Memoirs of the Heavenly Khan

Chapter 542 is going through the process.

Ganquan Palace.

In the height of summer, the air in the nursery is filled with the scent of fresh grass.

Yuan Ji was picking fresh fruits and vegetables in the nursery. She stood up, and her skin, which had just given birth, was even whiter and more radiant.

She stood up, wiped the sweat from her brow, and enjoyed the rare moment of leisure.

The hustle and bustle of Luoyang and the turmoil in various prefectures could not disturb the tranquility of this nursery in Ganquan Palace.

Several days ago, the Northern Wei emperor in the palace issued his second edict of abdication, which the Prince of Qin in Jinyong City refused for the second time.

This time, unlike the one in the spring, there wasn't as much opposition.

In Luoyang, hundreds of high-ranking officials were either punished or transferred to local areas; in the provinces, rebellions continued, but they did not cause much of a stir and were quickly quelled by the local militia.

On the roads leading to Liaodong and Bashu, prisoners could be seen being escorted every day.

In Luoyang, the mansions that once belonged to high-ranking officials and nobles were left empty one by one, and then bought by others.

Those meritorious officials from Guanzhong gradually filled the vacant positions and entered the Luoyang court, serving as high-ranking officials.

……

The outside world's turmoil never disturbed the idyllic Ganquan Palace.

Yuan Ji thought that this tranquility could continue until her son grew up.

However, a call startled Yuan Ji from her sweet dream.

"His Majesty has been assassinated!"

The basket in her hand fell to the ground. Without bothering to pick up the scattered fruits, Yuan Ji ran back into the palace.

Inside the palace, the assassin was subdued.

Xiao Yan was not injured, but he looked at the assassin with a strange expression.

Yuan Ji ran into the palace, looked at Xiao Yan, and asked anxiously:

"Your Majesty, are you alright?"

Xiao Yan shook his head.

Seeing that Xiao Yan was neither injured nor frightened, Yuan Ji turned to the assassin and questioned him:

"Xiao Jian, have you gone mad?"

This man was the hostage sent by Xiao Lun, and also his eldest son, Xiao Jian.

"I'm not crazy!"

Xiao Jian looked at his grandfather, his face flushed.

"Your Majesty, the Yuan clan is now in decline, and other aristocratic families are suffering. Do you really want to see my Lanling Xiao clan follow in the footsteps of the Yuan clan?"

Xiao Yan did not answer, but simply looked at the child quietly.

In my memory, Xiao Jian was a fairly well-behaved child from a young age. To be more precise, he was a rather mediocre person.

Emperor Wu of Han (Xiao Yan) was a man of great learning, and his children and grandchildren were also highly learned. However, Xiao Jian was not particularly outstanding, which is why he was sent here as a hostage.

Such a person, instead of enjoying a life of wealth and honor, chose to emulate Zhuan Zhu.

Xiao Yan didn't understand!
Xiao Jian, however, was defending his actions.

"Da Yeshuang wants to usurp the power of the world. If His Majesty also hands over the imperial seal of Daliang on that abdication platform, Daliang will perish."

As he spoke, Xiao Jian ignored the restraint of the soldiers on either side and pushed forward, saying:

"Your Majesty, you cannot go. You are the founding emperor of the Great Liang Dynasty, you cannot become its last ruler!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan sighed softly.

“Send him to Luoyang City.”

The guards on either side, acting on orders, took Xiao Jian away, but he continued to roar. "Your Majesty, are you getting old? Do you really no longer care about the future of the Lanling Xiao Clan?"

Xiao Yan remained calm, but Yuan Ji, standing beside him, could still sense his unease.

……

News of Xiao Yan's second assassination attempt reached Luoyang, and Li Shuang, who had been in Jinyong City, arrived at Ganquan Palace.

Inside the palace, only Xiao Yan and Li Shuang were present.

The atmosphere between the two wasn't tense, but it wasn't particularly intimate either.

"I never expected that someone like Xiao Jian would attempt an assassination."

