Song of Adolescence

Chapter 381 Army Retreats from Heavenly Revelations

Grand Eunuch Jin Xuan was taken aback. "Where is the imperial edict?"

Mingde Emperor said evenly, "We shall dictate, you will announce."

Jin Xuan hurriedly bowed his head. "As Your Majesty commands."

"In the 16th year of Mingde, the case of Langya Prince’s rebellion," Mingde Emperor said softly.

"In the 16th year of Mingde, the case of Langya Prince’s rebellion," Jin Xuan\'s internal energy was very deep as he repeated the words loudly. Every single person present could hear him clearly and they raised their heads, looking at Mingde Emperor. They couldn’t begin to guess what he was going to say next.

"Was our error of judgement," Mingde Emperor said without hesitation.

The people near him were shocked and even Lanyue Marquis’ expression crumbled. "Huang-xiong, you’re going to proclaim an edict of repentance!"

Dereliction of a monarch’s duties towards his subjects, a natural disaster, or when the regime was in political crisis. These were the only three extreme circumstances that would cause an emperor to issue an edict of repentance, to self-reflect and repent his mistake, and proclaim it to all under Heaven. However, the proclamation of an edict of repentance must be done with extreme caution, because the emperor’s mistakes would be recorded word-for-word in history books and passed down the ages. Since the founding of Beili, no emperor had ever issued an edict of repentance.

"Read it," Mingde Emperor glanced at Jin Xuan and ordered in a deep voice.

Jin Xuan recovered himself and did not dare to hesitate further. He continued narrating, "Was our error of judgement."

The Langya Army was greatly shocked.

Ye Xiaoying lowered his sabres and frowned.

"Langya Prince Xiao Ruofeng devoted his mind and body to serving the country and the people, yet he was maligned by traitors. Now, the traitors have been executed, this old case shall be exonerated. His title is restored posthumously, he is to be enshrined in the Ancestral Temple, and incense devoted to him without pause for ten years. His son, Xiao Lingchen, will inherit his title of nobility as Langya Prince. He is hereby conferred as General of Proclaimed Power and will take command of the former Langya Army, independent of the three armies, in direct service to the sovereign Prince. We listened to slander, wrongfully killed our beloved brother, our regret has no bounds. Every three days, we shall offer incense at the Ancestral Temple without fail until the day we die."

Mingde Emperor dictated the edict one line at a time while Jin Xuan narrated it one line at a time. After the entire edict of repentance was proclaimed, Mingde Emperor coughed lightly, and his thin and frail body started to tremble. He had to rely on Jin Xuan’s support to barely keep himself from collapsing.

Below the hall, the Langya Army was completely stunned. They never expected that in the end, Mingde Emperor would issue an edict of repentance and exonerate Langya Prince. After all that, they only had one question left in their hearts.

Should they fight this battle or not?

Xiao Lingchen turned around, fell onto his knees, and cried out loudly, "This subject has received the imperial edict!"

An edict of repentance was an imperial edict issued by the emperor himself and proclaimed to all under Heaven. Who would dare to receive such an edict?

Xiao Lingchen stood up again and turned to face the Langya Army. He continued speaking, his voice loud and clear, "My Marshal Father, Langya Prince Xiao Ruofeng, surrendered himself to self-imprisonment to quell the chaos in the country. The night of the riots in Heavenly Revelations City was personally plotted by my Marshal Father and me. For the stability of the country, my Marshal Father gave up his whole life’s glory and surrendered himself to self-imprisonment, then committed suicide on the execution ground to secure all under Heaven. All of you armed yourselves in the name of my Marshal Father, went against the orders of your general, mutinied against the imperial city and conspired to rebel against all under Heaven. Are you worthy of the three words, Langya Army?"

Xiao Se muttered aside coldly, "Weren’t you the one who brought them here?"

Xiao Lingchen whispered, "If I didn’t, would those old eunuchs trust me?"

Lei Wujie also whispered, "We’re at a critical juncture here. Can you guys stop bickering with each other?"

