The Return of the King: A Generation of Prodigies

Chapter 144 The Anxiety Before Victory

"Yes." Ruan Yuhu touched Shen Tianjiao's head, his eyes full of tenderness. "I believe that under Jiaojiao's governance, Yunli will definitely become the most powerful country in the world."

Shen Tianjiao raised her eyes and met Ruan Yuhu's. They both smiled. It was really a wonderful thing to have people who shared the same ideals and understood you around you.

When Shen Xinghao received the news that he was asked to go to Yanzhou to quell the rebellion, he was once again shocked and speechless.

He had been shocked so many times today that he even began to doubt whether he was dreaming.

"General Shen, it's time for us to set off." Seeing Shen Xinghao's strange expression and silence for a long time, Lin Mozhou beside him reminded him.

"Oh." Shen Xinghao came back to his senses and ordered, "Pass the order down, get ready and set off."

After watching everyone in front of him leave, Shen Xinghao took out the letter from his sister Shen Tianjiao. He read it over and over again before confirming that it was indeed Shen Tianjiao's handwritten letter.

What on earth is his sister going to do? Shen Xinghao thought for a long time but couldn't figure out what Shen Tianjiao was going to do.

"Oh!" Shen Xinghao sighed. If he couldn't figure it out, then he couldn't figure it out. His sister was more thoughtful than the stars in the sky. There was no way he could guess what she was thinking.

If you can’t guess it, then you can’t guess it. Shen Xinghao shook his head. Anyway, since his sister arranged it this way, then she must have her reasons. He just needs to do it and there is no point in wasting time and effort.

Thinking of this, Shen Xinghao no longer hesitated or was entangled. He stood up and strode out of the tent.

If there is someone in this world who completely believes in Shen Tianjiao, has no doubts about any of her decisions, and is willing to carry them out, then her third brother Shen Xinghao is definitely number one, and no one can shake his position.

Li Hong received a letter from the Liu family late at night. The content of the letter cheered up the depressed Li Hong.

"Okay, okay, okay." Li Hong waved the letter in his hand, excited like a fool.

"It's truly a blessing from heaven, a blessing from heaven." Li Hong wiped away the look of defeat on his face and said smugly, "Humph! Shen Tianjiao wants to kill me, but what a pity! I am the chosen one, and I will be protected by heaven."

"Yuan Jiang, tell Sun Chao to bring all our troops nearby. I will lead you back to Kyoto and into the Imperial City."

"This king will take back everything that rightfully belongs to him. This king will become an emperor whose name will be remembered through the ages."

Li Hong looked a little crazy and abnormal at this time.

Yuan Jiang, who had always been keen on getting Li Hong to rebel, was now much more calm.

"Your Highness, is this letter genuine? Is this really from Earl Anyuan himself?"

For some reason, Yuan Jiang felt very uneasy at the moment, thinking that this turn of events was a bit too abnormal.

"Of course it's real. How could I not recognize the handwriting of Lord Anyuan?"

Li Hong glared at Yuan Jiang in dissatisfaction and asked, "What on earth are you doubting?"

"No, no, Your Highness, calm down. I'm not suspicious of anything. I'm just a little worried that there might be something fishy going on."

Yuan Jiang saw that Li Hong was angry and quickly explained, "The Queen has always been a cunning person. I'm afraid this is another of her tricks to trick us."

"Tsk, you're usually a very suspicious person, but now you're so suspicious that you dare to imagine anything."

"Don't worry, hurry up and get ready. While it's still dark, we can enter the capital at night and do our business."

Li Hong waved his hand nonchalantly and told Yuan Jiang to hurry up and get ready. Yuan Jiang, who had been scolded, did not dare to say anything more and walked out in disgrace.

Li Hong was a very suspicious person, but this time he did not doubt anything. Instead, he believed the letter directly after reading it.

This was not because he trusted An Yuanbo as a person, but because An Yuanbo's letter came with another letter and a token of trust.

The other letter was written by Empress Dowager Liu, and the token of trust was the mandarin duck pendant that Li Hong personally gave to Empress Dowager Liu. The mandarin duck pendant can be disassembled. When put together, it forms a complete jade pendant, but when separated, it becomes two separate pieces.

Only Li Hong and Empress Dowager Liu knew this secret, so Li Hong was certain of the authenticity of the letters.

Moreover, the things mentioned in Empress Dowager Liu's letter are irrefutable facts.

