133 Chapter 133
◎Even so, she still likes him very much.◎
Wei Yiqun should have discovered it earlier.
He should have noticed something was wrong with his so-called son the moment he started clamoring to marry Xu Qinghe. But he didn't. He simply thought his son was obsessed with sex and was using it as a pretext to win over the Southern Border Army.
Southern Frontier Army...
Southern Border Army!
He looked up suddenly and met his "son's" confident eyes.
He was so familiar with that look.
Years ago, whenever he and Xie Huaiyuan played chess, they were met with exactly this kind of look. They were so high and mighty, as if they had everything under control.
It seems that the Southern Border Army has already fallen into his pocket.
Oh.
He was no match for Xie Huaiyuan at first, but didn't he end up taking the blame for himself? What kind of powerful person could his son be? Now he was still trying to accuse someone of a crime without any evidence.
"Your Majesty, please understand!"
Wei Yiqun bowed down to Emperor Yongshun, tears streaming down his face. "I am innocent! Xie Huaiyuan's son disobeyed the emperor's order and escaped the death penalty. He then murdered my legitimate son to conceal his identity. He committed the crime of deceiving the emperor and shows no remorse. Now he is slandering me as the murderer without any evidence..."
"I feel so wronged for such an unprovoked disaster!"
The cry for justice almost resounded throughout the hall, and after the echo, there was a long silence.
Those who stayed out of the matter did not speak again. In their eyes, this was indeed more like an empty slander.
Isn’t it said that the princess has found the evidence and it is now in Xu Zhuangyuan’s hands?
In the silence, Xu Zhou really lived up to everyone's expectations and stood up.
"Your Majesty, I have evidence in my hands that proves that the person who colluded with the enemy and betrayed the country was the Duke of Fuguo."
He took out the last letter left by Meng Chen from his arms and handed it to the eunuch to present.
"This is the confession written by Lieutenant General Meng Chen, who had previously exposed General Xie's collaboration with the enemy. Before his death in prison, Meng Chen had someone deliver this letter to Minister Wei, hoping that he would overturn the case and bring justice to the Xie family. However, this was to no avail. Later, the princess and Young General Xie stole the letter from the Wei residence and subsequently handed it over to me for safekeeping."
Emperor Yongshun read the letter, and it indeed stated that Meng Chen had been forced to give false testimony because someone threatened his closest relatives, and he regretted it deeply afterwards.
Wei Yiqun laughed, "I don't know when Lord Xu, a member of the Imperial Academy, started to take charge of judging cases."
"It's not that I want to intervene, but the Duke of Fuguo forces me to do so."
Xu Zhou glanced at Wei Yiqun, then looked at Emperor Yongshun: "Your Majesty, please forgive me for my disrespect."
"allow."
Xu Zhou raised his hand and pulled off his outer robe, revealing two layers of inner garment that had been dyed red with blood.
There were many women in the hall who had never seen a bloody scene. Although they did not actually see the bloody wounds, they were still frightened by the bloody clothes.
Especially the seventh princess who had already been engaged to Xu Zhou, she couldn't help but scream, and immediately covered her eyes and dared not look again.
When the bloody smell came over, Xu Qinghe's stomach churned and he retched subconsciously.
Wei Che thought she was just frightened like the other women in the family, so he stroked her back with his hand without thinking much about it.
"Ever since rumors spread in the capital that the princess had entrusted evidence of her treason to me, I have been tried to silence her more than once. The bribed servants in the palace and the assassins who failed to commit suicide testify that the one who hired the assassins was none other than the Duke of Fu. These witnesses are now waiting outside the palace to be summoned."
After revealing his injuries as a witness, Xu Zhou quickly tidied his clothes.
Emperor Yongshun said, "Send it."
The witnesses came to the palace one by one and stated that it was indeed the Duke of Fuguo who was responsible.
Wei Yiqun still refused to admit it. "For a long time, the Duke's Mansion has not been under my full control. How could I know that this wasn't a conspiracy between Lord Xu and that scoundrel from the Xie family, a tactic to deceive the enemy. I also don't know what benefits Lord Xu received from that scoundrel that allowed him to confuse right and wrong like this."
