amaotonovel Chapter 788: I Want 2 Elite Soldiers
Chapter 788: I Want 2 Elite Soldiers
The emperor immediately straightened his body, which had been drooping and tilting just now, and stared at Prince Jing who was kneeling on the steps with a venomous gaze like a poisonous snake. A trace of imperceptible calculation and coldness flashed in the depths of his eyes.
But his face immediately changed into a false expression of concern. He waved his hand in a fake gesture, signaling Eunuch Li, "Oh! Uncle Wang! Please stand up quickly! By kneeling, aren't you putting me in an unjust position and making me bear eternal infamy in front of our ancestors? Eunuch Li! Quick! Help Uncle Wang up!"
Eunuch Li got the signal and immediately trotted down the stairs. He stretched out his skinny hand and weakly supported Prince Jing's arm.
The moment Eunuch Li's hand touched Prince Jing's clothes, the sorrow on Prince Jing's face receded like the tide. The extreme coldness and resentment in his eyes, which were as poisonous as poison, immediately turned into peace the moment he raised his head.
His clenched fists turned white in the knuckles and bulged with veins due to extreme anger, but he suppressed them with amazing willpower in the next second and slowly loosened them.
He turned his gaze away from the emperor's hypocritical face. Deep in his eyes was deep hatred and coldness. "I don't agree with him going!" His voice was very decisive, and he no longer called himself "minister".
Prince Jing's two tearful and heart-wrenching sentences were like a huge rock thrown into a calm lake, instantly arousing a huge wave of sympathy among the civil and military officials.
Everyone recalled the misfortunes that had befallen Prince Jing's mansion over the past thirty years, and the tragic fate of its now dwindling population. Discussions once again rang out in the court, this time filled with lamentations and pity:
"Yes, yes, Your Highness is right. The person who should least go right now is Prince Hong!"
"If something were to happen to Prince Hong again... well, the lineage of Prince Jing's mansion would truly be... cut off!"
"If not... if there is really no one else available, Prince Hong is indeed the best candidate to turn the tide... but this, alas!" The discussion was full of contradictions and helplessness.
Just as all the officials were talking and discussing, and the entire court was plunged into a chaotic noise of sympathy and helplessness, a tall figure stepped out firmly from the line behind Prince Jing and stood in the center of the imperial road.
"Your Majesty, I, Xu Dingbang, am willing to share your worries and lead the troops north to drive out the Tartars and recover the lost territory!" The voice was clear and firm, with unquestionable determination, exploding like thunder in the noisy hall!
"Hiss!" A chorus of gasps echoed throughout the hall. Everyone was stunned by this sudden request for help.
Prince Hong actually ignored his father's objection and volunteered to go to the battlefield!
"Your Majesty!"
"Uncle Wang!"
The exclamations rang out almost simultaneously.
Prince Jing, who had just been helped up by Eunuch Li, had not yet caught his breath and his legs were numb from kneeling for so long. When he heard the familiar and resolute voice of his son coming from behind him, his body suddenly stiffened, and then his vision went dark, as if all his strength had been drained away, and he fell straight onto an official next to him!
"Prince Jing!"
"Quick! Quickly support the prince!"
"Uncle Wang! What's wrong with you?"
"Imperial Physician! Call the Imperial Physician!"
In an instant, the already chaotic court completely exploded. There was a cacophony of exclamations, running sounds, and screams calling for the imperial physician. In the Golden Throne Hall, people and horses were thrown to the ground!
The corners of the man's vicious face actually curled up slightly, and he took a long breath and leaned back leisurely.
But no one noticed that at this time, Prince Jing, whose head was tightly hugged by Prince Hong, moved his eyelids slightly.
The imperial physician hurried into the hall, medicine box in hand. The silver needle gleamed coldly in the candlelight. The three-inch needle pierced Prince Jing's Ren Zhong acupoint. The old prince shuddered slightly, his gray beard trembling slightly, and only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.
Four eunuchs carried the person to the side hall carefully, fearing that they would disturb the tense atmosphere in the hall.
All the civil and military officials in the court thought that Prince Jing's sudden illness would temporarily delay Prince Hong's northern expedition.
However, Prince Hong simply raised his hand to adjust the jade belt soaked with cold sweat, straightened the crown with coiled dragon pattern, and then stood back at the head of the line of military officers.
The emperor on the dragon throne suddenly sneered, his fingertips tapping the gilded armrests with a crisp sound. "When does Dingbang plan to set off for the northern expedition? Should we wait until Uncle Wang's condition improves before leaving?"
These words hit like a piece of ice dropped into boiling oil. The six ministers standing at the foot of the altar all shrank their necks simultaneously, and the ivory tablet of the Vice Minister of Revenue fell to the ground with a "clatter".
Li Dewang, standing behind the throne, gasped, hunched over, and took a half-step back behind the Panlong Pillar. He secretly thanked himself for the secrecy he had maintained when he defected to the Fourth Prince. Otherwise, he would have been like his master by now, with not even a single intact bone to be found.
He recalled the day when Concubine Hua was given poisoned wine, how that once most favored beauty in the palace had grasped the wine cup with the gilded phoenix pattern and refused to drink, and finally he ordered the eunuch to pinch her nose and force it into her mouth;
I recall the time when over 300 people from the Duke of Anguo's mansion lined up at the Caishikou to be slaughtered, how blood overflowed through the cracks in the bluestone slabs and flowed into the gutter;
I recall the heartbreaking cries of the children in the capital as those people with the surname "Hua" were driven out of Yongding Gate by the imperial guards...
Eunuch Li's knees suddenly started to tremble. Although he seemed to be very important over the years, he often woke up in the middle of the night with his shirt soaked with cold sweat.
"Although Dingbang wishes to die on the battlefield, he won't die in vain." Prince Hong had just finished speaking when the emperor suddenly leaped up, the pearls on his crown trembling violently. He slammed his palm on the dragon table, splashing a few spots of crimson cinnabar in the inkstone. "Prince Hong, are you going to go back on your word? Are you using my throne room as a stage for a play?"
The roar shook the beams and pillars of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The military official standing near Prince Hong took three steps back in fear, nearly stepping on the hem of the garment of the Minister of Works behind him. Several civil officials turned pale, their tablets shaking like leaves in the wind.
"Your Majesty has wronged me." Prince Hong looked at his colleagues who were avoiding him as if he were the plague god, and suddenly sneered from his nose. Instead, he took two steps forward, and the toes of his boots with golden python patterns stepped on the first step of the Danchi.
"You've all read the battle reports from the Northern Frontier. Over half our army has been lost. Without 200,000 elite soldiers and sufficient food and fodder, the Tatar cavalry will be able to break through the second line of defense by the beginning of next month at the latest and march straight to the capital."
He suddenly turned to face the ministers, the wide sleeves of his dragon robe drawing sharp arcs in the air. "When the arrows of the barbarians fly into the Meridian Gate, I wonder if you will block them with your tablets or with your necks?"
He left it as it was, but whether these officials were willing to wake up was another matter.