At this time, inside the enormous Xuanshi Hall was especially solemn and respectful. All the cabinet ministers sat in concentrated introspection and did not know what they were thinking. The difference was that the women of the Yan family looked at the door of the hall anxiously and expectantly, waiting for Yan Chu’s appearance.
The current Emperor Zhou was the least valued one among all the princes of the late emperor. But who would have imagined that to fight for the title of emperor, other princes denounced and framed each other, and not many survived? The late emperor was cold-hearted and quietly pointed to this least ambitious and yet undisputed son as one.
When he was the prince, Emperor Zhou had only one princess, which was the current empress. Emperor Zhou had a gentle disposition, but the empress had a strong personality. When Emperor Zhou was not favored, and several brothers could bully him, it was the princess who protected him at that time. Therefore, he respected and cherished this empress very much.
For many years after he acceded to the throne, Emperor Zhou’s harem had two or three women from other countries besides the empress. Most of the time, Emperor Zhou spent the nights with the empress. Therefore in the harem, besides the concubine-born eldest princess, the other two princes and one princess all came from the empress.
In terms of heirs, Emperor Zhou’s children were rare among the royal families of the Three Kingdoms.
As soon as the eldest prince was born, he bestowed the title of the Crown Prince. He only had one Crown Princess and a daughter at his knee for the time being. The second princess, who was born from a side concubine, was three years younger than the eldest prince. The empress was already looking for a candidate for the second princess and did not know whose son would have the honor.
On such occasions today, two princes and two princesses were present. When Yan Chu brought in, he looked around the Xuanshi Hall quickly.
“Little Tiger.”
That group of Imperial Guards was afraid that Yan Chu’s bloody appearance would frighten Old Madam Yan, also the princesses and princes in this Xuanshi Hall. Before they brought him in, they markedly changed him into a clean white prison uniform, wiped his face, hands, and feet, and cleared his messy hair. He looked quite neat. At least in that way, they could not see his miserable appearance like in prison just a moment ago.
But even so, in the eyes of the onlookers, he should have suffered a lot. If he did not bear any crime, would the young master of the Yan military family need some guards to carry him?
All the people present were more sophisticated and more difficult to fool than ordinary people. In the eyes of some of them, this matter unconditionally had something to do with the one sitting on the Dragon Throne right now and looking at Yan Chu with a lamenting face.
Once a task was succeeded, they got rid of those who accomplished it. Before that, when the chaos of wars and disputes were frequent in various countries, Zhou needed the men of the Yan family. Now that the war settled, the Yan family, who enjoyed a too high reputation among the people, had become a thorn in the emperor’s side.
Now because of this incident, Venerable General Yan initially had endured the complications of his old illness, and even the Qi and blood attacked his heart. He died suddenly, while Young General Yan was in prison. The reliable reputation of the Yan family got destroyed in a few days.
What a scheming monarch. Did the ruler, who felt too weak in their hearts before, had grown up to this point already?
People only believed in the most reasonable guess they had guessed. Emperor Zhou was the one who bore the blame. They were subjects. If the emperor asked his subjects to die, they had to die. What could they do for Young General Yan? They felt a kind of spontaneous sympathy with a like-minded person in distress.
Third Lady Yan looked at her son with stubble and pale face, and could not help calling out. How could her son have been carried in by those guards, except his legs and feet were injured?
The clean clothes covered the injured parts of his body, and she was anxious but also could not see anything.
“Long live my Emperor.”
The tendon of Yan Chu’s hands and feet was cut off at this time, so he could not perform the subject’s courtesy at all. After being placed in the center of the palace by several guards, he knelt in the hall with help. During this period, he did not see himself walking, and his wrists seemed to be inflexible.
Emperor Zhou did not care about this etiquette. He looked at the following child, who he had always valued, and even was the most satisfied future son-in-law candidate in his mind, and opened his mouth painfully.
“A few days ago, your grandmother, mother, and several aunts knelt for a long time outside the Imperial Palace to plead for leniency on your behalf. We want to re-investigate this case. We see that your ancestors have made countless heroic contributions to Zhou. You’re also a loyal and brave general of my Great Zhou. Today, We convened the third division to joint hearing again. We ask you, are you the one who ordered the attack on Ming?”
