The series of sudden changes that occurred within the territory of Chen shocked the countries in the south and north of the Yangtze River. The countries in Jiangbei had already surrendered to the iron cavalry of the Sui army, almost with a mentality of watching the excitement and seeing how their Crown Prince could conquer the land of Jiangnan with just one elite iron cavalry. Among the Jiangnan countries, except for the Chen Kingdom, which was the first to defect, the four kingdoms of Wei, Luo, Jiang, and Yun, as well as the Crown Prince and important officials, all fell into the hands of the Sui army. These two days, they are also suffering greatly. It was difficult to sleep and eat, and they were almost in a state of semi-defection. Therefore, the most affected country was Jiang Empire, the sovereign.
Especially with the news that Jiang Yun, the Crown Prince of the Jiang Empire, had fallen off a cliff and died, the countries had almost tacitly agreed in their hearts that the Jiang Empire was really going to be cold this time. In the past few years, the Crown Prince, relying on his reputation as a courtesan, recruited countless loyal, brave, and wise individuals to serve him, held the Liushang Banquet, established the Golden Orchid Alliance, and closely united the six countries of Jiangnan, building an indestructible city wall. The Sui army launched several counterattacks but failed to tear open a single opening in this city wall.
Now that the Crown Prince of Jiang has died, it is no different from the collapse of the most important pillar on the city wall. The countries were eagerly waiting to divide up the advisors under their doors and the fertile land that was the Jiang Empire’s. There are even countries that have privately entrusted people to send heavy money to those advisors and promised them high positions and salaries that are far better than those of the Jiang Empire, attracting them to defect and serve them.
Under the dusk, the Muyun Pass is like a fierce beast perched by the river, dragging its huge body and silently gazing at the surging Yellow River water.
King Chu, Jiang Lang, with his jade crown and hair tied up, dressed in a wide-sleeved, broad-colored coat of basilica color, condescended to stand in front of the tent in which Fan Zhou resided.
The soldiers who came and went saw this scene and were accustomed to it, so they did not show any surprise. Since King Chu was ordered by the monarch to come to Muyun Pass and take over military affairs, he has been visiting Fan Zhou’s injured tent almost every day.
Even when Master Fan was sick and didn’t see him, King Chu insisted on it day after day, rain or shine.
King Chu, Jiang Lang, has passed the age of the crown. Although his appearance can also be called handsome, he tends to be colder and more serious. His temper is also known for being unpredictable, and the servants in the mansion are not afraid of him.
The weather has been bad for the past two days, and the sky is drizzling again.
Jiang Lang’s wide sleeves floated in the wind, standing gracefully with a calm face but an anxious heart.
He has been waiting for this day for too long.
He has countless ambitions in his heart, and he can’t wait to take all the subordinates in Jiang Yun’s mansion as his own.
He is the eldest son of Emperor Jiang and has been greatly favored since birth. His mother, Consort Shen, is also very influential, and he should have successfully become the Crown Prince, enjoying countless honors and respect.
But all of this changed after Jiang Yun appeared.
This younger brother, who was born a few years after him, not only stole his Crown Prince position but also the attention of the ministers and the gaze of his Emperor Father. Before Jiang Yun appeared, he was able to receive praise from his Emperor Father from time to time for both his writings and his other five arts, and many ministers praised him for his resourcefulness and his ability to take on great responsibilities. But ever since Jiang Yun appeared, the ministers only saw the “stunning and talented” Crown Prince, not the “ordinary and unremarkable” King Chu. Even the palace attendants privately discuss that “although King Chu is beautiful, he is far inferior to the Crown Prince…” He couldn’t understand why his Emperor Father insisted on making Jiang Yun the Crown Prince when he clearly detested the son born to this evil creature. Is he giving himself a hard time?
At first, he and his mother, Consort Shen, were in no hurry.
