Chapter 80: An Amnesty for the World

Yan Ning said, "If you don't say anything and I don't say anything, who else could know? When the time comes, put the Armor on the ship, wait for the soldiers to board before putting it on, and just take it off before disembarking."

"If you are worried, my father and I will handle these things."

Yan Ning thought for a moment: "Oh right, I forgot to say, this Armor is only on loan, you have to return it to us when the time comes."

Wu Jiangjun nodded hurriedly: "That is only right."

Yan Ning then said: "Then it is settled, we will go together in September."

Wu Jiangjun was still hesitant, "We are using troops privately; I am afraid we still need to report this to the Emperor."

Yan Ning: "If you don't say anything and I don't say anything, who would know we are going to attack Woguo?"

Yan Ze then said: "The Emperor is muddled now; we should indeed write a memorial to inform him of the Woguo bandits' actions and then volunteer to go and attack Woguo."

Wu Jiangjun wrote the memorial right in front of them and immediately had someone send it via an eight-hundred-li urgent dispatch.

Wu Jiangjun asked: "What if His Majesty does not allow it?"

Yan Ning thought for a moment: "Then we will go secretly. Aren't the Woguo bandits coming to cause trouble? Since they killed the subjects of our Daxia, Wu Jiangjun should immediately take action to pursue the Woguo bandits,"

"It is just that during this pursuit, we might accidentally run into Woguo. And then, accidentally, we might just wipe out Woguo."

Wu Jiangjun's brain crashed.

Looking at Yan Ning, he scratched his head, "Then we will do as you say. In any case, Woguo must be wiped out!"

The three reached a consensus, waiting only for the Armor to be finished.

Yan Ning was just preparing to leave the County Government Office when, unexpectedly, an acquaintance barged in.

Huo Zhitong came to find the County Magistrate with a letter.

He also had not expected that he would actually run into Yan Ning's family.

Wait, who is the man in Armor beside Yan Ning? Could it be Wu Jiangjun from Haicheng?

Wu Jiangjun was politely saying to Yan Ning at this moment: "You don't need to go to the trouble of finding blacksmiths; I know a few blacksmiths here."

After chatting for a while, they finally noticed Huo Zhitong.

Huo Zhitong did not know whether he should hand over the introduction letter at that moment.

The County Magistrate and Wu Jiangjun seemed to have a good relationship with Yan Ning's family, so should he still report them?

Huo Zhitong hesitated.

A long time had passed since that incident, but the reason Huo Zhitong was only reporting it now was entirely because he had been grounded by his older brother as soon as he returned.

He was only released yesterday.

Huo Zhitong remembered Huo Zhiyuan's words:

"Do not cause trouble again; they are people we cannot afford to provoke."

"Even if you go to the County Government Office, what use would it be? Since they dare to live there so leisurely, the County Magistrate must have already taken their money and is on their side."

As for Huo Zhiyuan's words, he had not taken a single word to heart.

After all, it was not as if no Prime Minister had ever been exiled before, only to end up worked to death at the Cai Shi Chang.

Most importantly, they could see that the County Magistrate was upright and incorruptible and would absolutely not shield them.

But what was the situation now? The County Magistrate knew their identities and was still laughing and chatting with them.

Yan Ze looked at Huo Zhitong with a cold and sharp gaze, and Huo Zhitong immediately lost his nerve.

Before Yan Ning or Yan Ze could even speak, Huo Zhitong protested too much, "I didn't intend to do anything to harm you."

"I also didn't intend to report you."

Yan Ning:...

Truly stupid, so stupid that she couldn't be bothered to say a word to them.

Instead, Wu Jiangjun, who was on the side, asked: "Report what? Yesterday when the Woguo bandits attacked, it was they who brought guards to help; otherwise, the ones who would have been robbed the most would be you wealthy households."

Huo Zhitong gave a dry laugh, "Then there is nothing else, I will leave first, I won't disturb everyone."

As he spoke, his feet seemed to be greased, and he ran away immediately.

As Huo Zhitong left, he thought that it was fortunate he hadn't reported them earlier.

Since Yan Ze could bring guards to defeat so many Woguo bandits, he could also bring guards over to tear down his Huo Family.

In the blink of an eye, it was May.

The palace was busy everywhere with preparations for the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet.

The Empress Dowager received a package; it was made by Yan Ze and the others.

Inside the package were some Glazed Glass items, including transparent tableware and vases made of dark green Glass, though it was a pity that the journey was long, and by the time they arrived, the flowers had already withered.

There was also a seashell wind chime, and a very small seashell necklace with a conch shell hanging at the end, which looked quite pretty.

The Empress Dowager continued to rummage through the bag and saw a red Coral bracelet.

Besides these, there were three letters inside.

The first one was written by Yan Ning, a thick letter; she did not know how much Yan Ning had to say to her.

After opening the letter, she did not expect that there were only two thin sheets of paper, and the rest were all Silver Notes of five thousand taels each, four of them—this was twenty thousand taels of silver!

Looking at Yan Ning's letter again, it contained words congratulating her on the birthday banquet and mentioned that they were living quite well in Lingnan, and with Gonggong Fu there, it had saved them a lot of trouble.

At the end, it was written: "Great-Grandmother, you do not need to worry. My parents and I are living very well in Lingnan. There is plenty to eat here, and we will definitely see each other again in the future."

The Empress Dowager began to mutter to herself: "Ningning is thoughtful, but don't they need money to spend in Lingnan? To send so much all at once."

At this moment, an inconspicuous little maid suddenly knelt beside the Empress Dowager and said cautiously: "Reporting to the Empress Dowager, Nudi, Nudi Caizhi, before I was transferred here, I was on duty at Imperial Concubine Wan's place and heard some things about the First Prince."

The Empress Dowager had originally been feeling depressed, but upon hearing there was news of her eldest grandson, she hurriedly said: "Get up, sit and tell me what you know."

Caizhi then recounted everything she had heard.

"His Highness is living very well in Lingnan. I heard he has very formidable personal guards, and the Third Prince has sent assassins there several times, but they were all wiped out."

"Also, His Highness opened a Liuli Pu in Lingnan, and the profits are quite good. Although it was shut down by the Emperor, they are still able to trade privately."

"I also heard that His Highness the First Prince led a group of manor guards and defeated the invading Japanese pirates, and Wu Jiangjun wants to lead two thousand troops to wipe the Japanese pirates out in one go."

Upon hearing that her eldest grandson was still doing well and had money on him, the Empress Dowager felt relieved.

Currently, the national treasury is in deficit, and it was only because the Emperor confiscated the assets of several treacherous officials that the crisis was overcome.

Otherwise, the Empress Dowager's eightieth birthday banquet could not even have been held.

The Empress Dowager asked Caizhi again: "Is there any more news regarding the First Prince?"

Caizhi thought for a moment, then said: "I heard that the little Princess is spending money like water, scattering money all along the way; she even scatters money when she enjoys listening to storytelling, tossing out Gold Melon Seeds and Silver Melon Seeds as if they were worthless."

The Empress Dowager revealed a smile.

She could finally rest easy.

If she had been stingy along the way, then she would have been worried.

May 10th was the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet, and all civil and military officials came to offer their congratulations.

However, the Empress Dowager, who was sitting in the seat of honor, had a noticeably poor complexion, the atmosphere in the hall was very oppressive, and the court officials did not dare to speak a word.

At this moment, Minister of Personnel Gao Yuan stood up and bowed.

He then knelt on the ground and said: "Your Majesty, today is the Empress Dowager's eightieth birthday; your subject believes that there should be a general amnesty."

"Especially for the exiled First Prince, as well as other civil and military officials."