Chapter 176 Royal Scandal
Twenty-two years ago, the Northern Rong invaded Nanling for the first time, and the Baishang Kingdom also took the opportunity to invade.
In that battle, the world only knew that the traitor Heng Hongbo, facing the attack from both countries, led Yunzhou to surrender to the enemy, and opened a side door, allowing Baishang Kingdom to bypass the defense line, which led to the massacre of 100,000 soldiers and civilians at Tianqian Pass.
But they never knew that this was a royal scandal that was covered up.
Back then, when the retired emperor was still in power, the former emperor was still the crown prince.
The prince married Xie Xuan's father's sister as his princess.
This was an inevitable move by the royal family to consolidate the border.
However, since the First Emperor, Nanling has been deeply wary of military generals who hold military power, even to the point of suppressing them.
Although the Crown Prince had the full support of the Crown Princess's family and was able to secure his position as Crown Prince, the Emperor did not want to give up power too early.
The Crown Prince's concubine Liu saw this opportunity and, in order to compete for the position of Crown Prince, she conspired with a treacherous minister, Wang Yongshou's father, the authoritarian and self-reliant Privy Councilor, Wang Huanqi.
He made many slanderous remarks, saying that Xie Xuan's grandfather had been entrenched in the border for a long time, and that the world only knew about the Qilin Army but not the emperor's grace. He was afraid that they would develop rebellious thoughts in the future, so he suggested that Xie Xuan's father be held hostage in the old capital.
It was at this time that Princess Shuhua, the youngest daughter of the retired emperor and the retired empress, fell in love with Xie Xuan's father.
The situation was unclear at the time. Most military generals advocated war, while most civil officials supported Wang Huanqi's faction and advocated peace.
The border was unstable at that time, and Xie Xuan's father was eager to return home.
Princess Shuhua saw the clues and wanted to marry into the Xie family and let Xie Xuan's father take the position of son-in-law.
On the one hand, he stripped the emperor of his military power, relieved the emperor's worries, and allowed Xie Xuan's father to return home.
Secondly, when the Northern Rong were marching south, the Empress Dowager feared that the war would go against her, so she married Princess Shuhua to the barbaric land of the Northern Rong as a peace treaty.
At that time, Xie Xuan's father had already arranged marriage with the daughter of a general at the border.
As soon as the imperial edict was issued, Xie Xuan wanted to decline the marriage on the grounds that he was already engaged.
However, the retired emperor wanted to take away the Xie family's increasingly arrogant military power that they had gained over the years guarding the border, and insisted on forcing them to break off the engagement...
Back then, Xie Xuan's father also took out the golden medal of immunity from death from his ancestors and tried to disobey the imperial order.
But the retired emperor said that the princess had condescended to marry him. Does that mean it would be harder for you to marry the princess than to be put to death?
Is he unwilling to give up his military power, or is he harboring rebellious intentions?
Xie Xuan's father had already held himself hostage and had no choice but to be forced to marry.
Afterwards, the two of them got married in the old capital and had Xie Xuan...
Later, the Northern Rong broke through several passes and marched south. The Baishang Kingdom took advantage of the situation and launched an attack on Nanling, which was unable to take care of itself.
Xie Xuan requested troops to go to war, and the emperor granted his approval.
But I didn’t know that I would never come back after this trip.
The prince married the eldest daughter of the Xie family, and the prince's sister married the eldest son of the Xie family.
How could Concubine Liu not be anxious given the close relationship now?
In order to compete for the position of the crown prince, that is, the future prince, he and the treacherous minister Wang Huanqi did not hesitate to frame and slander the Qilin Army.
It is said that the Qilin Army can only be led by the Xie family in order to defeat the Baishang Kingdom and defend the foundation of Nanling.
Such remarks made the retired emperor even more wary of the Xie family, who had already returned home and had no hostages.
After that, there was the issue of delaying food and reinforcements.
I thought it was just to suppress the arrogance of the Xie family in the border areas.
But who knew that Yunzhou Heng Hongbo would surrender to the enemy.
This led to the subsequent massacre of 100,000 soldiers and civilians in the Baishang Kingdom.
Therefore, this royal scandal quietly laid the groundwork for hidden dangers.
Princess Shuhua was unaware of this at the time. In order to smoothly take over the border, the retired emperor posthumously conferred the title of king on Xie Xuan's father.
The military power of the Qilin Army naturally belonged to the royal bloodline.
It was not until seven years later that the Northern Rong people rose up again and headed straight for the old capital.