Because this younger brother has no maternal influence to rely on in the court and is relying solely on the false reputation of the Crown Prince, he cannot persist for too long. But they never expected that Jiang Yun, with his reputation of “being known throughout the world for his virtue character,” would attract countless talented people to serve him. These people, with their exceptional intelligence and outstanding talents, quickly established themselves in the court and became Jiang Yun’s right-hand men. And his always-stern and domineering father even let Jiang Yun develop his own power.
By the time their mother and son realized it, Jiang Yun was no longer the “weak and helpless” Crown Prince of the past, but the renowned His Highness Rongyu, who had his reputation spread throughout Jiangnan and was universally accepted by all countries.
Jiang Lang was originally going to despair.
Until this time, when Jiang Yun died, his Emperor Father immediately sent him to Muyun Pass to take over military affairs in the northern region.
Jiang Lang suddenly realized that his Emperor Father had not forgotten him. His Emperor Father had previously held back and allowed Jiang Yun to do his bidding in the former dynasty just to borrow Jiang Yun’s hand and enlist talents for the Jiang Empire. As long as there is a suitable opportunity, his Emperor Father will immediately give up Jiang Yun and hand over all this priceless wealth to him.
He is still the beloved son in the heart of his Emperor Father.
Jiang Lang was instantly filled with fighting spirit.
But the process of taking over was not as smooth as Jiang Lang had imagined.
Since Jiang Lang arrived at Muyun Pass, he has been treated politely from top to bottom, from general to his duties. However, Jiang Lang could see that it was only superficial politeness, and these people did not truly regard him as King Chu, and they were very perfunctory in their orders.
But Jiang Lang remained calm and composed.
Jiang Yun has already passed away. Once was a prince, once were the ministers, these people received salaries from the court, and it would not be a matter of time before they submitted to him, the future new Crown Prince.
So Jiang Lang decided to start with Fan Zhou first.
He knew that Fan Zhou was one of Jiang Yun’s most trusted advisors, and as long as he could win over Fan Zhou, other advisors would surrender. It’s just that for a few consecutive days, Fan Zhou deliberately avoided him, which inevitably made Jiang Lang a little anxious.
“How’s Master Fan?”
Seeing the military doctor come out, Jiang Lang immediately approached to inquire.
King Chu has a noble status and is the eldest and most beloved son of the monarch. He may also be the future Crown Prince, and the military physician dare not refuse to answer.
“His injury has penetrated his bones and is very serious. I need to quickly get medicine for him…”
The military physician left in a hurry.
After all, Jiang Lang was not truly modest. He was a person who respected the virtuous, and the military physician’s attitude completely angered Jiang Lang. He clenched his fists and rushed straight into the tent.
Fan Zhou was drinking chicken soup in bed with one arm hanging off the other.
Upon seeing Jiang Lang enter, he immediately let out a call, put down his bowl, and the left and right attendants quickly supported him. “Master, be careful…”
“His Highness is here, why don’t you guys inform us?”
Fan Zhou shouted and scolded, wanting to get out of bed and salute.
Jiang Lang dared not accept his salute and quickly stepped forward to help him and said, “Master, you are seriously injured. You don’t need to be too polite.”
“Hmm, hmm.”
Fan Zhou covered his arm and hissed in gratitude.
The attendant then stepped forward and said, “Master, it’s time to change the medicine.”
Jiang Lang could only move aside and ask the attendants to administer medicine to Fan Zhou.
This change takes half an hour to finish.
Jiang Lang waited anxiously and dared not say anything. After finally waiting for the attendants to step down, he quickly spoke up, “Master, the Sui army are now displayed on the north bank, and there is a possibility of another surprise attack at any moment. Regarding the defense of Muyun Pass, I have some opinions…”
Jiang Lang wanted to take the opportunity to replace a few of his own generals.
Unexpectedly, he hadn’t said anything yet. Fan Zhou suddenly shouted out, rolled his eyes, and fell straight down.
The attendant exclaimed in surprise, “Master!”
Another wave of busyness.
Two attendants helped Fan Zhou up together, placed him on the bed, and apologized to Jiang Lang, “Your Highness, it must be because the medicine is too strong. The Master is weak, and he passed out due to pain. He has been fainting repeatedly for the past few days…We need to call a military doctor immediately!”
