Chapter 60: A Demon for Lust Part 2

Those two words alone were enough to make the Emperor’s heart soar. He took the cloth from a servant and haphazardly wiped the sweat from his face, unable to keep the corners of his mouth from twitching upward. “Minister hasn’t entered the palace for many days. I wanted to see you, but I couldn’t.”

Gu Huaiyu remained “unmoved by the sentiment.” His gaze swept over the kneeling servants and the guards standing with bowed heads in the distance. “I have important matters to discuss with Your Majesty. This is not the place for it.”

He turned and began walking toward the Hall of Chaste Government. He paused, then added, “Prince Xian, come as well.”

During the court assembly regarding Eastern Liao’s arrival, Prince Xian had stood firmly with the war faction. Today was the perfect time to pull him in and let him deal with the stubborn old imperial clansmen.

Inside the Hall of Chaste Government, the scent of agarwood drifted through the air.

Gu Huaiyu gestured, and the Iron Eagle Guards behind him immediately stepped forward to spread a map across the sandalwood desk. His elegant finger traced a line across the parchment, landing on the Eastern Liao border. “I intend to launch a campaign against Eastern Liao in the early spring of this year.”

Prince Xian seemed to have anticipated his thoughts. Showing no surprise, he nodded. “This Prince supports the Chancellor.”

Yuan Zhuo stared at the winding border and looked up at Gu Huaiyu. “What can I do for you?”

“Your Majesty only needs to trust me.”

Gu Huaiyu’s fingertip rested on Bingzhou, which bordered Eastern Liao—Pei Jingyi’s hometown. “The Northern Frontier Army currently has three hundred thousand men. For a local skirmish, that would suffice. But for a total war, three hundred thousand is far from enough.”

“The court still has over seven hundred thousand men in the Provincial Army, distributed across the five circuits of Lingnan, Xichuan, Yandi, Jinghu, and Jiangyou. Their combat strength varies, but if they are rapidly mobilized and reorganized, we can field a force of one million.”

As he spoke, his finger moved along various intersecting lines on the map. “As for provisions, the Ministry of Revenue has already begun pre-allocating supplies. I have ordered Wei Qingya and Shen Jun to begin moving goods from the southern ports. They will take the primary routes by both water and land, alternating between boats and carts across the Zhongzhou plains until they reach the northern frontier.”

“We will establish two stable supply lines. One is the ‘Express Line,’ using light boats and fast horses to deliver immediate needs. The other is the ‘Heavy Line,’ using slow-moving convoys to secure the main grain supply.”

When he finished, a long silence fell over the hall.

Yuan Zhuo and Prince Xian exchanged a glance, a flicker of gravity appearing in their eyes. The uncle and nephew of the old Yuan family had known Gu Huaiyu’s eyes were on Eastern Liao, but they hadn’t expected his appetite to be this staggering.

Any other war hawk in the court would have assumed the goal was to force Eastern Liao into a concession—to abolish the Annual Tribute treaty. If they were feeling particularly bold, they might dream of reclaiming the lost Three Provinces and Nine Commanderies—a feat that would secure one’s name in history.

But Gu Huaiyu’s arrangements—mobilizing a million men and exhausting the southern canal transport—pointed to something far more radical.

This wasn’t just a campaign. This was a plan to have the Iron Cavalry trample the Helan Mountains and strike directly at the Liao Royal Court!

In the two hundred years of Great Chen’s history, there had been dozens of Chancellors, yet none had ever dared harbor such a thought. And now, Gu Huaiyu was not only thinking it—he was making it happen.

The hall was so quiet one could hear a pin drop.

The Emperor stared at Gu Huaiyu’s cold, pale profile for a long moment. Suddenly, he stood up, picked up the teapot, and poured a cup. He held the tea with both hands and offered it to Gu Huaiyu, his voice clear and solemn. “I support my Minister.”

Gu Huaiyu took the cup with a slight clink of porcelain but said nothing. Instead, he turned his gaze to Prince Xian.

Knowing he was being asked to declare himself, Prince Xian also poured a cup and stepped forward to offer it. “I wish the Chancellor a swift victory. May your horses trample the Liao Court.”

Gu Huaiyu, satisfied with his cooperation, tapped his cup against the Prince’s. Suddenly, he noticed the ring on the Prince’s hand. It was an unremarkable grey-green jade thumb ring, but it bore two small characters: Chengtian.

Prince Xian noticed his gaze. He hid the ring behind his sleeve as he drank his tea. By the time he lowered the cup, the ring was largely hidden. “‘Chengtian’—to accept the mandate of heaven and act according to the times. I wear it to remind myself that the will of heaven cannot be defied, and one’s duty must not be overstepped.”