Chapter 279: The Dashun Army Breaks Taiyuan

"Father—!"

Since the Chongzhen Emperor had crossed over, he had actually not seen Zhao Ren Princess many times. The little girl had barely seen her father over the course of nearly two years, and ought to have grown somewhat distant—yet the moment she saw him now, she still quickly broke free of Consort Yuan's hand and went hopping and skipping toward the Chongzhen Emperor.

Zhao Ren Princess had always been well-behaved, and in the Chongzhen Emperor's original memories from history, he had been quite fond of her and doted on her considerably.

The current Chongzhen Emperor had originally still felt somewhat awkward inside about other people's sons and daughters, but seeing such a little girl running toward him calling out "Father," he immediately forgot that feeling, crouched down to hold Zhao Ren in his arms, and said with a smile:

"Zhao Ren has grown up—Father can hardly hold you anymore."

"Father, you're lying! Zhao Ren hasn't grown up—Zhao Ren is only seven!"

The Chongzhen Emperor had never held a little girl of that age in his later life, and had thought Zhao Ren a bit heavy—it was only a joke—but he never expected the little girl to start acting spoiled and willful on the strength of his doting. Still, no wonder; after all, the girl was only seven. In his later life, at that age she would just be starting elementary school—what could she possibly understand?

Before Chongzhen had a chance to speak, Consort Yuan, who knew court etiquette well, changed expression drastically, took Zhao Ren from Chongzhen's hands, and said seriously: "Silly girl, hurry and apologize to your father!"

"It's no matter—this harem is Zhao Ren's home. How could there be such rules at home?" The Chongzhen Emperor, seeing the little girl look frightened, said with a smile, so as not to suppress the child's nature.

"Thank you, Father—hehe!"

Zhao Ren became happy at once and began circling the Chongzhen Emperor, asking about this and that.

The little girl had not seen her father in a long time, and now that she suddenly had, she stuck to the Chongzhen Emperor like a piece of sticky candy. No matter how Consort Yuan pulled or tugged, she could hardly be separated—in the end, Consort Yuan could only watch helplessly.

Watching the Chongzhen Emperor laughing and chatting with Zhao Ren, like a kind father, Consort Yuan felt most of her original worry melt away. Between last year and this year, the Chongzhen Emperor had sent heads rolling on the court, and nearly all the scholars under heaven called him a tyrant as brutal as Jie and Zhou.

Especially the time he had beheaded several hundred Donglin Faction officials all at once, leaving many seats in the court empty. It was said that on that day the capital ran with rivers of blood, and the executioners were so exhausted that Wang Xiantong had to transfer several batches of temporary replacements from Tongzhou.

With all she had seen and heard, plus the several times Empress Zhou had been reprimanded, Consort Yuan was even more afraid of the Chongzhen Emperor in her heart.

Actually, it wasn't just her—throughout this harem, whether consorts or ordinary palace maids, even Empress Zhou and Empress Yi'an, everyone was scared to death of this emperor who would not be contradicted.

If there was one person who wasn't afraid of Chongzhen at all, it was only Rou Guifei Tuoya, who had just entered the palace.

Seeing this scene before her, Consort Yuan finally felt relieved at heart, thinking to herself that those Donglin Faction members really could spin nonsense—the men the Emperor had killed must all have deserved death.

Nowadays, anyone with even a little sense could see that since killing these so-called pure critics, the situation on the Great Ming court where arguments broke out every few days had disappeared. Policies that used to take three to five days or even half a month to deliberate could now be issued in a day or two—the results were clear.

At least in Consort Yuan's eyes, the court had begun to operate with superiors setting examples for subordinates. Deliberations on government orders were also going very smoothly, and it was rare to see any minister dare offend the imperial dignity. Nearly everything happening recently was good news bearing the signs of resurgence.

