Chapter 324: Chaos in the North

Chapter 324: Chaos in the North

His father was rotten to the core.

"Bringing Mingchao into the palace?" Lu Yao was stunned. He glanced over the secret letter with a quick scan and let out a cold laugh.

He really does whatever he wants.

"Lu Mingchao, do you know why my father suddenly conceived such an idea?"

Without looking at the letter again, Lu Mingchao replied calmly, "I have a rough idea. The Emperor believed the delirious ravings of Lu Minghui."

"You must have heard—the Emperor once summoned me and Gu Huai into the palace overnight, just to relay Lu Minghui’s wild claims to us."

"Lu Minghui said she was reborn."

"You know what rebirth means, right? Those best-selling novels from the capital’s bookshops are full of stories about rebirth and rekindled love—living the same life over again, knowing how everything plays out."

"The Emperor believed it."

"And in Lu Minghui’s mad ramblings, she repeatedly mentioned me and Gu Huai. The Emperor got it into his head that Gu Huai and I had some kind of supernatural advantage."

"Between bringing me into the palace and bringing Gu Huai into the palace, he went for me—probably figuring I’d be easier to push around."

"Or maybe it’s not about you being an easy target," Prince Duan interjected with a twitch of his lips, cutting straight to the point. "But because you’re a woman, plain and simple?"

"Is there a difference?" Lu Mingchao countered.

"Still, he’s bound to be disappointed."

"Once the floods in Wanxing and Beiba counties are over, my saintly reputation will be rock-solid."

"Snatching up some nobody adopted daughter of the Yongning Marquis’s household is one thing—but taking in a people’s darling, their ‘little bodhisattva’? That’s an entirely different matter."

"So tell me, when that happens, might the Emperor choose the other easy target instead?"

"Gu Huai?" Prince Duan answered without hesitation. "No way."

"To be honest, my father has a special hatred for men who like men."

"Really?" Lu Mingchao said meaningfully.

Prince Duan’s face said it all.

She had to wonder—what was the Emperor thinking when he adopted Prince Duan, who bore such a striking resemblance to Emperor Wencheng?

All of a sudden, Prince Duan got the chills.

Back when Wanxing and Beiba were drowning under endless rain, the North was anything but quiet too.

The North.

Zhenzhi Pass.

Zhenzhi Pass was Daqian’s biggest dumping ground for exiles.

This was where they sent corrupt officials’ families, the worst of the worst, and those who lost the game of thrones.

And it was where Old Master Xie—Xie Yan’s grandfather—had been rotting away.

The fortress of Zhenzhiguan is separated from the territory under the jurisdiction of the Northern Hu by only two mountains. The Hu cavalry would often raid across the border—burning, killing, and looting, vanishing as quickly as they came.

Thus, Zhenzhiguan rarely experienced true peace throughout the year, and countless exiled convicts had fallen under the curved blades of the Hu.

The former Vice Minister of War, Gao Fuyan, who was exiled here, first secretly set fire to the grain and fodder in Zhenzhiguan, then poisoned the wells and streams, causing chaos. Seizing the opportunity, he crossed the mountains and defected to the Hu Khanate with the border defense map of Zhenzhiguan.

The Hu Khanate dispatched the Left Wise King to lead a large army in a surprise attack on Zhenzhiguan, aiming to capture it swiftly, bypass it, and then launch an unexpected night assault on Shengyan Pass.

Shengyan Pass was the true stronghold of the Northern Frontier Army and the most impregnable fortress in the northern territories of Daqian.

If the Hu breached Shengyan Pass, they could sweep through six cities unchecked.

In this critical moment, the white-haired Patriarch Xie organized the exiled convicts in Zhenzhiguan to resist the invading Hu forces.

While lighting the beacon fires, he also sent fleet-footed youths to personally deliver a desperate call for aid to Shengyan Pass.

Since the fall of the Xie family and the transfer of Northern Frontier Army’s authority, the Hu had grown ever more brazen, harassing Zhenzhiguan more frequently.

The garrison at Shengyan Pass had long ceased to take the beacon fires of Zhenzhiguan seriously.

