Chapter 344: Rebellion
Facing her parents' concerns, Zhang Guifen was full of confidence:
"Mom and Dad, after all, Changbai and I have known each other for several years, and she still knows what kind of person he is."

"Several years?" Upon hearing this, Lady England glared at Zhang Guifen and asked, "When did it happen?"

Zhang Guifen knew that she had said something out of turn, but there was nothing to hide at the moment, so she just confessed it directly.

"After my eldest brother returned to Beijing after defeating Xixia, he met with his classmates from the Sheng family at Fanlou. Sheng Changbai would bring his younger brothers and sisters, and my eldest brother would also bring me. That's when we met, and later we kept in touch through letters..."

Following Zhang Guifen's story, the Duke and Duchess of England also confirmed their guess.

They had looked through the Sheng family's files in the archives room in the attic, but had not found anything about the incident between their daughter and Sheng Changbai.

Only now did they realize that Lin Hao not only helped them cover up, but also served as their messenger!
Since it was Lin Hao who initiated this, and combined with their investigation into Sheng Changbai, it turned out that Sheng Changbai did not have the legacy of his father and grandfather.

Although their family background is not good, they don't really care about it, especially when they think about their son's plan, they don't need to consider the family background at all!

Although they were reluctant to part with their precious daughter, the couple also hoped that their daughter would be happy, so the British prince said:
"We agree to your marriage in principle!" Looking at his excited daughter, the Duke of England continued:

"But before that, I still want to warn you a few words. Old Madam Sheng's behavior is worthy of admiration, but you must not learn from her!"

"It's fine if you live happily in the Sheng family from now on, but if you are unhappy and can't live like this anymore, you should divorce without any hesitation!"

"Remember, the Duke of Yingguo's Mansion and the Duke of Rongguo's Mansion will always be your solid backing!"

"Yes!" Zhang Guifen hugged her parents with emotion: "Don't worry! My daughter is not someone you can easily bully!"

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Both sets of parents agreed, and the next step was to enter the marriage negotiation process. In the following months, the Sheng family completed the three books and six ceremonies!
The "three letters" refer to the documents used in the "six rites" process, including letters of appointment, letters of etiquette and letters of welcome.

The "Six Rites" refers to the entire marriage process from proposal to completion.

The "Six Rites" refer to six etiquettes, namely accepting the bride's proposal, asking for the bride's name, accepting the bride's good wishes, accepting the bride's betrothal gifts, asking for the date and welcoming the bride.

During the Song Dynasty, the six folk rituals were simplified to four, omitting asking for the name and asking for the date. However, it was not that these two rituals were no longer needed, but they were respectively included in Nacai and Nazheng. In fact, it was still three books and six rituals, but they were simplified and merged.

However, even for high-ranking families such as officials and nobles, the complete three books and six ceremonies were still insisted on, so the wedding of Sheng Changbai and Zhang Cuifen lasted for half a year.

Before Sheng Hualan got married, the Yuan family took several months to complete the three books and six ceremonies before they could marry Sheng Hualan!
Amidst a clamor of congratulations, Sheng Changbai rode a tall horse to the Zhang family of the Duke of Yingguo's mansion.

After going through a series of procedures, Sheng Changbai took away the bride Zhang Cuifen, who was wearing a phoenix crown and a bridal bridal gown and holding a fan to cover her face!

Of course, Zhang Cuifen wore a green wedding dress. The reason why she wore green was because Sheng Changbai had been selected as a Hanlin Academy scholar and joined the Hanlin Academy of the Six Ministries as an eighth-rank librarian!
In fact, during the Song Dynasty weddings, men usually wore red wedding clothes and women wore green wedding clothes. This is the so-called red man and green woman.

But there is another situation, that is, the status of both parties is unequal, then they will follow another rule, that is: the woman marrying lower in status will wear red, and the woman marrying higher in status will wear green.

But the distinction between marrying high and marrying low here does not refer to the size of the official positions of both parties, or how much money they have, but to their class!

For example, in the original drama, the second daughter of the Sheng family, Rulan, wore red when she got married. It was because the two sides were from different social classes.

The Sheng family is a family of officials, and Wen Yanjing, who comes from a poor family, has not yet passed the imperial examination and is therefore still a commoner. So Rulan's situation is a typical case of marrying down, and she must wear a red wedding dress, otherwise the Sheng family will be breaking the rules!

Sheng Changbai already holds an official position, and both families belong to the official and gentry class, so naturally they follow the rules of married men and women!

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In a blink of an eye, more than half a month has passed since Zhang Cuifen got married. During this period, Lin Hao has been quite free.

Half a year ago, the emperor took back the control of the Imperial City Administration from Lin Hao. After all, Lin Hao was from a military family and was the emperor's first target of defense!