"Does Your Majesty regret your momentary lapse of mercy, which has led to the creation of a dangerous threat?"

Xiao Yan sneered, looked at Li Shuang, and asked:
"Isn't this what the King of Qin wanted me to see?"

"I only want Your Majesty to understand that even a weak person like Xiao Jian will disregard life and death if the situation changes."

"If Xiao Jian succeeds, what will the King of Qin do then?"

"Whether we succeed or fail, it will not change the current situation. Your Majesty's descendants will fight each other until they are destroyed."

On the table to the side were military reports sent from the south.

Throughout the entire process, Li Shuang did not restrict Xiao Yan's access to outside information.

Xiao Yan could know the situation in every prefecture and county of the empire if he wanted to. In particular, he had a copy of the Southern Liang dynasty's records for almost every prefecture in Jinyong City.

Unlike Li Shuang's feelings when looking at the intelligence from the south, Xiao Yan became increasingly distressed the more he looked.

Today, the area to the south has entered the Warring States period.

After initially annexing lands, the princes of the Xiao clan completed their internal consolidation and embarked on a path of expansion.

Last year, Xiao Yi attacked Xiao Lun, and the brothers Xiao Yu and Xiao Cha seized the opportunity to conquer Jiangxia. After that, Jingzhou was divided into three parts, with Xiao Yi, Xiao Lun, and Crown Prince Zhaoming's two sons, Xiao Yu and Xiao Cha, each occupying one part.

The other Xiao clan warlords, both inside and outside Jingzhou, all took sides and chose the forces they supported.

While war raged in Jingzhou, Jiangdong was also in turmoil.

Xiao Xu, the Prince of Luling, who occupied Jiujiang and Nanchang, sent his navy to attack Shicheng in an attempt to seize this strategic town, which led to a fierce conflict with Xiao Gang of Jiankang.

Although Jiankang had declined, it was still a megacity with a population of several hundred thousand.

Under Xiao Gang's command were loyal and capable ministers such as Wei Can and Chen Zhao, as well as elite imperial guards.

Xiao Xu made meticulous preparations and launched an attack on Shicheng, but failed to achieve his goal on the first attempt. After a stalemate, he was defeated by the naval forces from Jiankang and fled back to Nanchang.

Xiao Gang has already issued orders to march on Jiujiang and capture Xiao Xu to bring him to Jiankang for questioning.

Jingxiang and Jiangdong were in chaos, and Lingnan was even more chaotic.

After Li Ben, a local strongman in Jiaozhou, launched a rebellion, the Liang army was unable to resist. Seeing this chaotic situation, Lu Zixiong, the governor of Xinzhou, and Sun Jionghuo, the governor of Gaozhou, who held heavy troops, could not sit still. They coordinated with Li Ben from both inside and outside the region to attack and kill members of the Southern Liang royal family in the area.

Unable to control Xiao Ying, the governor of Guangzhou, he wanted to surrender to Xiao Yi in Jiangling. He then invited Wang Sengbian, whom Xiao Yi had sent to Jingnan after the Battle of Xiangyang, to lead his army to provide assistance. However, Chen Baxian, who was sent from Jiankang, learned of this.

When Xiao Ying's plot was exposed, Chen Baxian ordered 3,000 elite troops to enter Panyu, Guangzhou. Using the tally given to them by Xiao Gang, they took control of the city, captured Xiao Ying, and sent him to Jiankang.

Xiao Yan was filled with complex emotions. As intelligent as he was, he naturally understood that even if he did not present the jade seal during the abdication ceremony, the hegemony of the Lanling Xiao clan would likely decline.

However, Xiao Yan wanted to blame everything on Li Shuang, but he lacked the confidence to do so.

"King of Qin, what do you intend to do?"

"Your Majesty is intelligent and should know that the Lanling Xiao Clan's hegemony is about to decline. But how to destroy them is a different matter."

Xiao Yan sighed and said with a wry smile:

"What I gain, I lose; what is there to regret!"

……

(End of this chapter)