Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 264 The End of Xilin Academy (Bonus Chapter for Yong Su's Alliance Leader)

"Minister Lü, where is the memorial?"

Emperor Ninghe did not fly into a rage because of Lü Chentao's report.

There was no mention of arresting Song Yan.

Instead, they inquired about the whereabouts of the memorial.

Those who can navigate the court are mostly cunning old foxes. Some people vaguely sensed that something was amiss, so they stood up straight, eyes downcast, motionless, like old monks in deep meditation.

At times like these, it's best not to say too much.

Lu Chentao was also taken aback. Ning Hedi's reaction was somewhat strange, but fortunately, they had already discussed various countermeasures beforehand, so there was no need to panic.
"Your Majesty, there is no memorial submitted."

"Without any official report, where did you get this information from?"

Lu Chentao cleared his throat: "He is a scholar from Xilin Academy. He witnessed Song Yan slaughtering civilians and killing officials in Pingyang City. Fearing the consequences, he took advantage of the chaos to escape Pingyang. Braving the cold wind and snow, he fled all the way to Dongling. That is how I learned about what happened in Pingyang City."

Memorials to the emperor were naturally submitted.

However, that was Song Yan's memorial, the contents of which were quite unfavorable to Xilin Academy, and he had already removed it.

He then consulted with a dozen colleagues from Xilin Academy, and they all agreed that Song Yan posed a great threat to Xilin Academy and that they must take this opportunity to eliminate him.

As an emperor, one must be most wary of subordinates who disrespect the imperial authority and wield excessive military power.

Furthermore, Emperor Ninghe had a very poor relationship with the eldest princess. After some thought, many officials of Xilin Academy felt that they had a sure thing this time. As long as Emperor Ninghe ordered Song Yan to be arrested, he might die of illness on the way.

In this way, the disaster can be averted.

Even if Emperor Ninghe sensed something was wrong, given his dislike for the Eldest Princess, he might just go along with it... After all, this emperor had once directly beheaded the Eldest Princess's husband. A mere son-in-law, he could kill him without hesitation.

There was also the Yang family faction in the imperial court, and the Yang family members hated Song Yan to the core.

With the help of the Yang family, great things can be accomplished.

Thinking this way, Lü Chentao felt at ease, and even the panic he had felt from being watched by Emperor Ninghe earlier dissipated considerably. He straightened up a bit and quietly gave a wink to the person next to him.

Immediately, an official from the Ministry of Personnel stepped forward from the ranks, bowed respectfully, and then said in a loud voice: "Your Majesty, Qian Yaozu, the Prefect of Pingyang, has served as an official for many years and is honest and upright. Although he is a scholar, he guarded Liaodong with fearlessness and personally led troops to stop the Jurchens from wreaking havoc in Pingyang, making great contributions to the country."

"He sheltered refugees from Liaodong in Pingyang City, saving countless lives and bestowing grace upon the people. He is truly a model for all officials of Ningguo."

At this point, his voice suddenly turned sorrowful and indignant: "It is precisely these loyal, brave, and righteous men who have been brutally murdered by Song Yan. This is a great pain to our Ning Kingdom and to all its people."

“Song Yan is a lawless and disrespectful man who has abused and murdered officials and slaughtered the people. He must be killed to appease public anger and soothe the people’s hearts. I implore Your Majesty to punish him severely.”

His voice was loud and clear, echoing throughout the imperial court.

These words were spoken with sincerity and righteous indignation.

It expresses admiration for Qian Yaozu, grief over his death, and hatred for Song Yan.

As soon as he finished speaking, another official stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "This Song Yan is an unrighteous, disloyal, and unfilial son. We beg Your Majesty to punish him severely."

"I second the proposal."

"I second the proposal."

In a short time, voices of agreement arose one after another, with more than a dozen people standing up. Some officials from the Yang family faction all looked at Yang Hetong at the front, as if seeking his opinion on whether to take the opportunity to kick him while he was down.

Yang Hetong simply stood there quietly, without saying a word or even glancing at her, as if he hadn't heard the sounds from Xilin Academy at all.

Seeing this, the officials from the Yang family faction lowered their heads again and remained motionless.

Yang Hetong was definitely a cunning old fox. When Emperor Ninghe asked a strange question about the memorial, he already sensed that something was wrong and that there was something he didn't know.

Seeing that the court remained silent, and Emperor Ninghe sat serenely on his dragon throne, a dozen or so officials from the Xilin Academy frowned. They also sensed that something was amiss, but there was no turning back now. They exchanged glances, and thirteen officials knelt down in the hall.

"I implore Your Majesty to severely punish Song Yan."

The combined voices of more than a dozen people created a powerful sound, echoing and buzzing throughout the hall.

Many officials were taken aback. What was this? Was it a coup?
Just then, Emperor Ninghe finally raised his head on the dragon throne, his eyes looking at the thirteen people kneeling below, his face cold and stern: "Lü Chentao, I'll ask you again, where is the memorial?"

At this moment, there was a chill in his voice.

Lu Chentao trembled and subconsciously opened his mouth: "No...no memorial."

"No memorials...good...so 'no memorials' indeed." Emperor Ninghe suddenly laughed, his chest heaving violently, but his expression grew increasingly cold. Just then, Emperor Ninghe suddenly raised his hand and flung a memorial at Lü Chentao's face: "No memorials? Come here, Lü Chentao, show me what this is?"

Seeing the yellow memorial, Lü Chentao's heart trembled. He swallowed hard, knelt on the ground, and shakily reached out his hands to pick up the memorial. As soon as he opened it, the familiar words immediately came into view.

