The Princess Is On Top (GL) - Chapter 19

After Yu Ge went missing, the Southern Yue emperor was still anxious. It was not only because the political significance between the two countries was enormous; he did have some true affection for Yu Ge, after all. She was the daughter he had doted on since childhood. Southern Yue also sent an official letter questioning Great Wu. For such a thing to happen at the border between the two countries truly caught everyone off guard. Emperor Wu also had a headache. On one side, the Prince of Luoyang’s two armies were advancing like a hot knife through butter, heading straight for Pingjing. On the other, Southern Yue was pressing him step by step, insisting that Great Wu give an explanation.

If this had been in the past, how could Yu Ke possibly have tolerated Southern Yue pointing fingers at him?

Without another word, he would have simply attacked. But things were not like they had been back then. Truly, when a tiger fell to the plains, even dogs could bully it.

Yu Ke threw Southern Yue’s state letter onto the desk, unusually irritable.

Who exactly had abducted Southern Yue’s princess? Could it have been Su Qian’s people?

“Your Majesty, Fourth Prince requests an audience.” Wang Dequan came in from outside the hall and said respectfully.

“What is he here for? Zhen is annoyed right now. Not seeing him. Tell him to get lost!” Yu Ke snapped. Whenever this son was mentioned, he would think of the dead Su Huai’an. If not for Su Huai’an’s death, how could the Su clan have rebelled so decisively? If the Su clan had not rebelled, he would have already led troops to Southern Yue’s doorstep by now. Why would he be here, suffering a headache over a state letter? It could be said that this son of his was the source of all these troubles. After the Su clan rebelled, Yu Ke had released Yu Shiwen from confinement.

“Your Majesty… Fourth Prince says he has an important matter to report.” Wang Dequan braced himself and added another sentence. He had accepted benefits from Fourth Highness, so he had to say a few words for him.

“Hm?… Then let him in.”

The moment Yu Shiwen entered, he saw Yu Ke staring at him with a dark face, as though he might erupt at any moment. As Yu Ke’s son, Yu Shiwen naturally knew this very well. This was the omen before Father Emperor lost his temper. He carefully thought back and confirmed that recently, he had not committed any mistakes to annoy Father Emperor. This anger should not be directed at him.

Only then did he relax and respectfully pay his respects.

“Wang Dequan said you had something to report. What trouble have you caused this time? Zhen has no time to wipe your backside right now!”

“Father Emperor, this son knows where Southern Yue’s princess has gone.” The matter of Southern Yue’s princess being abducted was already known to everyone. It was not some secret.

“You know?”

Yu Shiwen stood up from the ground, took out a list from his robes, handed it over to him, and slowly said, “As for the matter of Southern Yue’s princess being abducted, at first, this son also had no clue. The combined strength of two countries searched everywhere, yet could not find even a shadow of the kidnappers. This son wondered, could those kidnappers truly fly into the sky and burrow into the earth?”

Yu Ke flipped through the list in his hand and did not see anything special. He grew somewhat impatient. “Get to the point!”

“Yes…” Yu Shiwen did not dare keep playing mysterious and went straight to the main point.

“Father Emperor, the list in your hand contains all the suspicious people who entered and left Heyuan during those few days, after this son investigated carefully. Among them, the most suspicious is this merchant caravan. I checked the records. The owner of this caravan is surnamed Liu. They have indeed operated a medicinal herb business for generations and have traveled to and from Heyuan for years. However, they have never sent a caravan of such scale to Heyuan for trade before. Moreover, I found that in recent years, this Liu family’s business has not been doing very well. It has been suppressed by the local county official, and their Heyuan route had already been abandoned. But suddenly, overnight, the Liu family’s young master hurriedly requested dozens of carts of medicinal herbs to be transported to Heyuan.”

Yu Shiwen carefully glanced at his father emperor’s expression before continuing, “Then this son began investigating the Liu family. The Liu family of Han County is now managed by the younger son. The eldest son died years ago. But once I investigated, I indeed discovered a problem. The Liu family’s eldest son, Liu Yu, actually shares the same name as a commandant on the list of mid-level officers from the Su family army sent up from below. And the time this commandant enlisted matches the time the Liu family’s eldest son supposedly died with astonishing accuracy.”

