Chapter 85: Shocking Change
The number of people in Pei Family Village was growing, and it was no easy task to ensure everyone had enough to eat. Pei Qinghe unhesitatingly accepted all the grain sent by Young Master Shi. She also gladly took all the weapons secretly sent by the Beiping Army. They trained every day without interruption, and every few days, they would form a team to go into the mountains for hunting. The wild beasts in the nearby mountain forest were almost all eaten up.
Mountain bandits with eyes grew afraid to come to Pei Family Village, and bandits skirted around it. The county office turned a blind eye to the rapid expansion of Pei Family Village.
Life in Pei Family Village seemed isolated from the storms of the outside world, busy, fulfilling, and peaceful.
Unfortunately, this world could not tolerate a paradise outside the mortal realm.
A shocking change in the imperial palace thousands of miles away struck like thunder, shocking the court and the realm.
The news reached Pei Family Village in August.
On this day, the weather was unusually hot. The crowd training military formations on the training ground was drenched in sweat from the sun, but under Pei Qinghe’s piercing gaze, no one dared to slack off.
“Cousin Sister Qinghe!” Pei Yan ran over like the wind: “General Meng sent someone with an urgent letter, asking Cousin Sister Qinghe to go to the Beiping Army Camp immediately.”
Pei Qinghe’s brows twitched.
Something big had happened!
General Meng couldn’t even wait for someone to return with a reply and asked her to go to the camp immediately for deliberation. It must be something happening in the Eastern Palace!
Pei Qinghe immediately said: “Go prepare the horses!”
Then, she selected Pei Yan, Mao Hongling, and others to accompany her. The meticulous and steady Pei Yun stayed behind to guard Pei Family Village.
Over thirty fine horses galloped with all their might, heading straight for the Beiping Army Camp.
The Beiping Army Camp was four hundred li away. The official road in the Northern Lands was not very flat; fast horses could travel during the day, but at night, they had to camp in the wilderness.
Over thirty women riding fast horses was extremely rare in the Northern Lands. Some blind bandits tailed them, but Pei Qinghe shot three arrows, killing three men in a row. The bandits were scared shitless and fled swiftly, vanishing without a trace.
Two days on fast horses later, Pei Qinghe and her group arrived at the Beiping Army Camp.
The Beiping Army was renowned as the elite of the Northern Lands, and it was not an empty name; the defenses were extremely tight. They were spotted ten li from the camp.
General Meng had issued a military order two days earlier, so after Pei Qinghe stated her identity, they proceeded unimpeded.
Pei Yan secretly counted and couldn’t help but click her tongue: “A sentry post every li, guarded so tightly. Compared to our Pei Family Village, we’re far behind.”
The main force of Pei Family Village was Pei Clan women, followed by Pei Jia and others; they had also selected a batch of loyal and obedient refugees to train. Now there were multiple sentry posts outside the village. Of course, they couldn’t compare to the Beiping Army.
Pei Qinghe was not in the mood for joking and glanced over: “After entering the camp, don’t look around everywhere, and don’t speak carelessly. Follow my lead in everything.”
When Pei Qinghe put on a stern face, no one dared to say more.
At the entrance of the Beiping Army Camp, Meng Dalang and Meng Liulang, the two brothers, came out to welcome her together.
They knew each other well, so there was no need for much small talk. Pei Qinghe dismounted, bowed and folded hands, and asked directly: “Where is General Meng?”
Meng Dalang said gravely: “Father has summoned a group of military generals and is deliberating in the military tent. Sixth Sister, please follow me.”
After the Wolf Fang Stockade incident, Meng Liulang had become much steadier. He actually held back from speaking much and only glanced at Pei Qinghe.
In the past year or so, Pei Qinghe had grown much taller, her delicate and pretty features shining brightly.
Some soldiers in the camp had been to Pei Family Village, others had long heard of it, and they craned their necks to look from afar. Pei Qinghe remained composed and waited outside the military tent for a little over half a shichen.
The military generals came out of the military tent and, seeing Pei Qinghe and her group, were each somewhat astonished.
The camp was full of soldiers, and there had never been any women.
Why did this striking delicate and pretty girl earn General Meng’s favor, breaking the convention that women do not enter the camp?
