Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 247 What can you do to the emperor?
"There are countless Han women in the world, why does the emperor insist on marrying a woman from the Guifang tribe?"

Su Xiaoman, who was sitting quietly on the bed waiting for the groom to return, heard Sheng Rong talking to other women about the emperor's new concubine. Her anger flared up immediately, and she stood up and questioned Sheng Rong.

Sheng Rong pressed her back onto the wedding bed and said, "That's none of your business. You're the bride today."

"I just want to know why the emperor would do this. Doesn't he know that there are countless righteous men fighting the Japanese devils on the other side of the Iron Enclosure Pass?"

And then there's Brother Liu, who risked his life to kill 303 Japanese soldiers, only to be hunted down by Shen Tingyu. Whom does the Emperor owe this to?

Seeing Xiaoman's excessive anger, Sheng Rong whispered something in her ear. Xiaoman, who was originally angry, immediately burst into laughter upon hearing Sheng Rong's words, completely losing all semblance of a bride's dignity.

"Yes, Shen Lexi... more than twenty large fish bladders... Hahaha, that's hilarious. If the emperor knew, would he be so angry that he would die?"

Sheng Rong, who had been married for a short time, looked at Xiao Man's strange expression and said, "Fish bladders? You have them in your new room too."

"No!" Su Xiaoman retorted loudly.

"It's in the wooden box your mother secretly slipped to you. You won't need it yet since you're newly married, but you'll need it someday."

"No!"

"Have!"

"I wonder what Brother Liu is doing now. Is he riding his chestnut-red Thunder Smoke Beast to intercept and kill the Japanese again in the north?"

"Don't think about it. Your brother Liu is an eagle in the sky, and we are just sparrows on a haystack. We can't be together. You should think more about your husband Xue Qi and how he will torment you tonight."

"I really want to ride horses across the north with Brother Liu and kill Japanese devils!"

Su Xiaoman looked at the women in wedding attire filling the room, sighed, sat back on the wedding bed, placed her hands on her knees, lowered her eyes and straightened her posture, transforming herself once again into a dignified woman awaiting marriage.

In Chang'an, Wu Tong opened his bloodshot eyes and looked at the transport commissioner Zhang Zeng, saying, "Why are you asking for money all the way to Panxing Tower?"

Zhang Zeng said calmly, "So, Panxing Tower has no money?"

Wu Tong asked, "Shouldn't Panxinglou have money?"

Zhang Zeng waved his sleeve and said, "I heard that you just paid 20,000 taels of gold for provisions to Tiewei Pass?"

Wu Tong sneered, "Shouldn't we give it to them?"

Zhang Zeng sighed and said, "Your Majesty wishes to make peace with the Guifang and turn hostility into friendship. I know you are very hostile towards the Guifang. However, times have changed. When our Han Dynasty was powerful and influential, we could be more assertive. But things are different now. Continuing to be hostile to the Guifang will only make the already chaotic Han Dynasty fall apart."

"Now, the greatest threat to the Han Dynasty lies within, not without. I think you understand this."

Wu Tong gritted her teeth and said, "You really think so?"

Zhang Zeng lifted his eyelids and said, "That's what His Majesty thinks."

I'm asking if you think that way too?

"Does it matter what I think? Since the Grand Marshal did not kill the Emperor, the Emperor has the power to issue decrees. What we officials think is irrelevant."

A green coin flew out of Wu Tong's hand, spun around a few times after landing, and finally stopped in front of Zhang Zeng.

Zhang Zeng picked up the green coin, held it in his hand, and said, "That's fine, at least it shows some attitude."

After saying that, he stood up and slowly walked out.

With a livid face, Wu Tong said to his deputy Chen Rong, "How can a ruler of a country be so shameless?"

Chen Rong sighed and said, "Since Panxing Tower can't come up with the money, His Majesty has to sell official positions and titles. The title of Marquis costs 100,000 taels of gold, and His Majesty has already sold three of them."

"Kill them!"

"You mean the emperor?"

"No, it's those who dare to spend money to buy titles."

"This is unreasonable. After all, it is His Majesty who is selling official positions. If there are sellers, there are buyers. Why do you only kill the buyers and not the sellers? This is so unreasonable."

"You didn't buy one too, did you?"

"I bought a little five-year-old doctor for my son. Please excuse my poor taste..."

Inside the Divine Dragon Palace, as always, it was dry and warm. The ancestral fire slowly moved within the fire pit, followed by a cluster of 499 small firework flasks, each the size of a candle flame. Just outside the fire pit, a single candle flame floated quietly up and down. Liu Changsheng flicked his finger, sending the flame into the fire pit. It bounced once on the ancestral fire before leaving the pit again, guarding a corner and continuing its ebb and flow.

Compared to the ancestral fire, this candle flame is undoubtedly weak; however, compared to the other candle flames, it is undoubtedly strong. Many times, Liu Changsheng discovered that this seemingly harmless candle flame would devour other candle flames when he was not paying attention.

Liu Changsheng picked up the firecracker with his fingers, looked at the dark blue candle flame, and said, "Do you really have to take a different approach?"

The pale blue flame suddenly burst into a yellow flame.

"You now despise associating with them, don't you?"

