Chapter 660
Chapter 660
"What happened to the Crown Prince?"
Zhang Su replied to Zhu Hongzhu's question.
"When I left the main army to head north, His Highness the Crown Prince had already fled to the sea under the protection of the masters from the Ends of the Earth Sea Pavilion."
Zhu Hongzhu trembled once more.
"Tell me in detail."
"His Highness the Crown Prince and General Nangong Ao led ten thousand cavalry to advance and seize Fallen Leaf City. However, they were ambushed and hindered by the warriors of the Shaman Tribe along the way. Suspecting that the Great Kun Army had started a forest fire, His Highness abandoned the ten thousand cavalry and fled alone..."
Hearing this, Zhu Hongzhu nearly fainted again.
*It's over. It's all over!*
"Foolish boy, such a fool. The Southern Gull Kingdom is the Great Kun's country, and its people are his subjects. Would he really start a forest fire? The fact that he pressured the Crown Prince into abandoning his army and fleeing means he had already set a trap at sea!"
Zhu Hongzhu shed tears.
"That fool must have been captured."
The worst had happened. If the Crown Prince was truly captured, everything would be over.
"Your Excellency the Prime Minister, please take care. I must enter the palace and report this news to His Majesty."
"General Zhang, first bathe and change your clothes. I will accompany you to seek an audience with His Majesty."
* * *
For the past two days, Ning Yuanxian had been greatly disappointed in Zhu Hongzhu.
*Do you think I cannot see it? The ministers' impeachment of Shen Lang—was that not your doing, Zhu Hongzhu? You've pitted me against my officials, even causing me to lose authority. Was your plan for the Crown Prince to return triumphant, become the pillar of the court, and stand in opposition to me?*
Ning Yuanxian was exceptionally intelligent; he knew everything. Yet, at times, he found it difficult to control his emotions. He knew this was clearly a conspiracy by Zhu Hongzhu to isolate him, but unable to bear it, he had lost his temper and arbitrarily ordered the arrest of the censors. What infuriated him even more was that those who had been beaten to death had all become heroes. They were heroes not only in the eyes of the scholars but also in the hearts of the common people, while he, Ning Yuanxian, had become a tyrant like Jie and Zhou.
A foolish king, a tyrant! He couldn't imagine how many people were pointing their fingers and cursing him now. Nor could he imagine how many were eagerly awaiting the Crown Prince's triumphant return to take charge of the State of Yue. He now understood why Shen Lang treated everyone like dogs and pigs, killing and trampling them as he pleased. Perhaps right and wrong did not exist in this world. Or perhaps they did, but by the time the truth was revealed, the innocent would already be long dead. The distinction between right and wrong often becomes clear only when it no longer matters.
*Shen Lang, it seems only you live a satisfying life!*
Overcome with anger, Ning Yuanxian once again lost control of his hands, which trembled ceaselessly. The Grand Eunuch Li Zhun spoke.
"Your Majesty, perhaps you should attend the morning court tomorrow."
"Attend the morning court? They care nothing for matters of state, not even the three hundred thousand soldiers of Chu pressing at our borders. All they do is impeach Shen Lang and Jin Zhuo! Someone with sinister intentions is pitting me against my officials, impatiently trying to have the Crown Prince take charge of the nation. They are trying to strike back at me."
"It is for that very reason that Your Majesty must attend."
Ning Yuanxian sneered.
"Do you know how well the Zhu Clan is treating Ning Qi now? They give him money when he needs it, and grain when he needs it. The leaders of the Third Prince's faction will not become a blade in my hand. Besides, I must avoid implicating them if possible. To hold back Chu, I need the Zhong Clan. To hold back Wu, I need the Third Prince's faction and Ning Qi."
That was the saddest part. He had to endure for the sake of the country. The Crown Prince's faction, believing they had won, refused to yield for the nation's good. But the king, for the sake of the greater picture, had no choice but to yield again.
"Zhu Hongzhu, hehehe... He truly does not consider himself a subject of Yue!"
"Your Majesty, the night is late. You should rest."
Ning Yuanxian instinctively started toward Consort Bian's palace. Only there could he find true warmth. As expected, Consort Bian had warmed some osmanthus wine, a calming brew, for him. After he drank it, she began to massage his numb arm.
Consort Bian said gently.
"Your Majesty, it would be best to go to the Queen's chambers tonight. It is her turn to attend to you."
"I will not go!"
"Your Majesty..."
Ning Yuanxian knew that Consort Bian had said this after much thought. The officials and the king were at odds, and the most crucial power in this situation was the Zhu Clan. Consort Bian hoped the Queen could help buffer the relationship between the king and Zhu Hongzhu. Besides, it was indeed the Queen's turn to attend to him tonight. No matter how favored she was, she could not break the rules.
"Hah, very well."
Ning Yuanxian reluctantly left Consort Bian's palace and went to the Queen's palace. However, he was soon about to burst with anger because of the Queen. The gates to her palace were firmly locked.
"Your Majesty, Her Majesty has already retired for the night."
A junior palace maid knelt on the ground and reported in a trembling voice.
*What... what is the meaning of this? The Queen is the monarch's wife, yet she refuses her duties? Refuses me, Ning Yuanxian, entry into her chambers? Is this still my royal palace? Hahaha. What an absurd thing to happen in this world. Just because Crown Prince Ning Yi has won some ambiguous victory, everyone acts as if he's achieved an unparalleled feat. And now even my Queen dares to act so outrageously? The King of Yue is me, Ning Yuanxian, not Ning Yi! The Zhu Clan is not yet the master of Yue!*
Ning Yuanxian felt an unprecedented sense of humiliation.
