The following day, the delegation that had provided support in the Southwest Region entered the capital to have an audience with the Emperor.
Regarding the mission in the Southwest, the Emperor expressed great satisfaction with Jiang Yu. In front of the assembled courtiers, he heaped praise upon her. The first group who had accompanied Jiang Yu to the Southwest also spoke highly of her, for it was largely due to her efforts that the plague had been successfully contained.
Xiao Yan did not come to the capital this time; only Jiang Yu and Lord Zhou arrived. Jiang Yu was not surprised by this. The relationship between Xiao Yan and the Emperor was, in a sense, mysterious; it often seemed that Xiao Yan acted on the Emperor’s behalf in many matters. Jiang Yu suspected that this connection was tied to Xiao Yan’s involvement in the political landscape of the court.
Chapter 182