Catching Monsters

Chapter 492 The Eve of the Wedding
With Minister of Revenue Zheng Chengze's initial remarks serving as a prelude, many other ministers in the court who were dissatisfied with this also stepped forward.

Minister of Works Zhao Yuming also had a solemn expression and said, "Your Majesty, in recent months, the Duke of Zhenguo has destroyed as many as seven large bridges in the south. Rebuilding these bridges will not be an easy task."

"All of this was painstakingly planned, designed, and constructed by our Ministry of Works over the years, and it's all been ruined by the Duke of Zhenguo."

Zhao Yuming was naturally dissatisfied, because the Ministry of Works was in charge of all matters related to land reclamation, water conservancy, civil engineering, construction, transportation, and government-run industries across the country.

Some of these large-scale projects are political achievements. To give a recent example, just half a month ago, Xu Xiaogang had his soldiers destroy the Yuming Bridge.

Yuming Bridge is a large bridge in the south, spanning the Lushui River. The Ministry of Works spent seven years building it. Once completed, it will not only improve people's livelihoods, but it will also be a great achievement for Minister Zhao.

In time, this bridge will be exiled for a hundred or a thousand years, and every time people cross the Yuming Bridge in the future, they will remember the achievements of Zhao Yuming.

But just like that, Xu Xiaogang ruined it.

Minister of War Du Huai'an frowned and stepped forward to explain on Xu Xiaogang's behalf: "Lord Zhao, you are mistaken. The Duke of Zhenguo destroyed the bridge at the front line only out of strategic considerations..."

Zhao Yuming said with some pain, "If the Duke were on the front line and won a battle, we in the Ministry of Works would accept the destruction of these bridges. But the Duke has suffered repeated defeats and lost territory one after another."

"Although I don't understand warfare, in my opinion, this is not how wars are fought."

Du Huai'an glanced at it and slowly said, "Since Lord Zhao has claimed that he doesn't know how to fight, let's not say anything more."

"You." Upon hearing this, Zhao Yuming felt a tightness in his chest. He glanced at Xiao Yuzheng's unpleasant expression above him and then shut his mouth.

The court quieted down a bit, and the civil officials couldn't come up with any good solutions.

As for military generals...

These military generals all knew that Xu Xiaogang was no incompetent fool; he had been repeatedly defeated and lost cities and territories on the front lines.

If they go, the outcome probably won't be much better.

Not to mention volunteering to go to the battlefield and risk their lives.

After all, the truly capable military generals are mostly leading troops in the field. Those who have time to attend court are either too old to participate or not very capable.

However, at this moment, a military noble suddenly spoke up and said, "When Zhang Yuhu was in the south, leading the Zhenchi Army and the Tianqi Army, although the battles were not going smoothly, they did not lose territory one after another like they are now."

"This shows that Zhang Yuhu is still very capable. Why doesn't His Majesty ask him if he would be willing to go to the front lines to lead troops again?"

Upon hearing the name Zhang Yuhu, Xiao Yuzheng frowned. After Crown Prince Xiao Jingfu died, Xiao Yuzheng had Zhang Yuhu recalled.

Zhang Yuhu was, after all, a member of the Crown Prince's faction and was very close to him.

He is now under semi-house arrest in his residence, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard is investigating his relationship with Zhang Yao, preparing to imprison him on charges of colluding with Zhang Yao to rebel.

If this military nobleman hadn't mentioned him, Xiao Yuzheng would have almost forgotten about him.

Xiao Yuzheng subconsciously glanced at Feng Yu beside him.

Feng Yu whispered respectfully in Xiao Yuzheng's ear, "Your Majesty, the Embroidered Uniform Guard has prepared the evidence against Zhang Yao and Zhang Yuhu. As long as you give your approval, Zhang Yuhu can be thrown into the imperial prison at any time..."

Xiao Yuzheng slowly closed his eyes and then said, "Have Zhang Yuhu come to the Imperial Study to see me."

……

After the court session, Xiao Yuzheng returned to his study. He held the battle reports that kept coming from the front lines, and his expression grew increasingly grim. The situation at the front was far worse than expected.

Not long after, Zhang Yuhu, dressed in plain white clothes, followed Feng Yu into the Imperial Study.

As soon as he entered the imperial study, Zhang Yuhu knelt down with a thud and quickly kowtowed: "Your subject greets Your Majesty."

At this moment, Zhang Yuhu was also extremely nervous. He didn't know why His Majesty suddenly wanted to see him.

In Zhang Yuhu's view, he was completely wronged; heaven knows what Xiao Jingfu and Zhang Yao were up to.

