Changning’s Imperial Army - Chapter 131

Chapter 131 – Laugh Or Cry
After Zhuang Yong came back from Bai Shangnian’s, he was unable to stop worrying. That fella Shen Leng never once followed the rules when handling things. Whenever he felt that he could take action, he did. Even though the person he killed was Mu Xiaofeng, a significant person who was able to influence the entire political situation.

If this piece of news were to travel to Changan city, it would wreak havoc. By then, how heartbroken would Mu Zhaotong be?

What would His Majesty do in order to appease Mu Zhaotong?

Even though he had already expected a problem to arise within the Navy first, just like that, everything was being disrupted by Shen Leng…

Zhuang Yong could not help but feel perplexed on behalf of Bai Shangnian and those people. If Bai Shangnian knew about Mu Xiaofeng’s death at this moment, would he still try to kill him?

Thereafter, he could not help but forced a laugh. What’s happening to me? How can I be thinking about things like that at this juncture? Is it possible that Shen Leng is affecting my state of mind?

When he entered his own tent, he realized that Hei Yan was already waiting inside for him. Zhuang Yong sat down and asked, “Has the news been delivered to the capital?”

Hei Yan nodded. Zhuang Yong should still be unaware that he was the thread connecting Shen Leng’s inside information box to the emperor. As a member of Liu Yun Sect, transmitting information was well within their job scope. Zhuang Yong had a much more comprehensive understanding of Liu Yun Sect than Shen Leng. In fact, he was more at ease talking about certain things with Hei Yan.

“In the past, you seldom left Changan city for that long a period of time.”

Zhuang Yong suddenly asked, “Does Ye Liuyun have any special arrangements?”

“No.”

Hei Yan answered, “I got injured a while ago.”

Zhuang Yong asked, “If you got injured, shouldn’t you head back to Changan earlier to recuperate?”

“General, you still don’t quite understand Liu Yun Sect. If we get injured, we cannot go back just like that. Liu Yun Sect does not do anything that involves making a loss.”

Zhuang Yong could not help but lamented, “What Ye Liuyun taught all of you is the same thing as what’s been taught to the combat soldiers.”

“We are all His Majesty’s soldiers, except we don’t wear the military uniform.”

“You’re right.”

There was a bit of awkwardness between both of them. Zhuang Yong was silent for a while before he could not hold back any longer and asked, “Why did you not stop Shen Leng from killing Mu Xiaofeng?”

“I did not see it coming.”

Hei Yan shrugged. “I did not expect him to really have the guts to kill Mu Xiaofeng.”

“What if you knew in advance?”

“If I knew in advance…”

Hei Yan suddenly started laughing. “Then I would have helped him attack him.”

Zhuang Yong could not help but laugh too. “You seem to have forgotten your duties.”

“Isn’t it the same for you, general?”

At this point, Hei Yan was no longer holding back in his speech. He was rather overwhelmed by emotions and said, “Why do I feel that you are no longer the same as before, general? Shen Leng does seem like a very rash fella – he does things without considering the consequences. When he was in Changan city, he ran over to massacre Liu Lang Dao. The same thing happened in the northern border. When he returned to the Navy’s camp, he still did not control his temper. In fact, it got worse…if you are cleaning up after his mess all the time, why do I feel that you do that very…”

Initially, he was going to say ‘very happily’, but when he thought about it, it was rather uncultured. Hence, he controlled himself and held back.

Zhuang Yong picked up his brush and started writing a memorial to the emperor. After all, he still had to report it. He lowered his head and smiled, “Ye Liuyun’s men are all the same. I also do not expect you to abide by the rules in front of me. He sent you here instead of Bai Ya because he really understands the both of you. Bai Ya does not do as he pleases, unlike you. Ye Liuyun knows that you and Shen Leng have similar temperaments.”

Hei Yan laughed and did not say a word.

Zhuang Yong suddenly lifted his head. “Why is Ye Liuyun keep a close eye on Shen Leng in secret?!”

His tone suddenly became cold.

Hei Yan’s chest tightened. When he saw Zhuang Yong’s gaze, he suddenly realized something. No matter what, Zhuang Yong was an experienced general. The overbearing and powerful gaze in his eyes made his heart race even faster.

“Naturally, I don’t know what the sect leader is thinking. I only follow his instructions.”

Hei Yan cupped his fist. “If there’s nothing else, I will take my leave.”

The hand in which Zhuang Yong was holding the brush stopped in midair. “Regardless of why Liu Yun Sect is keeping an eye on Shen Leng or what intentions Ye Liuyun has, I hope that you remember one thing – this is Jiangnan; this is the Navy’s camp. I disapprove of the methods used by the underworld. If Ye Liuyun wants to interfere, it’s not that easy. I understand Ye Liuyun better than you do. If Ye Liuyun finds out that Shen Leng is not that child, if he dares to lay a finger on Qingsong or Shen Leng, don’t blame me for turning my back on an old friend.”

Hei Yan said solemnly, “Perhaps you might have forgotten, general. That is not Liu Yun Sect’s matter, but His Majesty’s.”

After he was done talking, he cupped his fist once again before turning around and leaving the tent.

After he walked out, Hei Yan could not help but curled his lips upwards. He was not angry; he was not angry at all. Zhuang Yong truly treated that silly boy very well. Hence, he was happy. He was happy on his behalf.

He understood what Zhuang Yong was worried about. If Shen Leng was not that child, or if Shen Xiaosong was possibly in a tangle with the empress, Ye Liuyun would definitely not hold back at all. Liu Yun Sect never gave anybody any chances.

Hei Yan’s smile gradually froze. If in the future, if Mr. Shen was truly colluding with the empress, what should he do?

Kill him or not kill him?

Changan city, imperial palace, Si Mao Zhai.

