Otherworld Advance Team-Chapter 1814 - 1807: Mother and Son Debate

"You’ve been in the court for a few years now, but you speak so formally. Is it that all members of the Wen Family speak in this manner?" Gaofeng Yu asked.

"No, no, it’s not that, only in front of outsiders..."

Jiuyun Shuang appeared a bit embarrassed.

"Then why don’t you invite me into the tent?"

"Yes, yes, this way please, Mother..."

Jiuyun Shuang naturally led his mother to the main seat. Gaofeng Yu also felt it appropriate and took her seat graciously.

Jiuyun Shuang, having given up his seat, stood humbly before his mother. Clad fully in armor, he lacked the demeanor expected of a seated General.

"You’ve been away from home for several years, how have your days in the capital been?" Gaofeng Yu asked her son calmly.

"Everything has been well for me in the capital. I’ve made some good brothers, and the Young Mansion treats me kindly," Jiuyun Shuang replied with a slight bow.

"Is that so? It seems Ichuan Fei really hasn’t treated you badly."

"The Young Mansion is generous, not only not mistreating me but also offering much help, which has always made me uneasy."

"Oh, why uneasy?"

"Fearing that at my age, having yet to accomplish anything, I cannot repay the great kindness and virtue of the Young Mansion."

"You’re still the same...no wonder Ichuan Fei likes you so much." Gaofeng Yu sighed with emotion.

Pausing, she continued before Jiuyun Shuang could speak, "When your elder brother was dying, he recommended you to Ichuan Fei. I thought he was just being polite, but he actually called you to the capital."

"I should thank my brother for the recommendation," Jiuyun Shuang said, lowering his head.

"Indeed," Gaofeng Yu sighed again, "Though I am not Jiuyun Ying’s biological mother, he treated me as one and saw you and him as brothers of the same mother."

"Mother..."

"So, now that you’re home, won’t you talk to your brother? It’s been so long, I suppose he might miss you," Gaofeng Yu asked.

"I, I understand..."

Jiuyun Shuang’s voice choked, and his eyes started to redden.

"I’m not here to persuade you for your father. Your father is shortsighted, only valuing the profits of the Northern Province, neglecting the prosperity of the Four Seas. So, you should get used to it. Holding the Imperial symbol and being the court-appointed Western Conquest General, even though he is your father, he wouldn’t dare seize your military power or commit treason."

"I understand..."

"However, I worry if your father is truly ruthless and won’t aid you with family soldiers. Just relying on this small force, you..."

"Mother need not worry, before departing, I had full confidence. Even if the Nine Thousand Battalion does not mobilize, with my unit alone, I can equally conquer the three divisions of Yipa."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Certainly, if Father is willing to send troops, I believe victory would come more easily."

"But you should understand your father and the Jiuyun Clan. Raising enemies to maintain power has always been our family’s survival rule. If you eliminate the threat from the northwest, Northern Province will have no reason to gather heavy forces, and the Wen Family court might order to reduce our fief. If that time comes, what will you do, and what should the Jiuyun Clan do?"

"As a minister, receiving the nation’s grace, I must uphold the nation’s law. What the Jiuyun Clan should have, I will fight for in the court, and what it should not have, I will agree with the court’s reduction."

"Heh, isn’t this typical Wen Family thinking? It seems you’re gradually becoming like a Wen Family member."

Hearing Gaofeng Yu’s words, Jiuyun Shuang looked somewhat embarrassed. He lowered his head, was silent for a long time, then slowly raised it to look at his mother, hesitantly saying, "There are some things I don’t know if I should tell Mother..."

"Afraid that it will harm you if I know?" Gaofeng Yu asked with a smile.

"No, not really, it’s just I don’t want more people to know..."

"In that case, I permit you."

"Thank you, Mother," Jiuyun Shuang took a deep breath, hesitated for a moment, and cautiously said, "Mother, the Young Mansion Master hopes...I can take his place..."

"Take his place..."

Hearing this, Gaofeng Yu’s pupils widened instantly, and she stood up suddenly, shocked, "He wants to make you the court’s Hundred Chief?"

"Mother!" Jiuyun Shuang reminded.

