Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 488 Luo Yuheng Disappears (11,000 words)

"You shall be the emperor of Ningguo!"

Click.

Along with Emperor Ninghe's voice, another thunderclap descended from the sky.

The sudden brightness illuminated Song Yan's astonished face, and the wind pushed open the door of the imperial study, making a creaking sound.

Several pale-faced palace maids and eunuchs hurriedly went over and closed the door again. They were all shivering, and even though the cold wind was blowing outside, their foreheads were covered in sweat.

Terrified.

Oh my God.

Is this really something they should be listening to?
As the astonishment on his face gradually faded, Song Yan smiled and continued to use the fire tongs to pok at the embers in the charcoal brazier, watching the sparks that kept popping up, as if he had found a fun toy.

"You really think I'm here to rebel?" Song Yan murmured after a long while.

“I am only a sixteen-year-old boy now, and I will be seventeen in October. My temperament is still not stable. I am afraid I will not be able to stand staying in the palace for a long time. Moreover, the officials in the court and the sixteen prefectures of Ningguo may not be convinced by me.”

Once upon a time, Emperor Ninghe wanted him to overturn this heaven.

Now, Emperor Ninghe is preparing to abdicate.

I guess I'm really tired.

"I think the officials in the court are convinced," Emperor Ninghe smiled. "These people must have been quite frightened by you today."

“Fear is not necessarily submission,” Song Yan shook his head.

"You don't need to be willingly and loyally obedient, just listen to me. Besides, with your intelligence and methods, winning people's hearts completely shouldn't be a problem. When the time is right, you can slowly replace these people in the court." Emperor Ninghe had a lot of confidence in Song Yan. He had also been young once, and at sixteen or seventeen years old, his skills and temperament were far inferior to Song Yan's now.

Their ability, especially in terms of military strategy and tactics, is far inferior.

"Military power is the most important thing. As long as you can firmly grasp military power, everything else is a minor issue," Emperor Ninghe said slowly. "Or are you worried about the negative reputation of rebellion?"

"There's no need to worry about that."

"Although I did say in court that you had rebelled, has that charge affected you?" Emperor Ninghe beckoned, and Wei Zhong, who had been by his side for many years, immediately understood the emperor's needs. He hurriedly ordered a palace maid to bring a pot of hot tea... The tea leaves were thrown directly into the kettle while boiling water. In Emperor Ninghe's words, this tea was extremely precious, worth an ounce of gold. It had to be steeped and boiled several times to extract the flavor from the tea leaves and avoid wasting it.

Tea brewed this way loses some of its fragrance and becomes more bitter.

Emperor Ninghe, however, was quite pleased with it.

A cup was poured for Song Yan as well. Song Yan took a sip, but his face didn't show any signs of discomfort, indicating that he was already used to it. In his previous life, Song Yan wasn't a tea master, and he wasn't particular about drinking tea. He mostly used cheap tea leaves that cost ten yuan a pack, and he would just throw a handful in when boiling water. The taste was generally the same for everyone.

Emperor Ninghe stroked the teacup with his fingers, his voice soothing yet light, as if he had put down something heavy: "Since ancient times, the victors have always been kings and the losers have always been villains; history books are written by the victors."

"At most, he might leave a few curses among the scholars. As for ordinary people, they only care about two meals a day. They don't care about treason or rebellion, let alone who is on the throne. In the eyes of ordinary people, any emperor who can reduce taxes and corvée labor is an extremely good emperor."

"Speaking of rebellion? Of the four kingdoms in the Central Plains today—Ning, Chu, Zhao, and Liang—which of their founding emperors didn't rise to power through rebellion? Aren't they all doing just fine as emperors now?"

"Besides, someone as reckless as you, why would you care about your reputation?"

Song Yan was slightly displeased. If you're going to explain, then explain. Why do you have to insult me? After taking a sip of tea, Song Yan slowly explained, "I can't stay in Dongling right now. I have to go to Pingyang to take charge... Suochuoluo and Wanyan Guangzhi are not easy to deal with."

"Especially Suochuoluo. The Xiongnu were already powerful. Although they lost over 100,000 men this time, they can quickly replenish their forces. Suochuoluo will never be obedient, and that man is extremely ambitious... He is different from ordinary barbarians. He has gathered a large number of scholars who came from the Central Plains to advise him."

"This time, the eldest prince was burned to the ground by me, partly because he didn't heed the strategist's advice. It's conceivable that after this defeat, the status of scholars from the Central Plains in Suochuoluo's camp will be even higher, making these Xiongnu barbarians even more difficult to deal with. Old Master Mei Wu is getting old after all. He can hold Pingyang without any problem, but if he were to take over Anzhou, he would be somewhat overwhelmed. Zhang Han, Lei Yi, Wang Chao, and Ma Han, although they have certain military talents, are ultimately too young and lack experience. They are not quite capable of guarding a prefecture and need to be trained by Old Master Mei Wu for a while longer."

"Don't be fooled by my ability to reprimand Jurchen and Xiongnu envoys in court as if they were dogs. If a real fight breaks out, even I wouldn't dare to let my guard down for a second."

