The harder a person is to hear, the louder they speak, and the entire court looks at them.
Wei Shixun could only feign composure and said to Duke Chengen with a smile, "Lord Leng found a secret guard training base deep in the Daqingshan Mountains and destroyed it."
Upon hearing this, Duke Cheng'en lost his balance and his vision blurred.
If the destruction of Prince Cheng Li Hu's weapon smelting den and armory a few days ago was like cutting off one of his arms, then the destruction of the secret guard base in Daqingshan was like tearing out his heart and lungs.
Even if those trained here aren't true secret guards, they are all highly skilled fighters capable of taking on ten opponents at once, serving as the lifeblood of the Wei clan's elite troops.
That could have killed me.
The Duke of Cheng'en swayed unsteadily, and His Majesty said calmly, "The Duke of Cheng'en is unwell. Someone, take the Duke of Cheng'en away to rest."
Duke Cheng'en tried to put on a brave face, but two eunuchs came over and helped him walk away.
Leng Luo immediately said loudly to His Majesty, "Your Majesty, all the thieves captured this time have identified Wei Shixun as the mastermind behind the Daqingshan Dark Guard Training Base."
Wei Shixun vehemently denied it, saying that he was originally only in charge of the Grand Canal project for the imperial court and had never even been to Daqingshan.
Leng Luo presented the interrogation statements one by one.
Before escorting the leaders to the capital, he had already interrogated all the witnesses, fearing that something might happen on the way and the witnesses might be killed.
With irrefutable evidence, Leng Luo sneered, "Wei Shixun, how many assassins did your Wei family send along the way? Fortunately, your secret guard base was destroyed, otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to return to the capital alive. If you disagree, I can take you to the Imperial City Guard for a confrontation."
"Confrontation! Your Majesty, I demand a confrontation!" Wei Shixun roared, his eyes bloodshot. "I didn't do it."
His Majesty glanced at him coldly and said, "I believe Commander Leng will not wrong you. Guards, throw Wei Shixun into the death row."
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I am innocent..."
No matter what he shouts, drag him away!
Wei Shih-hsun was dragged away, and Wei's informants immediately received the news.
The Empress immediately went to the Empress Dowager's palace and told her what had happened. The Empress Dowager had suffered a stroke, was unable to move or speak, and was so anxious that she kept making "uh-uh" noises.
The Empress pondered for a moment and said, "Mother, His Majesty has destroyed our foundation in one fell swoop and obtained solid evidence. Xun'er is the best of the Wei family this generation, and he absolutely cannot be harmed. If we really have no other choice, we will have to sacrifice one of us."
The Empress Dowager hummed in agreement, and the Empress understood that she agreed with her opinion.
After leaving the Empress Dowager's palace, they went to find the Duke of Cheng'en. The Wei family held an emergency meeting, and the Dowager, the Duke of Cheng'en, and the Empress knelt down outside the Emperor's study to plead for mercy.
Tell them that the people at the secret guard base have confessed to the murders of court officials in Kyoto and other places.
They are utterly depraved and their crimes are heinous; killing them is the only way to appease public anger.
The people around the Empress Dowager repeatedly pleaded with His Majesty, saying that the Empress Dowager was seriously ill and requesting that His Majesty go to see her. However, His Majesty did not send any imperial physicians, and he would beat up anyone who came to report it.
Despite Wei's earnest pleas, she was finally forced to produce a special imperial edict, which brought forward Wei Anlu, the second son of the Duke of Chengen and Wei Shixun's uncle, to take the blame.
Wei Anlu admitted to everything. He said he set up the base and was the mastermind behind it all. He also admitted to carrying out the assassinations, including the one fifteen years ago when he bribed Lao Gui, the head instructor of the Royal Guard Base, to take away two hundred elite guards and kill them all.
His Majesty knows he was a scapegoat carefully placed by the Wei family. This good-for-nothing, this纨绔 (wán kù, a spoiled, dissolute young man), how could he have such a good scheme? These smooth and meticulous confessions can only demonstrate the ruthlessness and arrogance of the Wei family.
This is a blatant provocation against His Majesty.
