Marquis Gu’s Golden Decree (Part Five)
The dawn light was still bleary atop the high city walls of the capital. Armored soldiers stood guard up there.
Suddenly hearing the sound of horses’ hooves roaring like thunder, cavalry could be seen coming down the road.
There were so many that it was hard to tell at a glance, but nothing sounded out of place.
The warhorses clad in claret armor were strong and well-fed. The soldiers riding them had their backs straight and were very alert.
Such elite troops were rarely seen in the capital, and only…
The man leading the troops was young and handsome, and there was a young girl seated in front of him on the horse. There was a thick cloak wrapped around her, not letting the slightest bit of wind get in and hiding her face.
The young man rode forward on his horse and revealed a golden token in his hand. The city guards looked at it carefully and immediately half-kneeled.
“Greetings, Lord Marquis Gu!”
The golden decree of Marquis Gu’s Manor had never been brought out lightly, thus something must be happening inside the country’s borders.
“I am the second son of Marquis Gu’s Manor. I have been ordered to lead 500 troops on a mission outside the city. Quickly open the city gates!”
“Quickly! Open the city gates!”
The general of the guards loudly shouted, and the tall city gates were pushed open by seven or eight guards on each side. Gu JiuGe quickly rode out first on his horse.
Behind him, 500 elite soldiers followed him out in an orderly fashion.
Once everyone had departed, a deputy guard asked: “General, mobilizing over 500 troops requires approval from the Board of War. Why did you not ask the second young sir if they had the approval from the Board of War?”
The general watched the horses ride off, “If there was an approval from the Board of War, how could I not have been informed of something as large as 500 troops leaving the city?”
“You mean to say… that there was no approval? Then…”
The general looked at him, “So what if there was no approval? That is a first-rank general and a marquis. Once he brought out Marquis Gu’s golden decree, not to mention mobilizing five hundred troops, but even if it was five thousand or fifty thousand, nobody could stop him.”
…
At the crack of dawn, the carriage from Marquis Gu’s Manor had already been waiting outside the entrance to the palace for quite some time.
The palace gates were opened, and general of the imperial guards, Meng Fei, personally came over to the carriage, cupping his hands in apology, “Lord Marquis Gu, I am truly sorry. According to law, the palace’s gates had to remain closed until this time. I’ve troubled you by keeping you waiting for such a long time.”
Gu HuaiJiang stepped out of the carriage, “It couldn’t be helped. The palace’s rules cannot be ignored. It was this marquis who came too early. It’s unrelated to Lord Meng.”
Meng Fei became even more courteous, “This lowly official has said too much. Lord Marquis must have some urgent matters and came to see His Majesty personally? This Majesty previously said that if Lord Marquis Gu came to look for His Majesty, there is no need to observe the rules about the opening time of the palace gates.”
“Lord Meng has said this before, and this marquis has explained it to Lord Meng before. His Majesty said this for fear of delaying information about some urgent situation during wartime. It currently is not wartime, and this marquis cannot use that privilege lightly.”
After saying this, he nodded to him, and Meng Fei responded in kind, performing a respectful salute, “Take care, Lord Marquis Gu.”
With the snowy backdrop, his parting figure appeared very small, but it was also so mighty that it was hard to look directly at him.
“It snowed all night, and Lord Marquis Gu is getting old, yet he still continues to observe the rules and wait outside the palace. Not to mention waiting outside for a couple of hours, but His Majesty clearly granted him permission to enter the palace in his carriage, yet he still entered on foot, hah.”
Only someone who never became arrogant from his achievements would suit the position of head general and marquis, right?
A nearby subordinate said: “That’s right. Lord Marquis Gu has never entered the palace in a carriage. From the moment that he arrived outside the palace, my lord has been talking about reporting it, and His Majesty would definitely open the gates for him. Yet he would not. My lord cannot be blamed for it, and His Majesty definitely would not blame my lord.”
“Nonsense, am I afraid of His Majesty blaming me?”
Meng Fei rolled his eyes at him, “Lord Marquis Gu’s noble character is something that you can only understand after another 20 years of self-reflection!”
Gu HuaiJiang arrived outside Emperor Ning’s palace and was brought to wait in a side hall by Emperor Ning’s personal servant, Eunuch Gao.
