Compared with the various inconveniences Huayang encountered when he followed the army, the rebellious Prince Yu lived a much more comfortable life in the army.
Fighting was the job of the commander Guo Jixian and the soldiers. Prince Yu only needed to follow the army. The young prince, who usually focused on pleasure, also brought two beauties with him this time, not to mention the other maids, eunuchs and cooks who served him. Prince Yu originally wanted to live a more carefree life, such as bringing a singing girl with two carriages, but King Jing was worried that his stupidity would seriously affect morale.
Logically speaking, the late emperor had just passed away and Prince Yu, who was still in mourning, should not have favored even two beauties. However, he insisted on favoring them secretly. The villains around him did not dare to persuade him nor did they want to, while Prince Jing deliberately indulged him.
Prince Yu was not virtuous. Once the army captured the capital, Prince Jing had the opportunity to reap the benefits, get rid of him, and ascend the throne to become emperor.
If Prince Yu was a virtuous man, Prince Jing would not have instigated him to rebel, and Prince Yu would not have listened to him.
As night fell that day, when Prince Yu was drinking and having fun in his tent, Guo Jixian came to Prince Jing's tent.
"The march is going smoothly, my dear brother. Why are you so worried?" King Jing invited Guo Jixian to take a seat and followed his favorite concubine Guo in addressing this court general, treating Guo Jixian as a member of the family.
Guo Jixian explained: "It was just too smooth. The garrisons in the capital are not incompetent, but the garrisons we encountered along the way retreated hastily after a short battle, as if they had no intention of fighting at all."
King Jing laughed and said, "We have an army of 200,000. Those local garrisons of several thousand or tens of thousands dare not fight us. We are just pretending to be able to deal with the imperial court in the future."
If the rebellion fails, the entire palace will lose his head. If King Jing dares to start a rebellion at this time, his only chance of success is to use speed.
As long as he could reach the capital before the imperial court's army besieged it, and as long as he killed the young emperor and Prince Yu, he, the uncle, would become the first choice to succeed the throne, and the most suitable candidate that the court officials could think of.
Benefits are often accompanied by risks, but as long as the benefits are great enough, most people who can afford to give it a try will take the risk.
In King Jing's view, what prestige could the young emperor, who was still wet behind the ears, have in the hearts of local officials? The local generals had neither enough troops to compete with him nor the need to fight to the death for the court. It was expected that they would be defeated at the first blow.
Guo Jixian did not take the young emperor seriously, but he did not dare to underestimate the Prime Minister Chen Tingjian, nor would he look down on the three garrison commanders of Daming Prefecture, Guangping Prefecture, and Shunde Prefecture. He had seen some of these three garrison commanders drink with him, and some of them he had only heard of their reputation. Even though the soldiers under their command were far from being able to resist an army of 200,000, they would not fail to even try.
A true general regards the responsibility and honor of defending the country as more important than his own life. He will fight to the death even if he knows he cannot win, and try to delay the rebels as much as possible, waiting for the imperial army to arrive to rescue.
Guo Jixian seemed to see a big net waiting for them to jump in.
He wanted to retreat, and even thought of a retreat for King Jing. He led an army of 200,000 to march through Henan, through northern Huguang, and then directly into Sichuan and Shu. After taking Sichuan and Shu, he would use the natural defenses to recruit soldiers and horses while choosing another opportunity. It would definitely not work to stay in Henan, as it would be too easy for the imperial army to catch him in a trap.
King Jing rejected his kindness without thinking. He admired Guo Jixian's ability to command troops, but now he disliked Guo Jixian's hesitation.
Tomorrow the army will be able to advance into Jizhou, and will be only more than half the distance to the capital. Victory is in sight. If you retreat now, you’d be a fool!
But what King Jing didn't know was that when the rebels were marching northward, the defenders of Daming, Guangping and Shunde, who were repelled by them or simply avoided fighting, had received a secret letter from the Prime Minister long before the rebels started the uprising, asking them to be prepared for Prince Yu's rebellion in advance. If there was a war, they were also to avoid the sharp edge and preserve their fighting power, and gather together behind Prince Yu's army, waiting to be attacked from the front and back by the defenders of Jizhou, Zhending Prefecture and the imperial army.
.