His Majesty secretly summoned his trusted ministers, including Gu Shaoyu, Grand Secretary Liu, Xie Anfeng, and Leng Luo. Their unanimous opinion was: those who deliver heads to one's door must be killed!
Gu Shaoyu: "I believe that we should take this opportunity to reclaim the imperial edict, military power, and market management rights of the Wei family; kill Wei Anlu; Wei Shixun may be spared the death penalty, but he will not escape punishment. Let him be beaten up, and let the General of the Thousand Bull Guard carry it out personally."
"Approved." This beating is no ordinary beating.
Grand Secretary Liu said, "I believe that the Duke of Cheng'en should reflect on his mistakes in his residence for half a year and take this opportunity to purge the political figures of the Wei faction."
Xie Anfeng said, "The Crown Prince and the Wei family are in cahoots, and there are many who are more trouble than they're worth. Should we take this opportunity to quickly replace a group of them?"
Your Majesty grants all requests. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and we must act swiftly and decisively to carry out a major reshuffle both inside and outside the court.
In fact, if it weren't for the fact that Wei Anyuan, the military governor of the Northwest, had become too powerful to control, he would have wanted to exterminate Wei's entire clan this time.
At present, the best approach is not to confront them head-on, nor to gamble, but to replace the wicked with the virtuous.
Not long after the secret guards were escorted to the capital, the imperial court posted a notice: Wei Anlu has been raising assassins and persecuting loyal officials; his crimes are heinous and he will be beheaded on May 15th!
Wei Anlu was paraded through the streets as a public spectacle, and then beheaded along with all the leaders of the secret guard bases.
The Wei family used almost all their connections to protect Wei Shixun. In addition to the imperial edict, they also handed over some of their military power, relinquished the salt fields, and had the management of the border markets in the northwest with neighboring countries such as the Western Xia and Uyghurs taken back by the imperial court.
This time, the Wei family was severely punished, their skin peeled off and their flesh ripped out.
In prison, Wei Shih-hsun lived a more comfortable life than at home because of the many informants in the Wei family.
Knowing that Wei Anlu had died in his place, the collusion between the two men went exceptionally smoothly.
His Majesty pretended not to know anything. After Wei Anlu was executed, His Majesty summoned Wei Shixun to the palace.
“Wei Shixun, although you are not the main culprit, your crime is unforgivable. Your great-grandmother, grandparents, empress dowager, empress, princess Xiyan, princess Yurong, and even the crown prince who is under house arrest have all asked people to plead for you. If I kill you again, it will make me seem petty. Therefore, I will give you thirty strokes of the cane. Do you accept this?”
"This guilty subject thanks Your Majesty for your great kindness."
This punishment, not to mention Wei Shixun himself, even the entire Wei faction felt that His Majesty had shown great mercy.
Such a crime, if committed by anyone else, would result in beheading and the extermination of their entire family.
However, when His Majesty calmly said, "Let General Wei Ziying of the Thousand Bull Guard personally administer the punishment!"
The Wei family was stunned. They had bribed all the imperial guards on duty that day, but they never expected that it would be General Wei himself who would administer the punishment.
The blows were delivered skillfully; the flesh beneath the skin was mangled, but the outer skin remained intact.
After being beaten ten times, Wei Shixun passed out.
What the Wei family didn't know for the time being was that after the fight, General Wei privately reported to His Majesty: "His legs are now crippled."
The spanking was aimed at the buttocks, but if it were slightly higher up, it would injure the lower back, resulting not only in lower limb paralysis but also loss of fertility.
Among the grandsons of Chengen, the two most outstanding descendants, one a scholar and the other a warrior, were Wei Shixun and Wei Shining, both of whom lost both legs.
Among the younger generation, few have stood out.
The Wei family's new generation of talent is severely lacking!
In teahouses and taverns, rumors swept through the capital like a spring breeze, saying that Wei Anlu knew nothing, that all the bad things were done by Wei Shixun, and that Wei Anlu was just a scapegoat...
After listening to Yuanyuan's report on the rumors in Kyoto, Xie Zhaozhao said to Yuanyuan, "I want to see Xiaoxin. I have a task for him."
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