Noble Lady

Just as Xue Chenyu expected.

With the presence of the Queen Mother, princesses and daughters of the imperial court, entering the city became easy.

The Han family was also well-informed and removed the unnecessary checkpoints immediately.

The road back to the city was clear.

Marquis Xue, despite his injuries, accompanied Situ Zhen into the palace to meet the emperor.

Along the way, Situ Zhen was even more ostentatious. Han Hongyue's previous accusations against Marquis Xue were refuted the moment Marquis Xue and Prince Cheng appeared together in the Qinzheng Hall.

The scarred armor and the wounds on his face were clearly slapping Han Hongyue in the face.

Situ Zhen also filed a complaint against Han Hongyue in front of His Majesty, listing five major pieces of evidence.

First, when natural disasters were frequent in the north and the people were starving, they broke into people's homes, forcibly requisitioned military rations, and persecuted the people;

Second, using civilian heads as enemy heads and killing innocent people to claim credit;

Third, to prevent the killing of innocent people and the persecution of the people from being exposed, the Daling County official Cai Jinxue was hunted down and killed;

Fourth, plotting to murder Prince Cheng's son, Situ Zhen, who was the special envoy to the northern border for disaster relief, and a group of people from the Marquis of Wu'an's mansion;

5. Fabricating false evidence and falsely accusing Xue Hou, Cai Jinxue and others in an attempt to deceive the emperor.

Han Hongyue was summoned to the palace, and he said with certainty that from his point of view at the time, Marquis Xue was trying to murder the prince. Since the prince was still alive and all this was a misunderstanding, that was naturally the best thing.

He also completely denied any involvement in the Daling County case and Cai Jinxue's affairs, saying that he had heard reports from his subordinates.

He also said that the person in charge was his most trusted deputy general Zhou Cheng. He never doubted the other party's words and reported it as true.

Then he knelt down on the spot, crying bitterly and admitted his guilt of negligence, saying that he failed to discover his subordinates' disloyalty in time and should be punished. He also said that he would not complain no matter how the emperor punished him.

To show his sincerity, he kowtowed to Xue Hou and admitted his mistake, saying that he would compensate Xue Hou for all his losses, both reputational and physical.

The old veteran cried so hard that his tears and snot were all over his body. His tears were so sincere and he had learned from his mistakes.

The group of people who were escorted to Jingzhao Prefecture in the morning were none other than his so-called deputy general Zhou Cheng's men, making Zhou Cheng his perfect scapegoat.

Zhou Cheng was the only deputy general who followed Han Hongyue back to the capital. He also followed him into the palace and was ordered to be executed on the spot.

After this trip, Han Hongyue was only charged with negligence.

His Majesty only fined him half a year's salary, and then he said with tears in his eyes that he was old, and if His Majesty felt that he was not suitable for this position, he could also hand over his military power.

Han Hongyue has been in the northern border for many years, and all the direct generals of the Zhenbei Army were trained by him. If he replaces him as the commander-in-chief at this time, it will undoubtedly force people to rebel.

His Majesty naturally could not deprive him of his military power on the spot, so he could only swallow his anger, reprimand him for not managing his subordinates well, and let him go home to reflect on his mistakes.

Afterwards, Han Hongyue pretended to be serious and went home to pack some supplements, cloth and jewelry, and had someone send them to the Wu'an Marquis Mansion to apologize.

He never even showed up in public again, and he completely denied all charges.

The stigma of Xue Hou and Cai Jinxue was cleared.

But the clarification of this crime was extremely frustrating.

Situ Zhen and Marquis Xue were both filled with anger. After this incident, it seemed that all the grievances suffered by the Marquis of Wu'an for so long were in vain.

Those soldiers and innocent people in the north who died for this will probably not rest in peace in the afterlife.

Yes, there is also Cai Jinxue, the magistrate of Daling County who was so stubborn that he banged his head against the pillar in the palace. I am afraid he knows about it, and I am afraid he will not be able to rest in peace.