Although the emperor is still alive, the person who truly controls the court is Shen Tianjiao.

This Shen Tianjiao is not as weak and easy to fool as Li Rui. All the officials have witnessed her thunderous methods in the court.

As a woman in the harem, it was already disrespectful for her to interfere in state affairs, and now she even had the intention of bringing order to the court.

If Shen Tianjiao starts to reorganize the court, the first group of people to suffer will be these aristocratic families who have been protected by their ancestors.

Most of these aristocratic families are now just idle playboys who are good at eating, drinking, whoring and gambling. They are all self-taught, but when it comes to governing a country, they are all fools.

How can such a person fight Shen Tianjiao?

If Shen Tianjiao were to rectify the court, she would definitely not let these people go.

Instead of waiting to be dealt with by Shen Tianjiao, it would be better to surrender to Li Hong and help him rebel. If this succeeds, Li Hong will become the emperor, and their wealth and glory will be preserved.

Li Hong understood these people's thoughts best, so this was another reason why he believed in them so firmly.

However, Li Hong, the chosen son who thought he was extremely smart, never imagined that this was actually a trap set by Shen Tianjiao. The net was already ready, waiting for him to fall into it.

As for Empress Dowager Liu's letters and keepsakes, they were merely extra gifts given to Li Hong by Shen Tianjiao in order to increase his credibility.

How did Shen Tianjiao know about such a private matter? It’s actually not difficult to tell. No matter how private the matter is, there will be people close to it who will know about it.

Shen Tianjiao simply sent someone to scare Nanny Shi, who served beside Empress Dowager Liu, and she confessed everything.

The Marquis of Zhenbei was in exceptionally good spirits tonight. The poisonous insect seemed to have adapted well to his body. His reactions in recent times were very normal and no longer as painful as at the beginning.

Everyone else is asleep, but tonight is destined to be a sleepless night for the Marquis of Zhenbei.

How could the Marquis of Zhenbei sleep when his daughter was suffering in the palace and his son was in danger?

"Grandfather."

Li Muyang's gentle call brought the Zhenbei Marquis back to his senses from his daze staring at the bright moon outside the window.

Zhenbei Hou turned around and looked at Li Muyang, who should have been asleep at this time, and asked, "Why are you awake?"

"Yeah, I can't sleep either." Li Muyang stepped forward and took the hand of Zhenbei Hou, raised his little face and asked, "Grandfather, are you also worried about my mother and third uncle?"

Li Muyang is young, but he is not stupid. Although the adults did not tell him how dangerous this matter would be, and he has not seen it with his own eyes, he can guess from the adults' conversation and his grandfather's worried expression that this matter must be very dangerous.

The Marquis of Zhenbei patted his grandson's head and comforted him, "Don't worry, your mother and your third uncle will all be back safely. Grandpa is just feeling a little unwell and wants to enjoy the moon here."

"Grandfather, don't worry. Mu'er will definitely practice Kung Fu diligently in the future, grow up quickly, and become stronger and stronger."

"From now on, it will be my turn to protect Mother and defend the country on your behalf."

Li Muyang stared at the Marquis of Zhenbei. His eyes were sparkling, which made people feel happy.

As the Marquis of Zhenbei looked at Li Muyang, he felt more and more that this child should belong to his Marquis of Zhenbei Mansion.

"Okay, Grandpa is waiting for Mu'er to grow up, waiting for Mu'er to protect our mother, waiting for Mu'er to fight for Grandpa."

"Yeah." Li Muyang buried his head in the waist of Zhenbei Hou, and wrapped his hands tightly around his waist.

This child, who seems calm on the surface, is actually very uneasy at this moment. The only relative who is with him now is the Marquis of Zhenbei, the only person who can give him a sense of security.

The Marquis of Zhenbei sensed Li Muyang's uneasiness, so he held the little fellow in his arms and said, "Let's go and study military books with our grandfather. It's not easy to be a general."

Looking at the sky that was about to dawn, Shen Tianjiao's expression became solemn.

Although the strategy of luring someone into a trap is good, there will still be many uncontrollable factors that will affect the development of the situation.

Shen Tianjiao must not take this matter lightly until it is completely over.

The biggest trouble now is still those aristocratic families. Although the heads of each family are now in the palace, they cannot stop those people with ulterior motives from making trouble behind the scenes.

