Chapter 44. Lobbyist
Arc 2 : Historical Power Conspiracy Nightmare.
After all, Cheng Yu is the King of Cheng Kingdom, and it is too dangerous for him to stay in the capital of Yuan Kingdom in his current identity. After reaching an agreement with Du Yan, Cheng Yu left Yuan Kingdom the next day and returned to Cheng Kingdom to prepare for follow-up matters.
In the second month of the lunar year, the two kingdoms, Jiang and Cheng, which had been eyeing each other for a long time, declared war on the Yuan Kingdom.
In the third month of the lunar year, the border war situation reached a stalemate.
Cheng Yu’s plan went smoothly, but Du Yan encountered a lot of trouble. His grandfather, the general, refused to cooperate with the extremely important part of the plan.
The queen handed the secret letter to Du Yan. The letter was written by the general from the border and stated that Du Yan had to open it in person.
Du Yan did not avoid the queen and directly opened the letter to read it carefully. The meaning of the letter was not beyond his expectation. Most of what was said in the letter was about loyalty to the emperor and patriotism.
The general said that Yuan Jue is imprisoned and the other princes are still young, so no one could compete with him for the throne. He advised Du Yan not to act too hastily, lest he be cursed for regicide and patricide.
After reading it, Du Yan folded the letter and placed it on the oil lamp to light it: “Don’t worry, mother. I already expected that my grandfather would not compromise so easily. I heard that my grandfather also sent a letter to Jiujiu. What did the letter say?”
The queen sighed softly: “The letter my father sent to XiongZhang was much more severe than the one you have in your hand. He cursed XiongZhang in the letter.”
Du Yan smiled and said: “Grandfather is still so stubborn. It doesn’t matter. I will convince him.”
Upon hearing this, the queen sighed and said: “You are the only one who can convince Father right now. Since childhood, you have been the only one who can make him give in.”
Everyone knows that General Wu Qi has a hot temper. He is upright and stubborn, but he treats Yuan Yan differently.
The queen was about to get paper and pen, but was stopped by Du Yan: “Mother, this matter is of great importance. I plan to go see my grandfather.”
The general had once worked with the previous king to establish the position of the Yuan Kingdom. He had a deep friendship with the previous king and was loyal to him.
However, after the current king ascended the throne, he became suspicious of the generals and gradually dispersed the military power in the hands of the Wu family.
Although the general had a straightforward temper, he was not a fool. In order to appease King Yuan and show his loyalty, he married his daughter to King Yuan and left his son in the capital to be in charge of the city defense.
On the surface, the son and daughter seem to be enjoying a prosperous life, but in reality, it was all to appease King Yuan by leaving the hostages in the capital.
Even so, the narrow-minded King Yuan still regarded the Wu family as a thorn in his side. Twins, XiongMei, were not actually the first children of the Queen.
When the queen was pregnant with her first child, a doctor took her pulse and said that the baby was most likely a prince. Not long after, the queen had miscarriage for some reason, although the concubine who did it afterward was demoted to a commoner by the King Yuan.
However, the queen later found out the truth. The concubine was just a knife in the hands of the King Yuan, and the King Yuan was the real mastermind behind the scenes. This led to the birth of a dragon and phoenix fetus, and the queen disguised Yuan Yan as a girl and raised him.
This incident left a shadow on the loyal general’s heart. Even though he still guarded the border for the Yuan Kingdom, he could not help but feel a little resentful. The secret letter he sent back was harsh, but it was more of a warning to himself than a reprimand to Lieutenant Wu.
What Du Yan has to do now is to serve the final blow to break the general’s mental defense.
When the queen heard Du Yan say he was going to the border in person, she was a little worried: “It’s a long journey, what excuse can you use to leave the palace without causing the king’s suspicion?”
Now the border war is urgent, the generals are holding heavy troops, and the King Yuan’s fear of the Wu family has reached its peak. Any unusual movement of the queen or Lieutenant Wu who are left as hostages in the capital will arouse his vigilance.
“Now that the war is at a stalemate, it is a good time to go to the Yin Yang Master Qi Zi to offer sacrifices to the heavens and pray for blessings.” Du Yan said: “The king will definitely not allow mother to leave, so I am naturally the best candidate.”
“As you said. I will write a letter and send it to Qi Zi.”
A few days later, the eldest princess was worried about the border war, so she went to the Yin Yang master Qi Zi to meditate and pray for the Kingdom.
Licheng is the southernmost county town of Yuan Kingdom. Going forward over the mountains is the territory of the Jiang Kingdom.
Now, the Yuan Kingdom’s army is stationed thirty miles away from Licheng, facing the Jiang and Cheng coalition forces across the mountain.
The war had been at a stalemate for some time, and the granaries in Licheng were already empty and could no longer meet the needs of the army. At this time, food and fodder supplies from the capital arrived at the border.
The governor of Licheng County was overjoyed and said that he would treat the escort officer who brought the life-saving food well. However, the escort officer said that the envoy from the capital had gone to the army camp to pass on the message, and all matters needed to wait for the envoy to return before discussing.
At the same time, King Yuan’s envoy, wearing a cloak, followed the king’s order and went straight into the army camp and entered the general’s tent in the center.
The general was standing in front of the map, studying the war situation. When he heard that there was an envoy from the capital, he put down his work to greet him. But the person who came in was a man wearing a cloak and seemed to be hiding his head and tail.
