Chapter 587: Conferring the title of Consort Jing

As the news that the national teacher Ku He had surrendered to the enemy reached the court, both the Queen Mother of Northern Qi and the young emperor chose to accept their fate.

After all, if it were not for the imperial teacher Ku He's support for the young emperor to ascend the throne, the Northern Qi Dynasty would have been usurped by a few powerful officials more than ten years ago.

Now, even the imperial teacher Ku He no longer supports the young emperor. The Queen Mother of Northern Qi and the young emperor have no control over the power in the court at all.

So, with no other choice, the Queen Mother of Northern Qi and the young emperor both chose to surrender.

Shen Zhong, commander of the Imperial Guard, was originally a favorite of the Empress Dowager and was in charge of an army of 300,000 in the capital.

At this moment, the Queen Mother of Northern Qi had surrendered, so naturally he would not continue to be stubborn.

Soon, Wang Zhikun, Ye Wan and others led the Qing army to take over the defense of Shangjing City.

Ye Wan watched the Qi army obediently enter the military camp and silently wait for the judgment of the Qing people. He couldn't help but show a bit of arrogance and complacency in his eyes.

After all, he personally led the troops to destroy the Dongyi City, and now he has joined forces with several others to destroy the Northern Qi.

Ye Wan also has the right to be proud.

After all the Qi troops were taken into custody, Ye Wan could not help but ask:

"Commander-in-chief, the number of Qi soldiers captured this time exceeds 300,000. Should we follow the old rules and give them some silver and send them away?"

Wang Zhikun looked at the sad-looking Qi army in the parade ground and nodded silently:
"General Ye, the emperor is here now, this matter should not be decided by you and me."

"Yes, Ye Wan is arrogant."

Ye Wan remembered that Emperor Qing was still in Shangjing City, and his arrogant expression immediately subsided.

Soon, Emperor Qing summoned all the ministers and talked about how to unite the troops. He said:

"Commander Wang, General Ye, Northern Qi has already surrendered. Everything can be done according to the old system of Dongyi City. There is no need to ask for further instructions."

The so-called old system of Dongyi City was to first give the captives some silver as severance pay.

However, after the severance pay was issued, a sign recruiting soldiers was erected again at the camp gate.

Most soldiers choose to continue serving in the army after receiving severance pay.

The process of taking off the uniform and putting it back on made these captured soldiers complete a psychological journey.

After hearing this, generals such as Ye Wan and Wang Zhikun immediately accepted the order.

Then, Wang Zhikun asked:
"Your Majesty, do the Qing Kingdom's royal family and civil and military officials also follow the old system of Dongyi City?"

Although in the eyes of ordinary people, the two are on par with Qing Kingdom and are both powerful dynasties.

However, in the eyes of the ministers in the Qing court, the so-called Dongyi City was just an alliance of vassal states.

If Si Gu Jian had not acted as mediator, this alliance of vassal states would have been swallowed up by Northern Qi and Southern Qing long ago.

When dealing with Dongyi City, the Kingdom of Qing did not need to have any reservations. Those who refused to surrender would be killed, and those who surrendered would be given a place to live.

It can be said that the way Qing State dealt with Dongyi City was very simple and crude.

However, when dealing with Northern Qi, Wang Zhikun asked another question.

There is a reason for this.

Before the Northern Qi usurped the throne, the Wei Kingdom once unified the world.

By this calculation, Northern Qi inherited the orthodox dynastic system.

Now that the Qing Kingdom has conquered Qi and unified the country, it stands to reason that it needs to follow ancient rituals.

The ancient ritual is "destroy the country but not the sacrifices."

The so-called destroying a country but not its sacrifices means that in ancient times, when noble kings fought a war and destroyed the nobles of a kingdom, they would not kill all the old people and young people in that country, including members of the royal family, but would resettle them to a new place to continue living.

This is the ancient "aristocratic style".

This is what King Tang of Shang did when he conquered Xia, and King Wu of Zhou did when he defeated Zhou.

The same thing was done during the time of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period.

During the period of the Seven Kingdoms of the Warring States Period, this "aristocratic style" gradually disappeared.

