53. The Traitorous General

The huge Xuanshi Palace was extremely solemn at this time. All the ministers were looking at their noses and hearts, wondering what they were thinking. The difference was that the female family members of the Yan family were looking anxiously and expectantly at the door of the palace, waiting. With the appearance of Yan Chu.

The current King of Zhou was originally the one who was least valued among all the princes of the late emperor, but who knew that some of the other princes were attacking and framed by each other in order to compete for the throne. In the end, not many survived. The late emperor was heartbroken and simply pointed at this last prince. The unmotivated and aloof son became emperor.

When he was still a prince, King Zhou had only one princess, who is now the queen. King Zhou had a gentle personality, but the queen had a strong personality. When King Zhou was not favored, and any of his brothers could bully him, it was at that time The princess protects him, so he respects and cares for this queen very much.

After taking the throne for many years, in addition to the queen, King Zhou's harem only had two or three women sent from other countries. King Zhou stayed with the queen most of the time. Therefore, in addition to the eldest princess who was a concubine, there were two other princes in the harem. Princesses are all descended from queens.

In terms of heirs, the children of King Zhou are rare among the royal families of the Three Kingdoms.

The eldest prince was named a prince as soon as he was born, so he had a crown princess, but he only had one daughter under his knees for the time being, and she was a concubine. The second prince was three years younger than the eldest prince, and the queen was already looking for a candidate for the second prince's concubine. I don’t know whose girl can have this honor.

On such an occasion today, two princes and two princesses were present. When Yan Chu was carried in, his eyes quickly looked around the Xuanshi Palace.

"Little Tiger."

The guards were probably afraid that Yan Chu's bloody appearance would frighten Mrs. Yan and the noble princesses and princes in the Xuanshi Palace. Before carrying him in, they specially changed him into a clean white prison uniform, and I wiped his face, hands and feet, and re-combed his messy hair. He looked much neater, at least he didn't look as miserable as he did in the cell just now.

But even so, in the eyes of onlookers, he must have suffered a lot. If he had not suffered much, would the dignified young master of the Yan family army need a few guards to carry him in?

The people present are all human beings, who are much harder to fool than the common people. In the eyes of some of them, this matter is absolutely inseparable from the king of Zhou who is sitting on the dragon throne and looking at Yan Chu with a look of regret. Open a relationship.

The cunning rabbit died and the lackey was cooked. In the past, there were frequent wars and disputes among the countries, and the Zhou Dynasty needed the men of the Yan family. Now that the war is over, the Yan family, which enjoys an excessive reputation among the people, has become a thorn in the emperor's side.

Now because of this incident, General Yan, who was already suffering from old illnesses, was so angry that he died suddenly. General Yan was imprisoned, and the good reputation of the Yan family was destroyed in a few days.

The emperor's scheming, had the emperor who was considered too weak by all of them previously grown to this point long ago?

People only believe their most reasonable guesses. Anyway, it is true that the King of Zhou is taking the blame now. They are ministers. If the king wants the minister to die, the minister has to die. What can they do for General Yan? However, I feel like a rabbit is dead and a fox is sad.

Mrs. Yan San saw her son's face covered with stubble and pale, and couldn't help but call out, how come her son was carried in by the guards, but his legs and feet were injured?

The clean clothes covered the injured parts of her body tightly, and no matter how anxious she was, she couldn't see anything.

"Long live my emperor, long live my emperor."

Yan Chu's hands and feet were all broken at this time, and he was unable to perform the courtesy at all. After being placed in the center of the palace by several guards, he knelt down in the palace with their help. During this period, he was not seen moving by himself, and his wrists seemed to be inflexible. .

King Zhou didn't pay attention to this etiquette. He looked at the child below who he had always valued, and was even the most satisfactory future son-in-law candidate in his mind, and he spoke heartbrokenly.

"A few days ago, your grandmother, mother and several aunts knelt down outside the palace to plead for you, asking me to retry the case. I see that your ancestors have made countless contributions to the Zhou Dynasty, and you were also my great Zhou Dynasty. Brave and loyal general, today, I summoned the three divisions for a new meeting. I ask you, are you the one who ordered the attack on the Ming Dynasty? "

"yes."

