Wei Jin's words left Wang Bingling speechless for a moment, unsure of what to say.

Seeing that Wang Bingling had nothing to say, Wei Jin spoke up:

"Wang Bingling, because you disobeyed military orders and were afraid of death, causing our army to lose three thousand soldiers, it is not unjust to take you out and behead you now."

I will subject you to military law. I will report this matter to the imperial court. If the court deems the handling of this matter inappropriate, I will accept any punishment from the court, even beheading, without hesitation.

Seeing this, Wang Bingling was completely dumbfounded.

It seems Wei Jin is determined to behead me. What can I do?

"Axemen, take Wang Bingling out and behead him immediately."

The axemen swarmed forward, intending to push Wang Bingling away.

Wang Bingling panicked and said, "General Wei, you can't kill me! I'm the Crown Prince's man. If you kill me, the Crown Prince will not forgive you."

"You don't need to worry about that. Since I've already taken into account that you're the Crown Prince's man, I'll accept it if the Crown Prince cuts off my head."

After Wei Jin finished speaking, he turned his head away and stopped looking at Wang Bingling.

Wei Chenglin, standing to the side, was terrified. It seemed that Wei Jin was serious. If Wang Bingling really killed him, Wei Jin would offend the First Prince.

The Emperor currently holds Wei Jin in high regard, and he has a very promising future. If he offends the Crown Prince, the consequences will be unimaginable. Losing his head would be a minor matter; the Wei family could also face annihilation.

Thinking of this, Wei Chenglin quickly stepped forward and said:

"Hold your hand."

Wei Jin looked at Wei Chenglin and said:

"Uncle, you must also plead for Wang Bingling. Because he disobeyed military orders, he caused huge losses to the imperial army. Three thousand men were gone in the blink of an eye."

These soldiers were all brought from the capital by me. Because of my poor judgment in choosing them, they were killed by the enemy. I am guilty of a grave offense.”

“I know all of this, but what’s done is done. We should prioritize the overall situation. Right now, we need manpower, and killing a general would be detrimental to our army.”

After Wei Chenglin finished speaking, he gave a wink to the soldiers on both sides, and they all rushed forward and knelt down with a whoosh.

"General Wei, please reconsider and spare General Wang, allowing him to atone for his crimes through meritorious service."

Wei Jin looked at the soldiers in front of him, and tears immediately streamed down his face.

"My lords, please forgive me for being so blunt, but as the saying goes, even a prince is subject to the same laws as a commoner."

Since I, the general, intend to have Wang Bingling executed, I have already considered the consequences. You should all stop trying to persuade me. Anyone who pleads for leniency will be punished the same as Wang Bingling.

Wei Chenglin was dumbfounded when he saw this. Wei Jin was being stubborn again, and it seemed that he couldn't persuade him. In his anxiety, he knelt down before Wei Jin.

When Wei Jin saw Wei Chenglin kneeling down before him, he was stunned. He didn't get up, but just stared blankly at Wei Chenglin.

At this moment, Wang Bingling had already been pushed outside the tent and was about to be beheaded. Wei Jin sat at the table, motionless like a wooden figure.

A gong sounded outside, and after it sounded three times, a person's head fell to the ground.

Everyone knelt on the ground, their eyes fixed on Wei Jin, hoping he would change his mind.

Just then, a voice came from outside.

"The soldiers are all here."

Then a person walked in from outside the tent. Everyone turned around and saw that it was Li Guang leading a few people in.

Upon seeing Li Guang arrive, Wei Jin was overjoyed and quickly said:

"General Li, what brings you here?"

"I have led one group of men and completed the mission. General Wei is the commander-in-chief of this expedition to the southwestern border, so he has come to ask if there are any other tasks that I need to do."

Before Li Guang could finish speaking, another gong sounded outside. Wei Chenglin, who was kneeling on the ground, hurriedly said, "General Li, please persuade General Wei not to kill General Wang."

Li Guang quickly bent down and helped Wei Chenglin up, saying:

“You don’t need to worry. General Wei will not behead General Wang. General Wang has not finished his business yet, and now is not the time to kill him.”

"What do you mean?" Wei Jin asked, somewhat puzzled.

Li Guang smiled and said, "Please, General Wei, postpone the execution for now. I will explain the whole story, and then you will understand."

Upon hearing this, Wei Jin immediately said, "All officers, rise. Notify the executioners to postpone the executions."

Immediately, someone left the camp to inform everyone, and everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief. They were not worried about beheading Wang Bingling, but about Wei Jin's safety.

Li Guang nodded and said to Wei Jin, "General Wei, may I speak with you in private?"

Wei Jin led Li Guang out through the back door of the main tent and into another large tent, which was empty.

"General Li, you can speak now," Wei Jin said.

Li Guang nodded, took out a portrait from his pocket, handed it to Wei Jin, and said:

"Does General Wei know this person?"

Wei Jin took the portrait, examined it closely, and then asked, "Isn't this Wang Bingling? How come General Li has a portrait of him?"

"General Wei, can you confirm that the person in the portrait is Wang Bingling?"

"Of course I can confirm it. Although the portrait is slightly different from Wang Bingling, I can be sure that the person in the portrait is Wang Bingling."

"Since General Wei can confirm that the person in the portrait is Wang Bingling, then things will be easier. To tell General Wei the truth, the person you were about to behead was not Wang Bingling; his real name is Wang Ling."

The portrait in General Wei's hand is a drawing of Wang Ling taken by the authorities during his arrest.

Li Guang's words left Wei Jin bewildered, not knowing what was going on.

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