Chapter 571 The Crown Prince: Father wants to trick him!
Liu Tongen's question made the atmosphere in the hall weird.
Xiao Yan raised his eyelids slightly and asked, "What do you mean, Commander Liu?"
Liu Tong'en looked at him and said, "When His Majesty ordered me to arrest Lu Jiuan, he also ordered the Duke to send people to investigate the Pingshan Palace. The Privy Council has always been cautious in its work, and the Xiaowei are particularly ruthless and have inherited the Duke's true teachings. I believe they must be aware of the rebellion in the Pingshan Palace, right?"
"After my men were killed by Prince Pingshan, those who escaped sent secret letters to secret agents in various places, but there was no response. We were chased several times while fleeing Prince Pingshan's fiefdom, and we received no help at all. I wonder where the people Duke Xiao sent there are?"
When Liu Tongen doesn't show his edge, his face looks really honest, but the words he says are particularly offensive.
"I know there's some rift between me and the Duke, but Prince Pingshan's rebellion is a matter of great concern to the court, and even more so to the stability of the Wei Empire. You and I are both working for His Majesty, yet you're not helping each other. Isn't this a bit too much, Duke?"
Xiao Yan stood in front of the hall and listened to Liu Tong'en's questioning. Seeing that Emperor An and others were looking at him, he did not get angry at all and just opened his thin lips slightly.
"Did Commander Liu misunderstand something?"
When everyone thought he was going to make an excuse, Xiao Yan's eyes turned cold.
"If I had really gone too far, those incompetent and brainless idiots under your command would have died in Pingyang County long ago. How could they have returned to the capital alive?"
"You!" Liu Tong'en was immediately furious.
"Me what? Does Commander Liu think I'm wrong?"
Xiao Yan's eyes were cold, and his words were full of sarcasm. "Knowing that the Lu family was plotting rebellion and Lu Jiuan had ill intentions, Prince Pingshan took him in and never reported this to the court. Even after the Lu family was convicted and exiled, he didn't take the initiative to arrest him and send him back to the capital. So Prince Pingshan has long harbored ulterior motives."
"The men sent by Commander Liu didn't bother reporting Prince Pingshan's movements to the imperial court. Instead, they resorted to deceiving the king by pretending to be nice to him and stalling for time. Instead, they relied on His Majesty's name to barge into Prince Pingshan's mansion and even dared to threaten to forcibly arrest Prince Pingshan and bring him back to the capital for trial. What have they done to their brains?"
"Prince Pingshan already had ulterior motives. Your men gave him the perfect opportunity to turn against the court. They injured Prince Pingshan's son and intended to murder Prince Pingshan to silence him..."
Xiao Yan made a "tsk" sound, and the disdainful tone made Liu Tongen's face turn pale.
"I really wonder if Commander Liu has a grudge against Your Majesty. He knows that the Great Wei is under attack from all sides and shouldn't start another war, yet he's trying to stir up trouble between Prince Pingshan and the imperial court. Perhaps Prince Pingshan and that traitor Lu Jiuan have something to offer you. Thank you for sending those idiots south to give them this opportunity, allowing them to legitimately accuse Your Majesty of rebellion."
When it comes to talking, Liu Tong'en is no match for Xiao Yan.
Liu Tong'en originally wanted to take the opportunity to question Xiao Yan, implying that he had not been devoted to the court and intentionally concealed the fact that Prince Pingshan had rebelled.
But he didn't expect that as soon as he asked a question, Xiao Yan directly threw the accusation of provoking disputes between the vassal kings and the court on his head.
Liu Tong'en knelt down with a thud: "Your Majesty, I have absolutely no such intention. I only followed Your Majesty's orders to send people to Pingyang County to arrest Lu Jiuan, but I was completely unaware of what happened in Pingshan Palace. I have been guarding Your Majesty all this time. It was Chang Xiyi who brought back the news of their rebellion after returning to the capital tonight..."
