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Chapter 112: Heavy Losses
The Crown Prince quickly said: “Imperial Father, General Wu Wei is young and reckless and have provoked Father, please pardon him! If you kill him, wouldn’t this cause the public to feel bitterly disappointed and no one would dare by loyal to our country!”
After the Crown Prince spoke, the bunch of subjects that kept silent like winter cicadas, all stood out and talked to plead for Jiang Nan’s pardon.
Even the paled-face Empress by Consort Lian’s side put in a word: “Your Majesty, let’s not talk about how Jiang Nan was young and reckless or coveted military achievements which caused this disaster, but let’s consider how the Murongs’ incident had pa.s.sed for years and how Jiang Nan just saved Your Majesty. Let’s consider it as atoning for his crime, what benefits would there be in investigating a meritorious subject?”
Consort Lian’s expression couldn’t be controlled as it inevitably turned white. She even had to hide her fingers in her sleeve in order to not let others notice her whole body was shaking. She would have never expected that the deaths of the Murong royalties and supporters were nothing in the eyes of these people! As for misreporting military achievement, it was simply nothing! The Emperor was hesitant and his expression was not as determined as before!
Li Min De whispered to Li Wei Yang’s ears: “About the other matter ---”
Li Wei Yang shook her head. If they brought up the matter of the mansion now, the Emperor would become suspicious and question why was everything implicating the Jiangs. The oversensitive him would certainly believe someone was deliberately setting everything up and the target was the Jiangs. As a result, that mansion, couldn’t be brought up.
Now, what should be done? Li Wei Yang was looking at the inner court and then her glance suddenly fell onto Li Xiao Ran. Miraculously, Li Xiao Ran was actually looking at his own daughter. But it wasn’t Li Wei Yang that he was looking at, instead it was Li Chang Le.
At this moment, Li Chang Le was gazing at Li Xiao Ran with a plead for help. It was obvious she hoped that he would speak for the Jiangs. As relation by marriage, Li Xiao Ran would definitely do this. Jiang Yue Lan by his side was also staring at him.
Li Wei Yang observed Li Xiao Ran’s ever-changing expressions. He stepped forth and was ready to speak.
Li Min De frowned but Li Wei Yang blinked her eyes towards him to tell him to stay calm.
Li Xiao Ran deplored: “Your Majesty, even though General Wu Wei is not old, he has vigorously and effectively carried out his a.s.signments. He has courage and capability and he dares to act on his thoughts. He is certainly a hard to come by talent.
The Emperor forcefully asked: “Then you are agreeing with his actions?”
Li Xiao Ran sighed and spoke his crucial words: “Your subject does not mean this. His killing of the Murong clan was deception. However, over the years, he had won over forty battles and wherever you go, you’ll see the results left behind by the Jiangs’ military. Perhaps, this is what the young general have cudgeled his brains and showed his loyalty to manage stabilizing the situation so that the country wouldn’t be in chaos. Your subject dare say that if it was someone else, this would have been worse. No one can do better!” What he aimed for was all done in these words of praise. It was mainly words that praised Jiang Nan. But the Emperor’s expression changed and unexpectedly turned worse.
Li Wei Yang noticed this and kept her head down as she hid her smile. Li Xiao Ran had served the Emperor for years so he completely understood his temper. Since the Emperor was hesitant, he applauded Jiang Nan up to the skies that he was a hero sent from the Heavens and without him, the country would fall. If this was used on an ordinary emperor, Jiang Nan would certainly be safe. But this Emperor was very different that his suspicions have reached out of the ordinary boundaries. If Li Xiao Ran scolded Jiang Nan and made the Emperor believed his words were too severe and felt sympathy towards his subject and then pleaded for him after, then this matter could have trivialized. However, Li Xiao Ran must greatly praised Jiang Nan that he had reminded the Emperor what he detested the most and considered a taboo. The Emperor would definitely be enraged. Li Wei Yang predicted that Li Xiao Ran was different from Consort Lian. He must have known what the Emperor resented the most!
The Emperor’s expression had worsen to the point that it couldn’t get any worse. He furiously bellowed: “Prime Minister Li, if you plead for the Jiangs again, I will punish you too!” Li Xiao Ran was stunned and retreated back with a failed expression. The subjects on the side immediately shut their mouths. They’ve noticed how Prime Minister Li had spoken many words to beg for leniency but instead had intensified the Emperor’s anger. Now, none of them dared to utter a single word!
Li Wei Yang almost laughed out loud. Father, oh, Father, you must extremely detest the Jiangs that you would drop more stones into the well (add on to their misfortunes). But, those stones were dropped quickly, ruthlessly, and precisely. She finally understood who she inherited her vicious genes from.
