222: Nine Sons of Nanzhao

Chapter 220: Ninth Son Nanzhao

Lingyin Palace.

"Ah… It hurts so much!"

"Mother… I, I hurt so much!"

"You slaves, hurry, hurry and let him out…!"

"Ah…!"

Inside Lingyin Palace.

Consort Yin was giving birth, and screams continuously echoed.

Outside the main hall, however, only Zheng Yi and the Empress were waiting; the figures of other imperial concubines were nowhere to be seen.

As a princess of the Nanzhao Kingdom who entered the palace to become a consort, Princess Lingyin's status could be considered quite noble.

However, her personality was somewhat willful and she didn't get along well with the other concubines; only Zheng Yi and the Empress could suppress her.

"Your Majesty."

Lu Liner said in a low voice: "Younger Sister Consort Yin truly has quite a genuine temperament…"

Zheng Yi said indifferently: "What genuine temperament? She is merely a willful and headstrong woman."

"If not for the fact that she has the Nanzhao Kingdom behind her and is of some use herself, how could We indulge her like this?"

Consort Yin's fire-attribute Spiritual Root was Medium Grade, and Zheng Yi had long since used Dual Cultivation with Consort Yin to elevate his own fire-attribute Spiritual Root to the Medium Grade realm.

In other words, at this moment, Consort Yin no longer had much use to him.

Once she gave birth to the child, she would be even more useless.

Zheng Yi was already considering in his heart whether to hand over the child born to Consort Yin to other concubines to raise.

"Wah, wah wah wah…"

Not long after, the crying of a child came from the bedchamber, extremely loud and clear.

The Empress said in pleasant surprise: "Your Majesty, the child is born! Younger Sister Consort Yin has given birth!"

Zheng Yi also smiled and nodded. This was the ninth imperial prince, leaving only the last one until the opening of the second three thousand worlds.

Before long, the wet nurse walked out quickly holding an infant in her arms.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Your Majesty! Consort Yin has given birth to an imperial prince!"

An imperial prince!

Another imperial prince!

Nine imperial princes in a row—this was simply… Heaven blessing Great Yu!

First, ten princesses in a row caused endless discussions in the imperial court and even triggered many rebel kings to revolt.

But now, Your Majesty's concubines had actually successively given birth to nine imperial princes all at once.

Now there was also Qing Consort waiting to give birth; if Qing Consort also gave birth to an imperial prince, this would simply be an enormous auspicious omen!

Zheng Yi nodded and said: "All palace servants of Lingyin Palace shall receive rewards."

"Many thanks, Your Majesty!"

Zheng Yi stepped forward, only glancing at the child in the wet nurse's arms without taking him over.

"Take him down; I will go see Consort Yin."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Zheng Yi walked into the bedchamber. At this moment, all the defiled items in the bedchamber had been completely cleaned up, leaving only the weak Consort Yin and her personal attending maidservants.

"Your Majesty~"

Consort Yin struggled, wanting to sit up. Zheng Yi did not move, and the personal maidservant beside her hurriedly gathered the quilt and propped it up behind Consort Yin's back.

"Consort Yin has worked hard and should rest well, and not let your mind wander on ordinary days."

Consort Yin said: "This concubine understands. Your Majesty, this concubine has a matter to request…"

"...What matter?"

"Th-This concubine's clan brother has come from the Nanzhao Kingdom to seek refuge with this concubine. We beseech Your Majesty, for the sake of our child, to protect this clan brother of this concubine…"

"Clan brother?"

Zheng Yi frowned and said: "Why do We not know about this matter?"

"Chengen?"

Liu Chengen said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, half a year ago, the Nanzhao Kingdom's king Quan Longsheng passed away, and his third son Quan Linglong ascended the throne as king. The cabinet has long been aware of this matter and has already issued the Nanzhao Kingdom's state seal to the Nanzhao Kingdom's new ruler."

"To scheme for the position of the Nanzhao Kingdom's ruler, this person murdered eleven brothers before seizing the Nanzhao Kingdom's throne."

"The clan younger brother in Consort Yin's words should be Quan Longsheng's seventh son, Quan Lingjian. This person is an own-mother brother of Consort Yin. To escape Quan Linglong's hunt, he fled into our Great Yu under the protection of loyal and brave men under his command, enduring all kinds of untold hardships before arriving at the capital."

"This person has also repeatedly submitted memorials wanting our Great Yu to dispatch troops to help him subjugate Quan Linglong and assist him in becoming king."

