Li Hu knelt on the ground and said, "General Li Hu pays homage to His Majesty."
"In fact, when His Royal Highness the War Prince came to the capital, he didn't intend to rebel. Ever since the Emperor ascended the throne, His Royal Highness the War Prince has intended to be a wealthy prince in his fiefdom and has never considered rebellion."
The King of War never rebelled, nor did he ever think about rebelling.
This sentence caused an uproar in the hall, and it was like a stone that caused a thousand ripples.
Among those present, the older ones had witnessed the struggle for the throne and the King of War's departure from the capital and return a few years later.
Even the young ones have heard these things. Everyone in the world knows that the King of War is guilty of treason and deserves death.
But what Li Hu said today made everyone suspicious again.
Is Li Hu just talking nonsense, or is there something else behind what happened back then?
Emperor Xuande stared at Li Hu for a long time with a sullen face before asking in a cold voice, "Since you had no intention of rebelling, why did he lead his army into the capital?"
In fact, according to Emperor Xuande's true intention, he wanted to drag Li Hu away and chop him into pieces.
But the more hatred he felt, the more he forced himself to suppress his emotions. He wanted to show the court officials that his mind and bearing were no less broad than Zhou Yangze's.
Li Hu raised his head, looked past Emperor Xuande, and gave Consort Xian a subtle glance. It was so subtle that even Shen Zhixiu didn't notice anything unusual.
The virtuous concubine clenched her fists under her sleeves. She did not look directly at Li Hu, but suddenly looked at the prince.
Li Hu immediately withdrew his gaze, lowered his head and pondered for a moment, and made up his mind.
Li Hu then spoke up, "Your Majesty, when His Royal Highness Prince Zhan came to the capital, it was because he received a message from Princess Yongjia."
"Princess Yongjia said in her letter that Concubine Yu was in tears all day in the palace. The Emperor treated Concubine Yu even more harshly, not even allowing her food or drink."
"His Royal Highness Prince Zhan is filial, so he led his army back to the capital. His original intention was to reason with the Emperor and then take Concubine Yu away."
Concubine Yu was the biological mother of Prince Zhan and had been living out her days in the palace. After Prince Zhan was killed for treason, Concubine Yu fell seriously ill and could not recover.
Even though Prince Zhan had rebelled, Emperor Xuande still gave Concubine Yu a grand funeral. He posthumously conferred her a title and buried her with him, without any ambiguity.
So, upon hearing what Li Hu said, Emperor Xuande flew into a rage. "When did I ever treat Concubine Yu with such hostility? After I ascended the throne, the Empress Dowager and Concubine Yu lived together in Shoukang Palace. I have always treated Concubine Yu with the utmost respect. When I show filial respect to the Empress Dowager, I also show filial respect to Concubine Yu."
Remembering Li Hu's words that the letter was written by Princess Yongjia, Emperor Xuande looked at her coldly again, "Yongjia, tell me, when did I treat Concubine Yu harshly?"
Since the founding of the Zhou Dynasty, Emperor Taizu has ruled the world with filial piety.
If this word gets out, his reputation will be ruined.
Princess Yongjia knelt on the ground again after hearing this and said, "Brother Royal, I don't know what letter he is talking about."
She turned and glared at Li Hu, "You said that this princess wrote a letter to King Zhan, where is the letter?"
She just couldn't believe that Li Hu could still produce the letter after more than ten years.
As expected, Li Hu's expression froze. "I don't have a letter. Your Highness burned it after reading it."
"But what I said was the truth. Li Jingchuan stepped on the corpse of our prince and the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers in exchange for his military merits and was crowned king."
At this point, Li Hu's hatred was unstoppable. He didn't look at Princess Yongjia, but instead stared at Li Jingchuan with wide eyes, "You are also a military general. You rely on such means to gain military merit. Don't you feel ashamed?"
"I thought all the soldiers on the battlefield were upright and honest, but now it seems I was wrong."
Li Hu's sarcastic words made Li Jingchuan feel ashamed, and he asked himself this question countless times.
Emperor Xuande was puzzled when he heard this and asked, "What do you mean by Li Jingchuan stepping on your corpses in exchange for military merit and becoming a king? The victor is the king and the loser is the bandit. You are at the gates of the city, so what's wrong with me sending troops to suppress you?"
Although he asked this question, Emperor Xuande actually already had a bold guess in his mind.
If it is really as he thinks, then the Li family will be held accountable.
Li Hu said, "The prince stationed his army outside the city and had no intention of bringing it in. He first went to see Princess Yongning and brought her three large carts of gifts."
"But when Your Highness went to Princess Yongning's villa, our garrison was suddenly attacked by unidentified soldiers. Our people did not want to cause a conflict and simply drove them away without causing any casualties."
"At that time, I felt something was amiss, so I went to the other courtyard to ask His Majesty to return to the garrison."
"Later, Princess Yongjia suddenly arrived, knocked the prince unconscious in the tent, and attacked me and others. When I woke up again, there were corpses everywhere."
"The Li family carried the banner and shouted that the rebels had been wiped out."
As Li Hu spoke, Emperor Xuande also recalled what happened back then.
That year, he received news that the King of War had suddenly arrived at the city gates and stationed troops outside the city.
Yongjia also sent a letter to the palace, which was a declaration of war written by the King of War. After that, two more conflicts occurred outside the city, and it is said that many people were killed and injured.
At that time, he had not yet issued an order to Li Jingchuan to quell the war, and wanted to see what the King of War meant.
But suddenly news came back from outside the palace that all the people in Princess Yongning's villa had been massacred. He was so angry that he immediately issued an order to kill the rebels without mercy.
Yongjia happened to be in the palace at the time, and he directly requested this decree on behalf of Li Jingchuan.
Thinking of this, Emperor Xuande said coldly: "Li Jingchuan killed Zhou Yangze because Zhou Yangze first massacred the Yongning Villa. How can I allow him to live?"
Li Hu shook his head. "Your Majesty was deceived. After I woke up, I gave my battle robe to a young soldier who had died. I also slashed his face several times and left him next to the prince's body."
"We are similar in stature, so the Li family thought that man was our junior general."
"Afterwards, I quietly went to Princess Yongning's villa, intending to tell Her Highness the truth."
"But when I arrived outside the villa, I just happened to see Princess Yongjia leading her men in. Within half an hour, the villa was littered with corpses."
As soon as Li Hu finished speaking, Princess Yongjia angrily said, "You are talking nonsense. His Majesty ordered the Marquis to go out of the city to suppress the rebels because he heard that Sister Yongning's villa was massacred."
"After we defeated the War King, we went to Sister Yongning's villa and found that she had already left. That same day, we found Su Yuanzhou in the villa and brought him back to the mansion."
At this point, Princess Yongjia faced Emperor Xuande and cried, "Brother, I am indeed jealous of Sister Yongning. I haven't fulfilled my responsibilities towards that child over the years."
"But she is my biological sister after all. How could I possibly destroy her life?"
Emperor Xuande glanced at Li Hu and Princess Yongjia with an inquiring look. The question now became whether Yongning's villa would be massacred first, or whether Li Jingchuan would put down the rebellion first.
Su Yuanzhou glanced at Emperor Xuande's expression, and suddenly put his hand on his forehead, "Hiss..."
His action also attracted the attention of others.
"Yuanzhou, what's wrong with you?" Emperor Xuande asked with concern.
Su Yuanzhou frowned, "Your Majesty, I vaguely remember something, but I have a severe headache."
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