the truth
"Tell me in detail."
"Your Majesty, the military report just now is one of the pieces of evidence. My elder brother was originally Lin Jiacuo, the deputy general of the Southern Camp of the Wolf Strategy Army. He was ordered to go to Qingyan to assist Jinbei, but the intelligence was false and the military register concealed the truth. Jinbei was just a hoax. My brother and his comrades were tricked by the two men and died unjustly!"
"You're spouting nonsense!" Wu Shunyi cursed.
"Regardless of whether you deliberately framed this military report, I only ask you how you obtained it?"
"General Wu, you haven't forgotten the person you ordered to be hunted down outside the post station, have you?" Tang Qi calmly answered his question, then faced Emperor Ming with neither servility nor arrogance, saying, "Your Majesty, during the fierce battle, my brother sent someone to seek reinforcements, but unfortunately, he inadvertently uncovered a deal along the way, leading to his being hunted down. The two parties in this deal were none other than Gui Luo of the Southern Continent Kingdom—"
Tang Qi raised his hand and pointed, his eyes like sharp swords as he stared at the person next to him: "—Wu Shunyi, Commander of the Protectorate!"
"Wu Shunyi, is this true?" Emperor Ming asked again from the dragon throne.
Tang Qi had expected Wu Shunyi to offer some excuses, but to his surprise, Wu Shunyi simply kowtowed and said without hesitation, "Your Majesty, this is indeed the case."
These words startled not only Ye Qian beside him but also Tang Qi, who was currently riding high on his momentum. Sure enough, the next moment Wu Shunyi spoke up: "Several months ago, I was ordered to intercept Qingyan. Later, the Southern Continent general Guiluo attempted to make peace and secretly made a deal with me, but—"
Wu Shunyi raised his head and looked directly at Emperor Ming: "This humble servant did not agree. He is willing to withdraw his troops from Qingyan, only asking to exchange two years of peace with Da Shuo."
"Impossible!" Tang Qi exclaimed.
There is absolutely no way that someone like Gui Luo would choose to seek peace.
“What I say is true.” Wu Shunyi said neither humbly nor arrogantly: “I refused him because I believe that a city that can be captured does not need to be exchanged for peace.”
"However, the fact is that Qingyan is still occupied by Nanzhou, and you have not recovered the lost territory!"
"I did not recover the lost territory, but that was because the reinforcements that were supposed to bring supplies had not arrived. My troops were no longer able to sustain the confrontation with the Southern Kingdom, so I received His Majesty's order to retreat to Jingzhou." Wu Shunyi suddenly raised his voice and looked at Tang Qi: "Do you know which team of reinforcements did not arrive?"
"That's the team your brother was in! If they hadn't been killed by their own traitor, Qingyan might have been retaken once reinforcements arrived. Do you think your brother was some great hero? He was just a bunch of fools who died because of their own stupidity!"
Seeing Tang Qi's anger rising, Ye Qian immediately took two quick steps, lifted his robe, and knelt in the hall, saying, "Your Majesty, there may be another truth regarding the traitor within the Wolf Strategy."
One sentence brought Tang Qi back to his senses. He calmly looked at Emperor Ming and said, "Your Majesty, I humbly request that one person come to the palace."
Emperor Ming frowned almost imperceptibly, then said coldly, "Granted."
Ye Qian lowered his hand and turned to look at Tang Qi, his expression cold and handsome, almost as if he were cursing her with his face.
Tang Qi knew he was in the wrong and naturally didn't dare to look back. Soon, Shen Zhiqing came over with people. The person had a black cloth bag over his head, was tied up, and was brought into the hall.
"This humble woman, Shen Zhiqing, greets Your Majesty."
Shen Zhiqing bowed cleanly and crisply.
Emperor Ming suddenly smiled and looked at Ye Qian, who was kneeling in the center: "Good, good, it seems you two have planned this together."
"For whom? For Tang Qi? You two are truly devoted to each other. And Yun An? Is Yun An also waiting outside the palace?" His tone became serious, showing signs of anger.
Ye Qian remained kneeling, his eyes unwavering: "Not for one person. But for the truth."
"Very well, then let me see what kind of truth you are demanding."
Emperor Ming turned his gaze to the person covered by a black cloth, his face darkening, and asked, "Who will introduce them?"
Tang Qi: "I'll do it."
He went to the person's side and suddenly lifted the lid, revealing the person inside. Cheng Junshi was clearly stunned for a moment after seeing the person clearly, and then he heard Tang Qi speak:
"This person's name is Zhang Dong."
Tang Qi really wanted to thank the important figure who took Zhang Dong away. He was grateful that the important figure hadn't killed Zhang Dong, this pawn. Although Zhang Dong disappeared from both Beijing and Luoyang after that incident, as long as he existed, he would leave a trace.
Tang Qi had cultivated many informants beforehand. Although he was "dead," it wouldn't be difficult to send someone to help find someone, especially since he also had Shen Zhiqing's connections.
He then took out a portrait from his pocket and unfolded it in front of everyone. The person in the painting looked exactly like Zhang Dong, but the name marked next to it was not Zhang Dong, but—Li Wuyuan.
"The man in the portrait is the centurion of the first battalion of the Wolf Army, who was publicly beheaded a few months ago on the grounds that he was a spy for Wolf Army."
The portrait was naturally obtained from the Wolf Strategy Army, whose First Battalion maintained strict secrecy due to its special nature. Intelligence gathering was no easy task, but with the Qin bamboo slips, obtaining the portrait wasn't impossible.
