Thief Emperor

Chapter 713 Building Collapse
In a blink of an eye, it was the twelfth month of the fifth year of Zhaoding.

It's the end of the year, and the capital city, which should be festive, now has a rather chilly and cold atmosphere.

Even during the court meeting, many people asked for leave.

His Majesty the Emperor no longer had any interest in attending court. Now, apart from looking through the affairs in Shu, he hardly asked about anything else.

After all, Shuzhong is his retreat and his base camp.

At this time, apart from a few prime ministers who were handling internal and external affairs, Pei Huang was the one who was busy running around.

Pei Huang didn't know why he was so busy, but he was in charge of the Imperial City Bureau and had a lot to do every day.

At this time, Pei Sanlang was at the residence of Prime Minister Wang Yan, paying a visit to the prime minister who had just returned to Guanzhong from the southeast.

Not long after Pei Huang arrived at Wang's house, it began to snow heavily. The heavy snow spread down and soon covered the Wang's courtyard with a layer of white.

It was still morning. Wang Yan and Pei Huang were sitting in the warm room. Wang Yan looked at the heavy snow outside the window and said to Pei Huang with a smile, "If people don't keep guests, heaven will keep them. If the heavy snow doesn't stop today, Sanlang might not be able to leave."

He took the wine jug from the stove and poured it for Pei Huang. He smiled and said, "I just came back yesterday. Someone sent two fifteen or sixteen-year-old girls to warm my feet in winter. At my age, I can no longer enjoy them. Sanlang will stay at my house tonight. I will let them serve him in his room."

Pei Huang took the hot wine from Wang Yan with both hands, thanked him, and then shook his head slightly and said, "I appreciate your kindness, sir, but I have a lot of things to do now, so I have to leave soon."

"What are you busy with?"

Wang Yan sat down and sighed: "It's useless to be busy all the time. It's better to be down-to-earth and enjoy every day of happiness."

Pei Huang raised his head and drank the wine in the cup. He looked straight at Wang Yan and said, "Prime Minister Wang, you met Li Yun, right?"

"seen."

Wang Yan said calmly, "Didn't I make it clear in my memorial to Your Majesty?"

Pei Huang took a deep breath and looked at Wang Yan.

"Prince Wang, our two families are old friends. Logically, I should call you uncle. At this point, I won't beat around the bush."

"Prime Minister Wang went to the southeast and met Li Yun. Not long after that, the Imperial City Division in the southeast suffered a heavy blow."

He looked at Wang Yan and said expressionlessly, "Can Prime Minister Wang give me an explanation?"

Wang Yan's face was calm, he didn't even raise his eyelids, he just poured wine for Pei Huang and said with a faint smile: "If Sanlang has evidence, just arrest him directly, no need to explain anything to me."

He looked at Pei Huang with a frank smile: "Sanlang, are you going to hold me accountable?"

Pei Huang frowned, lowered his voice and thanked him, then said, "Prime Minister Wang, I am not joking with you!"

"I'm not joking, either."

Wang Yan said calmly, "Although I am not in charge of the Imperial City Department, I was ordered by the Emperor to check the files of the Imperial City Department before I went to the Southeast. Before I went to the Southeast, the Imperial City Department had been cleared out by the Southeast Small Court several times. Who leaked the secrets those times?"

"Did the Imperial City Bureau arrest anyone?"

Pei Huang's face was gloomy. He did not respond but looked up at Wang Yan.

"Prime Minister Wang, did you meet the King of Chu in Jinling? What did the King of Chu say to you?"

"Why is the document submitted to Your Majesty so vague?"

"There must be a reason why the statement is vague."

Wang Yan sighed and said, "Do I have to write in my memorial that when I was in Jinling, I saw a city full of vitality and flourishing?"

"Do we have to state clearly that His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu said that he was living well in Jinling?"

"If you must say, His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu said that he was assassinated many times by the Imperial City Bureau and was almost killed?"

Wang Yan sighed: "His Royal Highness the King of Chu's original words are."

"I'm doing OK in Jinling, and Li Yun treats me well. It would have been even better if I hadn't been assassinated so many times by the Imperial City Division."

At this point, he looked up at Pei Huang, who frowned, "At that time, I was recuperating in my hometown of Wenxi, and was not in charge of the Imperial City Division."

Wang Yan laughed and said, "It's OK as long as you believe it yourself."

Having said that, he lowered his head and poured himself a glass of wine.

Pei Huang looked at him and said in a hoarse voice: "After Prime Minister Wang met Li Yun, a descendant of your Wang family entered Jiangdong as an official, and when he first arrived in Jiangdong, he was appointed as the governor of Changzhou!"

Wang Xianggong looked up at Pei Huang, smiling and saying, "Does anyone from the Pei family of Wenxi go to Jiangdong to serve as an official?"