Of course, the Langya Army did not hear their soft bickering amongst themselves. They only heard the first ever edict of repentance since the founding of Beili, as well as Xiao Lingchen’s loud declaration.

The former three heavenly generals did not hesitate to stand on the side of their little Prince, Xiao Lingchen. They led the troops under their control to open a path for the Imperial Army. But, the real army was still under Ye Xiaoying\'s control.

Since shouting that long roar, the golden-armoured general had remained silent once again. After a long time, he finally turned his horse around and walked slowly towards the palace gate.

At this point, he finally raised his head and said to the Heavens, "General, oh, general, why did you reject the idea of being the emperor so much?"

It was a pity that he spoke so softly. None of the soldiers dared to approach him either, so in the end, nobody heard his words.

At the beginning of Mingde Year 22, the shocking rebellion that was known as the "Mutiny of the Langya Army" by later generations, finally came to an end with the golder-armoured general, Ye Xiaoying, withdrawing from Heavenly Revelations City. The final explanation recorded in the history books was that the three old grand eunuchs forged the Dragon-Sealed Scroll to instigate the former Langya Army to rebel. Finally, the Langya Army under the leadership of Langya Prince Xiao Lingchen, killed the rebels and his merits negated his faults. Also, Mingde Emperor finally admitted that the case of Langya Prince’s rebellion in the past was an error of judgement and proclaimed an edict of repentance to restore Langya Prince’s name and honour and carried out a reprimand on himself. However, Xiao Lingchen quickly proved that there was a reason for Mingde Emperor’s error of judgement. That year, Xiao Ruofeng deliberately suffered self-imprisonment and defamation, so that he couldn’t be exploited by traitors. He also plotted the night of the riots in Heavenly Revelations City.

The ending recorded in the history book was Langya Prince’s case was exonerated, the three old grand eunuchs, Zhuo Xin, Zhuo Luo and Zhuo Sen, as well as the Eunuch of Sword Jin Wei, were executed on the spot but the Eunuch of Seal Jin Yan went missing. Xiao Lingchen inherited Langya Prince’s title and took command of the Langya Army. During this remarkable and massive rebellion, the total number of people who died in the war added up to only about a hundred. It was indeed an incredible story.

As for the Dragon-Sealed Scroll which was actually genuine, there would never be a final verdict on whose name was written on it. After all, regardless of what was said, both opportunities to publicly announce its contents were destroyed by two generations of Langya Prince. Later, several versions began circulating in teahouses. For example, the name actually written on the Dragon-Sealed Scroll was Xiao Ruofeng so he was the rightful sovereign. For example, there was actually nothing written on it because Tai’an Emperor didn’t get to write on it before he died. But, all these stories could only stay as stories, after all.

Of course, there were many other things not recorded clearly in the history books, leaving endless conjectures for future generations. For example, the two other most important armies of Beili seemed to be completely silent during this rebellion. Although they had actually and properly marched in, they were stopped by the Wang Li Heavenly Army, which was supposed to have been guarding Heavenly Revelations City. It was as if the Wang Li Heavenly Army knew about this in advance and marched northwards to block the path and prevent the two armies from advancing. It was as if there was an invisible hand controlling everything, making the originally chaotic situation suddenly become simple and clear. As for who this invisible hand was, perhaps the appearance of that person in the green dress was significant. And, a month later, Ye Xiaoying suddenly announced he was retiring and returned to his hometown. At his age, it was indeed too early to retire and return home. But, no one expressed any doubts. After all, this was the best outcome for everyone.

Also, Xiao Lingchen entered the palace once and had a conversation with Mingde Emperor. Their talk lasted a whole night and nobody knew what they talked about.

At the same time, Heavenly Revelations City began an intensive manhunt. In addition to the men sent by the Court of Judicial Review, the Red Prince Xiao Yu, White Prince Xiao Chong, Yong’an Prince Xiao Se and Langya Prince Xiao Lingchen, all sent their people out to search for Jin Yan. Because he still had a scroll in his hand with the names of countless high-ranking officials and nobilities. Without these people, there was no way the Langya Army could have stepped into Heavenly Revelations City without obstruction.