The elderly King of Guangan looked at Bai Qingyan with cloudy eyes, his hands shaking unceasingly, and his lips tightly pursed.
Bai Jinxiu glanced at the King of Guangan and continued calmly and steadily, "General Gu Wenchang of the Bai family army, along with the seventh son of the Bai family, Bai Qingjue, have already surrounded the armies of the three vassal kings outside the city, just waiting for His Majesty’s command to crush them!"
"Impossible!" The King of Baishui’s pupils constricted with emotion, turning his pale face towards the elderly King of Guangan, "Uncle! Those imperial guard generals said a woman ascending the throne is unheard of, they were discontented, so I had those imperial guards help hide assassins in the hall. But I didn’t tell those imperial guards we had soldiers outside the city! There’s no way they could know! Bai Qingyan couldn’t possibly know in advance! Uncle... believe me, I absolutely didn’t say anything!"
"How foolish the King of Baishui is!" Xie Yuchang spoke slowly, "Generals... have always spoken with their strength, and His Majesty... although a woman, is a God of Slaughter undefeated in battle! How could we generals be dissatisfied because His Majesty is a woman? Yet... the King of Baishui tried to bribe my imperial guard soldiers with such a reason. King of Baishui... truly misunderstands us generals."
So, the problem actually arose from the King of Baishui bribing the imperial guard?
No... that’s not right!
The King of Hedong quickly realized there was a timing discrepancy, if Bai Qingyan had known when the King of Baishui bribed the imperial guard, how could she have made early preparations with the Bai family army and Lin Kangle... having Lin Kangle bring his family from Hedong, and setting up the ambush at Tianxia Peak, completely destroying the Shuofang and Anxi armies!
The King of Hedong was drenched in cold sweat, but managed to maintain his composure; luckily he reacted swiftly, not bringing calamity to his entire family. The worst... would only be losing his fief.
"Your Majesty!" The King of Hedong quickly bowed his head, "Hedong bears absolutely no ill intent! Please, Your Majesty, discern!"
"Your Majesty... Shuofang also bears no ill intent!" The King of Shuofang was innately timid, pretending to be scared to tears for survival, "This wasn’t my intention, it was all the King of Guangan! The King of Guangan forced me to march troops, I just followed because the King of Anxi did."
Bai Qingyan had soldiers and was well-prepared; all five vassal kings had a total of fewer than 180,000 soldiers, including those left to guard the fief—how could they be a match for Bai Qingyan?!
Already displeased with Bai Qingyan’s ascension as a woman, the King of Anxi knew he should kneel to Bai Qingyan but... just couldn’t bring himself to do so like the King of Hedong and Shuofang, his fists clenched tightly.
Bai Qingyan’s gaze swept over the distressed faces of the King of Guangan and the King of Anxi, and she nodded towards the Yan Kingdom and Rong envoys, "I apologize for the spectacle."
After speaking, Bai Qingyan’s sight rested on the trembling King of Baishui, "After establishing the state as Zhou, I did not immediately send troops to seize your fief or dispatch officials to handover the populace, land, and military authority. Instead, I invited you five vassal kings into the capital as kin to witness the enthronement ceremony!"
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress