Chapter 91 Your Majesty’s identity is exposed!
Wen Xing lowered his eyes to look below the city wall, and saw a dense crowd of people all looking up, with countless eyes focused on the city wall.
Officials were whispering among themselves, many of them puzzled, "Master Xu is still alive. Is he faking his death?"
Someone couldn't help but raise their voice and urge, "Did Lord Xu summon us here?"
"What exactly do you want to announce today? Please tell me clearly, sir!"
Xu Chongyun nodded calmly and said to the crowd below, "My colleagues, please be patient. The truth will become clear shortly."
As he spoke, he glanced sideways at Wen Xing, with a half-smile in his eyes: "Your Majesty, do you want to lift the curtain yourself, or do you want me to do it for you?"
Wen Xing's gaze passed through the veil and fell once again on the bronze finial atop the corner tower. He quickly glanced at the sky before speaking in a deep voice, "What exactly do you want?"
Xu Chongyun chuckled. "Your Majesty, why ask so many questions? You just need to understand that Ning Wujie's life is in your hands right now."
Wen Xing quietly clenched his knuckles hidden in his robe sleeves.
He could even foresee Xu Chongyun's next plan.
If the fact that he was still alive was made known to the world, the legitimacy of Ning Wujie's throne, who was away on a military expedition, would immediately be questioned.
Xu Chongyun would even hold the emperor hostage to control the princes, immediately take control of the capital, declare Ning Wujie a traitor, and call on the world to punish him.
He lowered his voice, "If I lifted the curtain, I would really kill him."
Xu Chongyun was startled for a moment, then burst into laughter. "Your Majesty is truly exceptionally intelligent."
"But do you still have a choice?"
"If you lift the veil, he still has a chance of survival. If you don't, I'm afraid he won't survive today."
Wen Xing closed his eyes, thinking rapidly in his mind, and then said calmly: "You don't have to bluff. If you really have his life in your hands, you will definitely produce more favorable evidence than just a nameplate."
He said this as a test.
After he finished speaking, he glanced sideways to see Xu Chongyun's reaction, but saw that the other party was staring at him. After a while, he curled his lips and sneered, saying faintly: "Sure enough, I can't hide it from Your Majesty."
Wen Xing breathed a sigh of relief.
His guess turned out to be correct.
Ning Wujie should be safe.
"You intercepted the Saker Falcon just to catch me off guard and put me in a dilemma, but let's see if I dare to gamble his life. If you really caught him, giving me time to confirm it in person would be more convincing."
Xu Chongyun curled his lips into a smile, then he waved his hand, and saw two guards coming forward with knives, the blades reflecting a sharp cold light.
Wen Xing glanced coldly at the knife in the guard's hand, "Do you think I'm afraid of death?"
"Even if you forcibly remove my veil, I will not do as you wish."
As he spoke, he glanced at the sky again and saw that the clouds were slowly gathering.
Give him some more time...
Xu Chongyun nodded, "I have no doubt that Your Majesty would rather die than bend, but..." He suddenly pointed to the officials who were surrounded by a wall of soldiers under the city wall.
"What if their lives are also in your Majesty's hands?"
Xu Chongyun's voice was chilling: "That's more than a hundred innocent lives."
Wen Xing glanced at the officials and was shocked to find that Wang Jiang was among them.
His pupils suddenly shrank, and his knuckles gripping the sleeve of his robe clenched fiercely. He stared at Xu Chongyun and gritted his teeth: "You are so despicable."
Xu Chongyun just looked at him, but smiled without saying anything.
Wen Xing's eyes were fixed on Wang Jiang, and he didn't know what he was thinking. After a moment, he said in a deep voice, "Okay."
He reached out to the edge of the curtain and slowly peeled it off.
The curtain fell off, revealing a handsome but pale face.
There was a sudden silence below the city wall, but a moment later, there was an earth-shaking cry of surprise.
"His Majesty?!"
"It's His Majesty?!"
Everyone was shocked. Some people were already frozen in place, while an official knelt tremblingly and kowtowed to Wen Xing with tears streaming down his face. "Your Majesty, you are not dead! You are truly blessed by God!"
