Chapter 26 No rush, take it slow…

Chapter 26: No rush, take your time...

The wedding procession stretched long, with the escorting Luben Guards at the front, followed by a hundred elite cavalrymen Tuo Baxiao had brought into the city. Their exit was just as grand as their entrance. Behind them, Jiang Congyan's wedding carriage and the rest of the procession followed.

Behind the ceremonial formations stretched a miles-long line of craftsmen.

Tuo Baxiao came to Liang State to form an alliance, and marrying a princess was just one of his demands. Though it seemed like an equal alliance, Liang State’s urgent need for it put them at a disadvantage.

The grassland nomads lived by herding, excelling in grazing, fishing, hunting, and warfare, but lacking skills in crafts and agriculture. Tuo Baxiao demanded craftsmen, books, and resources from the Central Plains.

The Emperor of Liang naturally resisted such submissive behavior, akin to paying tribute. What would become of Liang State’s dignity—or the emperor’s pride?

But Tuo Baxiao stood firm. Liang State needed him; angering Tuo Baxiao could push him to ally with the Xiongnu, putting Liang in grave danger.

After negotiations, Tuo Baxiao conceded, agreeing to exchange horses for more resources—rice, salt, tea, and even iron.

At Liang’s founding, the twelve prefectures of Youyan remained under barbarian control, unrecovered. The northwestern grasslands, long occupied by the Xiongnu and Qiang Di, lacked natural pastures, causing a chronic warhorse shortage.

The Founding Emperor waged wars to reclaim Youyan from the barbarians. This would enable horse breeding and keep the barbarians at bay, reducing the need for costly defenses. Sadly, only three cities were reclaimed before the Founding Emperor’s death.

The previous emperor waged war against the barbarians to secure his throne amid pressing circumstances. But he was new to the throne and hadn’t fully controlled the court. The ministers suggested Zhou Qiong, Marquis of Ding'an, as commander.

Zhou Qiong was famed for his military prowess and strategic insight. His experience fighting the barbarians made him the ideal commander. But the emperor rejected Zhou Qiong, an old minister loyal to the Founding Emperor and Crown Prince, and of humble origins. Though the Founding Emperor and Crown Prince Zhaowen were gone, their grandson Jiang Huai remained. The emperor sidelined Zhou Qiong, citing his age and letting him retire, stripping his power without bloodshed.

The emperor later appointed Wang Ying, his former subordinate, as Grand General to lead 100,000 troops against the barbarians. But the battle ended in disaster! The three cities the Founding Emperor had risked everything to reclaim fell back into barbarian hands, and the 100,000 soldiers barely managed to stop the barbarians' advance with their flesh and blood.

This battle left Liang, which had just begun to recover from chaos, severely weakened again. However, the nomadic tribes did not fare much better, suffering heavy losses as well. Seeing the soldiers of Liang so fearless in the face of death, they dared not easily march south again, thus bringing temporary stability to the region for a few years.

These armies were personally trained by the Founding Emperor and Crown Prince Zhaowen. With the soldiers' combat capabilities, the battle should not have been so devastating. It was only because the emperor chose the wrong commander. Wang Ying had a false reputation and had not actually won many significant battles, let alone had experience fighting the barbarians. The outcome of this battle seemed almost inevitable.

At that time, many of the Founding Emperor's old subordinates in the court were critical of the previous emperor's actions, even doubting whether he truly had the ability to shoulder the position. With a young ruler and a suspicious state, what if the emperor harbored selfish intentions?

The previous emperor urgently needed a team that would fully support him to secure his hard-won throne, so he began to heavily rely on the aristocratic clans to suppress the commoners. As his reign progressed, the court finally had no place for commoners and low-ranking families.

He used the aristocratic clans to stabilize his throne, but this planted an incurable virus in the Liang empire. The virus, nourished, began to recklessly devour its host until it consumed the massive body, eventually perishing along with it.

At this point, Liang's internal strength had long been gnawed away, leaving only a thin and fragile skin to support it. Any small storm in the future could easily pierce this perfect facade, but the Emperor of Liang now had to use every means to maintain this skin, so he could only ally with the barbarians he despised and had to carefully curry favor, which made him extremely frustrated and angry.

Jiang Congyan did not care about the Emperor of Liang's feelings. She occasionally looked back at the endless procession behind her, her long eyelashes casting small shadows under her eyes, concealing her thoughts—she wanted to take control of those craftsmen and resources.

However, these people following the wedding procession did not mean that she, as a symbolic peacemaking princess, had the right to intervene.

No rush, take your time...

Jiang Congyan closed her eyes, resting while slowly calculating in her heart.

On the first day leaving the capital, the procession had started late, with a large and complex group of people, and the progress was extremely slow. It was not until the sun set, casting a vast and magnificent sunset across the sky, dyeing the forests and the returning birds, that they barely managed to cover twenty miles and reached a post station outside Chang'an.

