At 100 years old, he joined the army in place of his granddaughter, and became a national war god.

The air in the Golden Palace seemed to freeze.

All the civil and military officials held their breath, staring intently at the emperor on the dragon throne.

"Hahaha!"

At this moment, Xiao Jinghuan suddenly stood up, the wide sleeves of his dragon robe stirring up a gust of wind.

He threw his head back and laughed loudly, the sound echoing throughout the hall.

"Great! Great! This is wonderful news!"

The entire court was stunned.

The Third Prince Xiao Jingyu frowned, the Crown Prince Xiao Yunfeng looked bewildered, and the Prime Minister Li Yuan almost dropped his scepter.

They looked at each other.

What's going on?

Weren't we just talking about the defeat in the northern border and the fall of Qinghe County?

How did it suddenly become a "great joyous occasion"?

Xu Shigui knelt on the ground, cold sweat pouring down his forehead.

His mind was buzzing. What good thing was happening in Yuzhou City?

Hasn't the Daqian army already been defeated?

Qinghe County has already been lost, hasn't it?

He witnessed the Northern Di cavalry break through the camp gates, saw the banners of the Great Qian fall, and saw the routed soldiers running around like headless flies. How could there be anything good to come of it?

"Your Majesty, what makes you so happy?" Prime Minister Li Yuan stepped forward and asked with his hands clasped in greeting.

Xiao Jinghuan held the letter high in his hand, his voice loud enough to be heard throughout the entire hall.

"Wu Wenyuan has sent word that our Great Qian army has achieved a great victory!"

"Not only did they defend Qinghe County, but they also recaptured Yuzhou City in one fell swoop! They killed the Northern Di general Yeluqi and forced Tuoba Han to flee in disarray to Qingzhou!"

This statement caused a huge uproar.

"What? Recapture Yuzhou City?"

"Yeluqi was killed? He was one of the top ten warriors of the Northern Barbarians!"

"This...how is this possible? Didn't General Xu just say that the entire army was routed?"

"Who is telling the truth?"

The civil and military officials whispered among themselves, creating a buzzing sound throughout the hall.

Some people looked delighted, some were full of doubt, some frowned, and some frequently glanced at Xu Shigui kneeling on the ground with complicated expressions.

"His Majesty!"

The Third Prince, Xiao Jingyu, stepped forward from the ranks, cupped his hands, and said, "If I may be so bold as to ask, General Xu just said that the Northern Di cavalry has breached Qinghe County, and the entire Daqian army has been routed."

"But Prefect Wu's letter says that our army has won a great victory and recaptured Yuzhou City. These two pieces of news are completely contradictory, there must be something fishy about this!"

He turned around, his gaze sharp as a knife, and fixed on Xu Shigui.

"General Xu, as the commander of the Northern Frontier, why are you in the capital instead of directing operations at the front?"

"Why is your description of a 'total defeat' completely different from what Prefect Wu wrote in his letter?"

This one sentence immediately drew everyone's attention to Xu Shigui.

The hall fell silent; you could hear a pin drop.

Xiao Jinghuan's smile gradually faded, replaced by a gloomy anger.

He slowly sat back on the dragon throne, looked at Xu Shigui, and asked solemnly:

"Xu Shigui, what exactly happened? The letter clearly states that you, as the commander-in-chief, deserted your post and repeatedly pursued and killed your own soldiers, disrupting morale! How do you explain this?"

Xu Shigui's face turned pale instantly.

His lips trembled, veins bulged on his forehead, and his mind raced. He couldn't admit it; admitting it would be the end.

He kowtowed sharply, his voice filled with sorrow.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty, please understand! This...this is absolutely impossible!"

"It must be a scheme by the Northern Barbarians! Seeing that they cannot defeat our Great Qian army on the front lines, they resort to such despicable means, forging letters to sow discord between the emperor and his ministers! My loyalty to Your Majesty is as clear as day!"

He looked up, his eyes red-rimmed, his voice choked with emotion.

"I personally witnessed the Northern Di cavalry break through the camp gates, I personally witnessed Qin Hao's command flag fall, and I personally witnessed the routed soldiers scattering and fleeing. The Great Qian army has truly been defeated!"

"Qinghe County has truly fallen! Your Majesty, you cannot fall for the Northern Di people's treacherous scheme!"