Wei Che said coldly, "These two claim to have been bribed by the Duke's Housekeeper. No matter how capable I am, I truly don't have the power to mobilize the Duke's trusted confidants. Even if the Duke doesn't want to admit this, there are people who can convince you."
Wei Yiqun suddenly thought of the long-missing Aunt Jin.
As he expected, the witness this time was not someone else, but Jin Yao.
After the princess promised her that she and Yun'er would be safe as long as she came forward to testify, she agreed to it very readily.
Emperor Yongshun narrowed his eyes and studied the beautiful woman. "I recognize you. Are you the favored concubine in the Prince of Fuguo's harem?"
Then, Concubine Jin lowered her head and said, "Your Majesty has a discerning eye. My name is Jin Yao, and before I became a concubine of the Duke's Mansion, I was a native of Nanyi."
The Duke of Fuguo actually kept a Nanyi person in his backyard!
The Nanyi Kingdom and Daling have long been at odds, engaging in near-constant war. This is a fact known to everyone in Daling. If it weren't for this peace talk between the two countries, the irreconcilable relationship between Daling and Nanyi would have been a foregone conclusion.
Therefore, the fact that the Duke of Fuguo took a woman from Nanyi as his concubine seemed even more incredible.
Then the Nanyi man continued, "Eight years ago, when I was in the Nanyi army, the Daling army was unstoppable, almost forcing our army into a desperate situation. We sent people to infiltrate the Southern Border Army, using the bait of helping Xie Huaiyuan become the next King of Nan'an and take charge of the Southern Border Army, to lure him into becoming our accomplice."
"Unexpectedly, they didn't conspire with us and killed the messenger on the spot to establish their military prestige. However, just when our army had given up hope on this matter, someone from the Daling army suddenly offered to cooperate with us."
"This person is none other than the current Duke of Fuguo, Wei Yiqun."
Jin Yao said, "Since then, Wei Yiqun has maintained close contact with the Nanyi army. Even the battles, both large and small, that followed, both victorious and defeated, were orchestrated by him. He did this to prove to Da Ling that only by commanding the Southern Border Army could he protect the southern border from invasion, thereby ensuring his own position would be secure and unshakable."
As soon as these words were spoken, there was shock in the hall.
Wei Yiqun's one act of treason wasn't enough; he'd committed numerous other acts, both large and small, since then! All those victories were just a show he and the people of Nanyi had put on! And yet, the people of Daying still worshipped him as a god of war!
This is ridiculous!
However, there are also some people who hold opposing views.
"In the end, this is just your one-sided statement. How could you possibly know that you, a Nanyi native, harbor a grudge against the Duke of Fuguo and therefore come here today to slander him?"
Jin Yao said, "If you don't believe me, I have the handwritten letters Wei Yiqun has exchanged with the Nanyi Kingdom over the years as proof. To protect Yiqun from harboring any doubts, I have been keeping an eye on him. Every letter he sends to the Nanyi Kingdom must be written in his own hand before it is sent out. If he ever wants to terminate the alliance, those letters will be leverage against him."
Once the conspiracy begins, it will be like a river winding down from a height, and there will be no turning back.
"In that case, you should take out those letters and let us take a look at them to determine their authenticity."
But Jin Yao shook her head: "Those letters are not in my hands."
"Where is that?"
"——The correspondence between Wei Yiqun and my Nanyi Kingdom is in my hands."
I only heard someone speaking loudly in the hall.
Everyone looked towards the source of the incident and saw that this person was none other than the third prince Nan Mingzhao, who was leading a delegation from the Nanyi Kingdom to visit this time.
Nan Mingzhao took a small wooden box from the hand of a waiter beside him. He walked to the center of the hall, holding the box in his hands, and said, "Your Majesty, please allow me to report this. At the end of last year, a general of our border army died suddenly at home from an illness he had suffered on the battlefield. His family accidentally discovered this wooden box while sorting out his belongings. Believing it to contain military secrets, they presented it to an external minister. Unexpectedly, they found it to be letters that the general had exchanged with your country's Duke of Fuguo over the years!"