As Song Yan spoke, Emperor Ninghe listened quietly.

"Moreover, my return to Dongling this time is not for becoming an emperor, but for other more important matters."

Emperor Ninghe laughed out loud: "This is the first time I've heard of anything more important than being an emperor."

Song Yan looked up and saw Emperor Ninghe hesitate for a moment. In the end, he rummaged in his sleeve for a while, took out a piece of paper, and handed it to Emperor Ninghe.

Emperor Ninghe looked suspicious and took it, glancing at it twice.

His expression puzzled Song Yan. From Luo Yuheng's occasional mention of Emperor Ninghe, Song Yan could deduce that the siblings had a deep bond. However, upon seeing the news of Luo Yuheng's abduction, Emperor Ninghe showed little panic or fear on his face.

His brows were slightly furrowed, as if he were scrutinizing something.

"Where did you get this letter?" After a long while, Emperor Ninghe finally put down the letter in his hand and asked.

“My mother received a letter and then suddenly left. She only told the servants of the governor’s mansion that she was going to Dongling. Apart from a coachman, she didn’t even take a maid with her. Yu Shuang was also left in Pingyang. Tianxuan and I were worried that my mother would be in danger, and since there were many people here who wanted me dead, we simply led five thousand cavalry back to Dongling.” Song Yan explained the situation simply: “When we passed Hengshan, a Jianghu person gave me this letter.”

"They said that once I arrived at Dongling, another letter would be delivered to me, but I haven't received it yet."

"I wonder if Mother has ever been to Dongling?"

"Have you come to the palace to see His Majesty?"

Emperor Ninghe sighed, casually tossing the letter into the charcoal brazier. A wisp of fire rose, and only a few ashes remained: "She did come to Dongling, but... she didn't come looking for me."

"Yuheng is a bit impulsive," Emperor Ninghe smiled. "However, she is not the kind of person who doesn't know her place."

"There are some things you don't need to worry about too much."

Song Yan paused for a moment.

She glanced at Emperor Ninghe, then looked away and stood up: "The matters in the court have been resolved for now, I must go back."

"Doing things for the emperor..." Emperor Ninghe asked.

"We'll talk about it later." Song Yan waved casually, turned and left. As he reached the door, a eunuch brought him an oil-paper umbrella, but in such a downpour, the umbrella's effectiveness was extremely limited. He paused slightly, his foot already out the door: "Should the Silver Armor Guards stay?"

“Leave some behind.” Emperor Ninghe shook his head: “The imperial guards haven’t been completely cleared out yet, and the palace needs to be guarded.”

Song Yan nodded and kept Zhang Han behind.

He then left the palace with half of the Silver Armor Guards and headed straight for the Marquis of Champion's residence.

After a long journey and a day of turmoil in the court, even Song Yan was somewhat exhausted. Emperor Ninghe remained seated on the ground, silently watching Song Yan's figure disappear completely into the rain until he could no longer see him. Wei Zhong, standing beside him, finally couldn't help but slowly ask, "Your Majesty, do you really intend to pass the throne to the Marquis?"

Emperor Ninghe, who was leisurely sipping his tea, raised an eyebrow: "What's wrong? Is there a problem?"

Wei Zhong hesitated for a moment, his wrinkled old face showing some hesitation: "Although the court has not been completely purged, Chu Licheng and Yang Hetong are both dead. Although there are still some people from Bailu Academy serving as officials in the court, and the Yang family still has some followers, they have all been severely hit and are no longer able to contend with His Majesty and the Fang family."

"Your Majesty can take this opportunity to completely reclaim power."

"If we bring back the two young masters, Tian Shu and Tian Quan, and pass the throne to them in the future, wouldn't that be acceptable?"

Emperor Ninghe laughed and glanced at Wei Zhong with some helplessness: "You old fool, I know you mean well, but don't say such things again. If Song Yan hears this, it will only create more discord between father-in-law and son-in-law, which would not be good."

After a brief pause, Emperor Ninghe spoke thoughtfully: "You're right, I could indeed take this opportunity to revitalize imperial power, but then what? Why do you think the officials in the court would be so obedient? Are they afraid of me?"

"No, what they're afraid of is the knife in Song Yan's hand."

"The black-armored soldiers, silver-armored guards, and Pingyang Prefecture soldiers under Song Yan's command are the most elite and capable troops in the entire Ning Kingdom."

"Although there are only 50,000 of them, they are comparable to an army of 100,000, 150,000, or 200,000."

"Without this knife, even if Chu Licheng and Yang Hetong are killed, there will still be Chu Bucheng and Yang Butong. Ningguo will still be a place of conflict and filth between the imperial power, aristocratic families, and civil officials. The only difference is that the imperial power will be a little stronger."

"The current state of decay in Ningguo will not change much."

This was clearly not Emperor Ninghe's true wish. What he wanted was not only to reclaim the power of the royal family, but also to reverse the corruption of the Ning Kingdom.

He took the teacup and drank it all in one gulp.

