Selling out his country for personal gain and assassinating members of the royal family?
Ling Tianen's eyes widened as much as a cow's.
"Your Highness, is there some misunderstanding? Ling Buyi has always been cautious and meticulous. He has served under me for several years and has never made a mistake. How could this be..."
"He certainly didn't do that to you, but what if someone ordered him to kill me?"
Upon hearing this, Ling Tianen knelt down with a thud.
"Impossible. Liangcheng was besieged for a year, so there was no way he could have contacted the outside world."
"Why not?" Chen Wan'er pulled out a buckle and threw it at him. "Look carefully, Huo Zichu said there are still many Northern Barbarian spies in Liangcheng. This is the evidence he left us before he died!"
The buckle jingled and rolled around on the ground.
Ling Tianen recognized the pattern on it; it was something he had specially commissioned for Ling Buyi in Kyoto at great expense.
Instantly, any lingering hope I had vanished.
He suddenly lunged in front of Ling Buyi and punched him hard in the face.
"You bastard, you've turned me from His Highness's confidant into a major threat! I'll kill you right now!"
Ling Buyi's mouth and nose were bleeding from the blow, but he still held his head high without fear of death.
"Confidant? Ling Tianen, as a member of the Ling family, you should prioritize imperial power. Yet you've become Qin Yuezhao's lackey. How can you face the loyal old general?"
"Pah, stop trying to intimidate me with my dad. He's not that kind of person."
"Ha, you're right, the old general isn't that kind of person! This matter has nothing to do with anyone else. It was my personal hatred for Huo Zichu's defection to the Northern Barbarians that led me to kill him. You can kill him if you want!"
Qin Yue Zhao narrowed her beautiful fox-like eyes.
"Personal grudges? Do you think I believe your nonsense? Or do you think you can drive a wedge between General Ling and me with just a few words?"
"Back when Liangcheng was on the brink of death, where was the old general you mentioned? Why didn't he come to save Ling Tianen?"
Ling Tianen's gaze suddenly darkened.
“That’s right! I’m an ally of the Huo family now, and even if my father came, I would still say the same thing!”
At that time, food and provisions were scarce, and the Northern Barbarian army was bombarding the mansion with artillery fire. People were dying every day in the mansion. He wrote letters many times to beg his father to send troops to save him.
But the people in the capital showed no intention of making a move.
It was as if... from that moment on, he had become a discarded pawn.
If it weren't for Qin Yuezhao, he would have been dead long ago, and the grass on his grave would probably have been dug up by the refugees.
Ling Buyi was furious when he saw him defending Qin Yuezhao so much.
"Useless! The old general placed all his hopes on you, and you are truly unworthy of being a member of the Ling family!"
He made no mention of General Ling's instructions to Ling Tianen to seize the Huo family's military power, yet he never stopped talking about it.
Ling Tianen decided to lay everything out in the open.
"You tricked me into coming to Liangcheng by saying that the Huo family army intended to rebel."
"Now, everyone in the world can misunderstand Your Highness, but you cannot! Because if His Majesty had not prayed to the gods for food and water, you would have died long ago."
"General, all land under heaven belongs to the emperor!" Ling Buyi shouted. "Qin Yue Zhao is just a princess, not an empress. Everything she owns belongs to His Majesty!"
Qin Yue Zhao was furious.
"Ridiculous! Is it His Majesty's or the Emperor's father-in-law's?"
Ling Buyi glared at her with extreme malice.
"A mere woman, yet you claim to be a goddess descended to earth, daring to ascend the throne of the Nine Dragons. Aren't you just as laughable?"
Chen Wan'er was so angry that she was panting heavily.
"Your Highness, this scoundrel is stubborn and unyielding. Let me kill him!"
"Wait!" Qin Yue Zhao shouted coldly, "Killing him would be too easy on him! Lock him in the dungeon and torture him to extract a confession!"
"Damn it, Qin Yue Zhao, if you have the guts, kill me. I won't say a word..."
But it was clear that Qin Yue Zhao had made up her mind and was too lazy to waste words with him.
She only looked at Ling Tianen after he was dragged away by several guards.
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