Chapter 70
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He dared to address a royal by their name, which was a direct violation of etiquette.
Jiang Yanchi’s brows furrowed tightly, about to reprimand, but he saw a deep sorrow in Zhao Lingqu’s eyes. It seemed as if he wanted to slam his head into the ground in regret. “Your Majesty, please do not heed the slander of Chu Zhangyin, and do not kill a loyal minister and a good general! He has numerous reasons for wanting my life!”
“Because on that day in Huaizhi County, I accidentally uncovered a secret that should never be revealed to outsiders!”
Jiang Yanchi had not thought that Su Mingan would go to such lengths to protect the Zhao family. Before he could contemplate further, he heard Zhao Lingqu mentioning Chu Xie again. He sighed at the desperation, thinking that Zhao Lingqu was trying to grasp at straws.
But the words he spoke were simply unfathomable.
“Zhao Lingqu, at this point, your useless words here…”
“Your Majesty, do you think that in Puyang County, only Xu Yi rebelled?”
The emperor looked down at the man below, “Oh?”
“Your Majesty, in Huaizhi County, I saw that Xu Chunmu and Chu Zhangyin were together!”
Jiang Yanchi’s brows furrowed tightly. The phrase “were together” was ambiguous, and he hadn’t thought much about it before he continued the conversation, “I have already investigated this matter. Indeed, during the Battle of Huaizhi, you borrowed the military strategy from Marquis Xu, didn’t you? At that time, you had a military order, and I did not blame you for taking emergency measures. But now, you are trying to bite the hand that fed you.”
“Borrowed military strategy? Benefactor?”
Zhao Lingqu seemed to find something amusing, shaking his head, “If he is a benefactor, why would he make a big deal out of this matter upon returning to the court? Clearly, it is cunning and duplicity. I have had dealings with Chu Zhangyin. He can show gratitude in the morning and hostility in the evening. He is adept at assessing the situation and acting accordingly! Where is the gratitude? It’s just letting those who follow him thrive and those who oppose him perish!”
This was too harshly spoken, causing Jiang Yanchi’s brows to furrow even tighter.
“The truth of the matter in Puyang County is not as Your Majesty thinks. It is Your Majesty who has been confused by the words of the Chu family, and you are now bewildered and unable to see the truth. Your Majesty has even married Chu Zhangyin as the empress. Do you really know what kind of person Chu Zhangyin is?”
Chu Xie, what kind of person is he?
Why is it that so many people always question him with this question?
Xu Chunmu had said it, Zhao Xuan had said it, and now, even Zhao Lingqu, who had only a chance encounter with him, came to inquire.
“Allowing such a person to hold high office, Great Wei is bound to suffer!”
Jiang Yanchi’s eyes gradually darkened, seeming to have run out of patience. With a wave of his long sleeve, he halted and indicated he did not want to hear more, “General Zhao, if you came to say these words, then stop here.” With that, he stood up, ready to order Zhao Lingqu to be taken to the Zhao Prison.
“The rebellion in Puyang County was plotted by Chu Xie and Xu Yi together! Chu Xie and the Xu family have always been birds of a feather. Why has Your Majesty been blinded like this!”
Jiang Yanchi’s figure paused. He had already stepped out of the hall but suddenly turned his head, “What did you say?”
“In Puyang County, it’s not just Xu Yi who rebelled; Chu Xie also did. Chu Xie and the Xu family may seem at odds on the surface, but in reality, they have long been colluding in secret. Why can’t Your Majesty see through it!”
“I saw it with my own eyes. Chu Xie and Xu Chunmu… they—”
“Clearly are a couple in love.”
As these words came out, Jiang Yanchi’s tightly furrowed brows slightly loosened. After a brief silence, he turned around in a fit of rage and kicked Zhao Lingqu in the chest, causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood as he fell to the ground.
“Insolent! Do you know what you’re saying! How dare you utter such words in front of me! Guards!”