After he arrived at the front lines, he heard that the Imperial Guards in the capital had suddenly been placed under martial law...

Then Xiao Jingfu died, and Zhang Yao prepared to secretly plot a rebellion.

Then he was transferred back to the capital by a transfer order, followed by house arrest and a thorough investigation by the Northern Garrison Command.

During this period, he was extremely anxious, knowing very well that he might be doomed, after all, he had become too close to the Crown Prince, Zhang Yao.

Although he wasn't in the capital at the time, he could vaguely guess what Zhang Yao and the Crown Prince were planning to do by suddenly sealing off the palace with the Imperial Guards.

This is tantamount to treason and rebellion.

He wanted to see Xiao Yuzheng to explain things, but that was simply impossible.

Now, things had finally taken a turn for the better. He hurriedly stepped forward and hugged Xiao Yuzheng's leg, saying, "Your Majesty, I have always been loyal to you, I..."

Xiao Yuzheng's expression remained calm as he slowly asked, "What do you think of Wang Longzhi's rebel army?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yuhu was slightly taken aback, but quickly realized that His Majesty wanted to see him so that he could lead the troops again.
His mind raced; things must not be going well at the front.

His eyes darted around, and he said, "In my opinion, they are nothing special. Although they have a numerical advantage for a short time, as long as they hold a few locations and wait for the northern army to be trained and come south to reinforce them, they can easily wipe out the rebels in no time."

"Your Majesty, I am willing to give my life and die for you."

"I hope Your Majesty will give me a chance to go to the front lines and kill more rebels for Your Majesty."

Zhang Yuhu's words were sincere, and his eyes also showed a degree of genuine emotion.

After thinking it over carefully, Xiao Yuzheng took a deep breath and slowly said, "Yu Hu, you've been following me for quite a few years now, haven't you?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yuhu hurriedly nodded: "Your Majesty, I have been serving you since you were a prince, which is thirty-five years ago."

“Thirty-five years,” Xiao Yuzheng said slowly. “I am a sentimental person. If you have achieved something on the front lines, the Zhang Yao case will have nothing to do with you.”

At this point, Xiao Yuzheng looked at Feng Yu beside him and said, "Issue an order to give Zhang Yuhu another half month to take command of the Zhenchi Army and the Tianqi Army."

"Feng Yu, you will accompany the army as the supervisor."

Clearly, appointing Feng Yu as the military supervisor was intended to prevent Zhang Yuhu from acting recklessly.

Otherwise, Feng Yu would have taken his life directly.

Zhang Yuhu was extremely grateful for this opportunity to redeem himself, and nodded repeatedly: "Thank you, Your Majesty. I will certainly live up to your expectations."

"Perfect timing, aren't Jiang Yun and Xu Suwen getting married?" "How can it be an important wedding for my own sister if Xu Xiaogang isn't there?"

"Bring Xu Xiaogang back."

"In a few days, it will be the 30th of the 11th lunar month, right? It should be an auspicious day. Let Jiang Yun and Xu Suwen get married."

……

On the 27th of the eleventh lunar month, there were only three days left until Jiang Yun and Xu Suwen's wedding.

During this time, the Li family also hurriedly hired craftsmen to repair the house, cut away the weeds, repaint the walls, and replace the bricks and tiles.

The furniture was all completely renovated, and craftsmen were hired to work overnight to make it.

The sign above has been changed to "Jiang Mansion".

Tao Yuelan took this matter very seriously. During this time, she would visit the Jiang residence every few days, bringing along the recovered steward Wu Chi to help. She even asked Wu Chi to select some honest girls from good families and hire them as maids at the Jiang residence.

As for servants, they are easy to hire.

Tao Yuelan then personally brought over a large cart of fresh flowers and plants, carrying them inside. Wu Chi, naturally carrying some as well, followed closely behind, saying, "Madam, why don't we let our servants do this?"

"I'm just idling around anyway." Tao Yuelan hugged the flowers and plants, and soon saw that Jiang Yun had also returned.

Behind Jiang Yun, there were several carriages full of things, the contents of which Tao Yuelan had never seen before.

"What is that?" Tao Yuelan asked curiously.

These carriages were loaded with many iron pillars, each about five meters long and about the size of a bowl.

Moreover, there are quite a few of these iron pillars, numbering in the hundreds.

Wu Chi said with a smile, "My son-in-law dug hundreds of vertical pits, each five meters deep, throughout the entire village using a strange pattern. They must be where these things were buried."

