Song Yinghuai's words caught everyone's attention.
It was Master Guangzhi who was the most perceptive. Raising his white eyebrows slightly, he asked, "Your Highness, do you think General Sheng did it on purpose to sabotage the Crown Prince's plan? If so, why?"
Song Yinghuai stroked his teacup and remained silent.
Although he had not interacted with Sheng Jiangli for long, the fact that the latter could escape from his well - laid net showed that his ability to disguise and his scheming were no less than his own.
Such a person would surely not act without due consideration and shoot himself in the foot.
However...
Even he couldn't figure out Sheng Jiangli's purpose for the moment.
Weren't he and Caiyu both on the Crown Prince's side?
He had no reason to turn against them.
After a long while, Song Yinghuai finally said, "It's just a hunch... Whether he did it on purpose or not doesn't matter. What matters is that the Crown Prince has indeed suffered an unprecedented setback because of this. That's enough."
"Considering his previous assistance, I'll give him a chance to escape when we meet again in the future."
Everyone nodded. Then Tan Xiong changed the topic, "The envoys from Xinshangjing are about to enter Yan. I'm afraid this time we won't be able to stop Your Highness from returning to the capital as ordered."
"At first, our plan was to gather troops. After incorporating the Huqi Camp, we would stir up trouble on the border, provoke the Tatars into sending troops, and then start a war justifiably. But now we failed to incorporate the Huqi Camp, and there are also troubles within the Tatar tribe."
Zhu Xiao asked, "What kind of trouble has happened to those Tatar barbarians?"
Tan Xiong replied, "My informant sent back the news that there was a coup in the Tatar royal court. Prince Wendusu, the fifteenth son of the Tatar Khan, forced the Khan to abdicate seven days ago. The old Khan was beheaded, and Wendusu ascended to the throne. The other dozen or so sons of the old Khan are now mobilizing their troops. The Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun are in turmoil..."
Song Yinghuai pondered for a moment and said, "Although the civil strife in the Tatar royal court is beneficial to us, Wendusu surely won't start a war with us on the border for the time being. We have no just cause for war. The court officials led by the Crown Prince advocate peace, and His Majesty also doesn't want a war. If we take the initiative to attack, we'll be going against His Majesty's order."
He put down his teacup and frowned slightly. "We need to postpone this war for a while until I find another reason to start it."
However... If they missed this opportunity, when would the next one come?
Would they wait until the civil strife in the Tatar royal court ended, or until His Majesty changed his mind and advocated war?
Or... until the Crown Prince died?
Everyone felt heavy - hearted.
The Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun had been weighing on their minds for too long. Everyone was eager to recover the lost territory immediately.
Fang Kuan couldn't help asking, "Who the hell is this Wendusu? The old Tatar Khan had a large number of descendants. How could such an obscure prince suddenly succeed in seizing power?"
Tan Xiong said in a low voice, "It's really strange. Wendusu was indeed very obscure among the princes. But four years ago, it was said that the royal court captured a Han woman. She was extremely beautiful and quite scheming. First, she served the old Khan, and then was given to the eldest prince..."
"Later, somehow, she got in touch with Wendusu. She stirred up a lot of trouble in the Tatar royal family, causing father - son and brother - brother conflicts. Finally, by some evil means, she managed to put Wendusu on the throne."
Zhu Xiao silently drank a cup of tea and murmured to himself, "Goodness, this woman seems to be even more troublesome than Caiyu."
Zhu Xiao immediately received several disdainful looks from the others.
Song Yinghuai's eyebrows twitched slightly. "There's such a woman. Have you found out her identity?"
Tan Xiong replied, "I don't know anything about her background. Wendusu probably erased her past. I only found out her name is Jin Xiang!"
Who knew if that was her real name!
Everyone sipped their tea in silence.
Song Yinghuai slowly stroked his Buddhist beads and lowered his eyelids slightly. "Do you have any other news?"
"Yes." Tan Xiong's face became more solemn, and his voice dropped even lower. "News from the capital says that Empress Ma is seriously ill."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present changed their expressions!
Even Song Yinghuai tightened his grip on the Buddhist beads. His breathing paused for a moment, and there was a ripple in his eyes.
