allonlinenovel Chapter 656 Acting on Behalf of Heaven, a Great Satisfaction
Chapter 656 Acting on Behalf of Heaven, a Great Satisfaction
In other words, Xia Ting's actual territory now only includes Jingzhou and Qingzhou, leaving him with only two states.
"teacher."
Zheng Qing asked in surprise, "Has the situation of the Great Wall Army become so serious?"
"Yes!"
Li Mingyuan sighed and said, "Long before I became prime minister, the court often delayed paying the Great Wall Army's military pay. After I took office, the situation improved somewhat, but after I was dismissed, the Great Wall Army returned to the previous situation. The military pay was often deducted or delayed, resulting in the 300,000 Great Wall Army soldiers going hungry and the soldiers often looking pale and sickly."
"This……"
Zheng Qing and Zheng Qiuyan exchanged bewildered glances. Had the officials and emperor in the capital all lost their minds? They were even embezzling the Great Wall Army's pay.
You must understand that the Great Wall Army was defending against the ferocious barbarians from beyond the Great Wall. Once the barbarians invaded, those ruthless barbarian soldiers would not care whether they were nobles or not, and would put them into the pot as food.
"Foolish, so incredibly foolish!"
Zheng Qing couldn't help but angrily rebuke, "Those officials in the court are utterly foolish! They even embezzle the Great Wall Army's pay! Don't they know that if the barbarians invade the Nine Provinces, it will cause untold suffering?"
Upon hearing these words, Zheng Qiuyan couldn't help but recall the corpses she had seen in the mass grave outside the prefectural city. The barbarians had always been cruel to the Xia people; if the barbarians were to truly invade the Nine Provinces...
Zheng Qiuyan dared not even imagine how devastating the casualties would be for the Xia people living in Kyushu...
"Of course they know."
Li Mingyuan's face was full of disdain: "But they don't care! They only care about their own interests! According to Tian Yu, there are many powerful families in the capital who are trading with the barbarians in private and making a lot of money. Perhaps it is because they are trading with the barbarians that they are not worried about the barbarians invading the Nine Provinces."
Silence fell upon the crowd. The laws of Xia State stipulated that trading with barbarians was a serious crime, yet the powerful clans in the capital treated the law as a joke, secretly making a fortune by trading with barbarians...
The Xia Dynasty court is truly rotten to the core; no wonder there are so many rebellions across the Nine Provinces.
"Forget it, let's not talk about this anymore. It'll only cause more trouble!"
Seeing the somewhat heavy atmosphere in the living room, Li Mingyuan timely changed the subject. The situation of the Great Wall Army was beyond the control of those present. Apart from the imperial court, no other force could support the food, drink, and supplies of the 300,000-strong army. Let Tian Yu worry about this.
"When I was in Liangzhou, I heard that something big happened in Qingzhou. Since you're in Qingzhou, you should know about it, right?"
Li Mingyuan changed the subject.
"Is the matter of the Azure King being mentioned by the teacher?"
"Exactly."
Li Mingyuan nodded. It's hard to say that the reason he rushed from Liangzhou to Qingzhou wasn't because of the matter of the King of Qing. He really wanted to see what kind of young hero could do something like slaying the evil king.
"I am indeed aware of this matter."
Without hesitation, Zheng Qing replied, "Not only do I know, but my daughter is one of the parties involved."
"Oh?"
Li Mingyuan and Li Qiao both stared at Zheng Qiuyan, seemingly finding it hard to believe that a woman like Zheng Qiuyan had gotten involved in such a major event.
“Niece Zheng, you personally participated in the killing of the Green King?”
Li Qiao couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.
What is the identity of the Prince of Qing? He is the son of the late emperor and the younger brother of the current emperor. Such a respected figure has countless people who hate him, but very few who actually dare to kill him.
Just because he killed the Green King, he has to bear the wrath of the entire Xia Kingdom royal family.
"I was just an observer."
Zheng Qiuyan glanced at Zheng Qing, and after seeing Zheng Qing nod, she said, "The one who truly killed the King of Qing was a young man named Chen Dao."
"Chen Dao?"
Li Mingyuan read the name aloud. Because Chen Dao had not revealed his identity when he killed Qing Wang, this was the first time Li Mingyuan had heard this name.
"Xiao Yan seems to be quite familiar with Chen Dao?"
Li Mingyuan asked thoughtfully.
“Not only is Xiaoyan familiar with him, but I am also quite familiar with Chen Dao.”
Zheng Qing answered first: "Chen Dao is a business partner of Zheng's Trading Company, so my Zheng family is quite familiar with him."
"..."
Li Mingyuan and Li Qiao stared wide-eyed at Zheng Qing. They had guessed countless times about Chen Dao's identity, but they never expected that... Chen Dao, who killed the King of Qing, was actually an acquaintance of Zheng Qing.
"How dare you!"
Li Mingyuan suddenly laughed: "Once the imperial court finds out about this, I'm afraid you won't be able to keep your position as prefect."
"I never expected that young friend Chen would be so impulsive."
Zheng Qing shook his head with a wry smile. When he learned that Chen Dao had killed the King of Qing, his shock was no less than Li Mingyuan's.
He never imagined that Chen Dao would be so audacious as to dare kill even a prince of the imperial court. More importantly, his own daughter was right there beside him, yet she did nothing to stop Chen Dao…
Fortunately, Chen Dao did not reveal his identity; otherwise, the imperial court would probably have sent people to arrest him long ago, and the prefect who was involved with Chen Dao would probably have been punished as well.
"Impulsiveness is a good thing!"
Li Qiao clapped his hands with a smile and said, "That evil king, Qing Wang, deserves to be killed by everyone. Chen Dao killed him, which is doing justice for Heaven and is very gratifying!"
Upon hearing this, Li Mingyuan glanced at Li Qiao but did not deny Li Qiao's statement. In fact, how could he not despise the King of Qing?
When he first heard the news of Qing Wang's death, Li Mingyuan was just as excited as Li Qiao, and perhaps even more so.
after all……
When he was prime minister in the capital, he already harbored considerable dissatisfaction with the Prince of Qing.
"Is there any enmity between Chen Dao and the King of Qing?"
Li Mingyuan asked curiously.
"No."
Zheng Qing and Zheng Qiuyan shook their heads in unison. Before Chen Dao killed the King of Qing, Chen Dao had never even seen the King of Qing. Where did the hatred come from?
"Then why would he risk the world's condemnation to kill the Green King?"
Li Mingyuan asked in bewilderment, "Why would someone who has no grudge against the King of Qing risk being wanted by the court and hunted down by the royal family to kill him?"
"This matter is complicated, so let my daughter tell you."
Zheng Qing looked at Zheng Qiuyan, and Li Mingyuan and Li Qiao also turned their gazes to the crowd.
Facing the gazes of the crowd, Zheng Qiuyan's expression was complex as she slowly said, "The reason Chen Dao wanted to kill the King of Qing can be traced back to a commoner's family..."
As Zheng Qiuyan slowly recounted the whole story, Li Mingyuan and Li Qiao both showed expressions of shock.
"Are you saying that Chen Dao wanted to kill the King of Qing simply because the commoner woman named Lü Xiaoyu was killed by the King of Qing?"
Li Qiao stared wide-eyed, asking incredulously.