Free Web NovelChapter 1215: Chapter 1204: The Wealthy Merchant
"Minmin, do you see? These are all your Father’s troops, and in the future, they’ll be yours too." Ye Lu pointed at the great army as she spoke to her son.
Three years ago, Princess Consort Shi Xuan failed to properly look after Chen Gaoxuan’s son, resulting in the death of the eldest. Ye Lu finally found evidence that Shi Xuan had not devoted herself to caring for the two children, claiming she had deliberately refused to call a doctor for them, which led to the incident. Using this as a pretext, she had Chen Gaoxuan depose Shi Xuan.
Shi Xuan’s only powerful older brother, Shi Rui, had long since died, and she had no children at her side, so there was no one to speak for her. Ye Lu successfully took the seat of Princess Consort, and the child she bore, Chen Min, was granted the title of Princely Heir.
Seeing that she was about to achieve a great merit, Ye Lu couldn’t contain the surging excitement in her heart. She looked at the army and felt as if the position of Empress was beckoning to her. With that, all the years she had endured would be worth it.
She just hadn’t expected that her cheap older brother Ye Qiu would hold out this long, actually becoming Chen Gaoxuan’s final opponent.
In this decisive battle, Chen Gaoxuan personally led the troops, and on Ye Qiu’s side, he too personally went onto the battlefield to command. The two of them stared at each other across the armies and the high city walls; at last Chen Gaoxuan waved his hand and launched the first attack.
This battle raged for a full two days. The soldiers on the field killed until their eyes were bloodshot, seeing no fatigue. Inside the city, blood flowed like rivers, the ground was covered with the wails of dying soldiers.
Fortunately, the commoners in the city had long heard the rumors and fled. Otherwise, who knew how many more innocent souls would have died.
In order to sit securely on the seat of Empress, the current Ye Lu was very afraid of death. She did not go to the battlefield, instead hiding in the army’s supply camp.
Every day, when she heard the sounds of slaughter from the front line, her heart would clench in fear. At the same time, as she looked at the freshly finished batch of black gunpowder behind her, a sharp light flashed in her eyes. No matter what, this battle—she could only win, not lose.
That day, a fierce wind rose. Prince Linsan lured Ye Qiu’s army into a mountain valley, then ignited the black gunpowder that had been buried in advance.
Ye Qiu keenly sensed something was wrong and quickly withdrew back to the city. Fortunately, the purity of the black gunpowder that Prince Linsan had prepared was insufficient, so its destructive power was not that great, and on top of that, the Iron Cavalry had all been soaked in medicinal brews to improve their constitution, so in the end the casualties were not large.
The next day, after receiving word from Ye Wen in secret that Ye Qiu was about to launch a surprise attack on Prince Linsan’s grain supplies, Prince Linsan ordered the troops to guard them strictly, and they really did discover a small squad sneaking about suspiciously.
But before they had time to rejoice, their own black gunpowder camp suddenly erupted in violent explosions, and the raging flames lit up the night sky.
Chen Gaoxuan’s eyes turned scarlet in an instant. He watched all of this happen before his eyes, unable to believe it was real.
The black gunpowder camp had originally been the place he guarded most strictly, but after receiving that "divine message" today, he’d transferred the two squads guarding it over here. Who would have thought this was actually a "lure the tiger from the mountain" ploy.
"All soldiers, hear my command! Take up your weapons—we counterattack at once!"
Chen Gaoxuan immediately realized that if he did not act now, then once morale plummeted, he could only sit and wait for the Ye Family Army to butcher them. He had not yet lost; it was only that the black gunpowder was gone, only a small portion of his army had been lost. He still had the Archery Camp, he still had the Crossbow and Heavy Crossbow Army. The Ye Family Iron Cavalry were not necessarily his match.
But what he had not expected was that in this world, besides him, there was someone else who had black gunpowder—and its power was even greater than that of what he had made.
Chen Gaoxuan and his army fell into an ambush. At the moment he was captured, he had never imagined he would lose so utterly.