"Hahaha..."
He let out a cold laugh, then turned and left the Queen's palace, heading back to Consort Bian's chambers.
*Ridiculous! Shameless!*
Ning Yuanxian felt his entire body trembling, and the shaking in his hands grew even more severe.
*Zhu Clan, I never realized before how crazed you've become.*
On his way back to Consort Bian's palace, a young eunuch came to report.
"Your Highness, Zhu Hongzhu and Zhang Su request an audience tonight!"
Ning Yuanxian was startled by the words.
*Zhu Hongzhu requesting an audience in the middle of the night is strange enough, but Zhang Su is here too? Wasn't he on the battlefield in the Southern Gull Kingdom?*
In an instant, a sense of foreboding rose in Ning Yuanxian's heart. He rushed toward his study like an arrow.
* * *
As soon as Ning Yuanxian entered the study, he saw Zhu Hongzhu and Zhang Su kneeling side by side.
"Your Majesty, we have been defeated on the battlefield of the Southern Gull Kingdom! The entire army has been annihilated!"
Zhang Su spoke bluntly. For a moment, Ning Yuanxian froze as if in a still frame, not moving a muscle.
*Defeated? An army of over two hundred thousand annihilated? How is that possible? Just a few days ago, there was a report of a great victory. Didn't they say the Great Kun Army was nearly wiped out? How did that turn into the army of Yue being annihilated?*
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..."
Li Zhun came forward and helped Ning Yuanxian to a chair. Li Zhun said angrily.
"Speak. Explain in detail!"
At that moment, Ning Yuanxian was speechless, his body turning ice-cold, devoid of warmth. Zhang Su knelt on the floor and recounted the entire sequence of events in detail. Afterward, a deathly silence fell upon the study. It was an unprecedented nightmare. The greatest nightmare since the sudden death of Princess Ning Li. Ning Yuanxian leaned back, closing his eyes in agony. When he opened them, the world spun, and he couldn't keep them open. Li Zhun quickly took out the medicine prescribed by Shen Lang, put it in Ning Yuanxian's mouth without a second thought, and forced him to swallow it with some ginseng soup.
"Zhu Hongzhu, you are truly shameless!"
After a long while, those were the first words Ning Yuanxian spoke. His voice was utterly weary. Zhu Hongzhu pressed his forehead to the ground.
"So shameless. Shameless... Speak, Zhu Hongzhu..."
Zhu Hongzhu spoke in a trembling voice.
"This old servant's crimes deserve death ten thousand times over!"
Ning Yuanxian said calmly.
"At the time, to allow the Crown Prince to earn this merit, you all did everything in your power to have him sent south. Shen Lang and Ning Zheng opposed it. While I did not see the whole picture as they did, I trusted Shen Lang. That is why I, too, kept delaying Ning Yi's departure. Yet you did not give up. You had Zhu Lin and Nangong Ao send one memorial after another, acting as if they would not fight unless the Crown Prince went. Zhu Rong claimed to be on his deathbed, appealing to all the scholars of the realm to attack Shen Lang and Ning Zheng, branding them with the shameful label of the surrenderist faction and saddling me with the yoke of a foolish king."
Zhu Hongzhu prostrated himself on the floor.
"Zhu Hongzhu, your strategic insight surpasses mine. Tell me. At the time, Shen Lang said the Crown Prince should not go south, that the main army should not leave the city to attack the enemy, but should instead hold their ground and build fortresses along the border to wage a war of attrition against the Great Kun Army. I did not fully grasp the situation then, but did you? Did you also think Shen Lang's words made sense?"
Zhu Hongzhu bowed his head and said.
"They made sense."
"Then why did you push for the Crown Prince to go south and to lead the army out to attack the Great Kun forces?"
Zhu Hongzhu replied in a trembling voice.
"Because this old servant wanted His Highness the Crown Prince to earn military honors and solidify his position."
"Is that why you couldn't wait for the war to end before sending a report of a great victory? Two hundred thousand against forty thousand, yet not only did we fail to defeat them, but they easily broke through our encirclement. We suffered thirty to forty thousand casualties, while the Great Kun Army had only about ten thousand. Yet in your mouths, that became a tale of beheading eighty thousand enemy soldiers and nearly annihilating the Great Kun Army. Did you teach them to be so shameless, Zhu Hongzhu?"
"This old servant deserves death. I deserve death!"
"You do deserve death. Shen Lang already told me. He said you are a subject of the Great Yan Empire, that everything you do is in service to them, and that you never had any intention of being loyal to our State of Yue. In my heart, I did not believe him. I thought you had affection for me, and for Yue. But now I see I was thinking foolishly."
Zhu Hongzhu prostrated himself and said.
"This old servant deserves death!"
Ning Yuanxian stood up and roared.
"If killing you could solve this predicament, I would tear you to shreds! You wicked old man. You are worse than Su Nan!"
"This subject deserves death!"
Ning Yuanxian closed his eyes again. Now that it had happened, no amount of anger had any meaning. What was to be done now?
Ning Yuanxian said.
"The Southern Gull Kingdom could not be held, and the hundred thousand soldiers of the Tiannan defense line were requisitioned by you, leaving it empty. Tell me, how many troops are left in Tiannan Province now?"
Just then, the sound of urgent footsteps came from outside.
"Zhong E requests an audience."
"Ning Jie requests an audience."
The two Vice Ministers of the Bureau of Military Affairs had both arrived. Soon, they too heard about the nightmare.