Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 808 Wang Shichong must be ecstatic!
Once the manifesto was issued, there was no turning back. Didn't you see the warning written on it?

Everyone knows that Gaochang didn't burn the envoy, but does that matter? If he didn't do it, why did he run away? As long as he ran away, it doesn't matter whether it was him or not.

The entire Northwest Army was in high spirits when they set out to avenge their comrades, teach a lesson to the small country that disregarded the might of Heaven, and broaden the horizons of those madmen.

However, wars aren't something you can just decide to fight on the spot. Although Wang Zhuoheng had considerable autonomy, how could a qualified general launch an expedition in such terrible weather? You have to understand that the Western Regions are very, very large, larger than the three routes of the Central Plains combined, and the climate is extremely bad.

But now that the goal is set, there's no rush, right? The pretext has been found, and we're just waiting for the auspicious day to set foot on the frozen ground.

His letter arrived in the capital along with the Rouran king and others. After reading the letter, Tuoba Jing looked at the several foreign kings kneeling below the main hall and scratched his head.

"Eh?"

Emperor Jingtai pointed to the kings of several small countries below him: "You..."

The Rouran king was quite adept at handling affairs. After all, the Rouran had dealt with the Xianbei tribe for generations and knew that the Tuoba family was somewhat ambitious. So he was the first to step forward and kowtow three times, saying, "We are deeply grateful for the boundless grace of the Heavenly Khan. Now that Gaochang is in rebellion, we are wholeheartedly devoted to the Heavenly Khan. In order to prevent the Heavenly Army from causing chaos, the three families have decided to jointly support our lord, the Great Khan Tuoba. We have come to the capital to report on our duties."

"Oh~~~" Emperor Jingtai nodded heavily: "So that's how it is."

"Ahem..." He coughed twice after speaking, "Where is the Ministry of Rites?"

"Your Majesty, I am here." The Minister of Rites stepped forward and said, "Please give your orders, Your Majesty."

"The people of the borderlands, moved by the glory of our dynasty, have disregarded everything and come to submit to us. What do you think we should do?"

"The rulers of these kingdoms all possess the bearing of dragons and phoenixes, demonstrating exceptional discernment. According to the rites and regulations of the Great Wei, they should be enfeoffed as kings of different surnames."

"Of course." Emperor Jingtai coughed again: "I am grateful for your sincerity, and hereby confer the titles of Prince Zhuolu, Prince Jiangxia, and Prince Lin'an. By the way, since it just so happens that Xia Daosheng was also conferred a title this time, um... let's make him the Prince of Qin."

"Your Majesty... this is against etiquette." The Minister of Rites looked around with a troubled expression. "The Prince of Chang'an... he is a prince, and besides, the Prince of Qin is not..."

"Is there some difficulty?" Emperor Jingtai tilted his head: "Go and tell him directly."

Upon hearing this, the Minister of Rites made a snap decision: to hell with etiquette, the Prince of Qin it is! This wasn't just to annoy Xia Daosheng, it was also to annoy the Li Tang dynasty. If the Li Tang were to grant him the title of Prince of Wei, let's see if he can still grin like that.

As expected, the speed of carrier pigeons far exceeded that of other means. That very night, San Niang learned that Tuoba Jing had bestowed the title of Prince of Qin upon Xia Lin. San Niang knew at a glance who was behind this disgusting tactic. It really was that unreliable Emperor Jingtai; no one else could have done such a thing.

But since he had already done something so obviously bullying, Li Tang naturally couldn't let him suffer. So, without saying a word, the next day at the morning court session, San Niang bestowed upon Xia Lin the title of Prince of Wei.

The idea of ​​mutually granting fiefdoms to each other's capitals was indeed a bit outrageous, but the Ministry of Rites of the Tang Dynasty didn't say anything. After all, the other party had already gone too far, and they couldn't stand it if they didn't retaliate in kind.

After the Third Lady's title was bestowed, an official from the Ministry of Rites strode forward and said with a face full of hatred, "Your Majesty, I think it's not enough. The current title is merely a nominal one. We should give Prince Xia a real title."

"seal up!"

With a wave of her hand, Third Sister became extremely emotional, and thus Xia Lin became the Prince of Wei in Tang Dynasty, with a fief of ten thousand households, a first-rank official position, and his fief in Jinling...

At this moment, Xia Lin knew nothing, since his current focus was not on this, and the intelligence agency's information was directly communicated to Zhang Zhongchun.

As for what he was doing, he was leading the children on a ten-day wilderness survival trip in the mountains, building their own shelter, fishing, and foraging for wild vegetables...

After all, he doesn't get many holidays throughout the year. The reason he was forced to take leave this time is that he runs around every day and works late into the night. Dongniang felt that his health would collapse if he continued like this, so she reported it to the Secretariat. The Secretariat, together with officials at all levels, jointly formulated the action order for Xia Lin to take a mandatory rest, and bypassed Xia Lin to have his nominal superior, namely his brother-in-law, sign it directly.

The brother-in-law signed it, of course, while Xia Lin's head was spinning when he saw the action order. But he had no choice but to comply, because this action order was designed to curb the most powerful person; it was a scabbard forged from An Zi's blood...

"Hey, you motherfucker."

Xia Lin cursed, then led his little rascals out into the mountains for wilderness survival that very night.

On the third day after he left, the eunuchs from both sides, who were to deliver the imperial edicts, gathered at his doorstep. Because the Great Wei was associated with the element of water, their official robes were mostly black. The Great Tang was associated with the element of earth, so their official robes were mostly yellow.

