Emperor Chi lost three children in one fell swoop: the crown prince he had carefully groomed, the son of his deceased cousin, and his youngest daughter with his lover. At the age of seventy, he was so angry and distressed that he could no longer move and could only speak. Therefore, the third prince took over the reins of the court.
Three years later, the Third Prince learned that the Emperor of the Night Dynasty was involved in the matter. He then disguised himself as an envoy and went to the Night Dynasty. Li Qian's husband claimed to know the secret, and the two had a conversation. They found that their goals were aligned and reached a deal.
The third prince then returned to Chi Kingdom and told his mother, the Consort. The Consort already hated Chu Qiaoling, and this incident made her hate him even more. After learning about their thoughts, Emperor Chi, not wanting the people of both countries to be plunged into war, did not agree to start a war.
But who cares about the thoughts of a person in a vegetative state?
Four years later, Emperor Chi died at the age of seventy-seven. The third prince ascended the throne and the next day he brought up the old matter again and announced war against the Night Dynasty.
In the fifth year after the war began, Chi Kingdom received a letter from Li Qian's husband containing a military deployment map of the Night Dynasty. Chi Kingdom quickly joined forces with the other two countries to launch a surprise attack on the Night Dynasty, severely damaging its strength.
This is why Li Qian and Chu Qiaoling apologized to the army.
Although Li Qian's husband's treason was not her fault, it was inextricably linked to her and resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of lives and the loss of loved ones for soldiers' families. This greatly affected how people in the army viewed Li Qian.
In Yuhang, after Li Qian's husband was executed, there were still people in the Night Dynasty army who resented Li Qian. Therefore, Li Qian made her private affairs public in the military camp and prepared to resign from her post and atone for her sins with her death, hoping to appease their resentment.
However, as elite soldiers trained by Li Qian, the Li family army was given a way out by Li Qian, preventing them from ending up on the streets or living a muddled life. For them, Li Qian was their common benefactor.
Therefore, everyone in the Li family army stepped forward to stop Li Qian and sincerely explained on her behalf that Li Qian was completely unaware of this matter, and that their marriage agreement was in place beforehand. Li Qian had done nothing wrong by being with His Majesty; it was Yu Hang's fault alone.
Upon hearing these words, some of the more level-headed members of the Night Dynasty army felt there was no problem, but those who disagreed didn't dare to say anything. After all, the Li family army had invoked His Majesty's name, and since they belonged to the Night Dynasty and were His Majesty's soldiers, they dared not speak recklessly about His Majesty.
Just as the two sides were locked in a stalemate, Chu Qiaoling arrived.
Emperor Chu Qiaoling had only one empress in his harem. The empress died shortly after giving birth to Chu Yanxi, leaving the emperor's harem empty and he never selected another concubine.
The common people all believed that the emperor only loved the empress, and the uninformed court officials also thought so. But now everyone in the army knew the truth and the relationship between Chu Qiaoling and Li Qian. Chu Qiaoling was determined to give everyone in the army an explanation.
Chu Qiaoling apologized to everyone in the army and told them about her story with Li Qian, acknowledging her relationship with Li Qian and expressing her remorse for her deceased empress.
Moreover, this tragic outcome was due to their mishandling of the matter, so Chu Qiaoling felt extremely ashamed but could not make any promises to the others, because she could not atone with her death, nor could she resign from her position.
However, one persistent person refused to give up. Although he dared not disobey the emperor, he dared to make things difficult for the general by claiming to be the victim. He mentioned the general's son, Li Yuan, and demanded that Li Yuan be executed on the grounds that he was the descendant of a criminal.
Now the others also broke their silence, all feeling that this person's words were too much, and they refuted him in hushed tones, while some agreed with him.
For a time, the various factions were arguing fiercely in front of Li Qian and Chu Qiaoling.
Li Qian understood that if this matter was not resolved, it would spread like wildfire throughout the land. If the people in the army were already like this, how would the common people view the emperor, and how would her son conduct himself?
Under the protection of the Li family army, Li Qian was unable to commit suicide, so she did something that silenced the entire audience—she cut off her own hand. Blood flowed incessantly on the platform, and even the messenger was stunned. Chu Qiaoling was even more shocked and heartbroken.
In fact, none of the Night Dynasty's army believed that Li Qian would atone for her sins with her death. They all thought she was just talking, so they didn't care much. But now that the bloody scene had unfolded and they saw the emperor's pained expression, everyone fell silent.
Those who brought up the issue of the common people also shut up, fearing that the emperor would punish them.
But unexpectedly, Chu Qiaoling's first words after hugging Li Qian were...
Upon hearing the hidden story from back then, Yuan Yin remained silent, while Chen Xiao quietly spoke up, filling in the gaps left unsaid by the seniors:
"And Emperor Wende's first words were a promise that he would not bestow any further rewards upon the people, right?"
As the elders nodded, Chen Xiao's basic guess was confirmed.
There must be a villain involved in this matter. Otherwise, Yu Hang alone could not have convinced the Third Prince of Chi Kingdom to decide to wage war against Ye Dynasty. Moreover, given that the Emperor of Chi Kingdom confirmed the authenticity of the Ye Dynasty royal token in the hands of the Crown Prince of Chi Kingdom, how did this token end up in the hands of the Crown Prince of Chi Kingdom?
The Night Dynasty had been established for less than ten years at that time, and the royal family consisted of only Chu Qiaoling, with no one else. The book did not mention Chu Qiaoling doing such a thing, or perhaps it was not written, but she inexplicably believed that Chu Qiaoling would not do such a thing.
It can only be that the people around Chu Qiaoling have ulterior motives.
The people around him... Chen Xiao had a terrifying guess.
Another question is why some people in the army insisted on killing Li Yuan. Could it be that Li Yuan was also involved?
Whom did Li Yuan offend?
However, these questions cannot be answered for the time being, as the parties involved are no longer alive and there are few people who know the truth.
Except for that system XiXi, who had a god's-eye view.
Xi Xi was quietly listening to their discussion, reminiscing about the past of the Rong Dynasty, when she didn't expect her host to suddenly set her sights on her.
Faced with the impending host's threatening remarks, it quickly left a long message and immediately went offline:
"My dear host, I can tell you some more about the past events of the Rong and Chi dynasties, but I can't tell you information that hasn't been deciphered yet. To avoid you committing any cruel acts against me, I've decided to type up everything I can say and send it to you directly. I'll be going now! Goodbye, my host!"
Chen Xiao quickly checked the document in her mind. Good heavens, it was hundreds of pages long. Looking at the elderly men in front of her who seemed to still have something to say, she gave up the idea of checking it immediately and returned her attention to reality to listen to what they had to say.
An old man spoke first: "Back then, I never thought His Majesty and the general were wrong, including Li Yuan. They were just victims of this incident. The ones who were most at fault were actually Yu Hang and those who were not clear-headed."
Anyone with a discerning eye would immediately know that this matter has nothing to do with His Majesty and the General, and that His Majesty and the General could easily use their noble status to neither apologize nor offer an explanation. However, the reality is quite the opposite.
His Majesty and the General publicly revealed their private affairs. His Majesty traveled a great distance to the border to apologize to us ordinary soldiers, and the General even cut off his own arm, ruining his career. Yet Yu Hang died with dignity, and those malicious people went unpunished. It's truly infuriating!
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