Pei Huang shouted: "Of course not!"

Wang Xianggong said calmly, "What about the Pei family's branch?"

Pei Huang's expression froze for a moment, then he frowned and said, "Since we have already split up, how can we control those branches? We, the Wenxi Pei family, are completely unaware of their affairs!"

"What a complete unaware one."

Wang Yan said calmly, "I have no idea that my family has unworthy descendants who have defected to Li Ni."

He stretched out his hands. "If this is also a crime, Sanlang, there is no need to say more. Put the shackles on me and take me to be punished."

Mr. Wang was not afraid at all.

"Anyway, our Wang family has already lost one Wang Du, so the death of another Wang Yan wouldn't be much of a loss."

"you!"

Pei Huang was furious at the old man's aggressive attitude. He stood up, slammed the table hard, and shouted, "Wang Yan, since I came to see you today, it is impossible that I have no evidence! The Imperial City Bureau has already found out that before you left the capital, someone in the capital asked you to bring a letter of surrender to Li Ni!"

“And there’s more than one!”

He said sternly: "Some of these people have already confessed in the Imperial City Division!"

"What is Saburo waiting for?"

Wang Yan also stood up, stretched out his hands, and said calmly: "Catch me, take me to the Imperial City Bureau and torture me severely."

"At my age, I will definitely not be able to bear the beatings. When the time comes, I might even give those people away one by one."

"The truth came out immediately."

Pei Huang's face turned pale and he stood there, motionless.

Wang Xianggong looked at him and chuckled, "I'm afraid that if I dare to say it, you won't dare to listen, Sanlang."

Pei Huang kept breathing heavily and remained motionless.

At this time, he was in the capital, almost representing the emperor. In other words, Wang Yan's words were most likely not addressed to Pei Huang, but to the emperor.

I dare to give out those who surrendered. Do you, the Emperor, dare to listen?
The emperor...probably wouldn't dare to listen.

Therefore Pei Huang did not dare to listen.

He stood there, heartbroken and said, "You, the Wang family, have been blessed by the country for generations!"

Wang Yan put his hands behind his back and said expressionlessly, "My brother Wang Du has already repaid the favor."

"Besides, aren't you the Wenxi Pei family, blessed by the country for generations?"

Pei Huang couldn't bear it any longer after hearing that, and punched the table hard.

He had not practiced martial arts much, and his hand was swollen from the blow, but he didn't feel the pain at all. He staggered out of the warm room and left the Wang family in the heavy snow.

Walking in the snow, his steps became more difficult, and he even staggered.

Someone from the Wang family chased after him and tried to hold an umbrella for him, but he pushed him away.

Mr. Wang Yan, with his hands behind his back, watched him leave, with no expression on his face.

After Pei Huang left the Wang family, he stumbled into the palace and walked all the way to the Chongde Hall. He was helped into the back hall by the eunuchs of the Chongde Hall.

Several stoves had been lit in the back hall, making the whole room as warm as spring.

His Majesty the Emperor let go of the palace maid in his arms, waved his hand to let her leave, then he personally walked to the imperial steps and helped up the distraught Pei Huang.

"Sanlang, what's wrong with Sanlang?"

Pei Huang finally came to his senses. He looked up at the emperor and couldn't help but burst into tears: "Your Majesty, this country is no longer a country, this country is no longer a country!"

Hearing his words, the emperor was very calm and just laughed at himself: "I have lost my country a long time ago."

His Majesty the Emperor asked someone to bring hot soup for Pei Huang. After drinking a bowl of hot soup, Pei Huang finally recovered. He told the Emperor in a disjointed manner about his conversation with Wang Yan at Wang's house.

Up to this moment, Pei Huang was not fully awake, but he almost subconsciously covered up the content related to the Wenxi Pei family in the conversation.

After hearing these words, His Majesty the Emperor was a little dazed and speechless.

After an unknown amount of time, he finally came to his senses. After taking a deep breath, he looked down at Pei Huang and said softly, "Sanlang, if these beasts who have received the grace of the country for generations behave like this, the Great Zhou... the Great Zhou may not be able to continue."

"You and I must start immediately and prepare a retreat."

Pei Huang looked up at the emperor and said in a hoarse voice: "Your Majesty means..."

"good."

The emperor nodded and said, "I have been operating in Shu for many years. I have sent heavy troops to guard some of the passes. I can no longer stay in Guanzhong. Let them fight for it. But before I leave, I have one more thing I must do."

Pei Huang understood. He took a deep breath and whispered, "Liang Wen..."

"Not bad, Liang Wen!"

His Majesty the Emperor lowered his voice, clenched his fists, and spoke through gritted teeth.

"I must kill him before I go to Xichuan!"

(End of this chapter)