Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 545 The First Widow of Ningguo (5,000 words)

"Emperors take turns ruling, and today it's the Yang family's turn!"

Yang Hezhi's voice echoed in the hall. His words seemed very persuasive. Even though Yang Heshun and Yang Hexiao were shrewd old men, a hint of excitement flashed in their eyes.

The Emperor.

All this scheming by the Yang family over such a long time, isn't it all for that dragon throne?

Although the throne will definitely be passed down from the main wife... that is, from Yang Hexing's lineage, they can at least become princes.

The sound of everyone's breathing quickened noticeably.

Only Yang Hexing's pale face remained as calm as ever, as if he was completely unaffected by the word "emperor".

"Fool." Yang Hexing muttered under his breath, "Do you really think rebellion is so easy? Throughout history, there have been countless rebels over the centuries, but how many have succeeded? There are also powerful families like the Yang family, some even more influential than the Yang family, such as the Wang family at the end of the Han Dynasty and the Li family at the end of the Wu Dynasty. Which one didn't have a lineage spanning hundreds of years? Which one didn't have immense influence in the local area and in the imperial court? Why did they all fail?"

Yang Hexing's reprimand left Yang Hezhi speechless and embarrassed, but judging from his expression, Yang Hezhi was still somewhat unconvinced.

"When the Wang and Li families rebelled, they were truly powerful and influential, with their influence spreading throughout the Central Plains. They had more relatives by marriage than the Yang family, and the Wang and Li families held important positions in the court. Even deposing the emperor was just a matter of a word from these two families."

"Especially the Han Dynasty, in the years before its collapse, it changed seven or eight emperors, with as many as three emperors in one year. The emperors were all getting younger and younger. At the most outrageous time, an eight-month-old baby could sit on the dragon throne, and you could often hear the emperor crying during court sessions. Can the Yang family's influence compare to the Wang family's now? The head of the Wang family serves as the prime minister in the court, but how much less power does he actually have than the emperor? He even frequently enters the emperor's harem, and the late emperor's concubines are often humiliated."

After hearing this, the other five people subconsciously frowned, and even Yang Hezhi's resentment gradually faded, replaced by a solemn expression.

They have clearly begun to think about it seriously.

"Why was it that when the Wang family controlled the court, no matter how arrogant and domineering they were, they remained as stable as Mount Tai? But after the Wang family sat on the dragon throne, in less than three months, the originally favorable situation collapsed instantly?"

"It's very simple, it's about righteousness!"

Yang Hexing let out a heavy sigh and spoke eloquently: "Don't underestimate the importance of a righteous cause; this one cause determines the life and death of countless people."

"When the Wang clan controlled the Han Dynasty, they were merely subjects. Even if someone raised an army to exterminate the Wang clan, it would be considered a rebellion, an unjust war, an act of deceiving Heaven and destroying one's ancestors, and a violation of human ethics. But once the Wang clan usurped the throne, righteousness was no longer on their side. On the contrary, they immediately became the target of everyone's hatred... This is why many rebel leaders searched everywhere for the bloodline of the former emperor and members of the royal family. As long as they had a member of the royal family in their hands, then raising an army to rebel would be just and in accordance with the will of Heaven."

"Rebellion is not child's play; it's not something you can just decide to do."

"You may disregard the reputation of righteousness, but you absolutely cannot be without it."

“Once the Yang family sits on that throne, everyone in the entire Ning Kingdom will become their enemy. Other aristocratic families will think, ‘If the Yang family can sit on that throne, why can’t I?’ Those military leaders who hold military power will think, ‘I have many soldiers and generals under my command, why can’t I compete for the dragon throne?’ Do you really think the Yang family has the strength to suppress the rebellions of aristocratic families and military leaders throughout the Ning Kingdom?”

"If we can't suppress them, then we can only appease them; if we want to appease them, we can only cede more benefits to these powerful families and military leaders. In that case, what's the difference between this and cultivating the next Yang family? If my Yang family sits on the dragon throne, are we going to become emperors like Emperor Yuanjing or Emperor Ningrenzong? If we are controlled by others at every turn, what's the point of being an emperor?"

His words deeply shocked everyone.

Yang Hezhi, in particular, was deathly pale. He was rather impulsive and couldn't stand being wronged, but he never expected there to be so many twists and turns in the matter. He had almost pushed the Yang family into an abyss of no return.

