Xie Daxueshi was puzzled this time: "Didn't he annihilate his entire 30,000-man army? How did he win the battle again? I think Lu Jiaxue is about to give up on him."
Lu Jiaxue was a very mature political player. He had received a tip-off that Wei Ling had assembled 30,000 troops from the upper and lower western routes and completely annihilated them at Pingyuan Fort without even reporting the incident to the military supervisor. He knew the Duke of Ying was no longer necessary. Protecting him would only displease the Emperor. Lu Jiaxue would not do such a thankless task for someone he didn't want.
Later, I don’t know what happened to him, but I saved him again.
Xu Wei continued with a smile, "Wei Ling was really impressive this time. Not to mention Lu Jiaxue, he fooled the rest of us. There must have been a master behind the scenes advising him, otherwise how could a military commander like Wei Ling have so many schemes? That traitor colluded with the Tatars and lured Wei Ling into a trap at Pingyuan Fort. I don't know where he got the information, but he actually used the same trick to fake the deaths of 30,000 soldiers, then disguised himself as Tatars and infiltrated the enemy camp, capturing their leader, Ajizhi, alive." Xu Wei sighed, "This man's scheming is unfathomable. If I had the chance, I'd love to meet this military expert, Wei Ling."
Luo Shenyuan paused with his chopsticks, then picked up a piece of braised bamboo shoots from the plate.
Xie Daxueshi laughed out loud: "How do you know there is a traitor in the court?"
Xu Wei gestured to Luo Shenyuan again, and Luo Shenyuan put down his chopsticks and said, "Thank you, sir, this is quite easy to guess. If there hadn't been a traitor, Wei Ling would have been in Pingyuan Fort when he was ambushed. Pingyuan Fort is located in Datong, and he could have even asked for help directly from the Datong General. The Shanxi General and the Taiyuan General are not far away. This clearly shows that there was a traitor, and we can even speculate that this traitor is in Datong. Furthermore, Wei Ling was so cautious in returning to the capital that he didn't even alert the Emperor. This shows that this traitor is not only cunning, but also has connections and influence. Anyone in the capital could have attacked Wei Ling."
Xie Daxueshi was very impressed and said to Xu Wei, "Your student is truly a man of quick wit. I have a granddaughter at home who greatly admires intelligent people. If she knew about this, it would be disastrous."
"He's truly remarkable." Xu Wei, quite pleased with his student, told Xie Daxueshi, "The Minister of Works will retire in September. We're planning to make some plans for him."
Xie Daxueshi was frightened by his old friend again. "Didn't the Emperor still not agree to the request for the position of Grand Justice? You're actually eyeing the position of Minister of Works—I say you should take it easy, he's only been in the officialdom for a short time! Ordinary Jinshi are still waiting for the qualification of Shujishi at this time."
"Why not?" Xu Wei said, "It's common sense to appoint officials and give way to the virtuous."
Luo Shenyuan listened silently to the conversation between the two old men and just ate his food.
The teacher's taste is really picky. The marinade of this braised meat shop is very special and suits his appetite very well.
But Yining has never liked braised food since she was a child. She always feels that it has a strange taste.
She must have been scared just now. As emotions were so strong, he... couldn't control himself for a moment.
Inside the Palace of Heavenly Purity, the Emperor was furious upon hearing Wei Ling's response: "...How audacious! You colluded with the Oirat tribe and even plotted an assassination in the capital."
Wei Ling half-knelt on the golden brick floor and continued, "I have had the two lieutenants imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice. If it weren't for the assassination attempt in the capital, Ajizhi wouldn't have escaped during the chaos. I also submitted a memorial to Commander Lu regarding the allocation of food and military pay, but the memorial was never submitted. I came up with this strategy out of sheer desperation. If the emperor wishes to blame me, I will faithfully follow his instructions."
The emperor immediately helped Wei Ling up and said, "This is serious. How could I punish you for your great contribution?" Then he called the eunuch in and immediately drafted an imperial edict, granting him three hundred taels of gold, two thousand taels of platinum, one thousand acres of fertile land, and one hundred ingots of banknotes.
There was no further advancement for the Dukedom of England. The Emperor thought about it and felt regretful: "Your mother is already a first-rank imperial minister. If you had a wife, you could have been promoted to an imperial minister by now."
Wei Ling smiled and said, "Your Majesty has been extremely kind to me, I have no other requests."
"You captured Ajizhi and didn't even tell me. I almost wrongly accused you!" The emperor laughed heartily. "I will hold a banquet in the palace the day after tomorrow. You must bring your family to attend!"
Wei Ling agreed and received the imperial edict of reward on the spot.
The emperor said to the eunuch standing beside him, "Please ask Lu Jiaxue to come to my southern study later." After saying that, he returned to the southern study with a gloomy face.
The traitor could only be pinned on a few generals, and the exact identity needed further investigation. However, the emperor must have been very upset, and had invited Lu Jiaxue to come and discuss the matter.
Wei Ling spent the night in the palace. When he emerged, the sky was already turning white. The heavy rain had long since stopped.
If Luo Shenyuan hadn't been plotting behind the scenes, perhaps he would have really turned into a handful of earth by now.
He saw a familiar sedan parked outside the Palace of Heavenly Purity.
The emperor treated Lu Jiaxue very well and even granted him the honor of riding in a sedan chair in the palace. This is Lu Jiaxue's sedan chair.
At this time, the curtain was lifted, and Lu Jiaxue was sitting quietly in the sedan chair waiting for him.
Wei Ling walked over to him and saw Lu Jiaxue playing with a string of dark Buddhist beads. He remembered that this was the string Lu Jiaxue had given to Yining, and now it was back in his hands.
Lu Jiaxue glanced at him and said calmly, "It's good that you're back. It's time to go back and reunite with your family."
Wei Ling stood still and said, "Commander-in-Chief, I risked my life to serve you. After I got into trouble, if my daughter hadn't begged me, you wouldn't have helped me. Isn't that a bit too heartless?"
Lu Jiaxue stood up from the sedan chair, his hands behind his back as he looked at the undulating palace. He smiled slowly and said, "You're lucky to have a good daughter, otherwise you would have been stripped of your title and confiscated. You returned at such a critical moment, exactly. Someone in the capital has been sending you messages, right?" Without waiting for Wei Ling to speak, he continued, "You don't have to say I'm heartless. Saving the Duke of Ying's mansion was a thankless task, even bringing disaster upon myself. I wouldn't have saved anyone else. You didn't trust me, and you didn't even show up after returning to the capital, so I didn't ask any questions."
Wei Ling shook his head and said, "It's not that I don't trust you, it's that you don't trust me."
Lu Jiaxue would never truly trust anyone. He had killed his brother to seize the title, and over the years, the people around him had changed again and again. Who could truly gain his trust?
Lu Jiaxue neither denied nor confirmed what he heard. After a moment, he said, "Wei Ling, go back and enjoy your military achievements."
After that, he stopped talking, straightened his first-rank military officer robe, and walked up the steps into the Palace of Heavenly Purity.
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