Chapter 110: Only You

Yang Kai was a smart person. When he saw Mou Liangbi and Zong Lianghu waiting outside, he knew that these two people’s opportunity was here. Although he didn’t pay attention to the government, he had his information channels.

Yu Donglai was first demoted to the deputy, then he had to resign. The Ministry of War could still operate with either the position of the head or the deputy empty, but it didn’t make sense to have both positions empty.

After Hou Junci, the Deputy of the Ministry of War, got executed, Yu Donglai worked overtime to keep everything together. Now that Yu Donglai was gone, the Emperor wouldn’t leave the ministry idle.

At this moment, Two Liangs appeared in Smooth Spring Garden; the Emperor’s intention was clear.

Two Liangs were Mou Liangbi and Zong Lianghu; they had this title for a long time.

About 12 years ago, they were thrown into the Heavenly Dungeon and should have been executed. However, the Emperor treasured their talents, so he locked them up instead.

Those who were charged with lesser crimes were executed, so the fact that they got pardoned was special.

Their crime was supporting Third Prince Yang Ji at the time to fight for the throne.

Among all the princes, Third Prince Yang Ji had the most support. When the previous emperor was still alive, he had the intention of making Yang Ji the crown prince. However, Fourth Prince Yang Yi at the time suddenly made a move, leading an army into Chang’an under the help of Seventh Prince Yang Qi and walking into Tai Chi Palace with armor and a sword.

Before the previous emperor passed away, he pointed at Yang Yi and named him his successor.

After Fourth Prince Yang Yi got on the throne, he appeared mild-tempered, but he executed those who supported the Third Prince and the Elder Prince in secret.

This was how genius the Emperor was. Although he had killed so many people, most people still stubbornly believed that he was the mildest emperor in the history of Great Sui.

This was something difficult to do, but the Emperor pulled it off.

At the time, Third Prince Yang Ji was the most likely to become the next ruler because two wise advisors helped him. These two people were Mou Liangbi and Zong Lianghu. The Third Prince made many friends and helped many people, making most of the officials favor him. Most of the tactics that the Third Prince used came from these two people.

However, the perfect plan had a loophole.

During the fight for the throne, the Third Prince believed his judgment and allowed Fourth Prince Yang Yi to lead soldiers and stop the Elder Prince who was heading back to Chang’an from the eastern region.

Mou Liangbi and Zong Lianghu tried to dissuade the Third Prince, but the Third Prince believed that the Fourth Prince was on his side and would never betray him. He even told Mou Liangbi that if the latter said more bad things about Yang Yi, he would kill Mou Liangbi instantly.

The Third Prince emphasized what he said, and Mou Liangbi couldn’t help but say that everything was over.

This went to show how calculative the Emperor was back then. The ambitious Third Prince wasn’t alerted at all and even believed that Yang Yi was one of his henchmen, placing more trust in Yang Yi compared to Two Liangs. This showed how deeply tricked the Third Prince was.

Seeing that they couldn’t convince the Third Prince to eliminate the Fourth Prince, Mou Liangbi and Zong Lianghu tried something else to save the situation. They advised the Third Prince to kill Seventh Prince Yang Qi who was the closest with Fourth Prince Yang Yi.

After thinking for a long while, Third Prince Yang Ji refused to do so. He said that if he killed Yang Qi, Fourth Prince Yang Yi who was extremely loyal to him would rebel, so doing such a thing was harmful and not helpful.

Later, when Seventh Prince Yang Qi took control and guarded one of the city gates of Chang’an, Zong Lianghu led soldiers and tried to take back the control.

He tried to kill everyone who was with Seventh Prince Yang Qi, but he was shocked to find that the latter was a hidden cultivation master.

Zong Lianghu was one of the few people who had seen Yang Qi’s ability and was still alive today, and he couldn’t forget how dominating Yang Qi was in that battle.

