Chapter 863

The benefits given by the Emperor are indeed not few, but in Chen Wuji's eyes, promising to provide protection for this prince is already enough; as for the other conditions, he does not want to agree to any of them.

Especially taking the lives of his own subordinates to pursue an outcome he knows is unlikely.

Xu Zengyi pondered for a long time, then suddenly said, 'My lord, perhaps we can give it a try. If this succeeds, it will bring great benefit to my lord, especially making the advantages of the current battle more obvious.'

'Now the Bīngmǎ stationed in Yan Zhou are all of Yan Yan's faction; if we can find an opportunity to kill this colleague, the morale of the Court Army's front line will surely collapse, and our chances of victory will greatly increase.'

Chen Wuji raised his head, stared directly at Xu Zengyi and asked, 'Sir, have you considered the difficulty of this matter?'

'The difficulty is naturally not small, but my lord, don't you happen to have such a mysterious Rivers and Lakes force as the Charitable Aid Hall? I've heard that the Charitable Aid Hall penetrates everywhere; perhaps we could give it a try.' Xu Zengyi said.

'I'll talk with Lao Kong later.'

Xu Zengyi merely brought it up casually, gave Chen Wuji a suggestion, then didn't continue on this matter, turning to ask, 'Did the Emperor only mention these two conditions?'

'Only? That's already plenty.' Chen Wuji said, 'He granted me a marquisate and gave me a bunch of Imperial Edicts; the benefits are indeed not small, but to me these things are like icing on the cake, making our upcoming affairs legitimate and proper.'

'But lacking them does not make it difficult for me to move, nor does it make it hard for me to get by in Nan Jun. These things are not urgently needed by me; they are benefits that could bring great change.'

'As for marrying the princess, the Emperor may treat this as a huge bargaining chip, but to me it's just an extra, not that significant.'

'For these things, exchanging my protection of a prince and safeguarding his bloodline is already enough. I don't want to take any other risks, especially sacrificing the lives of my top subordinates to pursue an outcome I know is unlikely—a loss.'

Chen Wuji acknowledges the Emperor's kindness, but the accounts also need to be carefully calculated.

He cannot, for these things, sacrifice his own people's lives to smooth the path for the Emperor.

'My lord's concerns are reasonable.' Xu Zengyi gave a light laugh, 'In such matters, it's better to let Mister Kong make the decision; whether it's Rivers and Lakes affairs or the strength of the Charitable Aid Hall, he knows them better.'

'Hmm.'

Yang Tiejiang and the others saw that Chen Wuji and Xu Zengyi had more or less finished their discussion, and one by one they curiously gathered closer.

'Did the Emperor really marry off the princess to my lord?' Yang Tiejiang asked.

Chen Wuji raised his eyebrows slightly, 'Lao Yang, hearing that, you think I'm not worthy?'

'Surely you are worthy, more than enough,' the Deputy General said, 'my meaning is… such things are rather rare, so I'm just curious.' Yang Tiejiang immediately puffed out his chest and answered with a loud, resonant voice.

'The matter is true, but there's no need to overly concern ourselves with her princess status; from now on she will be the marchioness.' Chen Wuji instructed, for he did not want the court's influence to reach Nan Jun so quickly.

'Yes!'

Xu Zengyi suddenly seemed to recall something, and asked in a low voice, 'My lord, does the princess's marriage require us to prepare the wedding rites?'

'No need, we'll talk about it later; tomorrow the army will set out, where would we find the time!' Chen Wuji said; this was true, but also served as an excuse.

Huo Sanniang and the others' wedding still hasn't been held to this day, and he doesn't want to give the princess any special treatment.

Although Yu Yan Chu is a noble Elder Princess, in Chen Wuji's eyes her status is far below that of Huo Sanniang and the others; if a wedding were to be held, it would have to be done together, and it would be impossible to let Yu Yan Chu take the lead.

Originally, his wedding with Huo Sanniang and the others should have been held long ago.

But there is also someone with a special identity here: Qin Zhanhong.

This matter had been discussed before, but Huo Sanniang and the others, united with Qin Zhanhong, insisted on holding the wedding only after visiting the Qin Family, so it was put on hold again.

With this precondition in place, even if Yu Yan Chu is the Elder Princess, we still have to wait.

'My lord, why not treat the soldiers to a good meal today? You are ennobled today and the princess is marrying in—double joy—let the soldiers share in the happiness.' Chen Wu Yin said, grinning broadly.

Although he is already high-ranking and powerful, this guy remains as frivolous as ever; opening his mouth always gives people a sense of cunning, even though what he says is quite serious.

'Set out the wine! Set it up now; after eating, take a rest!' Chen Wuji waved his hand and said loudly.

'Yes!'

……

On the eve of the army's departure, the soldiers enjoyed a lively feast.

The only shortcoming was that there wasn't much alcohol, and the spread was a bit crude.

Without tables or chairs, the soldiers could only sit in a circle on the ground to eat, and each person could only have a bowl of wine, but the soldiers' atmosphere was fervent, their gazes toward Chen Wuji filled with fervent admiration.

Each of them sincerely felt joy and pride for Chen Wuji.

Their lord had been ennobled and had married the princess!

This is a great joy!

The series of new policies in Nan Jun have now been basically perfected; each of the 200,000 soldiers is a genuine beneficiary—not mentioning their battlefield exploits, merely the fact that Chen Wuji has given their families land to farm and clothes to wear, enabling them to eat their fill and live peacefully thereafter, is enough to make these soldiers wholly devoted to Chen Wuji.

The new policies instituted by Chen Wuji may, in the eyes of later generations, seem nothing special; but viewed from outside and inside, they are completely different.

In the present, in this chaotic world, the things Chen Wuji has done are, to these soldiers, no different than being reborn by their parents.

Each article of the new policies is like a sharp scalpel, precisely cutting into the pain points of this era.

Yu Yan Chu's first participation in such affairs made her excited, like a rabbit at a certain stage.

Chen Wuji couldn't stop her; she insisted on toasting the soldiers with her dual identity as Elder Princess and marchioness.

Toasting aside, her remarks were excessively many.

She didn't mind the trouble; upon reaching each unit of soldiers, she would utter a few very formulaic stock phrases, essentially saying, 'I am the Elder Princess and also your marchioness; you have toiled in killing enemies for the country, the nation relies on you, you are all heroes, I toast you,' and so on.

These words… in fact, Chen Wuji used to say them often as well.

He would go to the army camp to exchange feelings with the soldiers, chatting about everything under the sun, but basically he would sum it up with a few similar sentences.

But now, seeing Yu Yan Chu bouncing back and forth to toast the soldiers, Chen Wuji felt inexplicably odd, wondering if perhaps they really were not a family after all.

'Madam, your nature is truly simple; there is not a trace of the Elder Princess's airs about you.' Xu Zengyi approached Chen Wuji holding his wine bowl, laughing heartily.

'No airs, every sentence is just 'I am the Elder Princess!' Chen Wuji shook his head.