Realizing her loss of composure, Gaofeng Yu sat back down, but her face was still filled with astonishment.

"You are of the Wu Family origin, does Ichuan Fei truly want you to become a Hundred Chief? That is the top official of the Wen Family."

"That’s what the Young Mansion Master said..."

"Impossible, it is impossible. He must intend to use you."

"The Young Mansion Master said he truly favored my brother, but since my brother passed early..."

"So he followed your brother’s words and took you from the Jiuyun Clan?" freёweɓnovel_com

"I suppose so..."

"How could he think like that... The court’s Hundred Chief has always belonged to the Yichuan Clan..."

"The Hundred Chief never belongs to the Yichuan Clan but to the Wen Family, just temporarily represented by the Yichuan Clan..." Jiuyun Shuang explained.

"He said that?"

"Yes."

After managing to calm her emotions, Gaofeng Yu pondered for a moment, then looked up at her son and said, "In that case, if you tell this news to your father, he would surely be willing to send troops."

"I don’t want to tell him."

"Why?"

"I am an official of the Imperial Court, tasked by the court to lead the royal army to suppress the rebels. Whether it’s success or failure, it should be determined by the court. If Father sends troops, it should be to support the nation’s structure, to drive out the invaders, not for the sake of my personal fame and fortune."

"You..."

For some reason, Gaofeng Yu felt that her son seemed somewhat unfamiliar.

"Sigh..." She let out a deep sigh, shaking her head, "The court only granted you ten thousand troops, intending for you to borrow family soldiers, to leverage the Jiuyun army’s strength to remove the border chaos. Your father understands this well, which is why he is unwilling to send troops."

"If it were in the past, I might have agreed with your view, agreed with Father’s actions. I would think that our Jiuyun Clan shouldn’t erode our military strength for the court, fulfilling the court’s wish."

"But Mother, is this really the right thing to do?"

"The families of Kyushu enthroned Emperor Wu, setting up the court to rule the four directions. Now, the court’s governance is clear, but the clans of Kyushu are unwilling to honor the court, each controlling local military and political affairs. Though called state clans, they are also state lords."

"The lords of each state act only for state interests, content to hold territory and maintain peace, unwilling to repay national benevolence. As ministers, meeting halfway. Should the prosperity of Tiansheng’s Nine Provinces not surpass the barren growth of North Wilderness?"

Gaofeng Yu, educated by her son, blushed a little, lowering her head and said, "You’ve spoken correctly, but the Wen Family has only been around for over two centuries, while the local autonomy of the states has existed for a thousand years. Persuading the state clans to forsake their interests and build the national structure together will not be an easy task."

"Therefore, I don’t need family soldiers and can still defeat the three divisions of Yipa," Jiuyun Shuang said earnestly, "If I can achieve victory, it will be fortunate for the Jiuyun Clan. But if I fail, only the court’s troops will be lost. So please, Mother, inform Father that he need not concern himself about me nor send troops and simply wait for the benefits."

"How can you say such things," hearing him, Gaofeng Yu appeared somewhat angry, "I take it as your anger speaking. If you’re serious, you’re truly excessive."

"Hmph..."

Jiuyun Shuang lightly scoffed, much like a child’s pout, turning his face away, refusing to speak further.

"Fine," Gaofeng Yu sighed deeply, gesturing dismissively, "I’ll ask your father to send troops. If he refuses, I’ll have your maternal grandfather deploy troops from Yun State. If he also refuses, I’ll don armor myself and fight alongside you."

"That, that would not be good..."

Originally a bit upset, Jiuyun Shuang was immediately alarmed upon hearing his mother’s words. Disregarding his hard-earned posture, he quickly persuaded her.

"What, you think I can’t fight on the battlefield?"

"Not that, it’s just I worry about you, Mother. If you’re hurt, it pains my heart."

Seeing her son finally express his true thoughts, Gaofeng Yu couldn’t help but smile. She replied, "How could you doubt me? Don’t you think a mother would fight for her child?"

Jiuyun Shuang grumbled, "Whether he joins or not is his own concern."

Despite hearing her son’s words, Gaofeng Yu smiled, as she understood her son’s feelings of dissatisfaction with his father.

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