Thief Emperor

Chapter 1138 The Emperor's Personal Investigation
The area of ​​Jinling Prefecture was very large, and at this time His Majesty the Emperor was still quite a distance from Jinling City.

It is still quite a distance from the territory of Jinling.

After the emperor's entourage entered the territory of Jinling, the generals of Jinling Army, led by General Deng Yang of Jinling, also came to the official road to welcome the emperor.

Deng Yang, who was leading the group, knelt on one knee on the ground with a solemn expression: "Your subject Deng Yang, General of Jinling, pays his respects to Your Majesty!"

Behind him was the emperor's nephew, Xue Gui, the current deputy general of Jinling.

Xue Gui also knelt on the ground, bowed his head and kowtowed, saying, "Your subject Xue Gui pays his respects to Your Majesty!"

His Majesty the Emperor raised his hand, signaling everyone to rise. He turned to look at the Fifteenth Prince and the Fourth Princess in his carriage and said with a smile, "You may go down and meet your eldest cousin, and then go together to find your mother."

The Fourth Princess nodded and was about to get off when Li Yun called her back and instructed, "Cai Mei, go see General Deng and invite him to my carriage. Tell him I have something to say to him."

The fourth princess responded again, and then led her younger brother down from the imperial carriage. The siblings walked up to Deng Yang and greeted him as General Deng.

Deng Yang was one of the youngest members of the anti-theft team, a year or two younger than Li Yun. Even so, after years of hard work, he now had gray hair.

Upon seeing the two imperial heirs approach, Deng Yang quickly bowed and clasped his hands in greeting: "Greetings, Fourth Princess and Fifteenth Prince."

He recognized the siblings, which meant that Xue Gui must have informed him beforehand.

The fourth princess said with a smile, "Uncle Deng, my father said that you are welcome to come into the carriage to talk. He will be waiting for you in the carriage."

Deng Yang quickly lowered his head and replied, "Yes," then looked up at the carriage and then back at his deputy, Xue Gui.

Xue Gui said with a smile, "General, it's no use looking at me. I have no say in this."

Deng Yang was clearly a little nervous. After taking a deep breath, he clasped his hands in greeting to the Fourth Princess and strode towards the Emperor's dragon carriage.

After he left, the Fourth Princess bowed to Xue Gui and sweetly called him "elder brother".

Although Xue Gui held a high position and was known as the eldest cousin of all the imperial heirs, the other princes and princesses were not related to him by blood. Therefore, Xue Gui still had to be polite to them.

However, the two people in front of him were his real cousins. Upon hearing the title of "elder brother," Xue Gui's mouth almost stretched to the back of his ears. He looked the fourth princess up and down and said with a smile, "Cai Mei is even more beautiful than before."

The Fourth Princess scoffed, "My elder brother has only been gone from Luoyang for half a year. In half a year, what difference could there be?"

"You're just saying nice things to coax people."

As she spoke, she picked up the fifteenth prince and said with a smile, "Little fifteenth, quickly call him brother."

The fifteenth prince, who was three or four years old, stammered out "Brother!" Xue Gui was in a great mood and carefully reached out to take him, saying with a smile, "Come on, let your older cousin give you a hug."

The fourth princess handed her younger brother over, then said with a smile, "My father told us to go find our mother."

Xue Gui responded, carrying the fifteenth prince, and together with the fourth princess, they walked towards the Empress's carriage amidst the envious gazes of the Jinling army generals.

At this moment, the Empress also got out of the carriage. When Xue Gui approached, he put the Fifteenth Prince aside, knelt down respectfully, and kowtowed to Empress Xue.

"Nephew greets aunt!"

Empress Xue helped him up, looked him over, and asked, "Are you settling in well in the army?"

Xue Gui patted the dust off his knees and said with a smile, "It is a bit harder than when I was in the Imperial Guard. General Deng is much stricter, but it is also good for me. I feel that I have improved a lot."

He paused, then said, "General Deng has taken good care of his nephew."

Normally, a general who has served in the local area for many years would not be in a good mood when faced with a newly appointed deputy who is likely to replace him in the future, even if he does not resist the arrangement. He might even deliberately punish this new subordinate.

Even worse, they might try to send the person back.

However, Deng Yang treated Xue Gui very well. For the past six months, Deng Yang has been guiding Xue Gui almost step by step, and he has been teaching him wholeheartedly.

This is not just about His Majesty the Emperor; more importantly, it's about General Deng giving face to the Empress.

Empress Xue has been in power for over twenty years, from being the mistress of Jiangdong to later becoming the empress of the nation. Even if she didn't understand the intricacies of the situation back then, she now sees it all clearly. She patted her nephew on the shoulder and said, "Deng Ximing, your uncle, and I are all old acquaintances. Since he is willing to take you under his wing, you should learn from him."

"Don't let them down."

