C293

"There is no need for a commander to be so cautious about what This King wants to do. Now, This King wants to see the sincerity of the Lord Commander." If it weren't for the Empress's words that the Commander had already sworn loyalty to the Empress, this king would not have spent so much effort to personally make this trip. This is the letter from the Empress. Take a look at it. "

Shang Qiuyuan handed a letter to Yan Shouzheng, who took it and opened it. His body couldn't help but tremble slightly.

A faint and strange fragrance wafted into his nostrils and Ji Tian Ning could not help but appear before his eyes. However, what was written in the letter shocked him.

Shang Qiuyuan did not urge him. Instead, he calmly sat on the chair and observed the changes in Yan Zhaoge's expression.

After reading the letter and looking at the Queen's seal at the back of the letter, he lowered his head and did not lift it for a long time.

After a while, he took the letter into his bosom, slowly lifted up his robe, and kneeled on the ground, bowing deeply. "The Empress decreed that you should strictly guard this letter, and how could you dare not obey? You are willing to listen to the orders of the Prince, and from then on you will obey him without a single thought."

"Yan Shouzheng, are you speaking from the bottom of your heart?"

Yan Shouzheng kowtowed. "This lowly general doesn't dare to lie at all. I swear an oath to the true God that I will be loyal to the empress and that I will not die if I have any second thoughts. I am under the orders of my lord, and if anyone disobeys, they are willing to be punished by martial law. "

"Very good. This king orders you to personally send out thirty thousand imperial guards to pacify the Changyi King and another twenty thousand imperial guards to pacify the bandits of the Misty Cloud Mountain. In the past, the imperial guards who had accompanied This King on the expedition ordered them to obey His Majesty's orders. "

"This general obeys."

"Get up."

As he stood up, Shang Qiuyuan stared at him. He stood at attention, not daring to meet Shang Qiuyuan's gaze.

"Commander Yan, now that the borders are unstable and national affairs are the top priority, I think that Commander Yan need not rush back to his hometown to pay his respects to his ancestors."

Yan Shouzheng hurriedly bowed and said, "I will obey your orders."

"Even so, the Emperor has an imperial decree allowing you to return to your hometown. This King can't just let you disobey the imperial decree." Commander, please let me be wronged for a moment. Please return to the Ancestral Dragon with me in secret and temporarily stay in my military camp. "

"This general obeys."

Did he dare disobey? Now that it had fallen into the hands of Shang Qiuyuan, even if he wanted to resist, he would be courting death. Since Shang Qiuyuan had asked him, it could be considered as giving him face.

"Since that's the case, Commander, please follow me."

"Your Highness, please call me by my name. I do not dare to accept the honor of being this courteous."

He had secretly calculated a moment ago and understood that since Shang Qiuyuan knew that the Emperor had secretly summoned him, it was impossible to only target him. He didn't know what tricks he would have to deal with later.

Who wouldn't be afraid of this great marshal Bai Lian's fame and foresight? Moreover, a letter from Ji Tian Ning had completely shattered his heart, letting him understand that everything was already in the control of the Empress and the Protector of the King.

After some thought, it had only been a few days since the emperor left behind the testamentary edict. The empress had also informed them that they would send the emperor into the holy land in ten days and seal him in ice. In the future, this Southern Champion would be the Queen taking over the imperial government in place of the Emperor. With the birth of the prince, he would become the new monarch, and the guardian king with authority over the Southern Champion would undoubtedly be that Prime Minister's army.

Yan Shouzheng was now an experienced official. Under Shang Qiuyuan's guidance, under Ji Tianning's persuasion, he quickly came to a decision about his position.

"Lieutenant General, the King is here to visit you."

Han Xing slightly nodded his head. It was not out of his expectation that Shang Qiuyuan would personally come to visit him.

He sent someone out to greet him in his place, pretending to be sick as he lay on the sickbed. His face was sallow and his eyes listless.

"Your Highness, please wait a moment. My father is suffering from a cold, how can I easily enter? I fear that this will be detrimental to your noble body."

"It doesn't matter. The governor is a servant of the humerus. This King should pay a visit to the governor himself."

Han Xing's son had no choice but to open the door, "Your Highness, please come in. My father is very ill, so I cannot stand up to pay my respects to you. Please forgive me."

Shang Qiuyuan strode into Han Xing's bedroom, looking at Han Xing who was lying on the sickbed wrapped in a thick blanket. At this moment, Han Xing pretended to be asleep, ignoring Shang Qiuyuan.

"All of you can leave. This King will stay here with the Regional Commander for a moment."

"How can I let the Great Governor be here alone? This lowly one will accompany the King."

"But do you not trust This King to be here alone?"

Han Xing's son quickly bowed and saluted, "Your Highness, you are too serious. It's just that my father is sleeping. I fear that I have neglected Your Highness."

"It's alright. This King will leave after a moment."

Helpless, Han Xing's son could only bow and leave.

Shang Qiuyuan slowly walked to Han Xing's bedside and reached out his hand to tuck Han Xing in. "Although it's late autumn now, with so many blankets covering him, does the Regional Commander not mind the heat?"

Han Xing tightly closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep, ignoring Shang Qiuyuan.

"When did the Great Governor suffer from the cold? Could it be late at night on the twelfth day of the month? "

Shang Qiuyuan bent over and indifferently looked at Han Xing, asking with an extremely low voice. As expected, Han Xing's eyelids trembled a few times, but returned to a calm state without the slightest fluctuation.