"She..." Song Yinghuai dug his nails into his palm. A flash of grief passed across his face. "What did the imperial doctors say?"
Tan Xiong sighed. "She probably won't survive this winter. The palace is keeping the news under wraps for fear of causing panic among the people."
Everyone showed a look of grief on their faces.
Empress Ma was virtuous and elegant, a role model for the women of the dynasty.
Although the Crown Prince was her biological son, she was magnanimous and treated the other princes very well.
So during the decades when she held the seal of the empress, the princes of Daye had grown up safely and each had his own fief. His Majesty also respected her very much.
As long as she was there, even though the Crown Prince had behaved absurdly, none of the vassal kings from various regions was willing to stir up trouble in the court.
It was a pity that in recent years, Empress Ma's health had been deteriorating. Coupled with the Crown Prince's increasingly cruel treatment of his brothers, Daye had started to change.
Song Yinghuai was not close to Concubine Yao when he was young, but he had received the kindness of Empress Ma's care and teachings in the palace. So even though the Crown Prince had forced him several times, he still never thought of taking the Crown Prince's life.
How could people not feel sorry for such a great empress being seriously ill?
Song Yinghuai tightly grasped the armrest of his chair as if he were going to crush it. After a long while, he finally said:
"Since the empress is seriously ill, even if there are mountains of swords and seas of fire in the capital, I must go there."
After saying this, he sipped the tea in his cup carefully.
The coarse tea brewed by Master Guangzhi was bitter and hard to swallow, just like everyone's heavy mood at the moment.
It was already difficult to refuse the order to enter the capital. Now, even if no one had summoned him, Song Yinghuai would find a way to go there himself.
In any case, he would go to see Empress Ma off for the last time.
Everyone was silently drinking tea. Suddenly, Zhu Xiao couldn't help breaking the silence:
"Your Highness, if you enter the capital, what are you going to do about Caiyu?"
The capital was full of dangers. Once Song Yinghuai entered the capital, no one knew when he would return.
Although that girl was smart and clever, her status was humble after all. If she was oppressed by powerful forces again, she might not be able to escape death.
Song Yinghuai's breathing paused again, and his mind was in a complete mess.
Just thinking about that girl repeatedly wasting his affection made him want to strangle her.
But thinking that if he left Yanjing, that girl might really be in danger of losing her life again, the uncontrollable anger welled up in his veins like a volcanic eruption.
He stroked his cup repeatedly, put it down, and then unconsciously grabbed the Buddhist beads on his wrist.
Back and forth.
After a long time, his voice sounded hoarsely:
"Her... We'll discuss it later."
He chose to avoid talking about Caiyu and regained his calm expression.
The news of Empress Ma's serious illness forced him to take risks and promote the war with the Tatars.
He closed his eyes and pondered for a long time. When he opened his eyes again, he looked confident:
"When I enter the capital, all of you should cooperate with the Three Thousand Guards of Duoyan on the inside and outside, sneak into the Tatar royal court, and do everything you can to make Wendusu's throne even more unstable."
"Ah?" Everyone scratched their heads in confusion.
A faint smile played on Song Yinghuai's lips. "If Wendusu can't hold on to his throne, he will surely look for external help. Our Daye will be his best choice."
"Wendusu will surely request an audience with the court and propose an alliance."
Everyone was even more confused.
Wasn't the plan to find a way to start a war?
Pushing the Tatars into an alliance would surely fulfill the wishes of those peace - advocates, wouldn't it?
Song Yinghuai tapped his fingertips on the table. There was a look of certainty in his eyes. "When I'm in the capital, I will surely prevent the alliance from happening. On the contrary, I will take advantage of the Tatars' entry into the capital and find a way to make the two countries go to war!"
Everyone looked at each other and showed surprised expressions. "Your Highness means that you're going to stir up conflicts between the two countries in the capital, make the Tatars station their troops outside the pass, and force the court to fight back?"
"Exactly." Song Yinghuai's eyes flashed slightly. He thoughtfully murmured the name of that person:
"Jin Xiang..."
"Interesting." He showed a shallow smile. "I have a hunch that this new Khatun of the Tatars will be the best pawn for the war between the two countries."