Chapter 310: I was born shameless
When Pei Yan arrived at the west side of the hill, he noticed His Majesty Ning and Supreme Commander Lou were in the middle of staring at each other in silent contemplation. On His Majesty Ning's shoulder perched a small falcon, and it was also staring at Supreme Commander Lou. The corner of Second Young Master Pei's mouth twitched, and he opened his mouth to ask, "What's going on? Has His Majesty done something wrong again?"
Ning Xiaoyao's heart felt stifled. Why is she always the one to be blamed for doing something wrong? (Author: Who was it that released Young Lord?)
"How could His Majesty be wrong?" In front of others, Lou Zigui was still fiercely protective of Ning Xiaoyao.
“Yah!” Ning Xiaoyao sniffed, "I haven't seen Supreme Commander in so long, why can't we stare at each other?"
Second Young Master Pei… are they still speaking human words?
Lou Zigui pointed down to the ground they stood on. "Below here is an entrance to a cave. The rebels took Xie Wenyuan and escaped from here." Pei Yan had no more thoughts left to spare on their foolish emperor, and hurriedly examined the ground.
“Ivy,” Lou Zigui said as he pulled out a vine from the mud. “There are a bunch on the ground, the hole must be covered by them."
Pei Yan's handsome face twisted a bit. “So Xie Wenyuan has escaped? We can’t catch up to him?" Ning Xiaoyao raised her hand and replied weakly, "Yup."
“In this situation, why don’t you know to be anxious?” Second Young Master Pei finally disregarded the fact that Lou Zigui was still there, and just directly yelled at Ning Xiaoyao.
Ning Xiaoyao moved back a little and refuted, “I am anxious ah, but even if I am anxious, I can't make the Grand Preceptor come back ah."
Pei Yan jabbed a finger at Ning Xiaoyao. “This old bastard must have been colluding with Xiang Nong since a while back."
“Return to the capital,” Lou Zigui stated. " Send out the troops to Xiang City. Perhaps, it's not too late."
Pei Yan angrily turned around and stormed off.
“You're angry and giving attitude,” Ning Xiaoyao shouted after him, "I'm also angry! Who am I supposed to be angry at then?"
Pei Yan threw back a sentence at Ning Xiaoyao. "Go find the person who was in charge!"
After Second Young Master Pei left, Ning Xiaoyao thought about it while standing in the mud. After a while, she turned to Lou Zigui and asked, "Weren't you the one in charge of all this?"
Lou Zigui replied, “Yes, letting Xie Wenyuan escape, this was my……” “Alright,” Ning Xiaoyao reached out a hand to cover Lou Zigui's mouth. "Who would've expected the rebel forces to join in and cause trouble? Supreme Commander, I just realized from the very beginning, Grand Preceptor was planning to escape. We want to fight with him till death, but he's just trying to run!"
Lou Zigui continued to proceed ahead with Ning Xiaoyao.
“But think about it, this time, we managed to deal with all of Grand Preceptor's elite troops, so we didn't actually fail, right?" Ning Xiaoyao asked as she swung Lou Zigui's hand.
“True,” Lou Zigui replied. "Xiaoyao, I want to take some troops to Xiang City."
“Okay, sure,” Ning Xiaoyao nodded. It's not like she could refuse and stop Supreme Commander from going to war anyway.
“Wait for me in the capital,” Once they were seated back on the horse, Lou Zigui continued in a low voice, "If there's other
issues, we'll discuss it when I'm back”
“What other issues could there be?" Ning Xiaoyao immediately felt a little agitated.
"Xie Wenyuan's men and troops are completely defeated. What do you plan to do with the soldiers who surrender?"
“Don’t know ah. What should we do? Since they've laid down their weapons, then we'll spare their lives?"
“Rebellion is a huge crime. They must die,” Lou Zigui said quietly. Ning Xiaoyao immediately shivered. She still has to go and kill more people?
"Xie Wenyuan didn't transfer all his cavalry over," Lou Zigui then added. “So I think even though those men deserve to be put to death, if you can avoid capital punishment, then it's best that you avoid it. After all, there are still many of Xie Wenyuan's soldiers that need to surrender. If you killed these ones now, then you'll be forcing the other soldiers to fight to their deaths."
