Chapter 1001 Seal, Open!

"Your Majesty, the stitches here still need to be altered."

"No need, I think it's fine."

"Your Majesty, you must address yourself as '朕' (zhen, I, the emperor), you have to correct that."

"Hehe, I'm afraid I won't be able to switch back when needed."

Zhao Yuannian took off his dragon robe and said, "Eunuch Zhao, wouldn't it be too much trouble?"

Zhao Cheng immediately knelt down:

"Please bestow a name upon this servant, Your Majesty."

Zhao Cheng was from the Chu Kingdom.

When Zheng Fan raided Chu to snatch the princess, Zhao Cheng was caught up in it. Later, he even castrated himself, boarding this ship.

For a long time, he was Xiong Liqing's true confidant in the Prince's mansion. Later, for a time, when the crown prince moved into the mansion, he replaced Little Zhang as the crown prince's personal attendant.

However, when the crown prince Ji Chuanye returned to the capital, Zhao Cheng, who could have been brought back with him, chose to refuse and stayed in the Prince's mansion.

Now,

Prince Fu, Zhao Yuannian, has declared himself emperor in Jinghai, Jiangnan,

Which could also be called "propping up an emperor."

Zhao Cheng was arranged to serve by Zhao Yuannian's side.

Although the Fu Prince's mansion had been in Fengxin City for many years, there were servants and attendants but no eunuchs.

Originally, according to regulations, the Fu Prince's mansion was entitled to a quota for using eunuchs. For example, both the Jin Prince's mansion in the capital and the Cheng Prince's mansion in Yingdu had eunuchs, and their salaries were paid from the public coffers.

But because the Regent's mansion didn't use eunuchs,

So,

How dare the Fu Prince's mansion, located in the same city, surpass the Regent's mansion in terms of expenses?

Of course, from another perspective...

If bringing Zhao Yuannian into Qian this time was a coincidence, then even bringing the only "eunuch" in the Prince's mansion was impossible to explain as just a "coincidence" or an "unintentional act."

Everything was actually within the Prince's plan.

"Bestow a name?" Zhao Yuannian was taken aback.

"How dare this servant have the Zhao surname before Your Majesty?"

The Qian Kingdom was not without people with the Zhao surname who were not members of the royal family, and there were many of them.

First, because the Ji, Xiong, and Yu surnames were originally large clans in Da Xia before the Three Marquis opened the borders. After the Three Marquis established their countries, the distinction between the royal surnames in Yan, Jin, and Chu was still very high. If nothing unexpected happened, these three surnames could claim to be "descendants of the imperial family," although some might have long faded into obscurity.

For example, the Sword Saint and his younger brother in their youth lived a very difficult life, but they still carried the imperial surname.

Secondly, the Da Qian lineage was established relatively late. Although they fabricated history and created the "Four Marquis Opening the Borders," the history wasn't long enough. No matter how much they tried to avoid offending the imperial family, they couldn't force people who already had the Zhao surname to change it.

But in any case,

As a eunuch,

Daring to keep the "Zhao" surname before the emperor was indeed very inappropriate.

However,

How could Zhao Yuannian dare to change Zhao Cheng's surname?

He was very clear about how he had become the emperor, and he also knew what his mission and role were.

Moreover, although Zhao Cheng was a eunuch, he had entered the Prince's mansion much earlier than him.

"Eunuch Zhao, you know my situation. We are all people of the Prince's mansion, so let's not fuss over these trivial details.

You and I should do our jobs well and contribute to the Prince's grand plan."

"This servant understands, this servant understands."

Zhao Cheng folded Zhao Yuannian's dragon robe and sent it to a woman behind a screen.

The woman had a beautiful face and was especially skilled in needlework. She was Zhao Cheng's younger sister, given the name Zhao Xinniang by Xiong Liqing.

"Fix this again, quickly, the founding ceremony is about to begin," Zhao Cheng said.

"This sister understands, brother, rest assured."

Xinniang took the dragon robe and began to repair it.

Then,

Zhao Cheng walked away first, bringing tea to Zhao Yuannian.

Zhao Yuannian sat in the chair, holding the tea in his hands, and said with a smile:

"A little nervous."

Zhao Cheng smiled slightly and said, "Your Majesty will gradually get used to it."

"Eunuch Zhao, I ask you, how long do you think I can be this emperor?"

"Naturally, for a long, long time, for thousands of generations," Zhao Cheng immediately replied.