The candle flame left Liu Changsheng's fingers and wandered slowly around the fire pit, like a wolf guarding a sheepfold.

Yu Heng had been kneeling outside the Divine Dragon Palace for a long time, followed by a timid little girl. The Divine Dragon Palace was located on high ground and the wind was strong. Yu Heng knelt firmly at the door, her eyes fixed on the door, letting the wind blow her long hair.

A middle-aged Taoist priest came out of the Divine Dragon Hall and said to Yu Heng, "The High Priest does not receive guests."

Yu Heng calmly said, "Please inform the High Priest that my son is dead, and the son of King Huo is dead."

The middle-aged Taoist priest laughed and said, "Death and life are nothing in the Divine Dragon Palace. Besides, that child is your child, not King Huo's child. You must be clear about this."

Yu Heng looked up at the middle-aged Taoist priest and laughed, "So, I've been abandoned by everyone?"

The Taoist priest still wore that kind smile: "Because of your persistence and your ambition, you broke the agreement between the High Priest and the Ghost Priest. Now, your replacement has arrived. You should return."

Yu Heng laughed and said, "Where can I go now that I'm neither human nor ghost?"

The Taoist priest smiled and said, "Don't you still have a child? This is where you will find your final resting place."

Yu Heng turned around and grabbed the timid little girl with both hands, saying, "Why aren't you a boy?"

After saying that, he raised his hands and slammed the little girl onto the hard steps. The little girl didn't even have time to scream before her head was smashed to pieces by the steps.

Yu Heng slowly rose and bowed to the Taoist priest, whose expression remained cheerful, saying, "Yu Heng will now return."

The middle-aged Taoist priest watched Yu Heng leave. He shook his head at the pool of blood and flesh on the ground, then turned and went back to the Divine Dragon Hall. A moment later, another Taoist priest dressed in the same manner came out, gathered up the small corpse, washed the bloodstains on the steps with clean water, carefully fanned it dry, and then carried the small corpse away from the Divine Dragon Hall.

Liu Changsheng paid no attention to what was happening outside the hall. His gaze never left the candle flame outside the hearth until the middle-aged Taoist priest entered, at which point his gaze was finally drawn away.

"Emperor Liu Mu killed Yu Heng's son, and Yu Heng just killed her own daughter. It seems she is telling us that we killed her daughter."

Just as Liu Changsheng was about to speak, he suddenly noticed that the candle flame had suddenly plunged into the fire pit, like a small beast tightly enveloping the candle flame, as if it wanted to devour it.

Liu Changsheng chuckled, then flicked the candle flame away with his finger again. Seeing that the flame seemed unwilling to give up and was still looking for an opportunity to devour the firework, he laughed and said, "Taizhou, is Taizhou your target this time?"

The middle-aged Taoist priest was about to speak when he saw Liu Changsheng wave at him, so he bent down and backed away.

Liu Changsheng looked at the firework swaying outside the fire pit with affection and said, "Little guy, can you swallow it?"

As Yun Ce stood before the city gate of Taizhou, before he could even marvel at the city's height and depth, he was ushered into the city by a group of merchants riding small elephants and pigs. Yun Ce couldn't understand why Taizhou would allow such a giant beast into the city. Weren't they afraid that this thing would suddenly go berserk and overturn the city?

Yun Ce wanted to ask, but when he found that no one around him seemed surprised or dissatisfied with the small elephant-pigs entering the city, he kept quiet. After all, when he and the chestnut horse entered the city earlier, they didn't even charge them an entrance fee.

Taizhou City was unlike any other city Yun Ce had ever seen in the Great Han Dynasty. To put it simply, the spirit and demeanor of the people here were quite different from those in other cities like Pingzhou.

The main manifestation of this is that the people here seem to be very knowledgeable; nothing, no one, no animal, and nothing can surprise them.

Even though Yun Ce had groomed the chestnut horse to look like a dragon steed, no one here would give it a second glance. Even those who couldn't help but look at it regarded the chestnut horse as if it were a donkey.

Even a chestnut horse receives this treatment, so Yun Ce, who dressed himself up like a super noble young master, is naturally no better off. Such an unparalleled handsome man didn't even get a second glance from the women selling fruit on the street.

This was clearly abnormal. When Yun Ce stopped a woman, clasped his hands in greeting, and prepared to ask where the inn was, the woman opened her mouth and shouted... Yun Ce didn't have time to ask questions or figure out why, so he ran away with his chestnut horse. Explaining at this point would be superfluous, and it seemed that she didn't want to hear his explanation.

He finally found an inn, but the innkeeper and the waiters all looked at him as if he were a monster.

The price of fifty taels of gold for a night's lodging was outrageous, but Yun Ce still paid it generously. It wasn't until the innkeeper and the staff left the inn with their luggage that Yun Ce realized he had bought the inn.

The inn was small, with only a front yard and a dozen or so rooms in the back. Considering that this was in the prefectural city, the price of fifty taels of gold, though not entirely fair, was actually not far off.

"Why run an inn when I'm all alone?" Yun Ce took down the inn's signboard, closed the door, and began to examine his first property in Taizhou City.

　Chapter One

　　
　
(End of this chapter)