RPAGF Chapter 611 The army presses the territory
Chapter 611 The army presses the territory
"Eunuch, what's going on in court? Why is the king in such a hurry to summon me?" Lin Ping asked curiously.
He was an incompetent general; he was gone for more than two months, and many military affairs were not his responsibility.
Even if they knew Lin Ping had returned to the city, there was no need to rush to summon him.
Moreover, he was summoned for two consecutive days, and all the civil and military officials in the court were waiting for him alone. This was a great honor for him.
"General, you may not know this, but a major incident has occurred," the eunuch said in a low voice, frowning, as if afraid of being overheard, since this was a state secret.
"Oh? What big thing happened? Is the princess getting married?" Lin Ping joked.
"You'll understand when you get there; this matter is of great importance to you." The eunuch ultimately dared not say more, knowing that Lin Ping would naturally understand some things once he entered the palace.
"What does it have to do with me? It's just that the princess is getting married."
Thinking about this, Lin Ping suddenly had second thoughts.
He had previously stated that he would marry Xia Linglong after returning from the attack on Lotus Palace, and now that he has returned, perhaps the king is indeed preparing for this.
"My wife hasn't come out yet! I'd rather die than get married," Lin Ping said firmly to himself.
He could marry Xia Linglong or even Zhou Xiyin, but only if Jiang Yunying was present.
Furthermore, it was Jiang Yunying, in her capacity as the First Madam, who personally handled this matter for Lin Ping.
This is precisely the traditional virtue of ancient times.
When a man is around thirty years old, his wife will say to him in a reasonable way, "Husband, you are not young anymore. It's time to take a concubine. Otherwise, our relatives and friends will say that I am being unreasonable."
The man deliberately acted indifferent and said, "It's up to you."
Lin Ping finally got to experience this good fortune.
As they spoke, the two arrived at the palace.
Lin Ping was a powerful and influential official, and the guards at the gate all kowtowed to him, giving him the green light all the way.
Inside the main hall, all the civil and military officials were as anxious as ants on a hot pan, constantly discussing among themselves.
"Why hasn't the General arrived yet? Has he forgotten that there's a morning court session today?"
“Not only today, but yesterday the king personally summoned him, and he didn’t come. I think he has no respect for the king.”
"Who can blame him? He's the Grand General, second only to the Emperor in power."
A group of jealous people kept chattering away.
The king was also getting impatient, his forehead covered in sweat.
Even with the eunuchs constantly fanning him, beads of sweat still streamed down his face.
"Ye Ran, go find Lin Ping and ask him what happened," the king said impatiently.
He knew Lin Ping's temperament; if he didn't want to attend court, there was absolutely no way a single eunuch could bring him.
Xia Yeran was also covered in cold sweat. Although he admired Lin Ping's talent, his disrespectful behavior towards the monarch was truly infuriating.
Aren't you afraid of being condemned by everyone? Aren't you afraid of being accused of deceiving the emperor?
"The General has arrived!" Just as Xia Yeran was about to leave, the eunuch outside the door announced loudly.
"Announce! Announce it quickly!" Upon hearing the name Lin Ping, the king could not contain his excitement.
Lin Ping walked steadily into the main hall and bowed to the king in the center. His obsequious manner was simply outrageous.
"My dear minister, please rise without further ado," the king said hastily.
Seeing the king's courteous treatment of Lin Ping, some people naturally felt a bit envious.
They were both important officials in the court, serving the emperor diligently for decades, yet they were not as good as Lin Ping, this young upstart.
"I heard that the General entered the city yesterday or the day before. Is this true?" a civil official asked sarcastically.
"That's not true!" Lin Ping replied politely.
"You!" The other person pointed at Lin Ping, furious at his shameless expression: "Hmph, I heard it from someone else."
"Oh? Then tell me who this person is? Does he dare to confront me face to face?" Lin Ping said in a roguish tone, the subtext being: Call him here, and I'll kill him!
Upon hearing this, the other party immediately shut up. Even if he had witnesses, he dared not confront Lin Ping face to face.
Furthermore, even if it is proven that Lin Ping entered the city the day before yesterday, so what?
How could the ruler not know?
That would be overstepping one's bounds, and in the end, it would be oneself who suffers embarrassment.
"I've been away for the past two months, and quite a few things have changed in the court. It's quite interesting," Lin Ping said with a sinister smile.
He enjoys being targeted, that gives him a legitimate reason to beat him up!
"Alright, stop arguing. Now that you're here, please share your thoughts." The king did not want to hear any discordant voices at this time.
"This humble subject has no opinion. I can't hold a grudge against Lord Sun just because he impeached me," Lin Ping replied innocently.
The king's eyes narrowed, and he said with a stern face, "This is not the matter we are discussing."
"Which one is that? I've never heard of it before." Lin Ping made up his mind to keep up the pretense and not get married at this time.
"Minister Wu, you speak," the king said, somewhat displeased.
Minister of War Wu Tiancheng stepped out of the ranks and said in a strong voice, "A few days ago, a 100,000-strong army of the Daye Dynasty suddenly appeared on the border of Wu Kingdom, saying that we had assassinated people of the Daye Dynasty and that we wanted to seek justice for them."
"What? Such a big thing has happened?" Lin Ping was taken aback, his expression quite exaggerated.
But in his heart he thought, "As long as I'm not forced to get married, thank goodness."
Although he was unaware of the matter, he had long anticipated its occurrence.
All eyes were on Lin Ping, waiting for him to continue his performance.
Lin Ping also felt that acting awkwardly wasn't his style, so he calmly asked, "It's only right that a life should be paid for a life. As long as they tell us the name of the murderer, we'll just hand him over."
“They don’t know who the murderer is, so they want to come to Wu Kingdom to find him themselves,” Wu Tiancheng continued in his reply.
"A hundred thousand troops coming to my Wu Kingdom to find someone? Do they think everyone in my Wu Kingdom is stupid? This is acceptable, unless they come unarmed and completely naked." Lin Ping said indignantly.
"Hahaha!"
The last sentence caused everyone to burst into laughter.
One hundred thousand people entering the city—this is clearly the start of war; anyone with eyes can see that.
Lin Ping's last request was quite reasonable; if the enemy agreed, they wouldn't mind sending 100,000 prisoners to their doorstep.
"Does the General think the people of the Daye Dynasty are fools?" Wu Tiancheng said sarcastically, clearly mocking Lin Ping's naivety.
"Since Lord Wu knows that the people of Daye Kingdom have wolfish ambitions, why ask such a naive question? This is clearly a false accusation they've leveled against Wu Kingdom so they can take the opportunity to attack it."
Lin Ping responded irritably.
"So the General is advocating for war with the Wu Kingdom?" Wu Tiancheng said on behalf of Lin Ping.
"That's Lord Wu's own idea, I didn't say that. After all, the Daye Kingdom is ruled by the Son of Heaven, with a million mercenaries. Even if the Wu Kingdom fights to the death, it can only end in resentment," Lin Ping said, waving his hand.
"Hmph! Boosting the morale of others while diminishing our own prestige, what right do you have to be a general?" Wu Tiancheng rebuked him harshly.