After clearing his throat, Emperor Ninghe began to speak:
"In fact, in my original plan, after my death, chaos would break out in Ningguo. Song Yan would raise an army in Pingyang, and the Black Armored Warriors would sweep through Ningguo, crushing all the aristocratic families and completely eradicating this cancer for Ningguo. Only in this way could Ningguo be reborn."

"The appearance of the Xiongnu, the Jurchen envoys, and Song Yan has disrupted my original plan. However, as long as Yan'er remains a constant threat over their heads, the powerful clans and the civil officials will behave themselves... But can Yan'er be a general for life?"

Wei Zhong opened his mouth: "It should be possible, this old servant can tell that the Marquis actually enjoys leading troops into battle."

Emperor Ninghe nodded: "That's right, he likes it. I can also see that Yan'er doesn't really like being an emperor. He's a free spirit and doesn't want to be trapped in this deep palace for the rest of his life... If I were emperor, I could tolerate Yan'er being a general who conquers the north for the rest of his life, but how many more years can I be emperor?"

"If Tian Shu becomes emperor, will he still tolerate the fact that Ning Kingdom's most powerful army remains in the hands of his brother-in-law?"

“Even if Tian Shu and Song Yan have a good relationship, it’s acceptable. But most emperors don’t live long. Tian Shu is older than Yan’er and will most likely pass away before her. So how much affection can Tian Shu’s child still have for Yan’er?”

"Can he still tolerate Yan'er holding military power? Can he tolerate Yan'er's offspring?"

The cunning rabbit dies, the running dog cooks.

When the birds are gone, the good bow is hidden.

Often, it's not important whether you have rebellious intentions; what matters is whether you have the ability to rebel.

Emperor Ninghe sighed helplessly. He also had a weak side to his personality, which was similar to Luo Yuheng. He always hoped that his family could live together in harmony and happiness... But for an emperor, this was almost an impossible dream.

"Yan'er doesn't like being an emperor, but she didn't refuse either, she just said she'd talk about it later... she probably thought of these things too."

"Moreover, in life, many things are beyond our control." Emperor Ninghe's lips curled into a smile: "Even if Yan'er doesn't want to be emperor, his soldiers probably won't agree. Who knows when they'll put the yellow robe on Yan'er, after all, who wouldn't want to gain merit by supporting the emperor?"

The image of the founding emperor of Ningguo involuntarily came to mind; it seemed that he too had ascended to the throne surrounded by his subordinates in a similar manner.

I heard that the founding emperor once said: "You have really caused me a lot of trouble."

Thinking about it that way, I found it somewhat amusing.

"Moreover, Yan'er gives me a very special feeling! His eyes seem to be able to see very, very far, and see many, many things that we cannot see."

"Passing the throne to him might bring about a different Ningguo."

……

The heavy rain is still falling.

It's just a little smaller than before.

A large number of constables, imperial guards, and palace guards are busy in Dongling City, probably all going to confiscate property.

Although the weather wasn't great, these people were all smiles. After all, confiscating property was always a lucrative task, no matter the time. A little bit of money squeezed from under their fingernails could be worth several years' salary. Song Yan could even see that almost all the officials from the Ministry of Revenue had been summoned by Xia Yuanchang and divided into several teams. They were probably going to stay up all night to inventory the assets of those thirty-nine officials.

There was no other way; we were just too poor.

Upon seeing the Silver Armor Guards appear, both the Imperial Guards and the Imperial Household Guards obediently made way. This was a border army capable of fighting against the Xiongnu and the Jurchen barbarians; they were the elite of the elite. Just by looking at their formation, which remained completely intact even in the torrential rain, one could tell that they were not someone the Imperial Guards could contend with. The murderous aura emanating from them sent chills down everyone's spines as soon as they passed by.

Until they arrived at the Marquis of Champion's residence.

From a distance, one could see several graceful figures sitting quietly on the threshold of the Marquis's residence.

A smile unconsciously appeared on Song Yan's face, and she instinctively quickened her pace to walk over. It was Tianxuan, Tianyi, Hua Lianyue, Ziyu, and Gaoyang.

Just like Luo Yuheng before, he stood guard at the door, waiting.

Upon seeing Song Yan's figure in the distance, several women also stood up.

Upon reaching her, one could see Luo Tianxuan's slightly furrowed brows and a forced smile: "My husband is back."

"Hmm." Song Yan nodded. "Tianxuan has been in Dongling for several days. Has she found her mother?"

"I have been in Dongling for two days. Some people have seen my mother there, and I have been searching for her all the way to the Prince of Fu's residence." Luo Tianxuan's brows furrowed with even greater worry.
"However, when I arrived at the Prince of Fu's mansion, I found that the entire family had been wiped out."

Song Yan suddenly looked up, her eyes filled with barely suppressed surprise: "Exterminated an entire family?"

"In the Prince Fu's mansion, all the guards, servants, maids, and nannies were killed, and the rooms were filled with corpses."

"But Prince Fu and Princess Fu are nowhere to be found."

"We can't find any trace of my mother either."

Luo Yuheng has completely disappeared.

(End of this chapter)