The Grand Army Returns to the Capital

In an inn not far from the Yingtian Prefecture Office in the city of Nanjing, on the second floor, Princess Zhaoran, Zhu Yan, the daughter of the Chongzhen Emperor, sat at a square table by the window. Supporting her delicate cheek with one hand, she absentmindedly toyed with a teacup in the other. Her fine brows were lightly furrowed, and her face wore a deeply troubled expression.

Ruxue, her loyal personal maid who was never far from her side day or night, was busy organizing clothes and packing the luggage by the bed.

As she worked, Ruxue muttered with a touch of grievance, "Moving on, always moving on. From Zhending Prefecture to Jinan Prefecture, from Fengyang Prefecture to Huaian Prefecture, from Yangzhou Prefecture to Nanjing. We finally settled down in Nanjing for a little while, and now we have to leave again."

Zhu Yan did not pay attention to her grumbling and boldness. Along this arduous journey of thousands of miles southward, the mistress and servant had depended entirely upon each other for survival, and the bond between them had long since transcended the boundaries of mistress and maid.

The country was no longer a country, and home was no longer a home. Once a golden branch with jade leaves, she was now reduced to hiding in this inconspicuous little inn, grieving in solitude. Such drastic ups and downs, combined with these trials and tribulations, had long transformed Zhu Yan from a carefree, innocent princess into a vengeful maiden wrapped in a core of deep-seated hatred.

In Zhu Yan's eyes, within the bustling city of Nanjing, there seemed to be not the slightest trace of the fall of the state and the destruction of the family. The teahouse across the street was crowded with patrons every single day, an endless stream of people coming to listen to storytelling and operas. In the very inn where she was staying, guests still drank themselves senseless every day, delicacies of land and sea passing through their lips and bellies as they indulged in all the fine flavors of the mortal world.

On the streets below, high and low officials still dressed in lavish finery, swaggered ostentatiously through the crowds, laughing and talking merrily as if the raging fires of war across the northern territories were merely a bit of casual dinner-table conversation for them. There was no atmosphere of a fallen state and a shattered home here, no cries of sleeping in armor while awaiting dawn to recover the northern frontiers, and no stirring, heroic figures fiercely proclaiming loyalty like Yue Fei, shouting at the top of their lungs: "Return our rivers and mountains!"

Merchants' daughters know nothing of the hatred of a fallen state, across the river they still sing the flowers of Yu.

Having completely lost faith in Nanjing, Zhu Yan could no longer stay. She did not even have a single person she could trust. Remaining in Nanjing to watch this bunch of Ming ministers and generals indulge in decadence and wait to die while drowning in their dreamland was far worse than seeking another path. The south of the Yangtze River held a million Ming troops and hundreds of millions of ordinary people; she refused to believe that all crows in the world were pitch black. There had to be righteous men fiercely loyal to the Great Ming who could raise their arms in a rallying cry, and that was the person Zhu Yan was searching for.

Seeing that her young mistress was still lost in thought and ignoring her, Ruxue continued her complaints, "Oh my, who was it that used to tell me every single day that the Great Ming Dynasty had a martial champion whose strength could pull up mountains and whose spirit covered the world? Who was it that said whoever would eventually fight their way back to Beijing must be some kind of martial champion? Who was it..."

"Ruxue, you talk far too much. Hurry up and pack, we will set off as soon as you're done," Zhu Yan interrupted her. She had originally thought that Wang Lanping, the martial champion of the Great Ming, must have been extraordinarily valorous when battling the rebel forces in Huaining. Yet, unexpectedly, in recent days, more and more rumors had drifted to Nanjing, becoming the prime topic of conversation among the wine drinkers throughout the city.

Someone said that this return of Martial Champion Wang to Nanjing was definitely aimed at Chief Councilor Ma. Being young and hot-blooded, he simply could not bear to see Ma Shiying plunge the imperial court into such a foul and chaotic state. Perhaps he would simply slice the man down with a single blade, thereby achieving the unprecedented feat of becoming the very first 'general-prime minister' since the founding of the Great Ming Dynasty—who could say for sure?

Someone else said, "No, no, looking at this posture, how could it be that simple? A dynastic change is entirely possible. In the dead of night these past few days, he has seen dozens of carriages sneaking out of Chief Councilor Ma's residence several times. Those carriages were so heavily loaded that the wheels creaked loudly; nine chances out of ten, they were moving family wealth out of the city. The man is terrified."

Another person chimed in, "Shut your mouth quickly! Thank goodness the late emperor abolished the Jinyiwei, otherwise, with words like these, eight heads wouldn't be enough for you to lose. Let me tell you, the Martial Champion's return to court is for no other reason than to find a wife. I heard he is a man of exceptional appearance, skilled in both scholarship and martial arts, and a marquis to boot. With status like that, and still no wife—don't you think he's in a rush? He's definitely in a rush! If it were me, I'd look for eight or ten of them. Ah, what a pity, our family doesn't have a daughter, otherwise, I'd definitely present her to the Lord Marquis, and I could become the father-in-law of a marquis myself, haha! Whoever among you has a daughter better pay close attention."