Yan Chu knelt in the center of the hall. After he finished saying this word, there was a little commotion in the hall.

This is what everyone is most confused about. Well, without an imperial edict, how could Yan Chu have the guts to order an attack on the Ming Dynasty? This is a shameless act. Regardless of whether he committed treason or not, the crime he suffered was not considered a disadvantage. .

"Then those letters that were found in your camp accounts and related to Jiang Guo's affair were all written by you?" King Zhou continued to ask.

"no."

Yan Chu's voice still maintained a calm tone, and he shook his head and answered.

"So these physical evidences, could it be that someone deliberately framed you?" The prince asked before King Zhou spoke.

"yes."

Yan Chu didn't know what happened, but it was obvious that this time it had to be yes.

"From my camp account, I found letters about my affair with Jiang Guo. I would like to ask the prince, would anyone leave something like this in the camp account when they go out to march and fight, waiting for others to search it? What's more, what's the benefit to me of taking refuge in Jiang State?"

There are too many things that Yan Chu doesn't know right now. He can only use this time to ask more questions from everyone's mouths.

"Sophistry, if you weren't having an affair with Jiang Guo, then why did you attack Ming Guo? It's not just to do what the letter said. You want us, Zhou Dynasty and Ming Dynasty, to suffer both losses, and then let the real master behind you, Jiang Guo, Sit back and enjoy the results.”

Prince Jue has always disliked Yan Chu. In his opinion, as the crown prince of Zhou Kingdom, he should have been the most outstanding one in Zhou Kingdom. However, the existence of Yan Chu stole all his limelight, and even His father would often praise this person in front of him, which made him feel frustrated.

This time, it was the other party who handed him the clue. Cutting off his hands and feet was a small punishment but a big warning. From now on, he will become a useless person. Even if he is really framed this time, so what, he is destined to never be the same Yan again. Little General, he can also wake up from his nightmare.

Prince Jue looked at Yan Chu fiercely, thinking about how he looked when he came in just now. It seemed that his people had done the job.

"Your Majesty, ministers, what do you think of the current situation?"

Yan Chu did not answer the prince's question, but asked the king of Zhou and several ministers.

"Now the world is at peace, people live in peace, and great kindness is achieved."

King Zhou was afraid of war. Once he fought, it meant that he was likely to be defeated. He had seen the tragic situation of the royal family when those small countries were destroyed. He just wanted to be a loyal king. He hoped that this Zhou Dynasty would not be in his way. The hand was cut off.

"The Ming and Jiang countries have been conquering all over the world in recent years, and their national strength has been almost exhausted. In these years, they have begun to recuperate and recuperate. This is a good thing for us in the Zhou Dynasty. We don't have to worry about war for at least twenty years."

The prime minister stood up. He was a civil servant. Like the King of Zhou, he was also a faction that did not like war.

"Twenty years, not twenty years, at most ten years. The Ming and Jiang Kingdoms have vast territories. As long as they are given enough time, military strength, food and military pay, they can return to 60 to 70% of their peak national power. By then , Zhou State, which is between the two countries, must be their first target, just like Chu, Qiang, Qi and other countries before. "

Yan Chu did not agree with their views. He didn't know if the original person had the same view when he went to war against the Ming Dynasty, but the most important thing now was to exonerate himself.

"Instead of not being able to resist at all, it is better to take advantage of the Ming Dynasty's weakest national power and attack it unprepared to seize the glimmer of hope."

Among the Three Kingdoms, Zhou had the smallest territory and the weakest national power. Fortunately, they had not experienced as many wars in the past few decades as the Ming and Jiang Kingdoms. The other party had so much territory, all of which were conquered. Now their troops are depleted. The treasury is empty, but it is almost the same as Zhou Dynasty.

"Nonsense, this is just your own conjecture. In fact, the Ming Kingdom and the Jiang Kingdom have no intention of starting a war with our Zhou Dynasty. On the contrary, the Jiang Kingdom has sent envoys to our Zhou Dynasty to propose marriage. In a few days, the eldest princess will marry The king of Jiang Kingdom becomes the future queen of Jiang Kingdom.”

