Chapter 76 — TVF Chapter 76

The Table-Flipping Old Father 16

In the original story, the entire main family had long since been wiped out. Jin Zhengming was still searching for his biological daughter’s whereabouts, but before he could send anyone to confirm it, the living "eyewitness" was already dead.

Si Chenghui was certainly capable, but for him to rise from Prince Consort to court powerbroker and eventually become emperor himself, support from the imperial harem and his in-laws was the true key. Once he ascended the throne and secured his seat, with his fathers-in-law all in their twilight years, he immediately began his "repayment" campaign: executing the main branch and exiling the collateral ones, a "payback" indeed.

Judging only by the plot, Qin Jingzhou already didn’t think much of the transmigrator male-protagonist from a typical harem novel, Si Chenghui. After meeting him in person and finding Si Chenghui pretty much as depicted in the story, Qin Jingzhou had no interest in getting rid of him himself, but neither did he care about Si Chenghui’s fate.

Let’s not forget, Yang Shi had shared her true goal with Qin Jingzhou for the sake of seamless cooperation: she sought revenge on the Emperor, and her son’s biological father was not the Emperor at all…

Qin Jingzhou understood Yang Shi’s hint completely. He could also see that faint trace of pride in Si Chenghui—clearly, the young prince’s biological father was Si Chenghui.

Back in the Prince Haicheng’s Household, Yang Shi’s access to outsiders was very limited.

Whatever affection Yang Shi had was reserved for her family. She was probably ready to meet a tragic end. If she dared to try and poison even the Emperor, then the child’s biological father—Si Chenghui, such a potential threat—would almost certainly die even before the Emperor.

Now that his daughter holding down the fort in the Capital was well-versed in the "Poison Classic", his son-in-law had some real skills, the disciples were clever and reliable, and he himself had other fallback plans, Qin Jingzhou wasn’t worried about their safety even if Yang shi made a grand move. Right now, his focus was on building his own strength.

Qin Jingzhou handpicked two hundred young men from the army—Jin Zhengming even went as far as to shove his two adopted sons into the group. Qin Jingzhou patiently taught them advanced formations and martial techniques.

His scattered disciples and students in the army quickly picked up on what was happening. Seeing the tacit understanding between their Master and the Marshal, they no longer hesitated to join in on the training.

Qin Jingzhou had so much knowledge that he wasn’t the least bit concerned about "the master starving after teaching the apprentices". So whenever a disciple came to him with a question, he always answered them fully.

Personal instruction from a renowned teacher was something truly different.

The disciples and the two hundred new elites were all growing rapidly.

His son, Si Dalang, served as commander of these two hundred men. Throughout the five months of relentless training, he performed admirably, and even fostered friendships with Jin Zhengming’s adoptive sons.

Qin Jingzhou felt that this elite squad of two hundred men was basically well-molded and ready to be tested in actual combat.

He acted right away, personally leading the team and these spirited young men in a surprise raid on the Prince Fan coalition’s main camp. The coalition’s officers and soldiers were all people of Great Qi, who would later also be his people. So he had no intention of killing, but rather set out to attack their morale...

Taking advantage of the autumn harvest, he launched several surprise attacks in quick succession, leaving the Prince Fan coalition so harassed that they could barely find peace.

Over the next three years, Qin Jingzhou turned his original two hundred elite warriors into a fighting force of two thousand.

Feeling the time was right, he finally discussed with Jin Zhengming the plan to gradually promote this group of young men into officers.

Just then, Qin Jingzhou’s eldest daughter-in-law, visiting from afar, turned out to be pregnant. Jin Zhengming hadn't yet reunited with his daughter in name, but he found Si Dalang more and more pleasing to the eye, and his cooperation with Qin Jingzhou grew more genuine as well.

The two men finalized their plan. Jin Zhengming lowered his voice over his tea cup and said, “I don’t plan to let Ruoruo return to the Capital ever again.”

Ruoruo was the personal name of Qin Jingzhou’s eldest daughter-in-law.