Jiang Nan loudly cried: “Your Majesty, your subject had followed the edict and executed the entire Murong clan. If Your Majesty must punish someone, then please punish me only and pardon my father!” Once he was finished speaking, he continuously kowtowed on the ground.
The Emperor coldly laughed: “If you want to die, then I won’t keep you alive ---”
Once the Emperor said this, he already had the intention to kill! Jiang Xu was stunned. His thoughts swiftly changed and he had already stood up. He mercilessly slapped Jiang Nan and furiously shouted: “Evil child! How dare you speak back to the Emperor! Even if the Jiangs die sonless, we cannot keep you alive!” As he spoke, he grabbed a long sword from the waist of a royal guard and swept it towards Jiang Nan! If the royal guards didn’t immediately pull him back, Jiang Nan would have been covered with blood right on the spot!
The royal guards exerted a great effort to hold back General Jiang Xu who wanted to kill Jiang Nan. And, right at this moment, everyone was shocked. Only Li Wei Yang was laughing on the inside. This Jiang Xu really knows how to act!
Jiang Xu kneeled on the ground and painfully cried: “Your Majesty, it’s the father’s fault for not teaching his son well. Your subject had fathered such an unruly son who dare to offend Your Majesty. Your subject must put aside father and son’s relations.h.i.+p. His crimes are indeed evil and must be execute on the spot, I ask that Your Majesty punish him!”
A late age first-rank official was kowtowing and crying on the floor, making others feel unease. The Emperor’s expression slowly changed again.
Li Wei Yang watched as the corners of the Emperor’s mouth sagged downward and realized that the murderous expression on his face had already vanished. She couldn’t help but blinked; unfortunately, in this situation, it wasn’t appropriate for her to speak or else she would have put in a few words to reignite the tension and possibly have the Jiangs pay with their lives. But …… she can’t, Consort Lian couldn’t either! So Li Wei Yang flashed a warning glance towards Consort Lian.
Consort Lian soon recovered from her trance: “Your Majesty, how about we pardon the young general? See, the general (who conquered the West) is pleading like this, the young general is after all a hard to come by hero. Your Majesty’s territories still need them to defend, why upset everyone here ……”
Jiang Xu had just calmed himself but soon became anxious again. He greatly lifted his head to glare at Consort Lian with expressions filled with abhorrence.
The Emperor detested meritorious officials threatening him. He listened, frowned, and then looked at the wound on Consort Lian’s neck. There was still blood on it and he involuntarily pitied her. He originally wanted to pardon Jiang Nan but he changed his mind again, he coldly spoke: “I want to see, without this hero, would my territory actually topple! From today onwards, Jiang Nan’s third-rank merits will be removed and he will never be appointed again! As for Jiang Xu, he failed as a father, so he must also be punished. He will be demoted from first rank to third rank with his salary being forfeited for three years and he will be under house arrest for one year! Your seal will be handed over to Gao Jin! Go!”
In Consort Lian’s eyes was endless disappointment. Why is the Emperor still unwilling to kill the Jiangs! Only the forfeit of his salary! Why! She looked towards Li Wei Yang and noticed that she was gently shaking her head. Consort Lian was stunned that she immediately lowered her head afraid that others will notice her change in expression.
Li Wei Yang sighed. If Consort Lian followed what she planned, then today they would have uprooted the Jiangs because a mansion of unloyalty is far more problematic than misreporting military achievements. The wrongful deaths of the Murongs was a crime in Consort Lian’s eyes but to the Emperor, it was worthless. If it wasn’t for Li Xiao Ran’s words, the Emperor would have contemplate punishment but in the end decide to let the Jiangs off. The punishment today wasn’t for fabrication or misreporting of military achievements but for the shock he suffered! He wanted everyone to know that whoever brings trouble to him, he will make their lives hard! But the good thing was that Jiang Nan’s career was over and having Jiang Xu under house arrest was equivalent to stripping his power over his army of two hundred thousand soldiers. As a result, his power was given to chariots general Gao Jin …… this was a major blow to the Jiangs. But they couldn’t express their grief since after all, Jiang Nan indirectly caused a.s.sa.s.sination attempt. It was already a pardon to not kill him for such a huge crime.
It seemed like Li Xiao Ran’s words were light but they were able to force the Jiangs to hand over their power over an army of two hundred thousand to save Jiang Nan; they still have to suffer! Even though they’ve used their military achievements to earn this army, they still must let it go!
As Li Min De watched this scene, he coldly smirked. He was thinking about how Duke Jiang’s army of three hundred thousand was suddenly cut down by a half that it was enough to have the Jiangs hold back for a while. It’s just that they originally could have sent them to their death but because of Consort Lian’s meddling, they’ve lost the opportunity and felt regretful.
