"My lord has given a military order, which is confidential and cannot be disclosed to anyone. Please forgive me, Madam..." The general hurriedly clasped his hands in a fist and bowed, "This humble general will take his leave now."
Su Wan watched them leave, thinking to herself, "I'll just go ask A-Jin myself."
She entered the hall, came to Meng Kuan and his daughter, and said to Meng Kuan, "General Meng, what are you doing?"
Without raising his head, Meng Kuan said in a sorrowful voice, "I was defeated, and my entire army was wiped out. According to military law... a defeated general should be executed, and I should have died in battle... but I wanted to see my daughter one last time, so I fled back."
Meng Ruliu cried, "Father, please stop. If His Highness kills you, I will die with you."
Su Wan said, "If defeat means execution, who would dare to risk their life for the commander? What exactly happened?"
Meng Ruliu wiped away her tears and said, "My father led his army to fight against Chu Yi, and initially won two consecutive battles..."
Su Wan said, "Two consecutive victories, isn't that a very good performance?"
Meng Kuan sighed heavily and said, "Don't even mention it, I was so stupid. I was fooled by that brat Chu Yi. I didn't listen to the General's advice, I deserve to die!"
Meng Ruliu said, "My father thought Chu Yi wasn't that capable and wanted to lead his army to raid the camp at night. The general tried to stop my father from going, but my father didn't listen. As a result, Chu Yi set up an ambush and led his army to attack the camp... Only my father managed to fight his way out."
Although Su Wan didn't understand military affairs, she roughly understood what he meant.
Meng Kuan was arrogant after winning the first two matches, thinking Chu Yi was a good-for-nothing. Little did he know that Chu Yi had deliberately lost to lure him into a trap.
Meng Kuan lost 20,000 troops, causing Wei Jingzhuo to be attacked from both sides, and he certainly deserved to be executed. But he was Meng Ruliu's father, and Meng Ruliu treated her like a sister. How could she just stand by and watch Meng Kuan be killed by Wei Jingzhuo?
Moreover, General Zhao Xian can also keep Chu Yi in check, so it's not necessarily a lost cause.
“General Meng, you have indeed made a grave mistake, but no one is perfect.” She said, “I will go to His Highness now to plead for you.”
Upon hearing this, Meng Ruliu said with emotion, "Sister, I appreciate your kindness. But military law is merciless. If Your Highness truly wishes to execute us, we will have no complaints."
Su Wan shook her head repeatedly and said, "Sister, don't worry. Xiping Pass was given to Ajin by you. Without Xiping Pass, how could he fight against Wei Shao's 100,000 troops? Would he have the nerve to kill General Meng? Sister, please get up. You don't need to keep kneeling."
If Meng Kuan hadn't surrendered, how could Wei Jingzhuo have obtained Xiping Pass? Besides, the 20,000 troops that Meng Kuan took were originally the garrison of Xiping Pass, not the Youzhou army led by Wei Jingzhuo.
If they had just treated Meng Kuan as Wei Jingzhuo's ally, not his subordinate, then Wei Jingzhuo certainly wouldn't have been able to execute Meng Kuan.
Meng Kuan still refused to get up, saying, "That may be true, but I feel ashamed, so I will remain kneeling."
He had confidently asserted that Southern Chu would not attack, but Chu Yi had completely outmaneuvered him. Not only were the sentry posts he had set up ineffective, but his entire army had also been annihilated. He felt both ashamed and resentful.
Su Wan said, "General Meng, don't worry. You've already won two battles. Even if you lose some merit, it won't be a big deal. Besides, you only lost your own soldiers, not a single one of His Highness's. Moreover, His Highness is in dire need of capable men right now, so how can you kill a general?"
After much persuasion, she finally convinced Meng Kuan and his daughter to get up and have Meng Kuan put on his clothes and wait in the hall. Only then did she enter the back hall and arrive at Wei Jingzhuo's room.
The guards standing at the door stepped forward to pay their respects and whispered, "Madam, shall we wake the Lord?"
Su Wan said, "No need. How was he sleeping?"
The guard said, "Our lord hasn't returned for the past few days. He fell asleep as soon as he entered the room this morning and didn't even eat the food prepared by the servants."
Su Wan said, "Then I won't go in. Let him sleep first."
There was no need to disturb Wei Jingzhuo at this point; let him rest. She knew what she should do.
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