The general had been a soldier all his life, and he realized something was wrong in an instant. He put his right hand on the short sword at his waist and shouted: “Who are you? Why do you have to be so secretive when you come from the capital?”
The visitor did not panic but slowly lifted his hood, revealing a handsome face: “Grandfather.”
The general was stunned, and after a long while of careful consideration, he reluctantly called out: “Yan’er?”
No wonder the general didn’t recognize his grandson for a moment. He had been stationed at the border for a long time, and the last time he met Du Yan was when he was ten years old.
That was Du Yan, who was still dressed as a little girl. Standing next to Yuan Ning, they looked like a pair of twin JieMei.
The young man in front of him was wearing a black brocade robe with dark patterns. His face was disguised, his complexion was slightly dark, his eyebrows were flying into his temples, and his posture was as straight as a pine tree. Anyone standing here would not be able to tell that this handsome man is actually the domineering eldest princess in the capital.
The general took his hand back from his waist and wanted to go outside the tent to see if it was convenient to talk at this time.
Du Yan saw his intention and said: “Grandfather, don’t worry, those who are guarding outside the tent are my confidants, so feel free to speak.”
The general then asked: “There is war and chaos on the border, why are you here making trouble?”
“Grandfather, Yan is no longer a child and knows the seriousness of the matter.” Du Yan said: “I came here to serve as a lobbyist.”
The general was impatient and raised his eyebrows: “If you want to be like your Jiujiu and bring up those ridiculous things, get out of here now. Otherwise, I will kick you out of the tent myself later.”
Du Yan was not annoyed. He calmly walked to the side and sat down: “Grandfather, please sit down. I brought some good wine from the capital.”
The general frowned slightly and sat down with some anger.
Du Yan clapped his hands lightly, and someone brought in a few jars of wine.
After the visitor left, Du Yan said: “In the military camp, it is not appropriate to drink recklessly. How about you and I, grandfather and grandson, having a drink together?”
The general nodded and took out two bronze cups from under the table. After the two drank a cup, they started to get down to business.
The general said: “Your Jiujiu is too rash. If he doesn’t handle the matter of forcing the emperor to abdicate, it will lead to the confiscation of property and the extermination of the clan. Don’t listen to his nonsense.”
Du Yan said: “Grandfather, these are all my plans, and Jiujiu is just acting according to my plan.”
When the general heard this, his eyebrows furrowed tightly, and he wanted to slam the table and curse. But he thought of his grandson, who was forced to dress as a girl and raised as a girl since he was young, and felt a little pity for him.
When Du Yan saw the general trying hard to suppress his anger, he knew that today’s matter was done.
“Do you know that what you are planning is a heinous crime of treason and patricide?”
“Yan knows.” Du Yan responded calmly and raised his hand to pour wine: “Grandfather, what do you think the Wu family is supposed to do?”
“His Majesty is now in his forties, and I am already sixteen. Although I have managed to survive until today by disguising myself as a woman, my body shape and voice have changed drastically, and I can no longer hide my identity.”
The general said: “Cheng Kingdom tore up the alliance and formed an alliance with Jiang Kingdom. The king dare not easily touch our Wu family.”
“If this battle is won, the position of our Yuan Kingdom’s ruler will be secured, and then he will get rid of the general once you serve your purpose. If loses, he will cede land in exchange for peace, and the general will be considered a sinner of the Kingdom. The time left for the Wu family is running out.”
Du Yan picked up the bronze cup and drank it all in one gulp: “Grandfather, let me ask you one more question. What exactly are you loyal to?”
The general did not answer directly but said: “I just don’t want to be cursed for eternity in history books.”
Du Yan laughed: “If the Wu family falls, you will be cursed for eternity. History books are always written by the victors.”
The general fell silent and drank three cups in a row. Du Yan knew that the most critical moment had come.
He clapped again, and someone came in.
A tightly bound and unconscious man cutting a sorry figure was thrown to the ground.
“Grandfather, take a look. Do you know this person?”
The general looked over and was surprised again: “This is the secret envoy of the king who usually conveys the king’s orders.”
“I took his identity this time and sneaked in among the grain transport team to come here.” Du Yan took out a secret letter from his clothes: “This letter is a secret order from the king, but the recipient is not you, my grandfather, but the deputy general in the army.”
The general had known for a long time that the deputy general was the King Yuan’s man, but in order to appease the king, he always pretended not to know about this matter and let the deputy general report the situation in the army to the King Yuan.
The general took the secret letter and unfolded it. He was very familiar with the handwriting on the paper, as well as the private seal at the end. It was the jade ring that the king wore on his thumb and never took off.
The content of the secret letter was very simple. It asked the deputy general to fabricate evidence that the general had colluded with the enemy and put all the blame for the current stalemate in the war on the general.
Du Yan saw the general’s fingers trembling slightly, and a bit of fatigue appeared on his face. He didn’t say anything else but just lowered his eyes and looked at the bronze cup in his hand.
After a long while, the general finally spoke: “According to your plan, how should we deal with this secret envoy?”
Du Yan smiled. He knew the general’s double meaning and the purpose of this trip had been achieved: “The general was defeated, and the secret envoy was killed in the chaos. Isn’t this a normal thing?”
See you next week.
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