“I know! I know exactly what I’m saying!” Zhao Lingqu crawled a few steps, seemingly fearless now, “I am going to lose my life anyway. Instead of dying, why not come to the capital and tell Your Majesty the truth! Chu Xie must think of me as just a small deputy commander defending the city, squeezing me to death like squashing an ant. So in the war against the Xiongnu, I couldn’t sleep day and night. I dare not lose, cannot lose. If I lose, he will catch my mistake and punish me directly, losing my life. He wants me to take the secret to the grave. After Xu Yi dies, Prince Yubei is unaware of the truth. This move of abandoning the general to save the chariot is ingenious. As long as I die, he is the only winner!”
Jiang Yanchi’s complexion became even worse. Taking a few steps forward, he grabbed Zhao Lingqu by the neck and bent down to confront the man.
A cold light flashed in his eyes.
He simply didn’t want to listen to Zhao Lingqu’s full account of the past with fear. He only grabbed a place and asked, “What nonsense are you talking about, Lord Chu and Marquis Xu? Xu Chunmu has never been to the capital, and the times they met are few. What acquaintance, what connection with Xu!”
“If you continue to speak nonsense, I’ll have someone pull out your tongue!”
With a fierce throw, he pushed the person to the ground.
Zhao Lingqu couldn’t tell if the emperor was suspicious or angry. Stunned by the sentence, he could only glance at Su Mingan with the corner of his eye. The Grand Tutor speculated that if the emperor really didn’t want to listen, he would have dragged the person directly to the Zhao Prison.
There was doubt.
So he threw another glance to General Zhao.
Zhao Lingqu mustered the courage to continue.
“Your Majesty, if you don’t believe it, you can check in Huaizhi County. They hid in Huaizhi County under false names for more than half a month. The physician who treated Xu Chunmu in the southern town of the county still remembers these two, and the women in the village recognize them. Xu Chunmu personally admitted that they were…”
“Husband and wife.”
Jiang Yanchi’s tightly furrowed brows froze for a moment, and the hand that was clenched slowly relaxed. He sneered, “It’s just convenient. If they were really colluding, they wouldn’t have offered advice to save the battle in Huaizhi County. With Chu Xie’s temperament, he should…”
No.
Jiang Yanchi immediately refuted himself.
South of Huaizhi was Puyang. At that time, Xu Yi was plotting a rebellion in Puyang with not a single soldier under his command.
Then his gaze shifted slightly, and Jiang Yanchi looked down at Zhao Lingqu’s head, his fingertips gently rubbing.
Slowly pacing, he sat back at the high table.
This time, he fell into an unusual silence.
The entire hall was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Su Mingan observed the emperor’s eyes, and with a subtle hand gesture, he signaled Zhao Lingqu not to speak for now.
I feel guilty towards you.
Chu Xie’s words echoed in his mind. He said he was coincidentally saved by Xu Chunmu outside Puyang County.
Can it really be just a coincidence? He also said he returned to the capital with a guilty conscience, are those words true? Would a cunning and calculating person like Chu Xie really feel guilty for leaving others behind?
Jiang Yanchi had been extremely excited because of Chu Xie’s seemingly sincere words. He believed that he had opened a door to Chu Xie’s heart, and he thought that, for Chu Xie, he was somewhat different from others.
At least, after Chu Xie used him, he still felt remorse. At least, when he was in danger, Chu Xie would worry.
But what if it was an entirely different possibility?
Jiang Yanchi suddenly dared not think about it anymore, nor did he want to hear it. He couldn’t bear to listen.
“Guards, take him away—” His voice trembled slightly.
A glint appeared in Su Mingan’s eyes, and with a slight wave of his index finger, he signaled Zhao Lingqu to finish speaking.
“Your Majesty! At that time, Xu Chunmu was conspiring to rebel in Puyang, resisting the invasion from the north. It was not to save his subordinates but to prevent the northern invaders from breaking through Huaizhi County and directly reaching the vital road to Puyang!” Seeing the little emperor remain silent for a long time, Zhao Lingqu, as if seeing some hope, spoke rapidly, “Your Majesty, think carefully. If there is nothing suspicious about this matter, when Xu Chunmu plotted rebellion in Puyang, Chu Xie happened to be in Puyang. How could he survive from the hands of the scheming Xu Chunmu if they were not secretly colluding! I and the son of Prince Yubei, Jiang Siling, jointly defended against the enemy for a month, and originally, we were extremely puzzled by this matter. It wasn’t until he told me about what happened in Puyang County that I understood the cause and effect!”
