"Please spare my life, my dear husband! Please spare my life because we were officials in the same court and I have always been respectful to you, my dear husband!"
Wei Juren started begging for mercy by banging his forehead against the ground, acting extremely humbly, and even as he spoke, he burst into tears.
"I had no choice but to obey before. Now Liu Ceye and the prince are dead, my Wei family is wiped out, and my worthless life is just like dirt to the prince consort. From now on, I will be satisfied as long as I can save my life. I beg the prince consort to have mercy! Over the years, I have secretly accumulated a lot of wealth outside. If the prince consort does not abandon me, I am willing to offer it all!"
Pei Xiaoyuan's expression was calm.
"You called me here just to hear you say this?"
He stood up, turned around, and walked away.
"Please stay, Prince Consort!"
Wei Juren pounced and crawled behind him.
"There is another thing..."
Wei Juren looked up and met Pei Xiaoyuan's gaze. He was still somewhat hesitant and stammered.
Pei Xiaoyuan continued to walk to the back of the door. At this time, a hurried voice came from behind him: "No one knows the truth about the Beiyuan Incident better than me. My father was there personally. I just... I wonder if the prince consort still wants to know now..."
Pei Xiaoyuan's hand that was opening the door paused in the air for a moment, then he slowly turned around.
"Tell me everything you know."
"Tell it like it is, without any embellishment."
Wei Juren's heart finally settled down a little. He quickly responded, calmed himself down, and began to tell the story.
"On the eve of the Battle of Beiyuan, the old saint was critically ill. Prince Jingsheng urgently summoned your majesty to lead the troops back to the capital on the pretext of protecting the capital. Your majesty must have known the purpose of his move, so I don't need to explain it. At that time, the saint, who was still the prince Ding, was on his way back to the capital, and Liu Ceye went to Yuanzhou."
"Prince Jingsheng was the orthodox one, and the order was issued in the name of the old saint, so your father will naturally obey it. With your father's prestige and the troops he brought back, if it is not stopped in time, even if Prince Ding has accumulated reputation and has troops around him, it will be difficult for him to... to make further progress..."
Wei Juren secretly observed the expressions of the people in front of him and continued, "Yuanzhou is not far from where your father was stationed at the time. The purpose of Liu Ceye's order was to deal with this matter. He originally had a secret relationship with Chen Sida, and wanted Chen Sida to launch a mutiny and temporarily seize military power. Chen Sida agreed to serve Prince Ding, but he was afraid of your father's power, and there were many loyal and brave people around him, so he did not dare to take action. There was not much time left, and Liu Ceye knew that your father always valued justice, so he planned a new strategy to lure the enemy troops to contain your father."
"However, this plan is different from the previous one. If it fails, and your father cannot be restrained, and chaos is caused on the border, the consequences will not be borne by Liu Ceye alone. So he sent someone to deliver a letter to the saint overnight, informing him of the new plan and seeking his approval. My father... My father was the one who delivered the letter at that time."
He raised his sleeve and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"My father caught up with the Saint on the road. The Saint was staying at the residence of Prince Chen on his way back to the capital. After delivering the letter, my father waited for news. At that time, the Saint was surrounded by many counselors and generals who had fought with him before, including the brothers Lu Jinghu, the current consort of the Princess, and Lu Jingchen, the general of the Imperial Guards, as well as Han Kerang, who was the Saint's confidant at the time! My father waited outside for some time, and it was Lu Jingchen who came out and personally conveyed the Saint's words, ordering them to be carried out, and also said that at any cost, even if it meant getting rid of your father, he must not be allowed to return to the capital!"