Zheng Yi asked: "How did the cabinet resolve this?"

"Replying to Your Majesty,"

Liu Chengen said: "After Quan Linglong became king, he was very sensible. Not only did he fully abide by all contracts previously signed between our Great Yu and the Nanzhao Kingdom, but he also actively dispatched a large army to assist General Guan Shan in dealing with Yue Province's Shi Tianlong."

"After becoming king, he also sent people to deliver quite a few rare treasures."

"Because of the war in the southern region, all those treasures were stranded in Yunzhou, guarded by General Guan Shan."

"His intentions are already clear; he has proactively surrendered to our Great Yu, and moreover, all other competitors have been killed, so he can only be recognized as king."

Zheng Yi nodded: "I see."

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty."

Consort Yin hurriedly said: "Th-This concubine does not dare to hope to help my elder brother subjugate the fake king; I only hope Your Majesty can protect my elder brother and let him escape the third brother's hunt…"

Zheng Yi nodded and said: "This matter… We have Our own plans."

"Quan Lingjian, arrange a position for him in the Imperial Guard, let him thoroughly familiarize himself with Great Yu's military formations, and then resolve those people hunting him down from the Nanzhao Kingdom."

Liu Chengen immediately said: "This servant obeys the decree!"

Princess Lingyin's beautiful eyes also lit up, and she hurriedly said: "Many thanks, Your Majesty! Many thanks, Your Majesty!"

"Do not be in such a hurry to thank Us."

Zheng Yi said: "We have already chosen a name for our child. You originate from the Nanzhao Kingdom and often yearn for your hometown, so We have specially named him 'Nan'."

"Zheng Chengnan, how is that?"

"Zheng Chengnan?"

Consort Yin's lips trembled, wanting to say something, but she still lowered her head and said: "This concubine thanks Your Majesty for bestowing the name."

"No need for formalities."

Zheng Yi said indifferently: "Educate our child well. Once he reaches adulthood, have his uncle lead him to fight his way back to the Nanzhao Kingdom and inherit the position of the Nanzhao Kingdom's king."

"Wh-What…?!"

Consort Yin abruptly raised her head, looking at Zheng Yi in disbelief: "Y-Your Majesty, the throne of the Nanzhao Kingdom all belongs to the Quan Family…"

"Hmm?"

Zheng Yi said: "The Quan Family? Chengnan also possesses the bloodline of the Quan Family; how could he not be qualified to be the Nanzhao Kingdom's king?"

"Besides, he is also the child of you and Us; could it be that you are unwilling for your own child to live a better life?"

"Think about everything your third brother has done…"

"If Chengnan does not go to the Nanzhao Kingdom, We cannot guarantee what consequences he will Face."

"Chengnan…!"

Consort Yin finally came to her senses.

Her third brother Quan Linglong, in order to seize the Nanzhao Kingdom's throne, killed eleven brothers, and they were all biological brothers by the same father and different mothers!

Her eldest brother and seventh brother also had no choice but to flee to Great Yu to escape Quan Linglong's hunt, seeking help from her, their younger sister.

Just think, once Chengnan reached adulthood, how would he be dealt with?

Not to mention the crown prince's status, which of the other seven imperial princes did not have numerous ministers, families, and factions supporting them behind the scenes?

If Chengnan reached adulthood, who could he possibly have behind him?

Although she was a princess of the Nanzhao Kingdom, with her father the king having passed away, her unfamiliar third brother becoming king, and still hunting down her full brother, how much assistance could she possibly provide?

And what about herself?

Ever since His Majesty favored her for the first time, she could be considered uniquely favored for over a month.

But after that, after becoming pregnant, His Majesty seemed to have grown weary of her and hadn't come for more than half a year.

An unfavored concubine—how much assistance could she possibly provide for her own child?

Looking at the deep-in-thought Consort Yin, Zheng Yi said: "Consort Yin, you are Our concubine, and you have also given birth to a child for Us."

"Whether it is for you or for Chengnan, We naturally must consider things for you both."

"If Chengnan's Aptitude is not bad, We will naturally keep him by Our side."

"If he is just an ordinary person, once he reaches adulthood, let him go to the Nanzhao Kingdom."

"As long as he stays within the Nanzhao Kingdom for the rest of his life and does not let his imagination run wild, he will naturally live a peaceful life."

Consort Yin said with a trembling voice: "M-Many thanks to Your Majesty for considering this; this concubine understands."

"This concubine will educate Chengnan well."