“You can believe me, but right now Song Yan wants the Yang family to rebel even more than you do. Once the Yang family rebels and kills Emperor Ninghe, Song Yan will dare to directly raise the banner of ‘Upholding Heaven and Pacifying the Rebellion,’ using the reputation of ‘purging the court of treacherous officials’ to march directly south from Liaodong and head straight for Dongling. What do you think of the Yang family’s tenant farmers compared to the elite troops from Pingyang who can fight against the Xiongnu and Jurchens in open battle?”

"Have you ever considered what the fate of the Yang family would be if they failed? The entire Yang family, tens of thousands of bloodlines, would be implicated, Langya City would be filled with mountains of corpses, and Song Yan would cut off the heads of the entire Yang clan and pile them into an unprecedentedly huge mound of corpses."

The somewhat empty lobby was completely silent.

"Perhaps, when Song Yan breaches Dongling City, the palace will accidentally catch fire, and the rest of Emperor Ninghe's children will be burned to death in the fire."

“With Prince Fu expelled from the imperial register, and Prince Jin, far away on the border of Zhao, perhaps also falling ill and dying suddenly, his wife Luo Tianxuan, or even his sister-in-law Luo Tianyi, will become the only remaining bloodline of Emperor Ninghe. Their children will also become the only remaining members of the imperial family, and it is only natural for them to inherit the throne.” Yang Hexing said with a cold smile, “Because the emperor is young, it is not wrong for Song Yan to temporarily sit on the dragon throne and act as regent. After a few years of regency, when the entire court is filled with Song Yan’s people, then the emperor can abdicate and pass the throne to a more worthy person.”

The rest of the group had grim expressions. They had to admit that what Yang Hexing said made a lot of sense, and that such a thing was very likely to happen.

"Fourth Brother, what should we do next? Give me a plan." The eleventh brother, Yang Heli, pursed his lips and looked at Yang Hexing, saying in a deep voice, "Even if we don't rebel, sitting and waiting for death like this is not a solution."

As the most intelligent of all the brothers, they had become accustomed to waiting for Yang Hexing to make decisions when problems arose.

Seeing that everyone had temporarily abandoned their thoughts of immediately starting a rebellion, Yang Hexing nodded slightly: "Although I don't know what kind of stimulation Emperor Ninghe suffered, it is clear that he intends to fight to the death with the entire Yang family, or even perish together with them."

"Such a madman is extremely terrifying. He cares about nothing and is capable of anything."

"The Yang family is large and powerful, which is both an advantage and a weakness. There are too many people and things to consider. So no matter what we do, we must first eliminate our concerns before we can act freely."

"You have three days to select three outstanding grandchildren from each branch of the family, and send them to the states of Zhao, Chu, and Liang respectively, along with some silver."

Upon hearing this, everyone gasped, their gazes towards Yang Hexing filled with fear. The meaning was clear: Yang Hexing was prepared to fight to the death. By sending three members from each branch of the family to the other three kingdoms, Ning Kingdom could then go all out and fight. Even if they ultimately failed, the Langya Yang clan's lineage would not be broken.

tough enough.

Yang Hezhi was just talking at first, but Yang Hexing immediately cut off everyone's escape route, putting the entire Yang family in a dead end.

"Secondly, all the rebels in Langshan, Fengyang, Xiayi, and Juzhou have been incorporated into the army." Yang Hexing continued, "Judging from the current situation, it is clear that Emperor Ninghe is not prepared to continue to play the game with the Yang family according to the rules. Continuing to instigate small-scale rebellions by mountain bandits will not change Emperor Ninghe's decision. Since that is the case, then we will turn these rebels into an army under the control of the Yang family."

"These days, the only true safety comes from having enough troops at your disposal."

"Note that we cannot let those leaders live when we are recruiting them. They have too much influence over the rebels and are not conducive to the Yang family's control. We can bribe the middle and lower-level leaders and use them to get rid of the original leaders. Then we can replace these middle and lower-level leaders one by one with Yang family members, or promote some capable people. Only in this way can we truly control these forces."

Yang Hexing made the arrangements calmly and methodically, clearly having considered these matters many times beforehand.

