The Prime Minister’s Darling - Chapter 1446

Chapter 1446: 706 The Truth of That Year (Two Updates)_4

She was there to find the Horse King, but encountering the Hei Fengqi King was an unexpected event. Who could have imagined that the Hei Fengqi King, already gone with the Crown Prince of Han, would appear in that place?

“So that was the Hei Fengqi King, truly…” Jing Erye muttered with a complex expression.

“Truly what?” Gu Jiao asked.

Jing Erye sighed, “How should I put this? You’ve seen the Hei Fengqi of the Han Family, but do you know they originally didn’t belong to the Han Family and were trained exclusively by the Xuanyuan Family?”

“I’ve heard about it,” Gu Jiao said. “After the Xuanyuan Family’s downfall, the military power was split into four, and the cavalry went to the Han Family, which included a large number of Hei Fengqi.”

“You seem to be quite familiar with the affairs of Yan Country.”

Gu Jiao didn’t argue.

Jing Erye was just teasing Gu Jiao and didn’t suspect her of any ulterior motives. He continued to say, “Among thirty thousand Hei Fengqi, only one can be the Hei Fengqi King. All previous Hei Fengqi Kings were stallions, only this Hei Fengqi King is a mare. She was born from a difficult labor, stayed in the womb for too long, and nearly had no breath when she came out. By the way, it was my brother’s father-in-law and General Xuanyuan who delivered her. After the birth, General Xuanyuan took her back with him. So, that horse was actually personally raised by General Xuanyuan himself.”

Gu Jiao asked, “Your brother’s father-in-law is…”

Jing Erye sheepishly said, “Ahem, my brother’s father-in-law is also my father-in-law! Xuanyuan Hao!”

Gu Jiao uttered a sound of realization, “Isn’t he now called Xuanyuan Sheng?”

Jing Erye was startled, “You even know about that?”

Gu Jiao said, “I have heard.”

What kind of people are you surrounded by? How can you discuss the Xuanyuan Family’s affairs so freely? Aren’t you afraid of getting your head chopped off?

Jing Erye rolled his eyes and upon thinking of something, he added, “By the way, the Hei Fengqi King and Yinyin are the same age.”

“Yinyin?” Gu Jiao murmured. The name sounded oddly familiar, as if she had also heard it in her dreams.

Unaware of what she was thinking, Jing Erye simply took it as a question and explained, “Yinyin is my brother and sister-in-law’s daughter, born in the same year as the Hei Fengqi King. When they were two, the Xuanyuan Family faced a crisis. The Han Family achieved meritorious deeds in a great battle, and the king rewarded the Hei Fengqi to the Han Family, which naturally included the still-young Hei Fengqi King. Ah, in the blink of an eye, fifteen years have gone by.”

So, did the Hei Fengqi King return today to seek out its master?

After all these years, was it still waiting for its master to come back?

Gu Jiao fell silent for a moment, then said, “Did the Xuanyuan Family really commit treason?”

The room suddenly fell into an eerie silence.

Jing Erye tensed up and didn’t dare to answer.

Duke An’s fingertips touched the water on the tea, using just the bit of strength he had recovered to shakily write a single character.

Looking at the character “Yes” that Duke An had almost exhausted all his strength to write, strangely, Gu Jiao didn’t feel too surprised in her heart.

Duke An wanted to continue writing, but he had no strength left.

Seeing his brother’s trembling hand, Jing Erye spoke with heartache, “Big brother, don’t write anymore, let me do the talking!”

They had only met this youth a few times; logically, they shouldn’t be discussing such sensitive matters. He didn’t understand–why was his brother being so unguarded with this lad?

Jing Erye steadied himself and said solemnly, “It’s true, the Xuanyuan Family did commit treason, but they were forced into it, and the National Master Hall was the instigator behind all this!”

“What did the National Master Hall do?” Gu Jiao asked.

With a cold huff, Jing Erye responded, “That damn National Master divined a prophecy for the Xuanyuan Family, saying someone from the Xuanyuan Family had the fortune of the Purple Star, which is also known as the Emperor Star, a destiny that only a sovereign of a nation could possess. This was essentially claiming the Xuanyuan Family had imperial aspirations. Which king could take such news with calm? To prove their loyalty, the Xuanyuan Family resolutely proposed to relinquish their military authority.”

“However, not long after the military authority was handed over, trouble began at the border pass. Jin and Liang Countries joined forces to attack Dayan’s frontier, placing Dayan between two enemies. At first, the king didn’t employ the Xuanyuan Family, resulting in several successive defeats, plummeting morale, unstable troops, a shattered homeland, and fallen cities. With no choice left, the king had to reuse the Xuanyuan Family.”

