Wang Gang was sitting in the camp handling military affairs when a man suddenly walked in. He didn't even raise his head and just said lightly:
"You're here! How is the situation in the east?"
The visitor was none other than Mei Changsu, who had traveled from the east to the north.
"The Kingdom of East China Sea has withdrawn its troops, and Brother Meng is stationed in the east. There should be no big problem."
Mei Changsu walked to Wang Gang and took off his robe. The clothes underneath were all soaked. It seemed that the journey was not easy.
Wang Gang put down his pen and handed the written military report to Mei Changsu to read.
"Dayu and Beiyan have temporarily withdrawn their troops due to the hot weather. The northern border should be safe in a short time." Wang Gang said calmly.
Mei Changsu looked at the military newspaper and found that what was written in it was completely different from what Wang Gang said.
The military newspaper reported that Dayu and Beiyan were still determined to be traitors, and their army was still wandering in the north. It was suggested that the imperial court should increase its troops in the north.
Mei Changsu put down the military report and said: "There is news from the Jiangzuo Alliance that King Yu has assassinated His Majesty and is now officially appointed as the crown prince. I am afraid he will not agree with your military report."
Wang Gang raised the corner of his mouth and chuckled: "He still made it this far."
Mei Changsu said seriously: "There was a slight problem with our plan. Aunt Jing refused to leave Jinling and was still taking care of Your Majesty and Queen Yan."
Wang Gang was startled, his brows furrowed and he said, "Mother wants to delay King Yu from proclaiming himself emperor!"
Mei Changsu sighed: "I forgot about Aunt Jing's character. This is my fault as a counselor."
Wang Gang stood up and said: "Inform Qin Banruo in the capital immediately and ask her to protect my mother at all costs."
"I know, I sent someone to the capital three days ago to remind Qin Banruo." Mei Changsu said:
"I'm afraid people from the imperial court will come to the north soon and call you back to Beijing."
Wang Gang snorted coldly: "I will go back, but I will go back with an army of 400,000!"
Mei Changsu said worriedly: "Your Highness Prince Jing, the people who suffer the most from the war are the common people."
Wang Gang said firmly: "The pain is only temporary. When I lead the army back, I will attack the gentry and powerful people along the way and distribute the land to the poor people to make compensation."
Mei Changsu said with a solemn expression: "Jiangzuo Alliance, Red Sleeve Moves, and Xuanjing Division's forces in Xia Dong's hands will fully cooperate with you."
Wang Gang was stunned and glanced at Mei Changsu.
Since leaving the capital, Mei Changsu's attitude towards him has become much different, less casual than an old friend and more respectful.
"Your Highness Prince Jing, the envoy from Jinling wants to see you!" Gong Yu broke into the camp at this time and saw Wang Gang and Mei Changsu staring at each other.
"Sir, Sect Master." Gong Yu suddenly became nervous when he saw Mei Changsu.
Mei Changsu turned around and saw Gong Yu, wearing a military uniform, standing at the door of the camp, looking quite heroic.
Wang Gang smiled and said: "Gong Yu is now my king's military secretary."
"Secretary?" Mei Changsu asked confused.
Wang Gang was too lazy to explain and asked Gong Yu: "Where is the envoy from Jinling?"
Gong Yu first saluted Mei Changsu, and then said to Wang Gang: "The envoy was stopped outside the military camp and is losing his temper."
Wang Gang sneered and said: "The people who praise the king have quite a bad temper. Let's go and meet him together."
After saying that, Wang Gang picked up the sword on the shelf and walked out of the tent with a golden sword. Mei Changsu and Gong Yu followed behind him.
Wang Gang walked out of the camp all the way, and everyone who saw him dropped everything and saluted him respectfully, with respect and even admiration in their eyes.
When Wang just walked outside the military camp, a large group of people had gathered around him.
Outside the military camp, there was a group of envoys dressed in rich uniforms and with a haughty attitude, gesticulating at the military camp.
"Why is this military camp so dirty? My shoes are even dirty."
