Cao Guojiu's smile slowly faded, and he looked at Princess An, "Princess, are you sure you came during the day on the fifth day of the New Year?"
"My uncle, do you mean that I'm lying or that he suspects me of something?" Princess An frowned.
Cao Guojiu waved his hand, "Princess, please don't misunderstand me. I have no other intentions. It's just that the imperial guards in the palace said with certainty that they saw the Regent of the Great Zhou steal the Holy Sword. This should not be false..."
Princess An said angrily, "One of the two, me and the Imperial Guard, must be lying. If it's not me, then it must be that Imperial Guard. When you said that the Imperial Guard couldn't lie, were you referring to me as lying?"
Princess An usually looked very easy-going, wearing simple clothes and with a smile on her face. She seemed easy to deal with. However, once her face turned cold, she had the majesty of a royal family, and her aura of authority without even being angry was fully revealed.
Cao Guojiu secretly groaned in his heart and was a little confused. Could it be that it was not Murong Jie who stole the holy sword
But the imperial guards said they saw him steal it with their own eyes.
Princess An was right. One of the people between her and the imperial guards must have been lying.
The people of the southeast district had been watching from afar before, but when they heard the quarrel between Uncle Cao and Princess An, they gathered around and testified for Murong Jie, saying that he had indeed come on the fifth day of the first lunar month.
Then, Lord Lian Su also came to testify, and Gao Fengtian was also brought in to prove Murong Jie's innocence.
"Yes, the prince arrived during the day on the fifth day. How could he go back to steal the holy sword on the fifth night? Moreover, on the fifth night, the prince helped deal with the bodies of the villagers who died of the plague." said the village chief.
"Yes, we all saw it with our own eyes. It must be that the imperial guards lied and wanted to frame the prince."
Cao Guojiu looked at the crowd that was gradually getting excited, then looked at Princess An who had a frosty face, and then looked at Murong Jie who exuded a cold aura, and he became a little panicked.
However, he quickly calmed down and said, "Princess, I don't know the specific circumstances. I was just ordered to arrest Murong Jie. If you feel that he is innocent and there is evidence to prove it, please come back with me and explain it to the emperor."
The princess said sternly, "Who allowed you to use the word arrest? The emperor has never issued such an order. As everyone knows, the emperor went to the Great Zhou and the prince and princess came to control the plague. When the emperor held a state banquet to welcome the prince a few days ago, he said that he would cooperate with the prince and his wife's treatment at all costs. But you are talking nonsense here to alienate the emperor and the prince, that is, to alienate the Great Zhou and the Northern Desert, and cause war. How can I tolerate a shameless villain like you who maliciously disrupts the government?"
After saying that, Princess An gave an order, "Come, take him down, put him in shackles, and parade him through the streets to tell the people what crime this fellow has committed!"
Cao Guojiu was startled, "Princess, are you serious?"
He didn't believe it because parading in the streets was a serious crime and the prerequisite was that the person had to have been convicted.
What crime was he convicted of? Princess An was not qualified to judge him.
If the princess thought that the emperor had not issued the arrest warrant, she could just go back to the court and ask why he had to be paraded through the streets with such a large army
When he saw the Iron-faced Guard falling from the sky, he knew Princess An was serious.
The Iron-faced Guards were a group of guards trained by General Su Wu before the late emperor fell ill. They selected children as young as six years old with extraordinary physical abilities to join the team for training, and they were rigorously trained in martial arts, riding and archery.
Before the death of the previous emperor, he awarded this group of people to Princess An, but Princess An refused them because these iron-faced guards were at the age of growing up and eating. She said she could not afford to support them, and she would have to pay them salaries in the future, which was a loss.
But what to do with these iron-faced guards? The emperor's order cannot be disobeyed. The emperor said they were Princess An's people, so they were Princess An's people. With no other choice, the captain of the iron-faced guards, A'an, found the empress dowager. The empress dowager said that since they were trained by the previous emperor, the court would keep them and use them in the future.
However, these iron-faced guards are difficult to train. They wait for the court's food but only serve Princess An.
The master is a rogue, and the guards are even more rogue.
I'm talking about the Princess's Mansion.
Let's not talk about it anymore. The iron-faced guards descended from the sky and captured Cao Guojiu. Cao Guojiu's face turned blue with anger. He glared at Princess An and said, "I understand what the princess is thinking, but I am not someone who can be used at will. Let's meet in front of the Queen later on this matter."
Princess An smiled brightly, "Okay, see you later."
As if they had been prepared, the iron-faced guard took out a large wooden board, on which was written the words "Uncle Cao had wrongly accused the Regent and his wife of the Great Zhou who had come to treat the plague." His purpose was to hope that the people of the Northern Desert would reject and hate Murong Jie, and transfer the sadness and anger of the deaths in the plague onto the Great Zhou. The pro-war faction would then be able to send troops smoothly and vent the "anger" of the people.
Because it was Cao Guojiu who saw the board and sneered, "No one dares to believe that the princess has not colluded with the Great Zhou."
"Are the gongs and drums ready?" Princess An ignored him and only asked the iron-faced guard.
"Princess, it's ready." A'bin replied.
"Let's go and take our uncle for a walk." Princess An said with a smile.
Her smile is always hard to understand, as if it carries a great conspiracy, but if you look closely, it is very frank.
Uncle Cao had never suffered such humiliation in his life. Although he did not dare to attack in front of Princess An, he just looked at Murong Jie and gritted his teeth and said, "Your conspiracy will not succeed. Just wait."
Murong Jie laughed, revealing his white teeth. "I am waiting. You go back and tell the Emperor of Beimo to wait as well. Good news will be here soon."
"What do you mean?" Cao Guojiu looked at him warily, with a hint of suspicion in his eyes.
Murong Jie said lazily: "I don't know."
The iron-faced guard took the shackles, put them on Cao Guojiu, and pushed him out.
Along the way, there were banging and knocking, and they passed through many plague villages. The iron-faced guards paraded Uncle Cao through the streets while telling him about his crimes.
We traveled all the way to Kyoto, entered through the city gate and walked around the city twice.
After these two circles, everyone in Ancheng, Qicheng, Luo County and the capital knew that Murong Jie did not steal the holy sword. It was a conspiracy hatched by the pro-war faction with the purpose of continuing to invade the Great Zhou, disregarding the lives of the people and the harm caused by the plague.
Then, he was detained in the princess's mansion for one night. When the court was held early the next day, Princess An also returned. She personally escorted Uncle Cao into the palace and pushed him in on the throne room.
The emperor knew about this last night, and he wanted to send someone to pick up Uncle Cao from the princess's mansion.
However, before he gave the order, he received a message from Tangba. The Qin army had just launched an attack and was in high spirits. However, before the army had gone five miles, the food and grass were struck by lightning and caught fire.
Before the army moves, food and fodder must be sent first. Without food and fodder, what will the soldiers eat
Even if we raise food and fodder immediately, it is impossible to raise so much, so quickly. The number of disaster victims is increasing, and the domestic funds for disaster relief and reconstruction are far from sufficient. If we buy more food and fodder for sending troops, I am afraid the people will riot.
In particular, the food and grass were burned by lightning. If this were to spread, it would be very disadvantageous to the royal family and the court. This was clearly God's condemnation of Beimo, and the holy sword was "lost", which really proved the saying that if you don't seek death, you won't die.
Under this circumstance, Cao Guojiu was captured by the princess and paraded through the streets for falsely accusing the Regent of the Great Zhou. He had two choices.
(End of this chapter)