Rebirth: Marry a General instead of a Prince

The palace banquet began with singing and dancing, bright lights and a warm atmosphere.

Soon, the song was over.

Emperor Renxiao swept his shrewd eyes over the ministers below, and then slowly said: "Today, I specially held a celebration banquet for General Yunhui. General Yunhui is a young talent, and he has returned victorious. The Northern Di have been a major concern of Dali for so many years. Now that General Yunhui has driven them out of Dali's territory, it is really a cause for celebration. All the ministers, raise your glasses with me and toast to the hero of Dali."

All the ministers raised their glasses and shouted: "Congratulations to the Emperor, and to General Yunhui——"

The atmosphere was high, and Bai Zhiyuan also raised her glass, but the glasses of the women were filled with fruit wine. After all, they were in the palace, and now she had offended the queen, and today she was rude to Concubine Xian, so she should not drink alcohol just in case. She had to be careful in this cannibalistic palace.

Therefore, Bai Zhiyuan just took a sip of the wine. Even so, she took advantage of no one's attention to spit all the wine onto the handkerchief she was carrying.

There are endless ways to harm people in the palace, so it is better to be careful.

After Bai Zhiyuan finished doing all this, she suddenly realized that a pair of eyes were staring at her. The gaze was not kind, but instead it was searching her body like a poisonous snake spitting out its tongue.

Bai Zhiyuan looked around, but when he turned his head, he discovered where the gaze came from.

It was Shen Zhiyi who was sitting at the other end of the women's table. When he saw her looking up, he quickly lowered his head with a gloomy expression.

Bai Zhiyuan quickly became alert.

Two days ago, Xie Yunsong returned to Beijing, but she did not see Shen Zhiyi. She was curious and asked Tianxun. Tianxun only said: "County Lady, Shen Zhiyi did not return to Beijing with my young master. After the young master won, he was going to return, but a large number of troops would inevitably delay the journey, so the young master only brought a small team back to Beijing, and let the rest return later. This naturally included Shen Zhiyi. The young master was unwilling to pay attention to her or go with her, but Shen Zhiyi was like a dog-skin plaster that could not be shaken off. As soon as the young master left, she took her people and chased after him. But fortunately, Shen Zhiyi is not a marching person after all. No matter how fast she chased, she was still one step slower than my young master. If the two of them went to Beijing together, what would happen?"

Bai Zhiyuan thought of Tianxun's words and couldn't help laughing. No wonder Shen Zhiyi looked at her with resentment today.

Thinking of this, Bai Zhiyuan raised her eyes and met Shen Zhiyi's gaze. She curled her lips. Shen Zhiyi was stunned at first, and then his eyes and brows were filled with anger.

Bai Zhiyuan retracted her gaze, thinking that the clown was not worthy of her attention.

The banquet was still going on, with people toasting each other. With Emperor Renxiao toasting Xie Yunsong with wine, other ministers naturally came forward one after another. For a moment, Xie Yunsong was crowded with people, and everyone wanted to show up in front of the general.

Emperor Renxiao smiled as he looked at the ministers below who were toasting to Xie Yunsong, nodded with satisfaction, and then slowly said, "Yunsong, come here."

Xie Yunsong stood up, strode forward, saluted and said, "Your Majesty."

Emperor Renxiao looked at him with a smile and said, "You have made such a great contribution, I should reward you."

"Somebody come!"

The next moment, several eunuchs came carrying several mahogany boxes with their lids open, filled with all kinds of rare treasures and gold, silver and jewelry.

Bai Zhiyuan's hands clenched unconsciously. She knew that Xie Yunsong didn't care about these things. He chose to go to the desolate and cold northern border and never cared about material possessions. But the emperor gave him these in front of all the ministers. Isn't it telling everyone nakedly that Xie Yunsong went to the northern border for money?

Bai Zhiyuan felt a surge of inexplicable anger in his heart. He felt sorry for Xie Yunsong and was heartbroken for the countless soldiers who died in the battle.

But Xie Yunsong's expression remained unchanged. He looked at the glittering gold, silver and jewels in front of him calmly, and soon looked away. He said, "If Your Majesty wants to give rewards, why not give these things to those northern soldiers who have fought with me through thick and thin. Without them, how can we ensure the stability of Dali?"

After he finished speaking, Emperor Renxiao's expression did not change at all. He just looked down at Xie Yunsong. After a while, he spoke, "You are absolutely right. I will naturally reward the soldiers in the Northern Territory well. But since this is a reward for you, you should accept it. I will have someone send it to your house as a reward for your hard work over the years."

He is worthy of being the emperor. He wants to wipe out all the credit of Xie Yunsong with just a few boxes of jewels. What a good plan.

