I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 404 My son also speaks with the Han?

Ye City, the imperial palace of the Great Zhao Dynasty.

Wude Hall.

It's hard to imagine that a luxurious palace was specially built inside the royal palace for adult men to live in.

But Yuan Shao did exactly that.

The person residing in the Wude Hall was Yuan Shao's third son, Yuan Shang.

Yuan Shang had a handsome face, inheriting the good looks of the Yuan family of Runan. Unlike his elder brother, he did not fight on the frontier at a young age, exposed to the elements. Therefore, although Yuan Shang was a man, his skin was as smooth as jade and as cold as ice.

But at this moment, Yuan Shang's square face was twisted into different shapes, none of them staying in their original place.

"You mean, my dear brother, you colluded with Liu Miao? You sold warhorses to Liu Miao?"

"Absolutely true!"

"impossible!"

Yuan Shang ate the melon in his hand, but he didn't believe it.

"I dare not speak for others, but my elder brother hates Liu Miao so much that he wants to drink his blood and eat his flesh. How could I possibly collude with him?"

If Yuan Tan hadn't been defeated by Liu Miao on the two battlefields of Qingzhou and Guanzhong, one in the east and one in the west, how could he have fallen to such a state?
If it weren't for these two defeats, Qingzhou would still be under the control of Northern Zhao. With this achievement, wouldn't the position of crown prince be a piece of cake for Yuan Tan?

Therefore, although Yuan Shang looked down on Yuan Tan, he did not believe that Yuan Tan would stoop so low as to do such a thing!

"Absolutely true!"

The one who came to report the news to Yuan Shang was Shen Rong, the nephew of Shen Pei, the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat.

"I heard it clearly! This story has spread all over Hebei!"

"Putting aside other things, Your Highness might want to think carefully about where all that tea, silk, and porcelain in the markets of Ye City came from. Even if it was seized, how could so much have been seized?"

Shen Rong lowered his voice: "Moreover, one of my officials from Jinyang has just returned from mourning! He told me that he has indeed seen many warhorses from the north being sent from Bingzhou to Guanzhong!"

"Oh?"

Yuan Shang flicked his sleeve, no longer sitting lazily, but instead showing a strong interest on his face.

"So...there's evidence?"

"If what's circulating is true, then the deal between Yuan Tan and Liu Miao must have been enormous! Finding some evidence wouldn't be difficult!"

Yuan Shang suddenly felt a surge of restlessness!
However, he still had doubts.

"How come such a big thing didn't leak out at all before?"

Shen Rong: "Actually, His Majesty had previously ordered Guo Tu to investigate this matter."

"Oh?"

Yuan Shang's tone gradually became intriguing.

Just as Shangshu Ling Shen Pei was a staunch supporter of him, Guo Tu was also a well-known member of Yuan Tan's faction.

as predicted!

Shen Rong said, "Guo Tu did investigate, but he attributed everything to trade in the Liaodong direction."

"Later, this matter angered Liu Bei, causing him to flee to Liaodong, and the matter was left unresolved..."

If Yuan Shang still can't understand the story behind it by this point, then he is not worthy of having fought openly and covertly with Yuan Tan for so many years!
"Yuan Tan, Guo Tu, humph!"

Yuan Shang suddenly became full of energy!

"Send some men to Guanzhong to gather information. You must obtain concrete evidence of Yuan Tan's treason and collusion with the enemy!"

"Here!"

Yuan Shang rubbed his hands together excitedly, unconsciously sticking out his tongue to lick his lips.

"If my dear older brother really did all these things, then it would be truly... hahahaha!"

As the rumors intensified, the higher-ups in Beizhao finally realized that something was wrong!
As the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, Shen Pei immediately went to find Guo Tu, who had previously investigated the matter: "Are you aware of this matter?"

Guo Tu feigned ignorance: "What is it?"

Snapped!
Shen Pei slammed the official documents in his hand onto Guo Tu's desk.

"You were ordered to investigate these things before, and now you're asking me if I know about them?"

Guo Tu took a look and found it to be a list of people entering and leaving large cities and markets such as Yecheng, Handan, and Qinghe.

The silk and tea produced in Jiangdong, and the cloth and porcelain produced in Jingzhou, are all labeled with specific quantities.