“Lord Marquis, please wait. His Majesty only just woke and is getting changed.”
He personally brought up the tea, and Gu HuaiJiang received it with both hands, “I’ve troubled Eunuch Gao. It was this marquis who came too early and disturbed His Majesty’s rest. His Majesty has not been sleeping as well as in the past, yet it was disturbed by me.”
“It’s because he has not been sleeping as well as before that His Majesty woke up early. He was not woken by Lord Marquis.”
The sound of the bead curtain came from the back, and Gu HuaiJiang stood up from his seat. Emperor Ning quickly walked over, “HuaiJiang, what happened? We heard that you have been waiting outside the palace gates for two hours. What urgent matter would have you so anxious?”
Gu HuaiJiang flicked his sleeves and partially kneeled. Not even Emperor Ning could get him to stand up.
“This subject selected 500 soldiers to leave the city for Changzhou. My son, ShuBai, was attacked in Changzhou, and his situation is unclear. Only one of my subordinates was able to escape. Because of the urgent situation, there was no time to inform the Board of War, and this subject had my second son, JiuGe, leave the city with my golden decree.”
Emperor Ning opened his mouth, “When did this happen?”
“It happened overnight before the sun came up.”
Emperor Ning anxious said: “We are not asking about that. We are talking about ShuBai. When did it happen? We heard that he and Gu Yi went to escort madam Gu and the related young miss back to JinLing. How could he suddenly have been attacked when everything was fine? Who would dare to do this?”
Gu HuaiJiang was being personally helped up by Emperor Ning thus could do nothing but stand up.
“Based on what the soldier who had escaped, Yan Zheng, said, on their way back, all 40 of the troops led by ShuBai were struck by poison needles in a forest north of Changzhou. He charged out of the encirclement and rushed back to request support. After arriving at Marquis Gu’s manor, he quickly passed out. It was fortunate that Yu Fu was there to save him.”
“Such an urgent matter, why did you not tell Us sooner? JiuGe has already left? We will send some imperial physicians to go after them. What will they do if they are struck by poison needles?”
“There’s no need, Your Majesty. Yu Fu has gone with JiuGe.”
Marquis Gu’s Golden Decree (Part Five)
The dawn light was still bleary atop the high city walls of the capital. Armored soldiers stood guard up there.
Suddenly hearing the sound of horses’ hooves roaring like thunder, cavalry could be seen coming down the road.
There were so many that it was hard to tell at a glance, but nothing sounded out of place.
The warhorses clad in claret armor were strong and well-fed. The soldiers riding them had their backs straight and were very alert.
Such elite troops were rarely seen in the capital, and only…
The man leading the troops was young and handsome, and there was a young girl seated in front of him on the horse. There was a thick cloak wrapped around her, not letting the slightest bit of wind get in and hiding her face.
The young man rode forward on his horse and revealed a golden token in his hand. The city guards looked at it carefully and immediately half-kneeled.
“Greetings, Lord Marquis Gu!”
The golden decree of Marquis Gu’s Manor had never been brought out lightly, thus something must be happening inside the country’s borders.
“I am the second son of Marquis Gu’s Manor. I have been ordered to lead 500 troops on a mission outside the city. Quickly open the city gates!”
“Quickly! Open the city gates!”
The general of the guards loudly shouted, and the tall city gates were pushed open by seven or eight guards on each side. Gu JiuGe quickly rode out first on his horse.
Behind him, 500 elite soldiers followed him out in an orderly fashion.
Once everyone had departed, a deputy guard asked: “General, mobilizing over 500 troops requires approval from the Board of War. Why did you not ask the second young sir if they had the approval from the Board of War?”
The general watched the horses ride off, “If there was an approval from the Board of War, how could I not have been informed of something as large as 500 troops leaving the city?”
“You mean to say… that there was no approval? Then…”
The general looked at him, “So what if there was no approval? That is a first-rank general and a marquis. Once he brought out Marquis Gu’s golden decree, not to mention mobilizing five hundred troops, but even if it was five thousand or fifty thousand, nobody could stop him.”
…
At the crack of dawn, the carriage from Marquis Gu’s Manor had already been waiting outside the entrance to the palace for quite some time.
