Chapter 114: The Silver Bell Princess

  The eunuch hastily nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, and repeatedly said: "Your Highness, how dare I, a lowly person, forge such an important matter? Mr. Xiao's body is still outside the palace."

  "Alright! I know! You can go now!" Wutu gritted his teeth and said. Each word was like it was squeezed out from between his teeth.

  Everyone in the hall was tense and secretly guessing what big thing had happened to make the Fourth Prince so moved.

  Han Chang first lost his composure and asked in surprise: "Your Highness, what exactly happened?"

  Wu Shu glanced around, only to see everyone staring at him in shock. Fang Tie's face turned blue as he said, "Xiao Yi was assassinated half a month ago and died in Chu State."

  "What? General Xiao is dead? And it was half a month ago, how come the news only came back now?"

  "Who has eaten such a big leopard gall? Even our Da Jin's envoy dares to kill!"

  "In Chu State? I think it must be Han Shizhong who did this, he has always been hostile to our Great Jin!"

  "Didn't Minister Xiao go to Lin'an with Song Envoy Wei Liangchen? Didn't the Song dynasty send anyone to protect him?"

  “……”

  When the crowd heard the news of Xiao Yi's death, they burst out with even greater astonishment and discussion. Although Xiao Yi's position was not as high as Wanyan Zongmin's, he held the office of Hu Bu Shilang, a high-ranking official of the third rank, and was also a trusted confidant who had made great contributions to Wuzong's autocratic rule. Compared to Wuzong's inner circle, they were more concerned about Xiao Yi's safety than Wanyan Zongmin's.

  "The secret report only said that Xiao Yi was killed by a group of assassins with their heads and faces covered. There were more than 30 of these assassins, who had carefully chosen the location and time for the ambush, and each one was ruthless and decisive in their actions, clearly a well-trained elite squad. Xiao Yi's guards were either dead or injured, including two of the four Iron Guards I had assigned to him, but they didn't even leave behind a single enemy corpse! The deputy envoy delayed reporting back until now because he wanted to have some preliminary investigation results to report to me, but it seems that the Song Dynasty's investigation has left him disappointed." Wu Zong is now looking extremely gloomy.

  "Your Highness, didn't General Xiao leave with Ambassador Wei Liang of Song? Doesn't the Song State owe us an explanation?" Han Chang furrowed his brow and said.

  Wu Zhi said with a stern face, "The secret letter states that Song Envoy Wei Liangchen has promised to make every effort to investigate this matter clearly and strive to give us an answer as soon as possible! At the same time, he also hopes that we will investigate some clues in our country to see who Xiao Yi has offended?"

  "What does Wei Liangchen mean by this?"

  "He only talks about investigating, but doesn't even mention when the results will be out. Instead, he asks us to investigate within our country what kind of person Xiao was offended by? Is he suspecting that the murderer is one of our people?"

  "No matter what, General Xiao died on the territory of the Song Dynasty, and in the end it was their failure to protect him. They must give us a Great Jin an explanation! Otherwise, we can't just let it go!"

  ……

  The various generals are like having their tails trampled, each with a fiery anger! When did the Great Jin ever suffer such a great loss? One prince died before his bones were cold, and another Minister of Revenue died, both dying on Song territory.

  Although the Jin army has been defeated in battle after battle in recent years, for these proud and arrogant Jin generals, it is absolutely unbearable to let the Song people repeatedly provoke the whiskers of the great Jin.

  Wuzong, however, had a longer view than his generals. The successive failures in battle had awakened him from his past warlike frenzy. Although he also thought that they should negotiate with the Song Dynasty and ask them to make concessions and provide compensation for Xiao Yi's death, he did not advocate going to war with the Song again.

  On the one hand, our side has just suffered a defeat, morale is low, and a hasty attack may not necessarily lead to victory, but rather repeat the mistake of Wan Yan Zhongmin.

  Yue Fei, Han Shizhong, Liu Qi and Wu Lin of the Southern Song Dynasty were all present, and they were all in their prime. On the other hand, our side was short of talent, and except for myself, Sa Li Hua and Wanyan Tuhuai, most of the old generals had passed away, while young generals like Wanyan Liang, Wanyan Yong and Xieli Zhining had not yet matured, it was a time when the old and new were not connected.

  Three came to Qin Hui's good fortune, it was not easy to persuade Zhao Gou and most of the Song Dynasty officials to agree to peace talks. If they were to attack again at this time, all of Qin Hui's efforts would be in vain. Previously, he had torn up the "Treaty of Shaoxing" from a year ago and attacked the Song Dynasty, which had already made Zhao Gou extremely angry. If he were to launch another fierce attack during the peace talks, how could Zhao Gou still believe that the Jin Dynasty was sincere about negotiating?

  This is also the reason why he has been dormant for many months.

