Thirteenth Lady's Comback: Her Everyday Life as a Bystander-Chapter 301 - 11: Secret Intelligence (First Update)

Chapter 301: Chapter 11: Secret Intelligence (First Update)

Susu looked at Mrs. Zhao, "It seems that Aunt Zhao didn’t come all this way just to tell me these inside stories, right?"

Thinking of the sympathetic look Qin Miao had given her earlier, Susu felt a sense of unease.

Third Madam Qin Zhao beckoned to Susu, calling her to sit by her side.

"I have something to tell you. It’s a decision your Uncle Qin made. However, if you are unwilling, I will naturally stand by you."

Feeling uneasy herself, Qin Miao frowned and asked, "What decision did Brother make and what does it have to do with Susu? She’s just a military dependent and shouldn’t be involved in outside matters."

Mrs. Zhao sighed bitterly at this and replied, "I haven’t even said it yet and you’re already protective. Do you think I don’t care for her?"

She then looked at Susu and said, "I didn’t know how to start earlier, but since we’re here, I won’t beat around the bush anymore! Your Uncle Qin received a secret report: the Tartar Khan has passed away."

Upon hearing this news, both Qin Miao and Susu were momentarily stunned, except for Qin Miao, who had already known.

Qin Miao foolishly asked, "How did he die?"

While Susu frowned, "Which Tartar Prince inherited the throne?"

Mrs. Zhao helplessly looked at her sister-in-law, thinking, surely Liu Daneng (yes, that’s Commander Liu’s name!) had spoiled her to the point her mind had regressed.

Seven years in the Northwest as a Commander’s wife, yet she wasn’t as quick to grasp the key points as Susu, a newcomer.

"It was said he died of illness, but who really knows! The one who inherited is the Eldest Prince Bashahan, the Legitimate Elder Son of the first Queen."

Mrs. Zhao answered both their questions and briefly told Susu about Bashahan.

Bashahan, though poorly educated and stubborn, was nonetheless the Legitimate Elder Son of the late Khan. His maternal grandfather was the leader of the Kecha Tribe, one of the top ten Tartar tribes, and his Prince Consort was also from a noble family of the top ten tribes.

The late Khan had few offspring, with only two legitimate sons. Besides the Sixth Prince, born to the current Queen, who could contend with the Eldest Prince, the other four illegitimate sons were hardly worth mentioning.

Fortunately, the Sixth Prince was captured by Great Chu. Due to internal power struggles within the Tartars, the negotiations were difficult.

The Tartar internal division was into two factions: one led by the current Queen, demanding the Sixth Prince’s ransom at all costs,

and the other led by the Eldest Prince, who, though agreeing to the late Khan’s wishes, dared not speak of abandoning the Sixth Prince, and joined half the nobles in demanding continued negotiation with Great Chu.

Great Chu’s conditions were unacceptable to them, demanding reduced gold, silver, and horses for ransom.

So, half a year had passed, and the Sixth Prince was still in the Capital of Great Chu.

"The current Khan, in the name of avenging his brother, assembled fifty thousand troops, preparing to head to the border battlefield soon."

Susu inwardly exclaimed, "Wow," realizing it was both good and bad news.

This time, neither Susu nor Qin Miao knew what to say, while Mrs. Zhao continued, "Though the Sixth Prince is a prisoner, he lives comfortably in the Capital, with his freedom curtailed only in not being able to leave the Capital. Since negotiations began, he’s been thrice targeted for assassination. The assassins are cunning, possibly a small merchant or a young girl at play, impossible to guard against."

However, that Tartar Sixth Prince was not easily dealt with either; he might even have realized some inside story, acting severely injured and on the brink of death,

while sending Tartar Envoys back home with news, causing grave concern for the Tartar Khan and Queen, and also receiving personal secret orders from the Great Khan agreeing to Great Chu’s terms.

Yet... nothing stands against a ’however.’

