The Glory After Rebirth

In the residence of the Jiang family.

“This is unbelievable. With some fake evidence from an unknown source, they falsely accused us of being in cahoots with the rebels. They’re just bullying us because we lost our power and influence! Who does Chu Liangyan think he is? He’s just a filthy old bastard who’s too low to be our servant, and now he dared inflict such humiliation on us. This is ridiculous. He really thinks he’s the one calling the shots now. But surely he’s not stupid enough to believe he can cause the Jiang family any harm with what he got?”

Jiang Chengfeng was hurling abuse. Faces of other members of the Jiang family clouded over with anger.

“They’re indeed not causing us any harm, but they’ve already achieved their ends by having us trapped,” observed Jiang Shennian with a sepulchral face. “It turns out I underestimated Chu Liangyan. I thought that the Fang family would be a distraction to them, but it never crossed my mind that they’d leave the Fang family aside and deal with us first.”

“Chu Liangyan was still targeting the Fang family two days ago. How did he suddenly come to put us in his crosshairs?” said Jiang Chengfeng in a confused tone, trying hard to subdue his rage.

“I heard that yesterday Ling Zhang paid a visit to the Right Prime Minister.”

“Ling Zhang? He’s just a fledgling. What could he possibly have to do with this?”

Jiang Shennian kept silent, but his face was darkening, the expression in his eyes suggesting that the news concerned him. After a while, he remarked, “No matter what, we need to figure out a way to make contact with people out there, otherwise our plan will come to grief.”

A lot of people were blindsided by this misfortune that had befallen the Jiang family.

“How did it go? You still couldn’t send a message to the Jiang family?” Fang Quan walked out of the imperial palace, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

“No. Nobody can get in or out of the Jiang family’s residence for the moment. Even their food is delivered into it by soldiers Chu Liangyan designated. He said that he’s doing that to prevent the Jiang family from finding any opportunities to get in touch with the rebel army.”

“This is outrageous!” Fang Quan heavily smacked his fist onto the table. “Chu Liangyan is such a hateful son of a bitch!”

“I also heard that this morning a guard of the Jiang family’s tried to force his way out but got killed. Those soldiers besieging the Jiang family are all Commander Xie’s henchmen. They’re aggressive and could be neither enticed by the carrot nor browbeaten by the stick, and they kill without any hesitation. Our men put out feelers once but were nearly seen through. It’s too difficult to get through them.”

“Your Lordship, we can’t let things go on as they are. Should we figure out a way to offer the Jiang family some help?”

Fang Quan replied through gritted teeth, “There are both testimonies of witnesses and evidence showing that the Jiang family are working hand in glove with the rebel forces. If we are to save them, we’ll have to disprove those testimonies and evidence, but we don’t have that much time. There’s been no news from the men we sent to kill Yuwen Tong. I’m afraid they’ve failed in the mission already. Given how long it has been since his departure, Yuwen Tong has probably reached the borderlands already. None of us knows how long it would take for Yuwen Tong to fight off the Wan Kingdom’s and the Luohai Kingdom’s armies, so we should focus on assisting the Eighth Prince to ascend the throne, in case anything else unexpected happens. We don’t have enough manpower to spare to get the Jiang family out of the trouble.”

“Well… Are you suggesting that we give up on the Jiang family?”

Fang Quan thought for a few moments and then asked, “Is there any news from Jiangzhou?”

“If people there made a reply promptly, their courier pigeon should arrive by the end of the day, but so far there hasn’t been any news from them…”

Fang Quan clenched his teeth. “No matter whether their answer is a yes or a no, there’s no doubt they will give us a reply. The reason why there’s still no news is either because they want us to raise our offer or because they have misgivings about it…”

“Then what do we do? The garrison of Jiangzhou are unwilling to help; Commander Xie refused to be bought; the Jiang family are trapped… With what we’ve got at the moment, we don’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of helping the Eighth Prince accede to the throne.”

“Calm down!” snarled Fang Quan. “All we have to do is wait. We wait for the reply from Jiangzhou! And about the Jiang family, I’ll give it some more thought.”

