History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 782 The one I love hurts me the most (Part )
In the Golden Palace, the emperor and his minister looked at each other and cried.

Yelu Ruan felt unprecedented loneliness. He was sad and unwilling. With tears in his eyes, he looked at Xiao Han and said, "Uncle, brother-in-law, make up another reason, any reason, I will believe it."

Xiao Han also had tears in his eyes. "Your Majesty, since ancient times, who has rebelled and survived? You have forgiven me time and again, but I have not repented. I have repeatedly plotted treason. How can I still have the face to continue living? Please kill me, Your Majesty."

All the ministers called for severe punishment to rectify the government.

Yelu Ruan choked with sobs, and after a moment of silence, he finally slowly raised his trembling hands. He was ordering the execution of Xiao Han, but it was more like he was saying goodbye to Xiao Han.

Xiao Han was executed and his wife Princess Abuli also died in prison; Yelu Anduan was quarantined at home and did not die of illness until Emperor Muzong Yelu Jing ascended the throne.

The conspiracy was exposed, but problems arose again.

Why is it Yelu Wuzhi again? How could such confidential and crucial evidence such as the correspondence between Xiao Han and Yelu Anduan fall into Yelu Wuzhi's hands so easily?

The reason was simple. Someone inside the organization had deliberately betrayed him. There was a traitor among the traitors. The name of this traitor was terrifying. He was none other than Yelu Chage, the Prince of Taining, the biological son of Yelu Anduan.

The son took the initiative to hand over the letter in which his father colluded with Xiao Han to Xiao Han's political enemy Yelu Wuzhi, and personally went to Emperor Shizong Yelu Ruan to cry about his father's conspiracy of treason.

Why did Yelu Chage betray his own father? The answer will soon be revealed.

Xiao Han is dead, but the remnants of Xiao Han's counter-revolutionary group are still forging ahead.

Yelu Liuge, who had previously participated in the rebellion, was moved by Xiao Han's perseverance and firmly believed that failure is the mother of success, so he set up the Hongmen Banquet and invited Emperor Shizong Yelu Ruan to attend.

Yelu Liuge also learned from his previous lesson and no longer looked for useless teammates. It would be easier to get things done with fewer people. In order to prevent the news from leaking out, he decided to do it himself. He did not even prepare any executioners or axemen, but just hid a dagger in his sleeve, ready to kill Yelu Ruan with one blow when he toasted him.

Unexpectedly, because he was too nervous, he aroused Yelu Ruan's suspicion. The guards went forward to check and found the murder weapon.

Yelu Liuge made all kinds of excuses.

Because the living habits of nomadic people are different from those of people in the Central Plains, in order to facilitate eating, they often carry knives with them to cut meat. So Yelu Liuge insisted that he had no ill intentions and it was just a misunderstanding.

Since Yelu Liuge did not conspire with others and did not arrange for executioners, Yelu Ruan was skeptical and temporarily put him in prison for interrogation.

A few days later, Yelu Ruan personally interrogated him, "You really don't have any intention of regicide?"

It can be seen that Yelu Ruan’s method of interrogating suspects cannot be said to be tear-jerking, but it is at least touching.

Yelu Liuge pointed to the sky and the earth and swore a poisonous oath: "If I have any rebellious intentions, I will die of a thousand ulcers!"

"Okay, I believe it." Yelu Liuge was acquitted on the spot.

Yelu Wuzhi was so confused that he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "If the victim was not His Majesty, I really think His Majesty was in cahoots with them!" At Yelu Wuzhi's insistence, the "Liu Ge's Rebellion Case" was retried. Afterwards, Yelu Liu Ge confessed to his crimes and told everything.

However, because of his good attitude in confessing his crime, he was given a lighter sentence and was exiled to the Ugu tribe (in present-day Mongolia). After arriving in the Ugu tribe, Yelu Liuge died of a thousand carbuncles on his back, fulfilling his oath.

Xiao Han, Yelu Anduan and Yelu Liuge were the core members of the "Shizong Party". They conspired to assassinate the king and rebel again and again. The successive blows made Shizong Yelu Ruan doubt his life.

He desperately needed to find a confidant who was loyal to him. When it came to finding a confidant, Yelu Ruan was obviously desperate, because he chose Yelu Chage.

Yelu Chage took the initiative to betray his own father and was extremely loyal to me.

Yelu Chage showed off his acting skills in front of Yelu Ruan, crying and complaining that his father had failed to live up to the emperor's grace and how could he have such a rebellious father? He "cried and complained with great sorrow." Yelu Ruan was moved by his loyalty and let him command the imperial guards to be responsible for his own protection.

Whenever Emperor Shizong went out hunting, Yelu Chage would use his wrist injury as an excuse not to use the bow and arrow, but only to carry a chain hammer. With a bow and arrow, one could attack from a distance, but with a chain hammer, one could only attack at close range. Yelu Chage took the initiative to give up the bow and arrow to show that he had no intention of murdering the emperor.

In normal times, Yelu Chage often reported the thoughts of his family members to Emperor Shizong, Yelu Ruan, and made timely and detailed reports on their every move and every word, trying his best to show that he had no privacy in front of the emperor.

As a result, Yelu Ruan became more and more trusting of Yelu Chage.

Then, Yelu Chage used the excuse that the camp was in disarray, with various tribes living together and a mixture of good and bad people. Some distant and untrustworthy people were too close to Your Majesty, while someone as loyal as me was far away from Your Majesty, which was inappropriate. So Yelu Chage's tent was arranged closer and closer to the Golden Tent of Emperor Shizong Yelu Ruan.

Those involved are often confused, but those who are watching can see things more clearly. Yelu Wuzhi saw through Yelu Chage's evil ambitions and immediately submitted a memorial to the emperor, saying that Yelu Chage was sinister and treacherous, with ulterior motives, and that the emperor must remain highly vigilant against him.

Yelu Ruan disagreed and said that he was so loyal to the emperor that he even betrayed his own father. Isn't he worthy of trust?
Yelu Wuzhi was heartbroken. "He can even sell his own father, so who else can he not sell? The greatest filial piety is loyalty, and loyal ministers must come from filial sons. This man has a vicious heart and is definitely a dangerous element!"

Yelu Wuzhi uncovered the counter-revolutionary conspiracies of Xiao Han, Yelu Liuge and others several times, and was a hero of the "Crossing Agreement". However, he could never gain the trust of Emperor Shizong Yelu Ruan, and we never considered him to be a member of "Emperor Shizong's Party".

Because Yelu Wuzhi was loyal to the Liao Kingdom, not Emperor Shizong himself. Yelu Wuzhi's thoughts and concerns were all about the overall situation, not about individuals or individual interest groups, so he was a good person, but not "one of us".

Emperor Shizong Yelu Ruan not only did not believe Yelu Wuzhi's words, but also showed Yelu Wuzhi's memorial to Yelu Cha Ge.

Yelu Chage was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat, thinking that Yelu Wuzhi's eyes were really sharp! Yelu Chage was possessed by the actor, and he fell to the ground and cried bitterly, saying that I abandoned my father to serve the emperor, and Yelu Wuzhi was jealous of my being favored by His Majesty, and slandered me out of nothing, I was wronged...

Yelu Ruan immediately comforted him, "Of course I believe you, otherwise, I would not show you this."

Despite Yelu Wuzhi's repeated reminders and warnings, Yelu Ruan not only did not accept them, but instead became more and more trusted in Yelu Chage and began to distance himself from Yelu Wuzhi.

(End of this chapter)