Chapter 988: Suppressing the Thief
....
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“King Yue Fei of the North.” Concubine Lan’s eyes suddenly widened. Her bloodshot eyes were filled with blood vessels, as if they wanted to devour someone. “It’s Yin Huaixi…”
She thought that she was in control of the inner palace, but she never expected that Yin Huaixi had already reached into the inner palace for a long time. How ridiculous.
After Yin Huaixi returned to the court, the power of the Weining Marquis Residence suffered a destructive blow.
She had no choice but to use the matter of cheating in the examination to send Ning Yuanbo’s residence to jail. Then, she invited herself into the cold palace to avoid it.
Others only thought that she was guarding against Imperial Concubine Xu.
However, from the beginning to the end, she was afraid of Yin Huaixi.
At that time, she understood that Yin Huaixi was already powerful. Unless the Second Prince could ascend the throne and rule over the va.s.sal states, Yin Huaixi would definitely not let them off.
However, her struggles had become a joke.
Ever since Ye Hanyuan beat the drum, Yin Huaixi had already prepared an ending for Ning Yuanbo’s residence.
In his eyes, Ning Yuanbo was just a tool to force Thief Liang to rebel.
Everything was connected.
“Release the tiger back to the mountain, let the dragon into the sea…” Concubine Lan screamed crazily and cursed angrily, hating herself for not eliminating the root of the problem back then. However, there was no medicine for regret in the world.
Empress Ning left the palace with a laugh.
Women from the palace were really pitiful. In the past, they had been raised in their own rooms. After entering the palace, they had been trapped in the inner courtyard of the palace for the rest of their lives. They only cared about this piece of land. It seemed to be high up in the air, but they were just a group of ignorant women with long hair and limited knowledge.
They couldn’t see the outside, and they couldn’t understand the patterns.
Concubine Lan was such a scheming person. She controlled the harem and played her and the emperor in her hands. There were so many schemes, but after Ning Yuanbo’s residence fell, Concubine Lan became a bad judge of character.
It wasn’t that she wasn’t wary of Yin Huaixi.
Instead, she was too wary of Yin Huaixi. Instead, she was blinded by the compet.i.tion.
Unknowingly, it was September.
In less than three months after the King of Liang’s rebellion, riots of varying degrees happened everywhere. Memorials requesting the Imperial Court to send troops to suppress the riots were sent to the capital like snowflakes.
The dregs of society floated up again.
The hidden dangers and decay that had acc.u.mulated in the Great Zhou Dynasty for many years surfaced one after another, completely shattering the appearance of peace.
At this moment, the 100,000-strong army of the Imperial Court had long set off from Rehe to Quanzhou to suppress the rebels. This was already the largest number of troops the capital could mobilize. If they continued to mobilize troops to calm the chaos everywhere and the capital’s troops were scattered, they would definitely face the predicament of having an empty army.
Facing the aggressive King of Liang, the Imperial Court was clearly at a disadvantage.
The Imperial Court had no choice but to order the government to issue a reward and organize the righteous people to suppress the rioters themselves.
With heavy rewards, there would definitely be brave people.
This move had indeed recruited a lot of people, but at the same time, a greater hidden danger had also been exposed.
The goal of suppressing the mob was to subdue it with force to achieve long-term peace.
However, most of the righteous people who could be recruited at a high price were outlaws or bloodthirsty people. They were unruly and unrestrained by the government, causing the suppression of the mob to have the opposite effect. It even caused many lives to be lost, and the suppression also became a case of officials forcing the people to rebel. Many innocent commoners were implicated and died tragically.
In order to survive, the commoners had no choice but to band together to survive. They joined forces to resist the government.
The Great Zhou Dynasty was in chaos.
During the attack of the Liang, the main generals gathered a portion of the troops from various cities and recruited ambitious people from all over the country to attack the Liang together. Soon, the army expanded to 150,000 soldiers.
When the two armies officially fought, there would be no less than 200,000 troops on their side.
The advantage of 200,000 troops against the 100,000-man Liang army greatly boosted the morale of the army. There was almost no suspense about their victory.
However, anyone with discerning eyes knew that the attack on the Liang was only the beginning. The King of Liang had rebelled and stood out. How far was it for the other va.s.sal lords to govern the land and establish themselves as king?!
The Great Zhou Dynasty was destined to fall apart.
Smoke rose everywhere. The first to be in chaos was the hinterland of the
Central Plains, where the military was weak and the people were wealthy. Youzhou was located in the extreme north, and its troops were strong. Since ancient times, it had been easy to defend and difficult to attack. It was the first border of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and also the area with the most troops. It was chaotic on the outside but stable on the inside. It was the safest.
Moreover, after the King of Liang’s rebellion, King Yue Fei had sent an official letter to the world. Youzhou would accept all the refugees who had fled from the war.
There were camps at all the checkpoints in the North.
However, Youzhou was located in the extreme north after all. The journey was long, and there were still very few ordinary people fleeing to Youzhou.
Therefore, a lot of merchants and squires who had fled from the south rushed into the North. These people could use tools to escape first.
It was raining heavily in Xiangping City. Every year, in September, the weather would turn cold.
Yin Huaixi became very busy. He had to go to the army every day, and he stayed longer and longer in the army. Sometimes, he would disappear tor a few days in a row.
Yu Youyao could feel that the atmosphere in the city had become tense, and the checkpoints had become more guarded.
At this moment, Xia Tao walked into the house. “Young Miss, His Highness has sent Chang An back to pa.s.s on a message. Tonight, His Highness is returning to the Yu Garden to accompany you for dinner.”
Yu Youyao perked up and instantly threw away all the messy thoughts in her mind.
“What time is it now?” As she asked, she subconsciously looked out of the window and saw that it was gloomy outside. There was no sun, and it seemed to be getting dark soon.
Immediately, she couldn’t sit still anymore and quickly stood up. “I’ll cook personally and go to the kitchen to make a few medicinal dishes.”
Xia Tao pursed her lips and chuckled. “It’s just 3pm. It’s still early. His Highness won’t be back so soon. Miss, don’t be too busy.”
There was one bad thing about Xiangping City. In August and September, the weather was wet and cold, and there was never any sun in the sky. It was always gloomy.
Seeing this bold girl laughing secretly, Yu Youyao immediately did not know whether to stand or sit. Her face turned fierce. “It’s already late. It’s autumn in Xiangping, and the sky turns dark early. It’s better to prepare early than to be fl.u.s.tered later.
Xia Tao pursed her lips tightly and nodded repeatedly. “Young Miss is right.’
Yu Youyao glared at her. “Yesterday, Madam Huang sent a lamp over. Go and instruct the kitchen to clean it up. I’ll personally cook a pot of mutton soup later. I’ll keep the lamb spine to make a lamb spine dish. His Highness likes this.”
After his body recovered, Yin Huaixi, like most northerners, had a strong taste.
Yu Youyao returned to her room to change her clothes before going to the kitchen.
The mutton was still being processed. She first instructed the servants to prepare all the necessary ingredients. She picked the medicinal herbs that she needed and soaked them in spiritual dewdrop.
When everything was ready, the mutton was also cleaned.
Yu Youyao planned to make mutton and radish soup. It was a little different from what she usually ate. There were more than 30 types of medicinal ingredients in total. It had the effect of nourishing the body, strengthening the muscles, and nourishing the kidneys.
It was also complicated to make..