kvmb Chapter 141 The King of Hu's Rebellion: Four Crises Ahead
Chapter 141 The King of Hu's Rebellion: Four Crises Ahead
After Nie Zhiyuan successfully arrived in Nanxiang, he informed the King of Hu about the situation in the capital and urged the King of Hu to return to the capital to restore order to the court.
The Prince of Hu lost the struggle for the throne to the emperor back then, and he was extremely resentful. Now that there is such a good opportunity, he must seize it. He can kill the crown prince in the chaos and take over the country. Wouldn't that be wonderful?
So he quickly mustered his troops and led a large army to conquer cities and territories one after another, capturing Lingcheng, Changcheng, and Chucheng. Now he was stationed outside Yucheng. If he could capture Yucheng, then only Yancheng would remain as the last line of defense. Beyond Yancheng was the capital...
Sending troops to quell the rebellion is now of utmost urgency.
But the capital only has 300,000 soldiers… Even if all the Imperial Guards and the Inner Guards were sent out, it would only add another 100,000. How could they possibly contend with Prince Hehu's 700,000 troops?
Furthermore, after receiving the evidence provided by Nie Qing, Grand Tutor Gao, together with many people from the Crown Prince's camp, impeached Nie Sheng in court, and immediately overturned An Daohe's case.
Princess Li Cen, who held great power in the court, took the opportunity to have Nie Sheng imprisoned.
Nie Sheng never imagined that it was Nie Qing who stabbed him in the back, but he wasn't worried at all. Now that the Prince of Hu was marching towards the capital, once he broke through, his Nie family would be safe.
Less than half a day later, Lu He arrived at the prison and met with Nie Sheng in private.
Nie Sheng was unimpressed and looked coldly at Lu He: "Lord Lu, tsk, the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, how come you have time to come and see this old man in person..." His words were sarcastic and veiled.
To everyone's surprise, Lu He didn't even glance at him, but instead took out a small black box-like object and held it up.
"How dare you be so rude! This old man... Ah!" He was about to lash out when he was blinded by the white light emitted from the black box. He had never seen such a sharp and intense light in his life, piercing his soul and causing his eyes to sting. At that moment, he seemed to see his great-grandmother...
Ignoring the old man's wailing and screaming, Lu He took out her camera and started snapping pictures of him, the flashing lights making the old man look extremely embarrassed and disheveled.
Once she felt it was about right, Lu He ignored Nie Sheng's life or death and focused on checking the photos in her hand. Hmm~ every single one of them was extremely ugly, and there was even one lying on the ground, looking as miserable as could be. Okay, okay, that's enough.
Then he left, satisfied.
Nie Sheng, still bewildered and terrified, squatted on the ground, trembling. He hadn't recovered yet; he probably couldn't understand it. Things in the unknown are the most terrifying.
Why would they be so afraid? It was just a bright light. As a modern person, Lu He certainly wouldn't understand. But the ancients could only see such a flashing white light under one circumstance: lightning. Lightning was divine punishment in their eyes, so how could they not be afraid?
Just now, Nie Sheng thought Lu He had some kind of sorcery and was going to strike him with lightning.
These extremely disheveled photos are enough for Nie Zhiyuan to see. Lu He pondered as he walked. Finding Nie Zhiyuan in the army of the King of Hu would probably require the skill of appearing and disappearing without a trace, and it couldn't be someone who currently held an important position. After thinking it over, only Bai Yu, an idle person, was suitable.
Thinking this, Lu He bought some good food and snacks, as well as things that little girls would like, and went to Bai Yu's residence. Since Bai Yu was dismissed from his post, Lu He had given him a few days off so that he could go back and spend some time with his sister. After all, he had been risking his life outside, and it was time for him to see his family.
What came into view was a nice house, clearly belonging to a prominent and wealthy family. It seemed that the salary paid to Bai Yu was indeed enough for him to live a life of luxury.
Gently knock on the gate of the courtyard.
The door creaked open a crack, revealing an impatient pair of eyes: "Who is it?"
"Uh, I'm Bai Yu's friend, I'm here..."
Seeing that Lu He was carrying something and wearing official robes, the man opened the door halfway and looked her down at him: "You can leave now, our young master does not receive guests!"
"Oh no, you've misunderstood. I'm his close friend..." Lu He then realized that she was carrying these things and wondered if people would think she was there to give gifts.
"Go, go, go quickly!" The servant waved his hand dismissively and slammed the door shut.
Lu He was turned away and was both amused and exasperated when he heard the voice of the servant talking to another servant from inside.
Who's outside?
"A female official, just a fourth-rank official, has the nerve to fawn over our young master, how shameless... What about these women..."
"Our young master was once the Imperial City Envoy, a first-rank official... He wouldn't be easily noticed by a young lady..."
"Oh dear, that's right. Although you no longer hold an official position, everyone knows that you are a favorite in the palace. How dare a mere female official try to climb the social ladder? You have no shame."
"Absolutely! What's the point of making these women officials? In the end, they just want to get into men's beds... Hahahaha!"
"Hahaha, let alone these female officials, I heard even the Eldest Princess... Our young master has apparently visited the Eldest Princess's residence!"
