Chapter 786

Da Wang had the newly appointed Five Classics Doctor Yan Hao personally draft the Rebellion Suppression Edict; after it was written, he had Xie Tu publish the original text in the newspaper. He wanted everyone in the realm to know he was preparing to act.

This guy naively thought that if the rebel kings were afraid, it wasn't too late to kneel and submit now.

That day, the Heir Apparent of Lijiang Wang, Baili Rui, went out; on his return, he heard street children hawking the Beijiang Weekly and hastily ordered his aide to buy a copy. Since the Beijiang King ascended the throne, they had made it a habit to read every issue.

The carriage jolted; he took it without a close look, and only after returning to the prince's residence and sitting down did he leisurely unfold it, intending to see what new mischief the new dynasty had cooked up before lunch.

Yes, mischief.

This damned weekly always had something fresh every issue.

He was so used to it that he opened it straight to the front-page headline; just one glance left him stunned.

After reading the short headline twice, back and forth… not a trick of the eyes! He hurriedly read the text below: "A grave matter!"

"Father~ Father!... Is Steward Lin Father in the study?"

Lijiang Wang was in the study speaking with his third son when he heard from afar that it was the eldest son arriving, shouting all the way.

Upon hearing the commotion, the concubine's third son Baili Zhen smiled and said, "It's hard for an elder brother your age to still be so lively."

Lijiang Wang's close attendants nearby couldn't help but twitch their mouths. Was that human speech? Calling a twenty-something heir apparent lively? They were just short of cursing the eldest for being old and making no progress.

Sure enough, when Baili Zhen said that, Lijiang Wang pursed his lips and gave the eldest a sharp look.

"Father~ Something serious has happened!"

"Shut up! Where is there any semblance of a heir apparent in shouting like that! Is this how I taught you?!"

Baili Zhen hastily followed up, "Elder brother, Father is well~ Father told us since childhood to keep joy and anger from showing; this must be some earth-shattering event, which is why elder brother is disregarding propriety like this?"

Hearing the familiar sarcastic tone, Baili Rui drew a deep breath, suppressed the turmoil in his heart, and forced himself to calm down.

After a brief pause, he sneered: "Let me finish speaking, then third brother can respond—there's still time! Just fear that by then our fief may be gone, and third brother will have suffered for nothing."

Before Lijiang Wang could react, Baili Rui directly handed over the weekly.

"The Emperor summons all kings to return to the capital with their entire households; the court is withdrawing feudal domains."

"What?!"

"Impossible!"

After father and son had read the entire front-page content, they still found it hard to believe. What damned little ice age, what nonsensical excuse—they only knew the Emperor wanted to forcibly recall the feudal princes.

Lijiang Wang rose and swept everything on the table to the floor, furious beyond measure.

"This wet-nosed brat, how dare he?!"

Baili Zhen hastily rose to calm his father, glanced at the heir apparent, and advised: "Elder brother's weekly may not be genuine; Father hasn't even received the official edict from the court yet, has he?"

"Though that may be, everyone knows this weekly is produced by Baili Jing's people—there's no reason for them to write nonsense. That edict is surely already on its way." Lijiang Wang knew this in his heart.

Baili Rui gave a mocking smile, lowered his head, and said nothing.

"Father Emperor! When Baili Jing ascended the throne and summoned the kings back to the capital, we didn't return then. This time he speaks nicely, saying our titles won't change if we return to the capital, but… we who showed no stance… may already have been marked down." Moreover, our family's blood relation to Baili Jing is not close.

"Oh? What use is third son saying this now? Back then, few kings responded, and it wasn't only our Lijiang Wang manor that didn't go."

"But other uncles and aunts didn't go themselves; they sent substitute heirs or princesses, whereas we Lijiang only sent a memorial."

"Is third son resenting the heir apparent for missing due to illness? Then why didn't you go…"

"Enough! All of you shut up!" Lijiang Wang roared angrily!

"What time is it, and you two are still bickering! If either of you had any outstanding martial skill, I'd dare to contest!"

Upon hearing this, Baili Zhen grew anxious. "Father! Are we really just going to obey and return like this?! Abandoning Lijiang, we truly would be nothing."

Lijiang Wang's expression was inscrutable. "Why the rush? There are countless rebel kings under heaven; victory isn't necessarily his, Baili Jing. Don't we still have on the eastern side a son of the late Emperor Yuan Huanghou, rich and powerful? They certainly won't all follow Baili Jing in being arrogant and withdrawing domains just to seize power!"

"What does Father mean?"

"Summon Mr. Wu over!"