The army of Prince Yu set up camp in the south of Jizhou. After marching day and night, the more than 50,000 soldiers led by Huayang and Ling Rucheng finally arrived at Wuyi County in the north of Jizhou before dusk.
At this time, the horses were too tired to move on, and the more than 50,000 soldiers were also exhausted.
Ling Rucheng brought Zhao Zeqing, the defender of Zhending Prefecture, and Huang Lang, the defender of Baoding Prefecture, to ask for an audience with Huayang. He also called Chen Jingzong to come with them to prevent the delicate princess from facing the three generals alone and feeling afraid.
Huayang received them solemnly in the eldest princess's tent.
Zhao Zeqing and Huang Lang are both pure military generals, in their early forties. They have the calmness and restraint of Ling Rucheng and the strong physique of Chen Jingzong. Their appearance and demeanor alone are reassuring.
After the ceremony, Zhao Zeqing explained the current battle situation.
The Yuwang army will march into Jizhou tomorrow afternoon. He and Huang Lang will lead the troops to pretend to intercept them, and then retreat northward. The Yuwang army will arrive near Wuyi County at dusk the day after tomorrow. Therefore, the more than 50,000 soldiers led by Ling Rucheng can first recuperate here and wait for the opportunity to tire themselves out.
After listening to this, Huayang finally realized what his father-in-law and mother had planned in advance.
In the previous life, Prince Yu suddenly started a rebellion. The defenders of the three prefectures of Daming Prefecture fought desperately. Although they succeeded in delaying the rebels, they also suffered heavy casualties. It was not until they reached Zhending Prefecture and Baoding Prefecture that the rebels began to really encounter resistance. With the addition of 50,000 troops from the imperial court, more than 100,000 soldiers and horses under the command of Ling Rucheng gradually turned defeat into victory and forced Prince Yu's rebels back south step by step.
Now, nearly 50,000 troops from the three prefectures of Daming Prefecture have been almost completely preserved. The army of Prince Yu, who thought they were invincible, was about to fall into the first trap set by the imperial court.
Huayang nodded to show that he understood, then looked at Ling Rucheng.
Ling Rucheng said: "If the rebels want to enter Wuyi County, they must first pass through Huer Mountain in the south of Wuyi. Tomorrow morning we can set off for Huer Mountain and disguise ourselves as the defenders of Zhending Prefecture to ambush there. When General Zhao and General Huang lead the rebels here, we will first dampen their spirit. After this battle, the rebels will definitely set up camp in that area to rest. The next day, our 100,000-man army will escort the princess to negotiate with Prince Yu."
Hua Yang smiled and said, "Master Ling, this is a very good plan."
After resting in the camp for one night, the next morning, Generals Ling and Huang were long gone. Ling Rucheng also personally led 20,000 troops to ambush at Huer Mountain.
Huayang stood outside his tent and saw that Chen Jingzong was also among the troops sent out.
He was very busy and only looked at her from afar when he got on his horse and was about to set off.
The early morning sunlight shone from behind him, so bright that Huayang could not see Chen Jingzong's face clearly. However, he saw that he was smiling, revealing a row of white teeth.
Then he rode away.
After the 20,000 soldiers had run away, Huayang was about to go back to the tent when he suddenly saw his cousin Qi Jin walking towards him.
Huayang smiled at him.
Qi Jin stopped three steps away from her.
It's ridiculous that it's been so long since the emperor passed away, but he hasn't had the chance to express his condolences to her alone. Now she seems to no longer be sad, and Qi Jin's mention of condolences will only arouse her sadness.
"This is the first time that the prince consort goes to war. Are you worried, cousin?" Qi Jin asked as a cousin.
Huayang: "Fortunately, Ling Shuai is here."
Qi Jin laughed and said, "I wanted to say a few words to comfort my cousin, but it was all in vain."
Hua Yang glanced around the barracks and advised, "Cousin, go and do your work. I'm fine."
Qi Jin nodded, turned and left.
Chaoyun and Chaoyue didn't think much about it, only Wu Run looked at Qi Jin's back a few times. He remembered that when the princess was only thirteen or fourteen years old, Qi Jin was still a young man. The look in Qi Jin's eyes when he looked at the princess revealed his affection. However, the Queen Mother obviously did not support this marriage, and Qi Jin decided to get married soon. Since then, the number of times Qi Jin met the princess has been very few.
