Chapter 1 A Year of Unease

The lives of the residents of Li Tian City this past year could be described as rather anxious. Back when the Wen family ruled here, they always prided themselves on being the most cultured in the Three Jin regions.

Compared to the He Lian family, whose ancestry was impure, and the Si Tu family, who only knew how to fight and kill, the Wen family was indeed the most refined of the three golden flowers.

For example, the fox spirit and ghost stories circulating in the Three Jin regions often included a phrase before mentioning a scholar: "A poor, sour scholar from Li Tian City," which was enough to demonstrate the perception of Li Tian City among the people of the Three Jin.

The Wen family had also produced several great Confucians and scholars. The stories within the large family were plentiful, providing the common people with a lot of material for imagination and creation. Back then, life in Li Tian City and for its residents was quite leisurely.

In later generations, it would have truly felt like the "Rong City" of the Three Jin.

However, when the Yan people invaded and replaced the Wen family as the rulers of this area, everything changed.

It wasn't that the Yan people were particularly vicious. Because the Yan Kingdom's court genuinely intended to treat this place as their own territory to govern, they didn't do anything that would provoke public outrage, except for the initial cleansing.

The taxes and punishments here were also comparable to those in Yan territory. It was possible that Yan people might sometimes be given preferential treatment when they broke the law here, but the people of Jin could understand that; after all, their own army had been defeated.

But ever since the Jingnan Marquisate was established in Li Tian City, the residents of Li Tian City had been living in constant fear.

It was like a slap to the face; it hurt, but only for a moment, with perhaps a lingering burning sensation.

But now, it was like you were about to be slapped, but someone kept making feinting motions, causing you to fear and dodge repeatedly. The psychological pressure was far greater than the pain of a quick slap.

The Yan people's Southern Marquis was a legendary figure. The people of Li Tian City were aware of this. In fact, everyone was mentally prepared for him to build a large prison and carry out mass executions in Li Tian City. It was just a matter of waiting for him to explode.

Then, the Jingnan Marquis's wife suddenly "passed away" from illness. The Jingnan army inside and outside Li Tian City had eyes so red, it was truly frightening.

Just when everyone thought the matter was slowly passing and they could relax a little, trouble came again.

Inside a spice shop on Chang Chun Street, a regular customer sat behind the counter, helping the owner identify newly arrived spices while whispering,

"That one the other day, was that the second one?"

The owner, who was over fifty years old, cautiously picked up his teacup, took a sip, and silently nodded as he set it down.

The two of them were not secret agents of the Secret Spy Division or the Silver Armor Guard, but it was precisely the high-pressure atmosphere in Li Tian City over the past year that had driven the residents to become somewhat neurotic.

"Ah, I've never seen anything like this in my life."

"The Wen family is gone; that's also something you've never seen," the owner glanced at his old customer and tea buddy.

As far as the people of Li Tian City were concerned, from their grandfathers' grandfathers' generation, Li Tian City had been the Wen family's domain.

"Dynasties change, families are destroyed; we often hear about it in operas. But this matter, even operas wouldn't dare to write it this way."

The owner picked up his teacup again and nodded.

"Do you think the Yan people's Southern Marquis is really going to rebel?"

The owner shook his head and said, "I don't know."

"It's already like this, and he's still not rebelling? The two stone lions in front of the Marquis's mansion are stained with blood on both sides. It's said that another one is coming today."

"We don't understand some of the Yan people's affairs," the owner said.

"Hey, whether we understand or not, if you were the Emperor… if you were that person, could you stand for this?"

"We understand even less about that person in the Yan people's court."

"You old codger, stop giving me all this roundabout stuff."

"Heh, you're taking the goods and leaving the city. I still have to keep this shop open. My whole family is here."

"What's there to be afraid of? I'll be honest with you; I bought back the house and shop I sold last year."

"Why did you suddenly decide to reopen the business? Is business outside not doing so well?"

"Business is still alright. Sheng Le City always produces new and strange things. As long as you can get the goods, you don't have to worry about sales. It's said that orders there are booked up for three months. I got in early and stocked up on some."

"So, you want to move back?"