"You have the formula for black gunpowder too—you actually kept it hidden all this time!" His eyes bloodshot, he glared fixedly at Ye Qiu, blood spilling from his mouth. free𝑤ebnovel.com
"Ye Lu is your person, isn’t she? Her act was truly flawless. You two really did plan this for the long term. I thought I held a Magic Treasure that guaranteed victory, yet from beginning to end it was all a trap. Fine methods, the two of you, truly fine methods!"
Chen Gaoxuan looked half-mad as he threw his head back and laughed. Because he had trusted a woman wrongly, he had lost one step and then lost every step. And to think he had truly believed Ye Lu had genuine Emotion for him, had truly planned to make Ye Lu his Empress once all was done. His sincere heart had been trampled just like that. That woman—did she even have a heart?
At this moment, the woman he was cursing was fleeing in panic under Zhao Xiong’s protection. She had never imagined that Ye Qiu would also have black gunpowder. She knew that no matter whether Chen Gaoxuan won or lost this war, there would be no place for her. He would definitely suspect her of being a spy.
But as things stood, it seemed Chen Gaoxuan had lost—that was why Zhao Xiong had run back.
Ye Lu hated, hated bitterly. She had been only one step away from the seat of Empress; why had the tide of battle suddenly taken such a drastic turn? Where had Ye Qiu gotten his black gunpowder?
Could it be...?
A bold thought rose in her heart, and the more she thought about it, the more possible it seemed. She’d always wondered why the Ye Family suddenly joined the battle for the throne. She’d wondered why her cheap older brother’s bearing had changed so dramatically.
All of it, only because Ye Qiu might, just like her, have long since become a different person in his very core.
If they were both transmigrators, why were their situations so different?
The more Ye Lu thought about it, the more she felt like coughing blood. She even started to resent Ye Qiu for being so unbrotherly. Since they were from the same hometown, why hadn’t he said so? Wouldn’t it be better if they’d joined forces? freēwēbηovel.c૦m
But Ye Lu herself had forgotten that she was the one who had actively run away from the Ye Family in the first place, she was the one who had pinned all her hopes on Chen Gaoxuan. She herself had never taken the initiative—on what grounds could she demand others to be the ones to step forward?
And moreover, on what grounds could she assume they were from the same hometown? What if he was someone reborn and here to seek vengeance?
The battle for the throne finally drew to a close in that winter. With the support of the masses, Ye Qiu ascended the throne and named the country An.
The country had been in turmoil for far too long, and the common people had suffered too much. The first thing Ye Qiu did after his enthronement was to abolish agricultural taxes for three years, allowing the people to recuperate.
Those without land were encouraged to open up wasteland; peasants were encouraged to borrow seed from the court to plant. Those who opened more than five mu of wasteland would have half of their seed cost remitted.
Such policies were greeted with cheers and support from the people. Those mountain bandits and rebels, seeing that the situation was settled, put down their weapons one after another and took up farm tools. The nation, ruined in all aspects, was now poised to flourish, vibrant and full of life.
As for King of Xichuan, who had fled back to the Northwest, Ye Qiu did not press his advantage to pursue, as if he were simply letting him be.
In truth, the country had been drained too badly by the war, and Ye Qiu did not wish to raise troops again. King of Xichuan was just a spent crossbow; sooner or later, under fear and economic blockade, he would not be able to endure and would voluntarily surrender.
No sooner had Ye Qiu ascended the throne than the Ministers began urging him to choose concubines. After all, the country was at peace now; he ought to give the World an heir, shouldn’t he?
But Ye Qiu was busy like a Ghost; how did he have the mind to pick concubines? Wouldn’t that just waste manpower and resources?
So with a wave of his hand, he bestowed a marriage between Ye Cheng and Bai Xianyi. As for the matter of an heir, he would leave it to those two.
Year after year passed. Seeing that Ye Qiu remained unwilling to take concubines, and that he had even brought the eldest son of Prince Cheng and Marquis Bai to his side to personally raise and teach, the Ministers felt they had an idea of his intentions. Still, some secretly muttered to themselves—could it be that their Emperor had injured his fundamental vitality from overwork in his youth?
Thinking of this, they were both afraid of offending Your Majesty and afraid of wounding Your Majesty’s pride, so in the end, no one brought the matter up again.