Pei Qinghe ignored the scrutinizing gazes, entered the military tent, and paid respects to General Meng as a junior.
General Meng’s face was full of gloom, his eyes harboring fury, and without a word, he handed the Crown Prince’s handwritten letter to Pei Qinghe: “His Highness has been schemed against and framed by Prince Wei’s faction. The Emperor is biased and believes them, intending to issue a decree to depose the Crown Prince.”
Pei Qinghe’s expression remained unchanged as she took the letter and quickly scanned it.
In her previous life, the Crown Prince fell in the witchcraft case, was deposed from his position as heir, and confined in the Imperial Clan Court. In this life, she had been secretly planning and scheming for the Crown Prince. Apart from Daoist Master Tianji, he had suppressed Prince Wei’s faction, and the Eastern Palace position was still relatively stable.
However, no matter how wise and powerful the Crown Prince was, he could not withstand a muddled old emperor. Emperor Xiaowen fell ill on the dragon couch, with only one breath left, and yet he issued a decree to depose the Crown Prince.
The cause was the flood in Jiangnan. The Crown Prince sent a trusted heavy minister to provide disaster relief. But this minister embezzled the court’s disaster relief money and grain, colluded with a group of officials to deceive superiors and subordinates. Seven or eight prefectures and counties hit by the flood starved to death over ten thousand people. Even more terrifying was the outbreak of plague, with corpses littering the wilderness.
In a rage, Emperor Xiaowen executed over a dozen Crown Prince faction officials, confiscated their families and exterminated their clans, with heads rolling. Immediately after, he issued the decree to depose the Crown Prince.
Civil and military officials in the court pleaded for the Crown Prince one after another, but Emperor Xiaowen directly had the officials kneeling outside the Golden Palace arrested and all thrown into prison.
This letter was hastily written by the Crown Prince before the Eastern Palace was sealed off. It lacked his usual elegant composure, with sloppy handwriting revealing panic.
“… Prince Wei and his mother have colluded with Situ Xi, placing their people all over the imperial palace. Father Emperor has been taking medicine for many days, his mind unclear, manipulated by Prince Wei and his mother.”
“Upon receiving this letter from me, Your Excellency, immediately lead troops to the capital city to execute the treacherous officials and remove them from the king’s side.”
“Bring Pei Qinghe to the capital city as well.”
“On the day I ascend to the throne, Your Excellency will be Grand General of the Imperial Guard, and Pei Qinghe may enter the palace as Crown Princess.”
Grand General of the Imperial Guard, Crown Princess of the Eastern Palace.
This pie was truly big and round.
Pei Qinghe tugged at the corner of her mouth and looked up at General Meng: “So, General Meng plans to lead troops to the capital city immediately?”
General Meng stared fixedly at Pei Qinghe: “I received great favor from the Crown Prince to have what I have today. Now that His Highness the Crown Prince is in peril, is it not right for me to repay with my life?”
Pei Qinghe’s voice was calm to the point of cruelty: “The Beiping Army is stationed in Youzhou, and guarding the border is the Beiping Army’s duty. Leading troops into the capital without authorization is raising troops in treason.”
“Youzhou is thousands of li from the capital city. Leaving aside the many obstructions on the road, even if unimpeded all the way, marching would take nearly a month.”
“The capital city has twelve Imperial Guard armies, each an elite force, with a total strength of around eighty thousand. Does General Meng plan to lead these mere five thousand men to have their heads piled into a jingguan outside the city gates?”
“General Meng has loyal heart and righteous courage, yet wants his subordinates to go to their deaths. In my view, it is truly stupid.”
These words were truly harsh.
General Meng’s gaze turned cold: “It seems Sixth Sister Pei does not plan to go to the capital city. The Pei family is loyal and heroic, yet Sixth Sister Pei is different from your father and uncles.”
Pei Qinghe coldly retorted: “My father, uncles, and brothers all died because of the Eastern Palace. The loyal and heroic family had their heads chopped off, leaving only over two hundred women, children, elderly, and young.”
“Deposing and establishing the Crown Prince is a major national affair; the Pei family women and children have no capability and will not get involved.”
