Chapter 683: Confident
There was an uproar in the hall.
Everyone looked at Emperor An in disbelief.
Someone said coldly: "Is what you said true?!"
Yang Kunliang lowered his head: "At this point, there is no need for me to lie."
"When that man came to me that day, I also found it unbelievable. Marquis Wenxin and his men were helping the court suppress the rebellion. How could His Majesty do such a thing? I was afraid that Prince Pingshan was plotting to instigate harm, so I wanted to have the quartermaster arrested and handed over to Marquis Wenxin for punishment. But who knew that the man would produce His Majesty's handwritten imperial edict, along with the personal belongings of my parents and young son."
"I...I can't refuse."
He lowered his head in shame, his voice hoarse as he clenched his fists, "That man said that as soon as Marquis Wenxin and General Yin died, the city would be in chaos. King Huan's men had already burned the last batch of food and fodder, so the city's military supplies would only last a few days."
"If we can seize the opportunity to capture those lieutenant generals, that would be great. If not, Your Majesty will order those guarding the city to pretend to attack Longkang, and Prince Pingshan will also take advantage of the chaos to attack. If the people in the city refuse to hand over military power to Your Majesty, they will be attacked from both sides. As long as they still value their lives and don't want everyone to die at the hands of the rebels, they will naturally compromise."
Yang Kunliang whispered what the quartermaster had told him that day, as well as Emperor An's decree, and his words caused an even louder uproar in the hall.
Not to mention the military generals who were furious, even Liang Guangyi and others looked at Emperor An in disbelief.
Is Emperor An crazy?!
A young general couldn't help but step forward and cursed, "You tyrant! Long Kang has an army of over 100,000 soldiers fighting the rebellion. Even the slightest mistake on the battlefield would mean countless deaths. You had the food burned and conspired with Prince Pingshan to attack from both sides. Did you intend to kill so many people?"
Some of the civil officials were so angry that their faces flushed red, and they cursed angrily: "That Prince Pingshan is a traitor, Your Majesty, are you crazy?!"
"Have you forgotten how many people Prince Pingshan killed when he led his troops to capture the city? And how horrific the battle reports sent back to the capital were? Prince Pingshan wants the throne. He wants to rule the capital. How could he really conspire with you to give up such a good opportunity?"
"Your Majesty, just because you killed Marquis Wenxin and his men, do you think you can stabilize the situation in Longkang and capture Prince Pingshan? If we lose Longkang, and the rebels march north, the war will spread to the entire southern region. How many people will die? How many soldiers will be buried by your ridiculous decree!!"
Cao Dejiang already knew about what happened in the South before yesterday, and he knew even more clearly what Emperor An had done.
In addition to thinking that Emperor An's desperate actions were absurd, he also felt that the emperor, whom he once thought was a ruler who could maintain the status quo, was extremely disgusting and hateful.
Cao Dejiang ignored the panicked Emperor An and turned to look at Xiao Yan: "Duke Dingguo, who are these other two?"
Xiao Yan: "One of them is Xie Jingyan, the second son of King Pingshan, and the other is the man I captured this time who was disguised as Lu Jiuan."
"Xie Tianyong and Lu Jiuan conspired to lure me out of the capital and set an ambush in Lucheng. They originally wanted me to fight Lu Jiuan to the death and then capture him together after both of us were injured, so as to conceal his conspiracy with the traitor. However, Lu Jiuan never believed him. Not only did he send a substitute to pretend to be him in Lucheng, he also secretly returned to Longkang."
"That day, the assassination attempt by Xie Tianyong on Marquis Wenxin and General Yin was unsuccessful. It was Lu Jiuan's men who attacked a second time amidst the chaos. Fortunately, someone rescued Marquis Wenxin, but General Yin was seriously injured."
"After learning of Xie Tianyong's plan, Marquis Wenxin and General Yin simply took the opportunity to fake their own deaths and lure Prince Pingshan into action. Not only did they crush the rebels, but they also captured Xie Jingyan and his men alive, and also captured those who Xie Tianyong had sent to Longkang and were hiding outside the city."
After Xiao Yan finished speaking, he glanced down.
Jinyun stepped directly on the hand of the man on the ground who looked quite embarrassed after being tortured: "Xie Erlangjun, tell me about what happened between you and Xie Tianyong."
The man lying on the ground screamed in pain, and when he looked up, his face was bloody and terrified.