“Oh? A mere commandant in Su Qian’s army has such a mind?”

“Father Emperor, do you know Xiao Le, the dark horse who suddenly appeared these past two years and is called the ‘Little War God’ by the outside world? After this son found that commandant, I kept feeling that something was off. I then went to check the list of soldiers sent from Han County to Youzhou several years ago, and Xiao Le was actually among them as well! There was also one person named Du Fei, who is now a commandant too. These three deceived everyone. Thinking about it now, the robbery of grain and supplies at Youzhou’s main camp back then was probably also the work of these three.”

Yu Ke’s face had already turned ugly to the extreme. “Xiao Le, is it? Zhen has indeed heard of this person. Over these past two years, he has repeatedly defeated our army. The Su clan actually managed to obtain such talent! As expected, the Southern Yue matter was definitely done by Su Qian… Su Qian… hmph… Zhen truly cannot wait to cross hands with you.”

A rare excited light burst from Yu Ke’s eyes. Great Wu’s generals were far too useless. Even his own younger brother, Prince Ying, could only barely hold back the enemy’s attacks. Yu Ke, the wolf king among the pack, finally could not resist making a move himself. He wanted to bite through the enemy’s artery and bleed them dry! To hell with all talk of danger at the front line and the importance of the imperial body. He would personally lead the campaign!

Yu Shiwen could not understand why Yu Ke had suddenly begun smiling so strangely. He felt somewhat afraid. In any case, ever since childhood, there had not been a single one of his brothers and sisters who was not afraid of Yu Ke. “Then… Father Emperor… as for these families in Han County…”

“For treacherous lowborn people who eat from inside and turn against their own, does Zhen still need to teach you what to do?”

Yu Shiwen suddenly understood. After grasping Yu Ke’s meaning, he hurriedly took his leave. He truly feared facing his father emperor.

Yu Ke watched Yu Shiwen’s hurriedly departing back with a dark gaze, feeling more and more dissatisfied with this son of his. Ever since the matter with Su Huai’an, Yu Shiwen seemed like a sword that had already gone blunt, losing the sharpness he once had.

When handling matters, he often shrank back and hesitated, utterly unworthy of great responsibility.

He was very disappointed. He had so many sons, yet not a single one was presentable. And yet he did not know that it was his own edge that was too sharp, pressing his sons until they could hardly breathe.

He Yan had received the news of Xiao Le’s success long ago. Counting the days, she ought to return today.

Sure enough, that evening, a messenger came into the tent to report that General Xiao had returned.

He Yan was overjoyed and quickly ordered people to prepare wine and dishes to welcome Xiao Le back. Before long, a report came from outside the tent: General Xiao requested an audience.

After returning to the army, Xiao Le had everyone go rest first. Over this period, everyone had been exhausted in body and mind. She, meanwhile, had to bring Yu Ge here first to report to He Yan. The moment she entered the commander’s tent, Xiao Le gave a military salute first. Yu Ge, however, did not. As soon as she dismounted, she put away the casual manner she had kept on the road and changed into a proud expression. She was neither foolish nor stupid. No matter how she had been taken captive, she was still the princess of a nation, a member of Southern Yue’s imperial family. She should receive the treatment her status deserved. If the Prince of Luoyang truly destroyed Wu and founded a nation in the future, he would inevitably need friendly relations with Southern Yue.

Things were more or less as Yu Ge thought. The moment He Yan saw Yu Ge, he immediately rose to welcome her. “This must be Seventh Princess, whom Xiao Le mentioned in her letter. How discourteous of us, to have Your Highness come as a guest to our army in such a manner.”

“Marshal is truly polite. Since the Prince of Luoyang does not want Southern Yue and Great Wu to form a marriage alliance, then this princess does not mind sitting for a while in the marshal’s army.”

He Yan smiled in satisfaction. Before this, he had been afraid that this princess would be incomparably spoiled and willful, which would make things very troublesome for them. Now it seemed that Southern Yue’s Seventh Princess, who was rumored to have been spoiled by the Southern Yue emperor until she was utterly lawless, was not entirely as the rumors claimed.

