Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

"General, the supplies were burned because someone in the army colluded with the bandits. It's really hard to guard against."

Huang Yuan knelt on the ground and began to plead with Cao Meng, word by word.

Cao Meng was in a terrible mood. Of the 100,000 shi of grain, only one cartload remained.

Jiang Chongzheng at the front was anxiously awaiting military supplies, but this incident at the rear made him feel extremely agitated.

How did you know there was a traitor in the army?

"General Cao, the soldiers and I who were escorting the troops saw with our own eyes that some soldiers left without permission and went to the dense forest to secretly meet with someone."

"Did you see who that person was?"

"Replying to General Cao, that man is none other than Liang Zhi, the transport supervisor!"

"You fart!"

Cao Meng kicked Huang Yuan over.

"You bastard, you dare to spread rumors even when you're about to die! Liang Zhi rushed back to the camp immediately to report to this general that there was a problem with the supplies."

"How could he be a spy? You're clearly framing someone else to escape punishment. What a despicable tactic!"

Huang Yuan got up again, scrambling to Cao Meng's feet, tears and snot streaming down his face: "General Cao, everything I said is true."

The accompanying supply battalion can all testify to this; if there is even the slightest falsehood, I am willing to accept military punishment.

Seeing Huang Yuan's confident expression, Cao Meng believed him to some extent.

"Are you telling the truth?"

“The brothers who transported the grain all saw it. Do you think everyone would lie? General Cao, I know I am guilty of a capital offense. There is no need to drag someone down with me before I die.”

Cao Meng thought for a moment, then shouted to the outside of the tent, "Someone, quickly go and call Liang Zhi here."

A short while later, Liang Zhi strode into the main tent.

Before he could even bow, Cao Meng asked directly, "Liang Zhi, Huang Yuan said you colluded with bandits and conspired with them to burn military supplies. Do you admit to that?"

Liang Zhi immediately knelt on one knee, cupped his hands, and replied, "General Cao, you are wise. I have never done such a thing. It was Huang Yuan who knew he was guilty of dereliction of duty and would not escape death, so he tried to shift the blame onto me."

Huang Yuan immediately replied, "Supervisor Liang, just admit it. The brothers transporting the grain all saw you contacting outsiders in private as soon as you left the city."

"You bullshit!"

"Am I talking nonsense?"

Huang Yuan didn't give Liang Zhi a chance to speak at all, and interrupted Cao Meng, saying, "That day, when the supplies and military pay were transported to the scene of the incident, I saw that the surrounding mountains were steep and the dense forest was bottomless."

Therefore, they urged us to hurry on our way, but Supervisor Liang used the excuse that transporting grain was arduous and insisted that we stay at the scene of the incident to rest. It was that night that the grain convoy was attacked by bandits.

General Cao, please investigate thoroughly. Every word I have said is true, and the brothers in the supply corps can all testify to it.

"Huang Yuan! How dare you distort the truth!"

Liang Zhi was so angry that he turned green with rage, not expecting Huang Yuan to be so shameless.

Huang Yuan: "Liang Duyun, now that things have come to this, just admit it. You abandoned everyone and rushed back alone, surely to clear your name of any guilt?"

But having committed such a serious crime, do you really think you can clear your name?

"General, Huang Yuan is spouting nonsense! He's slandering me!"

Liang Zhi was so anxious that his face turned red, and he wanted to explain but didn't know where the key point of the problem lay.

"Enough, stop arguing! Whether it's true or false, we'll find out soon enough. Guards!"

Cao Meng roared, stopping the pointless argument.

Soon, two guards entered the tent.

"Go and arrest a few of the grain transport teams. I want to find out exactly what happened that night when the grain was burned."

"As ordered."

The guards immediately withdrew.

Two quarters of an hour later, the guards led a group of soldiers into the tent.

"Tell me, what exactly happened that night?"

The soldiers, who were at the lowest level of the army, were all taken aback by Cao Meng's shout and dared not speak.

Huang Yuan immediately turned around and said, "Don't be afraid, just tell General Cao the truth about what happened that night, and don't hide anything."

Seeing Huang Yuan wink at them, the group mustered their courage and told Cao Meng what had happened.

Their accounts were basically consistent with Huang Yuan's, all stating that they saw Liang Zhi secretly colluding with others and forcing the grain convoy to rest at the scene of the incident.