"Hey, we are our own people, so what can't we say directly? I'm saying, Eunuch Zhao, can you not be so stiff, it makes me feel uncomfortable.

To put it bluntly, my life was saved by my mother's relationship with the Prince, and this position was earned by the affection the Prince felt for my mother raising the heir.

I have no intention of truly calling myself an orphan, if you continue to praise me so highly, I'm really afraid I'll become arrogant, and then..."

Zhao Yuannian lowered his jaw, meaning, you understand.

Zhao Cheng then said, "Your Majesty, this servant naturally understands what you mean, but has Your Majesty ever thought about it? This dragon throne, since ancient times, sitting on it may mean ascending to heaven in one step, but stepping down..."

Zhao Yuannian interjected, "To sit on it, first raise your leg; to step down, first drop your head."

"Does Your Majesty think you would be disloyal to the Prince?"

"How is that possible?" Zhao Yuannian immediately denied, "In this life, I have been thoroughly subdued by the Prince inside and out. Also, look at His Highness the Heir...

Did you hear what that Qianliju of the Xie family said that day?

What does that mean?

That's an acknowledgement."

The foundation of the state, the heir, the successor, their role lies in this, to greatly maintain the long-term stability of a group.

Zhao Cheng said, "Since Your Majesty will not have any disloyal intentions towards the Prince, why would the Prince let Your Majesty's head fall first?"

"That's natural."

Zhao Yuannian said firmly;

He... was someone His Highness the Heir had called his sworn brother!

Although the relationship between his mother and the Prince was known to the world;

But Zhao Yuannian didn't dare to call the Prince his "father" or "adoptive father" outside, and naturally even less dared to call himself "older brother" in front of the Heir;

However, the Heir calling him "sworn brother" was incredibly numbing to the bones, making him feel like he was floating in the clouds. Even now, when he recalled it, he still felt a little lightheaded.

"Then, when stepping down from this dragon throne, Your Majesty must either become a ruler like the Emperor of Chu... or, like the Cheng Prince's mansion, have your own fiefdom. To put it bluntly, at least you can get a hereditary title like the Jin Prince's mansion.

Moreover, not a hereditary title of Fu Prince, but... Qian Prince."

Fu Prince and Qian Prince seem the same, but they are actually very different. Being a Qian Prince with a hereditary title allows you to inherit the entire Qian Kingdom's legacy. The difference is like that between a noble marquis and a marquis with military merits.

"You see things clearly," Zhao Yuannian praised.

"Actually, Your Majesty, you are as clear as a mirror in your heart," Zhao Cheng said with a smile.

Zhao Yuannian turned to look at Xinniang, who was altering the dragon robe behind the screen.

"Let's arrange a marriage," Zhao Yuannian said.

"Xinniang must be betrothed by the Princess Consort," Zhao Cheng reminded.

"I'll ask," Zhao Yuannian said.

"This..." Zhao Cheng was actually unwilling.

He cherished this younger sister very much and naturally wanted to find a good family for her. A good family here didn't mean rich and powerful, but at least his younger sister should be the first wife, right?

Zhao Yuannian understood and scolded with a smile:

"What are you thinking? I'm asking for my son, I'll have my mother speak for me."

"Then this servant thanks Your Majesty for your great kindness."

People nowadays generally had children relatively early. Common young masters often had female servants by their side. Using modern standards, examples of becoming a father when still a child were everywhere.

Therefore, although the Fu Princess Consort was not much older than Zheng Fan, she was already a grandmother.

Of course, there was another reason: Zheng Fan had objective reasons that made having children difficult for a time, so he was relatively late.

Now, Zhao Yuannian was the "Emperor," and his younger sister marrying Zhao Yuannian's son would make her the Crown Princess...

Zhao Cheng felt that this was an excellent destination.

In fact, both he and Zhao Yuannian were very ambitious people, but under the Prince's mansion, their ambitions seemed very pure.

Sometimes, limited ambition can guarantee subjective initiative.

"Your Majesty, Brother, it's been altered."

Zhao Cheng immediately came over, took back the dragon robe, and served Zhao Yuannian to put it on again.

This dragon robe was originally modified from the Qian-style princely robe that Zhao Yuannian brought with him. If you looked closely, there were still many inappropriate places, but from a distance, it was indeed in the style of the Qian Emperor's dragon robe.

After redressing, Zhao Yuannian took a deep breath and asked:

"How is the preparation outside?"