This quantity is clearly not something a single smuggler could bring into Hebei.

Snapped!
Another stack of official documents.

The number of warhorses lost from several horse farms in Hebei Province is listed above.

"Guo Tu! You don't need to play along with me!" Shen Pei forcibly suppressed his anger.

"These horse farms have extremely neat accounts! But I've inspected them, and several of them are drawing salaries without working!"

Shen Pei said in a deep voice, "I'm asking you! Where did these warhorses go? And where did those goods come from? Hmm?"

Guo Tu frowned, but relaxed his brows after a moment.

"I do not know."

"fart!!!"

Shen Pei saw that Guo Tu was still pretending to be ignorant, but finally couldn't control his temper!
"Guo Tu! Where else could these warhorses have gone? To the south of the Gobi Desert? To Liaodong? Nonsense! These warhorses could only have ended up in the hands of Liu Miao in the south!"

Shen Pei was furious and went straight to grab Guo Tu by the collar.

At this moment, Shen Pei's eyes were bloodshot, as if blood was about to drip from them!

The scorching breath sprayed onto Guo Tu's face, and when his voice was forced out from between his teeth, it seemed to be tinged with the coldness of Shen Pei's heartache.

"Do you know what this is all about? Hmm?"

"Sell warhorses to Liu Miao? Let him build a cavalry? So that he can use the warhorses we sold him to slaughter the people of my Great Zhao? The people of Hebei?"

"Guo Tu! You bastard! Do you know what it feels like to kill all the people close to you? Even if you're not from Hebei, doesn't your heart ache?"

Guo Tu raised his sleeve and wiped the spittle off Shen Pei's face. Then, his eyes were devoid of any emotion as he looked at Shen Pei: "My close associates were almost all dead during the Yellow Turban Rebellion!"

Taking advantage of Shen Pei's momentary daze, Guo Tu shoved him aside, causing Shen Pei to stumble backward.

"During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, those bandits stormed into one fortified village after another, burning, killing, and looting! Even Xun Yu led the Xun clan of Yingchuan to Hebei for refuge. Do you think my relatives and clansmen could have survived in the Central Plains?"

Guo Tu braced himself and stood up.

"National unrest and social unrest are all due to the ruler's lack of virtue!"

"The eldest son, Tan, is the most capable and virtuous among His Majesty's children! Why do you insist on eliminating him, jeopardizing the position of Crown Prince?"

"The eldest son should be the crown prince; this is the right path! You defy the will of Heaven and disregard propriety; what are you trying to do?"

Shen Pei gritted his teeth, but was not swayed by Guo Tu.

"I'm asking you, why did you betray your country!"

"Failure is treason! Success, however, will make the eldest son a wise and virtuous ruler who endures humiliation!"

"Guo Tu! You bastard!"

"Shen Pei! You're the one who's a bastard!"

Guo Tu was also experiencing a surge of anger and blood!

"My support for the eldest son is entirely without selfish motives! I know that the eldest son will surely inherit His Majesty's legacy and usher in an era of lasting peace!"

"But dare you say that your support for Yuan Shang is entirely for His Majesty's sake and for the sake of the nation?"

Shen Pei retorted angrily, "Shang is from Hebei; he can certainly bring peace to the country!"

"Does the Great Zhao only deserve to possess Hebei?"

Guo Tu's words left Shen Pei speechless!

"Humph!"

Shen Pei was too lazy to waste his breath!

"In that case, Your Majesty shall decide entirely!"

"Okay! Let's go together!"

The two rode side by side, completely disregarding their appearance and etiquette, and barged into Yuan Shao's bedroom!

The two were locked in a fierce battle, completely oblivious to the fact that in Yuan Shao's imperial palace, there was a foul odor that even spices couldn't mask.

"His Majesty!"

The two of them knelt down on the ground.

"His Majesty!"

The two interrupted each other, speaking one after the other, and after many stumbles, they finally told Yuan Shao the whole story.

Yuan Shao remained seated on the couch with his eyes closed throughout.

Only at the very end did Yuan Shao slowly speak—

"You mean..."

"My son also speaks of the Han?"

(End of this chapter)