Chapter 532 - 291: Lu Yuan, Covering Himself, Replied, "I’m Awake, I’m Awake!
Chapter 532: Chapter 291: Lu Yuan, Covering Himself, Replied, "I’m Awake, I’m Awake!
Since the generals had been so rude, barging into Lu Yuan’s residence uninvited, Lu Yuan dropped all pretense of courtesy. Without a word of greeting, he sat down alone.
Su Liyan and Gu Ziye stood to the side, watching the scene unfold.
Lu Yuan crossed his legs, took a sip of tea, and looked at Lan Ying and the other generals. He asked slowly, "Grand General Lan, what is the meaning of you bringing all these generals to my home?"
Lu Yuan didn’t believe Gu Ziye’s theory that they were here to ransack the place. He certainly didn’t believe they would dare to lay a hand on him within the Imperial City.
After all, the woman he had married was the daughter of the reigning Emperor. Who would dare to rebel?
And even if they did have the courage, they were no match for him and Su Liyan.
Lan Ying and the other generals shifted to either side, clearing a path down the middle.
A eunuch in palace attire walked through, holding a bright yellow scroll.
Lu Yuan knew this sight all too well. The Emperor was about to issue another edict.
Gu Ziye muttered, "It’s over, it’s over. I was right. What’s going on?"
Gu Ziye knew her father’s nature all too well. He was swift and decisive with punishments, never letting familial ties get in his way.
Just a few days ago, the husband of her fourth sister, Princess Anqing—the very same sister who had seen her off at her own wedding—had been executed by their father for illegally selling salt and tea. He had been cut in half at the waist in the public market.
And he, too, had been a Prince Consort of the dynasty!
Naturally, Gu Ziye was terrified that Lu Yuan had made some mistake and angered the Emperor.
Su Liyan, however, was perfectly calm. She said nothing, merely watching quietly from the side.
The eunuch, his face pale and beardless, wore a solemn expression. He cried out in a shrill voice, "Lu Yuan, receive the edict!"
At these words, Lu Yuan knelt to receive it.
Su Liyan and Gu Ziye quickly knelt beside their husband.
The eunuch unrolled the scroll and read aloud, "By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor proclaims: For his meritorious service in resisting the pirates in the battle of Elephant Island, Lu Yuan is hereby specially appointed as Commander of the Left and Right Guards of the Mansion Army. May he serve the nation with devotion. By Imperial Decree!"
Lu Yuan froze for a moment. He remembered how, just a few days ago in the Imperial Capital, Emperor Gu Yuanzhang had wanted him to switch from a civil servant to a military general—a proposal Lu Yuan had already rejected.
’Hadn’t they already come to an agreement? Why was the edict being issued now?’
’As expected, indeed.’
’When Emperor Gu Yuanzhang decides something, no one can change it in the end.’
Even though Lu Yuan was unwilling, he had to accept the edict. To do otherwise would be defiance.
Back then, the great Liu Ji had helped Emperor Gu Yuanzhang establish the Divine Ling Empire.
When Liu Ji wanted to retire to his hometown, the Emperor refused. Wasn’t he forced to return to the Imperial City and continue serving as an official?
Under all heaven, there is no land that is not the king’s. To the very shores of the earth, there is no one who is not the king’s subject.
Such was the power of the Emperor!
"Commander Lu, are you not going to accept the edict?" the eunuch prompted.
Lu Yuan respectfully accepted the imperial edict and declared, "I thank His Majesty for this great honor! Long live the Emperor! Long live His Majesty!"
"Commander Lu, this old servant will now return to the Imperial Capital to report," the eunuch said, then turned and departed.
Lu Yuan and the others had just risen to their feet, still processing what had just happened.
Marquis Yongchang Lan Yu’s adopted son, Lan Ying, dropped to one knee without a moment’s hesitation.
His knee struck the floor with a heavy THUD.
It was a blow forceful enough to shatter a kneecap.
The Assistant Generals all followed Lan Ying’s lead, kneeling on the ground.
Lan Ying unfastened the sword at his waist, held it in both hands, and presented it to Lu Yuan.
"Greetings, Commander!"
The sudden turn of events left Lu Yuan at a loss.
This jarring contrast, like a swing from ice to fire, left Gu Ziye completely dumbfounded.
Lu Yuan quickly took Lan Ying by the arms to help him up. "Rise, all of you," he said. "There’s no need for such formalities."
Only then did Lan Ying and the other generals rise, their imposing figures filling the entire front hall.
Su Liyan tactfully took Gu Ziye by the hand and led her away. ’It’s best for women not to meddle in the affairs of men.’
Su Liyan trusted that Lu Yuan could handle everything.
These generals of the Left and Right Guards of the Mansion Army were all subordinates of Marquis Yongchang, Lan Yu.
The relationship between Marquis Yongchang Lan Yu and Lu Yuan was not a good one; the Marquis had sent assassins after Lu Yuan on multiple occasions.
In fact, the very same Lan Ying had once fought Lu Yuan in a martial arts tournament.
It was on the stage of that very tournament, a contest for marriage, that Lu Yuan had defeated Lan Ying to win Gu Ziye’s hand.
For Lan Ying to now be willingly acknowledging Lu Yuan as his commander... there had to be more to the story.
Lu Yuan placed his right hand behind his back, his thumb tapping against his other fingers.
The tips of his right fingers began to glow with a faint golden light as he performed the Divination Calculation Skill.
By observing the starry sky in his mind’s eye, Lu Yuan deduced the truth: Lan Ying, Lan Yu’s adopted son, was actually a Jinyi Guard whom the Emperor had placed at Marquis Yongchang’s side long ago.
Now, Lan Ying had already shed his identity as a Jinyi Guard and was serving as the Deputy Commander of the Mansion Army Right Guard.
Originally, the five guards of the Mansion Army had no appointed commander and answered directly to Marquis Yongchang, Lan Yu.
This meant that as Deputy Commander, Lan Ying held the highest authority within the Mansion Army Right Guard, second only to his adoptive father, Lan Yu.
Marquis Yongchang, Lan Yu, trusted his adopted son implicitly. When he led the Three Guards of the Mansion north by warship to suppress bandits, he left the Left and Right Guards of the Mansion under Lan Ying’s management.
Of course, he had also tasked his fourth and fifth adopted sons with assisting Lan Ying in managing the Left and Right Guards of the Mansion.
Just one day prior, Lan Ying had used the pretense of a drinking banquet to apprehend his fourth and fifth "brothers," handing them over to the Ministry of War.
Now, by appointing Lu Yuan as Commander of the Left and Right Guards, Emperor Gu Yuanzhang had effectively stripped those two guards from Marquis Yongchang Lan Yu’s control.