This time, the academy head was not summoned by the emperor. Instead, he got someone to send him to the palace early in the morning and waited outside. The moment the gate opened, he entered immediately. He walked as fast as he could. It had been several years since he walked in that manner.

Since the emperor was not around, he had no choice but to pace outside Si Mao Zhai while waiting for him. For some reason, the morning court took exceptionally long that day. When the emperor was back, the academy head had already rummaged through the vegetable field outside the window, to the extent that the servants and palace maids outside Si Mao Zhai were stunned.

During winter, Jingji was a lot colder than Jiangnan. Naturally, there was nothing left in the vegetable field. Even the weeds could not grow. Of course, the academy head did not rummage through the vegetable field because there were weeds – it was because his heart was troubled.

“Your salary is not enough? To the point you’re even snatching the job of my gardeners.”

The emperor narrowed his eyes and looked at the academy head. He entered Si Mao Zhai; the way the academy head pulled up his sleeve and his pants looked rather funny. He lowered his head as he panted while following behind the emperor as they entered the door.

“What are you thinking of?”

“Time for war.”

“Huh?”

The emperor stopped in his tracks. He did not turn around, but he smirked. He did not expect the academy head to be that sharp to such an extent. He had only thought of that a few days ago and yet the academy head had thought of it too.

“In order not to worsen the situation in Jiangnan, all you could do was use the Navy. Only making use of the Navy would result in the ferocious-looking fellas in the Commandant of Justice’s residence to be clueless about where to begin. Coincidentally, I heard that the Qiuli people have been increasingly less well-behaved recently. Ever since we stole their ships, the plundering along the coastal region became more and more rampant…hence, I’m guessing that it’s time for war.”

The emperor sat down. “Fighting a war is not something trivial. You can’t fight just because you want to.”

“Now I understand why you you insisted on transferring Ye Kaitai and Ye Jingtian over. You are meticulous in your thoughts, I acknowledge it and am convinced.”

“It’s not that I want you to be convinced. Ultimately, you will always be you, sir. I want the world to acknowledge allegiance to me.”

The emperor said, “By sending the three people, Kaitai, Jingtian and Cen Zheng, over, within the next few days, when the Navy heads down south, their collaboration with Zhuang Yong naturally would not face any problems. They are all people who are originally from my residence. I trust them and am not worried.”

The academy head was truly utterly convinced. “At that time, you have already thought about what would happen long after that.”

“It is inevitable for problems to start surfacing in the Navy. I simply want to see how worried and anxious they are. Hence, the arrangements I made on Yanping Island was only to play it safe. If Shen Leng truly killed Mu Xiaofeng, like what you’ve guessed, it would be an unforeseen occurrence.”

“But you have already prepared everything that should be prepared. If Mu Xiaofeng dies, you will have to send the people from the Commandant of Justice’s residence to the south to investigate. However, the military affairs in the southern coastal border region are crucial. The Navy has no choice but to go down south. It is a major thing that cannot be delayed any further. Thus, if they want to investigate, the only thing they can do is to follow the Navy and head down south together. Once they enter Pingyue, everyone there works for you. In that way, you are able to control their investigation – they won’t be able to find out about things you don’t want to them.”

The emperor laughed, “Sir, you make me sound like a crafty person.”

The academy head sighed. “Apart from accepting it, I have no other thoughts. Over the past few days, I have been thinking at home about what we should do if Mu Xiaofeng is truly dead. After pondering about it for a few days, I realized that you have already made the necessary arrangements.”

“As for Zhuang Yong and Shen Leng, let them go to the southern border to hide it out.”

The emperor said in a calm tone, “If Shen Leng truly killed Mu Xiaofeng, my setup is like a huge net catching only a mere rabbit at the last minute. What I want is a clear criminal charge, if not it’s going to be hard for me to punish them. What a pity…but it’s not considered a bad thing either…people who do bad things cannot stay still ultimately. If Shen Leng foolishly killed Meng Changan, some people will not sit still either.”

Naturally, the academy head knew who His Majesty was referring to; the great scholar, who used to have a lot of authority that could rule over the entire imperial court, but now, his power was taken away from him, leaving him with nothing much. It was the pain of losing a child; naturally, he would become crazy. Once he went crazy, the most possible thing that would happen was that he would get a group of people to go crazy with him. The crazier, the better. In that way, it would expose a lot more.

Mu Zhaotong was not an idiot. Of course, he knew a long time ago the His Majesty would ultimately take back his authority. Indeed, he had too much power at that time – there was nothing much His Majesty could do; he could not directly do anything to him. His followers in the different yamens had solid authority as well. His Majesty could not let any accident happen in Great Ning.

“Originally I felt that he did contribute significantly to Great Ning, hence I gave him a good ending. It’s almost twenty years – why haven’t I killed him?”

After the emperor said that, the academy head burst out laughing. However, he knew that that was definitely not a joke. At that time, His Majesty did intend to give Mu Zhaotong a happy ending, but who knew that in recent years, they gradually found out that the great scholar, who seemed to be more honest and well-behaved, was still the same great scholar as before. His desire for power did not seem to weaken.

The Bai family showed off their abilities; was it really the Bai family though?

The empress’ family had been tolerating in silence for so many years; were they really tolerating in silence though?

Because after that incident happened, the empress had already made His Majesty give up. She knew that her only chance was to allow her son to take the throne. Naturally, the earlier, the better.

Crowning the crown prince; His Majesty had given her such a huge temptation. If she was still able to keep her composure, it was truly worthy of respect. However, the academy head knew that she could not do that. Once her grievance, that she had kept bottled up for almost twenty years, was released, even she herself would be unable to stop herself.

But His Majesty’s setup was actually ruined by that silly boy.

The academy head did not know whether he should laugh or cry.