In an instant, boundless fear surged into my heart, and my whole body turned ice cold.

No, that's impossible. He clearly burned the memorial. Where did this thing come from?
In that instant, he even felt a strong urge to tear the memorial to shreds and swallow it whole. But his stiff, numb limbs and unresponsive hands rendered him completely incapable of doing anything.

"Minister Fang, Minister Yang, you two should also take a look," Emperor Ninghe said in a deep voice, his eyelids lowered.

Yang Hetong and Fang De exchanged a glance, then walked towards Lü Chentao, took the memorial from Lü Chentao's terrified hands, and the two old men only glanced at it briefly before their expressions changed drastically.

"read."

"Read it aloud, so that all my beloved ministers may hear what this scholar from Xilin Academy has actually done."

Yang Hetong and Fang De both felt their throats tighten. As Fang De's voice trembled slightly, scenes from the past unfolded before the many officials in the court.

The memorial, written in Song Yan's voice, details everything that happened after he left Ningping County and was ambushed by bandits, from the moment he entered Pingyang Prefecture to the present day.

The brushstrokes are skillful, and just by hearing Fang De's voice, one can almost see the desolate scene of Pingyang Prefecture, where white bones fill the fields and no roosters crow for miles.

It seems one can almost see the Jurchen cavalry rampaging through Pingyang Prefecture, displaying their ferocity and arrogance as if they were in an empty land.

Even more so, the truth that has long been buried:
Qian Yaozu, acting as military supervisor, forced General Dou Xian to leave the city and fight the Jurchen cavalry to the death, and General Dou Xian was killed in battle.

General Liang Youde led his troops in a desperate defense, and all six thousand border soldiers perished in battle.

Even the details of Qian Yaozu's escape with two thousand soldiers, his attempt to commit suicide at a river, and his decision to abandon the attempt due to the cold water, were all clearly described. Upon hearing this, all the civil and military officials in the court had different expressions, knowing that Qian Yaozu would likely be infamous for eternity because of his comment about the water being too cold.

Fang De's voice continued.

Subsequently, Qian Yaozu secretly negotiated peace with the Jurchens, offering 50,000 shi of grain and 1,000 women monthly in exchange for the Jurchen cavalry not attacking Pingyang City.

They even established marriage envoys to forcibly seize the people's food and crops, and to break into every household in order to search for women to satisfy the appetites of the Jurchen barbarians.

"Seeing the women of my Ning Kingdom, dressed in rags and filled with terror, about to become playthings of the Jurchen barbarians, I lost my mind in anger and surrounded and killed more than a thousand members of the marriage envoy. Then I impersonated a member of the marriage envoy and entered Jurchen territory. There I encountered the Jurchen Wugulun tribe, who used wine and drugs to kill more than 12,000 Jurchen cavalrymen."

"Then, the Ugulun tribe was burned to the ground, and more than 60,000 Jurchen barbarians were burned. The Ugulun Khan and his eldest prince, Oribu, were beheaded."

"The Jurchen Wugulun tribe, men, women, and children, were all wiped out."

"It is a great pity that we cannot build a Jingguan (a mound of skulls) due to the freezing weather."

Hearing Fang De's voice, many people had strange expressions. Good heavens, could it be that Song Yan is addicted to building Jingguan? He has to build a Jingguan wherever he goes. If there is no Jingguan, is his life incomplete?
What a ruthless person.

They would exterminate an entire clan at the slightest provocation.

At the same time, Qian Yaozu is also someone who makes people look at him in a new light.

Even Yang Hetong couldn't help but glance at the officials of Xilin Academy.

As a civil official, arbitrarily interfering in military affairs... this is not a major mistake.

However, without the approval of the imperial court, he privately negotiated peace with the Jurchens and even provided them with monthly tributes of grain and women... This is a huge problem. Qian Yaozu has completely disgraced Ningguo.

Although the Yang family was arrogant, even they wouldn't dare to do something like this, but Qian Yaozu did it anyway.

He may not be a high-ranking official, but he certainly has a lot of guts.

"In this battle, I captured a thousand Jurchen warhorses. I intended to continue onward and wipe out the next tribe, but the warhorses were hard to come by, and we were caught in a heavy snowfall, so we had to turn back halfway."

"After careful investigation, it was discovered that in order to keep the secret, Qian Yaozu ordered the blockade of Pingyang City, and the people inside the city were not allowed to enter or leave. The surviving border soldiers were all listed as deserters by Qian Yaozu, and wanted notices were issued to hunt them down, resulting in thousands of deaths."

"Although more than a dozen officials, including Jiao Junze, the prefect of Dingzhou, submitted memorials accusing Qian Yaozu of his crimes, all the memorials were suppressed and reassigned because it was suspected that there were Qian Yaozu's classmates from Xilin Academy in the Ministry of Personnel. As a result, no one knew about Qian Yaozu's crimes."

"Subsequently, Qian Yaozu, in collusion with officials of Xilin Academy, fabricated charges, leading to the wrongful execution of Liang Youde and the entire Dou Xian family by the imperial court."

“Eliminate all officials in Pingyang Prefecture and replace them with students from Xilin Academy.”

"In Pingyang City, there are 133 officials, all of whom are students of Xilin Academy!"

hiss!
When the memorial reached this point, everyone gasped in shock.

This time, Xilin Academy, which had been entrenched in the lower and middle classes of Ningguo, was finished!
(End of this chapter)