Rebirth: The wedding night, my whole family was exiled, I raised 500,000 soldiers

The eunuch who delivered the decree said: "The eldest princess was poisoned to death in the prison, and the Prince of Zhennan is ordered to find the culprit of the poisoning..."

Zhou Ruyuan took the imperial edict with both hands, and then said: "This prince wants to see the emperor, please pass it on, eunuch."

The eunuch who delivered the order said: "Your Majesty is recovering from his injuries and will not see anyone. Your Majesty should hurry to do his work!"

Zhou Ruyuan stood at the entrance of the Palace of Tranquil Longevity for a while. When he was leaving, he happened to meet Shen Lanxi who came for inspection.

"I know about the eldest princess's affairs. Father ordered me to thoroughly investigate the poisoning."

Shen Lanxi reminded: "Your Majesty has demoted Zhou Yunshang to a commoner."

Zhou Ruyuan changed his words: "Isn't Zhou Yunshang imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison? How come she was poisoned?"

Shen Lanxi: "Who knows? Zhou Yunshang's case is not my responsibility. I only know that His Majesty knows that Zhou Yunshang was poisoned. Now the inspection of things entering the palace has increased from two to ten, and the guards of the Yangxin Palace have been strengthened. Even I have to patrol in person. Zhou Yunshang really did a lot of harm to people."

It was the first time that Zhou Ruyuan heard Shen Lanxi speak to him in such a tone. He was surprised and felt a lot more relaxed.

"How does father plan to deal with the Fifth Prince's matter?" He must know this, right?

Shen Lanxi: "Scouts have been sent out and troops have been assembled. Didn't the King of Zhennan receive the notice?"

Zhou Ruyuan froze for a moment and said, "The city defense camp certainly did not receive the imperial edict."

Shen Lanxi said indifferently: "Even if he hasn't, he will be soon. According to the information I got, the fifth prince has also kidnapped the eldest prince. He really wants to rebel."

Zhou Ruyu knew that this would come back sooner or later, but he didn't expect that the first person to take action would be Lao Wu.

"How will Father deal with him?"

Shen Lanxi: "The emperor's heart is hard to predict. The fifth prince is still a prince after all. Even a tiger won't eat its own cubs. Your Highness doesn't need to worry too much."

"Are you comforting me?" Zhou Ruyuan asked suddenly.

Shen Lanxi smiled inexplicably and said, "Yuan Tang keeps saying that I, as her elder sister, won't help her. I'm giving you some advice now, so I'll consider it as helping her."

Zhou Ruyuan looked at Shen Lanxi's leaving back with a heavy heart.

~

Emperor Renxiao had been poisoned five times and assassinated three times in three days, and had become a frightened bird. The palace servants in the Yangxin Palace alone had been replaced three times. Except for Wang Bao, there was no familiar face serving him.

"Uncle, the scouts sent word that the Fifth Prince has assembled 200,000 troops and will arrive at Pingcheng in one day."

Pingcheng is the closest big city to the capital and also the barrier of the capital. If Pingcheng is lost, the fifth prince's troops will march straight into the capital.

Emperor Renxiao gasped when he heard such a huge number of troops.

"How many troops are there in the capital now?"

Shen Lanxi: "All the troops that can be mobilized together are less than 30,000."

Emperor Renxiao exclaimed, "Why is there so little?"

Shen Lanxi: "Half a year ago, my uncle sent 10,000 soldiers to the northwest." These are all things that can be found out on the surface.

"Of these 30,000, nearly 10,000 are recruits."

In a blink of an eye, Emperor Renxiao's forehead was already covered with sweat. He shouted anxiously and angrily: "You traitor, how come you have so many troops?"

The number of private soldiers that the princes can raise in their fiefdoms is limited, and the fifth prince has long harbored the intention of rebellion.

Emperor Renxiao sat on the dragon throne dejectedly.

"Uncle, the eldest prince is still in the hands of the fifth prince. I think this battle cannot be fought. We must outsmart it."