“Princess, please move inside. This marshal has prepared a welcoming banquet for you… Xiao Le, you come as well.”

He Yan gave Xiao Le a meaningful look, his smile difficult to read.

The moment Yu Ge entered the tent, she saw that someone was already sitting in the main seat, and it was a woman. She felt somewhat surprised. Was there someone in this military camp whose status was higher than He Yan’s? Xiao Le and Yu Ge saw Su Luoyang at almost the same time, though their reactions were different.

“Commandery Princess! Why are you here!” Xiao Le’s tone was full of delighted surprise.

She then remembered He Yan’s meaningful smile from just now. So he had been waiting for her here.

Eh, Commandery Princess? Then wasn’t this Su Luoyang, whose name was just as famous as hers? But this person’s fame was truly quite different from her own. After all this tossing around, Yu Ge had finally met a proper member of the Su family. In an instant, she smelled something different. This Xiao Le had ignored her whenever she spoke along the way, yet now, after seeing the daughter of her direct superior, she was this excited?

“I came for our honored guest,” Su Luoyang said, referring to Yu Ge. In truth, when she received Xiao Le’s letter, she had already known what Xiao Le had gone to do. Whether she came to see Yu Ge or not did not really matter. As long as He Yan’s side observed proper etiquette, it would be fine even if she did not come. But when she thought about how long it had been since she had seen Xiao Le, then thought of Xiao Le’s letter, Su Luoyang took the opportunity to come see Xiao Le under the banner of friendly diplomacy between the two countries. Of course, on the surface, she still had to say she had come for Yu Ge. Otherwise, she would leave herself open to criticism.

She had specially come for the “Southern Yue princess,” meaning herself.

Yu Ge found it somewhat unbelievable and suspected she might have heard wrong. Although she was a princess of a nation and, strictly speaking, far nobler than a commandery princess, anyone with eyes knew that Su Luoyang, this commandery princess, was actually no different from a princess. It was just that the Prince of Luoyang had not yet declared himself ruler, though that was only a matter of time. The two of them could be said to have equal status. Moreover, Su Luoyang was no empty ornament. She was someone who held real power, unlike Yu Ge, this princess who was merely an accessory of imperial authority. If the Southern Yue emperor became unhappy, he could make her fall from the clouds with a single word. Besides, right now, to put it nicely, she had come as a guest; to put it harshly, she was nothing more than a prisoner in another form.

To put it plainly, the two women were not on the same level politically at all. If Su Luoyang said she had come specially for her, it could be considered giving her a great deal of face.

Yu Ge thanked Su Luoyang for her kindness, then everyone took their seats.

“The Commandery Princess is indeed as the rumors say, peerlessly beautiful.”

“Seventh Princess is in no way inferior.”

“Along my journey, in every place I passed, the common people praised the Su family of Luoyang without end. I believe the day the Prince of Luoyang declares himself emperor is not far off.”

“Princess overpraises us. Southern Yue’s national strength is also growing stronger by the day. If such a day truly comes, we will still need to learn from Southern Yue.”

…

Throughout the meal, the two royal women went back and forth with official courtesies and polite formalities, barely eating a few bites of food. Xiao Le felt tired just watching them.

Xiao Le sat quietly to the side as a foil, not daring to interject… For some reason, the dishes at today’s banquet suited her taste unexpectedly well.

“General Xiao has quite a good appetite. It seems the food suits you well. Along the way, General took great care of Yu Ge, and Yu Ge has yet to properly thank you. Why don’t I use this cup of wine as my thanks to General?”

For some reason, the topic suddenly shifted to Xiao Le, and everyone’s gazes gathered on her. Yu Ge held a cup of wine, her smile gentle as water. Combined with those ambiguous words from earlier, everyone had their own thoughts for a moment.

The first thing Xiao Le sensed was Su Luoyang’s gaze coming from the main seat.

She swallowed the food in her mouth with difficulty and immediately felt as if sharp points were pressing into her back…