After seeing her mother that day, Tang Qi, posing as Lin Zhengye, told her about the Wolf Strategy Southern Camp. As a mother, knowing the truth about her son's death, she certainly couldn't stand idly by.
The portrait was presented to Emperor Ming, who picked it up and carefully compared it with Zhang Dong kneeling in the hall.
"Your Majesty, please look at the faces of these two people. It would not be an exaggeration to say that they are the same person."
"There are people in the world who look so alike." Emperor Ming's tone was slightly shocked.
Zhang Dong's hands and feet were tied up and his mouth was gagged. When Tang Qi grabbed him, he could only whimper and moan.
“This man was imprisoned before for wearing a fake military badge and impersonating a Wolf Warrior.” Tang Qi turned his gaze to Cheng Junshi beside him: “Young Master Cheng can testify to this.”
Cheng Junshi: "Your Majesty, this is indeed the case. Several months ago, I personally escorted him into the Shenxing Division prison."
"Then why were they released again?" Emperor Ming asked.
"This is what those who truly want to harm Wolf Strategy have done."
Tang Qi’s voice was not loud, but it was very powerful: “Li Wuyuan is not a real traitor. On the contrary, he is a good leader. It is the greatest humiliation for a soldier to be falsely accused and have his name nailed to the pillar of shame forever.”
"Li Wuyuan's only mistake was having a face exactly like this person's. That's why those people targeted him, used him, and ruined him!"
Tang Qi looked at Emperor Ming and continued: "After Li Wuyuan led his troops into battle, this man went around wearing fake military badges to swindle and cause trouble. His purpose was to make everyone remember his face and make Li Wuyuan's reputation become tainted in a subtle way. In this way, he became an internal traitor, and being beheaded in public was the retribution for his heinous crimes. His death became the will of the people."
"Everyone will celebrate his death, even though he did nothing."
"What a joke! According to you, if this Zhang Dong started swindling and deceiving people at the same time Li Wuyuan went to war, wouldn't people think he could be in two places at once? He dared to spout nonsense without even having made up a proper story?" Deng Ning seized on the loophole in Tang Qi's words and began to counterattack.
"General Deng, don't worry." Tang Qi smiled at him: "Li Wuyuan's expedition was not a true expedition. On the contrary, it was more like a trap set up specifically for him. Because after that, he seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth, and the person who replaced him was this Zhang Dong. When he reappeared, he was already guilty of crimes and doomed."
"Where is he heading on his expedition?" Emperor Ming asked.
Tang Qi turned to Wu Shunyi and said in a light tone, "General Wu must know this, right?"
Several pairs of eyes looked over, but Wu Shunyi remained silent.
"Crane City".
Ye Qian spoke up for him from the side.
"There is a special army in the Jinbei Army called 'Blade Wolf'. This team adheres to the principle of knowing yourself and your enemy to win every battle, and uses Southern Continent techniques as its main training program. General Wu, are you now particularly regretting not sending more people to kill me?"
Faced with Tang Qi's provocation, Wu Shunyi merely sneered, seemingly not taking him seriously.
"Li Wuyuan and the new recruits who stayed behind were tricked into confronting 'Blade Wolf,' and during the confrontation, they were further deceived into believing that the Crane City garrison was colluding with the Southern Continent. That's why Li Wuyuan led his troops to attack Crane City."
"Good story." Wu Shunyi finally chuckled and said, "Your story is quite well-crafted, but there's one thing I don't understand. Why did that Li Wuyuan from Langce leave the camp to confront Renlang in Hecheng? How could he leave the camp without orders? Or is Langce simply completely without any discipline?"
“That’s because—” Tang Qi slowly looked at Emperor Ming and said without losing his composure, “He was acting on the orders of the royal family.”
"Insolence!" Emperor Ming roared from the dragon throne.
The kneeling men immediately prostrated themselves on the ground. Tang Qi, with his forehead pressed to the ground, still said, "Your Majesty, please calm down. This humble subject is not lying in the slightest. Li Wuyuan led his troops out of the camp under orders from the Second Prince, Sheng Ye."
"Moreover, after the expedition to Hecheng, Li Wuyuan's disappearance was also related to the Second Prince. While Zhang Dong was impersonating Li Wuyuan and causing trouble everywhere, Li Wuyuan was being imprisoned in the Qi Prince's mansion."
Ye Qian was shocked by his audacity and hurriedly looked up to see the Emperor's expression.
Emperor Ming was naturally not pleased. Tang Qi's accusation against the prince in front of him was tantamount to slapping him in the face in public.
Unfortunately, having just declared he wanted to hear the truth, he was now caught in a dilemma, unable to move forward or backward. So, Emperor Ming feigned anger and said to Tang Qi, "Do you know what the consequences are for slandering a prince?"
"If Your Majesty is determined to find fault, you will always find a pretext. If Your Majesty is determined to believe this is slander, then I, your humble servant, have no choice but to offer my head to appease Your Majesty's anger," Tang Qi said solemnly.
"You really aren't afraid of death." Emperor Ming looked at him, his tone not exactly harsh, but rather tinged with anger.
He couldn't understand why this person was so stubborn. Was it just because he wanted to overturn his brother's case?
Stubbornness may get a lot done, but it's what he hates most about stubbornness.
So Emperor Ming, not in a good mood, said to the person next to him, "Call Sheng Ye over."
Then his gaze shifted to Tang Qi: "I hope your words will not bring you death."
Tang Qi smiled and said, "I hope so too."
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