I support the army through farming and business.

Chapter 276 Unkindness
"Ah!"

Tang Zhao sneered, and without bothering to prepare any more paper, he simply wrote the three large characters "Understood" on the back of the letter in a flamboyant style, and then chased away the guards from the Duke of Wei's mansion who were delivering the letter.

"You dare to threaten me, the princess, even when you're about to die? Do you really think I'm someone to be trifled with?"

Tang Zhao grew angrier the more he thought about it, "Has Wu Dalang invented movable type printing yet?"

Chunfeng hurriedly replied, "Master Wu came to report the other day that he has made preliminary progress in movable type printing and is currently in the trial phase."

“Perfect,” Tang Zhao said, taking the Xuan paper and quickly writing a few lines of large characters. “Have Wu Dalang print 10,000 copies of this letter, no, 100,000 copies. After printing, send people to distribute them to all the major prefectures.”

"Yes," Chunfeng hurriedly went to deliver the message.

Half a month later, the guards of the Protectorate General's Mansion disguised themselves as ordinary people and set off from Wuwei City on fast horses, scattering printed letters as they galloped along the official road.

Curious villagers picked up the scattered papers and saw that they contained only a few lines of text, but the amount of information was astonishing.

To my father, Duke Tang Zheng of Wei:
Whether the stories in the book are true or false is for the world to judge. Please forgive your daughter for being incompetent and unable to speak on behalf of your father and the Duke of Wei's mansion. As for the truth behind your mother's death, if your father is unwilling to tell you, your daughter will seek the truth herself and avenge your mother.

Respectfully submitted by your unfilial daughter, Tang Zhao.

"Hiss!" The people gasped after reading it. Even Princess Zhaoshan thought that the contents of the story might not be false. Did that mean that the Duke of Wei might really be colluding with the enemy?

The paper also mentions the truth about the death of the Duchess of Wei. The Duke of Wei knew the murderer who killed the Duchess of Wei, but he was unwilling to avenge her. Instead, he used this matter as a bargaining chip to force Princess Zhaoshan to speak for the Duke of Wei's family and give false testimony.

If that's true, the Duke of Wei is truly lacking in virtue!
The next morning at court, the officials were in an uproar over Tang Zhao's reply.

The military officers were furious and wished they could hang Tang Zheng, who was kneeling in the Golden Palace, up and beat him severely.

"Your Majesty, the Duke of Wei's crime of colluding with foreign enemies is unforgivable. We beg Your Majesty to issue an edict to punish this traitor, so as to comfort the Song family and the heroic souls of the fallen soldiers!"

The Southwest Army general retorted, "Which eye of yours saw the Duke of Wei secretly colluding with a foreign enemy?"

"It's written very clearly in the storybook!"

"You know it's just a storybook; how can you take the jokes written in a storybook seriously?"

"Mr. Jin Yong said that the story was adapted from real events, and the names in the story are full of allusions to the Duke of Wei and General Song. Isn't Mr. Jin Yong's implication obvious enough?"

"This is Mr. Jin Yong, this is Mr. Jin Yong. Who's your father or your mother, Mr. Jin Yong? How can you believe everything a poor, pedantic scholar who just appeared out of nowhere says?"

"Bah! You ignorant bumpkin, how could you possibly understand Mr. Jin Yong's writing style and unyielding spirit? You even compared Mr. Jin Yong to a poor, pedantic scholar! Let me teach you a lesson!"

The general wanted to draw his sword to kill someone, but his hand was empty. Remembering that he couldn't bring weapons into the palace, he had no choice but to take off his boots and throw them at the Southwest Army general.

The Southwest Army general didn't hold back and threw his boot at them as well.

Other generals belonging to both sides joined the battle, and in no time, boots flew everywhere in the Golden Palace.

Emperor Pingyuan, enraged by the stench filling the palace, slammed his fist on the dragon throne and roared, "Insolence!"

All the officials below knelt down to beg for forgiveness.

