Chapter 341: Discussing Horses in the Imperial Court

"This..."

The Northern Di generals in the Golden Tent all cast their gazes toward Li Xin at this moment.

It seemed that if he were to utter a single word of refusal, they would draw their blades.

Li Xin wanted to argue a few more points, but upon meeting the gaze of Mule Hongzhen, he immediately lowered his head.

It seemed there was no room for maneuver in this matter.

"Great Khan, I will convey your words to the Emperor; please wait for news from Xiliang," Li Xin finally said.

Mule Hongzhen nodded, "If we do not wait for your Emperor at the foot of Yin Mountain, what your Xiliang will wait for will be the iron cavalry of our Northern Di."

Upon hearing this, Li Xin's heart trembled once more.

After responding with an acknowledgement, he performed a salute and slowly retreated from the Golden Tent.

Before he had walked more than a few steps, a burst of uproarious laughter erupted from the Golden Tent.

Looking back at the Golden Tent, Li Xin and the Xiliang Cavalry mounted their horses and headed toward Wuwei.

At this moment, Li Xin felt only deep humiliation.

No matter what, he was the Prime Minister of Xiliang.

Yet here, he was as humble as a servant.

"It is all because of this Yan Wang," Li Xin gritted his teeth.

If not for this Yan Wang, how could their Xiliang have been defeated so miserably?

And how would he have been suspected by Tuoba Hao because of his identity as a Song People?

Thinking of this, he secretly swore to himself.

Once Xiliang recovered its strength and found a way to obtain Artillery and other firearms, he would definitely return to Jinzhou.

Jinling.

At the same time the Imperial Edict arrived in Yancheng, Zhao Xu's Memorial also reached the hands of Zhao Heng.

After reading the Memorial, he did not make it public, nor did he even tell Liang Cheng.

The next day.

The officials held the morning court.

The ministers discovered that the Emperor, who had not attended court for several days, had actually come.

With shouts of "Long live," the ministers looked at one another, waiting for Zhao Heng to speak.

They knew that every time this Emperor attended court, it was certainly for some significant matter.

At this moment, sitting on the Dragon Throne, Zhao Heng wore a strange, vengeful smile on his face.

To him, this news about Yan Wang was exceptionally gratifying, perhaps even comparable to the recovery of Jinzhou.

With Ma Chong becoming the new Head of the Family for the Ma Family, a trend had formed in the court: the Dou Family, Xiao Family, and Ma Family as one faction, and the Han Family, Wang Family, and Liang Family as another.

At the same time, they were united in preventing him from letting the Deposed Crown Prince return to the Eastern Palace.

During the two-plus months that Yan Wang was fighting, the court had actually never been peaceful.

After Yan Wang expressed his support for his eldest brother Zhao Gang, he and Empress Xie had conceived the idea of reinstating Zhao Gang as the Crown Prince.

However, as soon as he had Mi Yan propose it, it was immediately met with fierce opposition from Dou Wei.

Because of the support from Yan Wang, he did not retreat easily this time and insisted on letting Zhao Gang re-enter the Eastern Palace.

But the next day, Dou Wei employed his old tactics and claimed illness to avoid appearing.

At the same time, a large number of influential officials in Jingshi successively claimed illness.

Due to the Recommendation System of Great Song, the officials in the court were either from the Rich Clan or were retainers of the Rich Clan.

This caused the government affairs of the entire Jingshi to fall into paralysis.

But even so, he did not back down and dismissed a large number of officials who were feigning illness.

Only, after he did this, the situation became even more serious.

Local Rich Clan officials who were vassals to the influential clans also began to claim illness one after another.

Seeing that if this continued, the laws, taxes, and the army would all face major problems.

He had no choice but to set aside the matter of appointing the Crown Prince once again.

Yet, despite compromising, he still could not forget the triumphant look in Dou Wei's eyes when he returned to court.

During this period, he had been looking for an opportunity to discipline Dou Wei.

Now, Yan Wang had provided him with the opportunity.

Among the Eight Great Influential Clans, the Ma Family guarded the northwestern frontier and had always carried great weight in Great Song.

If he could keep the Ma Family from colluding with the Dou Family, it would deal a heavy blow to Dou Wei's arrogant momentum in the court.

