Red Mansion: After being expelled from the family, I was granted the title of Marquis of Mobei

Chapter 145 Two Lines Bloom, Childbirth
Speaking of which, there's another interesting story.

According to the ritual system, the main hall of the Imperial Ancestral Temple could only enshrine nine emperors, and by the Jiajing reign, the Imperial Ancestral Temple was already full.

In order to make room for his own father, Emperor Jiajing forcibly moved Emperor Renzong's memorial tablet out of the main hall of the Imperial Ancestral Temple and placed it in a side hall.

One wonders what Emperor Renzong of Ming, now in heaven, would think.

Similar things have happened in this world as well.

This made Emperor Yongping have to be wary. If he adopted a member of the imperial clan, and that child ascended the throne but didn't recognize him, instead going to recognize his biological father, he would be in an extremely awkward situation.

After a moment of contemplation, Emperor Yongping's eyes lit up, and an idea suddenly came to him.

Meanwhile, inside the Daming Palace of the Imperial Palace in the capital, the retired emperor looked at the Duke of Beijing and others kneeling before him and said with some emotion.

"Seeing the three of you, I finally understand why I suffered such a crushing defeat in the palace coup a few years ago."

Upon hearing this, the Duke of Bei Jing hurriedly replied.

"Your Majesty, during the rebellion years ago, we failed to protect you in time, which resulted in Your Majesty being imprisoned for several years."

"Now that we are ready to fight and have the power to restore Your Majesty, why do you still insist on refusing?"

The retired emperor sneered.

"Shui Rong, you are clever enough, but when it comes to doing big things, you are far too incompetent."

"At this point, you still think you can defend the city and use me to fight against that rebellious son? That's wishful thinking."

"If this had happened in the first or second year of Yongping, this tactic would have worked, but now it is the fourth year of Yongping, and that rebellious son has long since consolidated his position and won the hearts of the court and the people."

"You still can't see this point, foolishly wanting me to be restored to the throne."

"If I'm not mistaken, this idea was suggested by Prince Zhongshun and Consort Yue."

The Duke of Bei Jing said with a hint of surprise.

"How did Your Majesty know?"

The retired emperor said calmly.

"You three idiots, you've fallen into their trap and you don't even know it."

"They're trying to keep the three of you in the capital to buy time for their own escape."

“You’ve been delayed at Daming Palace for two or three days.”

"By now, they've probably all vanished, and the three of you are still kneeling here like idiots. Why did I ever give you any important positions in the first place?"

"what!"

Upon hearing this, the three members of the Duke of Bei Jing's household panicked instantly.

If Prince Zhongshun and Consort Yue run away, what will the three of us become? Scapegoats, clowns.

It is foreseeable that once the Duke of England leads his army to reclaim the capital, they will be exterminated along with their entire families.

At this moment, the three Dukes of Beijing and the others couldn't care less about the restoration and hurriedly left the Daming Palace, heading to Consort Yue's residence.

Two quarters of an hour later, the three of them left the palace and went to the residence of Prince Zhongshun, the residence of Marquis Xiaoyue.

Without exception, all three places had servants who were unaware of the inside story. As for Prince Zhongshun and Consort Yue, they had long since disappeared without a trace.

With things having come to this, the three Dukes of Beijing were filled with despair. Just then, they received a report from their scouts that Gu Yankai, the military governor of the capital, was leading his army and was approaching the capital, where they would arrive the next day.

The Duke of England has also assembled 100,000 troops from three states, who will arrive at the capital city within five days.

Now that things have come to this, how could the Duke of Beijing and the others not understand that their side has already suffered a complete defeat?

After discussing it, the three of them sent their families away, letting them escape separately, hoping that as many as they could leave would escape.

As for the three Dukes of Beijing, they decided to fight like cornered beasts. Although they knew they had little chance of winning, they believed that every day they could hold out meant one more day for their families to escape. This was the last thing they could do.

Just as the restoration of the capital was imminent, the Western Sea Barbarians in the Mirror City of the Western Sea became increasingly restless.

The fire in the direction of the Western Sea Jungle had been burning for several days, and now it was clearly visible from the perspective of Mingjing City.

However, Jia Jue and his men had blocked all the major transportation routes from Mingjing City to the Western Sea Forest.

This made the Western Sea Barbarians in the city increasingly anxious.

At first, High Priest Shamito was able to barely suppress the people's unrest, but as the fire in the West Sea jungle grew larger, the clamor of the wild savages in West Sea City to go out and investigate grew louder in recent days, and there was even a hint of a mutiny.

Needless to say, the situation on the Western Sea Barbarian side was a complete mess. Meanwhile, inside the Zhou army's garrison outside the city, Jia Jue was chatting with Marquis Zhongjing, Shi Ding.