“You need to figure something out as soon as possible, Your Lordship. Please go and support our new domain MangaBob.com.Thanks!.Her Highness and the Eighth Prince are in dire danger in the imperial palace as well. If by any chance those people decide to make a risky move and directly kill the two of them, we’ll lose everything.”

“The Eighth Prince and the Concubine Jin are closely guarded by our men. It won’t be easy for them to get a chance to do that.”

…

Meanwhile. In the Ling Mansion.

“How did it go? Is there any news?” Seeing Miao Shisan walk inside, Ling Zhang gazed at him with expectant eyes.

Miao Shisan briefly paused and then replied, “Not yet. The Marshal must be traveling day and night and probably doesn’t have the time to write a letter. Given the time of his departure, it is reasonable to infer that the Marshal has just reached the borderlands. Barring accidents, we will receive a letter carried by a courier pigeon from the borderland.”

The expectation gleaming in Ling Zhang’s eyes slowly ebbed away. Lips pressed together, he stared at Miao Shisan. “Is that true? You guys are not keeping anything back from me?”

Miao Shisan immediately answered, “We don’t dare lie to you, Childe Ling. This is a crucial juncture, and I have a sense of perspective. I don’t have the slightest inclination to keep anything back from you.”

It was only then that Ling Zhang’s tense lips relaxed. “Report to me immediately if there’s any news.”

“Yes, Childe Ling,” answered Miao Shisan, secretly feeling relieved. He indeed hadn’t received any messages from the borderlands yet, but having served Yuwen Tong and been in sync with him for so many years, he knew very well that given the current situation, the Marshal’s journey had definitely been quite eventful. Otherwise he wouldn’t have been unable to spare the time to even write a letter back.

“There’s no need for you to concern yourself, Childe Ling. No news is good news, actually. It means that the Marshal has safely reached the borderlands,” observed Miao Shisan.

Ling Zhang slightly inclined his head. “Yeah.”

He knew Yuwen Tong well enough to be sure that Yuwen Tong wouldn’t forget to write him a letter knowing he was missing him and worried about him in the capital city, unless he really couldn’t spare the time. If Yuwen Tong didn’t even have the time to sit down and write a letter, Ling Zhang could only imagine how busy he was, and how many matters he had to deal with.

“Has the latest battlefield report arrived from the border?”

Miao Shisan said, “Not yet. Judging from the contents of the last battlefield report, it can be deduced that the Wan Kingdom and the Luohai Kingdom are attacking a border city in Youzhou from two sides. I know Jiang Xi. He will definitely be able to hang in there until the Marshal’s arrival.”

Ling Zhang lightly balled his hands into fists. Youzhou bordered both the Wan Kingdom and the Luohai Kingdom, but the Sanguan Mountains was an impassable barrier behind it. Presently, what was under attack from the Wan Kingdom and the Luohai Kingdom at the same time was actually a city in Youzhou which bordered the Luohai Kingdom but originally had had nothing to do with the Wan Kingdom. The Luohai Kingdom worked hand in glove with the Wan Kingdom, ignored Shengzhou which was well defended by Yuwen Tong’s main force, opened its borders to let the Wan Kingdom’s army enter the Luohai Kingdom, detour around the Sanguan Mountains and launch an attack on the fortification line near Youzhou, doubling the pressure the garrison of Youzhou was under. The garrison of Youzhou were different from the garrison of Shengzhou. The latter had many years of experience in fighting enemies as well as a powerful intimidating air about them, while the former had less combat power than Yuwen Tong’s main force did, which added to the difficulties they were faced with!

Once the enemies broke through the defensive line in front of Youzhou, then Gan City of Youzhou which was the second defense line would bear the brunt of the attack. If Gan City was also taken, then Youzhou would fall. Although there were still some barriers between Youzhou and the capital city, the distance between the two was rather short as the crow flew…

“Jiang Ke has sent two batches of reinforcements to Youzhou, but he doesn’t dare draft the main force there for fear that the enemy would attack Shengzhou after he sent the main force southwards. If Shengzhou falls, the situation would be perilous, so presently Jiang Xi is under heavier pressure. The Marshal is aware of this, so he’s probably traveling in greater haste than usual. It’s not because he encountered any dangers or something, so you don’t need to be worried about him, Childe Ling,” said Miao Shisan.

