Chapter 133
The traitor is revealed
"I have just received a secret letter from Lingxi concerning the secrets of Guannei Hou! The entire Youzhou is willing to cooperate with the Crown Prince Regent to strangle Yue Wuji. What do you think, Princess?"
Liu Buqi's straightforward statement caught Yue Hanxin off guard!
"The secret of the Marquis of Guannei? What kind of secret is it that can make Yue Lingxi and Liu Buqi decide to attack Guanzhong together with the prince?" Although Yue Hanxin appeared calm on the surface, huge waves had already been set off in his heart!
"Madam, what do you need me to do?" After weighing the pros and cons for a long time, Yue Hanxin spoke with great determination!
Liu Buqi nodded and said, "I hope to meet Zhangsun Wuwo. I need the princess to invite me!"
…
Yue Hanxin never thought that the so-called invitation was not an exchange of letters, but that Liu Buqi directly let him out of Tai'an City and personally went to the army outside the city to meet Changsun Wuwo!
This move was truly magnificent, displaying immense confidence! This was a confidence that the Tian Ce faction would definitely take the bait!
Changsun Wuwo didn't even think about it for long before he resolutely agreed to go to Tai'an alone to keep the appointment!
The fact that the sister of the Crown Prince Regent, the Imperial Princess, and the Princess Consort of Yan personally came out of the city to invite him was enough to show that the secret in Liu Buqi's hands was definitely attractive enough!
The next morning, the two returned to Tai'an City together to meet Liu Buqi!
Changsun Wuwo was also an old acquaintance of Youzhou. When Yue Lingxi was ordered by the prince to take charge of the Tiance Mansion, he was the one who coordinated the work and had worked in the Anguo Marquis Mansion for a long time.
After a few brief greetings, the people who were familiar with each other got straight to the point.
Liu Buqi first announced a piece of news that surprised Changsun Wuwo so much that he stood up from his stool!
The Yan King's army has already drunk water from the Black Water. The Yehe tribe has given up resistance. The remaining tribe will migrate outside the Yalu River under the coercion of the Youzhou army. Yue Lingxi learned the secret of Yue Wuji from Wanyan Hongyu.
No matter who Changsun Wuwo is loyal to, he is first and foremost a Taiyue man!
Yehe, the powerful enemy of the empire for hundreds of years, was strangled by the King of Yan so silently. Such news made him excited!
After calming down his excitement, Changsun Wuwo slowly sat down and asked, "Madam, is this related to the disastrous defeat at the Black Water Campaign that the late Emperor personally led twenty years ago?"
An abrupt male voice echoed from within the room, "Indeed, Lord Changsun, I'm sure the former Crown Prince Yue Beiqiu and you must have a lot of information regarding the defeat back then, right? Why not speak openly and honestly, and we can verify it with each other!"
The people who came were none other than Prince of Yan Yue Lingxi and the Lord of Yehe Wanyan Hongyu who was brought in by him!
The appearance of the two also shocked Yue Hanxin and Gongsun Wuwo. This has confirmed what Liu Buqi said just now, that the King of Yan drank his horse from the Black Water!
"Ahem! Ahem! Your Majesty the Prince of Yan is young and promising, and has extraordinary martial arts skills. I admire you deeply!" In order to save Wanyan Hongyu's face, after a simple congratulation, Changsun Wuwo immediately changed the subject.
"Alas, the circumstances surrounding that defeat are truly complex and confusing. After Crown Prince Beiqiu assumed the throne, he conducted an in-depth investigation. However, among those who escaped from the battlefield, few held high positions, and even fewer were influential enough to participate in the decision-making process!"
"As the investigation deepens, Prince Beiqiu and I both believe that a traitor has appeared in the empire, and a great traitor in a high position!"
Changsun Wuwo's hands kept shaking as he tried hard to recall the past, which showed how much he hated traitors back then!
"So, adhering to the principle of rather killing the wrongdoer than letting the guilty go, Crown Prince Beiqiu ordered the arrest of all the generals and civil officials who had behaved abnormally during the key battles, hoping to learn the truth from them!"
Speaking of this, Changsun Wuwo let out a wry laugh. It was only natural that when Crown Prince Beiqiu first came to power, he wanted to use this incident to establish his authority in the capital. Unexpectedly, something went wrong during this arrest!
"These captured individuals, before even being interrogated, unexpectedly died of inexplicable poisoning in the capital's prison! From the fragmentary accounts they shared of the battle situation, the Crown Prince and I have deduced that the traitors were concentrated among three individuals!"
"They are the former commander of the imperial rear army, Prince Qi, and he was also the only deserter who withdrew from the battlefield to Youzhou without authorization!"
"Guan Nei Hou Yue Wuji was also the commander of the baggage camp at the time. The food and fodder were burned, and the army's retreat was cut off. He is to blame!"
At this point, Changsun Wuwo raised his head and looked at Yue Lingxi, "The other person is Yue Fan, the commander of the late emperor's guards. He is also the second son of the late Guannei Marquis and your uncle, Prince of Yan!"
Yue Lingxi's face remained calm, and Changsun Wuye could not observe any clues, so he could only continue talking.
"For several years thereafter, Crown Prince Beiqiu secretly investigated the matter. First, Yue Fan, who had been on the run for many years after the late emperor's passing, took the initiative to reappear and revealed a more detailed account of the battle, especially the situation when the late emperor's central camp was breached. He then committed suicide to prove his innocence!"
As if taking Yue Lingxi's feelings into consideration, Changsun Wuwo hurriedly added, "After Yue Fan's death, Crown Prince Beiqiu also knew that he was wronged and has always taken good care of the Guannei Marquis branch."
At this time, Yue Lingxi couldn't help but reveal a look of disdain. After noticing this change, Changsun Wuwo said in a defense-like and provocative manner:
"Your Highness, Prince of Yan, whether you believe it or not, it was the current Emperor Yue Hua who ordered the extermination of the entire Guannei Marquis family! At that time, Crown Prince Chengqiu was at a critical juncture in his struggle for the throne. He was unable to fully control the capital, and there was no need to kill virtuous ministers!"
Yue Lingxi nodded without comment. Regarding her father Yue Fan's past, what Changsun Wuwo said was quite different from what Bai Qiangwei said.
But this is normal. It is hard to say who is right or wrong. After all, people stand at different perspectives, so naturally there are many deviations in their views on the same thing!
"Lord Changsun, let's talk about the King of Qi!" Yue Lingxi was unwilling to continue talking about Yue Fan.
Changsun Wuwo's next statement was very simple. The King of Qi was afraid of death and ignored the army in front of him. He fled back to Taiyue with the last remaining food and grass.
Afterwards, in order to cover up the fact that he had deserted the battlefield, he retaliated and killed many people who knew about the incident, and even poisoned the officials in the prison at that time. However, he was indeed not a traitor.
Some of the descendants of the soldiers who were killed had evidence of the King of Qi's escape by mobilizing troops. These evidences gradually emerged during Yue Beiqiu's investigation.
Then, Prince Beiqiu executed the King of Qi on false charges. Of course, this was another case with no beginning or end. Apart from the parties involved and the descendants of the soldiers and generals who were killed that year, outsiders could only speculate on the cause and effect.
The disastrous defeat at Blackwater was, after all, a scar on the empire, and with the passage of time, it was no longer appropriate to publicly announce the Prince of Qi's desertion. Therefore, Yue Beiqiu had no choice but to bear the blame for the massacre.
At this point, both Yue Beiqiu and Zhangsun Wuwo directed their suspicion of traitors towards Yue Wuji, the Marquis of Guannei!
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