Emperor Qing thought for a moment and then said:

"Send them all to Kyoto City and let the Emperor deal with it."

'Emperor Qing' has already handed over the court and will definitely not participate in state affairs anymore.

When Wang Zhikun heard this, he immediately accepted the order.

After dealing with matters in the capital, Emperor Qing took Master Ku He back to the temple to continue his practice.

As for Ye Liuyun, he also wanted to visit the temple, but was rejected by Emperor Qing.

No reason was given.

Ye Liuyun was so depressed that he could only scold his nephew Ye Wan harshly, and then left.

Frustrated, Ye Wan vented his anger on the Northern Qi officials, searching and confiscating their property one by one.

Shangjing City has a history of hundreds of years, and many prominent families suffered in this raid.

In the end, Ye Wan looted five or six hundred million worth of gold and silver treasures from Shangjing City, as well as real estate deeds and farmland deeds worth over ten billion.

All real estate is temporarily handed over to the inner treasury for handling.

Gold, silver, treasures, and even various precious items were sealed and escorted back to Kyoto.

Then, just after New Year’s Eve, it was the first day of the first lunar month.

Ye Wan took the lead and forced the Queen Mother, the young emperor, and many court officials of Northern Qi to migrate south with their families.

The north wind was howling and the snow was falling heavily.

The Queen Mother of Northern Qi sat in a carriage with the little emperor, looking somewhat uneasy.

On the contrary, the little emperor had a calm expression on his face. He was still holding a book in his hand and reading it with great interest, as if he was going south not to accept the judgment of fate but to have fun.

How heartless.

No matter how much the Queen Mother of Northern Qi sighed and complained, it was of no avail. She could only follow the example of the little emperor and start finding something to do for herself.

The cars are rolling and the horses are neighing.

Starting from the first day of the Lunar New Year, everyone had a hard time making their way forward.

It was not until early February that the convoy entered the original territory of Qing State.

Arriving here, Qingjun’s spirits began to rise.

We are about to reach Kyoto City, and the ennoblement of my wife and my children is just around the corner.

Ye Wan also began to miss his family, so he urged the team to speed up every day. On this day, the team was marching until noon.

Before Ye Wan could let the team rest, a messenger suddenly came to report:
"General Ye, accept the order."

Ye Wan quickly dismounted, knelt on one knee by the roadside, and said, "Long live the Lord!" Then he said:

"Your Highness Ye Wan accepts your order!"

The messenger then spoke:

"Your Majesty has ordered Ye Wan to lead his men to rest at the Shiliting Post Station for a day and then go to the capital to present the captives the day after tomorrow."

"I accept the decree."

When Ye Wan heard that it was an oral order, he didn't waste any words and was about to stand up.

Unexpectedly, the messenger stopped him and said:

"General Ye, there is also the imperial decree of the Empress Dowager."

Upon hearing this, Ye Wan had no choice but to kneel down on one knee again, calling out “Long Live the Lord” and saying:

"Your Highness Ye Wan accepts your order."

The messenger then spoke:

"The Empress Dowager's decree: The Queen Mother of Qi, Wei, plotted to usurp the throne. Her crimes are extremely serious. If you offer her captives to the Imperial Ancestral Temple, I'm afraid our ancestors will punish you. You are to be taken to the Imperial Clan Court and imprisoned for life. You will not be pardoned even if you are asked to do so. I decree this."

"I accept the decree!"

Ye Wan took the imperial edict handed over by the messenger and quickly sent someone to hand the Queen Mother of Northern Qi and the little emperor to the messenger, asking him to take them back to Kyoto.

The Queen Mother of Northern Qi and the young emperor separated from the large group of people and quietly entered the capital city.

The clan government did receive a group of people on this day, but unfortunately, the Empress Dowager of Northern Qi and the young Emperor of Northern Qi were not among them.

Two more days passed.

After the ceremony of presenting captives to the Taimiao.

When Su Mingzhe was rewarding the meritorious officials, he originally wanted to reward Master Ku He, but because Master Ku He had already gone to the temple with Emperor Qing, he gave the credit to Master Ku He's three disciples.

