Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress-Chapter 859 - 856: Prevalent

"General Liu claimed he dared to use his life to guarantee that the Emperor did not want to use these children to refine elixir, but on what basis do you dare use your life as a guarantee?! Children... are the future of a nation! Who can guarantee that among these children won’t emerge future generals or prime ministers?! Is your life, General Liu, more precious than a thousand children?! How dare you speak of such a guarantee with your life!"

Liu Hong’s face turned ashen, unable to utter a single word.

"Imperial power and authority?! Ha! By then... imperial power will demand the lives of these thousand children! Authority will demand the lives of these thousand children! General Liu... could your death bring back these children’s lives?!" Bai Qingyan questioned coldly, "Do you forget the event when King Liang used children to refine elixirs for the Emperor to consume?! We all knew it was King Liang’s doing, but under whose orders was it?! Why did the Emperor go to such lengths to protect King Liang afterwards?! General Liu! Have you really forgotten all that?!"

"As soldiers, what do we fight and bleed for?! We do it to protect the people! But look! Open your eyes and look!" Bai Qingyan pointed at those tearful and seemingly resentful commoners, "They are the people we risk our lives to protect! Yet the Emperor treats them as insignificant, treats these children’s lives as insignificant! If you abandon the people for the so-called imperial power and authority, can you face our fallen brothers?! Can you face the fallen soldiers?!"

Bai Qingyan’s words were powerfully resounding, nearly moving Liu Hong to her side.

"We know our Emperor’s nature very well! General Liu understands more than I do! Selfish and self-serving, all for his own desires..." freёnovelkiss.com

"Princess of Zhen!" Liu Hong interrupted Bai Qingyan, eyes wide in fury, shouting, "Do not forget, you are a subject of Jin Kingdom! It was His Majesty who conferred upon you the title of Princess of Zhen!"

"I no longer care to be the Princess of Zhen." Bai Qingyan threw the whip in her hand, turned upright to face Liu Hong, "The Bai family’s descendants are born to learn these four words: protecting and easing the people! The Bai family army will not die in battle without shedding their armor, for they protect the people’s peace and worry-free lands! It’s never been for any imperial power or authority! Whether it’s me, Bai Qingyan, or Bai Jinzhi... we stake our lives in battle, never for the Imperial family! It’s for the people who pay the taxes and support us! Whoever harms the people, whoever they might be... they are my enemy, they are the Bai family’s enemy, and the enemy of the entire Bai family army!"

The atmosphere between Liu Hong and Bai Qingyan instantly turned tense, as if on the verge of drawing swords and nocking arrows.

The commoners who were kneeling and pleading to Bai Qingyan immediately understood the situation. They looked at Bai Qingyan... eyes brimming with tears and gleaming with hope. The Princess of Zhen was determined to protect the people even at her own peril!

The people of Jin Kingdom, passed down from generation to generation, said the Bai family is the backbone of Jin Kingdom, said the Bai family is the pillar of Jin Kingdom, said the Bai family army is a force that loves and protects the people, and it’s true!

"Princess of Zhen! Are you going to... to..." Liu Hong hesitated to speak the word "rebellion," as he was not sure whether the tens of thousands of surrendered soldiers brought back to Jin Kingdom, including Yang Wuce, would heed his orders.

No... those surrendered soldiers would certainly not heed his orders. From Yang Wuce’s reaction just now, he knew Yang Wuce would only follow the Princess of Zhen’s orders.

"Princess of Zhen!" The County Magistrate of Chunmu City stood on his tiptoes, craning his neck and shouting through the tall, burly soldiers like Yang Wuce, "Princess of Zhen! I am the parent official of Chunmu City, requesting an audience with the Princess of Zhen!"

Bai Qingyan, standing with her hands behind her back, turned her head towards the entrance of the government office and said, "Let him in!"

Liu Hong, stifling his anger but with little power and support, did not dare to force Bai Qingyan to say the word rebellion, stood aside, seething inside yet calculating how he should respond.

The County Magistrate of Chunmu City carefully avoided Yang Wuce’s sword point, carefully squeezed his stomach as he slipped through the soldiers blocking the entrance, ran a few steps to Bai Qingyan, and kneeled down.

"Princess of Zhen, please understand, an Imperial Edict from Dadu City has come, ordering me to gather one hundred virgin boys and girls in Chunmu City and deliver them to Jiuchongtai by the fourth day of May! But Chunmu City simply cannot gather enough. Both I and General Li, who guards the city, scrapped together some silver and bought a dozen children, but we won’t make it in time to deliver the children to Jiuchongtai by the fourth of May. Exhausting our personal wealth, we begged the envoy collecting the children for an extension, and he agreed only if we could set out this afternoon, promising to speak favorably on our behalf before the Emperor to forgive our delay. Now... if we can only add the two children the Princess of Zhen saved today, we will manage to set off for Jiuchongtai!"

The County Magistrate looked up at Bai Qingyan: "I do not fear for my own head, only that the Emperor’s wrath will bring disaster upon the commoners!"

On his way here, the County Magistrate had heard about Bai Qingyan saving two children outside the city.

"Princess of Zhen may not know, but it’s not just Chunmu City; Longyang City, Puwen City, Youhua City... all have been ordered to collect one hundred virgin boys and girls! In Longyang City, both the city-guarding General and the County Magistrate resisted the edict and were beheaded by the envoy who delivered the orders. Their wives and daughters were not spared! Longyang City’s citizens fled with their children in the night... those who were captured saw their entire families, even neighbors, executed!" The County Magistrate couldn’t help but weep bitterly, genuinely distraught. "The Emperor has also decreed that all adult men within a hundred miles must be conscripted to build Jiuchongtai and meet the deadline. Failure means death and calamity to their families. Many commoners have already been killed!"

Liu Hong’s eyes widened, his hands behind him trembling. To treat their own citizens with such cruelty and brutality.

The practice of familial penalization, abandoned long ago for its barbarity, now rampant again in Jin Kingdom.

"I thought that sending the children to Jiuchongtai, there might be a small chance they wouldn’t be used for refining elixirs. Although it’s a slim hope, it’s better than having a city full of citizens executed!" The County Magistrate said, crawling forward, looking at the citizens protecting their children, and kowtowed, "I have failed you all. As your parent official, I couldn’t protect the children of Chunmu City!"

Just as the County Magistrate’s voice fell, a child cried out for his father and ran towards the County Magistrate.

The citizens then recognized that the seven-year-old child was indeed the County Magistrate’s own child!

Seeing his own son, tears gushed from the County Magistrate’s eyes. He hugged his son and wept, saying to the citizens, "I bought these children not to save my own, but because Chunmu City simply couldn’t gather enough!"

The seven-year-old child clung to the County Magistrate and wailed, while the bought children stood by, parentless and neglected, looking lost and helpless.

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