"And how come Prince Jing manages the army? Everyone has gone in to report for half an hour, but no one has received us yet."
"When I return to the capital, I must read a copy of Prince Jing's book in front of His Highness the Crown Prince."
Wang Gang walked towards Jinling with a smile. A large group of people exuded murderous aura. The person who spoke suddenly did not dare to speak, and cold sweat covered his forehead.
"Prince Jing accepts the order." Jinling envoy shouted at the top of his voice to embolden himself.
Wang Gang didn't say anything. Gong Yu behind him stepped forward and shouted: "How dare you, why don't you kneel down when you see Prince Jing?"
Mei Changsu was startled. In his impression, Gong Yu had always been a gentle lady, but when had she ever shown such a tigress attitude?
Wang Gang glanced at Mei Changsu proudly, his eyes seeming to say: "I'm pretty good at training people, right?"
"I have brought His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's decree. I am representing His Royal Highness. There is no need to kneel to anyone." The envoy from Jinling suddenly said angrily:
"Prince Jing saw the imperial edict and you still didn't kneel down to accept it."
Wang Gang chuckled and said: "Your Highness, why don't I know that my father has conferred the title of crown prince again?"
"Bold." The envoy from Jinling screamed: "Prince Jing, how dare you disrespect the prince."
Wang Gang's face turned cold, and the northern soldiers behind him immediately rushed forward and surrounded the entire Jinling envoy.
The envoy from Jinling panicked, and his hand holding the imperial edict began to tremble.
Wang Gang slowly walked up to him, grabbed the imperial edict, opened it without caring, and then threw it to the ground.
There is not much content in King Yu's imperial edict, which is that Emperor Liang was seriously ill and asked Wang Gang to step down from military power and quickly return to Beijing to see him for the last time.
Wang Gang's attitude towards this imperial edict completely angered the envoy from Jinling.
"You dare to throw away the imperial edict. You are simply lawless. Do you want to rebel?"
Wang Gang laughed loudly, turned to his soldiers and asked, "He said that I am going to rebel?"
The northern soldiers also laughed.
Hearing the jeers around him, Jin Ling Lai was shaking with anger, but he dared not speak out in anger, after all, the northern soldiers had already drawn their swords.
Wang Gang laughed and said: "Go back and tell Xiao Jinghuan that he conspired to usurp the throne and murder his father. I will go back with the imperial army to settle the score with him."
The envoy from Jinling suddenly showed fear. King Jing held nearly half of the army in Daliang. If there was an open rebellion, who could stop him?
"Prince Jing, please don't forget that Concubine Jing is still in Jinling." The messenger said tremblingly.
"Are you threatening me? Or does Xiao Jinghuan want to threaten me?" Wang Gang's face sank, and the air began to become depressing.
The envoy from Jinling was forced by Wang Gang's momentum and his whole body collapsed.
Wang Gang said disdainfully: "I will spare your life. I hope you are still alive when I see you next time."
The next moment, the northern warrior raised his butcher knife and killed all the rest of the Jinling envoy. The Jinling envoy was so frightened that he urinated.
"Beg for food all the way back to Jinling." Wang Gang snorted coldly and turned back to the military camp.
?The northern warriors quickly stripped off the Jinling envoy's clothes and took away all his belongings, as well as court documents that could prove his identity.
?The Jinling envoy, wearing only a single piece of clothing, quickly rolled around and left in a mess.
The military camps in the north also began to take action, and 400,000 troops rose up from their camps and headed south.
After the spies of the Northern Xuanjing Division discovered the movement of the northern army, they immediately sent a letter back to Jinling via flying pigeons. When Xia Jiang received the information, he quickly headed to the East Palace.
"Your Highness, Prince Jing has rebelled!"
When King Yu, now the crown prince, Xiao Jinghuan heard Xia Jiang's words, his hand shook and a drop of ink was sprinkled on the memorial.
