"Fifth brother." Jiang Sheng put his hands behind his back, seeming to want to smile. Realizing it was inappropriate, he restrained himself to look serious. "We are all here."
"Are you okay?" Zheng Ruqian looked him up and down. "Still fine, not crushed. More resilient than the donkeys in our family."
"Little Five, don't be afraid. Third Brother is back to protect you." Fang Heng was as straightforward as ever. "Whoever bullies you, I'll hit them."
Wen Zhiyun frantically nodded beside, his eyes as clear and pure as a fawn's.
Although they had seized power and allied with powerful families and established the Crown Prince's Residence, trying to prop up the sky and having no choice but to prop up the sky were different things. No matter how skillfully Chang Yan hosted the banquet, he was still just a fourteen-year-old boy.
"Little Five," the usually taciturn Xu Mo spoke up. "The Crown Prince's Residence is very young and tender now. The staff members are also quite young. For matters you can't get a handle on, you can consult with the vice ministers of the cabinet and Elder Sun. He should be preparing to abdicate."
To be precise, Elder Sun should have abdicated long ago. He had occupied the position of Prime Minister only at the request of the imperial family to curb the rising power of aristocratic families. Now that the Crown Prince was overseeing the government, a new Prime Minister would also be born. It was impossible for the position to fall to anyone outside the Jiang or Dou families.
Xu Mo's reassurance was not as straightforward as his siblings', but it worked better. With the support of these powerful families and the guidance of a trusted Prime Minister, the Crown Prince's Residence would not have a difficult road ahead.
But they did not know that the most important thing to Chang Yan was that they were all here with him.
The anxiety over losing his father, the loss over discovering paternal love, and the nervousness of soon taking over the world had all dispersed at the sight of his brothers and sisters. One could be cowardly, but when one had someone to protect, one would become fearless and brave.
And those he wanted to protect were his siblings.
"A person's heart can be very big, able to accommodate the whole world."
"A person's heart can also be very small, only fitting five people inside."
"These five people are my world."
Chang Yan chuckled lightly as he led the five siblings out of Qianqing Palace.
The chaos outside the palace had been completely quelled. After a brief rest, the border armies had taken over the positions of the city guards, scattered around the corners of Fengjing to maintain order.
The Imperial Guards had also returned to order, taking turns according to schedule to guard the imperial city.
Under Sun Xiaosheng's lead, the staff of the Crown Prince's Residence had also been assigned their tasks and were handling matters on their own.
It just seemed that some people were missing.
Chang Yan thought left and right before realizing that all eight Jiangs were gone, and so were the two Jiang brothers.
"They went to pursue the rebels," Fang Heng reported with cupped fists. "Given the calculations, the 50,000 troops should also arrive at the outskirts of Fengjing. Catching them in a pincer attack would be better."
He hesitated and then said softly, "What were the actual words when the Second Prince left? Did he say 'border' or not? What did he mean by saying that word?"
It didn't matter what he meant. They could just ask when he was caught.
Chang Yan had no hesitation. Bringing his siblings and taking along some outstanding staff like Sun Xiaosheng from the Crown Prince's Residence, he headed straight for the main gate of the imperial city.
The confrontation from a few hours ago was still vivid, yet everything had calmed down in the blink of an eye.
The shops opened their doors, yelling to draw in customers. Steamed buns and lollipops shuttled through the streets. One by one, the people of Fengjing carrying goods vividly and pithily demonstrated the prosperity and vitality.
This tranquility was shattered by several galloping horses.
Dayu Dynasty law stipulated that no horses could gallop down the streets except for urgent military information. But with today's chaos in the palace and emergency relief efforts, the common people had seen enough strange things that they automatically gave way.
Jiang Chengyuan rode a tall, snow-white steed. He instinctively reined it to slow down. As he approached the main gate of the imperial city, he simply leapt down, dashed over in three steps and reported, "Your Highness, the 50,000 troops from the capital have arrived outside the city."
"Were Second Prince and General Fang intercepted..." Chang Yan paused, still unwilling to use terms like "rebel".
Jiang Chengyuan hesitated briefly then nodded and shook his head.
"Just say whatever you have to say directly," Chang Yan gave him immunity.
Jiang Chengyu took a deep breath. "The 50,000 troops slowed their pace coming here, using reconnaissance methods to search as much as possible. They really did discover traces of Second Prince and General Fang in a village between Fengjing and Chuan-Shu. But before the main forces arrived, someone picked them up and they got away."
"According to the dragon and tiger generals of the capital troops, the hoof prints nearby were especially obvious, and...the hoofs were very wide and large, with greater distance between the toes. They have the features of horses from the grasslands."
The grasslands were in the north. The north was home to the Northern Nomads.
Whether it was General Jiang or General Fang, they had fought bloody battles for years to drive out the Northern Nomads and defend the borders.
And now, they had taken away the Second Prince of the Dayu Dynasty.
It was hard to describe the feeling when Chang Yan's breathing stopped for a moment.
From Zhu Changyu's lip movements, an ominous premonition had already arisen in his heart. But there was still a glimmer of hope that Second Brother would not do something foolish.
By comparison, he would rather the border garrison had internal strife than Zhu Changyu betraying the country to join the enemy.
That was the enemy!
The enemy they had fought for so many years. Just because of the imperial throne, just to win, they had miraculously become allies. They even went deep into the belly of the northwest to fetch Zhu Changyu.
"They...they killed, burned, abducted and plundered so many women and children of the Dayu Dynasty." Chang Yan closed his eyes.
Those not of my race must have different hearts.
It was such a simple truth. Zhu Changyu could not have been unaware. His eyes had been blinded by victory and defeat. The imperial throne obscured all his senses.
"Maybe, maybe..." Someone tried to say something for the Second Prince.
But they couldn't get any words out for a long time.
No matter how much grievance one held, one could not betray one's countrymen to the enemy.
The moment one betrayed their compatriots, they would automatically strip themselves of their past glory and nail themselves naked in the annals of history for later generations to rebuke and denounce.
"He still told me 'border'," Chang Yan opened his eyes with pupils suddenly enlarged. "How are conditions at the border recently?"
"It goes back and forth. We've killed many Northern Nomads by disguising and ambushing them," Fang Heng reported with cupped fists. "If we keep it up, we'll subdue them in ten years or so."
"No, that's not it," Chang Yan shook his head. "It's summer now. The Northern Nomads have to go back to the grasslands to herd sheep. The border troops also need to recuperate. But Zhu Changyu went there. He has to offer something to get the Northern Nomads to support him."
What could convince the Northern Nomads better than the blood of Dayu Dynasty troops?
These years, General Jiang had been the pillar supporting the border. But he was getting on in years and focusing on nurturing Jiang Chengyuan and Fang Heng.
Even returning to the capital this time to rescue the emperor, everything meritorious was handed over to the young ones.
That left only the sick and old general at the border to welcome Zhu Changyu and the Northern Nomads' plotting in a sudden and unprepared manner.
His life and his head would become the Northern Nomads' reason to celebrate wildly.
"No, father," Jiang Sheng's tears suddenly fell.
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