Emperor Renxiao was already at a loss, and now he just listened to whatever Shen Lanxi said.

"Lan Xi, if you have any ideas, please tell me now."

Shen Lanxi frowned: "There is a way, but it is very dangerous."

The rebellious son is about to bring an army of 200,000 to force the emperor to abdicate. At this moment, why should we care about the danger?

As long as we can force the rebellious son to retreat, we will do whatever it takes, even if it means having thousands of troops crossing a single-plank bridge.

"Say it quickly."

Shen Lanxi: "I want to send someone to steal the eldest prince out, and then launch a surprise attack."

Emperor Renxiao was stunned, but after thinking about it carefully, he realized that this method was indeed dangerous.

Those who go there can be said to have a narrow escape from death.

"Lan Xi, who do you think should be sent?"

Shen Lanxi: "Uncle, Lanxi recommends herself!"

There was a flash of shock in Emperor Renxiao's eyes. That was a life-threatening situation, and he felt in his heart that this method would not work at all.

Those who go will never come back.

"It's too risky, let's send someone else!" Emperor Renxiao hesitated.

Shen Lanxi insisted: "Uncle, no matter who you send, they will be afraid of death. Only if I go, I can go all out and have a chance of survival."

Emperor Renxiao had never imagined that his mood would fluctuate so greatly as it does now. He thought that his previous kindness to Shen Lanxi was full of calculations, but he did not expect that in moments of crisis, Shen Lanxi would help him wholeheartedly time and time again, and would even sacrifice her life to show her filial piety.

This child is really... better than all his children combined.

At this moment, Emperor Renxiao threw away all his concerns and no longer had any suspicion towards Shen Lanxi.

"No, you are a woman and should have lived a comfortable life in the backyard. Now you have to stand up and fight again and again. Your uncle is already very sorry for you." Thinking of everything that happened before, Emperor Renxiao felt extremely guilty and wished he could make up for it immediately.

Shen Lanxi said righteously: "Uncle, you are closer to me than my father. To be honest, I have already regarded you as my father. It is natural for a daughter to do things for her father. Uncle, don't feel burdened."

The more calm and generous she was, the more guilty Emperor Renxiao felt.

Perhaps because of the pain he had been having for days, he often thought about the past. When he was young, he was surrounded by a group of people, but he didn't know when there were fewer and fewer people around him. In the end, when he was old, he became a lonely man. Even his favorite eldest son was not even half as good as Shen Lanxi.

"Uncle, just let me go. Time waits for no one and it can't be delayed!" Shen Lanxi said anxiously.

No matter how touched Emperor Renxiao was, the interests of imperial power still outweighed this feeling.

"Forget it, I'm old, and I can't stop anything."

"Since you have decided to go, be careful. Even if... you must come back safely." For a moment, he actually wanted to say that even if she couldn't rescue the eldest prince, she must come back.

As I get older, my heart becomes softer and softer.

"Lan Xi, if you can come back safely, I will definitely reward you handsomely!" Emperor Renxiao said more seriously than ever before.

Shen Lanxi nodded solemnly, and after leaving the Yangxin Palace, she immediately counted the people and left.

"The imperial city is left to you two!" Shen Lanxi said to Wei Dongzhu and Zhao Zheng.

Zhao Zheng changed his previous attitude towards Shen Lanxi and accepted the order respectfully.

"Sir, can you please ask Qian Feng and the others to come back?" The tension between Zhao Zheng and Shen Lanxi was all pretended from beginning to end.

Long before she returned to Beijing from the northwest, she had asked former members of the Black Tiger Army to contact Zhao Zheng.

Knowing that Zhao Zheng had been keeping a low profile, he had been contacting Zhou Yuxue's good friend in the name of her ex-fiancé after returning to Beijing.

No one would have thought that the two people who had been arguing as if they had a deep hatred for each other had already been in a superior-subordinate relationship in private.