Chapter 159: Hello Chang’an
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**Chapter 159: Raising Troops to Restore Order (Qiong Ru, Ten Thousand Thanks for the Extra Update)**
Lu Shi pressed a handkerchief to the corner of her eyes and choked with grievance, “... Eldest son once swore not to marry, and when I saw he finally had someone he wanted to marry, I was naturally happy for him. Plus, considering the discord between him and you, Master, if I had spoken against it, wouldn’t it have deepened the rift between father and son?”
“Is there still a need to worry about deepening the rift between us?” Cui Xian frowned. “Has he ever treated me as his father?”
Lu Shi bowed her head, tears welling up. “Yes, it’s all my fault. I was wrong for being a stepmother. When your position is wrong, everything you do is wrong…”
“... What nonsense are you talking about now?” Cui Xian could not stand seeing anyone cry in front of him, and his tone became helpless. “I was thinking of you. Do you know how the relatives in the court look at you, the wife of this family? They all say you are flattering that rebellious son!”
Lu Shi looked up, her face filled with confusion. “But... but that night, they asked me to mediate and speak up for him!”
“Their ‘advice’ was clearly to have you stop that rebellious son, not to support him!” Cui Xian sighed in exasperation. “Madam, you need to use your brain in such matters!”
“I... I don’t have the brain to think,” Lu Shi lowered her face, filled with self-deprecation and sorrow. “If I were someone with a brain, how could I have given birth to Lang’er, someone so brainless?”
“...” Cui Xian was left speechless.
His wife, though not particularly intelligent, had a good heart, a soft nature, and a simple mind that was easy to understand. She was completely different from the sharp-witted and stubborn Zheng Shi.
The sons they bore were also very different in temperament.
Thinking of his rebellious eldest son, Cui Xian felt even more frustrated, his chest tightening, and his brows furrowing deeply.
That rebellious son had done such a foolish thing at the Flower Banquet, and he had yet to come home to offer any explanation. Clearly, he had no regard for his father!
“Master.”
A servant came in and bowed.
Cui Xian frowned. “Has that boy come back?”
“Not yet, Sixth Young Master has not returned,” the servant said. “The Old Master sent someone to summon you to the outer study for an important matter.”
Upon hearing this, Cui Xian didn’t dare delay and immediately got up from his bed.
His father knew he was ill, yet still sent for him to discuss something urgent. This “important matter” must be pressing.
Lu Shi and the maidservant helped him change clothes, and he hurried to the outer study.
---
“Ah, where is Father?” Cui Lang entered the room stealthily but found only his mother sitting alone, drinking tea.
Lu Shi glanced at her second son, “You’re good at timing your return. He has gone to see the family head, and he won’t be able to scold you for now.”
Cui Lang let out a sigh of relief and went over to join her in tea. Noticing the redness at the corners of her eyes, he clicked his tongue, “Mother, you’ve been deceiving Father again, haven’t you?”
Lu Shi, still recovering from the act, was too tired to respond.
“Mother, what do you think Father’s reaction was when he found out about Eldest Brother’s proposal to marry Miss Chang? Was there any sign of him softening?”
Seeing that his mother wasn’t responding, Cui Lang leaned in closer, smiling as he lowered his voice, “What I mean is... Is there a chance that I could also refuse to marry one of the Fourth Family’s daughters and instead marry someone else?”
Lu Shi put down her teacup with a sigh. “Why wouldn’t there be a chance? Anything is possible.”
Cui Lang’s eyes lit up. “Then, in your opinion, what’s the likelihood of it?”
Lu Shi subtly raised her chin and looked out the door. “See that?”
Cui Lang followed her gaze and saw the yellow dog they had raised, happily wagging its tail in the yard.
His father, strict with rules, had allowed the dog into the yard but forbade it from entering the house. Over time, the dog had learned to stay within the yard.
But why was his mother suddenly pointing out the dog?
Cui Lang was puzzled, but Lu Shi simply said, “The chance of you becoming like that dog is about the same.”
“...?” Cui Lang’s face twisted in a bitter expression.
Is this what Mother means by "anything is possible"?
"Why are you suddenly asking about this?" Lu Shi asked her son, looking at him suspiciously. "Could it be that you have some thoughts on it?"
"What thoughts could I have?" Cui Lang deflected with a rhetorical question, trying to cover his unease.
"You better not," Lu Shi sighed. "A son from the first branch of the Cui family, with only two sons—one can't be all rebellious, or else how would we live?"
Cui Lang also sighed. "I wish I could, but my bones aren’t as tough as my elder brother’s. Even if I wanted to rebel, I probably wouldn't have the strength to do so."
He then changed the subject. "But isn't Father ill? Why is Grandfather still calling people for meetings? What's going on?"
"I wouldn’t know," Lu Shi said, not particularly concerned. "Or perhaps it's just not something for me to worry about. She knew well that some matters wouldn't change regardless of whether she cared or not; the decision was in the hands of the Cui family."
She then spoke directly to her son. "If you're curious, just go and listen for yourself."
Cui Lang quickly shook his head. "At a time like this, if I go, I'll just get scolded. I won't go."
Besides, he wasn’t like his elder brother, who had been so capable. He had always been a bit of a dandy, and if it were truly a critical family matter, Grandfather likely wouldn’t want him to hear about it.
Anyway, whatever happened, his grandfather and the others would handle it. No need for him to worry, and he was happy to stay carefree.
