Chapter 71 You Deserve Death
On the day when Huo Zheng went mad and massacred Prince Ning's mansion, it was raining heavily in Nanzhou. Prince Ning was drinking and having fun in his mansion, entertaining guests, and enjoying singing and dancing.
When the Ning Wang's followers mentioned the Chang'an Wang at the banquet, they all laughed at him for jumping into the river for a country girl and spent a whole day and night to salvage her.
There was singing and dancing during the banquet, and everyone toasted each other.
Prince Ning's subordinates laughed and said, "The officials in the capital all say that Prince Chang'an is the most calm and steady. I don't think so. If he were truly calm and steady, how could he be so embarrassed over a country girl selling tofu?"
"For the sake of a woman, the Prince of Chang'an did not hesitate to mobilize the Nanzhou navy and block the river. This is truly absurd!"
"The prince has gone to the river to watch the excitement. The scene must be very interesting right now!"
"If this news gets back to the capital, how will those ministers in the court who are clamoring to make Prince Chang'an the crown prince still have the nerve to do it? Hahahahahahaha—"
The emperor sent Prince Chang'an to inspect Nanzhou. Prince Ning had long been wary of his nephew. From the day Huo Zheng arrived in Nanzhou, he sent people to assassinate him, hoping that he would die in Nanzhou.
But no one expected that Huo Zheng would appear safe and sound after being missing for a few days.
He took his people to live in the Nanzhou Posthouse and refused to see any official who asked to see him.
Even Prince Ning sent invitations several times, but no one showed up.
At first, King Ning was worried that Huo Zheng was secretly planning a big move, but he didn't know that he was dazzled by the wild flowers on the roadside and indulged in the gentleness of the flowers.
Now he has made himself like this for a woman.
Everyone laughed and kept saying words that belittled King Chang'an.
There was endless singing and dancing during the banquet, with the sound of pipa and zither.
There were thunder and lightning in the sky, and the wind and rain were raging.
The people in the palace were drunk and chatting and laughing. Suddenly, a servant stumbled over and shouted, "Oh no! Oh no! The Prince of Chang'an has led his troops to surround our Prince Ning's palace!"
"What?" Prince Ning slammed the table and stood up, his face suddenly changed. "Isn't Huo Zheng retrieving people from the Lishui River? Where's the Crown Prince? Where did the Crown Prince go?"
Before he finished speaking, the sound of weapons clashing was heard outside.
Everyone at the banquet was so frightened that they sobered up. Their faces changed drastically and they could no longer laugh.
Someone trembled and said, "The prince, the prince has not returned yet."
Prince Ning's expression became increasingly grim.
"Could it be that the story about Prince Chang'an jumping into the river to look for someone is fake? He actually spread this rumor to make us let down our guard!"
"Prince Chang'an has mobilized the Nanzhou navy under the watchful eyes of the prince. Now the palace is under siege. We, we..."
As Prince Ning's followers, they all knew what he had done in Nanzhou. If Prince Chang'an really wanted to take action against Prince Ning this time, none of them would survive.
As happily as everyone laughed before, they are now as panicked.
Seeing Prince Ning and the others like this, he said in a deep voice, "Why are you panicking? No matter how capable Huo Zheng is, does he still dare to kill me?"
No one dared to speak.
As the uncle of Prince Chang'an, Prince Chang'an could not easily execute Prince Ning no matter what crime he committed. At most, Prince Chang'an would bring him back to the capital, let the three courts try him, and then convict and imprison him.
But no one cares about the lives of their followers, and they can be killed at will.
"Close the gates of the palace!" Prince Ning immediately said, "Zheng He, mobilize troops from the city immediately!"
"Yes!" The general named Zheng He immediately responded and left.
However, as soon as he reached the door, he was kicked in.
There was a storm in front of the door. Huo Zheng came in through the wind and rain, followed by a large group of soldiers, surrounding the entire hall. He was the first to step in, walking towards King Ning step by step, with the long sword in his hand still dripping with blood.