"Your Majesty, wait a moment, this servant will go ask."

Zhao Cheng was about to go out, but seemed to have thought of something again. He unbuttoned his red-robed eunuch uniform, revealing the inner armor he was wearing inside, and said:

"Your Majesty, this servant will bring this inner armor, you wear it inside."

He didn't plan to take it out before, but as soon as he thought about the marriage alliance, he took it out. Eunuch Zhao was extremely pragmatic.

Zhao Yuannian pursed his lips and didn't refuse, taking the inner armor that Zhao Cheng took off.

Seeing Zhao Cheng was about to come and redress him again,

Zhao Yuannian immediately waved his hand and said, "Go ask outside, I can do it myself."

"Yes."

Zhao Cheng immediately ran out.

In the outer courtyard pavilion, he saw the Prince and the Heir sitting face-to-face, talking.

Zhao Cheng immediately stopped and waited;

Obviously, the emperor's matter was not important.

At least, in Zhao Cheng's opinion, it was far less important than the conversation between the Prince and his son.

…

"The outside or here, which do you choose?"

Zheng Fan asked his son.

Zheng Lin opened his mouth and said, "I'll just stay here, too lazy to make room."

"I thought you preferred the scene outside."

"That's a position more suitable for you, Father."

Zheng Fan nodded, stood up, and seemed to have thought of something again, saying:

"Oh, right, your mother will also be here later."

"What!"

Zheng Lin's expression immediately changed.

Zheng Fan smiled, with an expression that said, I know everything you're thinking.

Zheng Lin's expression began to turn gloomy;

It wasn't anger at anyone, but the scene of itching for a fight that he had been anticipating was gradually moving away from him, so he was instinctively unhappy.

"Father will take your mother out later," Zheng Fan said.

Zheng Lin's facial expression immediately relaxed;

"Leave your godfather Ming behind, and I'll take the Blind Man out too."

Zheng Lin's body immediately softened, and he leaned back in his chair.

"Silence means disagreement?"

"I agree," Zheng Lin immediately said.

"Oh, that means you disagree."

"Thank you... Father."

Zheng Fan smiled, waved his hand, and said, "That's right."

The Prince left the palace.

Seeing the Prince leave, Zhao Cheng approached the Heir and asked:

"Your Highness, will it start on time?"

Zheng Lin nodded,

Said:

"Yes."

…

The Yan army, or rather the Yan-Chu allied forces, after taking Jinghai City in Qian, did not continue any large-scale military operations;

Although they took the opportunity to capture several upstream and downstream counties near Jinghai City, expanding their military influence, they did not continue to penetrate deep into Jiangnan.

There were two main reasons. From a military perspective, Zheng Fan personally brought 50,000 elite troops from eastern Jin, plus 30,000 Chu troops, and adding the Shan Yue tribal servants conscripted by the Xie family, there were 100,000 troops.

But 100,000 troops were indeed enough for one city, but for a region, it was a bit lacking.

Dividing the troops to attack in all directions would only disintegrate their own strength. After all, half of the 100,000 troops were "allies." When cooperating separately, they had to be wary of each other. Five plus five was less than ten.

If they were simply robbing and destroying, thus diluting their local military advantage, it would be like losing a watermelon to pick up a sesame seed.

The second was on a political level. Issuing the edict of the new emperor Zhao Yuannian's enthronement in the name of the Regent of Great Yan had a much greater impact than the army conquering in all directions.

Today, the officials, gentry, and large families in Jinghai City, as well as many representatives of large families who came from other parts of Jiangnan, gathered in a former imperial palace outside Jinghai City to hold an enthronement ceremony;

In addition, Du Sheng, the commander of Anhai Town, would lead his troops to surrender.

Back then, when Nian Yao led the Chu army to attack Qian, he defeated the Qian army until they were in disarray. In the end, it was Meng Gong who took command and blocked Nian Yao.

This general, who had fought against the Regent in Mianzhou City more than ten years ago, was best at defensive warfare. He personally built the defensive system against Chu consisting of Anhai Town, Menhai Town, and Dongru Town, which was called the Little Three Borders by the Qian people.

However, when the Yan army entered, they took a detour and bypassed this line of defense directly.

From a military perspective, this was a big gamble because their rear was within the enemy's reach to cut off;

The premise for daring to do so was that the Yan army was confident that as long as the Qian army dared to come out of the military towns, they would be defeated in the field.