"The foreign ministers, shocked and furious, presented this to our Majesty. It was then that our Majesty learned that this person had been secretly communicating with the Duke of Da Ling for years! Our Majesty was furious and ordered a thorough investigation. All those implicated have been executed according to Nanyi law. Your Majesty, please review these letters."
Emperor Yongshun sent someone to take the letters and read them one by one.
"The marching map has been obtained and will be delivered in two days."
"Tomorrow I will lead 50,000 soldiers to Mengyuan Valley, hoping to set up an ambush."
"I want to put the name of collaborating with the enemy on Xie Huaiyuan, hoping for help."
"The 30,000 silver coins have been received and will be delivered in two days."
"Fifty thousand silver coins have been received and will be delivered in two days."
"Fifty thousand silver and thirty thousand pieces of armor have been received and will be delivered in two days."
"We need to establish our authority through military exploits. We hope for your help."
…………
Every time Emperor Yongshun read a letter, his hands trembled more. In the atmosphere where everyone was almost silent and holding their breath waiting for the verdict, he could hardly finish reading the letter, and he threw all of them in front of Wei Yiqun in anger.
"Asshole! Absolutely asshole!"
"For eight whole years, there has been no interruption in your contact with the Nanyi Kingdom! They used fake wars to establish your authority, and you lured them with silver, military pay, and armor. Do you know how much food and wages you have withheld from the soldiers over the years?! With such brazenness, aren't you afraid that the Prince of Nan'an and his wife, along with the fifty thousand Southern Border soldiers who died innocently in battle, will come after you, my Duke of Fuguo?!"
"The Duke of Fuguo... The Duke of Fuguo..."
Emperor Yongshun suddenly gave a bitter smile. "What a great Duke who assisted me in protecting the country! My trust in you for so many years has become a weapon that has caused unrest among the soldiers of the Southern Border Army! I am guilty, I am guilty!"
The emperor had punished them, and no one dared to remain indifferent any longer. They all stood up and knelt on the ground.
"Your Majesty, calm down!"
Amidst the voices of persuasion, Xu Qinghe clearly knew that this was just a trick played by the emperor to remove himself from the incident.
The Duke of Fuguo previously held almost unparalleled power. Emperor Yongshun, a young emperor, would surely have been wary of him. Otherwise, Wei Che wouldn't have concealed his ability to be both civil and military. Could it be that while investigating Wei Yiqun, he was unaware of the embezzled military pay and weapons?
It's just that he pretends to be ignorant because of the power he has.
At that time, he had not yet fully reclaimed power from Empress Dowager Wei, and therefore still needed to rely on the help of the Duke of Fuguo. Now, since Empress Dowager Wei was sued by refugees last year for colluding with the Wei and Cen families to oppress the people, she has gradually ceded power. With Emperor Yongshun now firmly in control, he naturally began to remove the thorns that had once troubled him and even threatened him.
He could even establish his image as a wise monarch in front of the people of the world and envoys from neighboring countries.
Now, the grievances between the Xu and Xie families and the Southern Border Army were nothing more to him than a blessing in disguise.
And there was the third prince of the Nanyi Kingdom, who with just a few words easily cleared himself from the original conspiracy to collaborate with the enemy, and casually framed the matter on a general who died of illness at home. Afterwards, he openly reported the matter in order to win favor from the ruler and his ministers of Daying, making people believe that he was a prince who hated evil.
If the Third Prince ascends the throne of the Nanyi Kingdom in the future, it will be a great blessing for both Yu Daling and Nanyi.
All these things make people feel hopeful in the midst of despair, but at the same time, they see that this hope is mixed with all kinds of conflicts of interest and conspiracies.
Even the person beside her, whom she had liked for so many years and even fell in love with again and again, was dragged into these fights. Or perhaps, he was fighting with them voluntarily and even enjoyed it very much.
From this moment on, Xu Qinghe truly realized how naive he was in the past.
She actually thought that Xie Qi, who fought on the battlefield and rose and fell in the officialdom, would still be the boy who only knew how to make fun of her.
But even so...
Xu Qinghe clenched her palms, and the layers of pain from there made her realize in despair that even so, she seemed to still like him very much.
Still like it very much.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