Li Wei Yang also felt this way but seeing how the Jiang father and son pair looked as if they’ve swallowed a fly and how Jiang Nan soaked the ground with his blood, it felt quite nice.
The Jiang father and son received punishment from the Emperor so they must accept his grat.i.tude. As they exited, Jiang Xu’s lofty body swayed and if it wasn’t for Jiang Nan who was agile enough to support him up, he would have almost fell onto the ground. Jiang Hai and other members of the Jiang could only watch because the Emperor only ordered them to leave. As for everyone else, they must stay behind. This kind of suffering was much more painful than anything else. Momentarily, Jiang Hai’s eyes were red as he held in the resentment in them.
Once they walked outside the hall, desolation escalated in Jiang Xu’s chest as his eyes twitched. He raised his voice: “Let go of me!” He was saying this to Jiang Nan and Jiang Nan watched him with shock.
Jiang Nan quickly went over to help him up: “Father, what are you doing!”
“Imbecile! What do you know! If it wasn’t for you, the Jiangs wouldn’t be humiliated like this! I’ve told you countless times to avoid conceit and impetuosity! You! You think you’re extraordinary! An army of two hundred thousand, do you know how long we spent for this! Now it’s all ruined in your hands!”
Jiang Nan distressingly whispered: “Once you kneel here, your innocence has turned into guilt. Get up, His Majesty won’t forgive us just from this kneel. Moreover, we will become the laughingstock!”
“Idiot!” Jiang Xu suddenly looked up. His hair, eyes, nose, and mouth were all blotted by the rainwater. Yet his pair of eyes were still able to release fury as he coldly watched his own son: “If you want the Jiangs to be ended in your hands, then keep standing!”
The rain was heavily pouring down. Jiang Nan involuntarily kneeled with Jiang Xu. Not for long, his entire body was drenched, making him feel uncomfortable. A fire was igniting within him: “Father! If you want to kneel, I will kneel with you! But I am not wrong! And I certainly wouldn’t admit fault!” He had never suffered from this grievance before in his life but he could only clenched his fist and grind his teeth! He didn’t know why was he this unfortunate. Where did this orphan of the Murong come from? Everything was originally fine but the Emperor suddenly changed his mind!
At this moment, the air in the hall had become stagnant yet the outside, the winds were blowing heavily. The northeast winds were pounding against the windows of the hall from all directions, causing unease to rise. The banquet in the hall couldn’t be continued, the Emperor waved his hands and said: “Let’s disa.s.semble!”
It felt like they were granted a general pardon as they watch the Emperor and the Empress held onto to each other and left. Others followed suit and left the hall; outside the hall, it was pouring. After this hair-raising banquet, everyone felt so uneasy that they even rejected the umbrellas prepared for them by the eunuchs and left the hall in bewilderness. Others didn’t want an umbrella but Li Chang Le took it. She was afraid the mask on her face would be washed off so she held onto the umbrella like it’s her life. Everyone right next to her were from other families; her own maid wasn’t permitted to enter the hall. Soon she flowed out with the crowd and attempted to search for the Jiangs but to no avail. Only Jiang Yue Lan and her left in the crowd. Approaching the steps, she saw Sun Yan Jun standing at the entrance. Li Chang Le coldly stared at her while she walked past her. And as she walked past, Sun Yan Jun took her to be an eyesore that she placed her foot out to trip Li Chang Le. Li Chang Le didn’t expect the Miss of a general to behave in such a way. She shrieked and rolled down the steps in the eyes of many.
Everyone had already gone through countless astonishments so they couldn’t withstand the shriek. Each one of them frightfully stood in place, antic.i.p.ating something horrifying to happen. Afterwards, they realized nothing horrifying was going to happen and instead saw Li Chang Le rolling down from the steps like a ball. She landed on the ground with her umbrella dropped onto the ground smashed into pieces.
“Ah! How frightening!” A furen screamed and pointed at Li Chang Le as if she just witnessed a ghost.
The gazes of the people looked in the direction her finger was pointing towards. Everyone was taken aback.
Li Chang Le’s organs were almost smashed apart yet in the heavy downpour, she heard screams. She suddenly regained consciousness and without any concerns to her pain, she immediately touched her own face: the mask was still there. At this moment, she suddenly noticed a ball of something on the ground that was black. Her heart instantly sank into an endless cliff ……
In front of a crowd of a thousand elites and aristocrats, the deity-like alluring Eldest Miss of the Li family rolled down the steps. Her beautiful appearance didn’t change at all but her black silky hair dropped onto the ground and rolled in the muddied water. The head that was revealed was not only bald but also had numerous scars and rotting wounds. A flash of lightning lit up the whole sky, exposing the horrendous sight in front of everyone’s eyes.