“Sounds good, sounds good!” As soon as she heard that she wouldn't have to kill, Ning Xiaoyao became very happy. "We won't kill them. Supreme Commander, you should go take a look and select a few from the group. If any of them are decent folks like General Xu who was forced out of helplessness to follow Grand Preceptor, then we should let them continue to be generals."
“You trust me this much?” Lou Zigui asked.
“I trust you,” Ning Xiaoyao earnestly replied. “I feel like if I let Old Gramps take care of this, then all of the rebels would die. Supreme Commander, can you go and discuss this with Old Gramps ah?"
Lou Zigui: ….. so this girl doesn't actually trust him. She's just afraid of Elder Li?
Lou Zigui sent Ning Xiaoyao back to city gates, but didn't enter the capital himself. Instead, he led Deng Rong and his crew, as well as Xu Feiyu who had just returned, along with 3,000 other elite soldiers and directly departed for Xiang City.
Ning Xiaoyao stood at the city gates as she watched Lou Zigui disappeared into the distance. Her mind was a chaotic mess. With Supreme Commander gone, who will face Elder Li?!
"Your Majesty?” Pei Yan asked from behind Ning Xiaoyao. Ning Xiaoyao turned around and silently entered the capital. After the battle in the capital, corpses were strewn all over the streets. Other than the helmet-bearing amour-wearing generals and soldiers, there weren't any civilians to be seen.
Ning Xiaoyao stood at the gates and briefly gazed down the long road before bowing her head and entering the sedan. It's better if she didn't look.
Pei Yan rode his horse in front of Ning Xiaoyao's sedan and warily observed his surroundings. If there were still rebel troops hiding in the capital, and they managed to kidnap His Majesty again, he was positive that his older brother will kill him – not to mention other people.
"Is His Majesty in the sedan?” The sedan had barely moved when someone loudly asked from outside. Ning Xiaoyao lifted the curtain to take a look and saw that ten of the imperial clansmen had blocked the road.
"Your Majesty," Pei Yan whispered, “Prince Xi and the Prince Qi have arrived with some people. Do you want to see them?”
“I've no choice ah. It's not like I can beat up the imperial clansmen in the middle of the streets. I can only hear them out.” Ning Xiaoyao let out a sigh and hopped off the sedan.
When the imperial clansmen saw Ning Xiaoyao getting off the sedan, they all quickly knelt to the ground.
Pei Yan also quickly climbed off his horse. He didn't understand. Ning Xiaoyao could have spoken from inside the sedan, why did he have to personally come out?
"Everyone, get up. What's wrong?" Ning Xiaoyao asked the group. "The imperial palace was bombarded very badly this time, are you guys alright?"
The imperial clansmen got up and said in unison, “Us subjects are fine."
"Then what are you guys doing here?" Ning Xiaoyao asked.
"This subject has been away from his lands for a very long time,” Prince Xi, Ning Guangzong, replied. “This subject would like to request to leave the capital and return to his home."
Prince Qi, Ning Guangbei, also chimed in, "This subject would also like to request to leave the capital."
Ning Xiaoyao looked at the rest of the clansmen following behind the two wangye. "So you all want to go home?"
The imperial clansmen standing behind the two wangye replied, “Yes, Your Majesty is very wise."
Ning Xiaoyao pursed her lips. This is considered being very wise?
Pei Yan let out a cold snort. Ning Xiaoyao turned around to look at the Second Young Master Pei, whispering, "What's wrong with you now?"
“Now that the capital is in a state of chaos, these people are clamoring to leave." Pei Yan icily stated. “When there are benefits, they come swarming. When times are rough, they try to disperse as quickly as possible. Does Your Majesty know what this is called?"
Ning Xiaoyao thought for a moment, and then said, “It's better you don't tell me. I know you don't have anything good to say."
Pei Yan gave a cold sneer.
The imperial clansmen knelt on the ground without saying a word. Right now, they were only asking to leave. They weren't trying to seek anything else.
Ning Xiaoyao asked Pei Yan, “Then, Second Young Master Pei, do you think I should agree to their request?"
Pei Yan gave Ning Xiaoyao a glance, and replied, “What does Your Majesty think?"
“Actually, not being able to see them is pretty good. That way, my heart won't be as tired. But, I have soldiers in my hands now ah. Wouldn't this be the best time to reclaim all their assets and privileges?"
Reclaim all their assets and privileges? Pei Yan was startled.
Ning Xiaoyao continued, “But am I courting disaster by choosing to deal with this now?"
