"Duke Xing, the Imperial Observatory has already calculated the date. On the first day of September, Your Majesty will lead the Hundred Officials to the Imperial Ancestral Temple for ancestor worship. You should prepare yourself, and ensure you are well-rested."

September 1st is the day after tomorrow. Emperor Jingyuan had long arranged the date, anticipating the military expedition, eager to set forth at once without any further delay.

Duke Xing was overjoyed, tears brimming as he said, "Your Majesty treats this old man generously. I will certainly gather my strength... On that day, I will lead my eldest, second son, and the rest of my sons and grandchildren to the Ancestral Temple for worship alongside Your Majesty."

Then he asked, "Elder Ying, may I bring my other sons and grandchildren from home?"

Elder Ying looked at Duke Xing’s expectant old face and said, "Your Majesty did not specifically mention this, but you, Old Duke, are a pillar of Great Chu, with noteworthy military achievements throughout your life. This time, you are again fighting for the country. Bringing your family should be no problem."

It is known that the rules of the military expedition worship ceremony exclude those who are not court officials or have not achieved merit.

However, Duke Xing failed to grasp Elder Ying’s ambiguous words and thought Elder Ying was right. His whole life was indeed filled with illustrious achievements, wasn’t it?

Duke Xing was enfeoffed not only because of his battle merits but primarily because he risked his life to block a fatal blow for Emperor Jingwu, meritoriously saving him.

Duke Xing happily said, "Then I will bring my family’s sons and grandchildren to the Ancestral Temple to worship alongside Your Majesty."

He wiped his tears again, reminiscing, "Back then, I fought the world alongside the Old Emperor, how glorious it was to enter the Capital. Now the Old Emperor is gone, Jingtai is gone too, only the young Emperor is left, boohoo~"

Elder Ying’s face turned slightly sour, hurriedly saying goodbye, "Old Duke, it’s late, I must return to prepare for the army’s departure. I shall take my leave."

Duke Xing truly is a foolish country bumpkin, daringly calling Emperor Jingtai a boy, which was quite disrespectful towards the Late Emperor... Never mind, they have tolerated these bumpkins for decades; a little longer won’t hurt. Once they win this massive battle, Great Chu will be severely weakened, and that will be their noble families’ time to rise to the pinnacle again!

Emperor Jingwu, as the Founding Emperor, was quite correct in suppressing the noble families. The noble families had wielded power for nearly a thousand years, surviving numerous dynasties, holding much authority and wealth, becoming a national menace that must be eradicated.

Yet during Emperor Jingwu’s reign, many of his subordinates were military men of humble origin; Great Chu was newly established and needed the noble families to help govern the nation, thus they weren’t entirely eliminated.

Emperor Jingtai was a kind-hearted man, developing an affinity with the noble families, believing they aren’t so detestable; during his reign, he abstained from attacking them further.

Emperor Jingyuan’s brutality is akin to Emperor Jingwu, yet he was sick... Whatever the reason, since ascending the throne, Emperor Jingyuan didn’t continue targeting the noble families but began attacking the nobles, those most loyal to Great Chu, from the Duke Wei faction.

Truly, when the noble families saw the Duke Wei faction toppled, they nearly laughed to death, wishing they could burn incense and inform their ancestors.

Good, so good, the more loyal nobles perish, the safer the noble families become.

The noble families disdain the Imperial Family of Great Chu; although they serve as Great Chu officials, they never truly dedicate themselves to Great Chu. When Emperor Jingyuan made repeated mistakes, the noble families never fully dissuaded him, merely slightly advising, then leaving him to his self-destructive path.

Each of the three generations of Emperors in Great Chu made a grave mistake; once the knife against the noble families was raised, they should have been exterminated without re-employment, and not weakened the noble forces capable of fighting them.

The nobles should have been retained to counter the noble families while substantially recruiting poor scholars for three generations, replacing eighty percent of courtiers from noble families at the court to ensure Great Chu’s stability.

Regrettably, the current Emperor Jingyuan wishes only to destroy Da Rong for his revenge.

"Eh, eh, eh, Elder Ying, slow your pace." Duke Xing summoned his sons: "Eldest and Second, standing around idly, go, send off Elder Ying! ...Cough, cough, cough!"

He shouted too loudly, suddenly choking on his breath, almost coughing himself into oblivion.

To have both eldest and second sons always accompany him is because they are the offspring of his two equal wives.

Indeed, after achieving success, Duke Xing was presented with a noble daughter, accepting her readily and joyfully marrying her in hall and bed.

His rural wife, a fierce woman, eventually found her way to the Capital and, upon hearing Duke Xing had married a beautiful bride, set his mansion alight in rage.

Clutching Duke Xing’s parents’ memorial tablets, she sat with two children outside the burning mansion’s gate, lamenting and cursing: "Niu Sandan, you heartless creature, I worked hard farming to raise your parents, kids, and send your parents off to the afterlife. Now you are wealthy, sleeping with noble daughters... I spit, you abandon me after slumbering! I will die alongside you!"

The tumult was remarkable, viewed by the whole Capital as a great farce, enlightening them to Duke Xing’s original name as Niu Sandan.

Fortunately, Duke Xing was simple-minded; despite marrying the noblewoman, he never intended to abandon his rural wife, bringing her into the family like rural wealthy households, adopting the equal wife arrangement, making it a household of two.

It indeed became lively afterward; the entire Duke Xing Mansion never found peace, having significant quarrels daily, and houses set ablaze every three days.

The Duke’s family switched residences five times, unable to stay due to the ferocity of fires, necessitating these changes.

His rural wife dared to bet everything, securing her and her children’s foothold in the mansion.

Having found herself unable to combat the fierce rural wife, the Second Madam began to gift beauties to Duke Xing, aiming for favor through them. The rural madam promptly learned such tactics, and the two competed daily, gifting beauties to Duke Xing, nearly exhausting him.

As a result, Duke Xing fathering not just eight legitimate children, but thirty-two concubine sons and daughters in total, quite frightening numbers.

With such numerous descendants, grandchildren were born, and now even great-grandchildren were nearing marriage age.

The Duke’s family became impoverished due to its vast progeny, now struggling to gather betrothal gifts for a great-grandchildren’s wedding.

Duke Xing knew he was aging, facing peril in this expedition. However, there was no choice; his great-grandchildren awaited brides. Without going on military campaigns to earn merit, how could he obtain rewards to serve as their betrothal gifts?

Elder Ying was speechless, urging, "Please, halt, halt, do not send me off. First take care of Duke Xing."

The expedition hasn’t begun; the commander cannot die, or it would be laughable.

"Eh, eh, eh, Elder Ying, please slow down." Duke Xing’s second son said, hastily supporting Duke Xing, addressing his sons: "Fetch the doctor, quickly."

Unwilling to be outdone, Duke Xing’s eldest son instructed his sons: "Why are you standing idle? Hurry and fetch the doctor."

He added, "Second, why are you patting papa this way? Do you know how to soothe someone? You are nearly smothering papa to death with your patting."

Duke Xing’s second son dismissively glanced at his elder brother and replied, "Eldest, don’t stir trouble. How could I smother papa to death? For papa’s health, I specifically learned from the Imperial Physician how to care for him. Unlike you, coming from the countryside, knowing nothing, only shouting loudly, obnoxious and crude!"

Further adding, "You spoke of raising pigs, using pig legs to make ham for profit; indeed, you are from the countryside. Without a recipe, how can you turn pig legs into ham?"