382 Lay Down the Flags and Rest the Drums
General's Residence.
Ye Xiaoying sat in the study room, and sitting right in front of him was his most beloved daughter, Ye Ruoyi. During this storm, they stood on different camps, but in the end, it was Ye Ruoyi who won.
"Father," Ye Ruoyi said softly.
Ye Xiaoying waved his hand to stop her. "No need to say anything. This time, I well and truly lost to these kids. In fact, considering my temper at the time, I really wanted to trample over the entire imperial palace and wipe them all out."
Ye Ruoyi shook her head. "Father, you’re very brave but never cruel. Xiao Se already knew that about you."
"Yeah, I understand military strength, but he perceives the heart. So, my great army of 200,000 was defeated by a few brats and that ridiculous edict of repentance." Ye Xiaoying's tone was naturally still a little angry.
"Xiao Se said that if Father was unwilling to retreat at the time, then right now, the banner flying in Heavenly Revelations City will no longer be the great divine phoenix of the Xiao Clan imperial family, but the military banner of our Ye Banner Battalion." Ye Ruoyi shook her head.
"Indeed. When I was holding my sabre, I thought to myself, worse comes to worst, why not kill everyone with the surname Xiao and then I will become the emperor? I can break formations and kill people. What do I know about being an emperor?" Ye Xiaoying sighed. "So that's that. What’s more, back then, the Prince surrendered himself to his own death, so I have no reason for vengeance anymore."
"Father…" Ye Ruoyi could feel the sadness in Ye Xiaoying's tone.
"It's okay. I'm getting old too, and the brothers who fought with me in this Heavenly Revelations City are no longer here. All these years, I held on because of that breath of anger, but now, that’s gone too." Ye Xiaoying's eyes were a little dim. "Ruoyi, how’s your illness now?"
Ye Ruoyi was startled for a moment before she replied, "I haven’t had a relapse for a long time. I asked the State Preceptor once. The wisp of qi left by the master on the immortal mountain will protect my heart meridian, and I will be fine for at least ten years. Ten years later, the master will wake up from his grand dream, and I can visit the immortal mountain again."
"That's good. I guess you probably won’t want to leave Heavenly Revelations in the next few years. All your friends are here. As for that Xiao Se, do you want to be his Princess Consort?" Ye Xiaoying suddenly chuckled.
"I grew up with Xiao Se from childhood and we have no romantic feelings for each other. Father, you’ve misunderstood." Ye Ruoyi was a little helpless.
"Then, what about that kid from Lei Clan? He’s different from Lei-dage. Lei-dage was very good at pleasing his girl. Not like his son, so dumb and foolish." Ye Xiaoying continued to laugh.
Ye Ruoyi was even more helpless. "Father, what are you trying to say?"
"I'm thinking, if I leave, who will look after you." Ye Xiaoying paced to the door and looked up at the sky.
"Where is Father going?" Ye Ruoyi frowned.
"After this incident, do you think I can still stay in the imperial court? Mingde Emperor didn't condemn me because he didn't dare. If I don't admit my own crime and resign my position, those people will think I’m preparing for another war and they will never sleep well. Help me draw up a memorial. Just say that I’m retiring and going home. Don’t rush to submit it either. Wait one whole month and let those people with ulterior motives have restless nights for that whole month!" Ye Xiaoying said loudly.
Ye Ruoyi sighed softly. "Is Father going to Mount Fengxi?"
"That’s right. Your mother is buried there," Ye Xiaoying said dazedly. "It's been so many years. I should go spend some time with her."
The house steward walked in from outside. "General, he’s… here again."
Ye Xiaoying flicked his sleeves and turned around. "Not meeting."
He could accept the present outcome, but that didn’t mean he acknowledged this decision. He could be persistent about certain things too.
A carriage was parked outside quietly.
This carriage had been coming for three days now. But every day, he was not allowed to enter the General's Residence.
An elegant young man in white sat inside the carriage, gently waving a folding fan in his hand. "Sigh, why is the General-in-chief as temperamental as a child? He really doesn’t want to meet me?"
"Your Highness, the general still said, not meeting." As if responding to his words, the messenger walked back and reported softly.
"Never mind, then." Xiao Lingchen put down the folding fan and said solemnly, "Go to the palace.
"The person I want to meet doesn’t want to meet me. The person I don’t want to meet is summoning me every day. What a pain."
Red Prince Residence.
Xiao Yu held up two letters to the candle flame and burned them into ashes. From the study, a man walked out slowly. He was dressed in an exquisite purple python robe with gold trim on his sleeves, indicating his very special rank as head of the Five Grand Eunuchs of Heavenly Revelations.
Grand Eunuch Jin Xuan.
"I’ve lost a little too thoroughly this time." Xiao Yu smiled and looked at Grand Eunuch Jin Xuan. "I wanted this incident to turn all under Heaven into chaos and cause losses on both sides. Then, all I had to do was wait and net the benefits. But in the end, whether it was Heavenly Revelations or the Langya Army, both came out safe and sound."
"Only Jin Yan and those old eunuchs would pin all their hopes on a person like Xiao Lingchen. In the past, shifu suffered defeat under Xiao Ruofeng yet now, they were hoping to hold some authority over him. That was very stupid of them." Jin Xuan shook his head and added, "Our original intention was to force the other two armies to send their troops into Heavenly Revelations so that in the end, even if they avoided this battle, fighting would still have broken out. But who would have thought that the Wang Li Heavenly Army would be sent to intercept them."
"It's Xiao Se," Xiao Yu said mildly. "The letter said that the person leading the army was someone in a green dress. That must have been Ye Xiaoying's daughter, Ye Ruoyi. They thought that Ye Ruoyi was sent by Ye Xiaoying, but we know that Ye Ruoyi stands on Xiao Se's side."
"We really lost to him at this step. But this matter is not over yet," Jin Xuan said. "Now, the most important thing is to find Jin Yan. The list he’s holding is very important. If we can find the list, we can make use of the people on that list."
"If they’re of any use, why would Jin Yan run?" Xiao Yu didn’t understand.
"Don't worry, this incident is already over. Although there were very few casualties, Heavenly Revelations City has already changed. At the very least, the golden-armoured general will be gone very quickly and the authority of the Central Army among the three armies will also change. Although the people on that list can’t fight in a war, they’re of great use in the current Heavenly Revelations of treacherous conspiracies." Jin Xuan turned around. "What's more, that friend of ours can’t wait to take the stage."
"I don't want him on stage," Xiao Yu complained with displeasure.
"The fight for the throne in Heavenly Revelations has come down to you or Xiao Se. Although Xiao Chong has gained a pair of eyes, he has gradually lost his chance. He’s lost both his right and left arms in Heavenly Revelations and of the officials who initially supported him, at least half of them were involved in that list and they will not dare to act rashly for now." Jin Xuan walked to the window and stopped. "The Hidden River has also betrayed him, so now he can only rely on Unrivaled City."
"Unrivaled City? What use are they?"
"No, Unrivaled City…" Jin Xuan raised his head. "Is very useful."