Fuzhu's Ballad

59

Chapter 59 Jealousy is a poison

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When autumn arrived, the army for the northern expedition finally assembled and set out under the leadership of General Su Ying Wei, marching all the way to their destination.

The southern crops ripened before those of other regions, and it was a year of good harvest. As a result, the provisions of the northern expeditionary force were extremely abundant, and their morale was incredibly high. This army consisted of elite soldiers and strong generals who had been meticulously prepared by Da Min’s Emperor Ding for many years. They were well-trained, with powerful bows and strong horses, and their strength had not diminished during the transition of power. They had a ten percent chance of victory in their attack on Beimo.

However, Beimo fell into a deeper predicament during this time. Xiao Bing Wen, the Fifth Prince of the previous dynasty, died during the night attack in Tongye, and the army that lent him support returned with no name, stationed within the national border for several days. They couldn’t attack, and it was also difficult to retreat, causing Beimo to fall into an embarrassing situation. All ethnic groups in Beimo were already extremely dissatisfied with the Empress Dowager’s control of the court for many years, especially after the Emperor came of age and got married, but the Empress Dowager still showed no intention of returning power to him. Xiao Bing Wen’s attempt to restore the dynasty by borrowing troops became an opportunity for the various ethnic groups to overthrow the Empress Dowager. Under the covert leadership of Yinghe Zan, a group of minor figures in the court first advocated for the deployment of troops, and the leaders of various ethnic groups tacitly agreed. Hence, the Empress Dowager was forced to lend troops. Later, the army returned in disgrace, and the various ethnic groups jointly launched an attack, accusing the Empress Dowager of incompetence.

The two sides were wrestling with each other when the horn of the northern expedition came from Da Yan. The Empress Dowager was caught in a pincer attack, with no way out. The Beimo court was secretly boiling with unrest, but was actually powerless to resist this attack which was already mismatched in strength.

Shentu Rui stood on the city wall, proudly watching as his huge army rolled towards Tongye like a monster crawling on the ground. However, Lan Dan, who was next to him, was full of sorrow. Shentu Rui guessed correctly that Lan Cheng had disregarded his repeated warnings and had already arrived at Tongye before the army.

Not all sisters-in-law in the world were difficult to deal with, but those like Lan Cheng were the most difficult to deal with in the world! Her current identity was extremely noble, the Grand Princess of Dingguo, and in the absence of the Empress Dowager or the Empress in the harem, she was basically the first in command. Lan Dan had already felt that her mannerisms were becoming more and more like Lan Huang’s in the past, but when they met again this time, she had become even more brazen and arrogant than Lan Huang was back then.

This crusade against Beimo could be considered a major event since the founding of Da Yan. Xia Xin, who had been promoted to a third-rank female official, also followed Lan Cheng to join the expedition. This Beimo girl who had followed Shentu Rui through thick and thin no longer had to be cautious and careful about everything. She became lively and cheerful, getting along with everyone especially with Lan Dan. Lan Dan also learned a lot from her, such as how Lan Cheng looked more and more like Consort Xi, so Shentu Rui was indulgent towards her without a choice. Although there were many things that he could not stand, he could not bear to say a harsh word. In the past, he had been avoiding misunderstandings with Lan Cheng and had been worried that she would be wholeheartedly married to him. Now that their identities were clear, Shentu Rui could be considered obedient to Lan Cheng in every way.