Buzz!
The court officials felt as if their heads had exploded with a buzzing sound!
Emperor Zhao Gan's statement, "Chen Huai'an is planning a rebellion," completely punctured the enormous bubble of "the Jian'an era of prosperity and peace" woven by treacherous officials led by Prime Minister Qin Ruhui, using deception and lies.
Sun Heling's sudden advice disrupted Qin Ruhui's entire plan.
In an instant, Prime Minister Qin Ruhui's cunning and treacherous face turned deathly pale, and cold sweat poured down his face.
The other court officials were all in danger and had no time to take care of themselves.
Only Sun Heling, the Vice Minister of Rites, stood tall and head held high, facing Zhao Gan's anger with composure.
Sun Heling shouted loudly, "Your Majesty, I believe that Prince Chen Huai'an, the heir apparent of the Prince of Jin, has absolutely no intention of rebelling, nor does he intend to claim the title of 'I am the only one who is here' or establish a separate state!"
"On the contrary, I believe that Prince Chen Huai'an of Jin has rendered meritorious service to the country and the nation, and should be rewarded!"
brush!
Upon hearing this, all the officials and civil and military officials in the court turned their heads in surprise.
The way he secretly glanced at Sun Heling was hard to tell—whether it was pity or schadenfreude.
puff!
In the Golden Palace, Emperor Zhao Gan was so angry at Sun Heling's words that he almost lost his temper.
He suppressed the urge to order the Red-Clad Guards to drag Sun Heling out and behead him, and said with a fierce expression, "Sun Heling, what did you say? Did I hear you right?"
"Chen Huai'an has already raised an army in Longcheng to oppose the court, raising the banner of 'being ordered to quell the rebellion and cleanse the court of corrupt officials,' and has even uttered the treasonous words that the new emperor is incompetent."
"You actually dare to say in front of all the civil and military officials that Chen Huai'an has rendered meritorious service to the country and the nation and should be rewarded?"
Then, Zhao Gan changed the subject, his tone turning icy and sharp as he rebuked, "Sun Heling, did you get your head stuck in a door, or did I mishear you because I had donkey hair in my ears?"
"Your Majesty, please calm your anger!"
Below the main hall, Sun Heling maintained his composed and dignified demeanor, holding up the letters exchanged between Wu Qingyun, the General of the Northwest, and Temur, the Great Khan of the Turks, above his head.
He then continued, "Your Majesty, these are letters exchanged between Wu Qingyun, the General of the Northwest, and Timur, the Great Khan of the Turks. Please take a look!"
"If I am not mistaken, the one who destroyed the Turkic kingdom this time is none other than Prince Chen Huai'an, the heir apparent of the Prince of Jin!"
"Suppressing the rebellion on the northwestern border and sweeping away the Turks in the northern deserts—is this not meritorious service to the country and the nation? Shouldn't you be rewarded?"
As soon as Sun Heling finished speaking, Emperor Zhao Gan's personal eunuch presented the correspondence between Wu Qingyun and Timur to Zhao Gan.
The latter's face was ashen as he skimmed through the letter, his eyes radiating an even stronger aura of violence.
boom!
Zhao Gan suddenly struck, shattering the screen behind the dragon throne into several pieces with a single slap. The favored concubine, Wenren Yu, who was leaning against the dragon throne, turned pale with fright but dared not make a sound.
"Qin Ruhui!"
"Your humble servant is here!"
Zhao Gan's loud shout nearly made Prime Minister Qin Ruhui's heart stop beating. Trembling, he knelt down and moved half his body towards the main hall, anxiously awaiting the imperial edict.
Zhao Gan demanded sternly, "Tell me, is what he said true?"
Qin Ruhui replied trembling with fear, "Your Majesty, regarding the war to annihilate the Turks in the north... well, it is true, but Your Majesty, please allow me to explain..."
"Enough!"
Zhao Gan roared, interrupting Qin Ruhui.
Then, Zhao Gan descended the steps menacingly, walking straight up to Qin Ruhui from the Golden Palace, glaring down at him.
He roared, "Tell me, is it or isn't it?"
Now that things had come to this, Qin Ruhui dared not lie any longer, nodding vigorously in reply, "Yes, Your Majesty!"
Ha ha!
After receiving Qin Ruhui's affirmative answer, Zhao Gan laughed instead of getting angry.
