Chapter 369: Marquis Mansion Madam vs. Younger Prince 112
Three days later, 10,000 troops were transferred from Datong Pass to the capital. Wu Lang took over the army with the military order, and Pei Ci Fu followed the army with the imperial edict and had the power of supervision.
Pei Ci Fu didn't take these disaster victims seriously at all. They were just lambs to be slaughtered and there was nothing to be afraid of.
He stood at the front of the team with Wu Lang, the leader of the army. Seeing that Wu Lang looked timid and his hands holding the reins were shaking, he snorted disdainfully, rode forward, and began to read out the emperor's order.
The victims could not understand the difficult imperial edict, but they could see the murderous army. The old man with white beard leading the army was not a good guy. He actually led the troops to kill them!
Panic spread. No one knew who started it. Some people said that the old man was a high-ranking official in the cabinet and that he had embezzled the disaster relief grain. They also wanted to kill people to silence him.
Such voices had been circulating among the victims for a long time. People in towns and cities were saying that the emperor was so gracious that he gave them food, but they didn't get any food at all and many people starved to death.
The emperor must be wise, and those who do evil are the corrupt officials under him!
"Kill old dog Pei! It's all his fault. He was the one who deceived the emperor. If he dies, the emperor won't kill us."
"Yes, yes, we are not a mob. We want to see the emperor! The emperor will definitely punish corrupt officials!"
"Go to Penglai Restaurant, where you can see the emperor! The emperor will make the decision for the people of Tongzhou!"
The crowd was excited and gathered around. Pei Ci Fu found that he was separated from the main force. Wu Lang, the coward, actually led the army to retreat secretly!
"Come back! Kill these thugs! Did you hear me? You idiot, hurry up and do it...Ah! Who hit me?"
Pei Ci Fu was hit on the forehead, and more and more stones were thrown at him, leaving him with a bruised face and nose, and he was unable to fight back.
The voices of the victims were getting louder and louder. "Kill old Pei. We want to see the emperor! We have grievances! We are not a mob!"
The 10,000-strong army was well-trained, with their bows and arrows already drawn to full length, just waiting for the commander's order to shoot the mob into sieves.
But the commander refused to give the order. One of the junior commanders could not wait any longer and urged him, "General, don't be afraid. Hide behind me. These people are weak and cannot hurt you. Hurry up and give the order to attack!"
Wu Lang held his fingers together, looking as if he was constipated, and was extremely confused. "Don't make any noise, I'm thinking!"
The young general was anxious, "What are you still thinking about? If you delay any longer, Pei Ci Fu will be beaten to death!"
Wu Lang took a deep breath, pulled the reins, and shouted, "All troops, listen up! Retreat one mile, no, retreat five miles!"
The whole army was in an uproar, wondering what this young commander from the capital was thinking? He didn't want the credit that was delivered to him, and he even wanted to retreat.
The deputy general wanted to persuade him again, but Wu Lang waved his hand and said seriously: "You don't understand! This is a trap! Didn't you hear what they said? They are not a mob, and Pei Ci Fu is not a good person!"
"If we kill these people now, it would be a waste of innocent people. If the truth is revealed later, we will be the ones to take the blame. You guys only know how to fight and don't understand the complexity of the situation in the capital. You won't even know how you died when the time comes!"
Everyone was stunned by how fooled they were. Jing State had extremely strict control over the army, and emphasizing civil officials over military officials was commonplace. They worked hard to build achievements, but their contributions might not be as great as those of civil officials who shouted a few times in the court.
The young general immediately hesitated, "What should we do? If Pei Cifu dies, won't we also be held responsible?"
Wu Lang found that these people were not so easy to fool, but fortunately he had trained his eloquence since childhood. Even his father could be fooled by him, and his mother even took in several concubines for him, so it was no problem for him to fool a few soldiers.
Wu Lang patted the young general on the shoulder and acted as if he was speaking from the bottom of his heart, "I don't care. My father is the Duke of Dingguo. Even if I kill innocent people, my father can protect me from death."
"Brothers, this will be a disaster. Even Datong Pass may be affected. We should choose the lesser of two evils. Pei is asking for death by charging into the refugees. He deserves death. If the emperor blames me, I will bear the responsibility for my brothers. I was the one who gave the order to retreat. You cannot blame my brothers."
The young general was deeply moved. After discussing with several leaders, they decided to follow Wu Lang's advice and retreat.
If the sky falls, there are the young masters and generals in the capital to support it. They are soldiers, and it is always right for them to follow the generals.
The troops outside the city were not allowed to enter the city without an imperial edict, otherwise it would be regarded as treason. Wu Lang followed the rules and left his soldiers outside the city, and went into the city to report with a few guards prepared for him by his father.
Wu Lang told his father all this and then was taken to the palace by his father to apologize to the emperor.
In the Golden Palace, the emperor was furious!
"How dare the mob! Today they dared to kill my military supervisor and the ministers of the court. Tomorrow they will dare to rebel!"
The emperor kicked Wu Lang and cursed, "Useless thing, I asked you to lead the troops, but you actually led them back. I shouldn't have given you this opportunity. It's really embarrassing!"
Duke Dingguo knelt on the ground and apologized, saying that he had not taught his son well and had failed the emperor's grace.
Wu Lang fell to the ground, as if the kick had been powerful. He cried out in pain, and tremblingly took out a memorial and a stack of testimonies from his arms, and explained in fear and trepidation:
"Your Majesty, please calm down. This is my first time leading an army. I dare not make decisions on my own. I can only gather my troops and come back to ask for orders from Your Majesty."
"Those people are not rioters. They have never done anything evil. They are just disaster victims who can't survive. Your Majesty's edict says to suppress the rioters. Wu Lang doesn't dare to kill innocent people. He can only come back with evidence. Please make a decision, Your Majesty."
The emperor felt his heart ache again, his temples were throbbing, and his blood pressure seemed to burst out of his head. He felt like he was going crazy!
But he couldn't do anything to Wu Lang. Apart from scolding him a few times, he couldn't really chop Wu Lang to death.
Wu Lang was chosen in the first place because he was timid and cowardly, a useless figurehead, and he came from a good family, so he was good enough to be a leader.
Moreover, Wulang was the fifth son of Duke Dingguo and it was impossible for him to inherit the title. Even if he had made some contributions, it would not be of any significance to the overall situation.
Who knew this guy was so timid and overly cautious, running back to ask for instructions for the slightest matter.
The emperor suppressed his anger and cursed: "Idiot! You believe whatever the mob says? Even if they have not committed any crime before, killing Pei Ci Fu is a serious crime and they should be executed on the spot!"
Wu Lang held up the memorial and said timidly, "Your Majesty... Your Majesty thought so too, but there were too many people and I didn't know who killed him, so I rounded up the people and am investigating."
"I am afraid that those people will die before I find out the truth. I cannot behead the murderers and avenge Pei Ci Fu. So I ordered people to divide some of the Datong army's food and grass to keep them alive."
"You...you're stupid..." The emperor was so angry that his eyes went dark and his heart suddenly stopped beating. Before he could even finish his curse, his eyes rolled back and he fainted!
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