"Pfft..."
Zhao Hong spat a mouthful of tea onto the ink-still-wet Map of Thousands of Miles of Mountains and Rivers on the imperial desk, and he began to cough violently.
"Your Majesty, be careful of your dragon body..."
Seeing this, the eunuchs around him rushed forward frantically to help him catch his breath.
Zhao Hong waved them away, slammed the imperial desk as he stood up, and gasped as he demanded, "Marquis Luting wore the python robe and entered the capital with his entourage?"
Bowing in the center of the imperial study, Liu Xian of the Eastern Factory nervously replied, "Your Majesty, this matter is absolutely true. By calculating the travel time, Marquis Luting will enter the capital before the city gates close today..."
’It’s over, it’s over, it’s over...’
Zhao Hong’s heart raced in panic, ’Is that guy coming to beat me up?’
He paced restlessly behind the imperial desk, the more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed, otherwise why would that man wear a python robe?
He must intend to exercise the responsibility of the Taishi, assert the rights of a state-serving minister, and drag me down from the Dragon Throne to beat me up!
Ignorance leads to fearlessness.
But now he knew too much, and even though he was already an emperor, his fear of Yang Erlang had only increased. That man was practically like a living father to him!
’No, no, I must find a way...’
At this thought, he suddenly recalled how the late emperor dealt with Yang Erlang’s entry into the capital, his eyes brightened as if a drowning man had grasped a life-saving straw, and he shouted urgently, "Someone come, convey my oral decree, summon Commander of the Brocade Guard, Shen Fa..."
Before he could finish his sentence, a eunuch who had entered the imperial study at some unknown time "understood" and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, Commander of the Brocade Guard, Shen Fa, and the Supervisor of the Western Factory, Eunuch Nangong Feiying, are waiting in the side hall for an audience!"
Zhao Hong was at a loss for words. After a brief thought, he immediately changed his command, "Summon those two immediately for an audience!"
"Yes!"
The eunuch bowed and exited the imperial study, and soon led Shen Fa and Nangong Feiying, who hurried into the imperial study.
"Subject Shen Fa greets Your Majesty, may our Emperor live for ten thousand, ten thousand, ten thousand years!"
"This servant Nangong Feiying kowtows to the ruler, may our Emperor live for ten thousand, ten thousand, ten thousand years..."
Zhao Hong, anxious, waved his hand, "Get up, do you know about Marquis Luting, Yang Erlang, entering the capital with his entourage?"
Shen Fa bowed, his tone also somewhat frantic, "Your Majesty, we came exactly for this matter!"
Nangong Feiying was more direct, shouting hoarsely, "My lord, this is terrible news..."
"Hmm?"
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Zhao Hong, hearing his shout, felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end and stammered, "What, what do you mean?"
Nangong Feiying, "This servant has received reports, Marquis Luting has come because the grain prices in the provinces are uncharacteristically high, causing the people to be displaced. From what this servant knows of Marquis Luting, by him entering the capital with such an entourage this time, he surely intends to enact a massacre..."
Zhao Hong was stupefied, "Huh?"
Nangong Feiying, wiping the sweat from his forehead and unable to hide his fear, quickly said, "With Marquis Luting’s methods, no one in the court, from the civil to the military officials, involved in the rising grain prices will be spared from punishment, and the entire court will not sit by idly... I fear a great chaos is impending!"
Everyone knew Yang Erlang’s tactics were incredibly formidable!
But how formidable his tactics were, only the seventy-one who had followed him to Dongying truly understood!
Thinking about the methods Yang Erlang had employed in Dongying, Nangong Feiying panicked...
Even Shen Fa, standing beside him, was so anxious he continuously wiped his sweat; he no doubt understood Yang Ge, and he knew that while the man was mostly reasonable, when he decided not to listen to reason, no reasoning could control him...
"Just this?"
Zhao Hong’s reaction was far beyond their expectations. He took a long sigh of relief, sat back in the Taishi Chair like a burden had been lifted, comfortably lifted the teacup in front of him, and took a gratifying sip, then grandly waved his hand, "Just this little issue, you should have said so earlier. You shocked me with such sudden fright!"
As long as that guy isn’t coming to beat me up, we can discuss everything else!
Shen Fa: ???
Nangong Feiying: ???
Is something wrong with us, or with you?
Shen Fa stepped forward urgently and said loudly, "Your Majesty, this matter is of great significance, Your Majesty must not take it lightly. With Marquis Luting entering the capital soon, if we do not stop him, he truly might slaughter the entire court! "
"Your Majesty, as the sovereign of the nation, must not harbor thoughts of letting him kill on your behalf. Wei has its laws, and the court has its regulations. If Your Majesty cannot protect your ministers, letting Marquis Luting indiscriminately slaughter everyone will lead to everyone in the court fearing for their lives, and from then on, who would be willing to serve Your Majesty with dedication? Who would be willing to risk their lives for Your Majesty? Seeking momentary satisfaction will only bring endless troubles, Your Majesty!"
His forehead was bulging with veins, nearly bursting from extreme agitation as he cried out.
However, Zhao Hong simply nodded lightly and said, "Shen, you are right. Then the heavy responsibility of stopping Marquis Luting from a massacre will be entirely entrusted to Shen. How about that?"
Gah?
Shen Fa was utterly stunned, his emotions peaked then suddenly choked up, feeling incredibly uncomfortable.
Zhao Hong then looked toward Nangong Feiying.
Nangong Feiying honestly bowed and said, "This servant is powerless, unable to dissuade Marquis Luting..."
Zhao Hong leisurely picked up the teacup again, took a sip, then casually set the teacup aside, and unhurriedly said, "I understand all the reasoning Shen has mentioned, but there are a few points I must correct!"