“Nowadays, the forces that my Yang family can truly rely on are not too many. The three thousand elite soldiers are our greatest asset.” “Besides that, the guards and servants may not be very loyal. It would be difficult if even a third of them were willing to risk their lives for the Yang family. As for the tenant farmers, they are even less reliable. They are just a bunch of peasants. If they can get enough to eat, few of them will be willing to follow us in rebellion. To think that we can raise 100,000 people directly with the tenant farmers is obviously a pipe dream.”

These words left everyone feeling somewhat depressed.

"Then what should we do?" Yang Hexin asked in a deep voice.

“If they are unwilling to follow the Yang family in rebellion, then force them to flock to the Yang family and make them actively request the Yang family to rebel.” Yang Hexing smiled: “Instruct the prefect of Langya County to use the pretext of the court resisting Japanese pirates, Xiongnu, and Jurchens, and at the same time paying reparations to the Chu Kingdom, to impose taxes and increase this year’s poll tax to three times.”

"The Yang family can take this opportunity to reduce some of the rent, but it should be appropriate, ideally keeping it at a level that keeps these peasants from starving but not full either. In this way, these peasants will naturally be grateful to the Yang family. When winter comes, bribe the Xiongnu and Jurchens to raid southwards, and then use this as an excuse to collect grain again. These people are already on the verge of starvation, and with the freezing cold and heavy snow, their last bit of food will be taken away, and then they will truly be unable to survive."

“Be a little more brutal, it would be best if some people could be killed, that would further provoke the anger of these peasants… There’s no other way, they’re just a group of people who toil in the fields, they will never resist unless you push them to the brink.”

"If you want to rebel, you need a leader. At this time, you can release some grain to win people's hearts, while making all the people aware of the Yang family's existence. Then, subtly reveal the Yang family's dissatisfaction with the court. Find some skilled ventriloquists to imitate the sound of a fox in the dead of night in places where people gather..."

"Punish the wicked and punish the tyrannical!"

"The rise of Langya is due to the Yang family."

"Then bribe some old monks and Taoist priests, and when they draw lots, offer them a few sticks of the Yang family as kings."

“The common people were already struggling to survive, and under this kind of guidance, they would naturally gather around the Yang family and actively request the Yang family to rebel.”

"In this way, although it is a rebellion, the Yang family at least has the righteous cause of speaking up for the people. When the time comes, they can use the head of the prefect of Langya as a sacrifice to win over the hearts of the rebels."

For a moment, the hall was completely silent. Several old men looked at each other with strange expressions.

I originally thought that Fourth Brother didn't want to rebel, but now it seems that he has prepared all the detailed steps for the rebellion.

However, rebellion is not child's play. It's not something you can just do by gathering a group of people and saying you're rebelling. The preliminary preparations and the creation of public opinion are extremely complex matters.

"Of course, when winning the hearts of the people, we must not forget the powerful clans." Yang Hexing sighed and looked lightly at the armrest with his fingers: "The people can only provide soldiers for fighting, but food, pig iron and military pay still have to be provided by the powerful clans."

"Emperor Ninghe is clearly going crazy one last time. He is targeting the Yang family now because he doesn't have the extra power to target other aristocratic families. The heads of aristocratic families that have been passed down for hundreds of years are not fools. They can see the sword hanging over their heads."

“We’ll win over some powerful clans to serve as allies of the Yang family, befriend others, and even if they can’t become allies, at least they won’t become enemies. The rest will stand against the Yang family, but it won’t have a significant impact. For example, the Cui family… relatively speaking, the Cui family is a much easier target to win over.” Yang Hexing spoke confidently: “The Cui family’s confidence comes entirely from the Consort Shu in the palace. However, while this generation of the Cui family has many sons, they only have one daughter. Furthermore, this daughter is a bit older and not suitable for a marriage alliance with a prince.”

"Emperor Ninghe already has a Consort Shu who is a daughter of the Cui family. It would be somewhat inappropriate to take another consort. Therefore, the Cui family is preparing to marry off the third daughter of the Cui family to someone else. If any of their sons give birth to daughters, it will not be too late for them to marry into the princes."

"The plan was cleverly executed, but no one expected that although the Cui family had four legitimate sons and many wives and concubines, all their offspring were sons... And the third daughter of the Cui family was betrothed to three men in succession. The first was the son of the Duke of Yang, who died on the battlefield after the engagement; the second was the newly appointed second-place scholar, who died drunk in the brothel; and the third was the son of a merchant, who died suddenly in a brothel on the night of his engagement."