From today's situation,

The new emperor was enthroned,

Although there weren't many civil and military officials, they had them all. At least this "puppet court" had the most basic decency.

If… that was really the case.

…

On the high platform, the Prince sat in the commander's seat.

Si Niang and the Blind Man stood on his left and right.

With his current status and position, accepting the surrender of a Qian commander was giving him enough face. Saying he was courteous to the virtuous was not enough; it should be buying horse bones with gold.

Not far away,

Commander Du Sheng led eight hundred personal cavalrymen to ride over. His main force was encamped twenty miles away from here.

However,

Commander Du came, but stopped when he was close.

Liu Hui stepped forward at this time and said, "Your Highness, Commander Du may still have doubts, or he may want to be a little more... that. This subject requests to go forward to persuade him to dispel his doubts."

Du Sheng was persuaded to surrender by Liu Hui. This was his first merit in front of the "new dynasty," no, the Prince's mansion.

And Du Sheng's move, in Liu Hui's view, was deliberately giving himself a step to perform well together in the end, everyone lifting the sedan chair.

Zheng Fan glanced at Liu Hui beside him,

And smiled;

He didn't approve of him going, nor did he disapprove of him going.

Xie Yu'an beside him understood and stepped forward to ask Liu Hui:

"Lord Liu."

"Present."

"Who here do you dislike, such as your subordinates, who you think might not be loyal to you or the new court and still misses the old Qian?"

"My subordinates are all loyal to the Prince, absolutely not..."

Xie Yu'an's eyes darkened;

Liu Hui opened his mouth,

And said, "Wang Le'an, he, he has a gap with me."

Wang Le'an was the former deputy commander of Jinghai City. When Liu Hui opened the city gate to surrender, he was detained by Liu Hui in advance. After the Yan army entered the city, Wang Le'an had no choice but to surrender, but he had been scolding. These days, when drinking, he had said a lot about Liu Hui being a Qian traitor and wrongly studying the words of sages.

"Good, then send him."

"Yes."

The military order was issued, and Wang Le'an, who didn't even have the qualifications to stand on the platform, was suddenly a little dazed, but a moment later, ecstasy surged into his heart.

The reason he scolded Liu Hui was mostly because you, motherfucker, wanted to surrender to the Yan people, why did you have to tie me up, making me surrender now without any sense of presence;

Now, the opportunity to show his presence had come. Wang Le'an thought he might be famous and deeply trusted by the Prince;

Or, the Yan people deliberately promoted him to divide and balance Liu Hui.

Therefore, Wang Le'an gladly accepted the order.

Wang Le'an went,

Not long after,

Wang Le'an left;

His head was cut off by Du Sheng, and a personal guard was sent to the platform ready to accept the surrender ceremony.

Liu Hui was so frightened that his eyes widened, and from his spine to his tailbone, he felt a chill.

If the Prince had allowed him to go earlier, this head would probably be his.

After that personal guard of Du Sheng sent back the head,

He also shouted:

"Yan dogs, do you really think there is no one in my Da Qian!"

…

"Yan dogs, do you really think my Qian people have no blood!"

During the enthronement ceremony,

Many low- and middle-level officials and students from Jinghai City who came to congratulate and accept official positions, the guards and retainers of large families who came to congratulate from other places, local tyrants, sect leaders... all kinds of people, at this originally "solemn and respectful" ceremony, let out bursts of angry roars.

Suddenly,

Among the original hall of "new dynasty meritorious subjects," three out of ten drew their weapons.

Among them, some were skilled in martial arts, but most of them were not, but the momentum was extremely majestic.

Immediately afterward,

Many Qian soldiers who had been taken over from Jinghai City directly defected and stood on their side.

Many of the remaining Qian troops, although they had no intention of betraying Yan, it was probably unrealistic to expect them to fight to the death to protect this newly acquainted "new emperor."

Therefore, in an instant,

In this palace,

The power of loyal and righteous people completely overwhelmed the "loyal and righteous people."

On the day of his "enthronement," the originally "thriving" situation was suddenly reversed like this, and Zhao Yuannian also lost his composure;

Wearing a dragon robe, he hurriedly ran down from the dragon chair.

But after all, he was someone who had been oppressed by the Regent leading troops several times, and he had also followed the Regent on military expeditions. He had been working in eastern Jin all these years, and at least he had the foundation.

Therefore, although he was panicked, he still remembered to run over and wanted to pull the Heir to retreat together.

