.
Xiao Mingxu was stunned for a long moment before he snapped back to his senses: “What do you think you are, making a scene in front of me?!”
Li Yishu immediately chimed in: “Exactly—just the lowest kind of merchant spawn, daring to be so insolent!
Someone, drag her out and give her a hundred strokes of the heavy rod!”
The guards who had come with Xiao Mingxu glanced at the two charred figures lying on the ground, still showing no signs of waking, and all stood frozen in place.
“What! Is the First Prince’s word no longer obeyed? Don’t forget whose guards you are!”
Just as the standoff reached its peak, a cold, sharp voice called out from the distance:
“I wasn’t aware that these days, my elder brother’s wishes require a concubine of unknown origin to speak for him?”