Another spat and retorted, "Pui! You think the Lord Marquis has a short-sighted vision like yours? No matter what, he has to get a hundred or eighty wives..."

Regardless of whether the rumors in the marketplace were true or false, Zhu Yan was certain of one thing: the legendary Martial Champion had changed. Once he attained high office, he had changed, knowing only how to scramble for power and persecute political opponents. Even though those people deserved to die, it could not alter the fact that he was covertly gathering factions and cultivating cronies to enrich himself. If he were truly loyal to the Great Ming, he should have led his troops northward to fight his way back to Beijing, but he had done no such thing. Therefore, Zhu Yan refused to mention this person ever again, and the image of the Martial Champion had plummeted to the very bottom of her heart.

Ruxue pouted, walked over to Zhu Yan, and said with a feigned angry huff, "Miss, are we really leaving?"

"Of course. Why stay? Is there anything left in Nanjing worth lingering for?" Zhu Yan looked out the window, her gaze hollow and her pretty face cold and frozen.

Ruxue asked, "Then where can we go? Who are we going to look for?"

"I don't know!" Zhu Yan lowered her head to look at the teacup in her hand. "Zuo Liangyu, the regional commander of Wuchang, commands numerous troops and is currently garrisoned in Jiujiang. We might as well go there and take a look first."

Hearing this, Ruxue hastily waved her hands and said, "That will never do, that will never do! I heard that Zuo Liangyu is an old codger. If he really fights his way back to Beijing, Miss, with your golden-branch-and-jade-leaves status and flower-like beauty, wouldn't you end up having to marry him? Just thinking about it is terrifying!"

Zhu Yan's face suddenly sank, her pearly whites biting down hard on her lip, and she forced the words out one by one, "I only want to restore the state. Restore the state, do you understand?"

Ruxue stuck out her tongue, her large eyes flashing. "Fine, fine, pretend I said nothing. But Miss, all this fighting and killing is men's business; what can we, mere women, possibly accomplish? Instead of all this, why doesn't Miss simply reveal your true identity right here in the city of Nanjing? With the supreme dignity of a princess of the realm, why should you suffer the hardships of this bumpy journey amid such a chaotic world of war..."

"Are you still going on? Have you finished packing?"

Seeing that she could not persuade her, Ruxue made a helpless, comical face. "What is there even to pack? A princess of the Great Ming Dynasty now reduced to having only a few coarse cloth garments that even ordinary commoners would wear. Oh, and this pitiful maid of yours who is following you through thick and thin without ever leaving your side."

"What? Regretting it now? It's still not too late to leave."

Seeing that the princess was genuinely angry, Ruxue immediately dropped her smiling face, rushed over to support the princess by the arm, and said with an ingratiating, cheeky grin, "Hehe, no, no, wherever Miss goes, Ruxue goes! Let's go, let's hit the road, let's hit the road."

The two of them gathered their bundles, settled the inn bill, retrieved their horses from the stable hand, mounted up, and headed toward the east gate.

When the two women arrived at the foot of Purple Mountain outside the city of Nanjing, Zhu Yan reined in her horse and gazed into the distance. Ahead of them, mountain ridges rolled in layers and purple clouds billowed upward—this was the mausoleum of the founding emperor of the Great Ming, the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum.

Because soldiers guarded the perimeter of the mausoleum and prevented anyone from approaching closely, Zhu Yan had no choice but to dismount. The two of them knelt and bowed toward the mountain, then swung back onto their saddles and headed west once more.

Just as they left the mausoleum boundaries, they heard a rumble of horsebeats coming from ahead, shaking the earth like rolling thunder. From time to time, excited commoners hurried past them. Halting the townspeople to make inquiries, the two discovered that these were the vanguard cavalry of Wang Lanping, sweeping past the foot of the mountain to clear the obstacles so that the main army could return triumphantly to the capital. The commoners were all rushing out to watch the troops arrive.

Urging their mounts faster, the two women rode through a grove of trees and, from afar, could already see dust swirling high above the official road beneath the mountain as squadrons of cavalry galloped past.

When they drew closer, they saw that the banners accompanying the troops were embroidered with three large characters: Champion Army.

Zhu Yan silently thought to herself: Wang Lanping has returned to Nanjing. A bloody internal struggle within the imperial court is about to begin, and the state will know no peace.

"Let's go!" Zhu Yan jerked her horse's head, preparing to leave.

However, Ruxue stretched out her neck, craning to look toward the rear of the dust-choked cavalry brigade. "Wait, Miss! They said Martial Champion Wang is going to pass by here in a moment. I want to see what he looks like—does he really have three heads and six arms?"

