Chapter 196 Aggressive

Longtai was silent for a while before he said, “Mother, Father hasn’t long passed away. Isn’t it too hasty to establish the empress at this time?”

He spoke in a rather respectful tone, but Yang Ning felt that every word spoken by this young emperor seemed to have been well thought out and answered appropriately.

Although it wasn’t something harsh, there was his insistence within his words.

Longtai’s question seemed to get the Empress Dowager. Yang Ning thought he once had heard that the ancients followed filial piety and should observe mourning for their deceased parent for three years. He wondered if the rule also applied to this era. If there really was such a rule, he wondered if the emperor should obey it too.

It didn’t take long before the Empress Dowager said, “The late emperor passed away. Your stabilizing the country and society is the greatest filial piety to the late emperor. If the establishment of the empress is postponed, the dynasty and the public unrest will inevitably be caused, which is not your way to show filial piety.” After a pause, she then said, “Your Majesty, I’m in charge of the harem, and must also be concerned about the royal bloodline. As you’re aware, if it wasn’t for the Marquis of Loyalty who stabilized the situation, it actually would still be unknown whether you could successfully ascend the throne.”

Yang Ning was surprised, thinking that no wonder the Marquis of Loyalty didn’t appear when Qi Jing passed away. It seemed that the Marquis of Loyalty was really focusing on the new monarch’s accession at the most critical moment.

Longtai responded with nothing.

“The continuation of the royal bloodline is the first priority for ruling the country,” The Empress Dowager said, “Even if Your Majesty cannot immediately establish the empress, you should first declare Wanqiong into the palace first.”

Longtai finally uttered, “I’ll bear what Mother said in my mind and will consider this carefully.”

“Alas, you won’t understand the good intention as a parent.” The Empress Dowager sighed, paused for a moment, and suddenly asked, “Your Majesty, how are you going to reward the Marquis of Loyalty this time?”

“How do you think he should be rewarded, Mother?” Longtai asked.

The Empress Dowager said, “The late emperor entrusted on his deathbed that he wanted the Marquis of Loyalty to assist Your Majesty, and Your Majesty personally heard it. The late emperor passed away. The Marquis of Loyalty did everything he could, so that Your Majesty has survived the crisis. As far as I’m concerned, the Marquis of Loyalty as well as other loyal ministers will all be the backbones of the country you can rely on.”

Longtai smiled, “That’s very true of Mother has said. I will certainly bear the credit of Marquis of Loyalty in my mind.”

“To reward and punish justly is the way to be a ruler.” The Empress Dowager hesitated for a moment and finally said, “Shouldn’t Your Majesty confer an additional title on the Marquis of Loyalty?”

Longtai said, “The Marquis of Loyalty is at the head of the four hereditary marquises, which is already among incomparably glorious first-class marquises. If I’m about to promote his title, he’ll have to be made a duke.” After a pause, he said, “Since the founding of our country, of course, there hasn’t been a king with a different surname, but there has never been a duke with a different surname either.”

“Don’t you want to break new ground?” The Empress Dowager now sounded mild, “There are some things you have to follow the ancestral system, but not everything must adhere to the ancestral rules. Something changeable can be changed by you. Your Majesty has just ascended the throne, it works to establish your prestige, and break some old rules.”

Yang Ning then understood, the Empress Dowager actually wanted His Majesty to promote Marquis of Loyalty’s title. According to what she said, she seemed to extremely trust the Marquis of Loyalty.

Longtai seemed to be hesitating, and only after a moment did he say, “Mother, the four hereditary marquises are the four first-class marquises of our Chu, and the four marquises have all made great achievements for our Chu. Now that Mother has asked me to crown the Marquis of Loyalty as a duke, I should have obeyed Mother’s order, but I’m only worried about one thing.”

“What is it?”

“If the Marquis of Loyalty is crowned a duke, what will the other three hereditary marquises think?” Longtai continued saying, “I’m afraid the other three marquises would be jealous. If the Marquis of Loyalty is crowned, will the title of Marquis of Loyalty disappear from now on? Everyone in the world knows that there are four marquises in Chu, if the Marquis of Loyalty is gone, would it be improper?”

The Empress Dowager immediately responded, “Your Majesty, you are overthinking it. The first emperor set the four marquises and decreed that the four marquises are hereditary. Naturally, their titles cannot be abolished. If the Marquis of Loyalty is offered, of course the title of duke should be inherited. If Your Majesty is worried about the dissatisfaction of other three hereditary marquises that may be caused, in my opinion, there is no need to have this concern. It was Marquis of Loyalty who escorted you this time while Marquis of Honor and Marquis of Martial Arts have done nothing for this. As for the Marquis of Golden Sword, by the way, he’s not in sync with the court and Your Majesty.”

Longtai instantly said, “Mother, with all due respect. It’s not the case that you said Marquis of Honor and Marquis of Martial Arts have done no contribution. The two marquises have a wide set of contacts in the army. Many of the generals in the army followed these two marquises in the battlefield. Mother, you know these two marquises were loyal to the late emperor, so their men were also loyal to me. If not for their presence deterring those with malicious motives, I might not have been able to ascend the throne smoothly.”

“There is nothing wrong with what Your Majesty said, but the one who has made the greatest contribution this time is the Marquis of Loyalty,” The Empress Dowager argued, “If it weren’t for Marquis of Loyalty’s planning, I’m afraid the situation wouldn’t be the same as it is now.” Her voice went slightly cold, “Does Your Majesty think that the Marquis of Loyalty hasn’t done enough?”