Seeing this, Tao Yuelan did not go forward to ask any further questions: "Then you should put the flowers down first and let the workers who are carrying the flowers go and carry those iron bars for the young master."

The Jiang residence is no longer as desolate as it was not long ago; on the contrary, it is bustling with activity.

There were quite a few people from the Embroidered Uniform Guard who came to help. If you were even slightly less senior within the Embroidered Uniform Guard, you wouldn't even be qualified to come.

Dozens of Imperial Guards, following Jiang Yun's instructions, took turns carrying these specially made iron pillars.

As they carried them, the Imperial Guards discovered that the iron pillars were covered with countless talismans.

Then they buried them one by one.

Jiang Yun was also quite busy and dizzy, mainly because preparing these iron pillars was too much trouble.

After each one was crafted, he had to personally carve talismans on it, and these talismans required a high level of precision.

After Jiang Yun buried all the iron pillars, it was getting dark. He then told the Jinyiwei brothers to stay behind and had the maids in the mansion prepare a few tables of food to reward them.

Jiang Yun didn't see Tao Yuelan and Wu Chi. After asking the maid, she learned that Tao Yuelan and Wu Chi had left after delivering the flowers and plants.

Jiang Yun gave a wry smile. He had wanted to see Xu Suwen recently, but he couldn't.

According to the customs of the Zhou state, newlyweds cannot see each other for several days before the wedding. They can only meet after the formal marriage ceremony and the lifting of the veil.

At the same time, a young man dressed in gorgeous clothes arrived at the gate of the Jiang residence.

With a smile on his face, Xu Xiaogang glanced at it and slowly said, "The house His Majesty bestowed upon me is quite nice."

Xu Xiaogang, accompanied by a dozen or so bodyguards, said, "You all wait outside."

After saying that, he strode in and came to the living room, where he saw Jiang Yun sitting there drinking with a group of Jinyiwei subordinates.

"Brother-in-law!" Xu Xiaogang shouted, then stepped forward and said with a smile, "That's a bit unethical of you."

"Inviting your men for drinks at your own home, just to drink straight?"

"Shouldn't we go to the brothel for a visit?"

When Jiang Yun saw him return, she couldn't help but smile: "Why are you back, kid? What, is the war going well at the front? Got some free time?"

"His Majesty has sent Zhang Yuhu to the front lines to command." Xu Xiaogang stretched and said slowly, "That's perfect. If I can't even come back for my sister's wedding, how will I have the face to come back and see her in the future?"

As he spoke, Xu Xiaogang sat down next to Jiang Yun and poured a bowl of wine: "No, I'm exhausted from this journey, I need to have a sip first."

"You didn't even go back to the Duke's mansion, and came straight here?" Jiang Yun rolled her eyes at him.

“If I go back, there will be no wine to drink. If I sneak off to the brothel, I’ll get a scolding from my sister.” Xu Xiaogang couldn’t help but laugh as he said this: “But things will be better in the future. Once my sister marries into your family, she won’t be able to control me anymore.”

“我娘这么疼我，总不能揍我吧。”

At this point, Xu Xiaogang downed another bowl of wine, leaned back in his chair, and looked somewhat worried.

Clearly still concerned about the battle on the front lines, Jiang Yun didn't ask any further questions, but simply drank with Xu Xiaogang.

Soon, it got dark, and the Imperial Guards present all drank too much.

Jiang Yun had Wen Chen see the guests off one by one. After most of them had left, he said, "Your drinking capacity has gotten better and better since you joined the army."

Xu Xiaogang smiled and said, "Brother-in-law, your alcohol tolerance is better than I expected..."

"Here, this is called a hangover talisman. With this talisman, you won't get drunk no matter how much you drink." Jiang Yun casually took out a yellow talisman from his palm and smiled.

Upon hearing this, Xu Xiaogang couldn't help but complain, "You rascal, how can you be so cunning when you're drinking?"

"Alcohol is something that can easily lead to trouble if you drink too much. It's best to drink less. If you really have to drink, then use this talisman to tide you over," Jiang Yun said calmly.

After a moment of silence, Xu Xiaogang said, "The situation at the front is very bad. Even if Zhang Yuhu goes up, he may not be able to turn the tide of the battle. I need to see His Majesty first thing tomorrow morning to report the situation at the front."

"It would be best to transfer some of the northern border troops south. Soldiers who are only temporarily trained are useless on the battlefield."

Jiang Yun paused for a moment, then asked, "Would His Majesty be willing to mobilize the border troops?"

"We have to adjust it, whether we want to or not, otherwise the south will collapse," Xu Xiaogang said, taking a deep breath.

(End of this chapter)