"A bunch of useless fools, you have failed me!"
Emperor Mingde suddenly roared, glaring at the ministers who had all taken refuge in the palace the moment the capital fell. "Your spines should all be broken."
Hearing Emperor Mingde's words, Cheng Guang's hand, holding the poison vial, paused.
Emperor Mingde, however, seemed possessed. "Why does Great Qi keep producing fine generals, while you cannot?"
A bunch of spineless cowards, who only know how to hide when trouble comes.
"And you all, why does a mere commandery princess of Great Qi have the talent to lead troops, while you only know how to weep here? What are you crying for? A funeral dirge?"
Seeing Emperor Mingde like this, a sense of shared despair settled in everyone's hearts.
"Your Majesty, this subject is bold."
Cheng Guang's clouded eyes were filled with sorrow. "That day, Prince Rui abandoned the city and returned, saying he had another strategy for victory. I pleaded with him three times, saying we could not just hand the city over. And what was the result?"
"Later, you sent Prince Duan to guard the palace gates. I also advised you to let me go in his stead, but you did not consent. The signal beacon was lit, and Prince Duan was captured."
Cheng Guang couldn't help but look up at the sky.
Why did heaven never favor him?
He had finally achieved the merit of supporting the emperor's rise, and before he could even help select a truly virtuous and capable crown prince, Great Yue was about to fall.
"Cheng Guang, the chief culprit among the guilty ministers is you, the Prime Minister. How will you account for yourself to the Great Yue imperial clan after your death? How will you account to my imperial father?"
Mentioning the old emperor, Cheng Guang's emotions instantly grew agitated.
"Your Majesty, this subject cannot account to the late emperor. But what about you? Can you give a proper account either?"
Seeing the sovereign and his minister actually begin to bicker, Song Yu couldn't help but roll his eyes dramatically.
He kicked each of them once.
Neither would be at a disadvantage.
"How dare you! You dare show such disrespect to me!" Emperor Mingde bellowed.
What greeted Emperor Mingde was a straight punch from Song Yu. "I'm hitting you precisely."
"This prince is the Crown Prince of Great Qi. And who are you?"
Looking at Song Yu's half-smiling expression, Emperor Mingde's breath caught.
He was the Emperor of Great Yue... but with Great Yue in such a state now, he couldn't bring himself to say it.
"Losers should act like losers."
Having said that, Song Yu walked up to Cheng Guang and directly kicked over the poison vial in his hand with his foot. "Holding a poison vial and striking a pose here? If you don't want to die, then don't die."
He hated these pretentious types the most!
Song Yu's thin lips moved, cursing Great Yue from top to bottom in a thorough and satisfying manner.
The feeling of winning a war was just this exhilarating.
"Your Highness, how should we deal with these people?"
"Tie them up and send them back to the capital in prisoner carts."
Song Shihuan silently watched the imposing Song Yu, her eyes full of amusement. Well, it was good to let Father have some sense of participation, wasn't it?
"Commandery Princess Fuan."
Emperor Mingde's voice suddenly rang out, his gaze passing over the crowd to land on Song Shihuan.
This was the first time Emperor Mingde had seen his true adversary.
"At such a young age, you carry so much bloodshed on your hands. Aren't you afraid of retribution?"
"Dare to disrespect our Commandery Princess? Beat the crap out of him!"
Before Song Shihuan could even open her mouth, Li Laoba shot out like a tiger, charging towards Emperor Mingde.
Soon, other soldiers also threw down their weapons and began intimate, hand-to-hand contact with Emperor Mingde.
Pig-slaughter-like screams rang out. Song Shihuan blinked.
"Father."
Song Yu was so angry smoke seemed to rise from the top of his head, his handsome face flushed red from holding back.
"Why don't you go throw a few punches too."
Don't hold it in and get sick, really.
Upon hearing this, Song Yu charged forward like an unbridled wild horse.
...
The line of prisoner carts was long like a winding dragon, escorting the captives from all levels of Great Yue.
The Great Yue commoners they passed watched with cold indifference, even actively offering food and drink to the Great Qi soldiers.
"Hey, why don't I see that one?"
That one, meaning Emperor Mingde.
"Yeah, I don't see him either. Could he already be dead?"
The whispers reached the ears of a Great Qi soldier, whose mouth twitched uncontrollably.
Out of a kind heart, the soldier pointed to one particular person with a face swollen like a pig's head and said, "That is Emperor Mingde."
"Wh... what?"
The speaking commoner nearly bit his tongue.
That person, beaten black and blue with a huge lump on his head, was their emperor?
Oh no, not anymore.
"See that big lump? Our Crown Prince did that!"
The soldier said proudly, his spine straightening.
Their Crown Prince could top the imperial examinations in literature and put a lump on an enemy emperor's head in martial prowess—accomplished in both, peerless in the world!
As for the Commandery Princess...
She was practically a celestial being!
The Great Qi soldiers grinned widely with simple joy, while the Great Yue captives looked as if they were mourning their own parents.
"The Great Yue Imperial Seal?"
In the Great Yue palace, Song Yu looked at the retrieved seal and shook his head with considerable disdain, then tossed it to Song Shihuan.
This seal looked ugly even to the eye.
Forced to catch it, Song Shihuan's little face scrunched up into a knot. What was she supposed to do with this thing? She wouldn't use it.
The next second, Song Yu's matter-of-fact voice rang out:
"Ahuan, keep it to prop up a wobbly table leg."
Gu Zheng and a group of deputy generals all smiled at Song Shihuan as if collectively hard of hearing. They weren't censors; why should they care about propriety?
So what?
Couldn't their Commandery Princess play with an enemy nation's imperial seal?
She could probably play with the Great Qi imperial seal too!
...
Elsewhere.
Mei Zhilin's old bones had stubbornly endured the jolting journey, which nearly shook his guts out, finally allowing him to see Yu Fan, who lay unconscious on a bed, with great speed.
"Physician Mei, you must save Young Master Yu."
Mei Zhilin glanced at the burly man, eight feet tall, crying with swollen, red eyes, and closed his own. "You, get out."
Looking at him gave Mei Zhilin a headache and made his eyes hurt.
After taking Yu Fan's pulse, the small old man sighed repeatedly.
After further examining Yu Fan's injuries, Mei Zhilin was too worried to speak. How had he managed to get himself into such a state?
Yu Fan's life was hard, and Mei Zhilin's life was hard too.
Resigned to his fate, Mei Zhilin took out his silver needles, inserting one after another into Yu Fan's body.
"Your wife has given birth. A beautiful baby girl, named Atuan as you wished."
"The birth was not smooth. Your wife suffered greatly, nearly losing strength at the end, risking both their lives. Thankfully, heaven protected them, but she will need several years to recover."
"Rest assured, she doesn't know about your critical injury. A woman in confinement must not grieve."
The usually taciturn Mei Zhilin uncharacteristically rambled on at length.
Looking at Yu Fan, now resembling a porcupine from his needles, Mei Zhilin wiped the sweat from his forehead. "With injuries like this, the Prince and the Commandery Princess must have given you their own life-saving treasures."
Suddenly, Mei Zhilin saw Yu Fan's finger move with great effort.
"This old man knows your will to live is strong. Don't worry, I will definitely let you hold your daughter."
