Chapter 142 “Where’s the original bed?”…

Chapter 142 "Where is the original bed?"...

"Stop the executions." After a moment of silence, it was Jiang Congyan who spoke first.

"They are not innocent." Tuo Baxiao's voice remained cold and unyielding.

When these men chose to follow Kediyan in rebellion, they should have foreseen the consequences of failure. They asked for this.

"I know, but... too many are implicated. Many aren’t guilty enough to die." Jiang Congyan forced herself to stay alert, though her vision blurred further. She swayed unsteadily, and had it not been for the man’s hand supporting her waist, she would have collapsed.

Tuo Baxiao seethed with anger and worry. Despite her feverish weakness, she stubbornly met his gaze, exhausting herself over this matter.

The recent rebellion had enraged him, and only blood would satisfy his rage.

He spotted Zhang Zheng out of the corner of his eye. If not for his deliberate tip-off...

Zhang Zheng’s neck prickled with cold dread as he sensed the icy killing intent. He tensed but quickly reassured himself—with the lady present, the Prince of Mobei wouldn’t risk killing him.

Seeing Tuo Baxiao remain silent, Jiang Congyan weakly lifted her arm, giving his sleeve a feeble tug.

She looked utterly frail and sickly, a sight that tugged at the heart. He couldn’t refuse her now.

"Fine, I’ll handle them in a few days," Tuo Baxiao relented.

With his promise, Jiang Congyan finally relaxed, going limp and collapsing against him.

Tuo Baxiao, alarmed, immediately carried her back.

"Summon Zhang Fu. Is his medicine doing anything? Why hasn’t her fever broken yet?" he snapped.

Returning to the small tent, he laid her on the carpet. Her eyes were closed, her lashes damp with sweat.

"Are you in pain?" he asked.

Jiang Congyan wasn’t unconscious, just drained of energy. She shook her head faintly. "I’m alright."

She knew how her body worked. Though severely ill now, she would recover in a day or two—a far cry from when she first arrived here.

Tuo Baxiao assumed she was just being stubborn. Noticing the fine sweat on her temples and her dry lips, he handed her a cup of warm water and supported her neck. "Drink some water."

Thirsty, she obediently drank half the cup.

He’d been angry at her for pushing herself, but now found himself unable to scold her as she leaned weakly against him, her downcast eyes and meek look melting his anger.

Zhang Fu arrived promptly upon being summoned.

Under Tuo Baxiao’s deathly glare, he thought irritably—he was a physician, not a miracle worker. Did they expect a miracle cure in hours?

But he dared not show it. To appease him, he adjusted the prescription slightly, just to ease the family’s worries.

"Two more doses and a night’s rest should bring her fever down," he said.

Only then did Tuo Baxiao let him go.

Turning back to the woman in his arms, he said, "Even your physician insists you rest properly."

Jiang Congyan peered up at him through half-lidded eyes. "You too. The poison in your body isn’t fully neutralized yet. You should also rest for a few days."

In short, they were now a couple of invalids—both sick, neither in a position to lecture the other.

Jiang Congyan, fearing he would cause more trouble, refused to let him leave and insisted he stay to sleep with her. The man had no choice but to give in.

On the other side, A Long saw the king leave with the Khatun and assumed the king would change his mind. He immediately ordered his subordinates to halt their actions.

Most of those residing in the royal court were loyalists of Tuo Baxiao and Tuoba Wuxi. Apart from the Kediyan and A Shi Na clans, there weren’t many rebels—mainly neighboring tribes in league with Kediyan.

Tuo Baxiao had ordered all rebels and their kin executed, but rounding up so many at once was tough. They first seized Kediyan Xun and A Shi Na Wu Jiu’s men. Their kin and clansmen had tried to flee upon hearing of Kediyan’s defeat but were cut off midway by Tuo Baxiao’s army. The others were rounded up and tied.

They were the first to be executed.

Others who were less deeply involved—especially those who had only verbally supported Kediyan Xun but hadn’t yet acted—were in a panic when they heard Tuo Baxiao’s intent to massacre the rebels. Using their past sugar-trade connections, they flocked to Gan Luo, A Chun, Lan Zhu, and Zhang Zheng. By now, everyone knew how much the king valued the Khatun. If she could intercede on their behalf, they might survive—this was their last hope.

They even offered various treasures as bribes, but no one took them—they didn’t dare, nor did they want to.

Though the mass killings stopped, many nobles were still arrested daily. Troops continued raiding various tribes, and the dust from galloping horses never cleared outside the court.

This rebellion implicated nearly half of the Xianbei, leaving everyone terrified. Tension in the clans became unbearable.

As more and more were captured, Tuo Baxiao sneered. He’d had no idea so many resented his rule. Now was the perfect time to eliminate them all.

Sickness hits hard but fades slow. After two days of medicine, Jiang Congyan’s fever finally broke, though her body remained weak and drained, her energy sapped.

Zhang Fu had developed an antidote for Tuo Baxiao. He bounced back fast—after a few doses, he was back to full vigor in just a couple of days. But Zhang Fu warned that residual toxins remained and required at least seven more days of treatment to fully cleanse his system.

Tuo Baxiao loathed the foul-tasting concoction. Compared to Jiang Congyan’s merely bitter medicine, his was sour, bitter, and downright foul. He suspected Zhang was doing it on purpose but had no proof.