"Governor, it seems that the Governor wasn't the only one who got sick late into the night of the twelfth day. The border is not peaceful now, the state is in the use of people, the Great Governor's disease is really unfortunate. This King had heard that the Young Master was proficient in military strategy books and was also a tiger general. Currently, the borders were not peaceful, so This King intended to send a great general to sweep the borders clean. However, there are currently too many soldiers and generals, so I believe the Governor is very loyal to the nation, and is willing to let the two young masters go to war in the place of the Governor. "

Han Xing remained still. Shang Qiuyuan smiled faintly, "I have requested for an order to send First and Second Young Master out to lead the troops. The imperial edict has yet to be issued. "However, the generals are wise. Let's see when the imperial edict will be issued."

"I forgot to tell the Great Governor. Because the Lieutenant is ill, there is no one in the imperial guards to mobilize. Therefore, I can only ask the two young masters to lead the troops that were used to run the kingdom."

Han Xing's hands were tightly clenched under the blanket. What a scheming man. If his two sons were to command the troops from the Nine Heavens Demesne, those people would definitely not listen to their orders. It was very possible that this was Shang Qiuyuan's plan to use such a scheme to control his two sons in his hands, and even find an opportunity at the front line to get rid of his two sons.

"It is your duty to be loyal to the sovereign and to share the nation's burdens. If the overseer does not speak, then I shall acquiesce. I shall announce the decree in a moment. Young masters, please lead the troops and set off immediately."

"What does Your Highness intend to do?"

Han Xing finally opened his eyes and stared at Shang Qiuyuan with shining eyes. "Prince, please don't forget the vow you made before His Majesty. Could it be that you have ill intentions now?"

"The Great Governor speaks too seriously. This King has never forgotten the oath I made in the past for a moment. Otherwise, This King would not have to return, nor would I have to spend so much effort to stabilize the Southern Champion." Now that the Governor has personally witnessed the prosperity and stability of the Southern Champion, is there anything wrong with this king? "

"Prince, don't forget that the prince is the official of the Southern Champion Kingdom, while His Majesty is the ruler."

"This king has never forgotten the Governor. Do you know what it means to be foolish and loyal? The citizens of Nanke had just stabilized. They were settling their businesses and gradually recovering their lives. In the past, this king had the opportunity to turn the Southern Champion into a mess and take advantage of the chaos. At that time, this king received the authority to open the King's army, and also had countless cities and armies in Fengyuan. But, why did This King choose to return back to the Ancestral Dragon without any hesitation? "

"Your humble servant is slow-witted. Please advise."

"This king only hopes that the people of Nanke and Fengyuan will be able to live a happy life without any more wars and robbers. This King only hopes that, with the plentiful harvest of the fields, there will be no more wasteland, no full road full of starved corpses, and the people of this world will be safe and prosperous. This world, although it is the world of kings, it is the world of commoners. If there is no one left in this world, what kind of king would it be? "

Han Xing sat up, he understood that Shang Qiuyuan already knew that he was pretending to be sick, so he silently pondered over Shang Qiuyuan's words.

"Which soldier in the army, which official in the provinces, which minister in the imperial court doesn't have parents, wives, and children? I just didn't want to do it for my own benefit, so I just ignored the world and pushed the people into the war. Is one's ambition and power more important, or are the citizens of the world more important?

"Your highness is truly a eloquent person. But if Your highness still hasn't forgotten the vow he made before His Majesty, that he had the heart to disobey, why did he throw himself into the army and take over the imperial court by himself?"

"The overseer seems to have forgotten that the emperor ordered this king to take charge of military affairs in place of the emperor. There was even an explicit decree that the overseer would be by his side when the emperor gave the order."

"This is an action that the emperor has no choice about. It is you, your highness, who forced the emperor to do so."

Shang Qiuyuan sighed softly, "Great Governor, please make it clear that this king has never forced anyone to do anything. Back then, when His Majesty was severely ill and unconscious, if I had any ill intentions, would I have brought only a few thousand troops into the ancestral land? If this king is ambitious, I can completely add fuel to the fire, causing great chaos among the Ancestral Dragons, and even baptizing the Ancestral Dragons in blood, changing the heavens for the Southern Champion. "

"How dare you!"

"Why would I not dare?"

Shang Qiuyuan looked arrogantly at Han Xing. "This King has a heavy soldier, why would I not dare? It's not that I don't dare, it's just that I don't do it. This King will not do it for his own personal gain. This act is done by the tyrant and the deceiver. However, the Emperor's mind is currently muddled and his loyalty is unclear. For the sake of selfishness, he wants to cause great chaos in the Ancestor Dragon and great chaos in the Southern Champion Kingdom. The Governor is the current hero of the era, the pillar of the Southern Champion Kingdom.

Han Xing was silent for a long time, staring at Shang Qiuyuan but did not reply. Shang Qiuyuan also did not urge him, slowly making a decision at the bedside, "Brother Han, for the sake of the people of the world, let us work hand in hand to create the unprecedented prosperity of the Southern Champion. This was something that had been passed down through the ages, something that only the later generations could do. "Once the rise and fall of a dynasty come to an end, I would like to establish a flourishing world with all of you for a hundred years or even longer."

"There must be a wise king in this golden age, but I wonder who he is?"

"The emperor is about to go on a rampage, and the empress is about to give birth to a prince. Even if that's not the case, the emperor has a heir now. The heir of the Emperor shall be known as the Lord of the Southern Champion Kingdom. Over ten years later, everyone shall return the glory to the Emperor with me. "