"Prince Jing finally rebelled." Xiao Jinghuan sighed, put the brush back into the pen holder, and said:
"Immediately notify the Ministry of Revenue to stop the supply of military rations to the northern border, ask the Ministry of Rites to write a letter of accusation against King Jing, and circulate it to all prefectures and counties, ask the Ministry of War to recruit new soldiers, and notify the four armies to quell the rebellion."
Xiao Jinghuan had long expected that Wang Gang would rebel, and he and Xia Jiang had prepared everything.
Although Wang Gang had many soldiers, the food and grass needed to be provided by the court.
Since ancient times, the three armies have gone ahead without using food and grass. An army of 400,000 people has 400,000 mouths and cannot go hungry for a day.
As early as half a month ago, the Ministry of Revenue began to reduce the supply of grain and grass in the north. Xia Jiang calculated that Wang Gang should only have less than a month's supply of grain and grass.
As long as the imperial court can delay for a month, the army in the north will have no rice to eat, and they will be in chaos.
This is Xiao Jinghuan's first step in defending the northern border.
Next, he would ask the Ministry of Rites to write an indictment against Prince Jing and publish it to all parties in the name of the imperial court, condemning Wang Gang from the moral high ground.
At the same time, the imperial court will recruit new soldiers to resist Wang Gang.
Xia Jiang also secretly contacted Dayu and Beiyan, and sacrificed the land of the four states to get the two countries to agree to send troops to back-stab Wang Gang.
"We also need to control Concubine Jing in the palace and force her to write a surrender letter to Prince Jing.
If Prince Jing ignores Concubine Jing's safety and insists on counterattacking Jinling, he will be charged with great unfilial piety. We can also make some articles on this to ruin Prince Jing's reputation." Xia Jiang suggested.
Xiao Jinghuan nodded in agreement and shouted: "Inform Prajna to come see me."
An eunuch walked in outside the house and replied: "Miss Prajna accompanied the Crown Princess to burn incense outside the city this morning to fulfill her vows. She is not in the East Palace now."
Xiao Jinghuan was stunned for a moment and didn't feel anything yet, but Xia Jiang noticed something was wrong.
"Qin Banruo is accompanying the Crown Princess?"
Jamel Xiao asked in confusion: "What's wrong?"
Xia Jiang frowned and said: "The Crown Princess has never liked Qin Banruo, so why would she let her accompany him to burn incense outside the city?"
Xiao Jinghuan smiled and said: "Ever since the Crown Princess became pregnant, Qin Banruo has taken great care of her, and sometimes he takes more care of her than I, the Crown Prince."
Xia Jiang felt vaguely worried and said to the eunuch: "Send someone to bring the Crown Princess and Qin Banruo back immediately. They cannot leave the Crown Prince's East Palace at will without the Crown Prince's consent."
Xiao Jinghuan asked in confusion: "Is this necessary? Our people already control the entire Jinling, and Xiao Jingyan is far away in the north."
Xia Jiang said solemnly: "Your Royal Highness, Prince Jing's subordinate Mei Changsu is the leader of the Jiangzuo Alliance, the largest force in the world. He has many masters under his command. It is too dangerous for the Crown Princess and Miss Qin to be alone outside."
Xiao Jinghuan thought about it and agreed to Xia Jiang's suggestion.
But what he didn't expect was that the people he sent to pick up the Crown Princess came back very quickly to revive her.
"Your Highness, the Crown Princess is missing!?"
Xiao Jinghuan was shocked and said: "What do you mean missing?"
"The guards who protected the Crown Princess came back to report that the Crown Princess and Miss Qin disappeared at the same time. They searched all over the Taoist temple but could not find them."
"Trash." Xiao Jinghuan was furious and shouted angrily: "If you don't let me search her, even if I search the whole city, I still have to find the Crown Princess."
Xia Jiang frowned and said, "Where are the guards protecting the Crown Princess? I want to interrogate them personally."
"The man is waiting outside the East Palace."
Xia Jiang ran out of the East Palace without stopping, asked Xia Chun to control him, and then took him to the Xuanjing Division for severe torture.
At the same time, Xia Dong, who had been missing for a long time, took Xia Jiang's waistband and walked directly into the palace and arrived at Zhiluo Palace.