Ling Zhang took a deep breath, clenching his fists. “How can I not be worried? It’s just that I know the only thing I could do is defend this city.”

Suppressing his vexation and unease, Ling Zhang asked, “Has Shiba come back?”

“Not yet. Fang Quan urgently summoned his allies to consult with them about what countermeasure they should take. From the vantage point of the present, it won’t be easy for Fang Quan to find a way out, so I’m afraid Shiba is going to have to stake out the Fang Mansion for a little while longer,” responded Miao Shisan.

“Tell me if he sends any messages back.” Ling Zhang rose to his feet and then hurried to see Ji Yin. “Grandfather, is all in readiness?”

Ji Yin inclined his head. “Everything’s ready. We may do it tonight. I assure you they’d be trapped in their residence for a very long time. Fang Quan and his allies would by no means waste much time on the Jiang family. There’s no doubt they would give up as soon as they come to realize it’s not within their power to save them.”

Ling Zhang heaved a sigh of relief. “I’m glad to hear that. I’ll go with you tonight.”

Ji Yin clapped him on the shoulder. “All right.”

Ling Zhaowu walked up to them. “You’re going to deploy a formation around the Jiang family?”

Ling Zhang bobbed his head. “Have you drunk your medicine today, Father?”

Ling Zhaowu was moved by the fact that his son still kept in mind that he needed to drink medicine daily. “Mr. Mu supervised me drinking it. I don’t dare forget that.”

He had a son and some other family members to protect now, so he wouldn’t let himself die easily. Even if Mr. Mu forgot to remind him, he himself would remember to take the medicine.

“Fang Quan still hasn’t received a reply from Jiangzhou?”

Ling Zhang answered, “No. It seems that the garrison of Jiangzhou has chosen to stay out of this troublesome situation.”

Ling Zhaowu said, “Not necessarily. Who could resist the temptation of the rewards for assisting a prince to take the throne? Yuwen Tong is no longer here, and the defense of this city is not as strong as before. Moreover, the Eighth Prince, the one they’d be supporting, is at least a member of the Zhou family, the imperial household, who counts as a rightful heir to the throne. If I were offered such a golden opportunity, I would definitely get on board. As long as the commander of Jiangzhou garrison is not a fool, he would without doubt agree. As for why he didn’t make an immediate reply, I’m afraid it’s because he wants Fang Quan to raise the offer.”

Ling Zhang looked at Ling Zhaowu, feeling that his father seemed to always have a particularly shrewd idea of what these people were thinking, as though he’d been through a lot of this kind of political struggle and was very experienced…

“Father, do you know the commander of Jiangzhou garrison, by any chance?” Ling Zhang still asked in spite of himself.

Ling Zhaowu smiled, “No, I don’t.”

Technically, this version of him indeed didn’t know that man.

“If things do go as you predicted, there will be a letter from Jiangzhou. When Fang Quan gets the reply, he probably would be even less likely to make any efforts to rescue the Jiang family,” said Ling Zhang.

“Absolutely. With the garrison of Jiangzhou at his back, the Jiang family would pale into insignificance,” observed Ling Zhaowu.

However, the garrison of Jiangzhou would never be able to make it to the capital city. Would Fang Quan change his mind and try to save the Jiang family at that time? But none of these mattered much now, because Fang Quan wouldn’t be able to save the Jiang family in those circumstances even if he wanted to, which meant that his last resort would be…

A rabbit will bite when it’s cornered. A dog will leap over a wall in desperation. Fang Quan was no exception.

If they were to continue plotting against the Fang family, they needed to be careful of the Fang family’s counterplot.

Ling Zhang was on the alert, believing that he had to remind Miao Shisan and the others to be more cautious.