Chapter 844 Young General vs. Rich Lady 147
Huo Xiao clapped his hands and praised: "What a good plan! The war is imminent, and the general is being punished. Is it to make the enemy feel more at ease to attack Wei? I wonder how much benefit the regent king has received from Qi and Lu to say such a thing."
The Regent did receive some benefits. The envoys sent by the State of Lu had a very pleasant conversation with him. The State of Lu just wanted to take back the upper reaches of the Lu River. Anyway, that piece of land was controlled by Huo Xiao, so he couldn't get involved. After Huo Xiao died, he would return part of it to the State of Lu.
Gou Xun immediately followed and said loudly: "I believe that the Regent is dedicated to the public and has absolutely no selfish motives!"
"Lu and Wei have been friends for many years. If General Huo hadn't taken the initiative to send troops to attack the Lu army and seize the upper reaches of the Lu River, there would have been no major conflicts between the two countries. Turning hostility into friendship is the best policy!"
"Huo Xiao disobeyed the imperial edict and refused to return after being summoned for a long time. After returning, he was arrogant and domineering, threatening the safety of Your Majesty and forcing the ministers to obey his orders. His ambition is obvious! Now he is advocating for another war just to firmly grasp the military power in his hands. He is plotting something bad!"
Gou Xun knelt down, "I think Huo Xiao has committed many evil deeds and should be imprisoned immediately! The male members of the Huo family will be punished equally, and the female members will be made official prostitutes! This will not only give an explanation to the people of Wei, but also satisfy the two countries of Qi and Lu. Your Majesty must not be deceived by treacherous ministers and make a big mistake!"
Most of the civil and military officials in the court knelt down, and all of them shouted that Huo Xiao should be punished!
Hua Zhongyan had not originally been involved in this matter. He was the head of the three major families, and his disciples were spread all over the Wei Kingdom and even other countries. The Regent would also give him some face. The Regent would scold Gou Xun, but he respected him very much, so he had always kept himself out of it.
Originally, he wanted to win over Huo Xiao, but Huo Xiao refused to form an alliance with him and did not give him face at the palace banquet. Later, he found an excuse to arrest two of his disciples and demoted them to exile. He could not swallow this humiliation and added fuel to the fire.
"I am guilty! As the Imperial Censor, I am responsible for supervising all officials, but because Huo Xiao is so powerful, I dare not speak out!"
"I don't care about my own safety, nor do I fear Huo Xiao's revenge, but I am afraid that Huo Xiao will harm Your Majesty, so I dare not act rashly. All officials are here today, and I will die for your advice! I beg Your Majesty to arrest Huo Xiao immediately and put him in jail. I will strictly try this case and will not let innocent people suffer injustice, nor will I let a single evil person go!"
Hua Zhongyan knelt down, and officials from the three great families followed suit, requesting His Majesty to arrest Huo Xiao immediately!
There were only a few people standing in the hall. The Chief Justice kept defending Huo Xiao, but his voice was too loud and it was useless.
Most of those who supported King Wei were low-ranking officials, and only a few of them could attend court. Faced with the advice of the ministers, they could not resist at all. Some of them were even led astray on the spot and knelt down.
"I swear to be loyal to your majesty until death, but Huo Xiao is a vicious and cruel person. Your majesty should make a decisive decision, otherwise there will be endless troubles!"
Prince Wei was caught off guard. He knew that the attack by Qi and Lu would definitely be discussed at the court meeting, so he had already discussed the countermeasures and rhetoric with Huo Xiao. No matter how much the Regent and Gou Xun objected, Huo Xiao would definitely lead the troops.
But he didn't expect that these people would force him to deal with Huo Xiao!
Let's not talk about whether anyone can catch Huo Xiao. If Huo Xiao is really caught, will the Huo family army not make a fuss? He can't sit on the throne safely.
King Wei threw his sleeves and said loudly: "Let's discuss this matter later. I'm leaving the court!"
Wan Ping said loudly: "Dismiss the court! Your Majesty, please return to the palace~"
At the regent's glance, several ministers knelt before Prince Wei, looking as if they were ready to make a desperate appeal.
"Where are the Royal Guards? I am tired and need to return to the palace! We can discuss this later. Do you want to disobey my order?"
The person on duty today was Zhuo Zhantu. Gou Xun's eyes almost cramped from signaling to him, but Zhuo Zhantu acted as if he saw nothing and directed several royal guards to pull the ministers aside and make way for King Wei.
Zhuo Zhantu escorted Prince Wei all the way back to the harem safely.
As for Huo Xiao, no one dared to stop him at all. After all, he really knew how to beat people, and even the court officials did not dare to do so. As for the Imperial Guards, they would not take action without the order of the King of Wei.
Huo Xiao returned to Qinghe Hall with a swagger. He still had a pile of memorials to read.
Many ministers did not leave Taihe Hall and kept clamoring to see Prince Wei, some even broke into the harem, but they were all stopped by the Imperial Guards and could not see Prince Wei at all.
There was chaos in the palace, and there was also chaos outside the palace.
Hundreds of students gathered outside the palace, staging a sit-in demonstration, passionately recounting Huo Xiao's numerous crimes and requesting His Majesty to execute Huo Xiao on the spot!
In teahouses and taverns, storytellers were all denouncing Huo Xiao for his warmongering, killing prisoners and harming civilians, saying that he was like an evil ghost and could stop children from crying.
Yan Changfeng finally climbed over the wall and got out of his house. He was very upset when he saw this scene.
"What a bunch of bullshit! If the general doesn't kill the enemy, does he still want to convince them with reason? How ridiculous! If they have the guts, they can go and reason with the Northern Rong and see if the Northern Rong will be merciful and spare their lives!"
"We are facing a powerful enemy, and they are planning to harm Huo Xiao again. No, I have to talk to my father. I can't let him do this anymore!"
Wu Yong quickly grabbed the prince and pulled hard. Yan Changfeng couldn't break free and could only sit down again angrily.
"Sir, can you please stop messing around? Has General Huo ever paid any attention to you since you returned to Wangdu? General Huo has a plan that is perfect, so please stop causing trouble."
"I risked being beaten to bring you out. If you want to play, then have fun and don't reveal your identity. If you don't want to play, then go back. Your wife is still in the room taking care of you, so you can't come out for too long."
Yan Changfeng sighed heavily, "Xiao Wu, do you think I'm particularly useless?"
Wu Yong laughed dryly, "How could that be? You are the prince."
"Come on, I'm nothing without my dad!" Yan Changfeng threw the wine glass and walked out, "It's boring, Wangdu City is really boring, eating, drinking and having fun are boring!"
"But it's obviously not like that in Pingyang City. My brothers recognized me not because I'm the prince, but because I'm Yan Changfeng. I can do a lot of useful things, fly planes, drop explosives, kill enemies together, drink together. There will never be days like this again."
"When I return to Wangdu, I will tell you that I am the son of Marquis Wenxin and a member of the Regent's faction. Huo Xiao will never trust me again, nor will he use me! Humph! You want to get rid of me? No way! Even if you don't let me do something, I will do it anyway!"
"Let's build two more temples for the goddess. I can also send people to tell stories and publicize the deeds of the Huo family army! I just don't believe that my first-hand information is not as good as their fabricated stories!"
"Send me back to the Marquis' Mansion now. I'll go accompany Shurou. Go and do your work quickly. Don't use anyone from the Marquis' Mansion. Use someone from the Gao family to do it, lest my father find out."
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