Chapter 616 - 615: Farm Woman 44
From its humble beginnings to this very day, the entire army had strictly followed this order. Although no one was used to it at first, they all eventually came to understand its benefits.
After occupying the territories of the Prefect of Zhou, Tan You’s faction was now the unrivaled power on the continent. Even the imperial court in the heartland was now merely caught between Tan You and Prince Yong of the northwest.
But just as everyone was celebrating, Tan You quietly left Youzhou City with a small retinue. Without her leadership, Yue Shu and the others were fine with marching and fighting, but asking them to govern a region was clearly outside their area of expertise.
Upon arriving at Chang City, the former territory of the Prefect of Zhou, Tan You did not rest and recuperate as she usually would. Instead, after quickly settling the forces she had brought, she and Chen Xi immediately set out for the capital with Yue Shu and the others.
Prince Yong was also rushing to the capital. Who would be the first to take it? In war, speed is everything.
Forged in the crucible of blood and fire, Chen Yue had matured slightly over the past few months—but only slightly. In front of Tan You, she still acted like a little girl.
"Mother, Older Sister, the final victory will be ours," Chen Yue said, clenching her fist with a serious expression. Along their journey, she had witnessed countless horrors. It was the age-old story: ’Wine and meat rot behind the gates of the rich, while on the road, people freeze to death.’ Even with the world in such chaos, the great and noble houses never missed a chance to indulge.
Tan You nodded. "That’s right. The final victory will be ours."
She had arrived in this world when its original owner was twenty-nine, first hiding her strength and biding her time in Miao Gou Village for seven years. She then spent four years on campaigns of conquest. Now, seeing her great undertaking on the verge of completion, Tan You couldn’t help but feel a thrill of excitement.
It had been eleven years, and the body’s original owner still hadn’t awoken. Tan You had a faint feeling that the original owner didn’t *want* to. ’Well, it doesn’t matter if she sleeps forever,’ she thought. ’In any case, I’ve already made all the necessary arrangements.’
This was partly why she had pushed Chen Xi into the public eye all these years. ’If I become the ruler and the original owner wakes up... she’s just an ordinary, illiterate farm woman. How could she possibly shoulder this responsibility?’
Chen Xi gripped her reins. "Of course. Winner takes all. It all comes down to this."
The Yunzhou Army marched with incredible speed, allowing Tan You to reach the capital before Prince Yong. But as she stared at the tightly sealed city gates, she let out a laugh of pure, unadulterated anger.
She considered her composure to be quite good. After all, on her march south, nearly every city had thrown open its gates to welcome her. Aside from the Prefect of Zhou’s desperate last stand, all the other cities had welcomed the Yunzhou Army with open arms.
But here, at the capital, she was being given the cold shoulder for the very first time.
Chen Yue risked a glance at Tan You and felt her legs go weak for the first time. She knew Tan You was truly angry now.
Chen Xi, positioned at Tan You’s right, narrowed her eyes at the gate just a stone’s throw away. Suddenly, she smiled. "Mother, I just remembered a poem you once told me."
"Tomorrow is the Double Ninth Festival. How very fitting for the occasion. A family tree is a very useful thing, isn’t it?"
Chen Yue looked from Tan You to Chen Xi and thought, ’Mother used to call me a demon of slaughter, but isn’t Older Sister the truly murderous one? Is she planning to wipe out all the capital’s noble clans in one fell swoop? Go down a list and call them out one by one?’
Tan You understood Chen Xi’s meaning. In fact, as cruel as it was, she agreed with her daughter’s approach. ’Wherever there is a privileged class, there will be oppressed people.’
The great clans had monopolized the upper echelons of society, severing all paths for commoners to advance. And now, even with an army at their gates, they were still resisting. It was clear they had no intention of cooperating.
Tan You couldn’t be bothered to deliberate. If they wouldn’t cooperate, she would just fight her way in. It would give her the perfect excuse to purge the noble clans anyway.
