Martial Arts Crossover: It All Started with Hijacking Li Canghai

Zhao Gou was furious.

"What did you say?"

The eunuch trembled as he held the military report above his head.

"The news that came back from Jiujiang is that all of the more than one hundred warships that Old Madam Dugu took with her sank into the river, and none of them survived."

The hall fell silent.

Dugu Ba stood in the ranks of military officers, his body swaying violently a few times, his face completely pale.

"Impossible, my mother is a Grandmaster."

He disregarded the fact that it was still the morning court session and stepped forward to grab the eunuch by the collar.

"Explain yourself clearly, what do you mean by 'dead without a complete corpse'? Say it again!!"

The eunuch was being strangled so tightly that he could barely breathe and was unable to reply.

Zhao Gou then realized what was happening and slammed his hand on the wooden armrest of the dragon throne.

"This is outrageous! This is utterly defying the heavens! Qin Han knows perfectly well that the Dugu family are relatives of the emperor, yet he dares to do this..."

Dugu Ba released the eunuch and threw him back to the ground, then turned and knelt before Zhao Gou.

"Your Majesty, Qin Han killed my mother. I am willing to lead 30,000 Imperial Guards to Jiangnan to personally take his head."

Cai Jing stood in the front row of civil officials, his head slightly lowered, a hint of calculation in his eyes.

The Dugu family suffered a major blow this time; even the old matriarch did not return alive from the Yangtze River.

He recalled the words of his beautiful wife, Lin Xian'er.

He immediately took a step forward and stepped out of the queue.

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger."

Zhao Gou's face darkened as he looked at the old ministers below the steps.

"Calm down? Prime Minister Cai, how can I calm down? He dared to kill the Dowager Empress today, is he going to lead his troops directly into Lin'an tomorrow?"

Cai Jing slowly shook his head. He had felt it was inappropriate to let the Dugu family get involved in taking down the Giant Kun Gang.

He began to analyze the pros and cons word by word.

"Your Majesty, Qin Han now commands 500,000 elite troops in Sichuan, and the Empress of Western Xia is his newlywed wife. Princess Yelü of Liao is currently residing in the Qin Prince's residence."

If General Dugu were to actually send troops to attack, it would likely play right into his hands.

Dugu Ba glared at Cai Jing opposite him.

"Prime Minister Cai! What do you mean by that? Does it mean my mother died in the river in vain?"

Cai Jing's tone was inexplicable.

"General Dugu, please accept my condolences. I am merely stating the facts of the current situation."

Seeing this, Jia Sidao also stepped out of the queue from the side. He was still unaware that Qin Han had tampered with Jia Baoyu's things, but he didn't want to make a big fuss over the Dugu family.

"Your Majesty, what Prime Minister Cai said is indeed reasonable."

He paused for a moment, observing Zhao Gou's expression.

"Qin Han has been operating in Sichuan for so long, and all the generals in the army are his trusted confidants whom he personally promoted."

Not to mention the cannons that the Tang Clan and Peacock Manor built for him. How could our Jiangnan navy's wooden ships withstand the fire of those iron weapons?

Dugu Ba's knuckles cracked as he clenched his fists.

"The imperial court is being ridden and shitted on! And you're still here hesitating and calculating."

Cai Jing turned his head slightly to the side. It wasn't his own mother who died, so why should the court allocate funds to play along with you?

"General Dugu has probably misunderstood me. It's not that I don't want to fight, but the current situation really makes it impossible to fight."

"On the Jin side, Wanyan Zongbi is stationing troops on the Sichuan border every day. Although the Liao Dynasty to the north has an alliance with us, that's only out of respect for the Qin and Han dynasties."

He turned his gaze back to the emperor.

"What if we divert all our troops to fight in Sichuan, leaving the north and east vulnerable? Who will defend these vast border regions then?"

Jia Sidao nodded in agreement, the two old men singing in unison.

"What Prime Minister Cai said makes sense. Qin Han is, after all, a prince appointed by our Great Song Dynasty. If he wanted to rebel, he would have done so long ago. In my opinion, there is probably another hidden story behind this matter."

Zhao Gou sat on the dragon throne, his face clouded with gloom.

It's very clear what those two are planning.

One of these two men was the leader of the pro-peace faction, and the other held a lucrative position controlling the canal transport. If you really asked them to contribute money and grain to prepare for military affairs, these two old guys would definitely make all sorts of excuses.

He snorted coldly.

"There's more to this than meets the eye, Jia Qing. Tell me in detail, what could possibly be the hidden story?"

Jia Sidao was somewhat embarrassed. What secret was there? Anyone with eyes could see it.

It's like you officials tried to steal a chicken but ended up losing the rice instead, but how could he say that out loud?

Cai Jing, standing to one side, intended to help Jia Sidao out of the predicament.

Another eunuch rushed in from outside the main hall, carrying a report high in both hands.

"Your Majesty, King Qin Han of Shu has sent an urgent report by waterway."

Zhao Gou sat up and took a deep breath.

"Bring it here."

The old eunuch beside him walked down the steps, took the secret report, and quickly returned to the emperor's desk to hand it over.

Zhao Gou's gaze swept over the handwriting.

His face grew increasingly ashen, the dark clouds turning into a thunderstorm. He took two deep breaths and instructed the old eunuch beside him to read it aloud.

The old eunuch took it and began to read.

The report is as follows: [Your Majesty, the Dowager Lady Dugu unfortunately died on the battlefield while defending against Japanese pirates and bandits on the river.]

Upon receiving the news, I rushed to the rescue, but unfortunately, I arrived too late. I could only kill all those villains to comfort the spirit of the old lady in heaven.

We hope Your Majesty will persuade Patriarch Dugu to moderate his grief.

Dugu Ba's eyes widened in shock. "What the hell? This is outrageous!"

He disregarded etiquette and launched into a tirade of abuse in court.

"Bullshit!!"

Cai Jing and Jia Sidao exchanged a subtle glance among the civil officials, but neither of them spoke.

This report is truly embarrassing.

All of the more than one hundred boats that You Chuhong took with her sank, and none of the survivors managed to escape to the surface of the river.

The corpses floating on the river right now, if you randomly pull one out, it will either have wooden badges from the Sea Sand Gang and the Water Dragon Gang on its body, or it will be wrapped in strips of cloth unique to Japanese pirates.

The bodies of the Dugu family members sank to the bottom of the river under the weight of heavy objects, and no one could find a trace of them.

Who among the court officials can produce evidence to prove that the Dugu family did not go to the river to suppress bandits?

Who can prove that You Chuhong was truly killed by Qin Han himself?!

The other officials in the hall were all shrewd and no one made a sound at this critical moment.

Yuwen Huaji, as the second-in-command of the left-hand military commanders, squinted as he assessed the current situation.

The Song Dynasty was beyond saving.

Their own veteran minister was openly murdered, yet the current emperor and these powerful officials didn't dare utter a single harsh word.

He silently went through the name Qin Han in his mind.

Yuwen Chengdu stood beside him and leaned in with a very low voice.

"Father, that King of Qin is far too..."

Yuwen Huaji raised his hand to his chest, gently shook his head, and stopped his son from continuing.

The main hall was not a place for the father and son to chat idly.

Dugu Ba collapsed to the ground, his eyes red and swollen from exhaustion.

"Your Majesty, this humble general requests 30,000 elite troops, and is willing to sign a military pledge right here in the main hall: I will not return to the capital until the Qin traitors are killed!"