Wang Jiang could hardly believe his eyes. He looked at the figure on the city wall, rubbed his eyes, and looked again carefully. It was indeed His Majesty!
His Majesty is still alive!
Wang Jiang was extremely excited, and a warm feeling surged uncontrollably into his eyes.
He recalled that several months ago, Ning Wujie wanted to open the coffin and said that His Majesty might not be dead, and there has been no news since then.
So...what Ning Wujie said is true!
"Your Majesty!" he shouted. "Is that you?!"
Before Wen Xing could speak, Xu Chongyun spoke loudly, "My fellow officers, Ning Wujie attempted to kill the emperor, and fortunately, I was able to save Your Majesty. The whole story is far too complicated, and Your Majesty will soon issue an edict to make everything public."
Wen Xing immediately gave Wang Jiang a look.
Wang Jiang blinked. Seeing His Majesty's hesitation, a flash of inspiration struck him. Was His Majesty being held hostage? After all, Xu Chongyun's words were clearly lies, smearing Ning Wujie.
He suddenly understood and questioned loudly: "How can you prove that this is His Majesty! And how can you prove that you are Lord Xu!"
His voice startled everyone present.
Wen Xing's eyes lit up slightly, and he gave Wang Jiang a thumbs up in his heart.
I didn't expect this guy to be so smart.
Seeing Wen Xing's expression, Wang Jiang knew he had guessed right, so he gained confidence and continued to question: "Everyone, today's events are too strange, everyone should open their eyes first! His Majesty has passed away, and Lord Xu also died under this corner tower. We saw this with our own eyes. How can the dead be resurrected? Maybe someone is deliberately playing tricks today, don't be fooled!"
Xu Chongyun's face turned pale and he signaled the guards to take Wang Jiang away.
Wang Jiang struggled and shouted, "He's guilty! Everyone, please open your eyes!"
"Foolish!" Xu Chongyun snarled, "Look at your Majesty's eyes! Can that eye color be faked? As for your humble identity, I can prove it at any time after this matter is resolved. All you need to do is stay here as witnesses!"
As he spoke, he pointed at Wang Jiang and said, "Since you are willing to serve a traitor who killed the king as your leader, you will be punished with the same crime as the traitor and executed!"
As soon as the words fell, the guard drew his sword.
Wang Jiang's pupils widened and he immediately broke out in a cold sweat.
Wen Xing screamed, "Stop!"
Xu Chongyun said coldly: "Your Majesty, don't bother worrying about it. Just do what I say, otherwise..."
Wen Xing took a deep breath and told himself to calm down.
It doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter if it’s exposed, as long as Xu Chongyun is killed, everything can be salvaged.
He said to the people below the city wall: "Everyone, I am indeed not dead. The so-called regicide is all a misunderstanding..."
"There is no misunderstanding!" Xu Chongyun interrupted, "Once His Majesty issues the edict, everyone will understand clearly."
The officials looked at each other in confusion.
"What... is going on? Is he His Majesty?"
"But I think that eye color can't be faked, right?"
Xu Chongyun turned to Wen Xing and said coldly, "Your Majesty, write the edict. You know what to write."
After saying this, he raised his arm and pointed to the corner building, "The paper and pen are in the room."
Wen Xing's eyes swept across the base of the city wall, finally locking onto a tile covered with worn leather felt. His eyes flickered slightly, and he slowly walked over and stood in front of the tile. "I'll write here. Move the desk over here."
Xu Chongyun frowned in confusion, "What is this for?"
Wen Xing curled his lips coldly and said sarcastically, "Don't you know? I'm a half-immortal and I can read Feng Shui."
"When I write something that could kill you, I naturally have to choose a place with good feng shui that could curse you to death."
Xu Chongyun's forehead twitched slightly.
He endured it again and again, and finally decided to let go of this small detail, so he asked the guards to move the tables and chairs over.
"Write it." Xu Chongyun said coldly: "Overturn your previous abdication edict and make me the chief minister."
He used the emperor to command the princes, and the news of his good fortune turned out to be as expected.
He picked up the pen, hesitated for a moment, and looked across the table to see a piece of copper wire sticking out from under the cracks in the floor tiles near the wall. He narrowed his eyes and said to Xu Chongyun, "Don't you need to come over and watch me write? What if I make a mistake..."