But soon, this beautiful picture was shattered. Tuoya hesitated below for a long while—Consort Yuan naturally knew what she wanted to say and was just about to find an excuse to pull her out when she heard Tuoya already call out:

"Your Majesty, the palace is too stifling, and there are so many complicated rules. I can't stand it. I beg Your Majesty to make the decision and let your concubine go out and play for two days! Having someone follow me is fine too—just two days... one day will do!"

The moment Chongzhen heard it was about going outside the palace to play, his face immediately sank, and he said: "Nonsense! You know very well how chaotic it is out there right now. If anything should happen to you, how am I to answer to the Marquis Who Guards the Border? And if guards or soldiers were lost protecting you, would I not become a sinner who destroys people's families?"

"But—Your Majesty, I—" Tuoya wanted to say more, but the Chongzhen Emperor said coldly: "I'll say this one last time: from now on, don't ever bring up this kind of thing again—not until the four seas are at peace and the bandits are wiped out and the barbarians destroyed!"

As he finished speaking, Li Chun, the seal-holding eunuch of the Palace Directorate, happened to come hurrying in. He first paid his respects to Chongzhen, Consort Yuan, Consort Rou, and Zhao Ren Princess, then whispered a few words in the Emperor's ear.

After hearing it, the Chongzhen Emperor's expression also changed drastically. He carefully set Zhao Ren down on the ground, gave her a few instructions, cast a cold glance at Tuoya, and then swept away with his sleeves.

"Sigh! My dear little sister, what can I say about you? You know the Emperor's temper—after all this time, don't you know him yet? Look, since he ascended the throne, has he ever listened to anything we consorts say? Staying in the palace with me to watch the birds and admire the flowers—what's wrong with that? Why must you go join in that excitement!"

Consort Yuan walked over to the wooden-faced Tuoya and comforted her: "Alright, don't be upset. The Emperor is doing this for your own good. I promise you, in a little while I'll accompany you to watch the birds—will that do?"

These past days, Tuoya had constantly wanted Consort Yuan to accompany her to watch the birds. After all, she was a Mongol girl, and Consort Yuan understood the situation—it was just that she truly had no interest in bird-watching, preferring to stay inside the palace with her doors shut, which was why she had never agreed.

Now that Tuoya had been scolded by Chongzhen, Consort Yuan had no choice but to steel herself to go out and watch the birds once.

After she spoke, however, Tuoya did not reply directly, as if she hadn't heard. Seeing this, Consort Yuan grew somewhat annoyed—after all, she was a senior figure in the palace; was Tuoya really not putting this elder sister of hers in her eyes at all?

She was just about to feign anger and give a scolding, so that Tuoya would learn some manners in the future, but she never expected that Tuoya's mind at that moment was not on the same wavelength as hers at all.

Tuoya stood up with a 'swish,' looked around blankly, took a few steps in the direction Chongzhen had gone, then suddenly turned back and asked urgently: "Elder Sister, has something gone wrong at the front? His Majesty's expression just now wasn't right!"

Hearing her words, Consort Yuan pressed a hand to her forehead, thinking that she herself had been careless. She shook her head again and looked at the distracted Tuoya—could this girl have fallen hopelessly in love with the Emperor?

"This... I didn't look closely just now either, but the Emperor's expression did seem to suggest something major had happened." Seeing the grave look rising on Tuoya's face, Consort Yuan quickly said:

"Sigh, in times like these, we are but weak women. Aside from praying to our ancestors and heaven to bless the Great Ming, all we can do is keep this harem peaceful and not distract the Emperor."

Tuoya, however, shook her head very firmly, picked up the bow the Chongzhen Emperor had recently bestowed upon her for practice, and called out:

"I don't care, I don't care! Who says women can't go to war? Every daughter of the grasslands is no worse than any man! If His Majesty personally leads the campaign, even if it means defying the imperial decree, I will follow His Majesty onto the battlefield and chop off two heads of those thieving dogs!"

Back in the warm chamber, the Chongzhen Emperor's face was as heavy as it had been when he first crossed over last year. Only his voice was heard asking: "Wang Cheng'en, how exactly was Taiyuan lost!?"