Upon hearing this, Qi Simiao’s eyes widened. The Second Prince beside him immediately knelt and said, "Uncle, Uncle, it wasn’t my doing! It truly wasn’t my doing!"
As the Second Prince knelt, Li Yinglian instantly followed suit. With their masters kneeling, the surrounding maids and eunuchs panicked and also knelt.
The assassination outside Yin City involved Hui Wenzu, the general newly dispatched by the imperial court to Nanwang City. It also implicated the Jingnan Army’s rear camp and assassins from Jin State, and had ignited a series of upheavals surrounding Lord Jingnan’s alleged ambition to declare himself king. This incident was well-known among the elite in the capital.
Kneeling on the ground, Qi Simiao, his face flushed, looked up at Lord Jingnan. "What do you mean by this, My Lord!"
Lord Jingnan responded calmly, "I am asking you a question."
"My Lord, I know nothing of these matters, nor do I have any idea about them. You accuse me of this, My Lord, but I deny it."
"Tian Youming mobilized troops from the Jingnan Army’s rear camp. Sun Wenxu, the Garrison Captain of Yin City’s North Gate, was once my personal guard. And Ji Chenglang is my own nephew. Naturally, someone used his name to orchestrate this plot."
"And what does that have to do with me? My Lord, you are merely looking for a pretext to accuse me!"
"No, I don’t intend to offer any pretexts. I say you did it, and therefore, you did it."
Standing nearby, Zheng Fan’s gaze quietly fell upon the kneeling Second Prince. Damn it, is the future Crown Prince trying to kill me?
"HEH HEH HEH..." Qi Simiao suddenly laughed. "Since My Lord has already decided my guilt, then I accept it. I have only one request: let me bear this crime alone. It has nothing to do with anyone else, or with His Highness the Second Prince!"
Upon hearing this, the Second Prince was stunned for a moment, then immediately said, "Uncle, I truly didn’t know! I knew nothing about this!"
Zheng Fan also grasped the underlying meaning. This was clearly a posture of confessing guilt while nursing a grievance. That last sentence wasn’t about taking all responsibility himself; it was a clear declaration to the world: ’I will bear this crime, but it has absolutely nothing to do with my master, the Second Prince! Absolutely nothing!’
The Second Prince was no fool; he immediately understood the implication. He knew Lord Jingnan wouldn’t have dared to confront him right after entering the city without absolute certainty of the truth. Qi Simiao had, in all likelihood, truly done these things. But he... he genuinely knew nothing.
"Are you feeling wronged?" Lord Jingnan asked.
"My Lord, must you be so domineering, riding roughshod over others? Am I not even permitted to feel wronged?"
Lord Jingnan nodded. "Cheng Lang," he said, "Uncle asks you, upon what was our Yan founded?"
The Second Prince immediately replied, "Uncle, our Yan was founded on martial strength."
If this were in Qian State, the answer would undoubtedly be ’people-oriented,’ and so on, eventually shifting focus to civil officials and scholar-bureaucrats. In Chu State, the answer would delve into the origins of the Chu royal family. This would include mythological tales of how the mothers of Chu emperors, generation after generation, miraculously conceived—perhaps by drinking river water or simply sleeping at home—thus proving Chu was divinely ordained. But in Yan State, ’founded on martial strength’ was the standard answer.
Without martial prowess, without the sons of Yan battling in the desolate frontiers for centuries, without the first Earl of North Border annihilating Qian State’s five-hundred-thousand-strong army in a single battle, Yan would have long ceased to exist. Thıs content belongs to 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩·𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢·𝔫𝔢𝔱
"And ’martial’—what is its meaning?"
"In response to your question, Uncle, ’martial’ refers to arms and warfare."
"The scheming and power struggles you engage in behind the scenes, the way you vie for personal gain—these are all part of human nature. They exist in Qian State, Jin State, Chu State, and even among the Desert Barbarians. But you may fight and contend amongst yourselves; yet now you dare to sacrifice the lives of border soldiers for your own selfish interests! This is undermining the very foundation of our Yan!"
Lord Jingnan abruptly stood up. Qi Simiao’s body began to tremble.
"Uncle, it truly had nothing to do with me! Nothing at all!" The Second Prince’s voice was now laced with sobs.
If this were an ordinary conspiracy, even if a commander of a border garrison had died, then so be it. But Lord Jingnan had now dragged this matter into the open. Through his actions today, word of it would surely spread throughout the realm. Any prince tainted by this affair would be destined to lose any claim to the throne!
Yan was founded on martial strength. Would the army dare entrust itself to a prince who once plotted the treacherous death of innocent officers, allowing him to become their emperor? Once this crime is proven, even if the Yan Emperor were to defy all counsel and insist on passing the throne to you, it would be impossible.
Lord Jingnan walked up to Qi Simiao. "I will ask you one last time," he said. "Do you plead guilty?"
Qi Simiao closed his eyes, a faint smile touching the corners of his lips. "I... plead guilty," he said.
The Second Prince, standing nearby, felt an overwhelming urge to grab his tutor by the neck and demand what on earth he was thinking!
However, at this moment, Lord Jingnan’s next words caused Qi Simiao’s eyes to fly open in utter shock: "Which is the Third Prince’s residence?"