But in those once arrogant and domineering laughs, there was now a hint of self-mockery, pathetic and laughable.
After a long while, Zhao Gan finally regained his senses.
He looked at Qin Ruhui and said in an icy tone, "Qin Ruhui, I'm giving you one more chance. Report everything you know to me truthfully!"
"If you deceive me again, I will exterminate your entire family!"
Qin Ruhui's face turned pale, but he had no choice but to bite the bullet and truthfully report to Emperor Zhao Gan the major events that had occurred since Chen Huai'an raised an army in Longcheng.
He reported all of this to Zhao Gan, including the complete annihilation of the 300,000-strong Yunhui army, the death of Wu Qingyun, the Northwest General, in Yunzhou, and Chen Huai'an's northward march, during which he destroyed the Turkic royal court at the foot of Shifeng Mountain in northern Mongolia.
Furthermore, Chen Huai'an gave a detailed report on the policy guidelines he issued in the three important military towns in the Northwest and the ninety-eight counties under his jurisdiction.
However, the cunning Qin Ruhui deliberately created a time lag when reporting, delaying the time when he learned of the news from the front lines by two months.
They shifted all the blame onto the dead Wu Qingyun.
Since there's no way to verify anything now that he's dead, let Wu Qingyun take the blame for everything. Sacrificing him will save the entire "princeling party"!
Finally, Qin Ruhui, with tears streaming down his face, concluded, "Your Majesty, this humble subject is guilty:"
"For the past two months, I have devoted myself to the two major tasks of excavating the Grand Canal and rebuilding the imperial mausoleum. As a result, I have neglected to supervise the civil and military officials in the court, which has led to this incident of deceiving the emperor and committing treason."
"Your Majesty, this General Wu Qingyun of the Northwest was recommended by me personally. I am guilty of dereliction of duty and beg Your Majesty to punish me!"
As he spoke, Qin Ruhui raised his hand to wipe away the two lines of tears that rolled down his cheeks, and then took off the prime minister's official hat he was wearing and held it high above his head.
Ha ha!
Zhao Gan laughed again, a laugh that was both pathetic and laughable, and muttered to himself:
"I have always held myself to the standards of a great emperor throughout history, and have always taken it upon myself to promote the Jian'an era of prosperity."
"Now it seems that this so-called 'prosperous Jian'an era, a time of peace and prosperity' was nothing but a mirage woven for me by a bunch of sycophantic civil and military officials with deception and lies!"
"On the contrary, Chen Huai'an's treasonous act has shattered the illusion I have been living in all along."
"In that case, Chen Huai'an certainly deserves a reward!"
Then, Zhao Gan changed his tone and said in a ferocious voice, "I will not only punish him with slow slicing, but also exterminate his entire family!"
"Sink the light!"
"Your humble servant is here!"
Zhao Gan gave a stern shout, and Minister of War Shen Guangming immediately knelt down from among the officials and stepped forward to await the imperial edict.
Zhao Gan said: "The traitorous minister Chen Huai'an has raised an army in rebellion. The rebel army has already captured three towns and ninety-eight counties in the northwest of our Great Xin. I order your Ministry of War to immediately submit a memorial on how to quell the rebellion. I will personally lead the expedition!"
"Your Majesty, this is unacceptable, Your Majesty!"
Upon hearing this, Sun Heling, the Vice Minister of Rites, once again stepped forward, risking his life to remonstrate, saying:
"The Prince of Jin, Chen Huai'an, raised an army in Longcheng in accordance with the late emperor's edict. He wielded the Golden Whip of the King and was ordered to quell the rebellion. His purpose was to purge the court of treacherous officials and eliminate corrupt ministers, not to rebel!"
"Since Chen Huai'an raised his army, whether he was marching north to conquer the Turks or fighting against the Yunhui Army, in essence he was acting on behalf of the court, eliminating external threats and internal traitors. If you insist on saying that the Crown Prince is plotting a rebellion, there is no evidence to support it, Your Majesty!"
snort!
Zhao Gan suddenly snorted coldly, glaring fiercely at Sun Heling, and said, word by word, "Sun Heling, you listen to me clearly—"
"From beginning to end, there was never any Golden Whip for Beating the King bestowed by the late emperor!"
"Furthermore, I said that Chen Huai'an was plotting a rebellion, so he was plotting a rebellion. What evidence is needed?"
"Court adjourned!"
"emperor......"
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