Chapter 763: Caning and House Arrest
The Khan's expression grew even uglier.
Xiahou Ling said anxiously, "This old minister did not intend to deceive the Khan. I was planning to tell the Khan about the Mu Nan Pass incident, but who would have thought that an ungrateful villain would spy on the secret and get there first..."
Being accused of being ungrateful, Song Jinxiu's expression darkened. "I never intended to tell on you, Imperial Master. I've been lingering in front of the royal court all day. I just don't want you to make a big mistake out of selfish motives."
Wu Ya has always been straightforward and looked down upon Song Jinxiu's hypocritical behavior, but she also knew that now was the best opportunity to suppress the Imperial Master's Mansion, so she sneered.
"The Imperial Master keeps saying that Lord Song is ungrateful. If he truly was ungrateful and knew last night that you were deceiving the emperor, he should have gone to the royal court to report to the Khan and try to gain his favor, instead of hesitating and wandering around all day without even thinking of exposing you."
"If he hadn't learned from this princess that you privately instructed the army to delay the war, fearing that Beiling's foundation would be lost in your hands, he probably wouldn't have made up his mind to meet with the Khan and accuse you of colluding with Southern Qi!"
Wu Ya looked up after she finished speaking.
"Khan, the Imperial Master's words are full of sophistry, but they can't hide his deep selfish motives."
"Ever since the Wei Emperor seized the throne and purged the capital, almost all of us who remained in the capital of Great Wei have been killed. The Imperial Master had a spy, but he kept his identity a secret and refused to share information with anyone. Instead, he repeatedly used this information to benefit himself. If he had informed us of the spy's information earlier, we would have only needed to compare it with what we know to know that something went wrong at Munan Pass, instead of nearly falling into the Wei Emperor's trap and leading us into danger."
"He deceived the Khan, acted arbitrarily, and was self-righteous, yet he nearly cost the lives of our Beiling soldiers on the battlefield because of his ignorance and arrogance. Letting such a man lead the troops south, not only me, but also the elders and generals of the tribes, will never agree."
The Khan looked at Wu Ya, whose face was frosty and whose words were harsh, and his expression kept changing.
He was wary of his former sister, now nominally his "stepdaughter", and even more wary of the queen behind her and the entire Zong Yu tribe.
There is no saying that women cannot be in power in Beiling. There were women in power hundreds of years ago. When the old Khan was in trouble, Wuya was one of his rivals for the throne. After he won, the first ones he suppressed were Wuya and Zongyu. At that time, the situation was not favorable, so Wuya led Zongyu to retreat. On the surface, she bowed her head and pledged allegiance to him, but only the Khan himself knew the truth.
Wuya never gave up on the Khan throne, and even the Zongyu tribe has always been a big concern for him.
Especially after Ji Rongqing appeared, his fear of Wu Ya became more and more serious.
This time he tried his best to suppress Wu Ya and forcibly gave the power of commander-in-chief to the National Master's Mansion. He originally wanted to use this to suppress those people in Zong Yu's department, but who could have thought that Xiahou Ling would make such a big mistake. He was extremely angry at Xiahou Ling for acting on his own and hated him even more for ruining his plan.
Now Wu Ya was being aggressive, and he had no choice but to respond.
The Khan looked at Xiahou Ling who was kneeling on the ground with gloomy eyes.
"Xiahou Ling, what you did was truly audacious and reckless. Fortunately, Wu Ya and Lord Song discovered it before it became too serious. Otherwise, even if you had ten heads, you wouldn't have enough to chop off."
"Since you are so foolish, you don't need to worry about leading the troops anymore. From now on, you must reflect on your mistakes behind closed doors and are not allowed to leave the palace without permission!"
Xiahou Ling said urgently, "King Khan..."
He wanted to explain, but before he could say anything, Wu Ya, standing beside him, started to complain. "King Khan, Xiahou Ling colluded with Southern Qi and deceived the emperor, and you're just punishing him with confinement? How can you intimidate others, or win over the public, by treating him so lightly?"
"Wu Ya, this matter was discovered in advance..."
"The fact that they were able to discover it in advance was due to the caution of the Prince Consort and Lord Song. What does this have to do with Xiahou Ling? Just because the army hadn't set out yet and the Khan hadn't seen any casualties, does that mean he was right?"
The Khan looked grim when questioned by Wuya.
Ji Rongqing said softly, "I know that the Khan values talent, and I also know that you are grateful for the help the Imperial Master has given you. However, merits and demerits cannot be offset. This time, the Imperial Master has gone too far."
"The Imperial Master has always been arrogant in his conduct within the royal court, and what happened tonight may not be covered up. If the Khan can punish him in advance, the other elders will know about this and won't pursue the matter any further. However, if there is no punishment at all, I am afraid that people will question the Khan and the army will revolt."
The Khan's eyes changed, and after a moment he said in a deep voice, "Xiahou Ling acted erratically and nearly made a serious mistake. Drag him away and give him thirty strokes of the cane, and confine him to his quarters for a month!"
"Khan..."
Upon hearing this, Wu Ya felt that the punishment was too light and that it had not affected the foundation of the Imperial Master's Mansion. She opened her mouth to speak again, but was stopped by Ji Rongqing.
Ji Rongqing took Wuya's hand and bowed, saying, "Khan, you are wise."
Seeing this, Wu Ya reluctantly shut up.
Xiahou Ling was dragged away before he could even plead for mercy. He never thought that one day he would be treated like this. When he was taken to the outer room and the board fell on his body, he gritted his teeth and refused to cry out. The veins on his forehead were bulging with pain, and his one eye was also bloodshot.
The Khan left Song Jinxiu alone in the inner room, while Ji Rongqing and Wu Ya went outside the hall.
Wu Ya frowned: "Why did you stop me just now?"
Ji Rongqing said softly, "The Khan King will not allow the Imperial Preceptor's Office to completely lose its power, nor will he kill Xia Houling. Now that he has been caned and imprisoned, it is already his greatest concession."
Seeing Wu Ya was somewhat dissatisfied, he said:
"The battle of Beiling is imminent. Imprisoning him for a month will completely prevent Xiahou Ling from interfering in the attack on Wei. This is extremely beneficial for the time being. The Khan is deeply wary of Zong Yu's tribe and cannot force him too much."
Wu Ya also realized after hearing this. Although the Khan did not kill Xiahou Ling, the Imperial Master's Mansion did not make any moves, but putting him under house arrest was equivalent to asking the Imperial Master's Mansion to give up on the issue of the commander-in-chief.
Wu Ya's expression finally relaxed a bit. "Then why did the Khan keep Song Jinxiu here? He just said he had something to report. Why don't we stay inside?"
Ji Rongqing was helpless: "We have violated a taboo by joining forces with Song Jinxiu this time. The Imperial Preceptor's Mansion and the Princess's Mansion have always been at odds. We can't let the Khan think that the princess has secretly bribed the people in the Imperial Preceptor's Mansion. If that happens, the Khan will think that today's incident was set up by us, and he will soften his heart towards Xia Hou Ling."
"Besides, Song Jinxiu is not on the same side as us. He hasn't told us everything. We can use him, so we can't trust him too much."
Wu Ya frowned upon hearing this and muttered, "You guys are beating around the bush. It's giving me a headache."
Then he looked up at Xiahou Ling who was being beaten.
"Fortunately, we've suppressed this old man, but I don't know if the Sanzina thing will succeed."
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