I just want to be a princess, no, you want to be a queen

Chapter 179: The Art of Commanding Troops

Lu Mingyuan's eyes darkened slightly, but his voice remained calm. "Your Majesty is wise. Most of the border troops are good at defense but not at attacking, which leads to constant looting. While this is a minor nuisance for the imperial court, the people living on the border are suffering untold. If we could have a well-equipped cavalry unit interspersed among them, we wouldn't need a large number of people to deter the Xiongnu."

Chu Mingzheng didn't expect that this was her first thought. He suddenly understood why Yangyang was so persistent in wanting her elder sister to become a general fighting for the country.

Who among those who respect talent has the heart to see a genius fall and be trapped in the mud?

Chu Mingzheng consoled him, "Your Majesty is fortunate that he did not disband them and incorporate them into the various military camps. From now on, with every victory, the people will know the bravery of the former Marquis of Chengyang."

Lu Mingyuan raised his glass in a toast: "Thank you, Your Highness."

Chu Mingzheng didn't dare to accept it, so he raised his glass in response: "This matter was strongly recommended by Song Shaobao, perhaps because of our friendship as classmates with the General of the Central Army."

"Is he so kind?" Lu Mingyang poked his head out from between the two wine glasses.

"Then I don't know." Chu Mingzheng threw the silver cup in his hand. The silver cup hit the beam and bounced back, heading straight towards Lu Mingyang's eyebrows, as fast as lightning.

In an instant, Lu Mingyuan's hand blocked his sister's view and grabbed the silver cup. At the same time, Chu Mingzheng protected Lu Mingyang's head and fell into his arms.

"Marquis Chengyang has great skills!" Chu Mingzheng bowed.

"What are you doing!" Lu Mingyang pushed him away angrily and stood in front of his elder sister.

Lu Mingyuan put down his wine glass and asked calmly, "Your Highness, why are you testing my skills?"

Chu Mingzheng said: "I have three questions for my elder sister."

"Ask if you want to!" Lu Mingyang angrily pulled his eldest sister away. Lu Mingyuan held his sister's hand and said, "Your Highness, ask!"

Chu Mingzheng asked, "With your skills, can you defeat the masters of the Eight Colonel Battalions and the Imperial Guards in the capital?"

Lu Mingyuan said, "Captain Sheng Pei might be in trouble, but the others are no problem."

That means he can win, but he is just being modest because Pei Mian was once his deputy general.

Chu Mingzheng asked the second question: "If we build a female battalion, how strong will it be?"

Lu Mingyuan thought for a moment and said, "Women are small and weak. They naturally have no advantage in charging into large-scale battles. However, if they are used in other areas, they may have advantages, such as spying on military intelligence."

Chu Mingzheng glanced at Lu Mingyang and asked one last question: "If I were to form a female battalion like this, would you be willing?"

Lu Mingyuan looked at his sister in surprise.

Lu Mingyang turned around and looked at Chu Mingzheng angrily, "Why didn't you discuss this with me first?"

He had clearly agreed to be in charge of the elite personal soldiers left by his father, so how could he have a female army and form his own? Uh..., it seems that he didn't explicitly say that they were his father's personal soldiers, but that didn't give him a reason to be cunning.

Lu Mingyuan held his sister's arm, looked directly at Chu Mingzheng, and said loudly: "If I were in charge, the fighting power would be no less than any army of the same strength."

Only then did Chu Mingzheng dare to look at Lu Mingyang and ask, "Yangyang, what do you think?"

Since my eldest sister had agreed, what else could I say? Lu Mingyang asked, "Can female soldiers do it?"

Why did she feel that this was even more difficult than simply being in charge of her father's personal soldiers?

Chu Mingzheng said: "As long as my elder sister can defeat the generals in the army, I will take care of the rest."

After dinner, Lu Mingyang asked Chu Mingzheng to go back to Xunyang Pavilion first, and he accompanied Lu Mingyuan back to Yuanzhi Pavilion.

Lu Mingyuan asked, "Yang'er, why did His Highness have this idea? Did you beg him for it?"

"Who said I begged him?" Lu Mingyang raised his head proudly. "He was the one who kept nagging me, asking if I needed any help. I got tired of his nagging, so I told him."

Lu Mingyuan was amused by his sister and asked, "This is not an easy task. What does Your Highness want to do?"

"Don't worry about that, elder sister. If he says he can do it, then he will definitely do it." Lu Mingyang walked forward with his elder sister, casually chatting: "Eldest sister, what do you think of His Highness?"

"very good!"

"How does that compare to His Majesty?"

Lu Mingyuan suddenly glanced sideways and said anxiously, "Yang'er, you can't follow him and become a traitor!"

"No!" Lu Mingyang pushed his eldest sister into the house and said guiltily, "I just think that Concubine Zhou harmed my father and brothers in order to make her son the emperor. If Your Highness can ascend to that position, wouldn't that be considered revenge for my father?"

"There are many ways to take revenge, but this is definitely not the way." Lu Mingyuan's eyes were red and swollen, and he warned sternly: "My father has been loyal to the emperor and the country all his life, but his daughter has become a traitor. How will the world view my father?"

Seeing his elder sister's firm attitude, Lu Mingyang did not mention the matter again. After chatting for a few words, he walked out of Yuanzhi Pavilion.

A dark shadow appeared under the willow tree.

Lu Mingyang walked over, punched him in the chest, and angrily said, "Aren't you afraid that I'll be killed?"

Chu Mingzheng felt wronged: "I just want to make Gao Xing happy!"

"Happy?" What a twisted logic.

"Yeah!" Chu Mingzheng said, "Although I don't know how important my brothers are to my eldest sister, I can see that you are more important to her than her own life."

"You're right, aren't you?" Although the words were still spoken angrily, Lu Mingyang felt a sweet warmth in her heart. She hadn't expected that he could even detect such a subtle thought of hers and take it to heart.

Chu Mingzheng took her hand and continued to explain as they walked: "I can't let your elder sister think that you told me the secret of her martial arts!"

"I won't listen. I won't listen. You're just using me as bait."

Seeing that reasoning was useless, Chu Mingzheng simply put his arm around her waist and kissed her.

"Hmph!" Lu Mingyang refused and dodged, "What if? Even if there's only a one-time risk, I can't bear it..."

"I won't let anything happen to you." This time, Chu Mingzheng held her cheeks, not giving the accusing little girl any chance to escape.

Somehow, the two of them ended up on the bed in a daze. The woman in the tent, with her long black hair hanging down and the red candles warming her eyes, was extremely alluring. Chu Mingzheng leaned over and bit off the veil on her shoulders.

"Second sister, second sister..."

Yang Nian'er's brisk footsteps were heard in the yard.

……

The title of Marquis of Chengyang's eldest daughter was inherited by His Majesty himself, but in order to prevent the personal soldiers of the Marquis of Chengyang from falling into the hands of Prince Ningyuan, and to appease the noble and old ministers who were dissatisfied with a woman inheriting the title, His Majesty did not mention the personal soldiers of the Marquis of Chengyang in the document of conferring the title.

But now, in order to mobilize the personal guards of Chengyang Marquis Mansion, this matter has to be brought up.

The emperor had made up his mind to disband the Chengyang Marquis's household troops, but the fact that a woman inherited the title was a personal gift from the emperor, and if the favor wasn't adequate, it would inevitably damage His Majesty's reputation. Especially after the commotion at the inheritance banquet, it seemed as if the emperor was afraid.

Because of this, the emperor was once in a dilemma.

At this time, Concubine Song came up with an idea for the emperor.