She wasn’t as bloodthirsty as the infamous Huang Chao, but she had her own ways of dealing with these clans. Sometimes, death wasn’t the only solution.
Confiscating their assets, for instance. Over hundreds of years, these clans had amassed vast quantities of Silver Coins. After all her recent expenses, Tan You could use this chance to replenish her coffers.
Chen Yue could no longer restrain herself. The moment she saw the look on Tan You’s face, she threw her arm in the air and cried, "Attack!"
Immediately, dozens of warhorses trotted forward, their hooves beating a steady rhythm. In their hands, each rider held a black iron sphere—the very same gunpowder bombs that had struck terror into the hearts of their enemies for years.
Just as the soldiers were about to light the fuses, an elderly general on the wall shouted, "Wait! We are willing to open the gates! We welcome the Yun Army into the city!"
Chen Yue watched them with a smirk. Two young men beside the old general tried to speak, but soldiers flanking the general immediately clamped hands over their mouths and dragged them away.
The old general then roared, "Open the gates! Welcome the Yunzhou Army into the city!"
"Open the gates!"
"Open the gates!"
After the third shout, the city gates slowly swung open before them. Tan You urged her horse forward, becoming the first to enter the capital. Chen Xi, Chen Yue, An Wen, Yue Shu, and the others rode at her left, as the several hundred thousand strong Yunzhou Army set foot in the continent’s heartland for the first time.
Once the gates were open, they found the streets utterly deserted. Everyone knew a new power was taking over; who would dare show their face at a time like this?
Tan You led her army straight through the city to the Imperial Palace. Just as they arrived at the gates, a shriek echoed from within: "The Emperor is dead!"
Tan You’s lips curled into a faint smile. ’He knew how to read the situation. Choosing to end his own life now was a relatively dignified exit.’ Moreover, with the former emperor taking his own life, no one could accuse Tan You of regicide or treason.
Chen Xi nodded. "How cooperative of him to die just now."
The group dismounted and entered the Imperial Palace on foot. Inside, eunuchs and palace maids were wailing inconsolably. But when they saw Tan You and her retinue enter, their cries choked in their throats. They collapsed to the ground, trembling uncontrollably.
Tan You spared them only a glance before her eyes fell on the former emperor lying on the bed. She looked away just as quickly. "Give him a grand burial. And have a few of your most competent people show us around the Imperial Palace."
The former Emperor Qing’s personal attendant, a eunuch named Li Fu, boldly stepped forward. "This servant will lead you all to freshen up. If you would please follow me."
As he moved, two palace maids stepped forward, their eyes downcast submissively before Chen Xi and Chen Yue. Chen Yue casually tossed her whip into the hands of a round-faced maid. "Mother, I’ll take her. I like the look of her. You, come with me."
Chen Xi smiled at the other maid. "Then I’ll have to trouble you to show me where I can wash up. I’d like to rest after such a long and dusty journey."
The two maids, Fang Qiao and Fang Zhi, saw that Chen Xi and Chen Yue seemed approachable, and their anxious hearts gradually calmed. After giving the two a deep curtsy, other young maids scurried after them to attend to their needs.
Tan You walked to the desk and saw a letter left on it. Yue Shu, Yuan Cheng, and a few others gathered around. "My Lady, what does it say?"
Tan You brushed a hand over the paper. "It’s nothing much. He laments his own incompetence, his failure to quell the rebellion, and expresses his hope that we will govern this land well and let the people live in peace."
As he watched the eunuchs carry Emperor Qing’s body away, Yuan Cheng made a fair point. "I met Emperor Qing once. He was a good man, truly benevolent. But as a ruler, if you rely on benevolence alone, you can’t command the respect of those beneath you."
"All one can say is, he wasn’t meant to be born into the imperial family."
Tan You smiled. "In the end, it was because the great clans held too much power. And speaking of them, it’s time we made our move."
Entering the Imperial Palace didn’t mean she had complete authority here. The great clans, deeply entrenched in the capital, would not cooperate so easily.