His Majesty was so depressed that he wanted to summon the imperial physician to treat Marquis Xue and Situ Zhen, but they both refused.

Your Majesty cannot force others to do so, so you can only order Eunuch Wang to pass the message to the imperial physician, and then go to Prince Cheng's Mansion and Marquis Wu'an's Mansion to wait for orders.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Marquis Xue and Situ Zhen were also extremely perfunctory.

……

Xue Chenyu and Xue Luoyan were unable to enter the palace, so they were waiting for them outside with the Seventh Princess and Princess An Ning.

At this moment, the Queen Mother had already returned to her Ci'an Palace.

Han Hongyue swaggered out of the Qinzheng Hall as if basking in the spring breeze.

When Marquis Xue came out, his face looked unhappy.

Situ Zhen didn't even bother to pretend, and spat at Han Hongyue, "You're just putting on airs. Why are you trying to be so pretentious with this prince?"

Han Hongyue was so angry that he paused. "...Your Highness is right. It's all my fault for not managing my subordinates well. I almost caused you to get into trouble. From now on, I will manage my subordinates well and won't let them do anything out of line again."

Situ Zhen looked him over and said only one word: "Get lost!"

Han Hongyue also said with a smile, "Yes, I'll get out of here right now!"

Then he bowed and walked away with a swagger.

When Situ Zhen couldn't see him, his face was as gloomy as the bottom of a pot, and he gritted his teeth and said secretly: "It was only that one time that you were lucky enough to escape by chance. I don't believe you can be so lucky every time!"

"Sir, why bother talking to that kind of person?" Marquis Xue said with a sullen face.

Situ Zhen lowered his eyes, not knowing what he was thinking. After a moment, he looked in Xue Chenyu's direction and said, "We can't punish him, but it's good to disgust him."

It is not known whether this was said to Xue Hou or Xue Chenyu.

Marquis Xue said nothing more.

Princess An Ning came over and said, "Brother, what's going on with Han Hongyue? Didn't he harm you? Why did he just walk away so brazenly? Why doesn't His Majesty punish him?"

Situ Zhen looked down at his sister, who was not even as tall as his chest, and patted her head, saying, "He has his own way. Don't ask so many questions, kid. Go home."

"I won't go home. My father and mother won't let me mention you at home. I've been away from home for several days." Princess An Ning stiffened her neck. If Situ Zhen tried to persuade her again, she might start quarreling with someone.

Situ Zhen: “…” The child is even running away from home.

He turned around and looked at the sisters Xue Chenyu and Xue Luoyan, as well as the Seventh Princess.

"You must have caused Taotao a lot of trouble in the palace. Come home with big brother." Situ Zhen said, without giving Princess An Ning any chance to refuse. He grabbed her arm and sent her to the carriage.

"Taotao, Brother Tian will bring you something to apologize next time."

"No, no, cousin Zhen. An Ning never caused me any trouble. I like An Ning the most."

Princess An Ning: "Did you hear that, big brother? Taotao doesn't think I'm a bother."

Situ Zhen ignored her and said to Marquis Xue, "Marquis Xue, Miss Xue, I will come to thank you another day. Today, I will send my sister back home first."

"It's my duty." Marquis Xue nodded.

Xue Chenyu just nodded slightly, pretending not to understand the implication in his words.

Situ Zhen's gaze lingered on Xue Chenyu for a moment before he reluctantly got into the carriage.

Everyone goes back to their homes.

On the way back, Xue Luoyan kept cursing and swearing, and neither Xue Chenyu nor Xue Hou interrupted her.

It's really too irritating.

Unfortunately, Han Hongyue was so good at making a fuss that he managed to completely deny all responsibility for the incident.

There is a reason why the Han family has been able to stand in Dasheng for so many years.

"Don't give me the chance, or I'll make that Han look bad!"