The second prince of the Western Barbarian was the son of Empress Yuan and was greatly doted on by the Emperor and Empress. He defeated the Han army in his first battle and conquered two cities consecutively. Moreover, he even made a great achievement by killing the prominent undefeated god of war, Yu Pin Yan. As long as he returned alive, the throne would definitely be his.
For that reason, the First Prince, Third Prince, and the Fourth Prince became desperate and joined forces to stage a rebellion. Thereafter, they fought amongst one another. By the time news of the Second Prince being held in captivity by Yu Pin Yan reached them, it was already too late. The imperial princes had already created a blood feud and hatred ran as deep as the sea; it would be very impossible to reconcile. Consequently, the tribes of Western Barbarian were in tatters.
Just like the saying ‘I’ll kill you while you’re sick’, Yu Pin Yan sent his troops westward at the right time. It crushed the Western Barbarian’s imperial court and took the heads of the Emperor, Empress, Third and Fourth Prince. Defeated, the First Prince led the remnants of his army and retreated to a desolate desert. In order to restore to his former glory, it would take decades of recuperating.
After Yu Pin Yan finished tidying up the battlefield and rewarded the soldiers, he wrote to Emperor Cheng Kang to report the victory. When Emperor Cheng Kang received the secret report from the secret division of the Dragon Scale Guards, he was so pleased that he ordered him to leave for the capital immediately. However, he did not announce the news to the outside world. He only sent someone to inform the Crown Prince, who was in captivity.
The Han’s imperial court was currently in chaos. The officials siding with the Crown Prince were being impeached and denounced on a daily basis, which made their lives very unbearable. The Fifth Prince and Sixth Prince, who always appeared to perform half-heartedly, suddenly turned active and roped a large number of officials to advocate for a new crown prince, while trying to curry favour with their Father Emperor and fighting with one another. Many scandals broke out unexpectedly all at once.
Emperor Cheng Kang watched on with cool detachment. He shook his head at the two princes’ behaviour. A man who could have infiltrated the Dragon Scale Guards in the shadows and brought down the Crown Prince and Yu Pin Yan in one swoop would not be this impetuous.
The mastermind behind this was definitely not these two. On the contrary, the Fourth Prince, from beginning to end, had remained silent; he neither roped in officials, nor deliberately ingratiated himself. Instead, he vigorously pleaded for the crown prince and Yu Pin Yan. Additionally, he didn’t forget to visit the Crown Prince. Subsequently, this resulted in those officials who supported the Crown Prince to fall to his side. Because only when the Fourth Prince, who was close with the Crown Prince, ascended the throne would they have a way to live.
His performance can be said to be perfect. However, the more perfect it was, the more suspicious it became. He was able to bring in nearly half of the officials in the court without arousing the suspicion of the Fifth and Sixth Princes. His tactics were well-rounded and sophisticated. Emperor Cheng Kang’s wariness of his son was raised to the extreme. If not for the Crown Prince’s early insight and Yu Pin Yan’s great fortune, he would have fallen into this meticulously designed trap. First, he would dislike the Crown Prince; and when he returned to his senses, he would already hate the Fifth and Sixth Prince. And finally, and inevitably, he would as-a-matter-of-factly hand over the throne to this ‘filial and brotherly’ good son.
The Fourth Prince’s young age and sharp eyes were no match for Emperor Cheng Kang’s shrewd and ruthless methods There was no need for any evidence, just based on intuition and conjecture alone he had already identified the real culprit and sent his secret troops to keep the Fourth Prince under close surveillance. He did not care about the dispute in the imperial court. He only wanted to discern who was loyal and who was treacherous. Once Yu Pin Yan returned to the imperial court, he would reappoint those who should be reinstated and dispose of those who should be disposed of. This was to hand over an imperial court that was as clear as water to the Crown Prince. Thus, his duty for this lifetime could also be considered complete.
Yu Pin Yan received the secret decree and immediately summoned the generals to discuss their return to the capital. Xu Mao refused to confess. Even when Yu Pin Yan personally tortured him, he would clench his teeth and did not say a word, he even bit his tongue several times. Luckily, someone discovered him in time and detached his jawbone, thus saving his life.
Without other options, Yu Pin Yan locked him in a cage, and brought him back to the capital to be decided by Emperor Cheng Kang.
After confirming the timing of their departure to the capital with the generals, he walked towards the small courtyard under the afterglow of the setting sun. The aroma of food wafted through the courtyard as Tao Hong and Liu Lu placed dishes on the kang table. Yu Xiang emerged from the kitchen with an apron tied around her waist and a bit of black ash stuck to the tip of her nose.
Her eyes lit up at the sight of her elder brother and she greeted him with a smile, “You are back just on time. I was just about to ask Tao Hong to call you for dinner. At noon, Master Ku Hai and Master Ku Hui came to bid farewell to you. They said that they were going to the Ancient Moon Country to practice. Since you weren’t around, I had asked someone to prepare many dry rations, monk’s robes, and arranged to send soldiers to escort them to the border.”
Yu Pin Yan smoothly wrapped his arm around her slender waist. He wiped the tip of her nose with his fingertips and smiled, “This was actually my neglect for being impolite. After we return to the capital, help me go to Zhenguo temple to refill the incense oil and add more to it.”
“En. I understand.” Yu Xiang nodded and pulled her brother to sit down at the kang table. She wrapped the thinly sliced roast duck, cucumber, shredded spring onion and peanut sauce into a large pancake and rolled them into strips.