Chapter 286 Rebellion
Prince Shen is dead?
The emperor's light words stirred up a huge uproar.
Prince Ping was speechless, "How could it be? Who would dare to be so bold in the imperial palace?"
"Suicide out of fear of punishment."
The emperor's tone was calm.
Prince Ping was tongue-tied, his face filled with disbelief. It took him a while before he could hear his own voice. "What...what crime?"
"Then you'll have to ask Prince Lu."
Just as he finished speaking, guards outside the hall dragged a bloody man in.
There was not a single piece of good flesh on the man's exposed skin.
His ten fingers were covered in blood and his nails were pulled out by the roots, as if he had been severely tortured.
He was dragged into the hall, and someone saw half of his swollen and deformed face.
"Prince Lu!"
The clan members felt a surge of anxiety.
The emperor's gaze swept over the crowd, and his voice suddenly became cold. "Everyone here, who else is a member of Prince Lu's party?"
The hall was completely silent.
Prince Ping froze in place, his eyes fixed, not knowing what he was thinking.
"Your Majesty," he gritted his teeth and said, "Prince Lu is in Bingzhou, protecting the people and the people. How could he have the intention of rebellion?"
The emperor glanced at him and said indifferently, "Prince Ping may not know this, but the three princes, Prince Lu, Prince Ji, and Prince Huai, have joined forces in rebellion and have been apprehended by Zhang Jing. The evidence is irrefutable. Would I wrongly accuse them?"
Zhang Jing transported food and fodder and brought 10,000 elite troops from the capital.
Ten thousand people are naturally not enough to face the three kings.
No one knew that Zhang Jing was holding the emperor's order and dispatching troops from various states along the way.
Zhang Jing had almost the same number of troops as the three kings of Bingzhou.
On the night when the three kings arrived, Zhang Jing took the initiative and killed the three kings before they could unite as one, in order to counterattack their confidants.
The people he transferred from various states formed a siege and besieged Bingzhou from inside and outside.
And he entered the enemy camp alone.
Holding the emperor's edict, he said to all the soldiers, "...Now that Northern Yan has made a comeback, the dynasty is in danger. You are all still young, and you don't know how brutal Northern Yan was in the past... There are powerful enemies outside, and they are fighting each other inside. The three kings want to take advantage of this crisis and rebel. When that happens, there will be a lot of suffering..."
Zhang Jing never thought of going back alive.
"...If you are willing to join the court in resisting the enemy, you will be granted titles for your wives and children in the future. If you wish to rebel together, then kill me and fight to the death with the court's soldiers. If you live, you will eventually be defeated by the imperial guards. If you die, you will be condemned to eternal damnation, bringing disaster upon your entire clan. Which is more important? You can choose for yourselves."
The soldiers are not stupid either.
Who wants to become a rebel?
It has come to this point. The prince is dead, the generals are dead, what can they do with the rest of them?
Not to mention anything else, if the court doesn’t provide military rations, what will they eat?
Bingzhou assembled about 200,000 troops, working together to prepare for war with Northern Yan.
Zhang Jing followed the emperor's instructions and set off a smoke bomb.
"Prince Ping, the news you received is that the Third Prince killed Zhang Jing and is preparing to start an uprising in Bingzhou?" The emperor smiled.
Prince Ping was startled, and he took two steps at a time, kneeling before the emperor. "I have been recuperating in the palace, and I am unaware of any news from the outside world."
The emperor didn't care about him.
Instead, he said to the crowd, "If you confess your crime voluntarily, I will spare your family members. If you wait for me to find out, I will kill you without mercy!"
An old prince, about fifty years old, suddenly stood up and glared at the emperor, "What can we plan? What is there to plan?"
"You used your own brother as a pretext and used the imperial decree to force us to enter the capital. If we disobey, we will be defying the imperial decree. Now, all the clan members are here. The whole hall is filled with your blood relatives, all with the surname Zhao. What do you want?"
"Want to kill us? Fine, go ahead and kill us all, and your throne will be secure, and you can rest easy."
He gasped, "But you are so cruel and merciless, how will the world view you? Your hands are stained with the blood of your loved ones, who will obey you? Kill all the Zhaos, and there will be people with the surnames Qian, Sun, and Li to overthrow you, the tyrant."
The emperor remained silent. Qu Ling stepped forward and pulled out a booklet. "The King of Chu, fifty-three years old, was granted the fiefdom of Jingzhou. His crimes include embezzling disaster relief grain, seizing farmland and forcing farmers to death, and withholding military pay, which led to a mutiny among the border troops..."
As the charges were read out clearly, the King of Chu began to tremble all over from his initial anger.
There was only one thought in his mind: when did His Majesty investigate him?
Qu Ling closed the book and raised his chin to the guard.
The guard immediately drew his knife and handed it over.
"Commit suicide or send yourself to the Ministry of Justice. It's your choice." Qu Ling said calmly.
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