The heir was far too important!
Once the heir died, Northern Liang would have no successor.
The others nodded in agreement. The chief steward was right; nothing could happen to the heir. If even the heir died, Northern Liang would fall apart, and that was absolutely not something they wanted to see.
As members of Northern Liang, they were already somewhat at odds with the Great Ning Dynasty.
If Northern Liang fell, they would be cast aside as well, so the problem of these assassins had to be resolved.
"Your Highness, why don't I lead a hundred thousand troops back to defend Northern Liang City?"
"Exactly. Every one of these assassins is vicious and extremely dangerous. Your Highness has taken quite a few men away, leaving the heir with no one to use. We must send reinforcements to Northern Liang City."
"Don't hesitate, Your Highness. Nothing can happen to the heir, or Northern Liang will be finished!"
Seeing how agitated they were, Lin Rusong could not help laughing heartily. "Rest easy, brothers. There's no need to worry about the assassins."
"What do you mean?"
Everyone looked utterly bewildered. These assassins were trying to kill the heir of Northern Liang. How could they not worry? Had the prince picked his son up off the street?
"Your Highness, has something changed?" Wang Ziwen's thoughts stirred. It seemed their prince had quite a few cards up his sleeve.
Seeing their worried faces, Lin Rusong was in an excellent mood. He thought smugly, Heh, you probably never imagined your heir would do something so big and purge all of Northern Liang City.
He had already learned what happened from the letter. His son was fine; the assassins, on the other hand, had been wiped out to the last man.
Well done, lad. Even I, the Prince of Northern Liang, wouldn't dare do something like this. This boy really is something.
Seeing everyone's solemn expressions, Lin Rusong put on a grave face. "Alas, that boy has caused a terrible disaster this time. After the attempt on his life, he deployed his Xiliang Iron Cavalry and the Northern Liang Guard and purged all of Northern Liang City. So there are no assassins left now."
"What?"
Their hearts first lurched, then they stared in disbelief.
Not only was the heir unharmed, he had actually purged all of Northern Liang City and killed off every last assassin?
Good heavens, just how thorough was this slaughter?
Was this a dream? Wasn't the heir notorious for being ignorant and incompetent? How had he suddenly become so fierce?
Wait!
Your Highness, what's with that proud expression? That doesn't look like blame.
"Is that really true?"
"It is!"
"Even the Heavenly Eagle Guard was purged?"
"Wiped out!"
"What about the Great Ning Guard?"
"Wiped out too!"
"Holy shit!"
Wang Ziwen, a scholarly strategist, could not help swearing. He almost thought he had misheard. Was their heir really this outrageous?
In a fit of rage, he had actually purged Northern Liang City. He had clearly slaughtered his way through the city, and in that case, those assassins really would have had no way to survive.
"Our heir is fucking awesome."
The others were even more dumbfounded. Just how ruthless was the heir? He had even struck at the Heavenly Eagle Guard and the Great Ning Guard. Each had a great nation behind it, yet the heir had destroyed them both.
He truly had boundless audacity!
"Hahahaha! How satisfying!"
Seeing their reactions, Lin Rusong could not help bursting into laughter, no longer able to suppress the smile blooming across his face.
His laughter brimmed with delight!
Relief!
And, more than anything, gratification!
In short, this was the first time in over twenty years that he had felt this good-even better than when he became the Prince of Northern Liang.
His son had finally amounted to something!
Uh...
Everyone was speechless with exasperation as they finally caught on.
So the prince's grave tone earlier had not been concern for the heir at all. He had been showing off his son's great deed. Their prince truly was hopelessly doting.
Though they felt put off, they still could not help feeling happy.
From the look of things, the heir had been hiding his abilities all along. Hateful as this assassination attempt had been, it had enraged the tiger pretending to sleep.
Northern Liang had a worthy successor!
With such a forceful heir, they no longer needed to worry about their own futures.
At this point, someone could not resist muttering, "The heir is far too savage. Which bastard said he'd never amount to anything? If he amounted to any more, he'd be fighting his way beyond Liangshan Pass!"
Everyone's mouths twitched at his words. That was treasonous talk. That meant rebellion.
Liangshan Pass was a mighty stronghold between Northern Liang and the Great Ning Dynasty. Fighting beyond Liangshan Pass meant attacking Great Ning and preparing to rule for themselves.
"Shut your mouth, you fool. What do you mean, fighting beyond Liangshan Pass? My son was apprehending assassins."
Lin Rusong glared at him and snapped.
Did this fellow know how to talk? Wasn't he saying my son was rebelling? Just what you'd expect from Zhang Dapao.
"Ahem!"
Wang Ziwen also cleared his throat, cutting off the topic.
This was not a subject to discuss carelessly. If word got out, it would inevitably bring more serious trouble. Though Northern Liang did not fear the Great Ning Dynasty, gossip was a fearsome thing, and letting this spread would harm the heir.
He said gravely, "Your Highness, there are quite a few of His Majesty's men in Northern Liang City too. I'm afraid a flood of impeachment petitions against the heir will arrive very soon. We must prepare countermeasures early!"
At this, everyone's expression darkened. That was indeed a problem.
The impeachment petitions against the prince had never stopped. Now that the heir had caused such an enormous incident, those censorial officials would probably go mad.
Under normal circumstances, the heir would likely be called to account!
"Damn it, these people were targeting Northern Liang to begin with. Now the heir really could be in serious trouble."
"What do we do, then? Nothing can happen to the heir!"
"Hmph. Who dares call my son to account?"
Lin Rusong sneered dismissively. "The people my son killed were all assassins, all people harboring ill intentions. What's wrong with that? I'll even report this to the court. Someone actually dared to assassinate the heir of Northern Liang-let the court investigate!"
He was no pushover. Although he had avoided antagonizing Great Ning for the sake of the bigger picture, that did not mean they could sit on his head and shit and piss.
Really piss me off, and I'll make you regret it in no time.
"That makes sense. They were all assassins!"
Everyone's eyes lit up. That was a good explanation. How could there be anything wrong with apprehending assassins? They could even seize the initiative.
Only Wang Ziwen sighed. He knew that Great Ning's emperor, Li Anlan, dared to target the prince and cut Northern Liang's provisions and military pay because he knew the prince could never reconcile with the barbarians.
The Princess Consort of Northern Liang had died at the barbarians' hands, as had hundreds of thousands of Northern Liang's people. That hatred could not be erased.
Thus, Li Anlan was not worried about the prince colluding with the barbarians at all. Doing so would be like cutting off his own arm, and that was why Li Anlan dared to act this way.
Thinking of this, he said gravely, "Your Highness, by eliminating so many enemy spies, the heir has rendered a great service. He must be rewarded generously."
"Good!"
Lin Rusong's eyes lit up at those words. That was indeed a fine idea.
They could use this opportunity to seize the moral high ground first. Then no impeachment petitions would matter, since the common people would already have given their approval.
But that raised a question: how should he reward his son?
A thought struck him, and he immediately had an idea. He could not help smiling. "That boy named his troops the Xiliang Iron Cavalry. Clearly, he wants to strike out on his own. I'll give him that chance!"
Xiliang, is it? Let's see whether you've got what it takes. Otherwise, settle down and be the heir of Northern Liang.
Everyone looked bewildered. What was going on? Why was the prince smiling so deviously?