Chapter 762: Indisputable
Xiahou Ling wanted to explain, but lost the opportunity.
The Princess's Mansion holds evidence of his secret connection with Southern Qi, and no one knows where he got the information that he had previously instructed his generals not to take Luoyan Pass so quickly after the battle between Beiling and Wei.
Those two generals had close relations with the Imperial Master's Office, and Xiahou Ling had kept the matter very secret. Moreover, no one could have noticed if the two countries had slowed down the offensive a little during the war. Now, all these became evidence that Xiahou Ling had colluded with Southern Qi and intended to use the lives of Beiling soldiers to cover up Southern Qi's sneak attack on Munan Pass.
Xiahou Ling rarely showed panic on his face, but he still forced himself to explain calmly.
"Khan, I have been away from Southern Qi for many years. Since entering Beiling, I have never had any disloyalty to the royal court. If I were truly loyal to Southern Qi, I would not have tried so hard to deal with Shi Chang'an and helped the Khan suppress the chaos among the various tribes, allowing Beiling to become as powerful as it is today."
Seeing the anger on the Khan's face, Xiahou Ling said:
"This old minister joined forces with Southern Qi only to more quickly conquer Great Wei."
"Although the Great Wei has suffered a loss of national strength due to the previous dethronement of the emperor, the court is still full of veteran generals, and there are also brave generals like Di Shuangcheng who lead the troops to guard Luoyan Pass. In addition, the current Wei emperor is cunning and holds sole control of military and political power, unlike Xie Tianyong who was previously controlled by the aristocratic families. If Beiling goes south and wants to bite off the tough bone of the Great Wei, it will be very difficult."
"I ordered Southern Qi to march north so they could share the pressure from Wei. If the southern and northern borders were attacked simultaneously, Wei's forces would be dispersed, and our Beiling men would have a chance to conquer Wei with minimal losses and capture the Wei capital as quickly as possible. As for concealing the news from the Khan, it was simply because we were afraid that the news would leak out and the Wei Emperor would learn of it, disrupting our plans."
"I am loyal to the Khan and Beiling. I beg the Khan to understand!"
The Khan's expression wavered a little.
The throne of Beiling is different from that of several other countries. Succession does not rely solely on blood inheritance. He is the nephew of the previous Khan, but at that time there were more than a dozen people with the same status as him who were qualified to compete for the throne of Khan. In addition, the three major tribes each had their own selfish desires, so his chances of ascending the throne of Khan were not very great.
When Shi Chang'an wreaked havoc in Beiling, he nearly implicated all of the Beiling tribes. If Xiahou Ling had any selfish motives, or ties to his homeland, he wouldn't have worked so hard to quell the chaos in Beiling and deal with Shi Chang'an, and later, he wouldn't have even tried so hard to help him ascend to the throne...
Ji Rongqing suddenly spoke up: "The Imperial Master has indeed made great contributions to Beiling and has been kind to the Khan, but this is not a reason for you to privately cooperate with Southern Qi."
"If you truly have any ideas, you can discuss them with the Khan and the elders of the tribes. Although the other tribes may have their own selfish motives, they have always been unwavering in their support for the southern expedition against Wei. Furthermore, the elders are devoted to their tribes and Beiling, and will absolutely not collude with others to ruin their tribe's future."
"Besides, can you really keep your so-called secrets hidden from the Emperor of Wei?"
Wu Ya stood aside and sneered, "You are just being clever!"
"Khan, the conspiracy between the Imperial Preceptor and Southern Qi has long been known to the Emperor of Wei. It's not quite right to say that. It should be said that he has fallen into the Emperor's calculations since he first wanted to plot against the Emperor of Wei."
"The Imperial Master believed he had spies in the Wei Dynasty and access to information that no one else had, so he never consulted anyone before making decisions. He acted arbitrarily, even disregarding the Khan. He never considered the consequences of his information being wrong."