After the civil and military officials stood in their respective rows, he cleared his throat and said, "My dear ministers, there is a joyous event today that I wish to share with you all."

Upon hearing this, Dou Wei exchanged glances with Han Zheng and the others, feeling a vague sense of unease in his heart.

To them, good news for Zhao Heng was naturally bad news for them.

"I wonder what news it is that makes the Emperor so happy?" Although he felt uneasy, as Prime Minister, Dou Wei still took up Zhao Heng's lead.

Zhao Heng looked toward Dou Wei and raised the Memorial in his hand, "Yan Wang sent a Memorial to tell me that the eldest son of Inspector Ma Xuan, Ma Han, is still alive."

"What!"

As Zhao Heng's voice fell, the court suddenly became as if it were boiling.

Especially Ma Yuan; in two more days, he was to head to Jinzhou to take up his post.

To him, this news was simply earth-shattering.

Dou Wei's hand trembled, and the court tablet he was holding nearly fell to the ground.

The Third Prince Zhao Mu was even paler in the face.

Zhao Heng was very satisfied with Dou Wei's panicked appearance; he had not seen Dou Wei lose his composure like this for a long time.

"Your Majesty, is this matter true?" Ma Yuan's lips trembled, his eyes fixed firmly on the memorial in Zhao Heng's hand.

Zhao Heng ordered Liang Cheng to hand the memorial to Ma Yuan, saying at the same time, "How could a memorial submitted personally by Yan Wang be false? Right now, Ma Han is in Yancheng."

After reading it, Ma Yuan learned of Ma Han's experiences after the assassination attempt.

The look of shock on his face gradually turned into wild laughter, "Hahaha, Heaven will not let my Ma Family perish after all."

Dou Wei forced out a smile and said, "This matter is indeed worth congratulating, however..."

Having said this, he stopped mid-sentence.

"However what?" Zhao Heng narrowed his eyes, wanting to see what else Dou Wei had to say.

"However, Your Majesty, this is the internal affair of the Ma Family. Currently, Ma Chong is deeply valued by the Ma Family elders and is the recognized Head of the Family. Even if Ma Han is alive, it seems it should not be changed, otherwise it will easily cause internal strife in the Ma Family, leading to instability in the northwestern frontier," Dou Wei said.

Ma Yuan sneered repeatedly and said, "Hmph, who says all the Ma Family members have accepted Ma Chong? The various elders of the Ma Family just don't know that Ma Han is still alive. Once he returns to the Ma Family, how could there be any reason for Ma Chong to sit in the position of Head of the Family?"

Dou Wei looked at Ma Yuan, "I am just saying this; whether Ma Han can actually return, and whether he can still inherit the position of Head of the Family upon returning, is ultimately for your Ma Family to decide."

Zhao Heng gave a light harrumph.

He understood what Dou Wei meant.

The Imperial Clan has always refrained from interfering in the internal affairs of the powerful clans.

Powerful clans likewise do not interfere in the internal affairs of other powerful clans.

His implication was to let the Ma Family resolve this matter themselves.

And not for him, the Emperor, to designate Ma Han as the Head of the Ma Family.

"That is indeed so, Your Majesty. This old subject will set off for Yancheng in these two days to take charge of Jinzhou, and then bring Ma Han back to the Ma Family to rectify the position of Head of the Ma Family. I would like to see who in the Ma Family dares to object!" Ma Yuan glanced sideways at Dou Wei.

Previously, when it was rumored that Ma Han was dead, he naturally had no reason to stop Ma Chong.

But now that Ma Han was still alive, even if he had to risk his old life, he could not let Ma Chong continue to sit in the position of Head of the Family.

Zhao Heng nodded. There was another reason why he only showed this memorial to Ma Yuan and no one else.

That was that Yan Wang proposed lending troops to Ma Han when necessary to reclaim the position of Head of the Ma Family.

Regarding this, he agreed in his heart.

It was inconvenient for him to dispatch the Imperial Guard to intervene, but Yan Wang and Ma Han were on very good personal terms, so lending some "guards" was feasible after all.

As for the rest, it could only depend on the power struggle between Ma Han and Ma Chong.

Dou Wei looked at Ma Yuan, then looked at Zhao Heng, a trace of worry in the depths of his eyes.