I have suffered enough in my previous life, my cousin will never marry me

Chapter 208: The Daughter of a General
The emperor would not ask such a trivial matter for no reason. It was always the deceased's children, brothers, or uncles who escorted the coffin back to its hometown. Since the father only had a few daughters, Ye Wanshu immediately understood the emperor's intention.

He probably wanted to know who would inherit his father's title.

Gently patting Qin Chulin's head, Ye Wanshu replied, "Chulin is the nephew of the late Aunt Qin of the manor. I intend to have him adopted into the Ji family, and he will be the one to carry the coffin."

Emperor Zhaolie looked at Qin Chulin and nodded: "At such a young age, to entrust such a heavy responsibility to you is truly a hardship for you."

Qin Chulin immediately knelt down and solemnly said, "This humble subject will certainly not fail Your Majesty and my elder sister's trust."

"Good boy," Emperor Zhaolie said with satisfaction as he helped him up, his gaze then sweeping over Ji Yuan's other daughters.

After asking for their names, Emperor Zhaolie slowly spoke again: "I promised your father that I would take good care of you from now on. If you encounter any difficulties, you can ask me for help."

Ji Ningxi said without hesitation: "Your Majesty, Chu Lin is still a child. After his elder sister got married, he always needs someone to help manage the household affairs. I would like to ask Your Majesty to grant me permission to take a husband to help Chu Lin manage the household affairs."

Her thoughts could not be hidden from Emperor Zhaolie.

The Qin family's child is only seven or eight years old and cannot handle family affairs on her own for the time being. If she is allowed to marry into the family, the entire Ji family will naturally be under her control after Jinghe gets married.

It wouldn't be surprising if people died fighting over the title.

However, this was ultimately a family matter for the Ji family, so he couldn't interfere too much.

"Second daughter, your elder sister is still in the manor, and your father has left a will. All matters in the manor are arranged and decided by your elder sister. You should discuss any requests with her. How can I make decisions for you regarding such a matter as taking a son-in-law?" Emperor Zhaolie directly declined.

"Your Majesty," Ji Ningxi was about to speak again when Emperor Zhaolie's face showed some impatience: "Don't forget, I haven't dealt with the people of Prince Qi's mansion yet. I have already issued an edict to demote Prince Qi's family members to commoners and exile them to the north. If you are still not obedient, I can only let you go with them."

Ji Ningxi was so frightened that her legs went weak and she collapsed to the ground: "Your Majesty's decree is my humble servant."

Aunt Zheng certainly didn't want to grant the second young lady's wish. If she really made her marry into the family, then her nephew would probably have no hope left.

Anyway, once her eldest daughter gets married, her own daughter will be able to take over the family business, so she's not worried about not being able to regain control of the household.

She coughed lightly and curtsied, then spoke in a gentle and virtuous manner, "Your Majesty need not worry. The eldest daughter has already made arrangements for the future of the household. My daughter, Ningxuan, has always been dignified and sensible. With her helping to manage the household affairs, there will be no problems."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Zhaolie glanced at Ye Wanshu silently. Ye Wanshu nodded secretly, and Emperor Zhaolie was finally relieved.

He gestured for the court officials to enter and pay their respects, then led Ye Wanshu and Tingfeng out of the mourning hall.

Thinking about Gu An's trip to Huizhou, Emperor Zhaolie asked with some unease, "Girl, do you really think Gu An can persuade the troops of those states to surrender? What if he chooses to collude with Gu Erlang? I'm afraid Mingchi and Yuezhou will be in danger."

Ye Wanshu knew her uncle's temperament all too well.

If he had wanted to collude with Empress Dowager Gu and Gu Tingchen, he wouldn't have ended up being demoted.

It seems that he had an epiphany about his older cousin's death and genuinely wanted to make some plans for Qingmian and Tingji.

"Your Majesty, please rest assured, I am confident," Ye Wanshu said. "Uncle will certainly not disappoint Your Majesty's expectations."

Emperor Zhaolie pondered for a moment, then nodded and forced a smile: "You know what I sent Tingfeng back with, right? The situation in the northern border is worrying right now, and I'm afraid Mingchi will have to lead the expedition in person. I hope you and he can get married soon, and if you can have children soon, then I and his mother will feel much more at ease when he enters the northern border."

Ye Wanshu blushed slightly upon hearing this, but she understood the emperor's concerns and replied awkwardly, "This subject will follow Your Majesty's arrangements."

Emperor Zhaolie smiled with satisfaction.