“Xuanyuan Li led his eldest son in the vanguard, striking first against Jin Country’s main forces and capturing three cities in a single assault. Xuanyuan Li’s second brother, together with Xuanyuan Li’s third and fifth sons, commanded troops to encircle and annihilate the Liang Country’s army. Wherever they went, they remained undefeated. The long-standing alliance of the two besieging nations crumbled to dust under the might of the Xuanyuan Family, as the residents of the border pass wept with gratitude. When the Xuanyuan Family withdrew their troops, the entire city’s population lined the streets to see them off.”

“This event allowed the monarch to fully realize the strength of the Xuanyuan Family, and to see the esteem in which they were held by the populace. The descent of the Purple Supreme Star upon Xuanyuan could not be stopped merely by the Xuanyuan Family relinquishing military power, unless–”

Gu Jiao spoke for him, “Unless they all died.”

Master Jing nodded, “Exactly. From the day the Xuanyuan Family returned triumphantly to the capital, the monarch harbored a desire to eradicate them root and branch, but Xuanyuan Li was a veteran official of two dynasties and a legendary general of the six nations. Dayan’s rise from a lower nation to an upper nation owed much to the actions of the National Master Hall, but those who once oppressed Yan Country would hardly sit by and watch it ascend. How many battles had the Xuanyuan Family fought, how much blood had been shed, to thwart the predatory ambitions of other nations? Without the Xuanyuan Family defending the land, Dayan would have long since been destroyed, so what upper nation could we speak of?”

“The Xuanyuan Family’s merits overshadowed the sovereign, causing him to grow wary, yet he could not simply kill them. So the monarch devised a plan, to first lull the Xuanyuan Family into complacency. When the Empress of Xuanyuan gave birth to a daughter, the monarch immediately bestowed upon her the title of Princess. For more than a decade, the monarch lavished the Princess with love and attentiveness, and was unfailingly responsive to the Xuanyuan Family’s every request. The monarch originally wanted to foster arrogance and complacency within the Xuanyuan Family, due to favoritism. However, the strict family rules of the Xuanyuan Family meant that they did not engage in any improper conduct.”

Gu Jiao said, “Ordinary improprieties wouldn’t be enough to bring down the Xuanyuan Family, right?”

Master Jing choked, “Cough, cough, that’s true.”

Gu Jiao hummed in acknowledgment, then said, “So the monarch wasn’t really trying to make the Xuanyuan Family commit a mistake on their own, but rather to show all under heaven how well he treated Xuanyuan, so that one day, if the Xuanyuan Family were to betray him, all the people would cry out on his behalf.”

Master Jing scratched his head, “Ah, is that so? What you say seems to make some sense.”

Gu Jiao asked, “Then how exactly were the Xuanyuan Family driven to plot rebellion?”

Master Jing fell silent for a while, clenched his fists, and said with a complicated expression, “I’m not exactly sure of the details, but it seems to be related to the Princess. My elder brother knows a thing or two, but alas, as you have seen, my elder brother cannot speak.”

After pondering for a moment, Gu Jiao asked, “There must have been quite a few people who wanted something to happen to the Xuanyuan Family, weren’t there?”

Master Jing nodded sadly, “The Xuanyuan’s power, status, and military prowess all make people jealous. The Xuanyuan Family never betrayed the world, yet the world has betrayed them.”

…

The rain showed no signs of letting up, pattering steadily against the eaves.

Master Jing said he was hungry and went to the kitchen to find something to eat.

In the house, only Gu Jiao and Duke An remained.

Gu Jiao moved a small stool to sit next to Duke An and massaged his arms and palms, to aid in his rehabilitation.

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll speak of what you’ve shared with me about the Xuanyuan Family?” Gu Jiao asked.

Duke An tapped his fingertip twice on the armrest.

Not afraid.

Gu Jiao looked at him in surprise, understanding.

As she continued to knead his other hand, she said, “Why aren’t you afraid? We’ve hardly met a few times, and I’m quite bad.”

Duke An tapped his fingertip three times on the armrest.

You won’t.

Gu Jiao raised an eyebrow at him, “How do you know I won’t?”

Duke An tapped, tapped, tapped, tapped, tapped.

You, just, won’t.

Ever since Gu Jiao first hid under his blanket, he had felt a sense of kinship toward her.

He couldn’t quite explain why.

But it was as if someone very important had come back into his life.