"That's not the only reason. I'm figuring that if that Southern Marquis really rebels, Li Tian City might become the capital again, right?

When that time comes, the shops and houses here, the land prices here, will definitely double!"

"That makes sense, but what if he loses?"

"Hey, there's no such thing as a sure thing in this world."

"True."

"But I'm quite optimistic about this Southern Marquis. Look, when the Yan people used this Southern Marquis to lead the army, did he ever lose?

Not only did he not lose, but he won several major victories!

This time, the Yan people suddenly changed things and let that so-called Eldest Prince lead the army. Look, he was actually defeated by the wild men.

What are the wild men? In the past, they were the slaves that our Three Jin merchants loved to buy the most. They were very lowly. That Yan Eldest Prince couldn't even beat those lowlifes, which shows that this Eldest Prince is truly useless."

"In any case, I don't want this Southern Marquis to rebel at this time. If the Si Tu family really can't stop the wild men, and those damned things come over, ha, look at the fate of those wild men slaves in the past; our fate will be the same.

To put it simply, this Southern Marquis has been frightening from the start, but he hasn't done anything that would provoke public outrage in the past year or so. Moreover, with him in our Li Tian City, no matter how chaotic it is outside, I feel truly at ease."

"That's right; the world is changing too fast."

"Do you still want this spice?"

"Pack it up for me."

"Alright."

"By the way, isn't it interesting? When he killed his entire family, he immediately prepared to go to war, as if nothing had happened. But when his wife died, he didn't come out of his mansion. It seems that tying the whole family together still can't compare to a wom………呜呜呜呜."

"Are you looking to die? You can blabber about other things, but how can you say something like that? What do you think you are! If you keep babbling like this, I won't do business with you anymore. You can't drink my tea in the future either. I'm really afraid you'll be the death of me one day!"

………

"Send this letter to Yan Jing."

"Yes."

After handing over the letter, Wen Yin, who was currently the leader of the Crown Prince's faction's Jianghu organization and was actually the Sixth Prince's hidden stake, silently looked out the window from the second floor.

After the defeat of the Eastern Expeditionary Army, the court had issued many imperial decrees. The two most recent ones were even more unusual, with the decree-announcing eunuchs bringing imperial gifts that were equivalent to "the Emperor himself being present."

However, the Jingnan Marquis's mansion remained tightly closed.

The Jingnan soldiers guarding the gate were exemplifying what it meant to only listen to the Marquis's military orders and not heed the Emperor's edicts.

Two decree-announcing eunuchs had already crashed into the stone lions at the entrance of the Marquis's mansion after announcing the decree in front of the closed gate.

Because they were carrying imperial gifts, they were unable to knock on the Marquis's mansion door, so they couldn't return in disgrace like their colleagues who had come to announce decrees before.

Their corpses were naturally disposed of, but the two stone lions at the entrance of the Marquis's mansion were still stained with blood.

Throughout history, when a great general responded to imperial orders in this manner, it was basically equivalent to openly declaring his intention to rebel.

However, the court not only did not reprimand the Jingnan Marquis, but continued to send decree-announcing eunuchs, as if offering their right cheek after being slapped on the left.

Wen Yin had been constantly receiving letters from the Crown Prince in Yan Jing, inquiring about the situation in Li Tian City, and even asking about the movements of the Jingnan army near Li Tian City and the preparation of their supplies.

Idiot.

That was Wen Yin's assessment of the Crown Prince.

Of course, you couldn't say that the Crown Prince's reaction was wrong. As the heir to the throne, it was only natural to want to understand the situation in advance. But at this time, even if everyone in the world thought that the Jingnan Marquis was going to rebel, you still couldn't say it officially.

What's in your heart and what you say are two different concepts.

Compared to the Crown Prince's frequency of sending letters almost every other day, ever since this matter happened, the Sixth Prince hadn't sent a single letter to inquire about the situation.

It seemed that the Sixth Prince clearly understood the implications of this matter, so from the beginning, he didn't want to get involved. That was truly a wise move!