"I... I don't know about the deal between my father and Emperor An. I only know that the palace once sent someone to deliver a letter to my father and eldest brother. That day, my father even laughed and said that Emperor An was extremely foolish and wanted to kill Xiao Yan. He also asked Lu Jiuan to lead people to the capital."
"Father never showed me the letter, but my eldest brother once said that Emperor An was driven to desperation by Xiao Yan and had lost his mind. He wanted Long Kang's 100,000 troops. He also said that Emperor An was so foolish that he thought that if Xiao Yan died, he could get the military command back. He even wanted to give Long Kang to father as a bargaining chip to get them to help him."
The second son of the Prince of Pingshan had suffered a lot of torture. He looked terrified when he spoke and his whole body was trembling.
Xiao Yan glanced at him and asked, "Why did King Pingshan rebel in the first place?"
Xie Jingyan said in a trembling voice, "Before anything happened to the Lu family, Lu Jiuan approached my father and said that the Lu family had leverage over Emperor An that could put him to death. He also said that when Emperor An's throne became unstable, my father would be able to take advantage of it and seize control of the capital. At that time, my father had already secretly recruited troops."
"Unexpectedly, something unexpected happened to the Lu family, and Lu Jiuan became a traitor. Seeing the situation was not good, my father had suppressed his thoughts and only wanted to secretly control Lu Jiuan in case of any accidents."
"At the time, the palace was respectful to the people sent by the palace to investigate my father. My father also wanted to show weakness to the palace in order to calm the situation. But who knew that those people would suddenly commit suicide in the palace, and they also insisted that my father was plotting treason."
"Father was caught off guard. Hiding the news was impossible. The arrow was on the string and we had no choice but to force it. It was Emperor An who refused to let the Pingshan Palace survive."
Everyone in the hall was extremely shocked.
Qian Baokun said coldly, "I was saying that the plot to rebel in Prince Pingshan's mansion was too bizarre. The Lu family has already been defeated, and Lu Jiuan is a wanted criminal. Even if Prince Pingshan had such intentions, he would definitely not openly conspire with him and be labeled a traitor. After all, it was Your Majesty who forced Prince Pingshan to rebel."
A military officer nearby sneered, "No wonder Your Majesty wanted Liu Tong'en to lead the troops to suppress the rebellion as soon as Prince Pingshan rebelled, and even wanted to take back the military command from Duke Dingguo. Your Majesty is truly wise!"
The word "wise" made Emperor An's face turn red with sarcasm.
Several elderly ministers were so angry that they were trembling all over.
"A tyrant ruler, a truly tyrant ruler! You forced the princes to rebel for your own selfish reasons, provoking war and bringing disaster to the southern lands. Have you ever thought about those innocent people?!"
"You are the emperor, the Son of Heaven. How could you do such a thing? You are unworthy of being an emperor!"
"A foolish and incompetent ruler, without moral integrity and without shame!!"
Xiao Yan looked at the people below who were cursing Emperor An, and glanced at the other person next to Xie Jingyan.
The man was already terrified and said in a panic, "After leaving the Lu family, my master has already met with Liu Tong'en privately several times. Even when our people went to the capital to Lu'an this time, they had a pass issued by the palace to hide it from the local authorities."
"Moreover, Liu Tong'en has a group of people at his disposal who are not the imperial guards. The sieges of Longkang and Lucheng were also carried out by those people."
Cao Dejiang said in a deep voice, "You mean, His Majesty has a private army?"
Emperor An's face changed drastically, and before he could stop him, he heard the man say, "Yes."
Not to mention the ministers in the court, even the royal family members changed their expressions.
The old prince asked anxiously, "What private army?"
The man shook his head. "I don't know for sure. I only heard from my master that the private army probably has over 100,000 men. They have been secretly kept in the dark for years and are under the jurisdiction of Liu Tongen."
"Emperor An hid this matter from everyone, not even the Lu family. The master only discovered it this time when he worked with Liu Tongen and the others, and was extremely shocked at the time."
Everyone in the hall gasped.
More than 100,000 people?
Emperor An actually hid this huge army from everyone else?! How did he do it?!
An Diwan didn't expect that this matter would be exposed. He was panicked at first, thinking that his biggest trump card had been revealed, but he gradually calmed down, and there was even a hint of fearlessness on his face.
Xiao Yan noticed his expression and suddenly laughed, "Why, Your Majesty, do you think that with that private army at your disposal, no one can do anything to you?"
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