Chapter 99: The Emperor's Support for Song Shi'an |
Song Jing was taken to the Court of Judicial Review.
But from beginning to end, he never admitted to Song Shi'an's treasonous actions.
Because there was no substantial evidence, a Third Rank official couldn't simply be condemned on a whim.
Therefore, all the people in Song Estate were merely placed under house arrest.
During this period, officials from the Court of Judicial Review came several times to interrogate them, but all of Song Jing's relatives insisted they knew nothing—even the estate stewards said the same.
Since Sun Heng held the position of Left Monitor of the Court of Judicial Review, he sent people multiple times to threaten and bribe them, but they were never able to pry open the mouths of the Song family even once.
The progress of the case stalled just like that.
The accusers weren't even Zhang Wen and those noble families themselves—Sanming's letter of impeachment couldn't even be verified for authenticity.
And during this time, another military report from Shuofeng was transmitted back to Sheng'an...
"Your Highness, good news!"
After entering the Prince of Wu's estate, Zhao Yi ran into the courtyard.
At that moment, Ye Changqing and the Prince of Wu were drinking and discussing political matters.
Seeing him approach with an expression of wild joy, both men looked puzzled yet filled with anticipation.
After all, Song Jing's matter was still giving them headaches.
"What good news?" the Prince of Wu asked.
Zhao Yi went to the table and pulled out a map. Seeing wine cups and wine vessels placed on top, along with Ye Changqing sipping his wine on the side, he waved his hand impatiently: "Move them, move them."
Ye Changqing clicked his tongue and pushed the wine cups aside.
The Prince of Wu personally moved the wine vessel to the side.
"Your Highness, you needn't—" Zhao Yi had intended to tell Ye Changqing to do it, but didn't expect the Prince of Wu to do it himself, so he said nervously.
"It's fine." The Prince of Wu waved his hand, not minding at all.
Zhao Yi then spread the map on the table.
This was a border map, including Northern Liang, the southern part of Qi, and the borders of the Northern Yan Kingdom.
At the very center were Wuwei and Shuofeng.
"This is military intelligence from Shuofeng. The big shots should have known before us—they're probably in urgent consultation with His Majesty right now." Zhao Yi said seriously.
By "big shots," he meant the meritorious nobility.
And Zhao Yi's father, the Marquis of Huai, was among them.
"Your father told you?" Ye Changqing asked.
"Did the Marquis of Huai tell you?"
The Prince of Wu was quite concerned about this point.
Zhao Yi and Zhao Xiang were both from the Zhao clan of Qin Prefecture, but their relationship wasn't as close as Xun Yu and Xun You—you could only say they shared a surname.
Of course, sharing a surname naturally created goodwill in ancient times, especially among those who had followed the founding emperor.
Their camps were basically aligned.
However, their choices didn't have particularly strong consistency.
To be precise, the big shots hadn't personally entered the fray to choose sides.
Zhao Yi, because he was childhood friends with the Prince of Wu and had grown up together, naturally became part of the Wu Prince faction after entering office when the Crown Prince and Prince of Ning died due to factional politics and the Prince of Wu suddenly gained legitimate succession rights.
Because of this, his father had warned him many times—not to blatantly participate in establishing the heir apparent.
Now the Marquis of Huai was proactively revealing this information—did this mean he was taking his side?
The Prince of Wu felt somewhat excited.
"Your Highness." Zhao Yi said with some difficulty, "My father said... he won't participate."
Seeing this, the Prince of Wu's rising emotions deflated. Then he proactively apologized: "Shilun, I was just asking casually, don't take it too much to heart."
Actually, having juniors come out to socialize with princes was already quite a borderline tactic.
Having a meritorious noble personally back a prince—that would be far too greedy.
Wei Yiyun didn't know what had gotten into him.
Perhaps he was truly anxious.
"Let's talk about the good news." Ye Changqing broke the subtle atmosphere.
"Mm."
Zhao Yi pointed to some marked Wulei fortresses on the map: "Song Shi'an has pulled down all the Wulei fortresses except for Shuofeng, then burned them all to ruins with fire."
Hearing this, the Prince of Wu didn't quite understand, so he said: "I don't really understand military strategy—aren't those cities within his jurisdiction? He burned them himself?"
"Yes, Your Highness." Zhao Yi explained. "These Wulei fortresses were built by clan bandits. Normally, you could say they belonged to Great Yu. Even when Zhao Xiang was on his campaign, they still helped out, transporting grain and supplies, allowing the main army to rest briefly. But after Zhao Xiang's great defeat, when only about ten thousand remnant soldiers remained, these Wulei fortress lords closed their gates tight and even destroyed the roads, not letting our army approach."
"They were sizing up the situation." The Prince of Wu gradually understood. "But Song Shi'an's soldiers can't command them either."