"If they really follow his plan to attack Wei this time, delaying the offensive on the battlefield to cover up for Southern Qi, and Southern Qi is defeated at Mu Nan Pass, then Beiling will fall into Wei's trap and lose its momentum to attack, and be dragged down to death by Wei."
"Your so-called devotion to Beiling is nothing more than playing with the lives of tens of thousands of Beiling men and women, using Beiling's foundation to fulfill your own self-righteous schemes?"
"When Beiling is defeated, and tens of thousands of men die in vain on the battlefield, what will the Imperial Master use to pay for their lives?!"
Xiahou Ling's face changed. It was impossible. How could they know that the plan with Southern Qi had gone wrong and that the Emperor of Wei had set up a trap in advance... No, that wasn't right.
Mingke’s secret letter arrived at the imperial city just last night.
last night……
Song Jinxiu has been to the National Master’s Mansion!
Xiahou Ling suddenly turned his head and looked at Song Jinxiu: "How dare you spy on military secrets?!"
Song Jinxiu frowned. "State Master, be careful what you say. I never interact with anyone in the military, let alone pry into any secrets. I simply cannot bear to see Beiling's foundation destroyed. I cannot bear to see the Khan place so much trust in the State Master, only to have the army that is attacking Wei perish on the battlefield because of the State Master's carelessness."
"Last night, I received news that the Emperor of the Wei Dynasty had suddenly requisitioned a large number of merchant ships to secretly transport supplies to the southern border. The Mu Nan Pass had also significantly increased its military presence, as if something had happened. I went to the Imperial Preceptor's residence to inform him of this, but I unexpectedly learned that he had concealed the Khan's plan and was collaborating with Southern Qi to attack Wei."
Song Jinxiu's face looked a little bad, and he said with a slightly gloomy look:
"The Imperial Master saved my life and also helped me. Although I was shocked by this, I hesitated to tell the Khan. I was even more worried that I had misunderstood the Imperial Master. I wandered outside the palace gate all day, and at night I encountered the princess and her husband rushing into the palace. From them, I learned that the Imperial Master wanted to delay the war and use tens of thousands of Beiling soldiers as bait for Southern Qi."
As Song Jinxiu spoke, he knelt down and kowtowed to the Khan.
"I am guilty. I should not have considered our old kindness and tried to conceal the truth for the Imperial Master. If I had ruined the lives of those soldiers, I would be guilty of this even if I died."
Ji Rongqing glanced at Song Jinxiu, who was showing genuine emotion, and said, "Lord Song's hesitation is understandable. After all, who would have thought that the Imperial Preceptor would dare to act like this? Furthermore, with a war imminent, without solid evidence, wouldn't it shake the morale of the army if the Imperial Preceptor was misunderstood?"
"Khan, Lord Song is devoted to Beiling. If it weren't for the information he received, the princess and I would have had difficulty understanding the changes in the Wei Dynasty. If Southern Qi falls into the Wei Dynasty's schemes and Beiling loses the opportunity to fight, we will be in real danger."
The Khan's face, which had been shaken before, became completely cold, but this coldness was not directed at Song Jinxiu.
"You get up first."
After he asked Song Jinxiu to stand up, he lowered his eyes to look at Xiahou Ling: "Do you have any explanation?"
Just as Xiahou Ling was about to open his mouth to explain, Wu Ya spoke in a cold voice.
"What explanation does he have? If his previous attempts to secretly liaise with Southern Qi for Beiling were excusable, then why didn't he report this to the Khan last night when he learned that Wei's veteran general Yin Bao had already secretly traveled to Munan Pass, and that there were an additional 100,000 troops in the southern border, indicating he had fallen into the Wei Emperor's trap?"
"He concealed such a big news just because he was afraid of the Khan's anger and the loss of the Imperial Preceptorate, and that people would know his incompetence. He has no regard for the Khan, nor for us Beiling. Ultimately, it's all for his own selfish reasons."
Wuya's voice was filled with doubt.
"King Khan, do you really want to let this kind of person take charge of the Beiling Commander?"
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