  However, the crowd is now furious, and ?gedei wants to suppress the generals, but he also feels that he cannot let people think that he is too weak, lest he lose his prestige. So he glanced at Jamukha, wanting him to speak for himself to persuade the generals.

  The eunuch saw the emperor looking at himself, already knowing his intention. He cleared his throat a few times and was about to speak up to advise when he heard a clear and pleasant woman's voice coming from the doorway: "Your Majesty, I'm here!"

  Wutu raised his head and glanced at the door, then asked with surprise and delight: "Xiaoling, how did you come?"

  Everyone's gaze fell upon a tall and slender girl standing at the entrance, about eighteen or nineteen years old. She was wrapped in a cloak with white fox fur trim, but underneath she wore black studded leather armor, which shone brightly under the light. Her raven-black hair was tied back with a leather crown, and her bright eyes sparkled like stars on her pale, heart-shaped face, making her look even more radiant and lovely.

  She strode in with big steps, a bow slung over her shoulder and a quiver on her back. This outfit, which had a somewhat exotic flavor to it, added a touch of heroism to her delicate appearance, revealing a heroic spirit that was different from the women of the Central Plains.

  Most of the generals knew that this was Wanyan Yincheng, the youngest daughter of Wanyan Zongwang, and Princess Yincheng, who was conferred by Emperor Taizong of Jin.

  Wuzong was particularly fond of this daughter, he liked Han culture, and after entering the Central Plains, he ordered people to find captured Han scholars to teach his daughter, so this daughter spoke fluent Chinese.

  Moreover, what comforted him was that Yin Ling, while being well-read in Han Chinese books, did not abandon the Jurchen tradition of archery and horsemanship. She had practiced martial arts with the imperial princes since childhood and often went hunting on horseback, especially excelling at archery, even surpassing Wuyi. In the capital city, she was also pursued by many suitors.

  Wanyan Yueling saw her father and immediately walked to the side of Wuzhu, saying in a delicate voice: "Father, my sister and I heard that our brother-in-law was killed by the Song people, so we rushed over right away. However, my sister is riding a horse-drawn carriage and should be arriving at Yanjing around now. I brought 500 elite cavalrymen from Shangjing to rush here..."

  She frowned slightly and said, "Father King, who exactly killed my fifth brother-in-law? The messenger only said that my fifth brother-in-law was killed by a white-robed young general of the Song army in the battle of Jiancheng. Who is this white-robed young general? I must avenge my fifth brother-in-law!"

  Wanyan Agula heard this and couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh. The Fifth Brother-in-law that Wanyan Yinzong was talking about was Xia Jinwu, not only his fifth son-in-law, but also his trusted and beloved general. After Xia Jinwu's death, he had been heartbroken for a long time, and for several days, he couldn't eat or drink anything.

  "He sighed: 'Silver Bells, I was killed by the Southern Dynasty's Great General Yue Fei's son, Yue Yun. This man is exceptionally brave and skilled in battle. Many of our Jin dynasty's top generals have fallen at his hands. According to the scouts' reports from Chu State City, even your ninth uncle has just been killed by him. It would be too difficult to kill him on the battlefield...'"

  Wuzong said up to here, but suddenly thought of it in his mind: Since he had already told Qin Hui that he wanted to kill Yue Fei, why not take advantage of this time when Xiao Yi was killed and ask him to think of a way to execute Yue Yun as well. However, this matter could only be entrusted to Ha Miqi, and the other generals must not be informed, lest it damage his own image.

  Wanyan Yueling's eyebrows were raised, and she bowed solemnly to Wanyan Zongwang, saying: "Father King, I have also read many books by Han people. I remember that in the Song Dynasty, Guo Maoqian compiled a collection of poems called 'Yuefu Poetry Collection', which includes a poem called 'Mulan Poem'. It tells the story of Hua Mulan taking her father's place to go to war. I think my archery skills are not inferior to hers. If she can go to battle, why can't I? Please allow me to join the army as well, and I will follow the troops to find Yue Yun and avenge Fifth Brother's death!"

  Wanyan Zongwu's expression changed as soon as he finished listening, and he retorted: "That Hua Mulan is a case where her father is old and frail, and her younger brother is still young, so she took her father's place to join the army. Your father, the king, is in his prime, why would you need your daughter to go to war and kill enemies? Wouldn't that be laughed at by the Song people, saying that Great Jin has no men, and actually needs a woman to fight?"

  Wanyan Yinzhu heard this and her face changed color, shouting: "Father king, I can wear men's clothes! This way others won't be able to tell..."

  "Alright! You don't need to say any more! Since you claim to have read so many Chinese books, you should know the meaning of 'filial piety'. As a child, you should listen to your parents' words. I'm your father now, and I order you to stay in Bianjing quietly, not going anywhere. Once this war is over, we'll escort your sister's husband and the fallen soldiers' bodies back to the capital together!" Wanyan Zongbi cut her off bluntly.

  Wanyan Yinzong was still waiting for another debate when he felt someone pulling his hem.