Patriarch Xie knew this was the result of deliberate indulgence by the current emperor.

The emperor viewed the exiled convicts of Zhenzhiguan as less than human, yet these convicts were flesh and blood—especially those who had been implicated and exiled here, forced to put down roots—marrying, bearing children, and settling down.

Every time the Hu cavalry raided, they carried off wives and daughters by the score, stole the food that sustained lives, and butchered kin who shared their hearth, neighbors who saw each other daily.

The former Vice Minister of War, Gao Fuyan, who defected to the Hu with the defense map, was no villain. He had merely dared to question the imperial edict when the Xie family was falsely accused of treason and conspiring to usurp the throne, leading to their extermination.

For that single act of questioning, the emperor ordered the exile of Gao Fuyan’s entire clan—men, women, and children—to Zhenzhiguan.

Gao Fuyan’s elderly mother died on the journey into exile.

His twin daughters, lovely as blooming jade, perished at the hands of the guards escorting the prisoners.

His younger brother was shot dead while lighting the beacon fires during a Hu raid, then trampled into pulp by horses.

His childhood sweetheart and wife was seized by the garrison commander of Zhenzhiguan and, unable to endure the humiliation, bit through her own tongue to end her suffering.

His only son was kept as a plaything for men’s lust, abused for pleasure, and died naked, his small body a canvas of bruises.

Once, Gao Fuyan had believed that a true man should stand firm for king and country, and he had once upheld justice with unflinching remonstrance.

But the one on the throne was no listener to wise counsel.

He brooked no dissent.

Gao Fuyan hated the Hu, but he also hated Daqian, the land he had once sworn to serve unto death.

The garrison commander of Zhenzhiguan was a lesser scion of the Qin clan—a posturing fool—all ambition, no ability.

Simply because he was a Qin, Grand Tutor Qin recommended him, and the emperor rubber-stamped his appointment to guard Zhenzhiguan.

And what did this so-called commander actually achieve?

Upon arriving at Zhenzhi Pass, he immediately began purging dissenters, employing the ruthless political strategy of "those who submit prosper and those who resist perish" with chilling efficiency, nearly wiping out all the original officers.

Then, he obstinately proceeded to recruit the bandits lurking around Zhenzhi Pass, calling it "winning without battle."

The bandits, who had once pillaged and committed every imaginable crime, now transformed into soldiers collecting army wages and carrying weapons.

Old habits die hard.

Their vile habits remained unchanged despite the amnesty.

For over three years, Zhenzhi Pass became a sink of corruption.

Cases like Gao Fuyan's family tragedy were countless.

Some attempted to appeal, but in the end, all efforts disappeared without response.

Petitions never reached their destination, and people died under mysterious circumstances.

In a land of exiles, the deaths of a few "criminals" were so commonplace that no one cared.

Old Master Xie thought, Gao Fuyan had reason to hate.

Just like him—despite his advanced age, he still harbored hatred for the man on the dragon throne.

The Northern Frontier was the life's work of generations of the Xie family.

The exiled "criminals" of Zhenzhi Pass were also people the Northern Frontier Army ought to protect.

Were the exiled no longer human?

With the change of the throne and the fall of the Xie family, their legacy was utterly destroyed by incompetent hands.

Those in power abandoned Zhenzhi Pass, and the general who replaced the Xie family's military authority at Shengyan Pass also looked the other way, ignoring the beacon fires lit at Zhenzhi Pass.

That so-called brilliant commander, recommended by Grand Tutor Qin, ran for the hills with his trusted followers when the Left Wise King led his army to the gates of Zhenzhi Pass.

Looming outside Zhenzhi Pass was the Northern Hu army.

Inside, leaderless bandits went back to their bandit ways.

Ordinary people were like lambs to the slaughter—with no choice but to await death or be slaughtered at will.

Old Master Xie breathed in the stench of blood and listened to the screams all around. He couldn't just stand by.

This was the Northern Frontier the Xie family had protected for a hundred years.

"Even Lian Po grows old." (Note: Lian Po was an ancient Chinese general known for his long career and eventual decline.)