The eldest disciple Lang Tao was conferred the title of Marquis of Ren'an and was rewarded with a courtyard in Kyoto.

The second disciple, Duoduo, was canonized as Concubine Zhuang and lived in Yongfu Palace.

The third disciple, Doudou, was canonized as Concubine Jing and lived in Yongshou Palace.

Although at this time, some people were confused and had never heard of it, Master Ku He had a disciple named Dou Dou.

However, since Su Mingzhe had been canonized, naturally no one would ask about the details.

The imperial edict of enthronement soon reached the harem.

Haitang Duoduo, who lived in Yuchen Palace, inquired about the contents of the imperial edict and her expression suddenly changed.

After finding out the location of Yongshou Palace, she hurried over.

Yuchen Palace is behind Yaohua Palace.

Yaohua Palace is behind Taiji Palace.

The Yongshou Palace is located on the right side of the Taiji Palace.

According to Haitang Duoduo's speed, it would only take a few breaths to get from Yuchen Palace to Yongshou Palace.

When she arrived at Yongshou Palace, she happened to see the young emperor of Northern Qi wearing a purple, graceful female dress and receiving the imperial edict.

"Auntie, you are here."

The young emperor of Northern Qi, Zhan Doudou, had remained calm in the face of wind, snow and dangers on his way south. But now, after seeing Haitang Duoduo, his eyes began to turn red and moist.

"……Are you OK?"

Haitang Duoduo had a thousand things to say. She wanted to ask the little emperor whether he had suffered any hardships along the way, whether he had gotten used to the food in Kyoto, and whether he had trouble acclimatizing to the climate there.

But now, in front of so many palace servants, she dared not say anything.

Zhan Doudou also knew that Haitang Duoduo had a lot to say to him, so he turned around and said to the palace servants serving him:
"Everyone please leave. I want to chat with my senior sister alone to reminisce about the past."

"Yes, madam!"

The palace servants were all sharp-eyed and quickly stepped aside to give the two men enough space.

Seeing that there was no one around to eavesdrop, Haitang Duoduo couldn't help but ask in surprise:

"Your Majesty, how did this...your...get exposed?"

"Didn't my sister tell anyone?"

When Zhan Doudou heard Haitang Duoduo's question, her face changed, and her originally pink and cute cheeks turned pale in an instant.

For the past year, she had always believed that it was her elder sister, the eldest princess, who had leaked her secret.

Now it seems that there is another reason.

"No, it's definitely not the eldest princess!"

Haitang Duoduo's eyes widened, her eyes full of doubts: "Your Majesty, think carefully, besides the Queen Mother and the Princess, who else knows this secret?"

Zhan Doudou's eyes flickered for a moment, then slowly closed:
"Forget it, none of this matters anymore."

After a while, Zhan Doudou was afraid that Haitang Duoduo would ask more questions, so he simply asked back:
"Aunt, I see that you look a lot thinner. Are you not used to living in Qing Kingdom?"

"That's not it."

When Haitang Duoduo was asked about her health by Zhan Doudou, she replied with a hint of shyness on her face:
"I'm pregnant with Longzi recently, and I'm having severe morning sickness, so I look a little thin."

"Congratulations, aunt."

Zhan Doudou didn't expect to hear such good news as soon as she entered the palace, and she hurried to congratulate.

Haitang Duoduo was not so happy. Instead, she said self-deprecatingly:

"After the eldest princess and I entered the palace last year, the emperor often came to Yuchen Palace to visit us. At that time, the eldest princess and I thought that His Majesty favored us more than other concubines, so we stayed here with peace of mind. As a result, after the queen gave birth to a prince last year, the concubines in the harem began to get pregnant one after another... hehe..."

Haitang Duoduo couldn't say any more after this.

Although she didn't finish her words, Zhan Doudou understood the meaning of them.

In order to ensure that the eldest prince was born to Queen Fan Ruoruo, Su Mingzhe used force on other concubines.

As a result, these concubines were unable to become pregnant and have children after entering the palace for one or two years.

After the truth came out, Su Mingzhe's previous favor for the concubines in the harem seemed so ridiculous and powerless.

(End of this chapter)