Chapter 178: King Zhenbei pleads guilty
Emperor Jing'an looked up at the person entering the hall. He had an upright posture, a majestic demeanor, and came against the light with a heroic spirit.
It was not until he walked to the front of the hall that Emperor Jing'an saw his appearance clearly.
His hair was dry and matted in wisps, his beard was untidy, and he looked unkempt. Even his clothes were damp and faintly stained with fine sand, as if he had crossed a river or been caught in a night of rain, and had come here exhausted.
Even though every strand of his hair and the worn shoes on his feet showed his fatigue, his eyes were bright and full of perseverance.
There was a flash of surprise in Emperor Jing'an's eyes. He really didn't expect that it was Prince Zhenbei who came in person to deliver the victory news, and he looked so disheveled and unkempt.
Anyone who enters the palace to meet the emperor will pay great attention to their appearance and dress up carefully to show their respect to the royal family.
Only the King of Zhenbei was an outlier, he was as casual as if he was returning home.
The officials were even more shocked. The older ones had met the Prince of Zhenbei before. When he was young, he left a great mark in the capital, leaving them with indelible memories.
Now seeing him entering the palace to meet the emperor in disheveled clothes, they all shook their heads. This boy was still arrogant and rude.
The younger officials had only heard of the reputation of the Prince of Zhenbei, but had never met him in person. They had originally thought he was a brave general with an extraordinary appearance, but who knew he would be so... so casual?
The Prince of Zhenbei didn't care about the others' opinions. He saluted Emperor Jing'an and said, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you." Then, he pulled out a victory report from his sleeve: "Your Majesty, I have fulfilled my mission and won a great victory in the battle in the northern border."
After receiving Gu Zongci's letter and learning the whereabouts of his daughter, he was eager to return home and wished he could go back to the capital to see his daughter immediately.
However, he was burdened with the mission of defending the country and could not abandon the war in the north. In the final battle, he defeated the enemy and captured the general of Northern Qi. Northern Qi retreated and surrendered, intending to send envoys to negotiate peace with the Great Zhou.
After pacifying the war in the north, he gave instructions to his sons and deputy generals, did not attend the celebration banquet, and hurried back to the capital with several subordinates.
Who knew he would encounter a broken bridge, blocking his way back to Beijing.
The river was swift and dangerous, and crossing it would be very strenuous. He had traveled all night to the capital and was already exhausted. Even though he was an experienced swimmer, it would have been very difficult.
He arranged for his subordinates to find an inn to rest, while he himself planned to rest there for an hour to recuperate and then decide whether to take a longer route or cross the river.
As soon as he closed his eyes to rest, he dreamed that his daughter was crying, crying helplessly, and asking him for help.
He immediately decided to swim across the river, and there happened to be a post station a few miles away on the other side of the river. He showed his identity to the postmaster and borrowed a fast horse to rush to the capital.
He arrived at the last post station to change horses and met a soldier who was delivering a report of victory to the imperial court at an urgent speed of 800 miles. The two of them hurried to the capital. Before entering the palace, he took the report of victory from the soldier.
Eunuch Cao took the victory report from Prince Zhenbei and presented it to Emperor Jing'an.
After reading the victory report, Emperor Jing'an was overjoyed and said, "Lord Shen, you are indeed the God of War of the Great Zhou. It is truly a blessing for the Great Zhou to have a general like you."
Several officials who were planning to flatter Prince Zhenbei exchanged glances secretly after hearing what Emperor Jing'an said, and then looked at Prince Yu.
Prince Yu had a gloomy expression and didn't even glance at them.
Several officials knew that Prince Yu would not continue to expose Prince Zhenbei because they had missed the opportunity.
They glanced at the Prince of Zhenbei, and then glanced at the Censor covertly. The Prince of Zhenbei coming to see the emperor in disheveled clothes was already a crime of disrespect, and they could impeach him and charge him with the crime of misbehaving in front of the emperor.