What Wen Yin didn't know was that Little Sixth had long been demoted by the Yan Emperor to become a constable in a local county town, and it was announced to the public that the Sixth Prince was ill and recuperating at home. Wei Zhonghe was handling this matter, so outsiders naturally couldn't find any flaws.

And the Sixth Prince, who had already become Yan Xiao Liu, naturally couldn't use his intelligence network from so far away to issue any orders, nor would he risk doing so.

"Huff………"

Wen Yin took a sip of yellow wine and threw a few peanuts into his mouth. Then, he rubbed his hands and sighed,

"The weather is getting cold."

………

A eunuch dressed in red official robes led a team of guards directly through the west gate of Li Tian City and went straight to the Jingnan Marquis's mansion without any delay.

In other places, when faced with such a decree-announcing eunuch, the local people would gather around to see the novelty. Although the eunuch had lost his manhood, everyone knew that the eunuchs who could handle this kind of errand must be important figures in the palace.

And for these eunuchs in the inner palace, the errand of announcing decrees outside the palace was something they would fight tooth and nail for. Not to mention the corresponding treatment and benefits, which were actually not important. The most important thing was that no matter how high the status of a servant in the palace, he was still a servant. But once he left the palace with the imperial decree in his hand, he could finally have a taste of being the boss!

However, for Huang Gonggong, who came to announce the decree this time, the feeling was very different. At the same time, the eyes of the onlookers after entering the city were not filled with awe, but… pity.

This old servant's heart is bitter, but this old servant can't say it!

In the past, everyone would fight tooth and nail for this kind of good errand, and they would have to work hard and even pay some benefits for it.

But the errand of announcing decrees to Li Tian City was something that all the managing eunuchs in the inner palace avoided.

If it was just that the Jingnan Marquis didn't accept the decree at first, you could just return in disgrace and report the errand with a thick skin and listen to a reprimand.

Running back and forth from Yan Jing to Li Tian City was such a long distance that your body would fall apart, and you wouldn't get even a bit of glory or even a bit of hospitality. It was indeed not a good feeling, but for the great eunuchs in the palace who were good at forbearance, it was not unbearable.

But now, things were different.

Since the Eastern Expeditionary Army had suffered a defeat in the war, and the court wanted the Jingnan Marquis to take command again, the decree-announcing eunuch had to bring His Majesty's token. This was a different meaning.

In the past, if the decree wasn't announced, you would just suffer a reprimand and work hard. But now it was: Do you still have the face to come back?

Two had already died.

This time, Huang Gonggong drew the short straw and had no choice but to come.

The level of the eunuch who came to announce the decree was different depending on the target of the decree. The one who could announce the decree to the Jingnan Marquis had to be at least a managing eunuch in the palace. They were all people who had worked their way up after many years of hardship. It was not easy to have this status today. In the palace, they could also take in young eunuchs and palace maids as their god sons and god daughters.

Their good eunuch lives had just begun,

But they had to line up to draw straws to come to this execution ground.

If only they had known this would happen, why did they cut themselves off to enter this damn palace!

Therefore, before leaving Yan Jing, Huang Gonggong took out his treasure from his youth and gave it to his most trusted god son.

Before entering Li Tian City, just last night, he had sent a subordinate to enter Li Tian City separately tomorrow to buy him a coffin so that his body could be sent back to Yan Jing after his death and reunited with his treasure before being buried.

With everything arranged, Huang Gonggong felt that he could go die, no, he could go announce the decree.

Damn it,

This old servant is just a eunuch without balls. Why is it that such a thing as going to death generously falls on me?

The road,

Was destined to be finished.

Finally,

The gate of the Jingnan Marquis's mansion was in front of him.

At the gate, soldiers stood in formation, orderly and solemn.

Huang Gonggong's eyes subconsciously looked at the two stone lions at the gate. The lions were indeed still stained with blood. You have to say that this Jingnan Marquis's mansion was really not afraid of bad luck and taboos. They didn't even bother to wipe them clean or simply replace the two stone lions.

Then,

Huang Gonggong began to look at other places. The stone lions had been crashed into by the two unlucky fellows in front, one on each side. Which one should I crash into?

Crash into the steps?