The palace gates were opened, and general of the imperial guards, Meng Fei, personally came over to the carriage, cupping his hands in apology, “Lord Marquis Gu, I am truly sorry. According to law, the palace’s gates had to remain closed until this time. I’ve troubled you by keeping you waiting for such a long time.”
Gu HuaiJiang stepped out of the carriage, “It couldn’t be helped. The palace’s rules cannot be ignored. It was this marquis who came too early. It’s unrelated to Lord Meng.”
Meng Fei became even more courteous, “This lowly official has said too much. Lord Marquis must have some urgent matters and came to see His Majesty personally? This Majesty previously said that if Lord Marquis Gu came to look for His Majesty, there is no need to observe the rules about the opening time of the palace gates.”
“Lord Meng has said this before, and this marquis has explained it to Lord Meng before. His Majesty said this for fear of delaying information about some urgent situation during wartime. It currently is not wartime, and this marquis cannot use that privilege lightly.”
After saying this, he nodded to him, and Meng Fei responded in kind, performing a respectful salute, “Take care, Lord Marquis Gu.”
With the snowy backdrop, his parting figure appeared very small, but it was also so mighty that it was hard to look directly at him.
“It snowed all night, and Lord Marquis Gu is getting old, yet he still continues to observe the rules and wait outside the palace. Not to mention waiting outside for a couple of hours, but His Majesty clearly granted him permission to enter the palace in his carriage, yet he still entered on foot, hah.”
Only someone who never became arrogant from his achievements would suit the position of head general and marquis, right?
A nearby subordinate said: “That’s right. Lord Marquis Gu has never entered the palace in a carriage. From the moment that he arrived outside the palace, my lord has been talking about reporting it, and His Majesty would definitely open the gates for him. Yet he would not. My lord cannot be blamed for it, and His Majesty definitely would not blame my lord.”
“Nonsense, am I afraid of His Majesty blaming me?”
Meng Fei rolled his eyes at him, “Lord Marquis Gu’s noble character is something that you can only understand after another 20 years of self-reflection!”
Gu HuaiJiang arrived outside Emperor Ning’s palace and was brought to wait in a side hall by Emperor Ning’s personal servant, Eunuch Gao.
“Lord Marquis, please wait. His Majesty only just woke and is getting changed.”
He personally brought up the tea, and Gu HuaiJiang received it with both hands, “I’ve troubled Eunuch Gao. It was this marquis who came too early and disturbed His Majesty’s rest. His Majesty has not been sleeping as well as in the past, yet it was disturbed by me.”
“It’s because he has not been sleeping as well as before that His Majesty woke up early. He was not woken by Lord Marquis.”
The sound of the bead curtain came from the back, and Gu HuaiJiang stood up from his seat. Emperor Ning quickly walked over, “HuaiJiang, what happened? We heard that you have been waiting outside the palace gates for two hours. What urgent matter would have you so anxious?”
Gu HuaiJiang flicked his sleeves and partially kneeled. Not even Emperor Ning could get him to stand up.
“This subject selected 500 soldiers to leave the city for Changzhou. My son, ShuBai, was attacked in Changzhou, and his situation is unclear. Only one of my subordinates was able to escape. Because of the urgent situation, there was no time to inform the Board of War, and this subject had my second son, JiuGe, leave the city with my golden decree.”
Emperor Ning opened his mouth, “When did this happen?”
“It happened overnight before the sun came up.”
Emperor Ning anxious said: “We are not asking about that. We are talking about ShuBai. When did it happen? We heard that he and Gu Yi went to escort madam Gu and the related young miss back to JinLing. How could he suddenly have been attacked when everything was fine? Who would dare to do this?”
Gu HuaiJiang was being personally helped up by Emperor Ning thus could do nothing but stand up.
“Based on what the soldier who had escaped, Yan Zheng, said, on their way back, all 40 of the troops led by ShuBai were struck by poison needles in a forest north of Changzhou. He charged out of the encirclement and rushed back to request support. After arriving at Marquis Gu’s manor, he quickly passed out. It was fortunate that Yu Fu was there to save him.”
“Such an urgent matter, why did you not tell Us sooner? JiuGe has already left? We will send some imperial physicians to go after them. What will they do if they are struck by poison needles?”
“There’s no need, Your Majesty. Yu Fu has gone with JiuGe.”