"I heard from the steward in your courtyard that you've been secretly looking for a doctor who specializes in eye diseases lately?" Lu Shi casually asked.
"That’s true..." Cui Lang paused while drinking his tea, trying to act natural. "A friend’s family member has an eye condition, and I’m helping out."
Lu Shi sized him up.
Cui Lang felt uncomfortable under her gaze, putting down his tea cup and standing up. "Since Father isn’t here, I’ll leave first. Please let Father know that I’ve already come by!"
At that moment, it began raining heavily outside.
Cui Lang didn’t stay to avoid the rain; he quickly had a maid fetch an umbrella and left, holding it over his head.
He needed to check with the steward in his courtyard about the search for the physician. With all the talk, he wasn’t sure if they were acting as quickly as they should.
The rain poured relentlessly, drenching the roof tiles with a cool autumn chill.
A carriage stopped outside the gate of the Chang family residence in Xingning Lane.
Recognizing it as their own, the gatekeeper quickly grabbed an umbrella and went to meet the guests.
The one stepping out of the carriage was Chang Suining.
Xi'er held the umbrella for her mistress as they entered the front yard and saw Chang Sui'an practicing with a spear under the long corridor, sheltering from the rain.
"…Little Suian, let me show you. Watch me, when you strike, do this first!"
Ah Dian was earnestly instructing Chang Sui'an from the side.
Chang Sui'an nodded and tried as instructed. In the rain, the young man moved swiftly and with strength, skillfully wielding the red-tassel spear with great flair.
"Xiao A Li, why are you back?" Ah Dian’s eyes brightened in surprise, and he leaped up in the corridor.
Before long, he jumped over the fence of the corridor and ran happily towards Chang Suining in the rain.
Chang Suining hurriedly took the umbrella from Xi'er and held it over his head. "Why did you come running in the rain?"
The three of them crowded under the same umbrella as they walked into the corridor, now all quite wet.
Chang Sui'an quickly put down the spear and draped his cloak over his younger sister’s shoulders, asking with concern, "Ning Ning, you just went to the Imperial Academy this morning. Why are you back now? Did something happen?"
"Today, Grand Tutor Zhu took a break and went to the Imperial Academy, but was urgently summoned to the palace byHoly Emperor. I felt an inexplicable unease in my heart, so I came back to check." Chang Suining asked, "What about Father?"
"Father was also urgently summoned to the palace around noon," Chang Sui'an replied. "He still hasn’t returned."
Chang Suining felt a slight heaviness in her heart.
Her teacher held an important position, and being summoned to the palace for a meeting had many possible implications. But old Chang was a military officer, not a close confidant of the Emperor. Since he was also summoned, it could only mean one thing...
There must be a war, or one has already started.
Chang Suining went to the front hall, waiting until the dead of night before Chang Kuo finally returned.
He had been in the palace until now. He only had some tea and snacks to sustain him and, due to an old injury in his leg, which hurt more when it rained, he showed signs of exhaustion as he sat in his chair.
But Steward Bai had someone bring food from the kitchen.
Chang Suining first asked, "How is Father’s leg?"
"It’s nothing serious, just an old injury," Chang Kuo said, accepting the hot tea from the servant. "I've taken the medicine, so it's not hurting now."
He didn’t expect the medicine from that woman to actually work. It was a good thing he hadn't really thrown it away—he had refused it the first time it was offered, then pretended to throw it out the second time, but secretly kept it.
Chang Suining felt a little relieved and then asked, "Father, was the urgent summons from Holy Emperor due to some important matter?"
Chang Kuo held the tea cup firmly and nodded gravely. "Li Zhengye has raised an army in Yangzhou in the name of restoring the country. He has rebelled."
"Li Zhengye?" Chang Sui'an was shocked. "The Marquis of Ying?!"
Chang Suining was also surprised.
It was internal strife, and the rebel was Li Zhengye.
She wasn’t unfamiliar with him.
Li Zhengye, originally surnamed Xu, was the grandson of the famous General Xu Ji, from a renowned military family. He was quite a brave man, and his family had been granted the surname Li by the former emperor.
When she was still known as Li Xiao, she remembered that he was someone who had stood alongside Ming Hou during his rise to power, and Li Zhengye had also been one of his supporters... But now, he was raising an army against Ming Hou, claiming to restore the country?
Chang Suining didn’t have the time to delve into the conflicting interests and contradictions; it was common for rulers and ministers to part ways throughout history. What mattered now wasn’t this.
She was more concerned with, "Why is he raising an army from Yangzhou? What about the Grand General of Yangzhou, Chen Changshi? Is he in on it too?"
In the Da Sheng Empire, the position of Grand General was often a remote one. Just like Cui Jing was the Grand General of Bingzhou, but seldom in the region. The officer who actually managed the day-to-day operations of the Grand General's affairs was usually the long-standing historical officer, the Changshi.
In the half-year that she had been in her current position, Chang Suining had gathered enough information about the officials in important posts, and she knew that the Changshi of the Yangzhou Grand General's office was a man named Chen.
"The Changshi from Yangzhou..." Chang Kuo shook his head. "He’s already dead."
Chang Suining furrowed her brows. "How did he die?"
Chang Kuo also frowned. "It’s quite absurd, actually…"
Chang Suining waited for him to continue.
(End of this chapter)
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