“Yes.”
Yan Chu knelt in the middle of the hall. After he said that, there was a little commotion in there.
This fact was also what most people did not understand. Well, without the imperial edict, how could Yan Chu dare to command the attack on Ming? What courage! No matter whether he committed treason or not, he did not suffer from this crime.
“Those private letters with Jiang found in your camp account are all written by you?” Emperor Zhou then asked.
“No.”
Yan Chu’s voice remained steady, shaking his head and answering.
“Then this physical evidence, don’t tell me, someone deliberately framed you?” The crown prince asked ahead before Emperor Zhou opened his mouth.
“Yes.”
Yan Chu did not know what happened in the end, but obviously, he did not have to be this time!
“Found my private correspondence with Jiang from my camp account. Excuse me, may I ask the Crown Prince, will someone leave this kind of thing in the camp account for others to search when they go out to march to fight a battle? What’s more, what’s beneficial for me to join Jiang?”
There were so many things Yan Chu did not understand at the moment. He could only borrow this time to ask more from everyone’s mouth.
“Chicanery, if it’s not you who has secret ties with the Jiang, then why attack Ming? It’s not for what’s written in the letter, We want both the Great Zhou and Ming sides to lose, and then let the real master behind you, Jiang, reap where one has not sown.”
Crown Prince Jue did not like Yan Chu for a long time now. In his opinion, he was Zhou’s crown prince, who should have been the most outstanding one in Zhou. Yan Chu’s existence robbed him of all the limelight. Even his father emperor often praised this person in front of him, which made him feel frustrated.
This time, the other party handed over the evidence himself, and cutting off his hands and feet’s tendon was a criticism of former mistakes firmly to prevent large-scale repetition. Later, he became a useless man. Even if this time he was indeed framed, he was destined not to be the former Young General Yan again, and he also could wake up from his nightmare.
Crown Prince Jue secretly looked at Yan Chu fiercely, thinking about the other party’s appearance when he came in just recently, it seemed that his people had done things.
“Your Majesty, cabinet ministers Sirs, what do you think of the current situation?”
Yan Chu did not answer the Crown Prince’s question but asked Emperor Zhou and several cabinet ministers.
“Now it’s worldwide peace. The commoners live peacefully, great good karma.”
Emperor Zhou was afraid of war. Once there was a war, which means there was a safe chance to lose the war. He had seen the devastation of the royal family when those small countries got destroyed during that time. He just wanted to be a ruler who carried on the excellent work of his predecessors. He hoped that this Great Zhou would not get ruined in his hands.
“Both Ming and Jiang have been sending a punitive expedition all over the place in recent years, and their nation’s power has nearly exhausted. In recent years, they have begun to recuperate, which is a big thing for our Great Zhou. In at least 20 years, there will be no war to worry about.”
The Prime Minister stood up. He was a civilian court official. Like Emperor Zhou, he did not like the war faction.
“In 20 years, no need 20 years, at most ten years, Ming and Jiang are vast, as long as given enough time, troops, army provisions, and funds, they’ll be able to recover to 60-70% of the peak of the nation’s power. By then, Zhou, which is in the middle of the two countries, will be their first target, just like the previous Chu, Qiang, Qi, and other countries.”
Yan Chu disagreed with their views. He did not know if the original self had the same mind when he was fighting against the Ming, but now the most important thing was to vindicate himself.
“Rather than having no resistance when the moment comes, it’s better to take advantage of the hollow nation’s power of Ming and fight for life when they aren’t ready.”
Among the Three Kingdoms, Zhou had the smallest territory and also the weakest nation’s power. Fortunately, they had not experienced as many wars as Ming and Jiang in recent decades. The other side had so many territories, all of which had fought down. Now, the troops were depleted, and the state treasury was empty, but expectedly, it was a negligible difference with Zhou.
“Nonsense, this is merely your assumption. Truly, Ming and Jiang haven’t any slightest degree of the intention to start a war with my Great Zhou. On the contrary, Jiang has sent envoys to propose marriage to my Great Zhou. In the next few days, the eldest princess will have a political marriage with the emperor of Jiang and become Jiang’s future empress.”