But Xie Yunsong's face remained calm, and he only said: "Your Majesty, I was able to return home so quickly after winning the battle in the northern border, which was inseparable from the contribution of one person. If you want to reward her, Your Majesty might as well give her the reward."

Emperor Renxiao narrowed his eyes and asked, "Oh? Who is this person?"

Xie Yunsong looked straight at Bai Zhiyuan, and Bai Zhiyuan's heart was shocked. The next moment, Xie Yunsong stretched out his finger and pointed it at her, saying, "This person is the daughter of General Weiyuan, the current Rong'an County Lady - Bai Zhiyuan."

Upon hearing this, Shen Zhiyi just stared at the man in front of her, but upon closer inspection, her fingertips were trembling slightly.

Emperor Renxiao's eyes flashed with dissatisfaction, but at this point, he still asked: "Yun Song, what do you mean? As everyone knows, Rong An has already returned to the capital, how can she help you win?"

Xie Yunsong turned around and said to Emperor Renxiao, "Princess Rong'an is as brave as any man. She risked her life to cut off Yu Huangqing's arm. After Yu Huangqing returned to Beidi, Beidi no longer wanted such a cripple as their crown prince. Amid internal troubles, I launched a campaign and won a great victory. As everyone knows, Yu Huangqing is the most heroic prince of Beidi. He was overwhelmed, and with internal and external troubles, he was quickly defeated. It can be said that if the princess hadn't cut off his arm that day, there would be no victory today."

The ministers looked at each other in bewilderment. Although they knew about this, they did not expect that it was because of this that Dali could now be stable and peaceful.

Bai Zhiyuan's heart also trembled. She was just forced by Yu Huangqing and didn't want to be a captive, so she cut off his arm with all her strength. Everything that happened later had nothing to do with her, and she had returned to Beijing long ago. But what about Xie Yunsong's contribution? He didn't mention it at all. What did he mean?

Emperor Renxiao's expression changed again and again, and the palace became quiet again.

Shen Zhiyi sat at the women's table, looking at Bai Zhiyuan with a gaze like a sword, almost piercing through Bai Zhiyuan. Her voice was no longer as gentle and soft as before, but like a pot of boiling water, sharp and hoarse.

"Nonsense! Bai Zhiyuan did cut off Yu Huangqing's arm, but she had already returned to the capital. All the subsequent battles were won because of General Yun Hui, and had nothing to do with Bai Zhiyuan."

Xie Yunsong looked at her coldly.

Shen Zhiyi couldn't help but shiver.

"I told you that the incident that happened to Yu Huangqing directly led to the internal strife in Beidi. I took the opportunity to launch a war against Beidi and won a great victory. Why does Miss Shen seem to know more about the war situation in the north than I do?"

Shen Zhiyi felt cold all over. She had followed him for so many years and had never gained any benefit. Today, he completely ignored his own military achievements and only wanted to win her credit for Bai Zhiyuan. Then what about her? What was she?

The voice of Emperor Renxiao broke the tension at the moment. He looked at Bai Zhiyuan with sharp eyes and asked, "Rong'an, what do you say?"

Bai Zhiyuan then stood up, walked slowly to the middle of the hall, stood beside Xie Yunsong, saluted to Emperor Renxiao, and then said: "Your Majesty, I was besieged by Yu Huangqing that day. He wanted to take me as a prisoner to threaten Dali. Since I was a child, I have been influenced by my father and naturally know that I would rather die than be a prisoner. I had no choice but to jump off the cliff, but Yu Huangqing held me tightly. In a hurry, I swung my sword and cut off his arm. I only wanted to die at that time, and I didn't think about how this would affect the future war in the north."

"Now that the North has won a great victory, I am also very happy. But I dare not take credit for the victory. Everyone knows that General Yunhui is brave and has made great contributions to the defense of the North for many years. Now that we have won, it is naturally all the credit of the general. Please understand, Your Majesty!"

Emperor Renxiao's eyes were unpredictable as he stared at the two of them quietly. It must be said that the two of them standing together at this moment were like a pair of golden boy and jade girl. Just from the looks, they were a perfect match, but...

Emperor Renxiao thought for a moment, but their identities meant that they could not be together. He must firmly hold his country in his own hands. Once the Xie family and the Bai family were to marry, all the troops of Dali would be in their hands, which would be fatal to any emperor. He would never allow such a thing to happen.

Emperor Renxiao's expression changed several times, and he finally laughed and said, "I know the contributions of both of you. You two don't have to blame each other. When Rong An returned to the capital, I already rewarded her generously. Of course, Yun Song's contribution is greater, and I will think carefully about how to reward you."

Having said this, Xie Yunsong and Bai Zhiyuan naturally said nothing more.

The two thanked him, withdrew, and returned to their respective seats.