By this point, Qin Jingzhou had already been promoted to Third-Rank General for his military accomplishments—this, even after Jin Zhengming deliberately underreported his achievements for fear of arousing the Emperor’s jealousy. At this rank, Qin Jingzhou’s family was expected to spend most of their time in the Capital, under the Emperor’s watchful eye.

This time, Ruoruo could come visit, but Third Miss Si and Han Xuanfeng had to obediently remain in the Capital.

And Jin Zhengming was no exception. His nominal eldest son was serving in the Imperial Guards, right under the Emperor’s nose.

Qin Jingzhou nodded, “And the stand-in is ready?”

“Yes.”

Knowing fully what was meant, Qin Jingzhou said, “I’ll write to Third Miss Si and the others, have them lend a hand.”

By all appearances, the Emperor and Crown Prince did guard against Qin Jingzhou. Yet what they feared most was still those four powerful Princes with Prince Fan on the front lines, and next was the Commander-in-Chief, Jin Zhengming. If Qin Jingzhou was even on their kill list, he ranked at least fiftieth or beyond.

Qin Jingzhou continued to "quietly" build his strength within the army.

He wrote out several prescriptions—including common antipyretics and painkillers, cold medicine, cough remedy, diarrhea pills, topical bleeding and pain relief, and anti-inflammatory ointments. He had his second son use these formulas to open a medicine factory in the County Town near the army’s location... Once his patent medicines hit the market, their low price and high efficacy earned them an immediate reputation and sold-out demand stretching a whole year ahead.

To make his formula hard to imitate or counterfeit, Qin Jingzhou put in some clever work.

Several leading pharmaceutical merchants in the northwest all tried mimicking his products, only to realize that even meeting his medicine’s efficacy would cost five times his sale price at minimum. Given Qin Jingzhou’s status as a Third-Rank General, backed by Marshal Jin Zhengming, they gave up copying and simply placed their orders properly.

In just one year, not only did he recover his costs, but he also earned enough to fund his disciples and students for three years... Qin Jingzhou joked with a smile, “The pharmaceutical industry has always been hugely profitable—from ancient times to now, it’s the same.”

However, he didn’t intend to compete with the common folk for profit, nor did he want ordinary doctors to lose their living, so he set a rule: doctors could buy a set amount of his medicines at the wholesale price, and he would personally compensate the distributors for any minimal loss in profit.

This time, he was setting his sights on the world—he had no desire for distributors to "steal" any of his reputation. So, he instructed Erlang’s Mercenary Corps to promote his intentions while traveling from town to town.

After about a month, the Innkeeper sent news that there were already scholars posting letters of gratitude outside the Mercenary Corps’ local offices.

One scholar, who was about to head to the Capital for the imperial examinations, caught a cold on the way. Unable to seek medical help promptly due to his journey, his low fever turned severe and he became nearly delirious. Fortunately, he happened upon a traveler who gifted him three packs of “Extra-Strength Antipyretic and Painkiller” and “Cold Medicine.” The medicine worked miracles, and, heart full of gratitude after escaping death, the scholar penned a letter of thanks.

Qin Jingzhou chuckled and sent a disciple to the Capital, bringing with him a bank draft to "bribe" the Crown Prince—this disciple was from a Noble Clan, one of Qin Jingzhou’s earliest students.

Back in those days, Qin Jingzhou appeared to aim for the position of Grand Preceptor, and by now, his disciples had started realizing his true ambitions.

Compared to the cold-hearted Emperor and Crown Prince, none of the disciples wanted to follow anyone but their Master!

This disciple informed his family, and they were more than willing to invest across the board. After all, Master Si now commanded soldiers, owned lands, and held territory... Should he topple any of the four princes, wouldn’t that be enough?

They were confident that even if Master Si couldn’t change the world outright, he could at least carve out his own Feudal Lord’s Domain... And they were well aware that the Emperor was plotting to cut or even completely stop military rations as a way to get rid of Jin Zhengming and Master Si, to prevent the two from using their campaign against Prince Fan as an excuse to establish their own power.