Shi Ding bowed respectfully and then spoke.

"General, I have successfully completed my mission and have come to report back to you."

Jia Jue nodded slightly and said.

"Lord Zhongjing, this fire was well set, brilliantly set!"

"Of the wild beasts in the Western Sea jungle, only one in ten survived. Now, only tens of thousands of wild beasts in Mingjing City remain, fighting desperately."

“These past few days, our commander has sent scouts to investigate. The inhabitants of the Western Sea are in a state of panic and there is already a tendency for them to mutini.”

"You've come at the perfect time. Quickly deploy your army and, together with my troops and the remnants of the Western Navy, besiege these barbarians in Mingjing City. Reinforcements will arrive in five days. Once they arrive, we will launch our final attack on the Western Sea."

"I will obey my orders."

Following Jia Jue's orders, 20,000 Zhou troops were deployed east of Mingjing City, and 20,000 elite troops from the Jiangnan Grand Camp, plus the remnants of the Western Navy, were deployed west of Mingjing City, totaling 35,000 men.

At this point, the entire Mingjing City was surrounded by Zhou's army like an iron barrel. Under Jia Lang's arrangement, Zhou's army surrounded the city without attacking, waiting for the enemy to tire themselves out.

On the other hand, the panic among the Western Sea Barbarians' army grew day by day, to the point where they were living in constant fear.

Seven days have passed in the blink of an eye, and the devastating siege of the capital city has come to an end.

The remaining 20,000 Imperial Guards in the capital had no fighting spirit whatsoever when faced with an army of over 100,000 who came to protect the emperor.

After all, the generals who had been won over by Prince Chungshun all knew that Prince Chungshun and his men had already fled, and they no longer had a goal to fight for. What desire did they have left to fight?

In just two days, the Duke of England led his army to conquer the capital, advancing rapidly and recapturing it.

When the city fell, the three Dukes of Beijing and the other two chose to commit suicide, either by cutting their own throats or by taking poison.

They knew very well that if their crimes fell into the hands of Emperor Yongping, they would have a hard time even dying a peaceful death.

Thus, the four royal families, which had been passed down for centuries, all came to an end, except for the Duke of Nan'an, who was captured alive.

After the recapture of the capital, the Duke of Yingguo pacified the city and confirmed that all the rebels had been captured and there were no more hidden dangers. He then immediately went to the mountains outside the capital to welcome Emperor Yongping back to the palace.

The rebellion, launched by Consort Yue and Prince Zhongshun, was quelled in just over half a month.

No sooner had Emperor Yongping arrived at the palace than Dai Quan, a eunuch from the Daming Palace, arrived at the Qianqing Palace.

Dai Quan bowed and then spoke.

"Your Majesty, the Emperor Emeritus requests that Your Majesty come to the Daming Palace for a talk."

Emperor Yongping listened and then calmly replied.

"The Emperor Emeritus is in such a hurry, huh? Very well, then I shall go."

Emperor Yongping then went to the Daming Palace.

Not long after, in the Daming Palace, the retired emperor and his son, Emperor Yongping, met again after five years. Their last meeting was when the retired emperor was dethroned and imprisoned in the Daming Palace.

Inside the Daming Palace, the retired emperor and Emperor Yongping exchanged glances, and then Emperor Yongping spoke calmly.

"Father has aged considerably in the past few years."

The retired emperor said calmly.

"I am over seventy years old and no longer young. But you are over forty and your hair is already gray. You are showing signs of premature aging."

"It seems this palace coup has dealt you a heavy blow."

Emperor Yongping said indifferently.

"It's alright, but not as good as Father Emperor. At least I'm still sitting on the throne, aren't I?"

Emperor Yongping's words nearly choked the retired emperor to death.

He was practically pointing his finger at the Emperor Emeritus and telling him that if the Emperor Emeritus was bad at cooking, he should practice more.

After calming himself down, the retired emperor spoke with composure.

"I did misjudge you back then. You are better than the eldest son, better than the fourth son, and better than me."

"Your achievements are beyond my reach."

"But like me, you will end up alone and a failure in your family."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Yongping sighed and said...

"Father, when did we come to this point, making you laugh at your own son like this?"

The retired emperor waved his hand and said.

"To be honest, I was initially gloating over your misfortune, but now, seeing you like this, I feel no pleasure, only the bitterness of empathy."

"So be it, the fate of the Great Zhou Dynasty ultimately rests on your shoulders."

"You have more courage than I do. You pacified the Xiongnu, conquered the Western Sea, reformed the salt administration, and implemented new policies."

“I ascended to the throne by relying on the powerful and noble families, so naturally I am subject to their control, but you are not.”

"Over the years, I have nothing to teach you, except one expectation."