Shen Tianjiao needs someone who can control the overall situation, but looking at the entire Yunli, there is no one else who has this ability except her father, Marquis Zhenbei.

When Chunchao woke up, she found that Shen Tianjiao was missing. She was so scared that she started looking for her everywhere.

After searching for a long time without finding her, Chunchao came to Ruan Yuhu. When he saw Shen Tianjiao from afar, Chunchao felt relieved but also felt very guilty.

"Why are you standing there in a daze? Come over here quickly." Shen Tianjiao looked up and saw Chunchao standing in the distance, hesitating and not daring to come over, so she called her over.

"Oh." Chunchao heard Shen Tianjiao's call and hurried over.

"Master, I'm here." Chunchao ran to Shen Tianjiao and spoke in a voice as small as a mosquito's breath.

"Well, go prepare breakfast. We have a big show to watch later, and we won't have the energy if we don't eat enough."

Shen Tianjiao looked at the listless Chunchao and knew why this girl was like this. "Okay, this incident today is all my fault. I shouldn't have gone out without telling you."

"No, it's all my fault. I was too sleepy." Chunchao lowered her head even more and didn't dare to look at Shen Tianjiao at all.

"That's enough, isn't it?" Shen Tianjiao patted Chunchao on the back and asked her to raise her head. "It's not a big deal. There's no need to blame yourself so much."

"This is in the palace, in Yuxiu Palace. If something could happen to me in my own palace, what would happen? Wouldn't that mean there's no safe place in the world?"

"Okay, hurry up and prepare breakfast. I'm hungry and need to eat."

"Yes, I will prepare it now." Chunchao immediately got busy.

"Jiaojiao, what's wrong with that girl? She looks very listless." Ruan Yuhu took a gauze dress and put it on Shen Tianjiao. It was still a little chilly in the morning.

"Nothing. I went out for a stroll last night and didn't wake her up. She got worried."

Shen Tianjiao smiled and shook her head. She would no longer be free once she returned to the palace.

"She's also worried about you. After all, the palace isn't a completely safe place."

Ruan Yuhu helped Shen Tianjiao tidy up her gauze dress. The material of this gauze dress was excellent. It was the brocade gauze that was tributed from Jiangnan in the past.

The most amazing thing about this dress is that it sparkles brightly in the daytime under the sunlight, and at night it changes into another appearance, glowing like a night pearl.

There is only one such precious piece of clothing in the world. It is no exaggeration to say that it is the national treasure of Yunli Kingdom.

Shen Tianjiao sighed. She was not in the mood to appreciate this one-of-a-kind dress. What she was most worried about now was whether today's event would be successful.

"Don't sigh!" Ruan Yuhu slapped Shen Tianjiao. "If you sigh all the time, you'll sigh away all your good luck. If something happens, you'll lose your patience."

"You'll encounter things a hundred times more difficult than this one in the future. What will happen if you keep losing your composure?"

Shen Tianjiao was not angry even after being slapped. She looked at Ruan Yuhu with a smile and said, "What's the big deal? Aren't you still here, Auntie?"

"You are such a silly girl. Will your aunt stay with you forever?" Ruan Yuhu's physical condition is not very good. The reason why she has not collapsed yet is because she has faith supporting her.

But if one day she completes her mission and loses her faith, she may fall down and never stand up again.

Ruan Yuhu's words were a little sad. Although she had lived two lives, Shen Tianjiao still had not learned to face the separation of life and death. She just wanted everyone around her to live well.

Shen Tianjiao understands that birth, aging, sickness and death are the norm in the world and cannot be changed by anyone, but she still hopes that this will come later.

"Aunt, Jiaojiao was born without a mother. It's so hard for her to learn from you what it feels like to have a mother's love. For Jiaojiao and Mu'er, you must live a long and healthy life."

Shen Tianjiao's eyes became red as she spoke. Whether in her past life or this life, she had a shallow relationship with her mother and had never enjoyed maternal love.

In fact, in her heart, most of the time, she no longer regarded Ruan Yuhu as an ordinary elder, but as her own mother.

Shen Tianjiao's words softened Ruan Yuhu's heart, as if poked by something, and tears flowed unconsciously from her eyes.

Many years ago, after she drank the sterilization soup she made herself, she no longer dreamed of becoming a mother one day.

But who would have thought that the girl in front of her would actually say that it was because of her that she tasted the taste of maternal love. How could she be filled with mixed emotions?