Xue Gui quickly lowered his head and said with a smile, "Even if I am a fool, I would never let down General Deng's good intentions. In the past six months, I have learned a lot from General Deng."

Empress Xue nodded and asked, "Do you think you can succeed in another two and a half years?"

Xue Gui took a deep breath and said, "We won't know for another two and a half years."

Just as Empress Xue was about to speak, Prince Jin strode over, bowed to Empress Xue, and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, His Majesty said that he is preparing to set off, otherwise he may not be able to reach Jinling by the day after tomorrow."

Empress Xue nodded and smiled, "Uncle, please make the arrangements. I will get into the carriage now."

After saying that, she gave Xue Gui a wink, and Xue Gui naturally understood. He walked up to Prince Jin and bowed deeply, saying, "Nephew greets Uncle."

Li Zheng patted his shoulders with both hands and said with a smile, "Good lad, you've gotten a lot stronger."

After exchanging a few words, Empress Xue, along with her children and Xue Gui, boarded the imperial carriage to continue their conversation. Meanwhile, the ceremonial guard set off again, heading towards Jinling. At the same time, inside the imperial carriage, His Majesty the Emperor sat opposite Deng Yang. He looked at Deng Yang and said with a smile, "Since the founding of the dynasty, there has been a real shortage of people in the provinces, so I have sent you to guard various places. You do not have any resentment, do you?"

Deng Yang shook his head and said, "With my abilities, I am already being promoted to the rank of Second-Rank Garrison General. I dare not have any other thoughts."

The emperor patted him on the shoulder and continued, "General Su, your health has been deteriorating these past two years."

He sighed and continued, "Once you're free from the position of General of Jinling, remember to go to Luoyang first and visit General Su."

"After all, we've known each other for a long time."

Deng Yang was startled and looked up at Li Yun: "Sir, General Su is as strong as an ox, how could he..."

"That was when I was young."

Li Yun shook his head and sighed, "They're all almost sixty now."

Deng Yang remained silent and did not speak.

"At that time, you will also go to Luoyang to serve as the Deputy Privy Councilor, and together with Li Qing, you will preside over the daily affairs of the Privy Council."

After Chen Da ended the major battle in the Northwest, there will be no more major battles for at least ten or even twenty years in the foreseeable future.

Without major battles, there are no military achievements; without military achievements, one cannot get promoted.

All we can do is endure it.

Deng Yang is almost there; it's time to climb the ladder.

Deng Yang bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, may I take some time to go to Luoyang first to visit the General..."

"can."

The emperor remained calm: "As long as the arrangements for the Jinling army are made properly, you can simply send a letter to the court saying that you are coming to see me to report on your duties."

Deng Yang lowered his head and replied, "Yes."

The emperor lifted the carriage curtain, looked at both sides of the official road, paused for a moment in thought, and then asked, "You've been in Jinling for so many years, what do you think of Jinling?"

Deng Yang thought for a moment and replied, "It's better than Taiyuan."

He originally served as the General of Taiyuan.

Hearing his irrelevant answer, the emperor chuckled and didn't press further. He simply patted Li Zheng on the shoulder and said, "Li Zheng has also come back with me. Once the procession stops, you can go and see your old friend."

Deng Yang bowed his head deeply.

"Yes, take over."

…………

Although officials and the garrison of Jinling Prefecture had come to greet him, Jinling Prefecture was actually quite large, and the emperor's entourage could not move too quickly. Therefore, it was not until the morning of the third day that His Majesty the Emperor entered Jinling City amidst the kneeling worship of officials and commoners.

Once you arrive in Jinling, finding a place to stay will no longer be a problem.

In Jinling City, the Li family owns two large mansions and a former palace of the King of Wu.

The two large houses, one Li Garden, is currently occupied by Xue Gui, while the other Qian Garden has been vacant.

The Wu King's Palace has remained empty.

After all, apart from the emperor, no one dared to live here.

What makes things even more complicated is that since Li Yun himself had been the King of Wu, it was unlikely that he would appoint his sons as Kings of Wu as well. Since there was no King of Wu, the princes naturally could not live in this King of Wu Palace.

Moreover, this Wu King's Palace, in retrospect, appears to have "overstepped its bounds" in many ways; it was actually already a small royal palace.

Upon arriving at the gates of the Wu King's Palace, His Majesty the Emperor stopped his imperial carriage and waved to Fei Lian, who had accompanied him all the way: "Minister Fei."

Fei Lian jogged forward, bowed his head, and said, "What are your orders, Your Majesty?"

"Send the accounts of Jinling Prefecture for the past year to the palace tomorrow. Also, write a document summarizing the overall situation of Jinling Prefecture over the past year."

He paused, then continued, "Tell the Jiangdong Provincial Governor to submit it as soon as possible."

"I want to see it."

Fei Lian was startled at first, then immediately lowered his head.

"My minister obeys."

(End of this chapter)