"This reputation for being a jinx to husbands is something she can probably never shake off in her lifetime. Now, the third daughter of the Cui family is already twenty-seven, practically an old maid, yet no one dares to marry her. The marriage of the third daughter of the Cui family has become a major worry for everyone in the Cui family..."

Even these old men had heard some of the story about the third daughter of the Cui family.

There's no way around it, his reputation as a jinx is just too great.

Some even went so far as to call Cui San Niangzi the number one widow in Ningguo.

Even though Cui San Niangzi had never actually been married.

Why did Fourth Brother suddenly bring up Third Sister Cui?
Yang Heshun suddenly frowned: "Fourth Brother, do you perhaps hope that the Yang family will arrange someone to marry Third Sister Cui?"

Yang Hexing laughed and said, "That's exactly right. The Cui family is worried about Cui San Niangzi's marriage, so why not arrange for a Yang family member to marry Cui San Niangzi? I've never believed in such superstitious things as 'husband-killing'... We'll marry Cui San Niangzi and then arrange for a Yang family member to marry into the Cui family. At the same time, we'll promise the Cui family that if the Yang family ever gains power, the Cui family's deal with the royal family will remain the same."

"The Cui family's wealth and glory will not be affected in the slightest, and may even be greater than before. Do you think the Cui family will choose to continue clinging to Emperor Ninghe, who is on the verge of collapse, or will they choose to seek refuge with the Yang family?"

Yang Heshun murmured, "But Cui San Niangzi's aunt is still a Consort Shu in the palace..."

"Heh... she's just a woman." Yang Hexing sneered: "In powerful families, family interests always come first."

"The Cui family's wealth is in no way inferior to the Yang family's. With the Cui family's support, great things can be accomplished!"

……

Several days later, a carriage was slowly heading north.

The carriage shaft is made of century-old rosewood inlaid with ivory, the wheel hub is made of bronze lost-wax inlaid with gold and silver, the curtain is adorned with mermaid beads and luminous shells, and the carriage canopy is woven with Shu brocade on four sides!
Its main selling point is luxury.

It's almost as if they just engraved the words "I'm very rich" on the car frame.

Even without stealing other valuables, this car frame alone would probably be worth a fortune.

However, although the journey from Songzhou to Pingyang was long, no bandit dared to attack the carriage. After all, the two or three hundred strong guards in front and behind the carriage were clearly not to be trifled with.

Morning light streamed through the carved window lattices, casting dappled diamond patterns inside the carriage. A young woman reclined on a soft couch, the collar of her plain white undergarment loosely flared, revealing a glimpse of her alabaster collarbone. Her loosely styled hair from the previous night had mostly fallen loose, dark blue strands cascading down her pale shoulders, a few clinging to her slightly sweaty neck. The woman had an oval face, her chin pointed yet still retaining a touch of baby fat, like an artist adding an extra inch of rouge to their brushstrokes. The morning light shone on a small mole at the corner of her left eye; as her almond-shaped eyes swept over it, the mole moved slightly with her gaze, revealing a natural allure.

Her eyebrows were sparse, with naturally drooping ends, and her eyelids drooped lazily, yet were outlined with powder to create a delicate arc. Her eyelashes, however, were thick, casting small fan-like shadows under her eyelids, concealing seven-tenths of the pale gray of sleeplessness. Her nose bridge wasn't high, but the tip was round like a pearl, twitching slightly with each breath, causing the shallow groove between her philtrum to deepen and deepen. Her lips below the philtrum were particularly striking, full like dew-kissed peony petals, naturally tinged with a coral color.

The lingering fragrance of incense had dissipated, leaving only the warmth of sandalwood ash. A faint red lipstick mark stained the rim of the teacup, a few drops of tea splashing into the hollow of her collarbone, trickling down her skin. She didn't wipe them away, letting the coolness slide over her undulating breasts, leaving shallow stains deep within her plain clothes. Like a demon stepping out of an ancient temple mural, draped in the frost of a living soul, yet burning with the fire of samadhi within.

Although dressed in plain white, she was alluring and charming, possessing a myriad of captivating qualities!
Her name is Cui Yingying!
They were going to Pingyang for a marriage alliance!
(End of this chapter)