The Child Emperor-Chapter 334: Behind Every Brave Warrior

With the General of Chariots and Cavalry Deng Cui having mysteriously disappeared, the commanding general of the city was suddenly replaced. The Emperor’s guards kept coming and going from the prince’s mansion, and soldiers throughout the city had received orders to prepare for battle overnight… The entire city of Jincheng felt thick with tension. Rumors spread everywhere, claiming that hundreds or even thousands had already fled the city to surrender to the Xiongnu, and that the Emperor was gravely ill and near death.

Han Ruzi was also very nervous and wanted to do something to keep himself busy.

He indeed had several matters that needed urgent attention.

The zither master and his daughter had moved out of the Emperor’s temporary bedchamber and, like ordinary entertainers, were now at beck and call.

The reason Han Ruzi had shown leniency was because this matter involved his mother, and the zither master and his daughter had no other skills besides playing the zither and wielding her beauty.

“Cui Teng, if We hear that you have privately approached the zither master, it will be considered defiling the court, and you will be exiled to ten thousand li away,” Han Ruzi warned.

The zither master and his daughter had already been led away by the eunuchs, but Cui Teng still gazed at the doorway. Upon hearing the Emperor’s words, he first started in surprise, then stood dazed. He sighed and said through gritted teeth, “If I truly cannot control myself—Your Majesty need not exile me. Just give me a blade and make me a eunuch. My elder brother has a son anyway, so the Cui clan need not worry about having no heirs.”

When others said such things, it sounded like expressing dissatisfaction, but Cui Teng was completely sincere. He looked toward Liu Jie, Zhang Youcai, and the others, then sighed again.

Han Ruzi could only shake his head and ordered for Hua Huwang to be brought in for another interrogation.

Though the siege of Jincheng remained unbroken, Han Ruzi had already begun thinking about how to eliminate the bandit troubles of Cloud Dream Marsh.

Hua Huwang was still young and wanted both face and life. Therefore, after coming before the Emperor, he stood without kneeling, though his expression could not remain composed, and his gaze dared not meet the Emperor’s.

The guards wanted to force Hua Huwang to kneel, but Han Ruzi raised his hand, indicating it was unnecessary.

“We still remember that you once delivered messages for Us in the palace.”

Hua Huwang’s expression changed again. At that time, he had still been a noble attendant in the palace. Looking back now, it seemed like a lifetime ago. “That was… that was Prince Donghai’s idea.”

“Why did you try to kill Prince Donghai? Wasn’t he your friend?” 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Hua Huwang remained silent for a while before speaking: “Prince Donghai humiliated our Hua family. How could I consider him a friend?”

Han Ruzi was somewhat surprised.

Hua Huwang finally met the Emperor’s gaze. “Not only Prince Donghai, but Your Majesty as well—completely disregarding the Hua family, humiliating us, belittling us, ordering us around. The Hua family… the Hua family will not endure such treatment!”

Han Ruzi understood. He had long heard that the Hua family had once been powerful imperial relatives by marriage, but had declined during the Martial Emperor’s reign. When seeking clemency for heroes, they were repeatedly refused. After the Martial Emperor’s death, the Hua family’s kinship with the Emperor grew even more distant. They could not even be considered imperial relatives and had no qualification to enter the palace. They could only submit memorials according to regulations like ordinary ministers.

This was what Hua Huwang called “humiliation.”

“So you father and son would rather abandon your homes to become bandits than serve as ministers at court?” Han Ruzi asked.

Hua Huwang nodded, his courage growing somewhat. Not only could he now look directly at the Emperor, but his gaze also held a hint of challenge.

Han Ruzi smiled slightly. “In Cloud Dream Marsh, the Hua family must be like the moon surrounded by stars, admired by all?”

“The Hua family does have some reputation in the pugilist world,” Hua Huwang said proudly.

“Hmm, but Luan Banxiong first sent your father to the Capital to participate in rebellion, then had you come to rescue your father, while he himself hides in Cloud Dream Marsh. Is the Hua family’s reputation in the pugilist world really that great?”