“A leper! A leper!” The furen originally couldn’t see clearly and only noticed that Li Chang Le was bald. But with that flash of lightning, Li Chang Le’s horrifying scalp was fully exposed. The furen who was closest to her let out a scream and then fainted.
Jiang Hai quickly sauntered over through the crowd and took off his cloak to cover Li Chang Le’s head. He said: “Lower your head!”
Jiang Yue Lan rushed over and Jiang Hai pushed Li Chang Le towards her: “Leave now!”
Everyone confusingly watched this scene. They couldn’t believe their eyes at all. This beautiful Eldest Miss of the Li’s was bald but why was it covered with scars. Some scars were even starting to rot, discharging blood. What a horrendous sight ……
The people were all widely discussing about this. Li Xiao Ran was extremely embarra.s.sed that he quickly trotted over and shouted: “Why are you still here to make a laughingstock out of yourself?!” Once he finished speaking, he instantly trotted out the palace. Jiang Yue Lan didn’t dare to say much as she led Li Chang Le out.
Amongst the crowd, someone finally let out a laugh. This kind of quiet laughter was like a contagious disease as it spread through the sympathy amongst the men and the disgust amongst the women. Sun Yan Jun was also extremely shocked because she only wanted to embarra.s.s Li Chang Le. But just now, she obviously unveiled a secret.
Tuoba Rui saw the scene clearly amongst the crowd, which almost caused him to vomit. He obviously saw a white-colored thing like a maggot moving that he even wanted to hurl out the dinner he had last night. Everyone actually didn’t know but that wasn’t a maggot but a silver-lined bug used by Jiang Tian to help prevent the wounds to worsen. But to Tuoba Rui, it was no difference between those two insects. He only wanted to immediately leave this nightmare of a banquet. The beautiful G.o.ddess in his heart had been reduced to a nightmare.
On the contrary, Tuoba Zhen just coldly watched with expressions that showed no fluctuations. He didn’t even care to go up to help and only wanted to know if what happened at the banquet had anything to do with Li Wei Yang. He didn’t know why but he felt that there was a link between everything that happened or else how could it be explained that the paper should have originally show Li Wei Yang’s face turned to Able Consort Wu’s? She must have known something, she must have! The thought of this made him felt astonished yet at the same time, he felt an inexpressible shudder. Why is it that this woman can’t be of his use?! Right at this moment, the Crown Prince walked up to his side: “Third Brother, don’t be overly upset.”
Tuoba Zhen sorrowfully responded: “Imperial Brother, I would have never expected that a banquet would turn into this. Consort Mother, she ---” It was such a pity that the linkage through Able Consort Wu had been broken apart.
The Crown Prince sighed and said: “I know you and Able Consort Wu have a deep relations.h.i.+p. Now she has come to a no good end. Imperial Father is too cruel and believed the words of that priest ---”
Tuoba Zhen lowered his head as if he was too sad to speak a word.
The Crown Prince patted his shoulder: “I will think of a way. I hope Imperial Father wouldn’t punish you.”
Tuoba Zhen sighed and spoke: “Now, I can only rely on you, Imperial Brother.”
The Crown Prince nodded and said: “Don’t worry, not only me but Imperial Mother will also speak for you! We won’t let Imperial Father vent his anger on you, don’t worry. Everything will be like the past, absolutely nothing will change.”
Tuoba Zhen, of course, knew these were just consolation words. The Emperor marrying Marquis of Yong Ning’s granddaughter to Tuoba Rui was a warning for him. From the Emperor’s perspective, after killing Able Consort Wu, the Emperor knew he would hate him so he took away his support …… such a heartless and tyrannical father. It seemed like everything must be replanned. Tuoba Zhen’s eyes droop as his brain entered speed mode. But he didn’t know why Li Wei Yang’s face was appearing in his head. Why was it that her face was becoming much more clearer in his head ……
At this moment, Seventh Prince Tuoba Yu searched for Li Wei Yang in the crowd to ask her to clarify a few things but he no longer sees any trace of her.
Not far from the inner hall, Li Min De distantly stood under a corridor, watching the rain as if he was entranced in thought.
Within the court, only the magnificently dressed Consort Lian and Li Wei Yang were left.
Consort Lian’s face was filled with grief; she watched Li Wei Yang like she was unable to speak a single word.
Li Wei Yang saw that she was such and such and mockingly smiled: “What is it? Regret it now?”