"No matter what, you must pass on the throne of my Great Zhou Dynasty properly. As an emperor, you cannot be swayed by the emotions and desires of ordinary people."

After listening to the Emperor Emeritus's words, Emperor Yongping nodded slightly and said...

"Father, rest assured, what I leave to my descendants is only a strong and prosperous Great Zhou."

After exchanging a few words, the father and son left the Daming Palace.

The retired emperor watched Emperor Yongping's departing figure, his eyes filled with sighs.

Meanwhile, in Mingjing City in the West Sea, Zhou Jun was using large siege weapons to bombard the city relentlessly, with catapults firing day and night for a full day and night.

While waiting for reinforcements, Jia Jue's army was not idle, collecting a large amount of siege materials.

Two days ago, reinforcements arrived at the West Sea front as scheduled. After resting for a night, Zhou's army launched an attack on Mingjing City the next day.

The Western Sea Barbarians were already as frightened as stray dogs, and after being attacked by Zhou's army for a day and a night, they were utterly demoralized.

Soon after, a white flag was raised on the city wall of Mingjing City. The Western Sea Barbarians could no longer withstand the pressure and decided to surrender the city.

Seeing this, Jia Jue ordered the Western Sea barbarians to surrender.

The Western Sea barbarians had no more illusions. One by one, they laid down their weapons and armor, lined up, and went out of the city to surrender to the Zhou army.

The Battle of the Western Sea has now come to an end, marking the annihilation of the Western Sea Barbarians, who had lived for thousands of years.

As for these surrendered Western Sea barbarians, all that awaited them was endless hard labor. They would be sent to the most arduous places in the Great Zhou to contribute to its infrastructure construction until they died of exhaustion.

After pacifying the Western Sea, Jia Jue ordered military reports to be sent to the capital at an urgent speed of 800 li, while at the same time he began land reclamation work in the Western Sea.

Although the Western Sea barbarians are gone, there are still millions of Great Zhou citizens in the vast Western Sea, so the Western Navy naturally needs to be reorganized and reassigned.

All the generals who originally belonged to the Four Kings faction were dealt with according to military law by Jia Jue.

As for the Duke of Nan'an, who was captured alive by the Western Sea barbarians, Jia Jue killed him without hesitation. After all, Jia Jue had disliked the old man for quite some time.

Furthermore, since he was captured alive by the Western Sea Barbarians, Jia Jue could easily pin the blame on the Western Sea Barbarians for killing him. How could Jia Jue let go of such a good opportunity to settle personal scores?

The aftermath of the Western Sea incident was extremely complicated, and two months passed in the blink of an eye.

On the sixth day of the eleventh month of the fourth year of Yongping, the entire Marquis of Champion's mansion was mobilized, and the Duke of Yingguo and his wife came to the Marquis of Champion's mansion together.

The reason for such a grand mobilization is that today is the day of delivery for Zhang Guifen, the wife of the Marquis of Champion.

At this moment, the British Duke and Duchess listened to their daughter's heart-wrenching screams from outside the room and couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.

Fortunately, although the process was bumpy, the final result was ideal.

Soon after, the sound of a baby crying came from inside the room.

The midwife then came out of the room, bowed to the Duke and Duchess of England, and said...

"Congratulations, Your Excellency! Congratulations, Your Excellency! You two have become maternal grandparents. The wife of the Marquis of Champion has given birth to a son, and both mother and child are safe and sound."

The Duke and Duchess of England were overjoyed and handed the midwife a red envelope, for which the midwife was naturally very grateful.

Shortly after they finished tidying up the room, the British Duke and Duchess entered to visit their daughter.

Although Zhang Guifen was pale, she was in good spirits.

Beside Zhang Guifen lay a wrinkled baby.

The Duchess of England approached and inquired with concern.

"Fen'er, how are you feeling?"

Zhang Guifen said with a slight frown.

"Mother, I'm fine, but why is this child so ugly? His face is all wrinkled, like a little old man. Is this really my child? My husband and I aren't bad-looking either."

The Duchess of England was utterly exasperated upon hearing this, and after giving Zhang Guifen a disapproving look, she said...

"You're complaining about the baby now? You were the same way when you were a newborn."

Zhang Guifen said, somewhat finding it hard to accept.

"How could that be? I was just as ugly when I was born!"

The Duchess of England said irritably.

“It looks much worse than this. It will be fine after a while. You’re a first-time mother, and you’re already complaining about your own child.”

Upon seeing this, the British duke quickly spoke up.

“Madam, Fen’er doesn’t understand these things. Why are you angry? She just gave birth, so don’t scold her.”

The Duchess of England glared at the Duke of England and said.

"You're the one who dotes on your daughter, as if I don't."

(End of this chapter)