Just before negotiations were to conclude, Qin Dusi received a secret report from spies within the Tartar Country.

The Eldest Prince had angered the old Khan to death but claimed it was from news of the Sixth Prince’s demise in Great Chu, causing unbearable shock unto death, with the second Queen following her husband and son in suicide.

The Eldest Prince hastily ascended the throne and, to deflect internal conflicts, proclaimed a directive upon ascending: assembly of fifty thousand good Tartars from all tribes and sending his maternal uncle to invade Great Chu, seeking ’revenge’ on behalf of his posthumously titled Brother, Prince Yong Batraji.

When speaking of war, of capturing the fertile Great Chu, there seemed an inherent longing within the Tartars.

Moreover, the Sixth Prince’s maternal family had been swiftly decimated by more than half of the Eldest Prince’s maternal family, with the survivors too busy surviving to dare speak for the Sixth Prince.

"Your Uncle Qin had long sent the secret report and witness hastily to the Capital. Three days ago, he received the Emperor’s secret decree before your Aunt Qin’s letter arrived. The subsequent public decree should arrive shortly."

Upon hearing Mrs. Zhao’s words, Susu’s first reaction was not curiosity about the secret decree but being stunned by Qin Dusi’s efficiency.

Her Aunt Qin’s letter arrived three days ago and yet, within just four days, they uncovered the Bai Family’s secrets, even those concealed for sixty years.

The manor estates on the border, highly skilled tomb robbers, cemeteries full of empty graves... All of this eerily reminiscent of ghost stories, caused Susu to shiver.

Of course, none of this mattered now. What lay ahead was the pending encroachment of fifty thousand troops? Was Hong Sheng going to war? But the Vanguard Camp under his command hadn’t been established yet!

Susu harbored some unanswered questions, "Aunt Zhao, did Uncle Qin not mention what happened to the Sixth Prince of Tartar?"

Qin Miao, on the other hand, worriedly said, "Fifty thousand troops at the border? Sister-in-law, how about first having Sister An, Sister Zhen, and Ning return with you to the Governor Mansion!"

With troops pressing, Hami would surely bear the brunt.

Seeing her sister-in-law’s intelligence seemingly absent, Mrs. Zhao refrained from saying more, simply patting her hand and saying, "Don’t worry! How could someone of your age think less clearly than Susu?"

Mrs. Zhao looked at Susu and sighed, "This Sixth Prince of Tartar is truly remarkable!"

It turned out the witness Qin Dusi escorted to Shangjing was the Sixth Prince’s youngest legitimate uncle, secretly smuggled out by his family’s death warriors to bring news to the Sixth Prince.

He not only brought the late Khan’s secret decree but also the second Queen’s blood letter and his maternal grandfather’s tribal leader token.

The Sixth Prince of Tartar, even if reluctant to believe, found the evidence brought by his uncle, who had grown up with him, irrefutable proof.

He was not only left with a broken family but also made a ’dead man,’ providing his elder brother with a reason to wage war.

As for why this Sixth Prince is considered remarkable? Because he decisively sought an audience with the Emperor of Great Chu, secretly meeting for two hours, the contents of which remain unknown to outsiders.

However, the subsequent imperial decrees issued consecutively by the Emperor caused an uproar in court, with news swiftly reaching the populace.

Upon the death of the Tartar Khan, Great Chu extended condolences to the Tatar Country.

The Tartar Sixth Prince recognized the Emperor of Great Chu as a foster father and was bestowed the title of Prince Yong of Great Chu.

The Tartar Eldest Prince, who patricide and fratricide, drove his stepmother to death, persecuted the loyal, and altered the Khan’s will, was deemed unforgivable.

Upon receiving the news, Prince Yong cried out in sorrow, pleading with his foster father to dispatch troops to aid his return home to quell the rebellion.

As for the secret decree Qin Dusi received, it was to muster troops and follow the Sixth Prince to war, in the name of ’righting the wrongs,’ a so-called ’righteous army!’