The crown prince sneered and refuted Yan Chu’s words. Now, the world was stable. How could there be war? The essence of existence was that this Yan family had no value if they could not fight, and they deliberately provoked the trouble.
“Since, as the Crown Prince said, Jiang and my Great Zhou are in an alliance wholeheartedly, what’s this argument about so-called collusion between Jiang and me to try to subvert the Great Zhou?”
Yan Chu looked at the girl who was standing behind the screen and could not see her exact appearance. He lowered his eyes.
The emperor of Jiang was already 53 this year, and there were countless consorts and concubines in the harem. The empress alone had appointed three terms. If the eldest princess married over, perhaps her life would not be well.
“You—”
The prince opened his mouth and suddenly did not know what to tell and said that it was not his sister who married over anyway. Even if Jiang harbored a bad intention, he did not care?
“What a clever and eloquent Young General Yan.”
The second prince looked at his legitimate older brother in disgust. Of course, he did not let others notice this meaningful glance.
“No matter how hypocritical you are, you can’t make up for it. You’re guilty made my Great Zhou lose ten cities and 30,000 officers and soldiers who died because of you.” His righteous words criticized Yan Chu, and his face was full of lament.
“If it weren’t for someone deliberately framing, I’m afraid that ten missing cities now are the Great Ming’s and not my Great Zhou’s.” Although Yan Chu’s face was haggard and weak, when he said this, he was pretty powerful and oppressive.
He was gambling now. If he did not betray his country, he would have absolute confidence to win since he took the initiative to fight this battle.
Both the crown prince and the second prince deflated. Now thinking about it, it seemed that they were not under pressure to fight the battle ahead. On the contrary, they won more wars than Ming. It was just that Ming’s military glory and hegemony spread far and wide. Additionally, Fu Cong found evidence of Yan Chu’s treason at that time. They imprisoned the other with his trusted aides. There was no chief commander on the battlefield, and the situation began to fall on one side. They could only surrender in defeat and cede the ten cities to make amends.
Now thinking about it, what would it be like to let Yan Chu fight down at that time?
Looking at the thoughtful look of all the people around, Yan Chu knew that he had made the right bet. When he relaxed a little, the pain on his wrists, legs, and body immediately overwhelmed him.
He was truly beep—beep— hurt. Immediately upon finishing this world, he swore he must demand 007 for mental compensation.
However, those people had not thought about this problem for a long time. How could they have fought Ming when it was so big? In the past, they were so tired of just fighting with small countries, like Chu and Qiang. But those small countries were now already part of Ming and Jiang’s territory.
Besides, was it not a matter of treason now? If he indeed colluded with Jiang, even if he fought with Ming, it would only consume the strength of the two countries.
If Yan Chu wanted to prove that he was indeed devoted to Zhou, he had to get rid of the crime of treason, but even so, he did also charged with the crime of rashly sending troops!
“Father Emperor, it’s better to take those letters. If Young General Yan refuses to admit his treason, he should let himself prove it.” A slightly cold voice sounded behind the screen.
Yan Chu, who relied upon his poor memory, if he was not wrong, it should be the eldest princess who spoke.
“Servant, give him those letters.”
Emperor Zhou did not have any hope for this. Not only did he read these letters, but also the old madam of the Yan family. If it were not for them being specifically the same as Yan Chu’s writings, he would not have convicted him so quickly.
Even if he let him see it now, what could he see?
Those letters were well preserved. Yan Chu could not touch them directly, but he could check them closely.
Honestly, solely based on his writing habits in the other party’s memory, even he had to admit that if this letter indeed imitated, the imitator must be a talent. It was a pity that there was no instrument for handwriting identification now, so you could only rely on your own naked eyes.
Yan Chu asked the man who was holding the letter papers to spread it out in front of him. From the first sheet to the last sheet, he could not find any flaws.
He frowned, and when he was about to look at it again from the beginning, his eyebrows suddenly relaxed, and his expression eased a lot.