One had to admit, the Emperor and Crown Prince’s reading of Jin Zhengming and his own intentions was spot-on, but their methods... as ever, utterly lacking.

Generally speaking, when wary of powerful generals, the smart move was to divide and conquer: win some over, suppress others. Resorting to simply cutting off supplies was pure recklessness—it truly fit those two.

Third Miss Si, Han Xuanfeng, and the disciples left in the Capital sent several secret letters, warning Qin Jingzhou to be extra cautious.

Noble Consort Yang also sent a message, reminding him that in the field, strict orders might not always be followed. Yet, at year’s end, Si Chenghui sent a handwritten letter, politely advising his Uncle Si to return to the Capital for debriefing and to prove his family’s loyalty to the Emperor.

Qin Jingzhou wasn’t the least bit surprised.

The System also commented, “That’s exactly the kind of thing Si Chenghui would do.”

Naturally, Qin Jingzhou ignored Si Chenghui. Come spring, the Emperor finally issued an Imperial Decree cutting the Western Army’s rations in half.

Even before this, soldiers were never paid their full rations. Those up top skimmed off the surplus first but still let the rank-and-file have a taste, so the men at the front could scrape by.

Just scrape by, though.

That was why every time Qin Jingzhou held new recruitment for his "elite regiment", the place was packed—crowds lined up to join.

The soldiers could guess what Qin Jingzhou was thinking, yet they were still willing to risk following him… In name, the army numbered two hundred thousand, but thirty thousand of them were originally part of the Prince Haicheng’s Household Guards. Even they had lost their loyalty for the man who was once the Prince, now Emperor—a testament to how little support the Emperor had left.

Chatting idly, Jin Zhengming once sighed, “Back when the Emperor was distributing rewards, he was neither fair nor generous enough to win hearts. Now, he must reap those consequences.”

Qin Jingzhou replied with fairness, “The Emperor doesn’t seem any better than the Former Emperor… We ought to thank the Former Emperor and Noble Consort.”

That was all but spelling it out!

Jin Zhengming’s pupils shrank. “Could it be… the Former Emperor, in his quest for Secret Medicine, not only prolonged his life but drove himself insane? Was that just a rumor?”

Qin Jingzhou kindly offered a correction. “Half-mad, really. There were plenty of times he was lucid, knew his fate was sealed, yet didn’t burn the treasury or destroy the grain stores. After all, the present Emperor is his own nephew.”

Jin Zhengming let out a long sigh. “So the current Emperor is walking the same path?”

Qin Jingzhou smiled. “It’s not just this Emperor.”

Jin Zhengming naturally gave the right answer. “The Crown Prince too… Yes, him as well.” In the blink of an eye, schadenfreude filled his face. “The Consort must have inherited all the people the Former Emperor left behind.”

As for the Emperor, he kept his word: the next month’s military rations really were halved, and then he issued an order summoning both Jin Zhengming and Qin Jingzhou back to the Capital for debriefing… If three consecutive Western Army commanders hadn’t already knelt themselves to death, everyone would’ve thought it too suspicious—by now, the official imperial envoy should’ve reached the Western Army camp.

The Prince Fan coalition and Western Army had been locked in stalemate for ages. With the Prince Fan growing weaker, these princes were on their last legs. Hearing that the Emperor was foolish enough to cut rations and destroy his own Great Wall, of course they would seize the moment for a desperate surprise attack.

The imperial edict messengers and bodyguards sent by the Emperor ended up dead in the confusion between both armies.

News reached the Capital, and not a single general among the Prince Fan wanted to touch the Western Army position.

The Emperor was furious. This day, he assembled the Imperial Cabinet and Imperial Family in the Qianqing Palace to discuss how to deal with Jin Zhengming and Qin Jingzhou when an Inner Attendant burst in, terrified. “Your Majesty, the Crown Prince has rebelled!”

The Crown Prince, upon learning that his father planned to groom the son of the Noble Consort, and was willing to poison his own son to clear the way, joined forces with the Dugu Clan and rose up.