"Good, you rest first; We have other matters to attend to."

"This concubine respectfully sends off Your Majesty."

Leaving Lingyin Palace, Zheng Yi also let out a long sigh of relief.

Toward Princess Lingyin, he did not have much emotional attachment.

After all, she was merely a bargaining chip used for transactions between the two countries.

Moreover, at the very beginning, he had only regarded her as a Cauldron to acquire a fire-attribute Spiritual Root.

But after that over a year of contact, especially after Lingyin gave birth to a son for him, it was inevitable that a trace of affection would grow in his heart.

"Oh well, since she after all gave birth to an imperial prince for Us and also contributed an effort toward the opening of Our three thousand worlds, let her remain an ordinary concubine."

"And as for Our three thousand worlds, now only one imperial prince remains."

"Qing Consort's expected date of childbirth is roughly a month from now; as long as we wait another month…"

"Hum hum hum…"

Suddenly, a familiar insect chirp attracted Zheng Yi's attention.

"Hmm? Blood Moon Gu?"

With a thought in his mind, a blood-colored thread rapidly flew in from afar.

Looking closely, that was not any blood-colored thread at all, but a ferocious blood-colored bug as large as a finger.

It was precisely the Blood Moon Gu!

"This is… one of the six Blood Moon Gus that We handed over to Ma Jinwu. Has an unexpected change occurred in the southern war?"

"Squeak squeak squeak, squeak squeak squeak…"

The Blood Moon Gu flew to Zheng Yi's side, excitedly flying up and down as if saying something.

Unfortunately, the Blood Moon Gu could not speak; one could only vaguely guess that this Blood Moon Gu had killed a Cultivator.

"Has a Cultivator fallen? It seems that Our previous hint was already obvious enough."

"Xu Mujun has finally launched an offensive as well; I just wonder which Cultivator has fallen?"

"No need to rush; the battle report should be delivered very soon."

Sure enough, three days later.

The Great Yu Dynasty received the battle report from Xu Province.

In the eleventh year of zhengyong, on the third day of the sixth month.

Xu Mujun launched a general offensive. Commanding generals such as Xu Mujun, Zhengkou General Tang, Minister Miao, Cui Xiawu, Meng Guang, and General Guan Shan responded one after another, launching attacks against the rebel army from three directions: the northern, western, and southwestern sectors.

The one that first engaged in a major battle with the rebel army turned out to be Meng Guang's navy and the rebel Tuoba Family's naval forces!

In the eleventh year of zhengyong, on the sixth day of the sixth month.

Meng Guang led 100,000 naval troops in the northern part of Yunmeng Marsh, engaging in a massive battle against the Tuoba Family's naval forces of over 150,000 troops.

In this battle, the casualties on both sides exceeded 100,000 people, countless warships and battle junks were destroyed, and the water of the entire Yunmeng Marsh was dyed crimson with blood.

Fish and shrimp filled the lake, scrambling to devour it.

And the ultimate winner of this battle was still the imperial court's navy!

The Tuoba Family's commanding general, Tuoba Jiang, General, died in battle.

The Tuoba Family's deputy general, Hun Jianglong, died in battle.

A member of the Tuoba Family's main clan, the sixth-layer Qi Refining Cultivator Tuoba Qingtong, perished.

A member of the Tuoba Family's main clan, the fifth-layer Artifact Refining Cultivator Zhao Qingshan, escaped with heavy injuries.

The Tuoba Family's naval forces were slaughtered to the last man, with over 80,000 killed in action and over 50,000 missing, drifting within Yunmeng Marsh.

Meanwhile, the Great Yu navy suffered over 40,000 casualties, and the remaining 50,000-plus troops halted their advance after capturing Wuxi Island, holding their ground and defending it locally!

Up to this point, the Tuoba Family had lost the ability to continue marching north, and was also unable to lead troops to support Prince Chen in Xu Province.

"Meng Guang… can also be considered a talent."

Looking at the intelligence in his hands, Zheng Yi slowly nodded.

Although killing the Tuoba Family Cultivator could be said to be the merit of the Blood Moon Gu, without Meng Guang's command, the outcome of this naval battle might not have been certain.

"With a member of the Tuoba Family killed, presumably those Cultivators of the Tuoba Family will go even madder."

"Meng Guang…"

Zheng Yi muttered: "It still comes down to the main battlefield. As long as Xu Mujun's offensive there is tight, the Tuoba Family won't be able to get distracted."

"Xu Mujun, I wonder how you will handle this?"