The post station, being close to Chang'an, was built larger than others, but it still could not accommodate the nearly two thousand people in the procession.

Xie Shao first sent out a small team to inspect the post station, then left guards at the entrances and exits, welcoming the princess’s carriage inside and settling her in before leading the rest of the Luben soldiers to set up camp nearby.

It was then that Jiang Congyan realized Xie Shao was actually an "acquaintance"—he was the one who had borrowed the sword at the banquet that night.

I wonder if this is some kind of fate, Jiang Congyan thought.

When Tuo Baxiao entered the city, he only brought a hundred cavalrymen, but in reality, there were still five hundred elite troops stationed outside the city.

He was the Xianbei King, the ruler of a territory, and there were countless people who wanted to take his life. Not to mention the distant ones, just Wudati Hou was constantly scheming how to kill him.

Although Tuo Baxiao prided himself on his strength and courage, he was not so arrogant as to believe he could escape unscathed from a battlefield swarming with soldiers. The journey from Xianbei territory to the Liang State passed through a borderland between the Qiang and Jie tribes, where the terrain was narrow, rugged, and perilous—an ideal spot for an ambush. Tuo Baxiao had selected six hundred elite cavalrymen for his mission, confident that with just these few hundred men, no one could lay a hand on him.

As the capital of the Liang State, Chang'an was a place where the Emperor of Liang was particularly wary of Tuo Baxiao. Thus, he only brought a hundred men into the city, leaving the rest stationed outside.

When Xie Shao saw the five hundred elite cavalry, his heart clenched with dread. Without even engaging in combat, he could tell from their intimidating presence that the soldiers of the Liang State were no match for them, let alone their powerful builds and superior steeds.

The Lüben Guard he led, on the other hand, only performed routine duties like escorting and policing around Chang'an, never having truly experienced the battlefield.

The gap between them was immense—like a wolf king compared to a house dog.

His heart weighed heavily at the thought of what might happen if they ever became enemies with Tuo Baxiao...

Xie Shao shook off the chilling thought, but his mind continued to wander, leaving him distracted while setting up camp.

Outside the post station, the camp split into three distinct areas: one for the Xianbei cavalry, one for the Lüben Guard, and one for the craftsmen and the wedding entourage. None were eager to mix with the others.

With so many people and no clear leader to oversee everyone, the first day of setting up camp was filled with squabbles over the best locations. Fortunately, it didn’t escalate into a fight, and after much bickering, they finally settled in.

After a full day in the carriage, Jiang Congyan, despite her strong composure, couldn’t help but let out a long sigh of relief.

Her wedding dress and headdress were crushingly heavy. To maintain the dignity of a princess, she had to keep her back straight and her posture perfect all day, leaving her body stiff and her knees numb. It took her a while to recover, and even then, she needed Si Zi’s help to get out of the carriage.

If this continued for another day, Jiang Congyan thought, she’d likely perish before then.

Ruo Lan was heartbroken and quickly had the servants clean the post station, lay out the bedding, and bring warm water in a copper basin. She personally helped Jiang Congyan remove her hair ornaments and change her clothes.

Jiang Congyan could barely sit up straight, leaning heavily on Ruo Lan, who gently stroked her hair and carefully removed the intricate hairpieces.

Among Jiang Congyan’s entourage, besides the twelve maids and twelve eunuchs bestowed by the emperor, there were also about twenty servants she had brought from Liangzhou.

Most of these servants were from Liangzhou, either family members of her retainers or orphans who had been chosen to serve her since she was a child. Over the years, they had proven their loyalty.

Before heading north to Xianbei, Jiang Congyan had asked for their opinions. Most had willingly chosen to accompany her, while a few who couldn’t bear to leave their families were sent back to Liangzhou. The rest stayed in Chang'an to manage her properties and the King of Chu’s residence, as well as to keep her informed of any news from the capital, ensuring she wouldn’t be left in the dark.

Not yet familiar with the maids and eunuchs, Ruo Lan only called upon the two servants who usually attended to Jiang Congyan in her chambers—A Chun and A Fei.

With limited facilities, Jiang Congyan couldn’t take a proper bath, so she simply washed her face and wiped her body with warm water before changing into comfortable clothes. Her long, glossy black hair cascaded down her back, reaching her hips like a silken ribbon.

The March night was still chilly, and the moonlight seemed to frost the air. Ruo Lan closed the window to keep her mistress from catching a cold.

After washing up, Si Zi brought over a bowl of millet porridge sweetened with honey, warm and fragrant. Jiang Congyan ate most of it, finally feeling a bit more at ease. She then cleaned her teeth with green salt and was about to go to bed when a commotion broke out at the door.

"My lord, the lady has already retired for the night. Could you come back tomorrow?"