Thousands of elite soldiers tried to siege and capture the city gate, but they couldn’t defeat a few hundred of Yang Qi’s servants!

In that battle, Yang Qi showed his power and guarded the gate on his own after all his servants died, yet thousands of elite soldiers couldn’t approach the gate. He bought enough time for Fourth Prince Yang Yi to rush back with an army.

Then, Yang Yi ordered the execution of the thousands of royal soldiers who tried to siege the gate since they injured Seventh Prince Yang Qi.

After the Emperor sat on the throne, he issued an edict and ordered the execution of Mou Liangbi and Zong Lianghu. However, Yang Qi, who was crowned Royal King Zhong, persuaded the Emperor. In the end, these two people were thrown into the Heavenly Dungeon for close to 12 years.

When they were released, they were completely different people.

More than 12 years ago, both Mou Liangbi and Zong Lianghu were dashing figures.

At the time, there were Ten Fancy Gongzi in Chang’an; they were the ten gongzi from big families who were the richest, most knowledgeable, and most handsome based on the ratings from the women in pleasure quarters.

It was heard that when these ten people went to pleasure quarters for fun, many women wouldn’t charge them and would even give them money instead.

Mou Liangbi and Zong Lianghu were the two most unique people among the Ten Fancy Gongzi.

Mou Liangbi was more normal since the Mou Family was still famous in the southeast, but Zong Lianghu’s family had decayed. Although he was given a nominal official position when he was born, he relied on friends and relatives to get by each day.

Zong Lianghu’s life only got better after he became friends with Mou Liangbi.

After the two of them became the Third Prince’s henchmen, they reached the peak of their lives. It was heard that when the news of Gongzi Zong finally becoming a big official broke, many women in pleasure quarters cried out of joy, saying that they spotted a treasure and didn’t waste the money that they gifted him.

This just went to show how popular Zong Lianghu among women.

Emperor Yang Yi looked at Two Liangs who were sitting on the chairs that were facing him, and he could tell that their expressions weren’t friendly. He pointed at the tea on the table and asked, “You aren’t going to drink it?”

This question was abrupt, and even Yang Kai, the King of Xu State who was sitting next to the Emperor, got surprised. After a second, Yang Kai’s heart lurched and thought, “This question seems simple, but His Majesty is asking about something deeper. Things would go south if they couldn’t understand the situation.”

Yang Kai didn’t have personal relationships with these two, and the Emperor was right beside him, so it wasn’t suitable for him to hint at them using his eyes. He could only lower his head and pretend to taste the tea.

After asking that question, the Emperor looked at Mou Liangbi and Zong Lianghu and waited for their response.

After a moment of silence, Mou Liangbi looked at Zong Lianghu, and the latter sighed slightly and nodded.

“We will drink!” The two of them grabbed the teacups and drank the tea, ignoring the fact that the tea was still slightly hot. Since they drank so fast, some tea got spilled and wetted their grey prisoner’s uniforms. Because of it, they looked even more disheveled.

These two were two fancy gongzi about 12 years ago, and even now Mou Liangbi was only 38 years old while Zong Lianghu was only 35 years old. However, they looked to be about 60 years old. Their hair was messy, their clothes were worn-out, their beards reached their chest, and the dirt underneath their fingernails looked disgusting.

Time left too many marks on their faces; they were less than 40 years old, but wrinkles were all over their faces.

It was easy to imagine how tough these two had it in the last 12 years. Since the Third Prince died, they no longer had support. They had no close friends or relatives who could tip the jailers and make their lives easier, so it was hard for them to live until now.

If the Ministry of War didn’t need people, the Emperor might not be able to remember them. If they died in prison beforehand, the Emperor would be too lazy to investigate and blame anyone.

These two people drank the hot tea before standing up and bowing toward the Emperor; they weren’t willing to sit down again.

Emperor Yang Yi smiled and suddenly pointed at the snacks on the table. “You aren’t going to eat?”

Since they already drank the tea, how could they not eat?