"Three heads and six arms is Erlang Shen. Let's go. A petty villain who manipulates power is not worth looking at."

"Just a glance, just one glance! Look, so many women have gathered here, all come to catch a glimpse of the Champion Lord's demeanor."

Several young women nearby heard someone speaking ill of the Martial Champion behind his back, and instantly turned their heads in unison to glare at Zhu Yan.

Feeling somewhat uncomfortable under their gaze, Zhu Yan's pretty face sank, and she said to Ruxue, "Are you coming or not? If you're not coming, I'm leaving. Giddyup!"

"Miss, Miss, wait for me! Hey, giddyup!"

Just moments after Zhu Yan and her companion departed, a grand army came rolling on from afar, its battle flags filling the sky. At the head of the procession fluttered a massive banner bearing a single, characteristically bold character: 'Wang'.

Wang Lanping rode a white horse, his armor gleaming with silvery light, flanked by two hundred personal guards who never left his side. This was his second entry into Nanjing; compared to his previous bedraggled and miserable state, this time he was truly formidable, with strong troops and an imposing momentum like a rainbow.

Guided by three thousand cavalrymen, the twenty thousand soldiers were divided into vanguard, center, and rear armies. With chests puffed out and heads held high, stepping in unison amidst the cheers of the commoners, they slowly marched into the city of Nanjing.

On that day, Wang Lanping had bid farewell to Shi Kefa and galloped back to the Xiangshan Camp. As it happened, the personal guards who had secretly gone to Liu Zeqing's hometown in Hangzhou to seize the illicit wealth of the Liu family had also returned to the camp under the escort of troops dispatched by Song Dali.

Wang Lanping was overjoyed. Upon tallying the loot, it turned out Liu Zeqing had not lied at all: fifty thousand taels of gold and two million seven hundred thousand taels of silver, filling a full eighty large carts. Song Dali had mobilized a full ten thousand troops from the Anyuan Camp just to transport this back.

With money, troops, and power, nothing in Wang Lanping's eyes could stop him any more. The threat of Gao Jie and Liu Zeqing outside Nanjing was gone; what remained was merely that hollow city of Nanjing. Controlling Nanjing was equivalent to controlling all the civil and military officials of the south of the Yangtze River.

Wang Lanping ordered fifty thousand taels of silver to be secretly dispatched to Huaian. Zheng Sen was not well-off either, and his armaments were far too outdated; it was time to replace old muskets with new ones.

The entire camp celebrated for three days, drinking heartily and making merry.

During those three days, Song Dali gave a detailed report of everything that had happened in the camp during Wang Lanping's absence. Secret intelligence indicated that someone in the camp had been colluding with Ma Shiying, accepting silver from him with the objective of serving as internal agents within the army when various regional commanders rose to overthrow Wang, staging an uprising together. Currently, these individuals were under surveillance by men dispatched by Lord Song and could be eliminated at any moment to cut off future trouble. Wang Lanping had long known that those whose military authority he had stripped would not give up so easily, and a counterattack was only a matter of time. Fortunately, he had made preparations in advance; their trusted officers and soldiers had all been broken up and integrated into various camps, so even if they wanted to rebel, it could not be accomplished overnight.

Wang Lanping was too lazy to interrogate them, nor was there any need. An investigation yielded accurate targets every time, and carrying out a thorough purge was simply too troublesome. He decided to simply bundle them up and secretly send them off to give their lives in loyalty to the Chongzhen Emperor.

Various intelligence reports indicated that Ma Shiying was scurrying about within the imperial court, linking up with regional commanders, military governors, and high officials, pointing his spear directly at Wang Lanping. If this man was not eliminated, he would truly become a grave internal threat.

Three days later, Wang Lanping raised his banners in council. He ordered Zheng Hongkui, the regional commander of Zhenjiang, to lead eight hundred naval warships upriver, stationing them along the riverbank in Taiping Prefecture to face Huang Degong's defense line across the water, thereby providing flank support for Huang Degong's standoff against Li Laiheng in Hezhou. He also dispatched ten thousand men from the Dingyuan Camp under Cao Dingjiao to garrison north of the river, standing ready at all times to reinforce Shi Kefa in Yangzhou or counter any eastward advance by Li Zicheng.

Wang Lanping personally led a grand army of twenty thousand from the Huaiyuan and Anyuan Camps, with Song Xian's three thousand light cavalry clearing the way ahead and Song Dali's five thousand heavy cavalry guarding the rear. He sent messengers ahead to Nanjing to seek an audience with the Hongguang Emperor and Ma Shiying, stating clearly: the drills at Xiangshan have concluded, and the Great Ming has once again trained a formidable force of thirty thousand. We are now returning triumphantly to the capital to be reviewed by His Majesty the Emperor and all the officials.

The moment the army set out, the entire imperial court was shaken to its core.