"This envoy, on the order of Lord Xia, asks Concubine Jing to go to the Xuanjing Division." Xia Dong said when he saw Concubine Jing, he cupped his hands.
"I have to take care of the Emperor and the Queen. I don't have time to go to the Xuanjing Division. Let Xia Jiang do it by yourself!" Concubine Jing carefully wiped Emperor Liang's face.
Xia Dong smiled and said: "Ms. Jing Fei, I advise you to come with me! Don't force me to use force."
Concubine Jing raised her head impatiently, and just as she was about to scold Xia Dong, she noticed a jade pendant flashing out of her hand, and then she put it away secretly.
"Okay then! I'll just go to the Xuanjing Department." Concubine Jing paused and said.
Xia Dong smiled and said, "Concubine Jing, please."
Concubine Jing glanced at the unconscious Emperor Liang and the Queen, and hesitated for a moment.
Xia Dong said: "Don't worry, the Emperor and the Empress will be taken care of."
Concubine Jing was thoughtful and followed Xia Dong cooperatively. A luxurious carriage had stopped outside Zhiluo Palace. Xia Dong invited Concubine Jing to get on the carriage and she personally pulled the horse all the way out of the palace.
Because he had Xia Jiang's token, the journey was smooth until he reached the entrance of the palace, where he was stopped by Xia Qiu.
"Junior sister, when did you come back?" Xia Qiu glanced at the carriage and asked, "Where are you taking Concubine Jing?"
"Master invited Concubine Jing to go to the Xuanjing Division and asked me to pick her up." Xia Dong calmly took out his waist badge.
Xia Qiu saw the waist tag and confirmed that it was genuine, and said, "Do you want me to send someone to protect you?"
"No need, the master has sent experts from the Xuanjing Division to meet them outside the palace." Xia Dong pointed to a group of people outside the palace.
Xia Qiu looked over and saw a group of people approaching, led by a few people from the Xuanjing Division.
"Junior sister, thank you for your hard work." Xia Qiu signaled to his subordinates to let go and let the carriage pass.
Xia Dong took back his waist badge, led the carriage slowly out of the palace gate, and headed towards the Xuanjing Division with the accompanying masters.
However, when they were less than a mile away from the Xuanjing Division, they suddenly changed directions and walked towards the outside of the city.
When Xia Qiu realized something was wrong and went to Xuanjing Division to check with his master Xia Jiang, he realized that Xia Jiang had never met Xia Dong at all.
"What, Xia Dong returned to the capital and took Concubine Jing away." Xia Jiang angrily pulled Xia Qiu's collar and shouted:
"Didn't I tell you to take good care of Concubine Jing? How could you let Xia Dong take her away?"
Xia Qiu innocently said: "Junior sister holds master's badge, so I have no doubts."
Xia Jiang touched his waist and found that his waistband was missing.
"When did you lose it!?" Xia Jiang said in shock.
"No, Your Majesty and the Queen." Xia Jiang realized something and hurriedly took Xia Qiu to the palace.
When they arrived at Zhiluo Palace, they found that the unconscious Emperor Liang and the Queen were also missing!
Xia Jiang felt a chill in his heart and finally realized that something was wrong.
First, the Crown Princess and Qin Banruo disappeared without any reason, and now Concubine Jing, Emperor Liang and the Empress disappeared again. Now there is no one in Jinling who can restrain Prince Jing.
If one day King Jing really leads his army to fight back to Jinling, who can stop him?
The more Xia Jiang thought about it, the colder his heart grew. He immediately called for people from the Xuanjing Division and the Forbidden Army to hunt down Xia Dong and Concubine Jing.
What's strange is that Xia Dong, Jing Fei and others seemed to have disappeared from the world. Even the manpower assigned by Xia Jiang to the nine gates of Jinling unanimously did not see Xia Dong leave the city.
Xia Jiang immediately realized that the person was still in Jinling City, so he must be hiding somewhere, most likely in a minister's home.