Lu He was furious at the door. She threw her things on the ground by the door, put her hands on her hips, and pointed at the door, cursing, "You two long-tongued dogs with sores on your mouths, get out here!"
Her outburst immediately silenced the room, followed by the sound of footsteps quickly moving away from the doorway. No matter how much she continued shouting and cursing, no one answered.
Trying to hide! Fine, fine!
Lu He immediately redeemed a megaphone from the system, turned the volume up to the maximum, and pointed it at the courtyard gate: "You snobbish bastard! You're like someone with a feather duster on their head and a dog-skin blanket wrapped around their neck. What kind of trash dares to openly discuss the female officials and Her Highness the Princess? You've got a death wish! I'll f*** you, you ***, you're a real *** damn *** unlucky thing ***!"
Pedestrians on the street shook their heads and walked around her. The curses were so vulgar that no one dared to look up at Lu He. They all lowered their heads and scurried along the wall.
"Bai Yu, get out here!" After cursing for so long, he finally remembered to call Bai Yu out first.
This loudspeaker can be heard not only in his entire house, but also in the neighboring street. Why hasn't Bai Yu reacted yet?
Bai Yu, far away in the West Market, sneezed violently. He was holding his younger sister in one arm and picking out a beautiful saddle with the other. He planned to buy her a pony with a saddle, as well as a pretty little bow, to teach her to ride a horse and shoot arrows.
A servant, panting, found him in the West Market: "Oh, young master, you'd better go back quickly! Something's happened at home. They're blocking the door and yelling at us. I managed to sneak out through the back door. It was terrifying! They're like shrewish hussies, a disgrace to all culture..."
Before he could finish speaking, Bai Yu handed his sister over to the servant: "Take the young lady to continue shopping. Go back later. I'll go back and check on things first..." After giving the instructions, he darted up the wall like a gust of wind and disappeared.
Just as they turned the corner, they heard Lu He cursing loudly.
Bai Yu was startled. Who was this fool who had offended her?
He quickly ran over and started shouting from afar, "Lord Lu! Lord Lu, please calm down!"
Hearing the sound coming from the side, Lu He turned his head and saw the person running towards him. Sure enough, this guy wasn't home; he had just come back from outside.
"Oh my master, Lord Lu, why are you cursing in the street while wearing your official robes?" Bai Yu was both amused and exasperated. He knew she didn't like to play by the rules, but this kind of unconventional behavior was quite something.
“Master, it’s beneath your dignity to personally scold him. Who do you want to scold? I’ll do it.” Bai Yu patted his chest.
"Pah! I'm cursing you! I'm cursing your dog servants! What face do I have to lose? Your servants don't give me any face!" Lu He was furious and had nowhere to vent her anger.
"Master, what happened?"
"Open the door for me first! I had serious business with you, but deal with those two gossipy men spreading rumors first, then I'll settle accounts with you!" Lu He rolled up his sleeves and was about to kick the door open.
Bai Yu rushed over and kicked his own front door, smashing it to pieces, to vent Lu He's anger.
Lu He didn't waste any words with him. She rushed in, her eyes scanning the surroundings. She quickly locked onto the servant who had just opened the door, and in one swift motion, she grabbed him by the collar: "Where's the other one? The one who was with you just now, that foul-mouthed bastard!"
The servant looked to his young master for help, but Bai Yu looked away and refused to look at him.
He had no choice but to deflate: "And him..." He pointed tremblingly at another servant, who immediately knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly, saying he was wrong, he was wrong.
Although Bai Yu didn't know what had happened, judging from Lu He's fury, it must have been something very excessive.
"Bai Yu!" Lu He kicked each of them once, still not satisfied: "Pull out their tongues!"
The two servants panicked upon hearing this and immediately begged for mercy. But the instant they opened their mouths, Bai Yu swiftly cut off their tongues with a swift stroke of his knife. It was so fast that no one could react before the severed tongues fell to the ground and Bai Yu received them.
"Master, is there anything else you need?" Bai Yu stood firmly behind Lu He, ready to obey orders.
The two servants on the ground writhed in pain. Lu He nodded with satisfaction: "Everyone, look! This is the price for spreading rumors! Humiliating a female official and the princess, it's already merciful not to kill them outright!"
The servants in the courtyard immediately became obedient, kneeling on the ground and not daring to move.
They were always full of sharp tongues, looking down on the female officials, thinking that their only purpose in holding office was to make it easier for them to climb into men's beds. Such remarks were common in the city. Now, they never expected that they would have their tongues cut out for saying such things, and they were so frightened that they covered their mouths and dared not speak recklessly again.
However, Lu He also realized the grim situation of internal and external troubles. On the one hand, the Princess's policy of appointing female officials led many conservatives to deliberately incite humiliating remarks about female officials, and even humiliate the Princess's humiliating celebrations of women. On the other hand, news of the Prince of Hu's rebellion would reach the capital sooner or later. Military intelligence and war information could not be blocked for long. In particular, if Yancheng was in danger, the whole city would know. Right now, the Prince of Hu's army must be annihilated in Yucheng.
"Bai Yu, these rumors are circulating, and I think they're definitely related to Chao Ying and his gang! I have something to ask of you!" Lu He now had a brand new plan.