Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress novel Chapter 53

Chapter 53: Chapter 53: Avenging Humiliation_1

King Liang sat before the roaring fireplace wrapped in a heavy cloak. The bright flames cast a reddish glow on his deathly pale face. His phoenix eyes were dark, contemplating who knows what.

Du Zhiwei, King Liang’s advisor, had planned everything before his death…

He first had King Liang work under the guise of serving King Xin, urging King Xin to compete for military merits against the Duke of Zhen. The current emperor was already dissatisfied with the Duke due to his numerous military accolades, so he quickly permitted his favorite son to go to the frontlines and oversee the military, even giving King Xin a golden command arrow.

Later, Liu Huanzhang was secretly instructed to communicate with the King of Nanyan, aiming to wipe out the Bai family while all the men were with the Duke of Zhen.

At that time, all the capable and battle-tested commanders of the Bai family in Jin Kingdom would be exterminated! The Duke’s residence would then be accused of colluding with the enemy, uprooting the Bai family completely!

When war resumed in the southern borders, his father the emperor would have no generals to use and would have to rely on Liu Huanzhang, thereby placing military power under his control. This was the first step.

The second step involved keeping Bai Qingyan close, because Du Zhiwei mentioned that King Liang was not adept at military strategies. Therefore, Bai Qingyan, a praised “star general” even by the Duke of Zhen, was to be kept around to secure military merits and pave the way for ascending power.

Amidst the intense power struggle between King Qi and King Xin, both vying for the position of Crown Prince and resulting in mutual destruction, he, the accomplished prince, could return and easily reap the benefits.

Everything proceeded smoothly according to Du Zhiwei’s plan, until the death of Du Zhiwei and the marriage of Bai Jinxiu. Since then, things had not gone as smoothly as before.

Bai Qingyan’s family in Dengzhou intended to have their legitimate grandson marry Bai Qingyan, but when he sent her a jade pendant indicating the position of a chief consort, she did not accept it. When he personally went to meet Bai Qingyan, she did not see him. What was to be done?

King Liang instinctively wanted to ask Du Zhiwei how to handle this. Just as he was about to call for Du Zhiwei, he remembered that Du Zhiwei had died protecting him during an attack on the long street that day…

He violently coughed a few times. Hearing the commotion, Tongji, who was boiling medicine, quickly ran in and poured him a glass of water: “Your Highness, please drink some water!”

“Cough, cough, cough… Leave!” King Liang pulled his cloak tighter around himself.

His birth mother was of low status and died early. He was raised by Consort Tong, who, along with the late second prince, treated him like family. However, they were killed by those so-called pillars of the nation from the Duke of Zhen’s faction, meeting a tragic end.

Therefore, he was determined to fight for that position! Only by attaining it could he exact justice for Consort Tong and the second prince, no matter the despicable means necessary.

Staring at the fire pit in deep thought for a long time, King Liang suddenly called out hoarsely: “Gao Sheng!”

Hearing him, Gao Sheng entered, cupped his fists, and saluted: “Master!”

“Go and call Hongqiao over… I have orders for her.”

Soon, Hongqiao came in through the snow. After hearing King Liang’s orders, she was initially shocked but then knelt down, resolutely declaring: “Your servant owes a debt of gratitude to the second prince. Since he is no longer here, I should have followed him in death. But it was Your Highness who gave me hope for revenge and kept me alive! I understand Your Highness’s intentions. For this mission, I wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice my honor, or even my life. I will see it through to the best of my ability!”