The prince sneered and refuted Yan Chu's words. Now that the world is stable, how can there be a war? The truth is that the Yan family has no value in existence unless they can fight, and he deliberately provoked the trouble.

"Since, as the prince said, Jiang Guo is determined to form an alliance with me, Da Zhou, then what kind of excuse is it that Jiang Guo and I colluded to try to overthrow Da Zhou?"

Yan Chu glanced at the girl standing behind the screen, whose exact appearance he couldn't see clearly, and lowered his eyes.

The emperor of the Jiang Kingdom is already fifty-three this year. He has countless concubines in the harem, and he has been appointed queen three times. The eldest princess is mainly married off, so life may not be easy for him.

"you--"

The prince opened his mouth and suddenly didn't know what to say. He said that the person he married was not his biological sister anyway. Even if Jiang Guocun had bad intentions, it didn't matter to him?

"What a eloquent and eloquent young general Yan."

The second prince glanced at his brother with disgust, but of course this look did not attract anyone's attention.

"No matter how coincidental you are, you can't make up for it. You are responsible for the loss of ten cities in the Great Zhou Dynasty, and the thirty thousand soldiers of the Great Zhou Dynasty who died because of you." He accused Yan Chu righteously, His face was full of regret.

"If it weren't for someone's deliberate frame-up, I'm afraid it's the Ming Dynasty that's missing ten cities now, not me, the Great Zhou Dynasty." Although Yan Chu's face was haggard and weak, when he said these words, his aura was very powerful and domineering. .

He is betting now. If the original person has not treason, since he takes the initiative to fight this battle, he has absolute confidence that he can win.

The prince and the second prince were both defeated. Thinking about it now, it seems that they were not suppressed in the war ahead. On the contrary, they won more times than the Ming Dynasty. It was just that the Ming Dynasty's prestige and domineering power spread far and wide, and at that time, the talisman Cong discovered evidence of Yan Chu's treason, and united with his cronies to imprison him. Without the general on the battlefield, the situation suddenly became one-sided, and he could only defeat and surrender, and cede ten cities as compensation.

Now think about it, what would have happened if Yan Chu had been allowed to fight at that time?

Looking at the thoughtful expressions of everyone around him, Yan Chu knew that he had made the right bet. As soon as he relaxed a little, the pain in his hands, ankles and body suddenly overwhelmed him.

It really hurts. When the world ends, he will apply for mental compensation from 007, he vowed.

But those people didn't think about this problem for too long. The Ming Dynasty was so big, how could they possibly defeat it? In the past, just fighting small countries like Chu and Qiang was so tiring, but those small countries are now It is part of the territory of Ming State and Jiang State.

Besides, isn't this about treason? If he really colluded with Jiang, even if he went to war with Ming, it would only consume the strength of the two countries.

If Yan Chu wanted to prove that he was really thinking about Zhou, he had to clear his name of treason first. But even so, he would be convicted of rashly sending troops.

"Father, why don't you bring those letters up? If General Yan refuses to admit his treason, he should prove it himself." A slightly cold voice sounded from behind the screen.

Yan Chu, with his meager memory, knew that it was the eldest princess who spoke.

"Come on, give him those letters."

The King of Zhou had no hope for this. Not only had he read these letters, but the old lady of the Yan family had also read them. If they were not exactly the same as Yan Chu's notes, she would not have convicted him so quickly.

Even if he were allowed to read them himself, what could he see?

The letters were well preserved. Yan Chu could not touch them directly, but he could examine them closely.

To be honest, based on the other party's memory of his writing habits, even he had to admit that if this letter was really imitated by someone, the person who imitated it must be a talent. Unfortunately, there is no instrument to identify handwriting now, and the only thing you can rely on is your own eyes.

Yan Chu carefully asked the person holding the letter paper to spread the paper in front of him one by one, from the first to the last, and could not find any flaws.

He frowned, and when he was about to read it again from the beginning, his brows suddenly relaxed and his expression became much more relaxed.