“We will eat!” These two men nodded, and they each grabbed a snack with their dirty hands before placing them in their mouths.

“You are done?” the Emperor asked the third question.

The two nodded again and continued to eat more.

There were four plates of snacks on the table, and they were enough to feed two burly men. Also, since the snacks were dry, it was easy to choke on them.

However, these two people quickly devoured the four plates of snacks like hungry wolves.

Mou Liangbi looked at the Emperor with his mouth stuffed, and he hiccupped repeatedly. On the other hand, Zong Lianghu patted his chest as if he was slightly choking.

Yang Kai couldn’t help but smile, and he peeked at the Emperor, seeing that Yang Yi was also smiling.

After being locked up for close to 12 years, these two reckless people finally saw through things. Now, they had no way out except for listening to the Emperor.

“You are full?” the Emperor asked.

“Yes,” the two replied with their heads lowered.

The Emperor waved his hand and said, “Su Buwei, go bring them to bath and change. The smell in the room won’t be gone in three days.”

“As you wish.” Su Buwei quickly nodded and led these two men who yielded to the Emperor out of the room. After he walked out of the room, Mou Liangbi took a deep breath and opened his arms, stretching his body. Zong Lianghu looked at him and suddenly laughed, and tears of joy filled his cloudy eyes.

“The smell of this garden is great!” Mou Liangbi said.

“The outside is great,” Zong Lianghu added.

…

“Your Majesty, how do you know that these two will yield?” Yang Kai asked the Emperor with admiration.

The Emperor smiled and said, “There are no outsiders here, so you can just call me Fourth Brother. The answer to your question is simple; I know that they would yield and not be stubborn like close to 12 years ago because… they stayed in the prison for close to 12 years and didn’t die.”

Yang Kai froze for a second and finally understood what the Emperor meant after a while of thinking.

“Yeah…” Yang Kai sighed, “It isn’t easy for them to survive in prison, so they must have tried hard to stay alive. With their identities and crime, only those with great wisdom and perseverance could do it.”

“They don’t have great wisdom, but they are smart enough,” the Emperor laughed, “Since they want to live, they don’t dare to disobey me. If they aren’t afraid of death, they would have died in prison many times. Since they are still alive, it means that they want to live.”

The Emperor got up, stretched his body, and said, “I will let them handle the Ministry of War. However, I didn’t summon you to chat. I know that you have been idle in recent years and probably don’t want to work in the government, but you would need to. Although you don’t have to manage the Ministry of War, there is something more important that I need you to do.”

“I’m listening.” Yang Kai quickly stood up and replied.

“I have secretly transported millions of kilograms of food from seven food storages north of Yangtze River as well as all the weapons and armor in three palaces that are enough to equip half a million soldiers to the northwest. Also, I have secretly ordered 400,000 soldiers from the northeast, southwest, and south to travel to the northwest. Most of the officials don’t know about this, and I will mention it when the time is right. Now, I need someone to go there and manage the situation in the northwest.” The Emperor looked at Yang Kai and said, “Only you can handle this task.”

Yang Kai was shocked, and his eyes instantly opened wide.

“Your Majesty… you are going to wage war in the northwest for real?”

The Emperor nodded and said, “All the previous emperors of Great Sui expanded the territory. Since I’m now the ruler, how can I only guard what was passed down to me and not make progress? Not only am I going to expand Great Sui, but I’m also going to expand it toward the west! I will prove to Father Emperor that he didn’t pick the wrong successor!”

Yang Kai couldn’t calm down, and he wanted to dissuade the Emperor from attacking Mongo-Yuan. However, seeing the Emperor’s bright eyes, he swallowed his words.

“I already selected a few young talents for you as assistants, and I will issue edicts and move them to the northwest. After you arrive, they will help you with their abilities.”

The Emperor walked to Yang Kai and patted his shoulder while saying, “Twelfth Brother, don’t disappoint me!”