At the same time, because Lin Hao had already passed the imperial examination, the emperor also intended to pull Lin Hao into the civil service group. He also selected Lin Hao as a Shujishi and appointed him as an eighth-rank editor in the Hanlin Academy!
After all, the Zhang family’s influence in the military is too great, and their momentum must be suppressed.

Therefore, the emperor was also trying to cultivate the Gu Hou family and several other military merit families to divide the Zhang family's power in the military. However, Lin Hao and his son did not care about this.

During this period, Prince Yong tried to win over Lin Hao several times, wanting to marry the Princess of Jiacheng County to Lin Hao, trying to make the two families become relatives.

But Lin Hao did not agree to Prince Yong. Instead, he became very close with Minglan and Yu Yanran.

Afterwards, Prince Yong planned to marry his daughter to Gu Tingye, but Gu Tingye was reminded by the emperor, so the marriage did not take place!
Then Prince Yong set his eyes on Qi Heng from the Duke of Qi's family. However, Princess Pingning was ambivalent. After inquiring, it was discovered that Princess Pingning had set her eyes on Rong Feiyan, the younger sister of Concubine Rong!
However, Concubine Rong's attitude was ambiguous. She neither agreed nor denied it. She just said that she wanted to think about it again.

Later, when Concubine Rong was having a secret meeting with Lin Hao, she repeatedly tried to bring Lin Hao and Rong Feiyan together, hoping that Lin Hao would marry Rong Feiyan as soon as possible!
However, Lin Hao said: "Don't be anxious, the time is not right yet, let her wait patiently for a while!"

Concubine Rong said angrily and rudely:

"You ignorant bastard, what's so good about me, a middle-aged woman? What's wrong with my tender and beautiful Feiyan? We sisters serve you together, why are you not happy?"

Although Concubine Rong tried her best to resist, she finally compromised under Lin Hao's strong suppression and could only go back to persuade her sister to continue waiting!
Everything was calm for the next few days. However, when Yu Yanran was taking a carriage to meet Lin Hao, someone wanted to kidnap Yu Yanran in broad daylight on the street.

As a result, these kidnappers were killed on the spot by Lin Hao who was well prepared, and Lin Hao didn't even ask any questions, because Lin Hao knew who was the mastermind behind the scenes, but Lin Hao held back!
A few days later, Rong Feiyan was also kidnapped when she went out. It was Lin Hao again, who happened to pass by.

Then Lin Hao stepped forward and killed the robber on the spot, acting like a hero saving a damsel in distress!
However, in the next six months, the situation in the Song Dynasty took a sharp turn for the worse. First, the Liao Kingdom in the north started border conflicts again, and many Liao cavalrymen raided the Song Dynasty's territory.

The two countries negotiated again for this, but no agreement was reached after two months, so the Liao Kingdom sent 100,000 cavalry to the border!
In fact, if the emperor had not reduced the 60,000 cavalry recruited by Lin Hao to less than 30,000 in recent years, the Liao Kingdom would not have dared to be so arrogant!

But there is no way, because maintaining cavalry is too expensive, and the Song Dynasty’s finances are unable to afford it!

But now the border is in turmoil again, so the emperor has no choice but to send the Duke of England, with his cavalry and part of the imperial guards, to rush to the north for assistance. As a result, the emperor now spends more money than he saves!

At the same time, rebellions broke out in various parts of the Song Dynasty, so the emperor sent several nobles in succession, accompanied by imperial troops, to various places to quell the rebellions.

However, after several battles, most of the soldiers and generals were killed, including Gu Tingye who returned seriously injured!

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Lin Hao once again came to Minglan's dream through the mental imprint, but this time Lin Hao did not do anything in the dream.

She just hugged Minglan quietly, and Minglan also noticed Lin Hao's strangeness and asked with concern:

"Brother Haolin~!"

"Hmm~?" Lin Hao glared at Minglan. So Minglan said shyly: "Husband!"

"That's good!" Lin Hao praised.

Then Minglan continued to ask:

"My husband, have you encountered any difficulties?"

Lin Hao rubbed her small round face and then explained:

"Right now, rebellions are raging in the Song Dynasty. I estimate that it won't be long before His Majesty sends me to lead the troops to quell the rebellion."

"Ah?" Minglan exclaimed in surprise and immediately became nervous!

When she heard that Lin Hao was going to go to war, she didn't care about Lin Hao ravaging her face anymore. She tightly wrapped her small hands around Lin Hao's waist and said reluctantly:
"My husband, can you please not go?"

"Silly girl!" Lin Hao smiled and rubbed her hair:
"Those rebels are nothing but chickens and dogs in my eyes. Why don't you go for the free military merit?"

"But, what if?" Before she finished speaking, Minglan realized that she had said the wrong thing and quickly changed her words:
"Pooh, pooh, pooh, my husband, there won't be any chances of that happening. You will definitely win the first battle. My husband is invincible!"

In fact, the current situation can be said to be caused by Lin Hao alone.

