Joy of Life

Sir Fan junior was a prince himself. Now that he had entered the Fan family, it was impossible for him to inherit the throne. Why did he need all this silver for? Furthermore, what the Emperor disliked in the past was the Eldest Princess emptying out his palace treasury in secret. Would the Emperor tolerate Sir Fan junior doing this now?

Ever since the Eldest Princess had lost power, this average-sized shockwave had been quietly swept aside in the hearts of the nobles. It did not cause any more ripples. Of course, this was just a superficial peace. No one knew what people were really thinking in secret.

Everyone did know just how deep the Qing court official Fan Xian was in the Qing Emperor’s favor and how much power he had in his hands. The people couldn’t help but grow wary and eager. No matter what, Fan Xian was still a scholar in people’s hearts. His behavior these years on the global stage made it clear to people that he was very different from normal nobles in Qing Kingdom. At least, he wasn’t as hot-blooded and filled with battle lust.

Naturally, Northern Qi and Dongyi wished that Fan Xian could last a long time. No matter how much the young Northern Qi Emperor wanted to pull Fan Xian to his side and make a royal prince, he knew that Fan Xian staying in Qing Kingdom would be the most beneficial for him. He wished that Fan Xian’s power would grow even more and be even more favored by the Emperor. It would be best if he grew powerful enough to influence the Qing Emperor’s decisions.

However, this was only an extravagant hope and idealism. No ruler would be stupid enough to place the hope of peace on an official from a foreign country. Peace between countries was, in the end, demonstrated through strength. A country’s strength was its military power.

Ever since the beginning of spring, in the wilderness to the north of Yanjing and to the east of Cangzhou, Shang Shanhu, a legendary Northern Qi general who had been released from house arrest, had taken over the Southern line. In a short period of time, he had established his absolute might in the military and began to drill the soldiers every day, maintaining the great intimidation of the Qing soldiers and suppressing the Qing people’s wild ambition.

The person directly clashing with Shang Shanhu was a great Qing general, the Northern Governor Yan Xiaoyi. With these two bullish people crashing together, how could there not be any sparks or stench of blood gradually rising? Although it was said that there were no battles on the borders, friction and a purposely tense atmosphere gradually pervaded the air.

The reason the goods that Xia Qifei had Xia Mingji deliver detoured north toward the Northern Sea in the south of Cangzhou was actually because the situation in Cangzhou had long been tense.

All this completely changed during this month. For some reason, Shang Shanhu suddenly pulled his soldiers back north over 50 li. He moved the army and put up a show of being lazy and not defending or approaching. It was as if he cared not at all that Yan Xiaoyi was leading 100,000 elite troops in the region between Yanjing and Cangzhou, glaring like a bull as if he wanted to take a bit at any moment.

Tension suddenly turned to leisure. The two countries displays of force suddenly changed into an excursion. The instantaneous change made the Qing military feel an unreasonable anger and shock.

Just what were the Northern Qi people thinking?

Yan Xiaoyi knew what the Northern Qi people were thinking. He picked up the cup and took a drink of the liquor produced in the plains to the north of the Northern Sea. The liquor wet his beard slightly. The cold light in his eyes gradually grew stronger.

After the news from Jingdou reached Cangzhou, Yan Xiaoyi knew the crisis he was about to face. When his trusted aides were giving him ideas at night in lowered voices, he maintained his calm and didn’t say a single word.

When Shang Shanhu led the Northern Qi troops in a slow retreat and gave the appearance of naked women reclining on couches, Yan Xiaoyi was not surprised or confused. He only smiled coldly.

Naturally, the Northern Qi people knew the news of the Eldest Princess falling from power and that the Emperor would certainly take them down. Thus, at this moment, Shang Shanhu purposely appeared weak and removed all the pressure that had been placed on Yan Xiaoyi so that he could maintain all his power and spirit.

What was the purpose of maintaining them? Naturally, it was to deal with his own Emperor.