"That's certain. I estimate these people definitely wanted to surrender to Ji Yuan. I previously thought there was really no way to fight, also because Song Shi'an had too few forces at his disposal. Plus these hidden traitors aiding Qi—the odds of victory were truly pitiful."
Zhao Yi couldn't help but reveal a smile: "Now it's still uncertain how Song Shi'an tricked all these people out, but the military intelligence is solid—all the cities are completely burned. All the fertile fields, completely reduced to ashes. Outside Shuofeng, for hundreds of li in every direction, he didn't leave Ji Yuan a single mu of farmland or a single room."
"The entire Northern Liang valley south of the Chishui River is burning with raging flames!" Ye Changqing also felt invigorated.
Scorched earth resistance against Qi.
"Also, the tens of thousands of laborers from those Wulei fortresses were all brought into Shuofeng City." Zhao Yi added.
The Prince of Wu was shocked: "They voluntarily left their cities, burned the cities, took the grain, and even joined in defending the city together? Can people's hearts be fooled so easily? Is that Song Shi'an some kind of demon?"
"It does seem somewhat supernatural, but it's all true." Zhao Yi had no way to trace back to the source. He only knew one thing: "This means that after Ji Yuan crosses the river, the difficulty of logistical replenishment increases again. Moreover, Song Shi'an now has fifty thousand people in Shuofeng City. Even if only about ten thousand can fight, and the city has no natural defenses, Ji Yuan still needs to concentrate all his forces to attack."
"And this way, he must transfer at least tens of thousands more troops from the rear." Ye Changqing analyzed. "But this way, the invisible pressure from the Northern Yan Kingdom on him becomes even greater."
The Northern Yan Kingdom was different from Southern Yue and Qi—because they had submitted to Great Yu, they didn't use the prefix 'false.'
"Then what are the odds of victory?"
The Prince of Wu needed a concrete concept.
"Originally it was zero. After the Langya mutiny, it should be about ten percent." Zhao Yi said seriously. "Now, it's at least twenty percent."
"Only twenty percent even now?"
The Prince of Wu frowned.
At this moment, Ye Changqing made a gesture with both hands as if holding a watermelon, slowly pressing toward all of Northern Liang: "This way, it won't be just that."
"Right!" This was what truly excited Zhao Yi. "We only speculated before that His Majesty would reluctantly send reinforcements. But now, Song Shi'an has shown His Majesty the odds of victory. Langya to the west, Jiamen Pass in the center, and Qiya Valley to the east—His Majesty will definitely send reinforcements with full force. Even if he doesn't actively attack, just massing troops there means Ji Yuan won't dare let himself fall into a trap!"
"I see!" The Prince of Wu had a sudden realization. "From the very beginning, Song Shi'an's thinking was to let His Majesty see the possibility that this battle could be fought."
"Fifty percent—the odds of forcing a retreat are fifty percent!" Zhao Yi held up five fingers and added, "Logically speaking, reaching this point, taking Wuwei, pacifying the northern half of the commandery, it would be about time to cease hostilities. But that person is Ji Yuan—this man's ambition is terrifyingly huge. He absolutely won't give up without even trying."
"Fifty percent is enough. With fifty percent, we must fight for it." Ye Changqing stared at the Prince of Wu with piercing eyes.
"We—how should we fight for it?" the Prince of Wu asked back.
"We can't control the war situation, and neither can anyone else in the capital. So they will definitely make an issue of the Song clan. And that Minister Sun's son Sun Heng still holds a position in the Court of Judicial Review." Ye Changqing reminded him.
The Prince of Wu understood the meaning and nodded: "We must protect Song Jing."
"That Deputy Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, Wang Chen, is just acting minister. He's terrified of making a mistake. Now that all the officials are leaning one way, he might be coerced by Sun Heng."
"Go warn him not to touch Song Jing." The Prince of Wu looked at the two of them. "Which of you can go?"
Both men shook their heads.
Right, they didn't have that kind of influence.
"Your Highness, we must take the gamble!"
Ye Changqing grabbed the Prince of Wu's hand and gripped it firmly.
"Alright." The Prince of Wu nodded, his expression solemn. "This prince will personally enter the fray."
---
"This Song Shi'an is really going to stir up the winds and clouds of Northern Liang." At the Prince of Jin's estate, upon learning that the Emperor was about to take action, the Prince of Zhongping became completely flustered. "If we let him come back alive, what then? Er-ge, we must kill Song Jing's entire family."
"Absolutely not!" The Prince of Jin raised his finger, pointing at him angrily. "This battle is about to be fought. If we kill Song Jing's entire family now, whether or not the news reaches Shuofeng is unknown, but Ji Yuan will definitely know. If this is used to induce Song Shi'an to rebel and surrender to Qi, not only Northern Liang but all of Liang Prefecture will be finished."