Now that Qi Jin has a virtuous wife and the princess has a prince consort, the love they had in their youth should be over, right
Inside the tent, Huayang took out the letter that her mother had given her along with the imperial edict before she set out. On it was the response that might be used in the peace talks.
The Queen Mother is definitely better at this kind of polite talk than Huayang.
Huayang had memorized it long ago, but she had also imagined several situations and secretly prepared some countermeasures.
Huayang would go over it in his mind several times every day, so as not to lose the royal dignity in front of the army.
However, today she was still able to prepare these things calmly. On the second day, when she knew that Chen Jingzong and others would encounter Prince Yu's rebels at Huer Mountain, Huayang's heart could no longer calm down.
The battlefields of the two lives have changed, and she doesn't remember whether there was a battle at Hu'er Mountain in her previous life.
The battlefield is not a training ground, swords and arrows have no judgment. No matter how powerful General Ling is, we are now outnumbered. Will Chen Jingzong get into trouble
People can control their breathing and hold their breath until they can't hold it anymore, but it is difficult to control their chaotic thoughts.
Even though he knew it was unlucky, within a short while, Huayang had guessed several ways that Chen Jingzong could die. He might accidentally fall off the top of the mountain, or be shot in the chest by an archer from the rebel army below, or he might run down and fight the rebels hand-to-hand and get stabbed a few times...
"Is the princess worried about her husband?" Wu Run suddenly asked.
The two were more than ten years apart in age. It could be said that Huayang was raised by Wu Run himself, so Huayang considered him half an elder. Facing Wu Run's insightful gaze, Huayang smiled and said, "I'm not too worried, but it's his first time on the battlefield after all, so I feel a little uneasy."
Wu Run: "This is human nature. Even if I give you countless reasons to reassure you, you will still be thinking about your husband. It would be better to go out for a walk, or practice calligraphy or needlework to distract yourself."
Huayang didn't want to go out because it was hot outside and he could smell horse manure at any time.
If they wanted to practice calligraphy, it would be inconvenient to lay out the pens, ink, paper and inkstone in the tent, so Huayang asked Chaoyun and Chaoyue to prepare needles and thread.
Huayang spent the whole afternoon sewing purses.
Green silk is embroidered with green bamboos using light green needle and thread, which means "bamboo brings peace".
Huayang was not good at needlework and was in a restless mood. She wasted two pieces of material at the beginning, but only later did she slowly calm down.
Suddenly, in the distance came the sound of thousands of horses galloping.
Huayang stopped the needle.
Before Chaoyun and Chaoyue could run out to check the situation, Zhou Ji had already come over to report: "Princess, Ling Shuai and the others are back!"
Chao Yun knew that the master was most concerned about the prince consort, so she asked anxiously, "Have you seen the prince consort?"
Zhou Ji said awkwardly: "It's still far away and I can't see clearly."
Chao Yun: "Then go and have a look again!"
Zhou Ji ran all the way out of the camp.
Those who returned this time were not only the more than 20,000 people led by Ling Rucheng, but also the 50,000 troops under the command of Zhao Zeqing and Huang Lang.
The soldiers came in a mighty force, stirring up a cloud of dust.
According to his official rank, Chen Jingzong rode on horseback behind the commander-in-chief and two generals.
When he was still some distance away from the main camp, he first saw Zhou Ji, a fair-skinned guard with a jade face. Standing among the other soldiers with dark and yellow faces, he was quite eye-catching.
But he didn't know that in Zhou Ji's eyes, his own son-in-law was equally eye-catching. After all, Ling Rucheng and the other two were all in their forties or fifties, and their faces were quite dark. Only Chen Jingzong was young and less exposed to the sun, and the men in the Chen family were all born with fair complexion!
After making sure that his son-in-law was safe and sound, Zhou Ji did not wait to say hello and turned to run towards the eldest princess's tent.
"Princess, the prince consort is back too, riding on a horse, so he should be uninjured!"
Chaoyun and Chaoyue were both very happy.
Huayang looked indifferent. She put the half-embroidered purse into the sewing basket and asked the maids to put it away.
Chao Yun said, "Why don't you go and answer it..."
Huayang raised an eyebrow.
Chao Yun: "I mean, you don't want to go pick up Ling Shuai?"
Huayang: …
(End of this chapter)