The old censor, however, looked at his nose with his eyes and his heart with his nose, and had no intention of impeaching him at all.
"The war in the northern border has been pacified. You have resolved a major concern for me." Emperor Jing'an closed the victory report and set it aside. He then inquired, "Lord Shen, why did you personally deliver the victory report to the capital? Instead of returning to the capital with the other generals to receive their rewards?"
"Your Majesty, I have come to the capital to plead guilty." The Prince of Zhenbei knelt in the main hall and stated his crime. "Fourteen years ago, war broke out in Liang Province. I was seriously injured and unconscious, and my deputy general requested support from the court."
"My wife just received a letter from Nan Lingzhou. Grandmother is seriously ill and wants to see her one last time."
"The late emperor's order is before me, and I dare not disobey him. However, I have filial piety to uphold, and it is difficult to be both loyal and filial."
"Finally, I came up with a compromise. I ordered someone to escort my young daughter to Nanlingzhou to visit her relatives and fulfill her filial duty to my husband and me."
At this point, the King of Zhenbei kowtowed and said, "I have violated the will of the late emperor and am willing to obey the emperor's orders."
As the King of Zhenbei finished speaking, the hall was filled with silence, and you could hear a pin drop.
Emperor Jing'an looked solemn as he glanced at all the officials.
If I didn't understand why the ministers suddenly mentioned the King of Zhenbei before, now I understand everything.
His ministers wanted to expose the Prince of Zhenbei for defying the late emperor's order before the victory report was delivered to the court, and have him punished for treason and have his mansion destroyed.
If he had followed the late emperor's order and executed the nine clans of the Zhenbei Palace and silenced all the officials, he would have tragically lost a powerful general.
In addition, he will definitely be cursed by the people as a foolish and tyrannical king.
The Prince of Zhenbei must have anticipated this, so after winning the battle, he rushed to the capital to apologize without stopping?
"Your Majesty, the late emperor's order cannot be disobeyed. If you do not punish according to the order, it will be difficult to establish the majesty of the royal family."
"Your Majesty, although the Prince of Zhenbei has made great military achievements, he openly disobeyed the imperial order, which shows that he does not take the royal family seriously. If you consider that he is a meritorious official, please forgive him. I am afraid that if everyone follows his example in the future, the court will be in chaos!"
Officials knelt down one after another, asking Emperor Jing'an to follow the late emperor's order and punish the King of Zhenbei.
"From now on, everyone should follow his example..." Emperor Jing'an looked at the half-kneeling officials, his eyes growing colder and his tone darker. "Since I ascended the throne, how many generals as talented as the King of Zhenbei have emerged in the Great Zhou?"
The officials were stunned and speechless.
If there were other useful generals, Emperor Jing'an would not have dispatched Prince Zhenbei to the northern border to give him a chance to make merit.
"If everyone were as brave and invincible as the King of Zhenbei, and achieved great military exploits, defending the territory of the Great Zhou, what would be wrong with disobeying my will for the sake of filial piety?"
Emperor Jing'an looked down at the officials and said in a deep voice, "The reason you can stand here and impeach the King of Zhenbei safely is all because of the blood and flesh of the King of Zhenbei and his soldiers."
Seeing Emperor Jing'an's rage, all the officials were so frightened that they all knelt on the ground, not daring to breathe.
"Our dynasty values filial piety, and I govern the country with benevolence and filial piety." Emperor Jing'an stated with a dignified expression, brooking no argument. "The Prince of Zhenbei, out of filial piety, arranged for his youngest daughter to visit his seriously ill grandmother on his behalf. Although this disobeyed the will of the late emperor, it is understandable. He may be spared the death penalty, but he cannot escape punishment for his crimes. Considering the Prince of Zhenbei's great contributions in pacifying the war in the northern border and capturing two cities from Northern Qi, I will allow his merits to offset his faults."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
