Chapter 343
Chapter 343
“What? Defeated?!”
Old General Song had lost. Of the army of one hundred thousand, only thirty thousand escaped back.
The news caused an uproar the moment it reached Capital City.
Many great clans could no longer sit still.
“Useless! They’re all useless!”
The emperor was furious.
He vented his anger on the Song Family and prepared to punish them.
Princess Huiling arrived in time to stop him.
“You cannot kill the Song Family.”
She understood the emperor’s temperament very well. In his rage, he had probably already decided to kill them.
The emperor said, “Why? Aunt, this is clearly the Song Family’s…”
“Because the Marquis of Northern Yue is dead.”
The Marquis of Northern Yue was Old General Song.
She did not care about the Song Family, but if they were punished now, no one else would be willing to step forward and resist Mobei.
Capital City would descend into even greater chaos.
She had no desire to see the situation she had worked so hard to stabilize fall apart and make her own life difficult.
“Not only can you not punish them, you must grant the Marquis of Northern Yue a posthumous honor.”
Yang Yan was utterly unwilling. The thought that Old General Song had lost to Ji Yan’an and thrown away so many men made him want to cut the entire Song Family into a thousand pieces.
Slap!
Princess Huiling struck Yang Yan across the face.
Yang Yan looked at her with a hurt expression. “Aunt, why did you hit me?”
“Fool. If you punish the Song Family now, do you plan to go onto the battlefield and fight Ji Yan’an yourself?”
Did he have the courage?
Yang Yan said, “I am the emperor. If I order them to fight Ji Yan’an, would they dare resist?”
Princess Huiling lowered her gaze, concealing the mockery in her eyes.
“They won’t dare resist openly, but they will hold a grudge.”
Once they reached a battlefield far from Capital City, he would neither see nor control any tricks they decided to play.
“They are people, not dogs. Dogs are loyal, but people are far more complicated.”
She did not hesitate to compare those ministers to dogs.
“If you punish the Song Family now, no military commander will risk his life for you or step forward to attack Mobei. Only by granting the Marquis of Northern Yue a posthumous honor and treating the Song Family well in public can you reassure the other generals.”
“There are already very few commanders left who can be used. If you want to keep the throne beneath you, you must win them over.”
“Or do you expect those old foxes to lead armies into battle for you?”
Those old foxes offered plans only when their own interests were threatened. Expecting them to lead troops and fight?
“That old fox Cao’s plan isn’t bad. Seize the Ji women who married out first. But don’t propose it yourself. Find someone to take the blame.”
“It’s a pity those Ji women slipped away without anyone noticing.”
Otherwise, they would have been even more useful.
Yang Yan said, “I understand. I’ll do whatever Aunt says.”
At court the next day, Yang Yan indeed granted Old General Song a posthumous honor.
He also promoted two members of the Song Family who held posts at court and put on a hypocritical display of grief for Old General Song.
Afterward, someone proposed using the married Ji daughters to threaten Ji Yan’an.
Yang Yan refused. Only after the plan was raised several times and more people began supporting it did he arrest the married Ji daughters still in Capital City.
Ji Yan’an had been watching developments in Capital City ever since Old General Song’s warning.
Two married Ji daughters escaped with their children, while the others were captured.
The emperor even sent people to hunt down the Ji women who had fled.
“His Majesty has ordered us to capture Ji Yushu, Ji Yurong, and their children.”
Ji Yushu and Ji Yurong barely escaped Capital City with their sons and daughters and fled north.
Even so, they were discovered and pursued half a month later.
“Jing’er, take your younger brothers and sisters and run! Mother will draw them away!”
“Find your youngest uncle. Hurry!”
“Mother!”
Ji Yushu said, “Seventh Sister, take them and run. Find Yan’an.”
Ji Yurong’s face was streaked with tears, and she looked utterly haggard.
She gave Ji Yushu a long look, then gritted her teeth and fled with the children.
Ji Yushu ran in another direction to draw away the pursuers.
She was only a woman and had gone far too long without proper rest or food. She did not run far before they caught her.
“Where are the others?”
Ji Yushu remained silent.
Even after being whipped several times, she gritted her teeth and endured it.
“Still refusing to talk?”
“A Ji woman. You’re quite pretty.”
Cold dread filled Ji Yushu’s heart, and all color drained from her face.
The man grabbed her clothes and began tearing at them. “Let’s see how long you can keep that stubborn mouth shut.”
Ji Yushu struggled. Steeling herself, she pulled a sharp hairpin from her hair and prepared to take her own life.
“Screech!”
At that moment, a great shadow fell from the sky.
“Wh-what is that?!”
“What an enormous eagle!”
“It’s coming down!”
As the pursuers cried out in panic, the giant eagle descended from the sky.
They hurriedly raised their weapons to defend themselves.
One man was still seized, carried into the air, then dropped. He died instantly.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Ji Yushu drove the hairpin in her hand into the neck of the man beside her.
“You…”
The moment she succeeded, Ji Yushu ran.
The scene was so chaotic that the pursuers could no longer pay attention to her.
The sound of galloping hooves approached.
Ji Yushu raised her tear-streaked face. In her battered state, the first thing she saw was a flag bearing an enormous character Ji.
In that instant, Ji Yushu began to sob. She broke down completely, but the taut cord inside her heart finally loosened.
“Mother!”
Ji Yushu’s children ran over and embraced her.
Ji Yan’an said, “Kill them.”
The pursuers had no power to resist Ji Yan’an and his people.
It did not take long for every one of them to be killed.
“Second Sister, I’m sorry. I came too late.”
Holding her children, Ji Yushu looked at the young man before her and forced a smile.
“No. You came at exactly the right time.”
Her eyes were stained red.
She casually wiped the fresh blood from her face.
“What will happen to the other married Ji women?”
The Ji Family was a great clan, and although it had legitimate and concubine-born branches, the family remained united. Unlike other great clans, its legitimate and concubine-born children did not hate each other enough to wish one another dead.
There were conflicts within the family, but they were only petty squabbles. Against outsiders, everyone stood firmly united.
In Ji Yan’an’s generation, the Ji Family had seven sisters in all.
There had been five brothers, but only Ji Yan’an, the youngest of them, was still alive.
All the Ji women had married.
When disaster first befell the Ji Family, three sisters were divorced and sent home, which allowed them to avoid this disaster.
Now two more had escaped, while the remaining two had been captured by Emperor Yang Yan.
Their children had been taken as well.
Ji Yushu tightened her grip on the still-bloody hairpin.
“That damned emperor has gone too far! He committed an act lower than any beast, taking women and children hostage. Isn’t he afraid the whole world will spit on him?”
Ji Yan’an’s gaze was icy. “Nothing vile he does would surprise me.”
“Second Sister, I’ll have someone escort all of you home first. I’ll find a way to rescue the other two sisters.”
Ji Yushu nodded. “Then I’ll have to trouble you.”
Her gaze fell upon the eagles.
One snow-white gyrfalcon landed on the young girl standing beside Ji Yan’an.