It's not so easy to exert force.

That's right, crash into the pillar.

The guards behind Huang Gonggong all tacitly didn't urge Huang Gonggong, who was in a daze.

A man who is about to die……… Let's wait a bit.

On this matter, everyone could still empathize, and it seemed that because Huang Gonggong had made preparations to die on the road, he understood that money was something you couldn't bring with you in life or take with you in death. During the journey, he often rewarded them, and would also invite them to eat and have a good meal.

"Huff………"

Huang Gonggong took a long breath,

And took out the imperial decree from his arms.

It was clearly a sacred and inviolable imperial decree, but it was not so useful here.

In fact, even the Jingnan soldiers at the entrance of the mansion clearly saw that he had taken out the imperial decree, but they still had no reaction at all.

Where is your respect!

Huang Gonggong sighed again,

Disembarked,

Opened the imperial decree,

And shouted directly:

"Jingnan Marquis Tian Wu Jing, receive the decree!!!"

After shouting,

Huang Gonggong didn't want to wait anymore.

The first unlucky fellow shouted here for a whole day, calling for the Jingnan Marquis to receive the decree, shouting until his throat was hoarse, but the gate still didn't move. In the end, he crashed to death on the left stone lion.

The second unlucky fellow shouted for a long time, and finally crashed to death on the right stone lion.

Huang Gonggong felt that since he had to die in the end, it was better to save his strength and not suffer that torment before his death.

Most importantly, when you are ready to die, the feeling of waiting to die is really a torment every minute and every second.

Huang Gonggong began to bend over,

Huang Gonggong began to gather strength,

Huang Gonggong closed his eyes,

However,

Just then,

Only a heavy sound of friction was heard, and the gate of the Jingnan Marquis's mansion actually opened at this moment.

Huang Gonggong, who had made all the preparations, staggered immediately, and suddenly didn't know where his center of gravity was. He actually "thumped" and leaned forward, tumbling forward on the ground, his hat fell off, and his face was covered with dust.

But Huang Gonggong didn't care about these things at all, he just stared blankly with his mouth open, looking at the man standing in the gate.

The man was wearing a white python robe, his eyes were cold, like the ice of a deep abyss.

The most shocking thing was his head of white hair.

Outside the Marquis's mansion, a group of soldiers knelt down neatly and said in unison:

"Greetings, Marquis!"

"Greetings, Marquis!"

The guards that Huang Gonggong brought also dismounted and knelt down at this time, without any restraint from the imperial palace.

When this man appeared in front of you, submission was almost subconscious. This feeling was similar to seeing His Majesty…

Moreover, everyone knew that the hope of the Eastern Expeditionary Army, and even the hope of the entire Yan Kingdom, was on this man in front of them.

Huang Gonggong, who was sitting on the ground, squirmed his lips,

When the Jingnan Marquis came out and walked towards him,

Huang Gonggong mustered his courage,

And said in a voice that was pleading, timid, and fawning,

"Mar…Mar…Marquis, the decree, the decree."

Then,

He carefully handed the imperial decree in his hand to the Jingnan Marquis.

When other people received the decree, they would have to bathe and burn incense in advance, and then set up a table and incense burner, and kneel down with their families to ask for the decree in fear and trepidation.

The decree-announcing eunuch, as long as he held the imperial decree in his hand, truly represented the Emperor's face, as if the Emperor himself was present!

Where had there ever been such a thing,

Had there ever been a precedent for him to beg someone to receive the decree like this?

But Huang Gonggong didn't feel wronged, didn't feel wronged, really didn't feel wronged at all.

He wanted to cry, but they were tears of emotion;

Compared to the two unlucky fellows in front, what else could he ask for, what else did he have the face to ask for?

"Mar…Mar…Marquis, the decree."

Seeing that the Jingnan Marquis didn't take it, Huang Gonggong reminded him softly again. This enthusiasm was not as enthusiastic as when he had just entered the palace a few years ago to curry favor with the palace maid of the Yu Xiu Palace.

The Jingnan Marquis didn't take the decree,

He just said in a calm voice that made people tremble:

"Understood."