Hua Huwang’s face reddened slightly. “My father voluntarily went to the Capital at first, which had nothing to do with Heavenly Bestowed General Luan. Moreover, the events in the Capital were not rebellion. As they say, the victor becomes king while the defeated become bandits—Your Majesty was merely fortunate. As for rescuing my father, that was entirely my own choice. The Heavenly Bestowed General even tried to stop me.”

Luan Banxiong called himself the “Heavenly Bestowed General,” and Hua Huwang clearly held great reverence for him.

Han Ruzi nodded. “Will Luan Banxiong come to rescue you father and son?”

“We father and son… will not implicate the righteous heroes of the pugilist world.”

Cui Teng could no longer hold back and spat, “Over a dozen ‘heroes’ have already died because of you two, and you still say you won’t implicate others? If truly no one comes to rescue you, you’ll probably think that Cloud Dream Marsh looks down on and humiliates the Hua family , won’t you? The Hua family is really difficult to deal with—everyone must fawn over you to satisfy you?”

Hua Huwang glared furiously at Cui Teng, then suddenly burst into loud laughter. “Second Young Master Cui, don’t get too pleased with yourself. The Hua family’s today will be your Cui clan’s tomorrow. Serving the ruler is like serving a tiger—don’t think that just because you’re favored now, you’ll be worry-free for life. If you say something that doesn’t sound pleasant, the Emperor will abandon the Cui clan just the same.”

Cui Teng thought for a moment, then asked Zhang Youcai beside him, “Is he saying our Cui clan… are dogs?”

Zhang Youcai solemnly nodded.

Cui Teng flew into a rage and rolled up his sleeves to charge forward, but was held back tightly by two eunuchs.

“Let us see whether the pugilist world will abandon the Hua family.” Han Ruzi did not become angry. Hua Huwang was fierce on the outside but cowardly within, easily intimidated. “After returning to the Capital, you father and son will be executed in public.”

Cui Teng was very satisfied to hear this, but Hua Huwang’s expression changed dramatically. “You… Your Majesty clearly promised…”

“We promised to pardon the Hua family’s capital crimes committed before today, but if Cloud Dream Marsh sends people to break you out of prison, the Hua family will have new crimes. We never promised to pardon future crimes as well.”

Hua Huwang was stunned.

“So if Cloud Dream Marsh comes to rescue the Hua family, they’ll be harming the Hua family. If they don’t rescue you, then they’ve abandoned you.” Han Ruzi waved his hand, and the guards dragged Hua Huwang away.

Only after leaving the room did Hua Huwang react, shouting loudly, “You won’t make it back to the Capital! You won’t make it back to the Capital!”

The voice gradually faded. Cui Teng said, “Your Majesty needn’t have met with him personally. Having someone torture him severely would have been enough. I guarantee this boy couldn’t hold out for long. Let me interrogate him.”

“There’s nothing to ask.” Han Ruzi called toward the door, “Eunuch Liu!”

Liu Jie immediately stepped into the room.

Han Ruzi had already seen him peek in twice, which was why he had ordered Hua Huwang to be taken away. “What is it?”

“General Fan sent word saying that several commoners charged the city gates, but it has been pacified.”

“Hm?” Han Ruzi immediately stood up. “Such a major incident—why wasn’t it reported earlier?”

“It’s just… Your Majesty, please forgive me.” Liu Jie would not argue before the Emperor.

“Eunuch Liu is not at fault.” Han Ruzi consoled him. He had few trustworthy and capable people around him, and each one was worth cherishing. “Who quelled the disturbance? Summon them immediately.”

Liu Jie received the order and left. Cui Teng said, “Wasn’t he right? Just a few commoners charging the city gates—it’s really not a big deal. Why should Your Majesty take it to heart?”

At a time like this, even if only one person charged the city gates in broad daylight, Han Ruzi didn’t consider it a small matter. Looking at Cui Teng, he asked, “Why did Hua Huwang dare to bring over a dozen men to Jincheng City to rescue his father and assassinate the Emperor?”

Cui Teng was stumped. “He… was foolish, overestimating his abilities.”

“He’s not foolish at all. He dared to come because Cloud Dream Marsh regards the duty of a son rescuing his father as very important. He had no choice but to come, and he came willingly. Otherwise, he would be despised by everyone in Cloud Dream Marsh as an unfilial person.”