In a panic, the retired emperor hastily abdicated the throne to the crown prince, the former saint who is still held captive by the Northern Rong.
The throne of the crown prince was passed to the son of the eldest daughter of the Xie family, who was the crown prince in marriage, and who was the heir apparent at the time.
The overall situation has been decided, and even if Concubine Liu is unwilling, she cannot change it.
This matter was exposed by the Queen, the eldest daughter of the Xie family, who had just inherited the throne.
But the king's heart is hard to predict...
The new emperor had just ascended the throne and was not yet fully grown. In addition, he was cowardly and did not dare to confront the emperor emeritus.
Even if the Queen secretly captured someone and Pei Zishi, who was involved in the incident and was once Wang Huanqi's counselor, testified, it would be of no avail.
He claimed it was a false accusation on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence and there was a grudge between the two.
When Princess Shuhua learned about this, she returned to the capital in person to question her father, the retired emperor.
The excuse was that there was discord between civil and military officials in the court, and Nanling was plagued by internal and external troubles. If the matter was investigated, it would lead to a mutiny in the army.
In the end, Wang Huanqi was only executed for other crimes, and his family was expelled from the old capital and the case was hastily concluded.
This royal scandal caused by the struggle for the throne of the crown prince was completely buried.
Although Princess Shuhua married into the Xie family to protect them, if Xie Xuan's father had married the daughter of the Yunzhou general at that time, perhaps he would not...
For this reason, Princess Shuhua practiced Buddhism with her hair uncut and guarded the place where Xie Xuan's father died in battle outside the pass.
The eldest daughter of the Xie family, the queen at the time, also went to the nunnery in anger.
Perhaps he was too obsessed and couldn't let go of the matter, so he collapsed and passed away not long after.
The royal family was inherently unfeeling. The former emperor, in order to protect himself and the throne, completely disregarded the grievances of his first wife...
Not long after the sick crown prince passed away, he promoted the son of concubine Liu to the throne of crown prince.
Fortunately, God has eyes. Concubine Liu, who was honored as empress because of her son, and the crown prince were both captured during the invasion of the Northern Rong.
Now he is serving as a slave in the enemy country, paying for his sins!
When Old Master Su heard this, his anger turned into sadness.
The iron-willed Qilin Army was harmed by the jealousy of the king they protected with their lives...
How could he not feel ashamed?
He clearly had an opportunity to redress his grievances, but the emperor he taught completely covered it up to protect his throne...
How could this not make him heartbroken!
Compared with the blood and tears of tens of thousands of soldiers on this frontier, what is his little injustice insignificant?
Unfortunately, before the incident was exposed, Old Master Su was exiled to another place for protecting General Zhang, who was transferred from southern Xinjiang by the retired emperor, and was unaware of this matter.
At that time, the Northern Rong were advancing, and the upper echelons of Nanling were afraid of the disastrous defeat seven years ago, and their morale was low.
Not to mention that the old general of the Xie family was still alive, even the founding general would not be able to turn the tide.
It must be said that General Zhang's transfer was also due to the emperor's suspicion.
The generals who did not want to guard the border would occupy the local area for years and establish their own kingdoms.
General Zhang was not familiar with the Northern Rong's tactics, so it was understandable that he failed to achieve victory at first.
Old Master Su couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
Unexpectedly, his words of loyalty at that time actually earned him help from Xie Xuan who was on the road of exile.
"Although the culprits have been punished, the injustice done to the Qilin Army has yet to be fully exposed." Xie Xuan's eyes were gloomy. "Wang Yongshou is the son of Wang Huanqi. He will definitely prevent the Qilin Army from redressing its injustice."
Old Master Su was slightly stunned...
Wang Yongshou knelt down and pledged allegiance, colluding with Qin Qi and the other two.
If what Xie Xuan said was true, then how could Wang Yongshou become a close minister to the current emperor after being expelled from the old capital?
Was it not a dispute over the position of Crown Prince, but a dispute over the position of Crown Prince?
You must know that the emperor is in good health. In addition, the prince is the legitimate son of the empress, and he is supported by the Qilin Army.
No matter how you look at it, the Crown Prince at that time was more valuable as an assistant than the son of Concubine Liu.
As a member of the Privy Council, how could Wang Yongshou be persuaded by the little concubine Liu to set up such a big plan?
If the Northern Rong had not targeted the old capital for the second time seven years later, the retired emperor would have abdicated in a hurry to avoid the stigma of destroying the country.
It remains to be seen whether the throne will fall into the hands of the cowardly former Saint...
The room was plunged into darkness.
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