Xue Heng shook his head and stood still in the hall: "Whatever instructions Father has, I will just stand here and listen."
Emperor Cheng'an's face darkened, and he sighed deeply before saying, "These past few days, Xue Shen's faction has become increasingly arrogant. Judging from the officials who spoke up for him in court just now, more than half of them are now involved. I wonder if they are the spies he recruited long ago, or the opportunists who have switched sides in recent days."
Xue Heng lowered his head and remained silent.
Seeing this, Emperor Cheng'an could only speak more bluntly: "Xue Shen is not the same as before. He has completely abandoned all restraint and has almost broken ties with us. In the battle of the Northern Rong siege, you were unable to return in time, allowing him to steal the credit. He will definitely take advantage of this, and the situation in the future will certainly not be optimistic. Today in court, I did not want to mention the Northern Rong siege, and I gave you a way out. Why do you insist on being so stubborn?!"
“If you hadn’t taken the initiative to plead guilty, I would have wanted to delay the rewards for Pang Lai and the others for a while longer.”
Only then did Xue Heng, who had remained silent all along, raise his head and look directly at him, his face showing obvious disappointment: "I heard that when the Northern Rong besieged the city, Father Emperor insisted on peace talks?"
Emperor Cheng'an's expression was not good, but he still explained, "This is only a temporary measure. If we don't negotiate, how can we get the Northern Rong to withdraw their troops and relieve the crisis in the capital?"
Xue Heng looked directly at him and asked, "There are many ways to make the Northern Rong retreat. The city has ample food supplies, enough to last at least half a month. The Imperial Guard also numbers in the tens of thousands. Although they are no match for the Northern Rong's numbers, if we defend the city to the death, they won't be able to break in for a while. If we can hold out for a few days, I will lead the troops back, and the Northern Rong will be attacked from both sides. It should be the Northern Rong who are really anxious for peace talks, but Father surrendered without a fight and easily agreed to the Northern Rong's demands to cede our territory and humiliate our people. He even sacrificed Xuan Ci to make Xue Shen go to the Northern Rong as a hostage."
"When I see my father now, he feels terribly unfamiliar."
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