Cui Teng grunted, not understanding what this had to do with charging the city gates.

Han Ruzi was explaining to himself, “Behind every brave warrior there must be a group of companions who value courage. Around every merchant there must be a group of profit-seekers. If commoners dare to charge the city gates in broad daylight, it must be because people in the city are anxious and many want to leave the city to surrender to the Xiongnu, though only a few dare to act.”

Cui Teng pondered deeply, vaguely feeling the Emperor’s words made sense, yet not quite understanding them.

Han Ruzi looked toward Meng E in the corner. She clearly understood the Emperor’s meaning.

The general who had pacified the city gate disturbance soon arrived. He was a young man who looked even younger than the Emperor, wearing armor, and therefore cupped his fists in military salute to the Emperor. “City Gate Captain Xie Cun pays respects to Your Majesty.”

“Rise. You’re the son of the Praised Marquis, aren’t you?”

Xie Cun was quite surprised that the Emperor actually recognized him. “Yes, Your Majesty. The Praised Marquis is indeed my father.”

Han Ruzi nodded. On the journey to Jincheng City, the sons of nobles had taken turns commanding the ceremonial guard, and Han Ruzi had taken the opportunity to observe them. He had a good impression of several, including this Xie Cun.

Xie Cun was young, but he had arranged the army’s march in an orderly manner and enforced discipline quite strictly. Although the Praised Marquis’s family had long since fallen from power, no noble’s son dared to bully this young man from the Xie family.

“Mm, tell me about the city gate incident.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. About half an hour ago, the city’s common people gathered toward the southeast gate, roughly three hundred or more. After I saw them from atop the city gate, I led ten soldiers down from the city wall and prevented the people from approaching the gate. A quarter-hour later, five people were incited and suddenly charged toward the city gate. I let those five pass and blocked the people behind them with my soldiers. Those five ran for some distance, discovered no one was following behind them, turned around and returned to their original position. We charged into the crowd, and the people scattered in all directions.”

Han Ruzi nodded, feeling that Xie Cun had handled it well. Seeing that he seemed to have more to say, he raised his hand to indicate he should continue.

“I sent soldiers to track two people and discovered they were servants from Prince Dai’s mansion.”

Han Ruzi raised his eyebrows slightly. What surprised him was not that Prince Dai’s mansion had servants wanting to surrender to the Xiongnu again, but “Why did you single out those two as problematic?”

“The other common people were all quite agitated and quite frightened, trying as much as possible to stand together with people they knew. But those two were walking back and forth through the crowd, able to strike up conversations with anyone, yet they didn’t seem to know everyone, so I suspected they were instigators.”

“Good.”

At Liu Jie’s signal, Xie Cun bowed and withdrew.

After he left, Cui Teng said, “That young man is quite good. Won’t Your Majesty promote him?”

“No rush.” Han Ruzi summoned Zhang Jing, the Ministry of Justice official, ordering him to investigate Prince Dai’s family members and servants together with the Jincheng’s local government office.

Prince Dai had died of fright, his household wealth had been thrown outside the city by Deng Cui, and everyone in the entire household seemed very dissatisfied.

The people in the city were restless. The Emperor should have personally appeared to reassure them, but he still could not show himself publicly. If word got out that the Emperor showed no signs of poisoning whatsoever, Hua Bin and the others would lose the Xiongnu’s trust, and Deng Cui would be in danger.

Han Ruzi had to wait.

Even when nightfall, the Xiongnu had made no preparations to attack the city. This was a good sign, and Han Ruzi felt somewhat more at ease.

But Hua Bin and Gui Yuehua also had not returned to the city as agreed. For the next two days, they seemed to have vanished, with no movement in the tunnel, and Deng Cui’s fate remained unknown.

On the third day after Deng Cui left the city, the Xiongnu again defeated a Great Chu relief army. This time the battle took place three miles outside the city, clearly visible from the city walls.

After the battle ended, the Xiongnu made their usual show of force, erecting several poles on the bank of the moat with heads hanging from them. Hua Huwang was brought up to the city wall and recognized one of the heads as belonging to Gui Yuehua.

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