“That’s enough… Stop!”
“The son of Ningyuan Wang, Jiang Jingan, died in Puyang County just one day before, and Xu Chunmu came right after… Your Majesty, have you never doubted this? Jiang Jingan was the only bloodline of Ningyuan Wang in this world. If this crime is pinned on Your Majesty, can the throne still be stable?”
Jiang Yanchi’s heart sank deeper with every word.
It was like falling into a deep abyss, unable to see any light, only helplessly sinking into a realm of coldness and darkness.
“This move, killing two birds with one stone, is not good at all. Chu Xie first exploited Your Majesty’s suspicions, deceiving you into killing Jiang Jingan. Then, he turned around and betrayed you, using the power of the Xu family to completely frame this case on Your Majesty, ensuring his own escape. In this way, without even spending a single soldier, the two most likely heirs to the throne would fall from grace successively, and the Xu family could legitimately support Jiang Siling, who originally had no chance of succession, to ascend the throne!”
“Yubei Prince and Marquis Zhenguo have been friends for over twenty years. Allowing Jiang Siling to ascend the throne is the ultimate goal of Chu Xie and Xu Chunmu!”
Jiang Yanchi had never thought about this before. Now, his mind felt like seawater with ice chips, pouring backward and forth, piercing and churning repeatedly in his head.
Chu Xie, conspiring with the Xu family.
Not only had Chu Xie been in conflict with the Xu family for years, with deep-seated enmity, but also there was no conceivable secret connection between him and the Xu family.
He wanted to kill Jiang Jingan because he hated Ningyuan Wang, wanting to end his bloodline.
He was the Crown Prince who was brought to power by Chu Xie’s hand. Chu Xie had said he would ensure he became the emperor.
How could he possibly willingly relinquish the throne?
Jiang Yanchi felt this was absurd to the extreme, didn’t want to listen anymore, but the hand in his sleeve was trembling.
“Stop. Guards, General Zhao attempted to escape the battlefield and secretly entered the capital. Immediately put him in the Zhao Prison.”
Su Mingan’s eyes flickered, and he immediately reached out to stop the guards who were rushing in. “Your Majesty, you’re confused! The one to be imprisoned now is not General Zhao but Xu Chunmu, who is about to leave the city tonight! With three hundred thousand troops in hand, once he leaves the city, he will truly become the new Marquis Zhengguo. With Chu Xie elevated to the position of the Empress in the capital, Xu Chunmu will control three hundred thousand formidable troops on the border! Your Majesty, they will hold the entire world in their hands! You are just a pawn in Chu Xie’s hands, why persist in releasing the tiger back to the mountain!”
“Chu Xie has no reason to rebel!” Jiang Yanchi suddenly smashed the ruler on the table to the ground, creating a loud, echoing sound in the spacious hall.
“I already mentioned it earlier,” Zhao Lingqu seemed to have anticipated that the emperor would ask this way, speaking with clarity, “Chu Xie did it for Xu Chunmu.”
“I’ve said it before, they are—”
“A relationship of mutual affection and commitment until death.”
“They are too confident in the Forbidden Army controlled by Xu Changling. They never considered that Your Majesty could quickly ascend to the throne through extraordinary means—otherwise, if Xu Chunmu’s rebellion succeeded, it would have been a foregone conclusion, and Xu Chunmu would have long fled with Chu Xie to the farthest reaches, living carefree lives in the northern territory!”
“Chu Xie’s return to the capital this time is still for Xu Chunmu! Regardless of how cleverly Chu Xie uses sweet words and pretends to be a deeply affectionate appearance to deceive Your Majesty into trusting Xu Chunmu once again, the ultimate goal of his words and actions is to gain Your Majesty’s trust in Xu Chunmu again, allowing him to regain control of the three hundred thousand troops!”
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