Chapter 311

Things don't go as one wishes; others could stay quiet like a chicken and not provoke Baili Jin, but the old Grand Marshal lacked this tact, he was extremely excited and loudly praised the Prince of You for having the bearing of the High Ancestor.

Baili Jin wore a false smile, 'Grand Marshal, you probably forgot—there's no Prince of You anymore; Baili Jing raised the banner in revolt, just like those few in the south, he's become a rebel king!'

The Grand Marshal stroked his beard, speaking solemnly: 'Ah? Your Highness, that's wrong. The Prince of You didn't rebel for that throne up there; he just didn't want to change his fief. I think Your Highness should placate and favor the Prince of You. However the Prince of You says he's doing this for the ancestral legacy, for the completeness and dignity of Great Jin.'

With this rising stature, Baili Jin was about to burst a blood vessel, and the old man stubbornly added a line;

'Ah! At such a young age, truly bearing the style of the High Ancestor!'

Seeing Baili Jin unhappy, there are always others who are pleased, for example, the father-in-law of the second son, the Minister of Agriculture.

He didn't want to praise the Prince of You, but making this guy feel sick was also fine.

So this old man also spoke up in agreement, saying that after all, it's the Wei family, whose maternal clan has long commanded the army, and the Prince You already possessed abundant martial virtue at a young age.

The Ministry of War present wasn't unconcerned; the attention originally directed south now had to be diverted to Youzhou. How could one not see that the northern side is the true grave threat?

This martial prowess far exceeds that of whatever Jiangxia King or Marquis Hanshou; the Prince You killed the Left Worthy King of the Xiongnu! Moreover, to this day he remains safely stationed in the northern territories already ceded, showing what? That the Xiongnu and Xianbei haven't won!

Originally no one paid attention to the northern border, assuming those people would have to flee back in just a few days, but it seems they've won?

They didn't want to believe it either, but Lan He is dead, and died miserably. For a moment the Jianzhang Palace was filled with alarm; is it really so difficult for this martial force to march south to Chang'an?

After all, the fact that Emperor Ningde's 500,000-strong northern expedition suffered a crushing defeat is right here; who could claim that Chang'an's remaining forces surpass that 500,000 in strength?

The more they thought about it, the stranger the atmosphere became.

And that wasn't the end; within the span of two incense sticks, another major event that occurred in Chang'an also reached the Jianzhang Palace.

"What are you saying? The Cui family was... exterminated? The Cui clan of the rebel king's maternal lineage?" Baili Jin exclaimed in shock.

The Cui family is indeed a prominent clan; since Prince Jing turned against the Cui family, all that's happened so far is that a Grand Master of Rituals has fled, and that's all we know.

What status do these great clans hold nowadays? Even when Prince Jing rebelled, it didn't implicate those Cui family members who weren't openly involved or didn't hold office.

Especially clans like the Wang, Xie, Li, and Cui, they enjoy lofty prestige and social standing. Otherwise, the king's slighting of the Lu and Fan families' faces wouldn't have made him renowned throughout the land.

Even if Baili Jin hates them to the point of his teeth itching, the Cui family's second son's father-in-law, the Grand Minister of Agriculture Li, is still strutting about in Chang'an.

"Your Highness, it's absolutely true. In the Chang'an Cui residence there are still many people, including the elder of the second branch, all of whom were slaughtered last night! The Cui family's main gate likewise had a head hung that could no longer be recognized; according to the notice posted on the outer wall of the Cui residence, that head is Marquis Chen, namely Chen Feng, the Marquis stationed at the Li River garrison."

Upon hearing there was still a notice, the ministers hurriedly asked what it said.

And why was Marquis Chen hung at the Cui family's gate?

"It's written… it's written…" reported a scribe from the Jingzhao Prefecture, who hesitated there, afraid to speak, but that only made Baili Jin's anger flare even more.

"Speak!"

"He… he said the entire Cui family was ordered to die by the Northern Border King!" He gritted his teeth and said it, then after speaking he knocked his head to the ground and remained motionless; he could already imagine how furious the future emperor, who would ascend the throne in half a month, would be.

The officials erupted in an uproar, "Ordered… death?"

"And who is this Northern Border King again?"

These two characters "ordered death" are quite subtle.

Baili Jin gritted his teeth, and, laughing bitterly from extreme anger, said, "Could this Northern Border King be none other than Bai Li Jing, who bears the aura of Gaozu?" After saying that, he glanced at the Grand Marshal.

The senior Grand Marshal, who had been watching the front lines like a spectator, had already left his post to interrogate the scribe lying on the ground, and Baili Jin nearly fainted from rage.

The senior Grand Marshal said, "What about the notice? How are you doing your duty, you can't even explain the key points!"

All the officials: "And what exactly is this Northern Border King about?"

"Why hang Marquis Chen in front of the Cui family's gate?"

"Tell the truth quickly!"

That scribe was utterly wronged—didn't he want to peel it off? It wasn't that he couldn't peel it off! One doesn't know what glue was used; a slight tug and the paper shreds, impossible to remove no matter how hard you try. He didn't dare bring a copy of that ravings, feeling that presenting it to Baili Jin would only make him angrier, possibly even inviting punishment upon himself.

Now he couldn't escape either, being interrogated by the senior officials led by the Grand Marshal, and Baili Jin also coldly snorted from above, "Speak the truth, not a single character off; spout nonsense and you'll also be ordered to die!"

"... The notice says that the head hung is that of the Li River Marquis Chen. It says that Marquis Chen Chen Feng and the Cui clan colluded with the enemy and betrayed the nation, conspired with the Western Regions' states, and caused the destruction of the Changzhou southwest army; moreover, the Cui family's Grand Master of Rituals earnestly urged the late emperor to embark on a personal campaign, harboring ill intent, causing the late emperor's death and plunging the northern populace into war, unforgivable crimes, punished cumulatively, by order of the Northern Border King,... exterminate the entire clan."

Even the king hadn't thought he could wipe out the Boling Cui clan in one fell swoop; he only wanted to kill this branch that held office, and even those who had fled to Jingzhou were hard to exterminate. First, he found it too far and troublesome; second, he didn't want to clear the way for his elder brother.

But now, shouting those slogans is definitely being done loudly.