Jiang Lang: “……”
Jiang Lang knew that the other party was deliberately delaying and neglecting, so he could only endure it and take a deep breath and say, “Then this king will come and visit the Master another day.”
Jiang Lang went out of the tent and happened to have his trusted subordinate come over and say, “Your Highness, Concubine Shen was afraid that it would be cold in the North, so she had someone send you cotton clothes and a cloak.”
Jiang Lang had no mood to wear any cotton clothes, and with a cold face, he said he knew and left in anger.
Fan Zhou heard it from inside and sighed. King Chu was favored by the monarch and is loved by his mother. What about his Highness? His Highness, who’s now fallen off the cliff, his bones are not yet cold, not to mention cotton clothes, he is afraid that no one will even help to collect his whole body.
.
His poor Highness.
……
When Sui Heng returned, Jiang Yun had already sat in the palace, reading a book.
The sparse sunlight scattered on the thick clothes was extraordinarily gentle and warm.
Sui Heng really liked this kind of peaceful scene. As he walked over, he casually wrapped him up and asked, “Gu heard that you went to the garden with the Chen Kingdom’s Guozhu this morning?”
“What, I can’t?”
Jiang Yun returned without raising his head.
Sui Heng chuckled.
He thought to himself, He is really a little spoiled and arrogant.
He felt a little jealous in his heart and directly took away the book, hugged the person in his arms, and raised his eyebrows and said, “Of course you can, but you’d rather go around the garden laughing and talking to a bad old man than talk to Gu a little bit more. Isn’t that a bit excessive?”
Half an hour ago, Fan Qi came over angrily and complain about him in front of Xu Qiao and the others.
“He ordered this subordinate to pour him wine, treating this subordinate like a servant. This subordinate is a subordinate to Your Highness only, how can this subordinate be commanded by him?”
“He called His Highness by his first name, without any rules!”
“He even chatted and laughed with the Guozhu of the Chen Kingdom as well, talking about laborious flowers and plants, not remembering his own status at all!”
Fan Qi was full of anger and grievances.
Sui Heng listened with interest, then rewarded Fan Qi with a beating with the military baton.
Sui Heng didn’t mind and even thought it was fresh, except for the last one, “Talking and laughing with the Guozhu of the Chen Kingdom, discussing laborious flowers and plants” which made him jealous and deeply ingrained in his heart.
“Are the flowers and plants in the royal palace of the Chen Kingdom really that beautiful?”
Jiang Yun said, “I’m just bored and browsing around casually.”
Looking down, Sui Heng noticed that Jiang Yun was only wearing a thin silk garment and not an outer robe. He couldn’t help but frowned. “Why are you dressed so thinly?”
Jiang Yun said, “I got some wine on it and took it to be cleaned.”
Sui Heng indeed smelled a faint smell of alcohol around his neck, and his jealousy grew even stronger: “Did you drink with that old thing?”
Jiang Yun nodded and said, “I drank some…”
Just as he finished speaking, he was picked up by his waist.
Jiang Yun: “What do you want to do?”
Sui Heng raised his eyebrows and said, “What do you think? As a concubine, you have been drinking in the garden with another old man behind Gu’s back. Naturally, Gu will punish you well according to family rules.”
It’s broad daylight, and there are people outside the palace.
The slightest movement in the palace could be clearly transmitted.
Jiang Yun leaned on his shoulder, bit his lip, and said, “I just drank a little, it’s not like you prohibit me from drinking.”
Sui Heng said with a cold and ruthless face, “Cunning, adding insult to injury.”
“……”
He’s already got his hands at his back, so Jiang Yun could only encircle his neck, and kiss him gently on one side of his face, then asked, “Like this, is it okay?”
Sui Heng’s footsteps stiffened.
At almost the same time, his soldier came to report outside. “Your Highness, the Chen Kingdom’s Guozhu, is seeking an audience, said he has something important to report.”