"Since the time of Emperor Gaozu, our dynasty has governed the country by law. The law states that crimes are punished only if there is evidence, and are not punished if there is no evidence." Emperor Pingyuan suddenly stood up. "Now you all accuse the Duke of Wei of treason. Do you have any evidence? If you do, I will immediately imprison the Duke of Wei!"

A general who had once worked with General Song retorted, his neck stiff, "That storybook."

Emperor Pingyuan asked coldly, "Can storybooks be used as evidence?"

The Minister of Justice stepped forward, stating, "There is no precedent in this dynasty for using storybooks as evidence."

The general choked on his words, but still looked unconvinced.

"I know what you're thinking. You think the plot of the storybook is intricate and the logic is perfect, especially the suggestive titles that make people's imaginations run wild. But a storybook is a storybook. Even if the so-called Mr. Jin Yong said it was adapted from real events, it cannot be used as evidence to convict someone!"

"Otherwise, if one person writes a story today about a corrupt official, and another person writes a story tomorrow about a rebellious official, are we going to imprison and execute them all?"

The general lowered his head.

Emperor Pingyuan softened his tone, “Although our dynasty is open-minded and allows freedom of speech, such behavior of using storybooks to allude to court officials and causing countless people to follow suit is a great harm to the country. That is why I ordered the government to destroy the storybooks and guide the people’s opinions.”

"But I never expected that not only the common people would be so ignorant and follow the trend, but even some of the court officials would have such thoughts. It is truly a sign that Heaven is going to destroy my Great Yu!"

These words were so harsh that all the officials in the court kowtowed and begged for forgiveness.

The general, who had initially looked defiant, lowered his head deeply.

Emperor Pingyuan looked at Tang Zheng, who was still kneeling on the ground, and said, "Duke of Wei, in front of all the civil and military officials, I will ask you one more time: have you colluded with foreign enemies?"

Tang Zheng's face was pale, but his tone was firm: "I swear on the lives of the Tang family that I have not colluded with foreign enemies to harm the old general and the Song family. If I have uttered even the slightest lie, may the Tang family be torn to pieces and sent to the deepest hell for eternity!"

The oath was uttered quickly and resolutely, causing many officials who suspected Tang Zheng of colluding with the enemy to waver, but there were exceptions.

Yin Wei asked, "Then how does the Duke explain Princess Zhaoshan's reply?"

Tang Zheng's lips were ashen, and he endured the sharp pain in his waist as he said, "Your Majesty, because this story is so popular, many people have taken it to heart and have come to my residence to shout and curse. Some have even thrown excrement at my residence."

"When my family members went out to offer incense, they were also surrounded and blocked. My family and I were so disturbed that we had to find a way to eliminate the influence of the story."

“I am innocent, but no matter how I explain, the people refuse to believe me. I have no choice but to write to my eldest daughter and ask her to clear my name.”

Tang Zheng smiled bitterly, "But my relationship with my eldest daughter is really not good. I am worried that my eldest daughter will not speak up for me, so I had no choice but to resort to this tactic."

Yin Wei pressed further, "So, does the Duke of Wei mean that there are indeed other hidden circumstances surrounding the death of the First-Rank Duke of Wei's wife?"

Tang Zheng nodded, "I only learned about this recently."

Yin Wei said solemnly, "Please explain, Duke of Wei."

"My concubine Song," Tang Zheng paused, then changed his words, "Ever since Emperor Gaozu punished my concubine Qingyan to copy scriptures in the Buddhist hall, she has started to act strangely, muttering incoherently. I dared not call a doctor, so I had to order people to keep a close watch on her."

“Until a month ago, the old woman who was looking after her reported to me that she had gone completely insane. I had no choice but to arrange for her to recuperate at the estate.”

"Unexpectedly, before boarding the carriage, my concubine suddenly broke free from her restraints, knelt down and kowtowed to my wife's portrait to beg for forgiveness."