Chapter 1047: Hidden Dragon Army on Standby
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Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The Marquis of Zhenguo said, “The news has already been sent out. I think we should receive a reply soon. Eunuch Zhu obtained the emperor’s ‘written order’ to mobilize the Third Battalion of the capital and be escorted by them. It’s guaranteed to be foolproof.”
The Third Battalion of the capital that was partic.i.p.ating in the escort was made up of outstanding soldiers carefully selected from the various camps in the country. These soldiers were experienced and were the trump cards hidden in the Third Battalion of the capital. They were also the sharpest knives in the emperor’s hands.
The group discussed for a long time and finally agreed on the transportation, output, route, and so on.
Yu Zongshen looked exhausted. After coughing for a while, his face was already pale. “Your families should also be prepared to leave the capital at any time. After all, this is a job that offends people. It’s better to do it sooner rather than later, in case anything changes and causes trouble.”
The news of abandoning the capital to protect the north caused an uproar. When it reached Xiangping City, Yu Youyao couldn’t help but be shocked and broke out in a cold sweat.
Yin Huaixi had long a.s.sessed Thief Liang’s strength and a.s.serted that it was destined for Thief Liang to enter the capital.
Meanwhile, the Yu Clan’s actions were really unexpected. How similar was it to back then when Duke Zhonglie killed the king and opened the city gate to welcome the new emperor?!
It wasn’t until this moment that Yu Youyao finally understood the first sentence the elders had said to their descendants. “The Yu Clan is the Yu Clan of the world. They are loyal to all the people in the world, govern the peace and health of the country, seek eternal peace, and prosper the lives of the people. The backbone of the Yu Clan was built by thousands of commoners in the world.”
At that time, she couldn’t understand.
After knowing the cause of her mother’s death, she more or less resented the Yu Clan. She always felt that the Yu Clan was cold and valued profit.
It wasn’t until her grandmother pa.s.sed away that she came to Xiangping and gradually interacted with the Yu Clan. Gradually, she also felt the protection of the Yu Clan. She also understood that there was no fairness to speak of in a large family. It required everyone to be treated equally. It was impossible for even saints to do it. Meanwhile, fairness was reflected on a scale. There was a certain level of fairness in the treatment of people. On a certain scale, everyone was treated equally.
However, fairness did not mean justice.
However, in this world, there was only fairness.
What was justice?
The first character in the Chinese word for “justice” had a broad meaning and represented the general public.
The second character in the Chinese word for “justice” meant that one was not biased and upright.
Justice was the moral standard and represented the interests of most people. It was fair to most people. Justice was in line with the interest of most people. There was a balance between fairness and justice.
Equity was a measure of fairness.
Justice was in the hearts of the people.
It was the self-evident truth!
The Yu Clan had grasped this very well.
Yu Youyao slowly closed her eyes, her voice a little dry. “What are they saying outside?”
Xia Tao swallowed. “There— There are all kinds of things. Some people say that the Second Master is doing this for the greater good and for the future of our descendants. Others say that the Second Master abandoned the capital to protect the north and is not loyal to the Imperial Court. They said that he’s really an unfaithful and unrighteous person, and that such an act of forceful raiding is no different from that of an evil bandit. It’s humiliating and shameful. Some people also say that the Second Master was scared out of his wits by Thief Liang. It sounds good that he abandoned the capital to protect the north to support the war in the North, but in fact, he gave the Great Zhou Dynasty to that Thief Liang…”
Giving up on the capital was equivalent to giving up on those innocent and pitiful commoners in the areas of the north that had yet to be occupied by Thief Liang.
Yu Youyao took a deep breath. Yu Zongshen was indeed on the side of righteousness, but a family that had raided the a.s.sets of others for no reason, regardless of whether they were innocent or not, had suffered an undeserved calamity. How could she take this lying down? She would definitely publicize their infamy.
This method was indeed harmful to others.
Even Duke Zhonglie, who had killed the king back then, might not have been especially beautiful to his descendants if Emperor Gaozu had not used “Zhonglie1” as his name.
Since ancient times, it was said that loyalty and filial piety couldn’t be mixed. It was never just talk.
Yu Youyao couldn’t go against her conscience and say that Yu Zongshen shouldn’t have done this. After all, the person who had benefited was Yin Huaixi, who was also part of the 500,000 You army. They had risked their lives to protect the citizens of the Great Zhou.
After putting away the secret letter from the capital, Yu Youyao changed her clothes again. Then, she called Butler Wen over to gather the military advisors and aides in the residence for a discussion.
The group stared at the map and pointed at it. After repeated deliberation, they finally confirmed the response route.
“The Third Battalion of the capital has already set off. In a secret letter, the Marquis of Zhenguo explained the transportation route. He arranged the time and place to receive the Third Battalion of the capital at the designated time and place, as well as the items to be transported. A total of 50,000 elite troops will stay behind in Xiang Ping City. Meanwhile, 10,000 people were transferred and split into ten groups. They will set up support points on the transportation route we’ve agreed on. Each group will cooperate and coordinate with each other to hide, ambush, cover, and reconnoiter…”
Humans died for wealth, and birds died for food. Yu Youyao had never underestimated the greed of the world. Even when the country was in trouble, there would still be people who did not care about the righteousness of the country and took the risk.
After repeated discussions until late at night, Yu Youyao finally heaved a sigh of relief.
All the people in the meeting left and quickly made arrangements.
The room returned to silence.
The candlelight flickered on the lampstand, and the light gradually dimmed.
Yu Youyao rubbed her throbbing temples and repeatedly a.n.a.lyzed the route she had previously decided on, the location of the support, and the entire support process. She broke down the route carefully and pondered each part one by one.
The You army could not enter the capital without receiving an edict.
The reinforcements they had arranged were all in Liaodong, in Hebei outside Liaodong, but Jingzhao could not interfere.
This batch of things was too huge, and they had gathered all the wealth of the Great Zhou. Yu Youyao couldn’t help but feel envious and fl.u.s.tered, worried that if anything went wrong, outsiders would benefit.
Yu Youyao sat in the dark room. Her expression looked a little flickering and obscure under the flickering candlelight.
In the end, she took out a bone whistle from her collar. Yin Huaixi had personally hung it around her neck the night before she left the army.
Rubbing the bone whistle gently with her fingers, Yu Youyao brought it to her lips and blew hard.
A short, sharp voice sounded.
At some point, a cool breeze blew into the room. The candlelight on the lampstand swayed and extinguished with a faint sound.
The room immediately became dark. A hoa.r.s.e voice said, “The Hidden Dragon Army is on standby.”
The 1,000-man Hidden Dragon Army had been personally handed over to her by Yin Huaixi before she left. The Hidden Dragon Army did not belong to the Imperial Court and was only ordered by Yin Huaixi. It was the greatest confidence Yin Huaixi had left for her.
No one knew what Eldest Princess Shaoyi had conspired with the Hidden Dragon Army that night. The 1,000 Hidden Dragon Army soldiers split up and silently pa.s.sed through the east gate.
As expected!
The Third Battalion of the capital set off from the capital. The journey was very smooth. However, before they entered Shanhai Pa.s.s and arrived at Huludao, they were ambushed by a group of rioters.