However,

Although Zhao Yuannian's hand grabbed Zheng Lin's wrist, he couldn't pull him. Instead, he stumbled and fell;

This child actually had such great strength!

Zheng Lin turned his head and glanced at Zhao Yuannian, who had fallen to the ground.

After all, for the sake of the Fu Princess Consort, Zheng Lin didn't say anything cold to him. Instead, he restrained some kind of "equality of all beings" contempt in his body, and squeezed out a bit of what he thought was a gentle tone,

And said:

"Don't worry."

…

"Don't panic."

Looking at Liu Hui's frightened appearance, the Prince rarely comforted him.

No matter what, Liu Hui opening the city gate to surrender did bring great convenience to the army.

At this time,

Military reports kept coming,

Not only did Du Sheng's Anhai Town troops stationed twenty miles away leave the stronghold and kill this way, but from the other two directions, the Menhai Town and Donghai Town Qian troops, which had been hiding all along, also suddenly charged out.

This surrender ceremony had turned into a classic feigned surrender and counterattack.

Liu Hui was really scared, not only that his job was messed up, but also that the Yan people would mistakenly think that he, Liu Hui, was playing the role of being in the Yan camp but with his heart in Qian, afraid that he would end up being neither fish nor fowl.

Fortunately, the Prince's words immediately calmed his heart, and a sense of gratitude arose spontaneously.

Heaven and earth were my witnesses, I was truly determined to be a Qian traitor, fortunately the Prince understood me.

Zheng Fan stopped looking at Liu Hui,

And turned to look at Xie Yu'an,

And said:

"Begin."

…

"Is it okay?"

Zheng Lin looked at A'Ming,

The Blind Man wasn't easy to talk to, but A'Ming was.

Therefore, when his own father said he was going to take the Blind Man outside, Zheng Lin had rarely said "thank you."

Indeed, A'Ming was much less principled when it came to indulging children, and immediately used blood clan magic to temporarily解除 (jie chu, remove/lift) Zheng Lin's seal.

The Heir of the Great Yan Regent, who had been released from his seal,

Slowly stood up from the chair,

His hair fluttered, the Heir's python robe was blown up by the force of his aura, and he had a faint smile on the corner of his mouth.

Originally a Flood Dragon, he had been sealed since childhood, and his range of activities had been restricted. What he faced,

Was intense maternal love,

And the supreme care from a group of godfathers,

Causing the Heir's heart to have long accumulated a burst of violence, but he was troubled by the lack of opportunity to unleash it.

For example... killing people happily.

Now,

The opportunity to kill people legitimately had finally come.

Zheng Lin squeezed his fist,

Raised his head,

And let out a low roar, like a wild beast being released from its cage, patrolling the prey that had been delivered to his door.

The next moment,

The Sword Saint and the Sword Maker appeared behind Zheng Lin,

The Embroidered Uniform Guards on the periphery of the palace arrived in formation, bringing a chilling and terrifying deterrent force.

Zheng Lin took a step forward,

And lowed:

"Kill!"

…

"Let's do it."

The Prince continued to sit lazily on the chair, and Si Niang reached out to massage the acupoints on his head.

At the same time,

Nian Yao and Xie Zhuyang, who had long completed their arrangements and were ready to go, each led their troops to charge out;

In addition,

The Jin-East Iron Cavalry, led by Tian Tian and Chen Xianba respectively, had also cut into the battlefield.

The surrounding battlefield was full of dust and mist, but what could be foreseen was that in the face of absolute elite forces, or even absolute numerical superiority, the dust had long settled.

In other words, this was a battle without any suspense.

To the extent that the Prince couldn't muster any enthusiasm.

The Princess Consort continued to help the Prince massage, and whispered in the Prince's ear with a slightly reproachful tone:

"How can you be a father like this."

Obviously, Zheng Fan's arrangements naturally couldn't escape Si Niang's eyes;

The fact was that Zheng Lin was very clear that his own useless father was the only one who could handle his mother and a group of godfathers and masters.

They knew very well what his father was going to do, but... they just couldn't stop him.

The Prince reached out and gently held Si Niang's hand,

And said:

"My son has had a hard time these past few years, he needs a combination of work and rest."

"But how can you let your own son have a combination of work and rest like this?"

The Prince shook his head,

And said:

"I am cultivating the bond between father and son."

Saying that,

The Prince laughed to himself,

And said:

"A family-friendly event."