Longtai said, “Mother, you’ve got me wrong. That’s not what I meant.”

“The Marquis of Loyalty and a group of loyal ministers have made such a great achievement, if Your Majesty doesn’t make any reward, I’m afraid it would disappoint many subjects.” The Empress Dowager sighed, “Your Majesty, in order to rule the country, one must properly employ people, and to employ people, you must win recognition of the people, don’t you think so?”

Yang Ning hid behind the bookshelf and heard everything clearly, thinking to himself that the Empress Dowager had gone too far.

He also knew that the harem shouldn’t easily interfere with political affairs. Although Longtai just ascended the throne, who may be defective in handling politic affairs, it’s plausible for the Empress Dowager to make some guidance. But when it came to such important matters as crowning a duke, Longtai should be allowed to make up his own mind. The Empress Dowager was quite aggressive on this though, as if she wouldn’t give up if Longtai didn’t agree to reward the Marquis of Loyalty.

Longtai was silent for a while and finally said, “Since Mother said so, I will have to comply with it. I will summon the Minister of Rites to discuss on this. The Marquis of Loyalty should be clear of other contributive ministers this time. I’ll ask him to present a memorial to the throne for listing the ministers who have made meritorious achievements, and then I will follow your order and reward them one by one.”

The Empress Dowager was suddenly full of joy, smiling and saying, “I’m relieved if you say so. With Your Majesty’s reward, these ministers will naturally be more loyal to Your Majesty from now on and serve you with dedication.”

Longtai said, “I’m going to call the ministers to the court in a few days, when I’ll declare the decree.” After a pause, he asked, “Mother, is there anything else?”

The Empress Dowager said, “It’s almost dark. Your Majesty should take a meal, and don’t work too hard. By the way, Your Majesty should still think about the marriage with Wanqiong. I’ll come to talk to you another day.” After that came some noise. Then Longtai’s voice sounded, “Sending off Queen Mother.”

A few moments later, quietness was restored in all directions. Yang Ning thought that the Empress Dowager had already left, and peeked out from behind the bookshelf, only to see the young emperor Longtai leaning on a chair, seemingly thinking about something, who suddenly looked up and said, “Qi Ning, come out. The Empress Dowager has already left.”

Yang Ning relived and gingerly walked over to the side of the young emperor Longtai, hesitated, finally fell to his knees and said, “Greetings to Your Majesty.” But he was still nervous, secretly thinking that since Xiao Guang was the emperor, he wondered how he’d dispose himself. Now it happened that only this little emperor knew that he was the fake Marquis of Honor.

Longtai turned his head to look at Yang Ning and laughed, “I had planned to play the trick on you for a longer time, but I didn’t expect the Empress Dowager to come by today. My secret is revealed.” Raising his hand, he said, “Get up, it’s just you and me here, no need for these routines.”

Yang Ning heard that Longtai’s tone was quite easy-going, got up and meant to say something, but didn’t know what to say.

Longtai asked with a smile, “What, knowing that I am the emperor, you don’t even have the guts to speak? Aren’t you a bold man who even dared to fake the Heir of Marquis of Honor? And now you don’t even have the courage to speak?”

Once he said this, Yang Ning was frank instead. Thinking that things had come to this point, he was afraid the little emperor had already thought of a way to deal with him, he simply relaxed and laughed, “I … No, I didn’t know that you are His Majesty. Much offense. So I acted a little recklessly before. Your Majesty…. How do you want to dispose me? I’m all yours.”

“Of course I’m about to punish you!” Longtai suddenly frowned. Before Yang Ning could react, he had reached out to Yang Ning’s waist. Yang Ning was going to fight back, but the sudden thought of him being the emperor of Chu held him back. That’s when he was grabbed by the belt by Longtai, whose feet swept across and straight to his feet.

Yang Ning reflexively lifted his foot and kicked against Longtai’s coming leg, and without difficulty, he also grabbed one of Longtai’s arms.

Each of them reached about a leg and intertwined back and forth. With a sudden fierce roar, Longtai flipped Yang Ning horizontally while Yang Ning, at the same time, used force and the two’s positions instantly transferred. Longtai slightly bowed out of blue and whose elbow reached towards Yang Ning’s chest.

When Yang Ning first met Xiao Guang, they had a fight in the rain. Yang Ning was good at fighting and wrestling skills, but he knew the emperor excelled in martial arts too. No one beat the other in that fight which was considered a draw.

This time they fought back and forth for dozens of times, failing to distinguish the winner. Yang Ning sensed Longtai’s skilled actions and believed him to be a professional too. And the emperor was really strong. He wasn’t worried about being tripped by the emperor, but the Skills of Six Directions demonstrating again by mistake. It’d be a disaster if he accidentally sucked out the emperor’s internal power.

Yang Ning now knew that the Skills of Six Directions obtained from the God of Wood was a bizarre kung fu ability to suck out people’s power. He also knew that once the opponent touched his body in several places with internal power, his body will reflexively suck in the opponent’s internal force which was uncontrollable even by himself.

He had abundant internal energy stored in his body, but now he didn’t know how to manipulate it in his body at will.

The emperor was very strong. Yang Ning wondered how he practiced this or if he was using his internal power. It didn’t matter if it was just strength. But if it was internal power from within the body, he had to be cautious not to suck the little emperor into a desiccated corpse.