Although Xu Chongyun had his doubts, he still stepped forward and stepped on the floor tile with the metal wire on it.
Upon seeing this, Wen Xing secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then he picked up his brush, dipped it in ink, and slowly moved the tip of the brush across the paper, deliberately making each stroke long.
The sky gradually darkened, and the first raindrop fell silently on the scroll.
Wen Xing paused for a moment, thinking calmly: Almost there...
But at this moment, a guard came to report: "Sir! A large army is approaching the city gate!"
Wen Xing suddenly looked up and saw dust billowing in the sky. The sound of hurried horse hooves came from afar. A team of cavalry broke through the morning mist and galloped towards them.
The black cloak of the man in the lead fluttered in the wind, and his high horsetail flew freely as he galloped. The horse leaped into the air, crushing the dust and heading straight for the city wall.
The tip of the pen suddenly fell off, leaving a trail of ink on the scroll.
The tense heartstrings suddenly relaxed, Wen Xing's eyes lit up, and his gaze was fixed on the leader, "...Wu Jie."
Xu Chongyun also looked into the distance, but sneered, "Sure enough, he can't be killed."
Wen Xing said coldly: "Give up, your plan has failed."
Xu Chongyun glanced at him sideways, curled his lips and said, "Your Majesty, what are you talking about? My real trap is on this tower."
Wen Xing's expression suddenly changed, as if he had figured out everything at that moment. A chill ran up his spine, freezing all the blood in his body.
There was only a loud neigh of a warhorse, and the horse passed by like a meteor, trampling the human wall, breaking through to the bottom of the city wall, and suddenly stopped abruptly, with its front hooves raised high.
When Ning Wujie saw the figure on the city wall, his pupils suddenly shrank.
He quickly glanced around and saw hundreds of officials gathered, with countless eyes fixed on the city wall.
Your Majesty's identity... has been exposed!
It was finally too late...he still didn't catch up!
There was a buzzing sound in his head, and he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.
He gripped the reins so tightly with his knuckles that his teeth were almost broken.
However, he still pretended to be calm, quickly dismounted, and kept his eyes fixed on the people on the city wall.
What should I do? Will His Majesty...
His heart ached so much that his voice trembled slightly: "...Your Majesty!"
"Ning Wujie!" Wen Xing threw himself onto the parapet. Seeing that man appear in front of him safely, his eyes instantly turned red. "I'm glad you're okay. I didn't receive Hai Dongqing's letter. I was worried about you..."
"Don't move."
Wen Xing's words were interrupted, his solar plexus was pressed against the cold crossbow trigger, and his nerves tensed instantly.
Xu Chongyun stood with his crossbow in hand and said slowly and calmly, "Now is the time to negotiate terms."
Ning Wujie's breathing suddenly stagnated, and he said anxiously: "Xu Chongyun, your target is me, let him go!"
Wen Xing only then noticed that Ning Wujie had blood on his forehead. He didn't care about the crossbow pressed against his head and asked anxiously, "Are you injured? What happened?!"
Xu Chongyun sneered, "I'll answer for him. Ning Wujie was tracking my spies and discovered that my target was Your Majesty, so he hurried back. Because of his concern, he was ambushed by me along the way and barely escaped death."
"Am I right?"
Ning Wujie narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "Xu Chongyun, you have achieved your goal. Now I am at your disposal. Release His Majesty!"
Xu Chongyun's voice was dark: "Will you do whatever I say?"
The sound of a mechanism turning came to his ears, and Wen Xing felt a chill down his spine.
He was the trap that Xu Chongyun set for Ning Wujie.
Xu Chongyun took advantage of the situation and set up a trap with Han Jin, using him as bait to lure him into the trap. Then he used Ning Wujie's safety to threaten him.
The strategies are linked together.
The two of them were concerned about each other and were so worried that they chose to step into it without hesitation even though they knew it was a trap.
Wen Xing felt a sharp pain in his heart, and a sour taste shot straight to his nose. His nostrils flared, and he suppressed the heat in his eyes. When he glanced at Xu Chongyun, his emerald eyes were burning with anger. "What grudge do you have against him?"
