“Jia Yu, I know you.” The Eighth Prince leaned against the inn door, his earlier swagger gone, replaced by a look of utter defeat.
He said in a harsh voice, “I am the one favored by the Supreme Emperor, the heir to the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Li Jun is just a scapegoat chosen by the Supreme Emperor.
Even if you defeat my Jiangnan army, the Supreme Emperor still has the Imperial Guard and the Capital Garrison.”
“If you surrender now, I will let bygones be bygones and even grant you a high office, allowing you to restore the glory of the Jia family!”
Jia Yu looked at the Eighth Prince, the Wu King Li Feng, who was now utterly terrified. He planted his broadsword in the ground.
“Your Highness, wouldn’t it be better to just stay as a King on your construction site?”
Jia Yu didn't understand the Wu King's ambition. Being emperor was so tiring; you had to deal with so many things every day. If you did a bad job, people would criticize you, and if you did a good job, they would still criticize you.
After all, throughout history, except for those emperors labeled as ‘昏君 (foolish rulers),’ which emperor ever lived a comfortable life?
It was better to be a leisurely prince, in your own territory. As long as you didn't go too far, you could live happily for a lifetime.
This was much more comfortable than being emperor.
Li Feng sneered: “The throne is right in front of me. Who wouldn’t want to fight for it?
I was just unlucky, and I never expected you to be so fierce.”
Li Feng burst into laughter. “But even so, I, no, *朕 (I, the emperor)*, am still the emperor! This position is meant for me.”
“Hahaha!”
Li Feng laughed uncontrollably, his hair disheveled, looking like a madman.
“Your Highness, Your Highness, what’s wrong with you?!”
“Your Highness.”
The two young eunuchs standing in front of him saw the Wu King's state and ran to him.
They couldn’t restrain Li Feng, even with both of them trying.
Jia Yu just stood there, watching the show.
This guy must be pretending to be crazy. He felt like cutting him with his blade.
Jia Yu finally suppressed this urge and called for people to protect the Wu King, waiting for the Emperor’s orders.
The capital was not safe.
Jia Yu could feel countless eyes watching him from every direction.
Among those gazes, many were malicious.
The Wu King was of high status. If he died here, it would be a huge problem.
From the start of the battle to its end, it was only an hour.
In that hour, the Wu King was defeated.
The Emperor was overjoyed and returned to the Imperial Palace, summoning his ministers for a meeting.
Yesterday, when he had summoned his ministers, no one had dared to speak.
Today, he wanted to see the attitude of his court.
At the same time, he mobilized one thousand 玄甲铁骑 (Xuanjia Iron Cavalry) to serve as guards for the Imperial Palace.
On the other side, 玄甲騎兵 (Xuanjia Cavalry) carried Zhang Qing's head and controlled the Jiangnan troops both inside and outside the city.
Some in the Jiangnan camp tried to resist, but seeing their general's head and the imperial edict representing the Emperor's authority,
they could only kneel down and await their fate.
Dragon Head Palace.
The entire Dragon Head Palace was silent. Feng Tang was kneeling on the ground, as was the commander of the 錦衣卫 (Embroidered Uniform Guard).
“My Imperial Guard was infiltrated by the Fourth Son?”
The Supreme Emperor was like an enraged tiger, glaring fiercely at the two men below.
The commander of the 錦衣卫 (Embroidered Uniform Guard) kept his forehead pressed against the floor. “Your Majesty, this servant has discovered some things. The three thousand-man captains who defected to the Fourth Prince were closely connected to Jia Yu.”
Feng Tang, the commander of the Imperial Guard, said, “Your Majesty, the three thousand-man captains were brought back from the border by the former 小荣国公 (Small Rong Duke). Later, they were chosen to join the Imperial Guard.
For many years, they were diligent and devoted to their duties. This servant never expected that they would betray the Imperial Guard.”
“People brought back by Jia Dai Shan?” The Supreme Emperor was startled. He recalled that for the safety of the capital, he had selected twelve young and capable, strong thousand-man captains from the Capital Garrison.
He used them to create a new Imperial Guard to protect him.
Later, these men either died in battle or were forgotten.
“Why would they betray me?!”
The Supreme Emperor's anger burned fiercely. In his view, this was treachery.
The Grand Eunuch, Dai Quan, whispered in the Supreme Emperor's ear, “Your Majesty, dealing with traitors is easy. The most important thing now is the conflict between the Wu King and the Fourth Prince.
The Jiangnan army has collapsed, the Wu King has been captured, and the Fourth Prince has won a great victory. Once they have consolidated the Jiangnan troops, their army may be larger than yours.
That would be a grave situation.”
The Supreme Emperor finally woke up to the real danger.
He abdicated and became the Supreme Emperor, but the entire capital still listened to him, thanks to his control over the army.
“Immediately send Niu Ji Zong to recruit the Jiangnan army,” the Supreme Emperor ordered, regaining his composure. “Dai Quan, take a few people and bring the Wu King to me.”
“Feng Tang, keep a tight watch on the Imperial Guard. If anything goes wrong, I will hold you responsible.”
“Luo Sheng,” the Supreme Emperor pointed at the commander of the 錦衣卫 (Embroidered Uniform Guard). “Keep an eye on all the officials, especially the military aristocracy. Record everything they do.”
With the Supreme Emperor's orders, the huge machine of the Dragon Head Palace began to work.
Large numbers of Imperial Guard troops guarded the walls between the Imperial Palace and the Western Gardens. There was a sense of impending storm.
On the other side, Emperor Li Jun, seeing Jia Yu’s defeat of the Jiangnan army and capture of the Wu King Li Feng, was too excited to celebrate.
He immediately dispatched Xia Shou Zhong and Jia Yu to the Jiangnan army camp to consolidate the Jiangnan troops.
This was one of the armies that the ‘苦钱 (toil-and-money) Emperor’ could directly control.
He had to secure this army before the Supreme Emperor could recruit it.
He didn't send Liu Gong Gong because he was afraid that Jia Yu would become too powerful.
Jia Yu already had three thousand heavy armored cavalry and three thousand Imperial Guard troops. If he added another fifty or sixty thousand infantry,
the Emperor wouldn't dare to gamble.
Jia Yu rested for a short while, then mounted his horse and arrived at the Jiangnan camp.
Upon seeing Jia Yu, the soldiers in the camp knelt down.
Many of them had fled back from the front lines, having witnessed Jia Yu's terrifying fighting power. They had seen the cavalry that they considered invincible crumble like straw before this man.
Xia Shou Zhong thought it would be difficult to recruit these soldiers, but he didn't expect that Jia Yu just had to stand there, and the Jiangnan troops would surrender.
The 70,000 troops in the Jiangnan camp all surrendered and submitted to the Emperor.
The camp's flags were all replaced with the Emperor’s 日月龙行旗 (Sun-Moon Dragon Banner).
Of course, there were also many Jia family flags scattered throughout the camp.
This army belonged to the Emperor, but the current commander was Jia Yu.
Around noon, Jia Yu finally had the chance to rest.
He had been fighting nonstop since morning.
He had defeated the Wu King’s army and then rushed all the way to the camp.
He hadn’t had a moment to rest.
Jia Yu found a spot to rest, just like that.