Chapter 529

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Protagonist:

Yan Qianqian

This man was precisely Li Jun. He stood before Li Jing's desk, holding a bright yellow scroll in his hand, and said to Li Jing expressionlessly, "This is Huangdi's meaning; you look at it yourself." Having spoken, he casually tossed the scroll onto the desk.

Li Jing looked at that bright yellow scroll, and a foreboding premonition surged in his heart. He slowly extended his hand, took the imperial edict, and carefully opened it.

Only to see on the imperial edict, written in dragon-flying phoenix-dancing calligraphy: "By Heaven's Mandate, the Emperor decrees: Crown Prince Li Jing occupies his position in vain, yet his ability falls short, causing Beilin Kingdom to suffer repeated defeats in battle. Crown Prince Li Jing shall swiftly return to Beituo City to receive the decree; Third Young Master Li Jun shall go to the military camp, lead the remaining troops, protect home and defend the country, and together resist Xishang Kingdom's attack. Respect this."

Li Jing finished reading the imperial edict, as if struck by lightning, his whole person froze in place.

He slowly sat in the chair, gaze hollow, as if he had lost his soul. He knew this imperial edict meant Huangdi had already completely abandoned him, and in this war he had indeed become an utter joke.

After returning, Huangdi would certainly not hesitate to strip his Crown Prince position; moreover, if Li Jun could successfully hold Beilin Kingdom's territory, then in the Imperial Palace there would probably no longer be any foothold for him. Li Jing sat dazedly in the chair, his heart filled with despair and helplessness.

Meanwhile Li Jun stood at the camp tent entrance, shouting loudly toward the outside, "Someone come!"

The sound reverberated in the empty campground. Before long, two soldiers walked up quickly; after entering the camp tent, they immediately knelt and saluted, movements neat and uniform.

Li Jun looked at them expressionlessly, then slowly said, "Go pack things for His Highness the Crown Prince, prepare to return to Beituo City to report back."

He deliberately emphasized the four characters "His Highness the Crown Prince," as if reminding everyone of the identity and status of the person about to depart.

Actually, Li Jun's heart was not so calm. He was secretly glad, because the Crown Prince's departure meant his own status in this camp would be elevated.

The two soldiers received the order, swiftly rose and left, heading to the Crown Prince's camp tent to pack luggage.

Li Jun did not linger in the camp tent; he turned and walked out, heading straight for those injured soldiers.

Li Jun came before the injured soldiers, solicitously inquired about their wounds, and gave them a round of comfort.

His words were gentle and kind, letting the injured soldiers feel his care and warmth.

After completing the condolences to the injured soldiers, Li Jun gathered the remaining soldiers together. He stood before everyone and began a speech combining grace and authority.

He first affirmed and praised the soldiers' performance during this period, commending their bravery and resilience.

Then, he solemnly pointed out some problems and shortcomings, and admonished the soldiers to take them as warning and constantly improve.

Just as Li Jun was speaking, Li Jing, carrying a small bundle on his back, walked out from the camp tent.

His gaze swept over the speaking Li Jun, and the gathered soldiers, finally landing on the horse prepared for him to one side.

A soldier saw this, hurried forward to lead over the horse, and said to Li Jing, "Your Highness the Crown Prince, this is your horse."

Li Jing silently took the reins, then deeply looked once in the direction where Li Jun was.

His eyes revealed a complex emotion, containing both memories of the past and helplessness toward the present.

Everything here once belonged to him. However, now he had to leave this place and return to Beituo City.

The current him was actually so down-and-out, a situation he had never imagined.

Although he pondered secretly in his heart, he truly could not think of a better response strategy. Helpless, he could only vault onto the fine horse, movements light and swift, as if afraid of being noticed, quietly departing.

Li Jun, this name may be somewhat unfamiliar to many, but his origins are quite special. He is the child born from the Emperor after a drunken night with a palace maid.

Because a son was born, the Emperor made an exception and directly conferred the title of Xian Fei on his mother. However, Li Aotian had not much affection for Xian Fei.

Nevertheless, after all it was his own flesh and blood, plus Li Jun indeed had some cleverness, so Li Aotian would occasionally visit Xian Fei's sleeping palace.

Even the Grand Tutor praised Li Jun's intelligence incessantly, believing this son would surely become a great vessel in the future.

However, reality is always cruel. Although Li Jun was exceptionally intelligent, his mother consort's origins were lowly, ultimately unable to change his status as a palace maid's son.

In that strictly hierarchical court, a palace maid's son wanting to ascend the Crown Prince position is simply a fantasy. Not to mention Li Aotian himself felt it would be disgraceful, just the court ministers alone would absolutely never agree to such a thing happening.

In comparison, Li Jing's situation was much better. He was born of the Empress, his status incomparably noble. Although he was not particularly intelligent, he could be considered middle-of-the-road, without any obvious flaws.

These years, Li Jing had always been striving to prove himself, hoping to become a qualified Crown Prince, not disappointing everyone's expectations.

As for Li Jun, this person is especially sinister, always liking to pull little tricks behind the scenes, tripping up Li Jing.

Take the last time Li Jing went to congratulate the Dachang Emperor on his birthday — originally everything went quite smoothly, but halfway, Li Jing was suddenly poisoned by Li Jun!

This harmed Li Jing terribly; because of the poison, at the palace banquet his whole person appeared gloomy and terrifying. Every time he thought of this matter, Li Jing gnashed his teeth in anger, truly wishing he could immediately kill Li Jun!

But Li Jun is also not easy to provoke; he has many powerful experts protecting him, Li Jing's people simply cannot get close to him, let alone make a move against him.

So, although Li Jing's heart was full of resentment toward Li Jun, he could only glare helplessly, unable to really do anything to him.

However, although Li Jing rode away on horseback, the thought in his heart of wanting to kill Li Jun grew ever stronger, practically reaching its peak!

Meanwhile, on the other side, after Li Jun finished pumping up the crowd, he did not immediately order troops to set out as everyone predicted, but turned and returned to his own camp tent.

He sat in the camp tent, carefully thinking about how exactly this next battle should be fought to achieve final victory.

Just at this moment, suddenly someone came to report, saying a man called Yan Wang had arrived at the Beilin Kingdom military camp entrance, and was stopped by the two soldiers at the gate.

One of the soldiers said sternly to Yan Wang, "This is a critical military area, idle persons are absolutely not allowed to enter!" Yan Wang heard this and hurriedly explained, "I'm not going in, I just have a letter to hand to your Third Young Master, trouble you to help pass it on."