Xiao Yan said quietly, "So Commander Liu only found out tonight. I thought you knew all along, so you came to question me."
"You are being so unkind. You've been working so hard guarding His Majesty in the palace, and the Crown Prince and I are no less relaxed in managing the court. How could you be so ignorant of putting yourself in other people's shoes and understanding their difficulties? Prince Pingshan rebelled because of the people you sent, but you don't know how to reflect on yourself and only blame others, shirking responsibility. It's really..."
Xiao Yan shook his head and looked at Liu Tongen without saying anything vicious, but the unfinished words were like a slap in the face of Liu Tongen.
Liu Tong'en's face turned pale, blue, and purple, and his clenched fists were colorful.
Qian Baokun pressed his head down and almost laughed out loud.
I want to borrow the mouth of my nephew!
Liang Guangyi saw that Liu Tong'en was defeated after just three or five sentences, and he couldn't even confront Xiao Yan for two rounds. Even though Emperor An at the top tried his best to keep a calm face, his expression was still ugly.
He felt a little regretful that Liu Tong'en was not strong enough to fight, so he stepped forward and spoke.
"Duke Dingguo is right. Prince Pingshan has long harbored ulterior motives. When he took Lu Jiuan in and concealed his intentions from the court, he probably already had rebellious intentions. How could he easily reveal his intentions and let others know? He must have wanted to catch the court off guard. How could Duke Dingguo know this in advance?"
"But since he has this intention, even if Commander Liu's men hadn't gone, Prince Pingshan would probably have found another excuse, or even taken the initiative to provoke a conflict as a pretext for starting a rebellion. Commander Liu's men were certainly careless, but it was also Prince Pingshan's plan that had been planned before, so it's no wonder they are not to blame."
Liang Guangyi tried his best to be fair, speaking for Xiao Yan and helping Liu Tongen out of trouble.
After he finished speaking, he looked up at Emperor An and said, "Your Majesty, now is not the time to discuss who is right and who is wrong. Prince Pingshan has already raised an army and spread such rumors to slander Your Majesty. He will certainly not let it go. The court must respond as soon as possible."
After the death of Minister of War Xi Weifang, the new successor was not decided, and all affairs were temporarily handled by Vice Minister Yan Bai.
Yan Bai stepped forward and said, "Grand Tutor Liang is right. Pingyang County is located in the southern border, adjacent to Haiti, and has a considerable garrison there. The Pingshan Palace has always held great prestige there. If he suddenly raises an army like this, I'm afraid even the neighboring prefectures will find it difficult to cope. Your Majesty must make plans early."
Emperor An did not respond when he heard this, but instead looked at the prince.
"What do you think of this matter, Prince?"
The prince was stunned, as if he didn't expect Emperor An to ask for his opinion.
During this period, Emperor An was particularly indifferent to him after he woke up. Although he summoned him to take care of him every day, it did not seem like he was close to him at all, but more like he was trying to torment him. Emperor An resented the night when he and Xiao Yan "joined forces" to force him to establish the Crown Prince, and he hated him even more for writing the edict of apology on his behalf, interfering in government affairs and undermining the imperial power.
The prince could have chosen not to deal with him, but Emperor An was not only a king but also a father. Especially after he had "repented" and even fainted from kneeling in the Taimiao, the prince's previous accusations were untenable.
After the palace banquet, the prince had already been branded as unfilial. Now, in order to avoid being impeached by the censor, he could only swallow his anger and serve Emperor An. Even though he was so tired that he could not even straighten his back, he had to go to the dragon bed in the Imperial Dragon Terrace every day to serve him medicine.
The prince knew how much his father hated him, but now he was asking for his opinion in the court. His first reaction was that it was a trick.
The emperor wants to trick him!
"Prince?"
Emperor An looked at the silent prince calmly.
The prince suddenly came back to his senses: "Father."
Emperor An said, "I want to ask you, regarding the rebellion of Prince Pingshan, how do you think we should deal with it?"
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