Prime Minister Li Yuan stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "Your Majesty, General Xu's words are reasonable. The Northern Barbarians are cunning and treacherous. Forging letters and sowing discord between the emperor and his ministers are their usual tricks. This matter is of great importance and we cannot easily believe one side of the story."

The Third Prince Xiao Jingyu snorted coldly: "Prime Minister, you are mistaken. Wu Wenyuan is a third-rank official of the Great Qian Dynasty. He was imprisoned by the Northern Di people for three years and vowed never to surrender."

"Would someone like that forge letters for the Northern Barbarians? As for General Xu, the commander of the Northern Frontier, instead of fighting alongside his soldiers on the front lines, he fled back to the capital. That in itself is illogical!"

"Third Prince, you are framing me!" Li Yuan raised his voice.

"Whether it's a fabricated charge or not, an investigation will tell."

Xiao Jingyu turned to face the emperor, cupped his hands, and said, "Your Majesty, I request that the messenger be summoned to the palace for a face-to-face confrontation. Whether it is true or false, we will know immediately!"

Xiao Jinghuan pondered for a moment, then nodded.

"Granted! Send the messenger to the palace!"

A eunuch outside the palace shouted loudly, "Summon the messenger to the palace!"

The heavy palace doors slowly opened, and a figure strode in.

The man was dressed in a dusty, dark blue military uniform and walked with a steady gait.

He walked to the center of the hall, knelt on one knee, clasped his hands together, and spoke in a loud voice.

"This humble general, Zhang Heng, greets Your Majesty!"

Xu Shigui turned his head and saw that familiar face. His pupils contracted sharply, and he froze on the spot.

Zhang Heng, a captain under Qin Hao!

The man he sent to Qingfeng Village to capture Su Mu, the man he thought would die in Qingfeng Village.

What is he doing here? Why is he delivering a message in the capital?

Xu Shigui's mind went blank with a "buzz".

This is no coincidence.

Qin Hao and Su Mu had long anticipated that he would come to the capital to file a complaint, and they had long anticipated that he would distort the truth.

Therefore, they sent Zhang Heng with the news of victory, riding at breakneck speed to the capital, to present the truth to the emperor.

Every inch of Xu Shigui's body was trembling.

Looking at Zhang Heng's ashen face and those cold eyes staring at him, he had only one thought in his mind: It's over.

"Zhang Heng, tell me the whole story of the war in the northern border."

Xiao Jinghuan's voice came from the dragon throne.

Zhang Heng clasped his hands in a fist salute, his voice steady and powerful.

"Your Majesty, I have been ordered by General Qin Hao to travel day and night back to the capital to report the great victory in the north!"

"In this battle, under the leadership of Elder Su Mu, our army first defended Qinghe County, repelled 30,000 Northern Di cavalry, and killed the Northern Di general Yeluqi. Then, we pursued the victory, recaptured Yuzhou City, and forced the Northern Di Right Wise King Tuoba Han to flee to Qingzhou in a sorry state!"

Another wave of surprise rippled through the hall.

Zhang Heng continued, "As for General Xu," he turned his head and coldly looked at Xu Shigui kneeling on the ground, "when the Northern Di army was pressing in, not only did he not organize his soldiers to resist, but he also took his two sons and personal guards and deserted from the rear gate!"

"The reason our army is in such a difficult situation is because General Xu withdrew his elite troops to Qingfeng Village to pursue and kill Old Master Su, leaving our camp vulnerable!"

"If Your Majesty does not believe me, I have witnesses and evidence! Thousands of soldiers in the army can testify that General Xu's desertion in the face of battle is absolutely true!"

Xu Shigui's lips trembled; he wanted to refute, but he couldn't utter a single word.

On the dragon throne, Xiao Jinghuan's face was terribly gloomy.

"Xu Shigui, what else do you have to say?"

Xu Shigui collapsed to the ground with a thud, feeling as if all his energy had been drained, and his body went limp like a lump of mud.

Only one thought remained in his mind.

It's over, completely over.

He thought that as long as he returned to the capital first and pinned all the blame on Qin Hao and Su Mu, he could get away unscathed.

He had even planned how to plead his case before the emperor, how to make the emperor believe that Qin Hao was the culprit, and how to clear himself of all charges.

But he didn't expect Su Mu to be so fast.

He seemed to have already foreseen his own end...