"Hate?" Xu Chongyun laughed, looking up. "You should ask Ning Wujie! He's killed countless people. I'm afraid he himself can't even remember how many enemies he has."
Seeing Wen Xing being threatened by a crossbow, Ning Wujie clenched his fists tightly, used the pain between his palms to suppress the heartache, and forced himself to remain calm.
Don't be anxious, don't be anxious.
The more you lose your composure, the more dangerous Your Majesty will be.
He warned himself.
He took a deep breath, then forced himself to calm his mind. He said solemnly, "I've been thinking about this all the way here. You're the Minister of War, and I'm stationed far away in the northwest. We should be clearly divided. What's the deep hatred? But thinking back to Han Jin's words, it dawned on me."
"That day, Han Jin suddenly asked me if I remembered Yu Yougong. He died at my hands five years ago. It was also five years ago that your son, Xu Jigong, passed away due to illness."
"Considering Han Jin's relationship with you, and the fact that he cares so much about Yu Yougong, I would venture to guess that Yu Yougong is the pseudonym of your son Xu Jigong, correct?"
Xu Chongyun's pupils suddenly contracted. He stared at Ning Wujie and suddenly burst into crazy laughter towards the sky.
However, after laughing, there was a glimmer in the corners of his eyes, and his eyes were full of resentment.
"Jigong was only eighteen years old back then. He should have had a bright future! As the Minister of War, it would have been easy for me to send him anywhere, but he insisted on joining the Ningyuan Army!"
Memories came flooding back, and he seemed to see that high-spirited young man again—
"Dad! This is the only iron army in Dachen that doesn't care about family background, but only about military merit! They are the pillars of the country! Even Lord Ning's own son had to start as a vanguard. If I go there with the title of 'son of the minister', what will that mean? I will only be laughed at!"
"I'm going to use the pseudonym 'Yu Yougong', start from the bottom as a soldier, and rely on my own abilities to climb up step by step!"
Xu Chongyun lowered his eyes, a tear silently falling on the stone bricks. When he looked up at Ning Wujie again, his eyes were filled with resentment: "He rose step by step from a cook to a fifth-rank lieutenant general! But in the end, he died at your hands! You were the young general he respected the most, but in the end, it was you who personally approved the military order of 'immediate execution'!" He laughed bitterly: "What a irony!"
After saying this, Xu Chongyun raised his head and sighed, tears rolling down his temples: "Blame me, blame me!"
"From a young age, he was taught unrealistic fantasies, and he was made to look down on aristocratic families like the Wang Party! He was made to hang out with orphans like Han Jin all day, and he learned all these ridiculous sayings about 'the same fate for all'!"
"This is all my fault. How can the rich and the poor share the same fate? How can those lowly ants be compared to my son!"
Wen Xing glanced at him sideways and said gravely, "As the Minister of War, it would have been easy for you to win over any general you wanted, but you chose to raise those orphans. While that was also intended to make them easier to control, can you honestly say that this wasn't partly a conscious effort to defy the corrupt practices of the wealthy and seek to change the world? Xu Jigong simply emulated your behavior."
"Shut up!" Xu Chongyun shouted, "Those young people are so arrogant, they just haven't tasted the bitter fruit yet!"
"Xu Chongyun, if you truly wanted to cleanse this world of aristocratic families, I would respect your integrity. But in the end, it's not that you can't stand the injustice of the world, you just can't stand the fact that the scales of injustice haven't tilted in your favor."
The cold tip of the crossbow arrow penetrated into the temples, almost cutting Wen Xing's skin.
Ning Wujie's heart almost stopped beating, and he shouted urgently: "Stop!"
Xu Chongyun glanced coldly at Ning Wujie, his expression calming down a bit. "Since the military supply case, I've planned everything step by step, but I haven't been able to achieve what I wanted. I even failed at one point because of Your Majesty's 'abdication'. I had to flee to southern Yunnan and incite rebellion against Ning Wujie."
"But I didn't expect..." He changed the subject, and a few low, hoarse laughs escaped his throat, "I didn't expect that His Majesty was not dead, and was still with him..."
