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墨書 Inktalez
"Your Majesty, things are no longer as they were in the past!"
The Langya Prince stood with his hands clasped behind his back, speaking in a leisurely tone. At that time, Su Qianxue had only a handful of officials under his command, while he himself controlled half of the Civil and Military Officials. Now, after some struggles, he had lost control and only commanded a third of them.
Many officials were not directly under Su Qianxue's influence but had begun to lean towards him, forming a faction that was increasingly siding with Su Qianxue. This was a troubling sign.
"We must find out the location and means by which Jiang Han is connected to the mysterious forces! Otherwise, even if the Great Zhou Dynasty faces internal strife or external enemies, as long as Jiang Han remains, he can quell it all!" Che Cheng pondered for a moment before suggesting, "Why not let Che Chengyun take action again and use him as bait?"
Upon hearing this, the Langya Prince's eyes lit up with an idea and gestured for Che Cheng to continue.
Time flew by, and soon it was the morning court session two days later. In the imperial study, Su Qianxue was about to rise to attend the morning assembly when Yan Dong rushed in to report, "Your Majesty, the One Thousand Maple Forest Iron Cavalry has arrived at the outskirts of the capital!"
"I know," Su Qianxue nodded slightly, feeling great confidence in the Oil Saw and Compound Bow provided by Jiang Han.
"Your Majesty, with one thousand Iron Cavalrymen each riding three horses and accompanied by two auxiliary soldiers per cavalryman—each auxiliary soldier also having a warhorse—this means there are actually one thousand warhorses and three thousand men outside the capital!" Yan Dong continued. "I suggest Your Majesty confirm with Jiu Gong that only the One Thousand Maple Forest Iron Cavalry will participate in battle!"
Su Qianxue was taken aback; he had almost forgotten this detail! He nearly allowed Jiu Gong to exploit this oversight!
One thousand Heavy Cavalry required three thousand horses for rotation! Additionally, taking care of these Heavy Cavalry would necessitate another two thousand auxiliary soldiers. Therefore, it wasn't just one thousand cavalrymen arriving but rather three thousand. This was no small number.
The official announcement stated that it was only the One Thousand Maple Forest Iron Cavalry. Often in military operations, auxiliary soldiers and extra horses were not counted. If Jiu Gong played word games and claimed it was just the One Thousand Maple Forest Iron Cavalry when in fact it was three thousand cavalrymen, that could lead to trouble.
Su Qianxue silently noted this down to prevent Jiu Gong from pulling any tricks later on before making his way to the court.
As usual, after the Civil and Military Officials reported various matters to the court, the time had progressed from six o'clock to ten in the morning. At this point, Su Qianxue had finished with the morning court session and finally summoned Jiu Gong and Mu Jinkun.
When Jiu Gong and Mu Jinkun entered the court, they instantly drew the astonished gazes of the Civil Officials and Military Officers. Where was Hong Qianjun, the esteemed scholar? As the head of the envoy group, he should not have been absent!
Upon seeing only two people, Su Qianxue immediately sensed that something was amiss. To her surprise, Mu Jinkun suddenly knelt down. "Your Majesty, please grant me justice!" he cried out. "My master, Hong Qianjun, collapsed and died after drinking Xing Jiu Tang sent by Jiang Han at the banquet the other day!"
Mu Jinkun knelt there, his face filled with sorrow as he wept. In an instant, the Civil and Military Officials were shocked; they had not expected that the towering figure of Hong Qianjun from the Xia Guo Literary Circle had died so suddenly! And it was indeed Jiang Han's Xing Jiu Tang that had caused his death!
"Mu Jinkun, watch your words!" Su Qianxue's expression darkened as she retorted. "If you have no evidence, do not speak so recklessly."
Mu Jinkun continued to kneel, banging his head on the ground in despair. "Your Majesty! My master, Hong Qianjun, truly died unexpectedly! Even the doctors at the Royal Post Station are aware of this! However, we were occupied with my master's affairs yesterday and did not have time to inform Your Majesty."
Su Qianxue displayed a look of surprise; she had not anticipated that Hong Qianjun was really dead. Was it indeed Jiang Han's Xing Jiu Tang that had caused his demise? That seemed unlikely! If Shopkeeper Jiang truly wanted to kill Hong Daru, he would not resort to such methods.
"Mu Jinkun, do not make baseless accusations! Everything must be supported by evidence when discussing Shopkeeper Jiang! Moreover, Hong Qianjun was nearing sixty; if he died from drinking too much, it was his own choice—no one forced him to drink at the banquet."
With this statement, Su Qianxue concluded that Hong Qianjun's death was simply due to his own overindulgence in alcohol. However, Mu Jinkun spoke with a pained expression. "Your Majesty, how could I dare speak carelessly in such a revered hall? I am willing to stake my own life on this! This matter must surely be the doing of Jiang Han!"
As soon as these words left his lips, many Civil and Military Officials stood up to voice their opinions. "Your Majesty, we have also heard that Shopkeeper Jiang's wine is a deadly poison!" they exclaimed. "It seems likely that Shopkeeper Jiang is indeed responsible for Hong Daru's death."
"Your Majesty, this Mu Zhuang is also a Wen Zhuang of the nation. With such words spoken, it seems that Hong Daru may indeed have died under Xing Jiu Tang."
"Your Majesty, please punish that Shopkeeper Jiang from the common folk severely. This person is lawless and deserves to die!"
Many court officials stepped forward to offer their counsel.
This scene left Su Qianxue and Mu Jinkun astonished. Su Qianxue recognized these individuals and could confirm without a doubt that they were officials from the Langya Prince's faction. However, hadn't the Langya Prince fallen out with Mu Jinkun? Why were they now coming to assist him?
Mu Jinkun was taken aback, thinking, "The Langya Prince is human too. I have betrayed him, and his son has been castrated while I celebrated with a feast. Yet at this critical moment, he still chooses to help us? It seems the Langya Prince is indeed an ally. After this matter is resolved, I must seek an alliance with him and ensure we do not betray them again."
"Da Zhou Emperor! Whether it is Xing Jiu Tang or matters of wine, I no longer wish to debate!"
"We are about to begin the battle in the capital!" Mu Jinkun stated clearly. "I implore you to wager Jiang Han's life as well!"
"If we are defeated, my life will still be at Your Majesty's disposal—whether you choose to spare or execute me depends on your will. The One Hundred Thousand Taels of Gold promised by Jiu Gong will also be delivered in full!"
"If we emerge victorious, my life will be spared, and Jiang Han must die!"
At these words, the court was thrown into chaos; the officials never expected Mu Jinkun to gamble with Jiang Han's life. Many had heard of Shopkeeper Jiang and knew he was a formidable figure in the capital's underworld. Yet they had not anticipated that this esteemed figure would be so brazenly mentioned.
"No! Absolutely not!" Su Qianxue rejected the proposal outright. There was no way she could gamble with Jiang Han's life. She could accept defeat or even forgive Mu Jinkun, but she would never allow Jiang Han to be part of such a wager; that was her bottom line.
Meanwhile, Yan Dong quickly left to report this matter to Jiang Han for his awareness.
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