Grand Preceptor Xie is still alive, and now she has to deal with reclaiming all their assets and privileges. In the end, does this benefit the nation, or is it just adding more chaos? Ning Xiaoyao was hesitant as she stared at the people before her.
Pei Yan pulled Ning Xiaoyao back a little and lowered his voice. "Has Your Majesty decided?"
“Nope,” Ning Xiaoyao shook her head, “I'm still hesitating, Second Young Master Pei, give me some advice?"
If this was Lord Protector, then Lord Protector would have directly shaken his head and said that he didn't know. The matter of reclaiming assets and privileges concerned the nation. How could one simply decide by standing here and thinking on it for a little while? But right now, the person standing next to Ning Xiaoyao was Second Young Master Pei. He was someone who caused trouble without thinking twice. So, the latter only thought about it for a bit before responding, "After you've reclaim their assets and privileges, what does Your Majesty plan to do with their land?"
“Of course I'll divide the farmland!” Ning Xiaoyao replied, her two eyes glowing. “With so many refugees, the land must naturally be divided ah."
"Then Your Majesty should just do it. After all, these people are just prisoners of Your Majesty, what could Your Majesty be worried about?"
Ning Xiaoyao was still quite cautious though. "Second Young Master Pei, let me think about it some more." Pei Yan asked, “Does Your Majesty want to ask Supreme Commander for his opinion?"
"Supreme Commander should focus on how to kill Grand Preceptor,” Ning Xiaoyao muttered under her breath.
Pei Yan made another suggestion. “Then does Your Majesty want to discuss it with Elder Li and the others?"
Hearing the two words 'Elder Li', Ning Xiaoyao experienced all kinds of headaches and guilt. She did not want to face that old man.
“Your Majesty is the monarch of our country,” Second Young Master Pei reminded Ning Xiaoyao lightly.
“His sister, the monarch of a country!” Ning Xiaoyao cursed out loud. She felt that as an emperor, she hadn't been treated with respect she deserved.
"Your Majesty?" The longer Ning Xiaoyao discussed with Pei Yan, the more anxious Prince Xi became. Those two didn't look like they were discussing anything good.
“There's still a battle going on outside, how do you plan to leave the capital?" Ning Xiaoyao asked. "If any of you got injured or hurt, I would be very sad ah."
The imperial clansmen stared at Ning Xiaoyao. They didn't believe a single word that came out of Ning Xiaoyao's mouth!
"Weapons have no eyes," Ning Xiaoyao told them. “Why don't you stay in the capital a little longer. Once the war is over, we can talk about this again."
“This subject has bodyguards,” Prince Qi pressed, "If this subject is harmed by a weapon, then that is the fate of this subject and Your Majesty does not need to feel responsible."
“His Majesty has already spoken. He has ordered you all to stay in the capital for a few more days." Pei Yan replied coldly. "Prince Qi, are you trying to resist the imperial decree?”
“The subject does not dare.” Prince Qi got down on his knees again. "This subject begs Your Majesty for permission to leave the capital. This subject cannot fight for Your Majesty on the battlefield and this subject is deeply ashamed of that. Instead of staying in the capital as a burden on His Majesty, this subject would rather take the risk of leaving."
“Tsk,” Ning Xiaoyao clicked her tongue. This person really knows how to talk, how could he be so shameless?
"These subjects plead for permission to leave,” the imperial clansmen knelt down again.
“Not allowed.” Ning Xiaoyao threw out those two words and turned around to get back into the sedan.
“Your Majesty,” Prince Qi shouted, "Your Majesty won't allow us subjects to leave, is Your Majesty planning to reclaim all our assets and privileges?"
“Wangye should speak cautiously,” Pei Yan looked coldly at the Prince Qi.
Ning Xiaoyao stood still for a moment, and then replied, “Yes, I plan to take back all your assets and privileges. So what if you don't like it? What can you do about it?"
Ning Xiaoyao's straightforwardness stunned the imperial clansmen. “I know why you've stopped me in the middle of the streets to ask this,” Ning Xiaoyao clasped her hands behind her back and spoke with her wooden, round face. She stared at her imperial relatives. “If I don't treat you all well, then I have no respect for my familial elders and I would be ashamed to face my ancestors, right? Heh heh," Ning Xiaoyao gave a smile. "Sorry. It's too bad, because I was born shameless."