Upon hearing the emperor's question, the ministers exchanged glances, but none of them spoke.
Xiao Chenyi was furious. "Why are you all mute? Aren't you all usually so talkative in the palace?"
At this moment, the Minister of War and Revenue stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I believe that the most urgent task now is to notify General Wei of Mo Han to redeploy the defenses, so as to prevent the Northern Li people from taking advantage of any loopholes. At the same time, we need to find out who gave this defense map to the Northern Li people."
Su Yunfeng also spoke up, saying, "Your Majesty, please make a wise judgment. My son would never do such a thing as betraying Great Chu. There must be some hidden reason. Moreover, judging from the timeline, after my son finished deploying the defenses in Mo Han, he was escorted back to the capital. How could he have had the opportunity to pass on this defense map to the Bei Li people?"
“General Su, you are mistaken. How long would it take to hand over a defense map?” Duke Dingguo stepped forward.
After speaking, he turned to Xiao Chenyi and bowed, “Your Majesty, although there is no evidence yet to prove that General Su gave this defense map to the Bei Li people, General Su cannot escape responsibility for this matter. I hope Your Majesty will temporarily suspend General Su Wenzhou from his post and punish him after the matter is investigated.”
"Duke Dingguo, are you implying that my son did this?" Su Yunfeng understood the implication in Wei Qiming's words. What he meant by investigating the matter before determining guilt was that Wei Qiming was implying, both openly and covertly, that Su Wenzhou was responsible for the crime.
"General Su, I didn't say that. There's nothing I can do if you think that way," the Duke of Dingguo said nonchalantly.
"You..." Su Yunfeng wanted to say something, but Xiao Chenyi interrupted him, "That's enough."
Once the emperor spoke, no one dared to utter a word.
Xiao Chenyi looked at Xiao Yanchu, "Regent, what is your opinion on this matter?"
"Your Majesty, where did this booklet come from?" Xiao Yanchu remained calm, revealing no emotion whatsoever.
"This was sent by Mo Han via the 800-li express courier. It contains the signed confessions of the captured Northern Li spies, as well as the defense maps found on their bodies. Li Yuansheng, take the booklet to the Regent for a look," Xiao Chenyi said.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Li Yuansheng walked to Su Wenzhou's side, took the booklet from his hand, and respectfully handed it to Xiao Yanchu.
Xiao Yanchu glanced at it and closed the booklet. “Your Majesty, General Su is a general of the Great Chu. The people of Beili have suffered a lot at his hands. I don’t need to say it. I’m sure Your Majesty and the ministers present know this.”
If a general of a nation is convicted based solely on the testimony of a spy from the Northern Li, would such an outcome uphold the laws of the Great Chu, or please the Northern Li?
Upon hearing this, many court officials nodded in agreement.
Yes, if the Emperor were to sentence General Su to death based on this, or even implicate the Su family, it would be a relief for Bei Li to lose a formidable enemy.
Upon hearing this, the Duke of Dingguo snorted coldly, "So, according to the Regent, even if General Su violated the national law and betrayed Great Chu, he will be completely forgiven because of his past military achievements? If everyone were like this, what would be the use of the laws of Great Chu, and what would be the meaning of the saying that princes and commoners are subject to the same laws?"
Xiao Yanchu glanced at the Duke of Dingguo, "Duke of Dingguo, besides the confession of the Northern Li spies, is there any other evidence to prove that General Su gave him this defense map?"
If this is enough to convict someone, Duke Dingguo, do you believe I can also convict you of treason tomorrow?
"You..." The Duke of Dingguo was so angry that he wanted to say something, but Xiao Yanchu ignored him and continued to say to Xiao Chenyi: "Your Majesty, General Su was escorted back to Da Chu, so the defense map will naturally remain in the army and be handed over to Deputy Commander General Wei. If we look at it this way, General Wei also has the opportunity to pass the defense map to the Bei Li people."
"Xiao Yanchu, don't make false accusations!" When the Duke of Dingguo heard Xiao Yanchu directly pointing the finger at his son, he could no longer tolerate it and immediately started cursing.
"Su Wenzhou was escorted back to the capital. General Wei single-handedly stabilized the border defenses and seized the time to redeploy defenses to Mohan to prevent Beili from taking the opportunity to invade Dachu. Regardless of his merits, I will never allow anyone to slander him and chill the hearts of the Mohan soldiers."
The Duke of Dingguo spoke with righteous indignation and impassion, portraying Wei Xuebin as a god of war.
Xiao Yanchu replied calmly to the Duke of Dingguo, "Duke of Dingguo, why are you so agitated? I was merely making a hypothesis. If General Su can be convicted based solely on what the Northern Li spy said, then I can draw the same conclusion."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com