Ji Huaichuan was not annoyed and explained to Emperor Jingyuan.
"Your Majesty sent me to inspect the Central Plains. Some cases required me to travel incognito, hence this disguise. Upon hearing of the unrest in the capital, I rushed to the palace. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
At this time, Emperor Jingyuan naturally wouldn't care about such things and waved his hand.
Ji Huaichuan then asked, "Who is commanding the Song family army today? Is it General Chengping or Young Master Song? I have something to ask you."
Emperor Jingyuan glared at the distraught Song Tingyue and snorted angrily, "What's wrong?"
"Upon hearing that the capital had been attacked, I intended to rush to its aid, but I was intercepted by the Song family army en route. They insisted on identifying me as a bandit from Donglai, and they didn't even spare the civilians traveling with me, drawing their swords on us and injuring several people!"
“They didn’t stop until I took out my identification badge, claiming they were there on orders!”
"May I ask, what orders does the Song family army receive? Are they military orders or imperial decrees, instructing them to act recklessly and kill each other?"
As he spoke, he turned around and beckoned, and a guard led in a soldier dressed in Song family army armor.
It was Mu Feng.
Upon seeing him, Song Tingyue turned deathly pale and collapsed to the ground.
The group of merchants she ordered to be silenced turned out to be people from the imperial court…
She couldn't believe it; how could it be such a coincidence? If they hadn't been dressed in such strange clothes, why would she have thought of going there?
Song Tingyue's back was soaked with cold sweat. She belatedly realized that she must have been misled!
Could it be Jiang Wan?
But how could that be? The arrival of the Donglai people in the capital was sudden; how could she have foreseen it...?
Song Tingyue took a deep breath and explained in a low voice, "Your Majesty, I have been away from Donglai for a long time and made a mistake..."
Before he could finish speaking, Mu Feng stubbornly started arguing with Ji Huaichuan.
"You dress like that yourselves, so don't blame me for treating you like bandits from Donglai! Our princess is the Princess Consort of Donglai, would she mistake you? She would lie about something so important. If she says it's Donglai attire, then it must be!"
"How would I know those people were civilians? The princess said it was the general's order to annihilate these Donglai people, leaving no survivors! And not a single one of you! We'll throw your corpses with the Donglai people, and that will be a great achievement for us!"
"The brothers were just following orders and wanted to make a name for themselves, what's wrong with that!"
He spoke with absolute certainty.
With each word she spoke, Song Tingyue's face paled further, her eyes fixed on Mu Feng in disbelief.
"You! What nonsense are you spouting?"
She never said anything about leaving no survivors or making a great contribution.
This person is exaggerating and pushing himself to his death!
Song Tingyue couldn't catch her breath and almost fainted.
Upon hearing this, Emperor Jingyuan understood seven or eight parts of the situation, yet he found it hard to believe.
He flew into a rage and abruptly overturned the desk.
"Very well! In this time of crisis in the capital, you keep talking about mobilizing troops, but instead you've diverted the strongest forces in the capital to intercept and kill Minister Ji's reinforcements!"
"Guards, take the Song siblings to prison!"
"Where is the Vice Minister of Justice? Investigate him! I want to see what kind of conspiracy those two are plotting!"
Ji Rong obeyed the order and stepped forward to drag the limp Song Tingyue away.
Outside the palace, Song Ziyu was still clinging to Song Tingyue as his lifeline, unaware of what was happening, when he was ordered to be imprisoned.
He glared at the emperor and shouted that he was innocent, but Emperor Jingyuan remained unmoved.
Song Ziyu struggled free from the palace servants, knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly. His forehead was cut, and blood gushed down the white jade steps.
The courtiers dispersed, passing by his pitiful state, but no one stopped to look.
No one else pleaded for their lives.
Only a pair of peach blossom and cloud-embroidered shoes stood quietly opposite him.
Song Ziyu suddenly looked up.
"Jiang Wan, it was you! You did it all, didn't you!"
He roared at her angrily like a mad beast, then, as if all his strength had left him, he gritted his teeth in heartache.
"Go, go and plead with His Majesty, okay?"
"The Empress likes you so much, and you're still a second-rank noblewoman. If you plead for him, His Majesty will surely listen!"
Jiang Wan remained silent.
"You're also a member of the Song family! What good will it do you to bring down the Song family?!" Song Ziyu shouted. "You vicious woman! Why are you so heartless! I truly don't understand what the Song family has ever done to wrong you?"
Jiang Wan lowered her eyes, looking down at her, and said softly.
"Can't figure it out, can you?"
Her tone was frosty, devoid of schadenfreude, pity, or regret; only a faint chill remained.
"It's alright, General. You have plenty of time to think it over."
In her past life, when she was imprisoned in the backyard and tortured to the point of near death, she also wanted to question her husband with the same heart-wrenching pain, asking what she had done wrong.
But she didn't even have a chance to question it.
Song Ziyu was too busy being intimate with Gu Yurong to even give her a chance to see her.
Now, it is he who is kneeling before him, begging and pleading.
The guards dragged the screaming Song Ziyu away.
Jiang Wan turned around, her soft-soled embroidered shoes stepping over his bloodstains, a slight smile curving her lips.
Soon after, the attack on the city gates ceased, and the streets returned to calm.
Song Yu led several prisoners from Donglai into the palace to meet the emperor.
His armor was disheveled, but he had no wounds. As he passed by the side hall, he saw Jiang Wan talking with the Empress and several female relatives.
Seeing that she was safe and sound, the young man's cold and stern expression softened.
His right hand unconsciously touched his cuff.
There were several jars of medicinal powder there, which Jiang Wan had placed in her pack before she left.
When he put on the golden feather soft armor, he thought it was medicine for external injuries and stuffed it into his pocket.
When the Donglai people detonated the flying sand bombs, everyone was blinded except for him, who only experienced slight discomfort and whose vision quickly returned to normal.
That's why he was able to dodge the crossbow bolts from the Donglai people.
He looked up at Jiang Wan, suppressed his doubts, and prepared to enter the palace to pay his respects to Emperor Jingyuan.
Just then, a young eunuch came up from behind and headed towards the hall, but stopped abruptly when he saw him.
"Young Master Song, this servant was just about to report to His Majesty! Something terrible has happened at the General's residence!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com