"Oh no! Qiluhar is dead." Su Jinyao rushed in. "Brother said last night that if you want to kill someone, you must first make him crazy. Qiluhar went crazy last night and ended up dying."
Su Jinyao made a gesture of wiping his neck and said, "Killed with one blow. I don't know which hero did it, but I heard that the people of Northern Qi falsely accused my father of sending someone to do it. Now they are at the palace gate with a cannon."
Seeing how excited he was, Linlang wasn't worried at all and wanted to watch the show.
Song was extremely worried. "Your father went to the palace early this morning. What should we do?"
Linlang consoled him, "The Seventh Prince of Northern Qi was just using a thunder bomb to scare people. He won't actually bomb the palace, and the Emperor won't let anything happen to Father. I'm afraid Northern Qi is using this opportunity to negotiate terms with the Jing Dynasty."
Upon hearing this, Rong Yi said angrily, "For their own benefit, they actually didn't hesitate to kill one of their own people. The people of Northern Qi are truly vicious."
Amu shook his head. "Qiluhar wasn't necessarily killed by the Northern Qi people. He was so presumptuous last night, and he earned the hatred of so many people. Everyone wants to kill him. Of course, we can't rule out the possibility that the Seventh Prince of Northern Qi took advantage of the opportunity to kill him. Qiluhar wasn't an important general in Northern Qi anyway, and the number of defeats he'd suffered could be counted on one hand."
Su Jinyao pondered, "Perhaps Northern Qi was planning this, to kill an insignificant general and then demand a huge reward from the Jing Dynasty."
Su Jinyao and Amu looked at each other and understood the truth. No wonder Qiluhar was so clamoring last night. It turned out that it was his last supper.
But the person died in the embassy in the capital of Jing Dynasty. No matter what, Jing Dynasty is responsible. The Seventh Prince of Northern Qi and others are so powerful that it seems that we cannot refuse to satisfy them.
Not long after, Su Jinnian came back and called Amu and Su Jinyao to the study. "Northern Qi has indeed brought an army, and it's cavalry."
"As expected, we came prepared." Su Jinyao touched his chin. "Today, the people of the capital are performing a parade to celebrate the emperor's birthday, so there's no chance for them to come out."
Amu thought for a moment and said, "I'll go to the Duke's Mansion and send Ajian back."
Su Jinyao was worried about Amu, so he followed him to the Duke's Mansion.
In the palace, the emperor ordered the imperial guards to open the palace gates and invited the seventh prince of Northern Qi and others into the palace. He met with them accompanied by Xiao Zhensheng.
First, the emperor expressed his condolences, "I am deeply saddened by the death of General Qi Lu. It is also the negligence of the embassy that has led to this irreparable thing."
"Please rest assured, Your Highness. I will have the Dali Temple investigate this matter thoroughly and bring justice to General Qilu. You can rest assured and stay here. I promise that this will never happen again."
The Seventh Prince snorted coldly, "Emperor Jingchao, how can we trust you? We've only just arrived in Jingchao on our first day, and we've already lost a powerful general. If this continues, will we ever be able to return to Northern Qi alive?"
"There's no need to investigate this matter. It must be your Anchang Marquis who sent someone to assassinate him. Capture him and torture him severely, and the truth will come out." The Seventh Prince kept harping on what happened at the banquet last night. "Are you planning to protect the Anchang Marquis and let General Qilu die tragically in your Jing Dynasty?"
"That's right. Everyone knows that they were at loggerheads last night. General Qilu touched Marquis Anchang's sore spot. It would be easy for him to kill someone in your territory."
"No, we can't delay. We need to arrest him and give General Qilu justice."
The Northern Qi envoys spoke angrily and insisted on capturing Su Nanting.
The Fourth Prince and officials from the Ministry of Rites stepped forward to persuade them, but the other party refused to listen and the situation gradually turned into a heated argument.
The Fourth Prince stepped forward and said, "Father, why not summon Marquis Anchang to the palace? He has nothing to fear from his own shadow. He has done nothing wrong, and the Dali Temple will not wrongly accuse him."
The emperor looked at the Fourth Prince deeply and asked, "Do you think these Northern Qi people will let Marquis Anchang go now that he's here?"
"Father, the most important thing now is to appease them. Let me discuss the next matters with the officials from the Ministry of Rites. Don't they just want more benefits?"
"More benefits?" The emperor sighed, "Then the entire Jing Dynasty will be handed over to you."
"Father, we can't choose between a person and a country."
Xiao Zhensheng glanced at the Fourth Prince and knelt before the Emperor. "Your Majesty, please reconsider. The Anchang Marquisate is a family of loyal and brave men. The old Marquis and the Marquis have been guarding the North Gate..."
"Tsk, they're still defeated. They suffered a crushing defeat seven years ago, and it's only the mercy of your Emperor Jing that has allowed them to survive until now." The Seventh Prince said disdainfully, "Duke Dingguo is pleading for Marquis Anchang because he feels the same way."
The Northern Qi delegation burst into laughter. Everyone knew that Duke Dingguo had suffered a similar disastrous defeat seven years ago.
Xiao Zhensheng clenched his fists tightly, his face flushed, "Your Majesty~"
The emperor closed his eyes with some sadness, and opened them after a long time. He compromised and said, "Eunuch Li, summon the Marquis of Anchang to the palace."
The emperor asked Xiao Zhensheng to stand up and said, "There is no more work for the Duke of Dingguo here. Go back and do your job well."
"Your Majesty." Xiao Zhensheng wanted to plead for mercy, but the emperor waved his hand and let him leave the palace without saying anything more.
Xiao Zhensheng stood up and said unhappily, "Your Majesty, I want to take my wife and children to live on the farm for a while, to see the snow and relax."
"Well, this snow is indeed beautiful. Okay." The emperor also asked him to spend more time with his wife and children, gave him a lot of rewards, and let him leave the palace.
Just as the Northern Qi delegation was getting impatient, Eunuch Li, who had gone to deliver the message, returned and said, "Your Majesty, the Marquis of Anchang left the city last night. It seems the old marquis is seriously ill, so he sent a letter back to the capital urgently over a hundred miles."
"What? The old marquis is seriously ill?!" The emperor stood up excitedly. "Where's the letter? Show me the letter."
Eunuch Li quickly offered it with both hands, "I brought it back."
The emperor opened the letter and frowned. "The old marquis is over sixty years old and still guarding the northern border for the Jing Dynasty. There, the wind and snow are raging, and the ice is frozen for thousands of miles. His age makes him unable to resist and he fell ill. Marquis Anchang received the letter and rushed to the border overnight. His filial piety is touching."
After receiving the letter, the emperor said, "Seventh Prince, Marquis Anchang is concerned about the old marquis. He left the palace and went straight to the North Gate. How could he have the mind to arrange these things? Besides, Marquis Anchang has always been sensible. He has the brains to become Marquis Anchang. He won't be so foolish as to take action in the capital."
"Even if General Qilu is really annoying and enjoys provoking others, no one except a fool would do it. There are plenty of opportunities to kill him. Once you leave the capital, you can always find a chance to assassinate him on your way back."
The emperor said patiently, "We in the Jing Dynasty will send someone to investigate this case. Seventh Prince, you should also investigate yourselves. Everyone knows General Qilu's temper. Perhaps you have long disliked him and are taking this opportunity to take revenge."
"Impossible, absolutely impossible." The seventh prince stood up and firmly disagreed with the emperor's statement.
The emperor smiled and said, "Anything is possible. I can use everything I have to guarantee that Marquis Anchang will not do such a stupid thing. Can the Seventh Prince guarantee that?"
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