Chapter Fifty-Three Mind Thoughts

  There are a few less updates, but I'll be back home for Dragon Boat Festival and can only return on Monday, so please forgive me. On Monday after returning, I will work hard to update two chapters a day...

  "Your Majesty... Your Majesty... Qingyang... Qingyang is safe..." Zhang Ze rushed over, panting and out of breath, and knelt down on the ground with a thud, gasping for air as he spoke in a stuttering tone.

  Li Ye was taken aback, and before he could react, Yang Gan had already pulled Zhang Ze up and asked urgently, "Where did this news come from? Is it true?"

  Zhang Ze's old face was already beaming with joy. After catching his breath, "The news has arrived at the Ministry of War, it was sent by an urgent messenger from 800 miles away. The Minister of War, Lord Qian, has already entered the palace. Coincidentally, I happened to run into him. Such a huge joyful event must be reported to His Majesty as soon as possible. If you don't believe me, Lord Qian will arrive immediately, you can ask him yourself."

  Wang Daocun and Yang Gan still had some doubts, Wang Daocun even said directly: "How is it possible? The reinforcements are not still in Pingliang? Is it...?"

  At this time, Li Ye's face had already floated a layer of excited flush, and his eyes were also bright to the point of being scary. The Qingyang coup was like a big stone pressing on his heart. If Qingyang lost, the gates of Western Qin would be wide open immediately, and it could not be said that this was not a matter of life and death for Western Qin. Now someone said that Qingyang was actually fine, and the excitement in his heart could be imagined. Zhang Ze had been following him for a long time, and on such matters, he didn't dare to make such a big joke even if heaven gave him the courage.

  He took two steps back, and only then did he feel somewhat out of place. He smiled wryly to himself, suppressing the joy in his heart, and waved his hand: "Quick, summon Ruyu Village's mayor to come see me at once."

  After a while, the figure of Qian Yi, the Minister of War, appeared in the Cong Cui Garden. He approached and after exchanging greetings, Wang Dao Zhen asked impatiently: "Quick, tell me what's going on?"

  Qian Yi was already sixty-seven years old, and compared to them, he wasn't small either. After walking a few steps, sweat dripped from his face, his legs trembled, but his spirit was still vigorous. He smiled, about to speak, when he suddenly coughed. Seeing Li Ye's eyes staring straight at him, he quickly lowered his head, holding back a breath, and his voice changed tone. At his age, having been through so much, he still looked so youthful. If it were an ordinary day, the people here would have had to say a few words about this, but at that moment, no one paid attention to these details anymore. They all wished they could choke him and pull out every word from his mouth.

  "Zhang Ze, go... never mind, let's hurry up and talk at the pavilion, also to satisfy Qian Qing's mood." Although he was anxious in his heart, as the ruler of a country, he had an extraordinary temperament, immediately suppressing his urgent emotions and returning to normal.

  The pavilion is located on a fake mountain next to Jingkun Lake, overlooking the entire Cong Cui Garden. As people enter the pavilion, the spring breeze blows gently, and their eyes are filled with greenery, lifting everyone's spirits. However, at this moment, no one has the leisure to appreciate the scenery, as all eyes have turned to Qian Yi.

  "The urgent message from 800 miles away is that the Crown Prince has arrived in Pingliang, and the rebellion in Qingyang has been put down, but..."

  "But what, you're saying...". Seeing Qian Yi's hesitant expression, Wang Dao Cun urged, "The people in the Ministry of War are all impatient, how did they produce someone like you who is so slow."

  "But never mind, what did the prince say?" By this time, Li Ye was no longer anxious, but rather curious. Since Qingyang was safe and sound, why did Qian Yucun's expression seem so strange?

  "It's just that what's written in the military report is a bit unbelievable... It's still best if Your Majesty personally reviews it...". With that, he pulled out the military report from his sleeve and presented it to Li Ye.

  Li Ye took a glance at the ten lines, and after reading them, he slightly raised his eyebrows. "Is this really happening? It seems that the Li family has indeed produced an extraordinary person... Ha ha, look at this, you guys too! Ten thousand troops are trapped inside Qingyang City, unable to move under the pressure of Xixia's tens of thousands of soldiers. Twenty thousand reinforcement troops have been stuck in Pingliang for over a month, achieving nothing. And yet, the credit for this achievement has been taken by a single grain-protecting army... This is truly a strange event in the world!" He said this and stood up, pacing back and forth in the pavilion. His words left people unable to respond, his expression seeming both angry and joyful at the same time, making it impossible to fathom his thoughts.

  Yang Gan and Wang Dao Cun also passed the military report to each other, both of them were deep-minded people, and they had a few points of disbelief in their hearts. So, although the news was good news, both of them fell silent for a moment, and it was Wang Dao Cun who asked: "Yang, do you think this military report is true?"

  After reading this military report, Yang Ke had already guessed a few points of the emperor's mind. Nowadays in West Qin, the military power is too strong, some high-ranking generals have their own authority and are slightly arrogant. If it weren't for the external enemies surrounding them and the abundant food supplies from Qin River and Lingnan region, which exert control over the border towns, the disaster of separatism would have occurred early on.

  The Qinyang rebellion appears to be the fault of Chen Heng and others, but in reality, the root of the problem lies with these border town generals. The Qinyang uprising had 100,000 troops trapped inside the city, mostly elite border troops, while outside, the Western Xia army was only 20-30,000 strong. The thoughts of these generals are truly unthinkable... The Pingliang relief army had many soldiers and generals, but they hesitated to advance, causing many problems to arise. On the surface, it seemed like a justified incident, but upon deeper reflection, it's clear that these generals prioritized personal grudges over public duties, disregarding national affairs and lacking even a shred of loyalty or righteousness.

  This military report is brief and only mentions that Qingyang has been pacified, with the credit going to a grain-protecting army led by a maidservant from the Li family of Jingzhao. The details are not elaborated on, but it's certain that the two major events mentioned in this report are true. Think about it - how many soldiers does a grain-protecting army have? Yet they managed to lift the siege of Qingyang and also quell the rebellion. Doesn't that make the garrison troops at Qingyang and the reinforcements from Pingliang look like a joke? So, what's going through the emperor's mind must be complicated - happiness, anger, and probably... disappointment?

  Wang Daocun didn't understand the reasoning behind it? He must have thought about the key points, and this seemingly foolish question was probably just to gauge the emperor's attitude and leave some leeway for himself.

  As he thought of this, Yang glanced sideways at Wang Daozhen, whose face was full of shock and surprise. But in his heart, he secretly thought that this Mr. Wang, who usually spoke and acted with integrity, actually had such cunning intentions. It's really unexpected...