The slapdash little tent was too flimsy. After their original tent burned down, A Fei immediately had a new residence prepared. They pitched a temporary tent on the site of the former royal tent for them to stay in for the time being.

The night’s battle had been brutal—blood soaked the walls and ground, impossible to wash away even after endless scrubbing. They had to scrape off a layer of soil and replace it. The courtyard walls, heavily damaged, were demolished and rebuilt, then repainted inside and out.

A Fei had even asked Jiang Congyan, “Isn’t it inauspicious for people to die in a house before it’s even completed? Should we build a new one?”

Jiang Congyan merely shook her head. “Think of the imperial palace in Chang’an—how many have died there since ancient times? How many bones lie buried beneath that ground? Yet countless still yearn for it. Auspiciousness is just fear in people’s hearts. I’m not superstitious about such things.” She thought of the hospital she’d lived in during her past life—how many died there every year?

So A Fei proceeded as instructed.

Notably, when the two moved into the newly erected tent, Tuo Baxiao noticed only a small bed was set up and asked, “Where’s the original bed?”

“Burned.”

“Burned?” Tuo Baxiao frowned.

Jiang Congyan explained that she had sensed something might happen that day and made some preparations. But fearing her actions might alert others, she had only managed to hide her books and lightweight clothing and jewelry in advance.

“...That bed was too large and one-piece. Moving it out would’ve drawn too much attention.” It wasn’t like she’d meant to leave it behind.

Tuo Baxiao: “...”

He added another mark against the rebels.

Speaking of the rebels, Jiang Congyan had temporarily dissuaded Tuo Baxiao that day. But with his temperament, how could he let them off so easily?

She later persuaded him further, and eventually, he agreed to execute only the leading rebel nobles while enslaving the rest.

For those nobles, this was still a death sentence.

They pleaded desperately before Jiang Congyan, but she ignored them.

She had long learned of their intentions from Gan Luo and A Chun. Given Tuo Baxiao’s indulgence toward her, she could have insisted on sparing their lives—but she wouldn’t.

Among the rebels, some might have been merely deceived and misled by Kediyan, some had their troops still on the way without reaching the royal court, and some genuinely believed Tuo Baxiao's Han assimilation policies would lead to the downfall of the Xianbei... They and their families might not have been beyond redemption or worthy of execution, but they did stand in her way. These deeply entrenched noble factions had to be weakened, and the simplest method was—killing.

When she made this decision, she stood frozen for a long moment.

She didn’t know whether she was now becoming a true politician—or perhaps she had always been one.

In power struggles, there is no right or wrong, only victory and defeat.

By practical measures, her actions were justified, but she also worried whether, one day in the future, she might lose her true self and become a slave to power.

All she could do was constantly remind herself of what she truly wanted and what she sought to protect.

The aftermath of the rebellion lasted over a month before finally subsiding. Nearly half of the noble factions were eradicated, while the remaining untouched ones trembled under his merciless crackdown, not daring to harbor the slightest dissent.

Tuo Baxiao seized their lands and subjects, placing his loyalists to govern.

She split military and civil authority, formally appointing officials to oversee these tribes so no single clan could hold sway.

Their lands were no longer privately owned by the tribes—they only held usage rights, while ownership belonged to Tuo Baxiao. He could reclaim them at will and appoint whomever he chose to manage them.

While Tuo Baxiao’s men took most military positions, she assigned her own people to civil roles, overseeing land, population, taxation, commerce, and handicrafts.

With Tumochuan now stabilized, Jiang Congyan promoted Ruo Lan to oversee political affairs across subordinate departments. The Liangzhou recruits were competent, but many needed another year or two to learn the ropes. For now, they were assigned mid-level positions.

Zhang Zheng was also promoted, formally rising from deputy general to full general, allowing him to command his own troops in future campaigns. He Zhou was appointed as the commander of Jiang Congyan’s Imperial Guard battalion, concurrently serving as the chief of the royal court patrol.

Previously, Tuo Baxiao had assigned several hundred Imperial Guards to Jiang Congyan. After the rebellion, he deemed this number insufficient to protect her and wanted to give her all his guards. Jiang Congyan refused—his personal battle-hardened guard numbered fewer than two thousand. If all were given to her, what would he do?

She proposed a compromise: recruiting and training additional personnel elsewhere. Though initially reluctant, he was eventually persuaded.

Despite the peril of the rebellion and the loss of tens of thousands of Xianbei lives, there were still benefits.

The Xianbei power structure had been completely reshaped, strengthening Tuo Baxiao’s control. The ancient clan structures were crumbling, gradually moving toward unification, leaving no remaining forces capable of opposing him.

The foundation for sinicization reforms was now laid, clearing the path for unimpeded reform.

As her health gradually recovered, Jiang Congyan threw herself into the aftermath while continuing to investigate the assassin's arrow meant for Tuo Baxiao.

"My lady, we identified a suspect, but he was already dead when we located him," Zhang Zheng reported.

"Dead?"

"Yes. Upon investigation, we discovered a mark of the Xiongnu on his body. Was he a Xiongnu plant?"

The possibility existed, but her instincts told her that things weren’t so simple.