While the Central Plains were in chaos, many rebel forces advanced toward Yingyang City with unstoppable momentum. Only the Northern Rong army was firmly blocked by Liang Yimo outside Huyue Pass, but the court's attitude toward this was completely illogical.
Logically speaking, it was clear that the other armies of the Dasheng Kingdom were unable to quell the rebellion or even stop the rebels' advance. Only Liang Yimo led a small number of troops to stop the most powerful Northern Rong from advancing south. Therefore, Liang Yimo should be the most meritorious.
However, Emperor Rui saw the opposite. Zhang Chao's faction had been constantly speaking ill of Liang Yimo to him, leading Emperor Rui to believe that Liang Yimo was cowardly and afraid of battle. He was greatly displeased and repeatedly issued edicts ordering him to go to war. However, Liang Yimo's subsequent memorials were earnest and detailed his reasons for not being able to fight. Although Emperor Rui still had doubts after reading them, he temporarily shifted his attention to rebellions elsewhere.
But a few days later, shortly after Liuli, Li Molin, and the others arrived outside Huyue Pass, a children's rhyme suddenly spread throughout the Central Plains. Within days, it swept through Yingyang City, and the children in the city went through the streets and alleys, singing: "The moon hides, the stars sink, and the smoke of war rises. The Central Plains are ravaged. Now a rat general guards Huyue Pass, cowardly and unwilling to fight, he keeps the pass closed..."
Soon, the nursery rhyme reached Emperor Rui's ears. At that time, almost half of the civil and military officials in the court mentioned the situation at Huyue Pass during court sessions. They unanimously believed that Liang Yimo's actions had damaged the prestige of the Great Sheng Kingdom. They even angrily said that the morale and combat effectiveness of the Great Sheng Kingdom's troops in other places were completely low, all because of Liang Yimo's refusal to fight. These officials claimed that if other soldiers saw that Liang Yimo could protect himself by avoiding battle, they would surely follow suit.
Emperor Rui was furious. He selected a eunuch from his side to take an imperial edict to Huyue Pass and appointed this eunuch, named Zhu Qin, to replace the original supervisor of the pass as the supervisor.
Zhu Qin arrived at Huyue Pass leisurely ten days later.
June 12th.
The summer weather was exceptionally hot. Zhu Qin, accompanied by numerous guards and maids, arrived at Huyue Pass and arrogantly proclaimed Emperor Rui's decree, ordering Liang Yimo to leave the pass and meet the enemy in battle. He stipulated that only victory was permitted, and defeat was not an option, so as to properly demonstrate the prestige of the Great Sheng Kingdom.
Upon receiving the decree, Liang Yimo, Xu Wu, and many other generals all turned grim.
Everything was proceeding smoothly according to Yu Ke's plan. Afterwards, Liang Yimo had no choice but to leave the pass to meet the enemy. But just as Yu Ke had expected, he did not send out all the guards from the pass, but only brought five thousand soldiers.
Following Yu Ke's instructions, Yelü Yan did not engage in battle. Instead, he used words to frame Liang Yimo, and upon seeing Liang Yimo, he immediately retreated, refusing to fight him at all.
Liang Yimo was furious, but he was speechless with anger.
Liang Yimo led 5,000 elite troops in pursuit of the Northern Rong army, but returned safely. The supervising officer Zhu Qin recalled what Yelü Yan had said at the pass and concluded that Liang Yimo had already colluded with the enemy.
In fact, Zhu Qin was originally a member of Zhang Chao's faction. He was originally struggling to find fault with Liang Yimo when he came here, but Yelü Yan gave him such a big handle. So why would he bother to investigate properly? He directly took out the token given by Emperor Rui and said that Emperor Rui had decreed that seeing the token was as if seeing the emperor.
Zhu Qin used his token to order his guards to tie up Liang Yimo. Generals such as Xu Wu pleaded desperately, even guaranteeing with their lives that Liang Yimo had never colluded with the enemy, but Zhu Qin ignored them all.
That night, Zhu Qin interrogated Liang Yimo in the central command tent, nearly resorting to torture, but Liang Yimo refused to admit to colluding with the enemy. Just then, a soldier of Liang Yimo's suddenly rushed into the central command tent with a letter. The soldier had been timidly trying to retreat, looking like he was trying to cover up his crime.
Zhu Qin then ordered his men to seize the personal guard and snatch the letter. Upon reading it, they found it was a handwritten letter from Yelü Yan to Liang Yimo, the contents of which were absolutely sufficient to convict Liang Yimo of treason.
Zhu Qin was very satisfied to have the irrefutable evidence. He immediately ordered Liang Yimo to be imprisoned and sent back to Yingyang City along with the evidence and his memorial.
However, halfway there, Liang Yimo was rescued in a very strange way, just like Yelü Yan was rescued before. This was completely unlike the actions of an ordinary person.
When the news reached Yingyang City, Emperor Rui was furious. He took his anger out on Liang Shen, disregarding the fact that Liang Shen was a veteran official of the previous dynasty and a trusted minister appointed by the late emperor on his deathbed. In a fit of rage, he issued an edict to execute Liang Shen's entire family. However, before the edict even reached the Prime Minister's residence, the entire place was already deserted. Except for a small courtyard in the third courtyard, which was shrouded by a strange force that prevented people from entering, the rest of the residence was completely empty.
Next, Emperor Rui appointed a member of a noble family as General Who Conquers the North, leading 20,000 troops to Huyue Pass to quell the rebellion.
This young general was the son of a minister who was subordinate to Zhang Chao. His name was Xie Yao. Spoiled by his mother since childhood, Xie Yao was unruly and a pampered scion of a wealthy family. He was recommended by his father to come to Huyue Pass to quell the rebellion. He was originally unwilling, but his father insisted that he come, firstly for training, and secondly to accumulate military merit.
So Xie Yao reluctantly arrived at Huyue Pass. Even on the march, he enjoyed extreme comfort and wealth. So when he arrived at Huyue Pass, it was already half a month later.
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The Northern Rong army camp, the central command tent.
Yelü Yan set up a banquet in the tent. He himself sat behind a low table in the north. Five more low tables were placed on the left and right sides of the tent. Li Molin and Liuli sat behind the two low tables on the right, while Yu Ke, Ji Jue, and Lang Yuan sat behind the three low tables on the left.
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