Upon hearing this, Cao Meng slammed his hand on the table, shattering it into pieces.

"Liang Zhi, what else do you have to say!"

"General, I'm innocent!"

"Injustice? Huang Yuan may be framing you, but does that mean everyone else is framing you too? I trusted you so much, but I never imagined you would turn out to be this kind of person!"

"General!"

Liang Zhi knelt before Cao Meng with a face full of grievance.

"Why did you burn the grain? What benefit would that bring you?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Huang Yuan immediately replied, "Liang Zhi, it must be because you still hold a grudge against me for taking your position as the grain transport officer back then, so you're taking this opportunity to get revenge on me."

"But if you have a problem, come at me! Why did you have to ruin the grain supplies and cause the prince and his men to worry about food?"

Liang Zhi was speechless for a moment, not knowing what to say, and could only place his hopes on Cao Meng.

But Cao Meng clearly no longer trusted Liang Zhi and directly summoned the executioners.

"Come on, take this scoundrel out of the camp gate immediately and behead him as a warning to others."

"General!"

"take away!"

Cao Meng gave Liang Zhi no chance to explain himself and ordered his men to drag Liang Zhi out to be beheaded.

Seeing this, Huang Yuan's lowered eyes flashed with a hint of smugness.

"Wait!"

Just then, the tent flap was lifted, and a middle-aged figure and a bald martial artist walked in together.

"Li Ye, weren't you in Yong'an? What are you doing here?"

Upon seeing the person who had arrived, Cao Meng couldn't help but feel somewhat surprised.

Li Ye glanced at the two people on the ground and casually said, "Before the Prince went to war, he transferred me to the Prince's residence to temporarily manage the affairs of the Prince's residence."

I just arrived today and heard about the burning of the grain supplies, so I came specifically to see for myself.

Cao Meng: "So that's how it is. However, I have already investigated and found out that it was Liang Zhi who did it. He colluded with the bandits to burn the grain supplies."

Li Ye: "General Cao, I have heard your conversation in the tent just now, and I find something suspicious about it. Please allow me to ask them a few questions."

Cao Meng nodded: "Then go ahead and ask."

Li Ye immediately turned to Huang Yuan and said, "You just said you saw Liang Zhi in private contact with bandits. So, I ask you, did you see what the bandits looked like?"

Huang Yuan was momentarily speechless, then cautiously replied, "This subordinate didn't see clearly, but..."

"Can you see how many people there are?"

"one person."

"One person? How can you be sure that the person you saw was a bandit?"

"That man had a fierce face and was covered in knife scars; you could tell at a glance that he was no good person."

"Didn't you just say you couldn't see clearly? How come you're saying he has a face full of fat now?"

"I……"

Huang Yuan was speechless.

Li Ye turned to the other soldiers and asked, "What about you? Did you see clearly who Liang Zhi was negotiating with in private?"

The group stammered and couldn't give a proper explanation.

"Didn't you swear before that you saw Liang Zhi colluding with the bandits to burn the grain supplies? Why are you all silent now?"

"What does that man look like?"

"How many people are there on the other side?"

What did they say to each other?

The man, who came from a ruthless background, was thoroughly questioned by Li Ye, who completely threw him into a panic.

"So many people have claimed to have witnessed Liang Zhi colluding with bandits, yet not a single person clearly saw his face or heard the conversation."

Not knowing how many people were on the other side, and even though they were certain that Liang Zhi was suspicious, they still followed his advice and placed the grain and supplies on the official road where bandits frequented.

Don't you think this logic makes sense?

Inside the tent, Huang Yuan and the others were completely silent, their previous demeanor gone.

"Even now, you still refuse to confess? Do you only realize your mistake when you're on the execution ground?"

With the final words spoken, the soldiers' spirits finally collapsed.

"Sir, Huang Yuan instructed us to say this."

"In fact, Huang Yuan insisted on resting on the official road, and Liang, the transport commissioner, warned him several times but he did not listen."

"After the incident, Huang Yuan was afraid of being punished by military law, so he asked us to frame Governor Liang."

After the truth came out, Cao Meng roared, "So, you dare to deceive me? You son of a bitch, I'll smash your dog's head in with this knife!"

Upon hearing this, Huang Yuan knew he was doomed and immediately fainted.