The Prince of Chang'an, who was as quiet as a gentleman a few days ago, descended upon Prince Ning's mansion like a god of death tonight.
Everyone at the table stepped back in fear.
"Huo Zheng!" Prince Ning Huo Kang forced himself to hold on, his face livid as he shouted angrily, "You came to Nanzhou as a guest, and I welcome you with all my heart. But you, under the pretext of searching for someone, led your troops to surround Prince Ning's mansion and even led your men to attack us. What exactly are you trying to do?"
Huo Zheng said in a deep voice, "Huo Kang, you have been causing trouble in Nanzhou for many years. You have formed cliques for personal gain, raised private soldiers, and have long harbored rebellious intentions. For many years, you have bullied men and women, seized people's land, and disregarded human lives! You deserve to die!"
During the time he was in Nanzhou, Huo Zheng had been secretly investigating Prince Ning, and the amount of evidence he had collected was too numerous to list.
The persecuted people were suffering terribly, but Prince Ning’s mansion was full of revelry every night.
And now, Huo Kang asked him what he was going to do.
Huo Zheng's face was as cold as ice, and he said sternly, "I am here on behalf of Heaven to take your life!"
"Huo Zheng, you little brat, stop being so presumptuous!" Huo Kang shouted, "I am the Prince of Ning, personally appointed by the Emperor! Your uncle! You have no evidence whatsoever, and you want to convict me with nothing but empty words. Don't even think about it!"
"You want evidence, right? Here comes the evidence."
Gu Yuanjia came later and brought people to carry several large boxes and placed them in the hall.
The attendants opened the lid of the box in unison.
Gu Yuanjia picked up a few of the letters and said, "In the 13th year of Yongding, Prince Ning Huo Kang increased taxes in Nanzhou, causing the people of Nanzhou to suffer terribly and leading to an uprising. In order to cover up this, Prince Ning ordered the people to be rounded up and killed. Thousands of people were slaughtered in one day, and the killing lasted for seven consecutive days—"
"In the fifteenth year of Yongding, Prince Ning Huo Kang raised 30,000 private soldiers, and now the number has reached 100,000—"
"In the 18th, 19th, and 20th years of the Yongding reign, Prince Ning Huo Kang successively sent people to assassinate the imperial envoys Yang Mu, Jiang Yu, and Luo Yongzhou..."
"Shut up!" Huo Kang's face grew increasingly grim as he listened to Gu Yuanjia recount his crimes one by one. "If you want to accuse someone, you can always find a pretext! How do you know your so-called evidence isn't fabricated?"
Gu Yuanjia said, "Whether this evidence is true or false, you can tell at a glance."
Huo Kang picked up the candle on the table and threw it into the box, trying to burn the evidence...
Huo Zheng flicked his sleeves and used his inner strength to instantly extinguish the candle.
Seeing this, Huo Kang shouted, "What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and burn these things for me!"
The entire hall was surrounded by soldiers, and Prince Ning's followers wanted to move but did not dare to.
The Gu family's followers all stepped forward and protected the boxes of evidence.
Huo Kang had no chance to destroy the evidence and gritted his teeth, saying, "I am the current Prince of Ning. No matter what I do, it is not your place as a junior to point fingers! Even if I make some mistakes, I will only be reprimanded by my brother when I return to the capital. You dare to move me without permission? You have no regard for the law and your elders. You will never be crowned prince again!"
Prince Ning already knew that he was going to be in trouble today, so he could only shout and yell to make Huo Zheng feel intimidated.
However, at this moment, Huo Zheng had no expression on his face, holding a long sword that was dripping with blood, and approached him step by step.
The air was filled with murderous intent.
"You..." Prince Ning had been the local emperor in Nanzhou for twenty years, and this was the first time he was forced to retreat.
Huo Zheng did not give him a chance to speak again. He swung the sword in his hand and chopped off Huo Kang's head in public.
Blood splattered everywhere and everyone was in complete silence.
Huo Zheng said clearly, "Nephew Huo Zheng respectfully sends Uncle Prince Ning on his journey."
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