Lately, he felt increasingly powerless, knowing his time was near. Yet the situation remained so dire. He could only hope to hold on a little longer, settle everything, stabilize the court, and allow Prince Yongning to focus on recovering the lost territories in the north. Gu Tingchen, leading the Empress Dowager and over ten thousand imperial guards from Lin'an, fled south for nearly ten days, finally finding refuge in Huizhou.

He ordered his men to go to Yezhou and Qinzhou to invite the prefects and garrison commanders of the two places to pay their respects, but learned that the garrison commanders of both places had been replaced, and the Xie brothers chose to remain in their posts and not come out.

"These two scoundrels dare to defy my decree," said Empress Dowager Gu, sitting in the hall of Huizhou Prefecture, her face gloomy.

Gu Tingchen roughly guessed that it was his father's doing. The fact that his father arranged for his two cousins ​​from his maternal uncle's family to take over the armies of Yezhou and Qinzhou so quickly clearly indicated that they had defected to the imperial court.

"The most urgent task is to take Yuezhou immediately," Gu Tingchen said. "As long as we capture Consort Zhang and that girl from the Mu family, both the Yuezhou army and the Mu family army will be at our disposal."

He absolutely cannot let his cousin be with Fu Mingchi.

This time, he was determined to leave Fu Mingchi with no way out.

Looking at Gu Ye, the commander of the Huizhou army, Gu Tingchen instructed, "Uncle, immediately dispatch 20,000 elite troops to accompany me to Yuezhou City."

Gu Ye is Gu An's half-brother and has always followed Gu An's lead. However, the Empress Dowager is the head of the Gu family, and now that she has brought her nephew to Huizhou, he cannot disobey her.

But his elder brother had entrusted the Xie brothers with the management of Yezhou and Qinzhou, which must have been suspicious, so he hesitated.

"What, Uncle, do you want to watch my Gu family perish?" Gu Tingchen said with dissatisfaction. "Father has lost his mind. If Uncle doesn't help me defend Huizhou and take Yuezhou, our Gu family will only face death."

Empress Dowager Gu also said, "Gu Ye, I know that you have resentment over the years of being sent to Huizhou. If you can help me reclaim Lin'an this time, I will let your whole family go back with you when I return to Lin'an."

"Your Majesty is too kind. It is my honor to be able to guard Huizhou on behalf of Your Majesty and the court. How could I dare to have any complaints?"

After a brief moment of contemplation, Gu Ye finally made up his mind: "Tingchen, you can focus on attacking Yuezhou. Your uncle will definitely defend Huizhou to the death."

Having said that, he immediately led Gu Tingchen to the military camp to muster the troops.

Meanwhile, inside the Yongning Prince's Mansion, Consort Zhang had already received Yan Jin's message and was instructing her servants to pack her belongings.

"Wan'er is truly a clever girl. If she hadn't reminded me, I probably wouldn't have noticed even when Gu Tingchen arrived in Yuezhou," Consort Zhang remarked as she led the group out of the palace.

"When I returned, I learned that Prince Dao'an was leading 20,000 elite cavalry straight to Yuezhou," Yan Jin said anxiously. "Although I followed the Princess's instructions and sent someone to Qizhou in advance to deliver the message, I am afraid that Chief Secretary Zhao will not be willing to lead troops to provide assistance."

Empress Dowager Zhang thought for a moment and said, "The people of Yuezhou have lived in peace and prosperity for over a hundred years and have never suffered from the ravages of war. I absolutely cannot allow Gu Tingchen to enter Yuezhou."

Looking around at the people gathered in front of the Prince's Mansion, apart from the thousand guards that Yan Jin brought back, there were only about two thousand guards and able-bodied men from the families of the royal relatives.

"Yan Jin, you will escort everyone to Qizhou for refuge. The rest of the soldiers will accompany me to Yuzhou City to defend against the enemy," Consort Zhang instructed.

These words immediately caused an uproar in front of the mansion, with the officials trying their best to dissuade him.

Fu Yunni's eyes were filled with tears: "Mother, they came here specifically for you. If you go to Yuzhou in person and something goes wrong, what will become of my elder brother?"

Yan Jin also said, "Your Highness, I know you cannot bear to see the people of Yuezhou suffer. Why don't you let me go? I will defend Yuzhou to the death."

Consort Zhang shook her head: "Although my brother-in-law is a man of great integrity, I'm afraid Yu'e will not allow him to easily send troops. Only if I personally go to Yuzhou will she dare not be negligent."

After glancing at the bustling city of Yuezhou, Consort Zhang sighed softly, "The Yongning Prince's Mansion has protected dozens of counties in Yuezhou for generations for over a hundred years. How could something go wrong in my hands?"