The two imperial eunuchs, one holding a yellow imperial edict and the other a black one, stood at Xia Lin's door, spitting at each other for a long time.

"What's wrong?" It was Tang Bao'er who opened the door. She was currently six months pregnant and had some difficulty moving around. She was usually supported by Chun Tao.

When she arrived at the door, she saw two eunuchs of different colors: "Neither of them are home, I will receive the imperial decree on his behalf."

"This is against the rules," the eunuch from the Li Tang dynasty said, still holding his head high. "Who are you? How dare a woman like you accept an imperial edict?"

Before he could even finish speaking, the eunuch from the Great Wei Dynasty grabbed him and beat him mercilessly, yelling, "How dare you talk nonsense! This is Princess of our dynasty! A princess personally appointed by the late emperor! I'll beat you to death!"

"Alright." Tang Bao'er raised her hand: "Stop making a fuss, it's annoying to listen to. What does the imperial edict say?"

The eunuch from the Great Wei stopped what he was doing and presented the imperial edict first: "Your Highness, I will not read the imperial edict. His Majesty said that I should just run away after handing it to Lord Xia, so as not to let him say anything unpleasant that would damage the majesty of the imperial family."

Tang Bao'er accepted the imperial edict, unfolded it, and rolled her eyes immediately: "Isn't this ridiculous?!"

The little eunuch chuckled and darted away. Only the eunuch in the yellow robes, dressed in the style of the Tang dynasty, remained, sitting there sobbing.

"What right do you have to hit someone? ... What kind of behavior is hitting someone?!"

Tang Bao'er, annoyed by his shouting, turned and closed the courtyard gate. Not long after, Dugu Dayun came over with some old clothes that Jia Ye had worn. It is said that children should wear the old clothes of healthy children to bring good luck, and even someone as wealthy as Dayun could not escape this custom.

When he arrived, he recognized the little eunuch sitting at the door and curiously went up to ask him a few questions.

When the young Taoist priest saw the Prince of Tang arrive, he naturally thought he had found a powerful backer, and tearfully recounted what had just happened.

But instead of comfort and venting, he received only a solid slap: "You bastard, who taught you manners? Go back and have him go to the disciplinary office to receive thirty strokes of the cane."

Douyazi frowned, and although he was not tall, he was very imposing. The little eunuch was stunned by the beating, and then the imperial edict in his hand was snatched away. After that, Prince Dugu said, "Get out. If you make such a despicable mistake again, you will suffer the consequences."

The little eunuch ran away in a panic, crying all the way, while Da Yun unfolded the imperial edict and read it. After reading it, her expression was as if she had eaten shit: "Isn't this just being shameless? What's wrong with Third Sister?"

But when she saw the other imperial edict, she realized: "Oh... it wasn't Third Sister who was being unreasonable, it was Tuoba Jing. These two are acting like they're sick, holding a grudge like this."

“Tuoba Jing is more seriously ill,” Tang Bao’er sighed and said, “The emperor doesn’t act like an emperor at all.”

After looking at the two imperial edicts again, Douyazi shook his head and said, "He definitely won't accept them. They're using him as a pawn. It's a good thing he's not here today, otherwise he would have thrown a huge tantrum."

"Everyone knows he's not compliant; those two emperors really are..."

At this moment, Douyazi suddenly saw that the reason given in the imperial edict of the Great Wei Dynasty for bestowing the title of king upon Xia Lin was the reconquest of the three kingdoms of the Western Regions. Her eyes widened suddenly: "Reconquest of the three kingdoms of the Western Regions? What does that mean?"

Tang Bao'er shook her head: "I'll go ask around."

Tang Bao'er, a true business prodigy, had an information network that was no less powerful than Dou Ya Zi's. They quickly received news that Wang Zhuoheng was attacking the Western Regions, and that three kings had already surrendered and gone to Jinling to report for duty. Emperor Jingtai had bestowed the titles of king and prince upon the two of them, but had given Xia Lin the title of prince...

"Hahaha." After learning the whole story, Douyazi shook his head repeatedly: "This is ridiculous. But Wang Shichong is overjoyed now, and he'll probably be here in a couple of days."

"Wang Shichong?"

In business, Tang Bao'er was no less capable than Dugu Douyazi, but in terms of political acumen, Tang Bao'er was far behind Dugu Douyazi. He didn't really understand why Wang Shichong had come.

“Wang Bojun, also known as Zhuo Heng, is Xia Gou’s disciple, or rather, his junior brother. Now that his junior brother has expanded his territory and made a name for himself in history, his father, Wang Shichong, will definitely come to pay respects to the sect. You know, throughout history, those who have conquered territory in the Western Regions can be counted on one hand. This time, he will be remembered in history, and Wang Shichong will be prominently featured in biographies. This is more important than life itself to these stinking men.” Douyazi said, sitting there and stroking Tang Bao’er’s big belly. “So he will definitely come to pay his respects, and…”

"Ok?"

“He will send a generous gift. Don’t tell him. Let the sisters in the house choose some from among them. If it falls into his hands, he will definitely exchange it for money and give it to those stinking scholars as a reward. You have added to his family, but in the end you have not gained any benefit. How can this be?”

Tang Bao'er laughed heartily: "It doesn't matter. If it were for money, I wouldn't have even looked at him back then. He was just a village head at the time, while many top scholars were infatuated with me."

"Fine, you think you're so high and mighty, and I've become the bad guy." Bean Sprout pouted and said, "Then don't take it, keep it for Chun Tao and the others."

(End of this chapter)