In the Yunzhou Palace, which was now the Nansheng Imperial Palace, the atmosphere was extremely oppressive at the moment.
Xiao Tianye sat on the dragon throne, his face so gloomy that it seemed as if water could drip from it. There was a whole floor of ministers kneeling below, and even Xiao Yixuan was among them.
Beside him, Ye Ping'an, the former Imperial Censor Ye and now the Prime Minister of the Secretariat of Nansheng, had fine beads of cold sweat on his forehead. He clenched his fists tightly to keep his emotions in check.
Just then, a spy had delivered the news from Beisheng to Xiao Tianye. This news not only shocked Xiao Tianye but also made the "pillars of the court" of Nansheng change their expressions suddenly.
- The once world - famous Li Bingjun, the youngest Prime Minister of the State of Chu, was actually still alive!
Not only alive, but also in good condition. He had returned to Luozhou with his wife and daughter and gone back to the Li Mansion!
How could this not be astonishing? How could this not be terrifying?
Luozhou was north of the Xijiang River. It was separated from the capital city only by Jinzhou and was right in the territory of the Emperor of Beisheng!
Less than twenty years had passed since the fall of the State of Chu. Almost all the ministers who had followed Xiao Tianye had experienced the chaos of the fall of Chu. How could they not know the great reputation of the Li family? How could they not know Li Bingjun's capabilities? How could they not know how the Xiao family had rebelled?
After hearing this news, Xiao Tianye remained silent. He just stared at the ministers below menacingly. But everyone present knew that he was extremely angry.
After a long time, they finally heard Xiao Tianye speak:
"Li Bingjun is no ordinary person. He managed to escape from that great disaster back then and wandered around in Dacheng incognito for so many years without anyone noticing his existence!"
"With all the prefectures south of the Xijiang River under strict martial law, he was actually able to return to Luozhou safely and renovate the Li Mansion. You all—"
Xiao Tianye was furious: "What on earth have you all been doing?!"
There was a moment of silence below. The Military Commissioner of Yuanzhou couldn't help but speak up: "Perhaps Li Bingjun had always been wandering around the area north of the Xijiang River and never crossed it. That's why we didn't detect his tracks."
"Excuses!" Xiao Tianye roared, "Sophistry!"
Xiao Tianchi had remained inactive and never responded to Nansheng's provocations. This had already made Xiao Tianye extremely annoyed. Now, there was a Jiaojiao Army and a troupe in the south spreading rumors that he doted on his concubine and killed his wife and allowed his illegitimate son to harm his legitimate son. As a result, the common people were very restless and often clashed with the government.
If this situation was not handled properly and the people in the south of the Yangtze River simply defected to the Jiaojiao Army, they would have little chance of victory.
At this moment, Li Bingjun's appearance undoubtedly made Xiao Tianye even more anxious.
Ye Ping'an took a deep breath and said, "Your Majesty, the most urgent thing now is to win Li Bingjun over before that person does. The Li family enjoys great prestige among the common people. They were harmed by the King of Chu back then, which made the people of the world heart - broken. If we can treat the Li family with courtesy and reuse Li Bingjun, we will surely win the hearts of the people."
The others also chimed in one after another: "Yes, Your Majesty. Prime Minister Ye is right!"
Xiao Tianye thought with a gloomy face. After a while, he said, "In that case, I'll leave this matter to you. No matter what methods you use, you must bring Li Bingjun back."
Ye Ping'an bowed deeply: "Your servant obeys the order."
Xiao Yixuan's heart skipped a beat.
He had only heard the name Li Bingjun in books or from others before. If his father could win Li Bingjun over, it would surely be like adding wings to a tiger.
Noticing that the spy had also mentioned that Li Bingjun had a daughter, Xiao Yixuan couldn't help but think—
Now that he had fallen out of favor with his father because he had failed to successfully wipe out the Jiaojiao Army, if he could marry Li Bingjun's daughter, his father would probably trust and value him more.
He immediately said, "Father, if Prime Minister Ye goes alone, Li Bingjun may think that our sincerity is lacking. Why don't I go with Prime Minister Ye? My face represents Your Majesty's face. I'm sure Li Bingjun won't refuse."
Xiao Tianye frowned: "What about the Jiaojiao Army?"
Xiao Yixuan said, "If we can recruit Li Bingjun into our camp, why should we be afraid of the mere Jiaojiao Army?"
Xiao Tianye thought carefully and indeed found this to be reasonable, so he agreed: "Okay, then I'll allow you to go with Prime Minister Ye."
After the court session ended, Xiao Yixuan called out to Ye Ping'an, who was walking in a hurry.
"Father - in - law."
Ye Ping'an had no choice but to stop and turned around to bow to Xiao Yixuan: "Your servant pays respects to the Crown Prince."
Xiao Yixuan smiled and helped him up: "We're all family. There's no one else here. Father - in - law doesn't need to be so formal."
Ye Ping'an straightened up. Xiao Yixuan said, "Li Bingjun is extremely important. I wonder when Father - in - law thinks it's best for us to set off?"
Ye Ping'an said, "Naturally, the sooner the better, so as to prevent the traitor Mu from getting the upper hand."
Xiao Yixuan smiled: "I think so too. After Father - in - law is ready, just send someone to tell me."
The two walked out together. Xiao Yixuan sighed: "When I went back to see Mother Concubine yesterday, she advised me to take in two more concubines to have more children. But I've been busy suppressing the bandits and have neglected Xing'er, my Crown Princess. So far, she still hasn't conceived since our marriage. If I take in two more concubines, I'm afraid she'll feel wronged. So I found an excuse to decline."
Ye Ping'an's breath caught in his throat. How could he not understand what Xiao Yixuan meant?
"A man should focus on his career. Moreover, Your Highness is pacifying the bandits for His Majesty. Xing'er, as the Crown Princess, should be more understanding and take the initiative to share Your Highness's worries. How could she let Her Ladyship worry about such things?"
Xiao Yixuan sighed, "Let's talk about it later. The most important thing now is Li Bingjun's matter."
After separating from Xiao Yixuan, Ye Ping'an rushed back to the Ye Mansion. The first thing he did when he entered the door was to ask the servant to call Mrs. Ye.
Mrs. Ye came in a hurry. Noticing that Ye Ping'an's expression was strange, she asked curiously, "What's going on? Has something big happened?"
Ye Ping'an waved his hand to let the servants leave first. Then he turned to Mrs. Ye and said, "News came from the north that Li Bingjun is not dead. Not only is he alive, but he has also returned to Luozhou with his wife and daughter and is holding a wedding in the Li Mansion."
"What did you say?!" Mrs. Ye was shocked. She subconsciously took a step back and slumped into a chair.
"He's actually not dead? And he's found his wife and daughter. Doesn't that mean—"
The couple exchanged a look, and both of their faces looked very ugly.
Back then, when Mrs. Ye had schemed to drive Jiang Zhiqing crazy in Ling'an Temple and snatched Jiang Mian away from her, she had already known Jiang Mian's background. And when she brought the child back to Ye Ping'an, she had immediately told Ye Ping'an the origin of the baby.
Therefore, Ye Ping'an had known from the very beginning that Jiang Mian was a descendant of the Li family and Li Bingjun's daughter!