As early as a year ago, when Concubine Jing had just given birth to a son, Prince Yan and Prince Yong knew that there was no hope of adoption, and they contacted each other and even met several times.

At that time, Lin Hao already knew that they were plotting and preparing for a rebellion.

Of course, they did not really want to seize the throne through rebellion. Their real purpose was to make the emperor send out the imperial guards to quell rebellions.

They could take this opportunity to launch a coup in the palace. As for who could seize the throne, it would depend on their own ability.

However, Lin Hao had known about this for a long time. After he took over the Imperial City Bureau, he found evidence of the rebellion of Prince Yan and Prince Yong, but Lin Hao concealed the matter.

Lin Hao even sent the elite troops that Jiang had trained over the years to various parts of the country to accumulate strength and prepare for an uprising.

Not only that, Lin Hao also took advantage of his position to deliberately tip off the forces of Prince Yan and Prince Yong, allowing their forces to escape the court's encirclement and suppression several times, and even causing heavy losses to the Imperial Guards.

If it weren't for Lin Hao's support behind the scenes, the little power that Prince Yan and Prince Yong had secretly cultivated would have been wiped out by the imperial army countless times.

Subsequently, there were more and more rebellions in various places, and like a snowball, their scale grew larger and larger!
To be honest, Prince Yan and Prince Yong were a little confused at this moment. Are the forces under their command so powerful?

Judging from the situation, these rebel forces are planning to sweep across the country. At this time, among the sixteen prefectures and more than three hundred states of the Song Dynasty, nearly ninety states have already experienced rebellion.

But the problem is, they know their own business, so how can such a big force arise from the little power they have?

Little did they know that these were all the results of Lin Hao's help. Only when the rebellion became serious would the emperor send Lin Hao out to quell it!
At that time, Lin Hao could use the name of suppressing the rebellion to gather local forces for his own use.

Besides, if Lin Hao did not leave Bian Jing, how would Prince Yan and Prince Yong have the opportunity to launch a coup?
Even if they had a hundred courages, they would not dare to launch a coup!
"When will my husband go to war?"

"It's not certain yet. If it's fast, it will be one or two days. If it's slow, it will be three to five days!"

"Is that so~!" Minglan's eyes flashed:

"My husband, before you go to war, Minglan wants to give you a gift!"

"What gift?" Then Lin Hao's eyes lit up, and he hugged Minglan and said, "Are you ready to give yourself to me?"

"You wish!" Minglan said coquettishly.

Looking at the incredibly beautiful Minglan, Lin Hao once again transforms into a wolf and conquers cities along the way...!
next day
The eunuch from the palace came to the Duke of Yingguo's mansion, and the emperor wanted to summon him to the palace to meet him.

"Greetings, Your Majesty!" Lin Hao saluted respectfully.

"No need to be so polite, my dear minister!" The emperor waved his hand weakly. His eyes were sunken and he looked much more haggard than before. It was obvious that he had not had a good rest.

But think about it, in just a few months, the Liao Kingdom outside started border conflicts again, and rebels rose up in various parts of the country.

Moreover, the army sent by the court to quell the rebellion suffered repeated defeats. It would be strange if the emperor could sleep well.

The emperor didn't waste any time and asked straight to the point:

"Duke Rong, if I send you to quell the rebellion, are you sure you can resolve the rebellion in the states in a short period of time?"

"Of course I am sure." Lin Hao said confidently.

The emperor said solemnly:
"Don't brag. You should know that the imperial guards were given to the rebels this time, which shows that the rebels are not simple."

"I am willing to issue a military order!" Lin Hao said firmly.

Hearing that Lin Hao was willing to issue a military order, the emperor knew that Lin Hao would definitely find a way to quell the rebellion. Therefore, the emperor's confidence increased greatly and he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

After all, considering Lin Hao’s past military achievements, he was capable of destroying a country!
At the beginning, Lin Hao set out with several thousand people, but the number of his troops increased as the battles went on, and his fighting power became stronger and stronger. After destroying the Dangxiang people of Western Xia, he actually turned 3,000 cavalry into 60,000 cavalry!
The emperor relaxed and asked in a relaxed mood: "How many troops do you need?"

"I need 100,000 imperial guards and at least 10,000 cavalry to quell the rebellion!"

The emperor felt nervous. Last time, the Duke of Ying took 100,000 elite troops to the border. Later, various nobles led 80,000 elite imperial troops to suppress the rebellion, but they were defeated in the end.

Just thinking about it made the emperor heartbroken, not because he felt sorry for the soldiers who died in the battle, but because he would have to spend a huge sum of pensions in the future!
At this time, there were less than 50,000 elite imperial guards left in Bianjing City, so the emperor said:
"My dear minister! There are less than 50,000 elite troops in the Bianjing Imperial Guards right now, and some of them are needed to guard the imperial palace. I'm afraid they can't spare 100,000 troops!"

(End of this chapter)