Chapter 746 – Is the Wanzhou Shepherd Male or Female? (Part 1)
The day was as cold as ever in Fuling.
The world was a hazy blur; cold winds rustled the white curtains and banners. The late emperor’s coffin was extravagantly adorned, surrounded by gold, silver, jewels, and tied with white satin. At first glance, it looked less like a resting place for a deceased and more like a meticulously crafted work of art.
Jiang Pengji, wearing a wide and neatly arranged official robe, coldly watched the orderly proceedings of the funeral.
The national treasury was empty, drowning in debt, yet many officials claimed everything should be kept simple. Still, traces of extravagance were everywhere.
Around her were nothing but the hypocritical sounds of weeping, the flag flapping in the cold wind, the murmurs of the crowd, and the snorts of horses—nothing else. Jiang Pengji followed the ceremonial officiant, blending in among the officials, her expression as indifferent as a delicate porcelain doll.
Of course, this was only on the surface; in reality, she was multitasking by scrolling through the live stream comments.
An imperial funeral, even in these exceptional times, held significant meaning for the audience watching online.
From their discussions, it seemed the funeral was being specially broadcast by a TV station.
Jiang Pengji kept her ears pricked, focusing on the live stream’s comments, occasionally chiming in.
As the emperor’s coffin was delivered to the temple, just as they were about to conduct the final rites, Jiang Pengji’s attentive ears caught the sound of galloping hooves in the distance.
She stealthily shifted her gaze outside and vaguely spotted a soldier in armor hastily dismounting, holding a bamboo slip.
Something’s happened?
Jiang Pengji furrowed her brow, as the messenger’s movements were noted by others, causing the royal officiant to suddenly darken his expression.
The surrounding officials leaned in to whisper and speculate, while Jiang Pengji calmed herself to listen to the conversation between the messenger and the royal officials.
“What—Changshou Wang is ascending to the throne outside Chenzhou today? Declaring himself emperor?”
The faces of many officials turned as dark as soot from a pot. Was Changshou Wang doing this on purpose?
Choosing the day of the late emperor’s seventh day of mourning to declare himself emperor?
Clearly, this was a slap in the face!
“…What should we do now?”
No one expected Changshou Wang’s audacity to declare himself emperor outright.
“What else can we do? Naturally, we need to find a way to stabilize the people’s hearts and consolidate our troops to suppress the traitor.”
“…But if we mobilize our troops, aren’t we going against Changshou Wang and the Cangzhou Meng Clan…?”
“The royal army has over 400,000 troops; how could we not handle such a traitor like Changshou Wang?” an old minister casually commented.
“Exactly, can it be that our 400,000 troops can’t deal with one traitor? You’re underestimating Changshou Wang’s strength.”
They were the rightful ones; Changshou Wang had no legitimacy and was merely a bandit everyone wanted to eradicate.
With a manifesto in hand, anyone with sense could take him down.
In this era of warfare, legitimacy was everything. When Changshou Wang laid siege to Chenzhou, he too claimed it was for a just cause, a leader with the authority to do so—it wasn’t as simple as just wanting to attack whoever he chose. With a manifesto, the people could rally against Changshou Wang under the same just cause.
Likewise, just having legitimacy didn’t guarantee victory in every battle.
Many older officials only saw their own interests and completely ignored the reality, which was somewhat to be expected.
Changshou Wang didn’t dare clash directly with the allied forces because they couldn’t afford it.
Similarly, the alliance was fragmented; they didn’t want to fight head-on.
Despite some of their naïveté, the officials knew they had to schmooze the allied lords and avoid conflicts with them.
After the funeral, news of Changshou Wang’s ascendancy would circulate, causing many to frown in response.
Some cursed Changshou Wang, others remained silent, while yet others tried to mediate.
Jiang Pengji observed the varied reactions and couldn’t help but scoff.
“So many dramatic plays unfolding these days. What do you think, what will Changshou Wang do next?”
Feng Zhen chuckled, “Most likely, he’ll aim to fracture the allied forces and sow discord among them. According to Changshou Wang’s plans, he should have captured the emperor, forced him to abdicate, then enfeoff the lords of the loyalist alliance one by one to split their loyalty from within. But now that the late emperor has passed, his scheme has gone awry; he can only declare himself emperor and bestow titles in the name of the emperor. Our lord knows that there’s plenty of discord within the alliance; many are only loyal to whoever fills their belly, so he might indeed manage to win some over.”
Yang Si nodded in agreement, “However, this move by Changshou Wang may be beneficial rather than harmful for our lord.”
Jiang Pengji aimed to secure the position of Wanzhou Shepherd, planning to openly declare her identity as a woman, weighing the chances of the court’s approval as fifty-fifty.
Nonetheless, with Changshou Wang causing such upheaval, even if the court didn’t want to approve, they’d have to concede and reluctantly appoint her as Wanzhou Shepherd.
Why?
Because if the court offended Jiang Pengji, would they not worry about Changshou Wang seizing the opportunity to swoop in and take the Liu Clan away?
If one Meng Clan turned traitor, Chenzhou’s imperial city would be turned upside down, and if another Liu Clan followed suit, the Dongqing court simply couldn’t withstand the chaos.
Even if they knew Liu Clan had grievances with the Meng Clan supporting Changshou Wang, there are no permanent enemies; only ever-shifting interests.
As long as interests remain, there are plenty of examples of turning sword into plowshares.
Jiang Pengji smiled, “I understand this logic.”
The results of the next imperial competition had been announced, with the winner being the eldest legitimate son of the Crown Princess, the late emperor’s legitimate grandson.
Upon hearing this news, Wu Ma Shang, the governor of Hu County, had a face as dark as the lacquer of a coffin, shadowy and sulky.
These days, he had been bouncing around, trying to rally allies, completely unaware that those who appeared to be nice to him were plotting behind his back.
Wu Ma Shang had thought the next emperor would be his, only to have it land on a mere eleven-year-old kid instead.
No matter how angry he got, the outcome was unchangeable.
Even if Wu Ma Shang wanted to imitate Changshou Wang and stage a rebellion, he had the alliance’s troops camped outside the city, and he had no chance of winning.
Following the seventh-day funeral, the ceremony for the young emperor’s ascension was up next.
The young emperor, merely eleven years old, looked frail, his eyes filled with fear of the living, looking timid.
Though it was a coronation, it was far less lavish than the late emperor’s funeral and felt quite hurried and simple.
The emperor donned an ill-fitting ceremonial robe, a crown on his head, his steps hesitant, holding the Empress Dowager’s hand as they approached the dragon throne…
Jiang Pengji glanced at the live stream comments, and one in particular stood out to her.
[Nie Beiling]: “Sigh, the mother is strong, but the son is weak; this looks more like the Empress Dowager’s coronation, with the little emperor as mere decoration.”
The Empress Dowager wielded power behind the curtain, while the young emperor became a mere ornament.
After the coronation, the eagerly awaited rewards from the allied lords followed.
Though their contributions were minimal, they were still a part of the alliance; should others feast while they only get broth?
By official count, the one with the greatest contribution was Xu Pei, who had effectively coordinated the efforts and received top honors. Following him were Liu Xi, the deputy of Xiangyang County, and Yang Jian, the commander from Zhangzhou’s East Gate, both heroes who risked their lives to save the emperor, being credited with first-class achievements.