"But it's still better than him becoming part of the Wu Prince faction..."
"To sit on the throne, you must have a realm to rule! Don't let me hear from your mouth again any sinister schemes that damage our Great Yu's national strength!" The Prince of Jin truly became angry this time.
Wei Yiyuan could only lower his head: "Er-ge, I was wrong."
"Since His Majesty has the idea of sending reinforcements, we cannot sabotage stability in the rear. The matter of impeaching Song Jing—we cannot personally participate. All our people should stay put and not move." The Prince of Jin ordered.
"Yes." Wei Yiyuan nodded, but reminded him: "But Si-ge will definitely move. If Song Shi'an really holds on and returns to court, he will inevitably join the Wu Prince faction. Then Er-ge, your advantage will be gone."
Not to mention advantage—even equilibrium would be lost.
The Prince of Jin was very clear about this.
"I naturally hope he holds on, but if he can't, there's no helping it." The Prince of Jin said.
Right now he was conflicted.
If they held on, Northern Liang would be safe, but he would be in danger.
If they couldn't hold on, he would almost certainly secure the position of Crown Prince, because the Prince of Wu would have made a grave error—but the realm would be in danger.
"Er-ge." Suddenly, Wei Yiyuan had an idea. "Right now, it's not just us who fear Song Shi'an transforming from traitor to loyal subject—nearly half the court feels the same."
"What are you thinking?" the Prince of Jin asked.
"I don't know if it's feasible." Wei Yiyuan said seriously. "But if it works, both dilemmas resolve themselves."
---
After discussing matters with several generals in the war room and returning to his sleeping quarters, it was already quite late.
Without anyone attending him for the night, the Emperor sat alone on the dragon bed, being served by palace maids as he soaked his feet.
As he aged, he preferred being alone at night.
Quiet allowed his thoughts to become more peaceful.
At this time, Chen Bao came over.
The Emperor asked casually: "These past days, what movements have there been?"
"Many movements." Chen Bao replied. "One of them concerns the Prince of Wu."
Hearing this, his eyes focused. He slowly raised his head and asked: "What did the Prince of Wu do?"
"The Prince of Wu personally went to see Deputy Minister of the Court of Judicial Review Wang Chen." Chen Bao said.
"For what reason?" the Emperor asked.
"This servant does not know." Chen Bao answered truthfully. "These past days, Minister Wang Chen hasn't returned home once, staying at the Court of Judicial Review the entire time to receive any and all visitors. Everyone is recorded, including the Prince of Jin."
"Meeting openly, then." The Emperor nodded, murmuring: "Wang Chen is quite clever—laying everything out in the open. He's afraid that at home, certain 'great personages' might visit and he'd have no way to handle it, while also leaving himself open to accusations of secret collusion."
And the Prince of Wu had personally gone.
That meant Song Jing was saved.
Unless someone with greater authority went to give Wang Chen instructions.
Like the Prince of Jin. Like himself.
"What else?" the Emperor asked.
"These are memorials submitted by some officials." Chen Bao had eunuchs present several memorials.
"Too many, don't want to read them." The Emperor waved his hand casually.
It wasn't that he was lazy—these cookie-cutter memorials all had one purpose: requesting severe punishment for Song Shi'an.
So for any of this type, he just had Chen Bao stamp them with "Acknowledged."
Besides these, there was nothing else.
What was there to read?
"Your Majesty, among them, General Chen Kefu has a memorial concerning military affairs that has some substance." Chen Bao said.
"He's quite active, always mixing with those civil officials." After the Emperor's complaint, he said: "So what does he say?"
"He says this battle has evolved from a small engagement into a major war, and Shuofeng has become the top priority. If we truly cannot hold it, then Northern Liang is in danger. We should have General Xiao Qun personally lead troops there. With his prestige, plus being reinforcements, he can certainly take over Shuofeng, then select an experienced city defense general to hold the position." Chen Bao relayed.
Hearing this, the Emperor laughed: "Indeed a good method. If reinforcements arrive and Wusheng stubbornly refuses to open the gates, the people below won't be willing."
Their original righteous cause was to hold Shuofeng for the empire, not to truly secede and become rebel troops.
Now reinforcements have come to help us defend the city—Your Highness, why won't you open the gates?
And once the gates opened, they could implement that principle—punish the ringleaders, spare the followers.
"Chen Bao." The Emperor asked. "What do you think they mean by this?"
Chen Bao lowered his head and opened his mouth seriously: "Your Majesty, they fear that Song Shi'an will truly hold the city."
"In this world, where is there someone who wins every gamble? Seeing the possibility of loss, they want to kick the gambler off the table. Why do all these beloved ministers want to act like scoundrels and rogues?"
The Emperor personally took a hemp cloth and began wiping his raised foot: "Press them all down at the gambling table. They're not allowed to run until the game is finished."