"Using your weakness to deal with Ning Wujie is much easier than fighting a war."
Upon hearing this, Wen Xing's eyes burned with rage: "It turns out you're the mastermind behind the arms case! You've actually disregarded the safety of the country just to settle your personal grudge!"
In other words, it was this person who framed the Ning family and the 200,000 Ningyuan troops in history.
The unsolved case that has been bothering future generations finally has an answer.
Although history had been changed, Wen Xing still wished to tear Xu Chongyun into pieces when he thought of how he had nearly caused the extermination of Ning Wujie's family! He had been deceived by historical records and had actually believed that Xu Chongyun was a loyal and capable general!
Xu Chongyun scoffed, "The safety of the country?!" He sneered a few times, and suddenly his voice became harsh: "Is my son's life important?"
His voice was gnashing with teeth. "What a shame! If the arms supply case had succeeded, the Ning family would have been dragged into this. Now that only Ning Wujie died, it was really a bargain for him."
"But it doesn't matter. Now that he's been convicted of usurping the throne, we can imagine what will happen to the Ning family if he dies. This will also comfort my son's spirit in heaven."
Xu Chongyun turned his eyes and looked at Ning Wujie. He said coldly, "If you commit suicide immediately, I will let him go."
Wen Xing's brain buzzed, and he blurted out: "No!"
Ning Wujie looked at Wen Xing, his eyes as gentle as the warm spring sun, his voice calm and firm: "Your Majesty, don't be afraid."
He drew his sword with his backhand, the sharp edge gleaming coldly in the gloomy sky. Without hesitation, he said, "Xu Chongyun, I promise you."
He paused, a fierce murderous intent flashing across his eyes: "But if you dare to go back on your word, the entire Ningyuan Army will not let you go, even if we chase you to the ends of the earth."
Wen Xing's eyes were bloodshot, "Ning Wujie! How dare you!" His fingertips were tightly gripping the cracks in the wall stones, and the force was so great that traces of blood oozed out, but he did not feel any pain. It was only because the pain in his heart was so severe that even the medicine he had just taken could not suppress it.
Ning Wujie raised his eyes again, his crimson eyes filled with unspeakable attachment and reluctance, "Your Majesty... please don't be sad."
Another drop of rain fell, hitting Wen Xing's trembling eyelashes, splashing tiny water droplets that mixed with the tears that burst out of his eyes and meandered across his pale cheeks.
His vision was blurred by tears, and his voice was hoarse and ruthless: "Ning Wujie, if you dare to commit suicide, I will jump from here!"
"I will regret what I did to you for the rest of my life!"
Tears soaked his face, and his voice was almost bloodshot: "You can never retaliate against me in the same way!"
Ning Wujie's hand holding the knife trembled violently, and he suddenly raised his eyes and looked at Wen Xing.
His eyelashes trembled slightly, and the hot tears mixed with the blood beads sliding down his forehead, winding down along the side of his face, leaving a terrifying red line.
His throat rolled, his voice became hoarse, and he said with a trembling voice, "I'm sorry, Your Majesty..."
The words got stuck in my throat and I couldn't say any more.
One drop, two drops...
The raindrops gradually became denser, from sparse to fast, crackling on the bluestone bricks.
Someone among the onlookers finally reacted, raised their hands to the sky to catch the raindrops, and looked at the dark clouded sky: "Is it raining?"
Wen Xing suddenly slowed down his voice, and with a strange calmness, he asked softly, "Ning Wujie, do you remember what you said to me when we were first assassinated and trapped in the dense forest by assassins?"
Ning Wujie was slightly startled, and memories suddenly came flooding back.
——Your Majesty, I will count to three, and then you should run behind me without looking back.
Wen Xing's voice was gentle, but it carried unquestionable strength: "This time, I'll run forward, okay?"
Xu Chongyun shouted in alarm, "What are you talking about?" His fingers on the crossbow suddenly tightened, "Stop playing tricks!"
Wen Xing turned his head fearlessly, a sneer curling up at the corner of his lips, and said in a deep voice: "Have you forgotten that I just... cursed you?"
"Three." He counted softly.
Ning Wujie's eyes lit up, and they said in unison: "Two."
Their eyes locked, "One."
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