Princess, she is the one who facilitated the extradition.

"Your presence here tonight shows that you already have the answer in your heart."

The emperor smiled and said, "If you trust me as much as you trust me, then I will naturally trust you."

This was the first time he had smiled from the bottom of his heart since recognizing Gui Yao.

Gui Yao smiled slowly.

Her father's treatment of Zhang Er and the Empress showed her his protection of her.

Therefore, after learning about the armor, she decided to go to the palace and tell him the truth.

"What brings you here today?"

Seeing that she remained silent, the emperor asked softly, his eyes filled with undisguised affection and joy.

The fact that his daughter was willing to come to him meant that she had begun to accept him again.

Gui Yao then told the truth about the Gu family's defeat: "The standard amount of iron used for each full suit of armor is fifty catties, and the Ministry of War distributes iron according to the catty."

However, the armor actually issued to the soldiers weighed no more than twenty pounds. The helmets were the same size and shape, but they were empty inside.

The younger brother of Marquis Weilie was killed by an arrow shot through the temple by the Lu army.

If it were a normal helmet, ordinary crossbows would not be able to penetrate it.

On the battlefield, amidst sword strikes and arrows, how can flesh and blood withstand the onslaught? Only armor can protect the soldiers' fighting strength; it is their second life.

The Gu family army's second life was taken away by the treacherous officials of the Dasheng Dynasty. They were executioners who aided and abetted the evildoers and should be killed as soon as possible.

Gui Yao made no attempt to conceal the murderous intent in his eyes and continued, "As for the leather cords woven from the armor plates, your rule is that the cowhide should be soaked in tung oil three times and then twisted into one strand."

But Marquis Weilie said that the armor was made with single-strand ropes made of pigskin. When defending against enemies, the ropes broke, and the already poorly made armor, which was made with less iron, fell apart. Not only could it not defend against enemies, but it also became a burden to wear.

After listening, the emperor's expression gradually became solemn. "When Marquis Weilie was defeated, Zhang Er took over his position and repelled the Lu army. Zhang Er's report did not mention the armor."

If what Marquis Weilie said is true, then Zhang Er is helping to cover it up.

At the time, the Duke of Yue was in charge of this batch of armor, and the Duke of Yue was a subordinate of the Duke of Zhenguo...

The emperor bit his cheek. "At that time, the national treasury was empty, and the Ministry of Revenue could not come up with the money to purchase armor. Some officials advocated ceding cities."

I disagreed, and I almost emptied my private treasury to the Ministry of Revenue to procure that batch of armor and weapons.

The Empress also used half of her dowry to buy food and supplies, which was one of the reasons why he was tolerant of her.

As a result, Marquis Weilie was no match for him, the Gu family army was almost completely wiped out, and most of the city's people also died.

As an emperor, he was naturally angry, but considering Gu Jia's many years of merit in guarding the border, and the fact that the entire Gu family had been wiped out, he did not punish him, but he also did not intend to use him again.

"Since he discovered the problem, why didn't he report it to me?"

After Marquis Weilie returned to the capital, he did not strip him of his rights as a marquis.

Gui Yao recalled what Marquis Weilie had said and relayed it truthfully: "He sent you a secret letter, and after returning to the capital, he wrote a memorial impeaching you for this matter."

"I did not see it..."

Immediately remembering something, the emperor called out, "De Shun."

De Shun came in quickly.

"Thirteen years ago, before and after Gu Xiao's defeat, did you see any of Gu Xiao's secret letters and reports?"

Normally, apart from the emperor, only the chief eunuch Li Deshun had access to those memorials in the entire palace.

At that time, the crown prince was only eleven years old and had not yet been involved in government affairs.

De Shun heard everything clearly from outside and quickly knelt down, saying, "Your Majesty, this old servant did not see it and never did anything wrong."

The emperor believed in De Shun, but in this palace, no one could be absolutely trusted, so the emperor summoned the head of the secret guards.

At that time, the Yilong Guard had just been established, and all of the emperor's secret messages were delivered by the secret guards.

The head of the secret guards had served the emperor for decades and was extremely loyal. He also stated that he had never received any secret letters from Gu Xiao.

As for the emperor's secret guards, they have died or retired over the years, so a reinvestigation will take some time.

"Gu Xiao is still being watched. The villains who caused trouble must have been worried that he would expose the matter. The secret letter must have been intercepted en route."

Gui Yao looked at Li Deshun, "But Gu Xiao's secret memorial was directly handed over to the Memorial Office, and he wrote it twice, while Deshun was in charge of the Memorial Office."

De Shun was the emperor's confidant, which is why Gu Xiao believed that these two memorials could reach the emperor.

However, his father did not react at all, so he misunderstood that his father wanted to protect his wife's family and stopped appealing.

Upon hearing this, De Shun broke out in a cold sweat. "This old servant truly did not see it. This old servant will go and check the registration and archives immediately."

Gui Yao said, "If someone steals memorials, then the registration and archiving will most likely also be tampered with."

The Office of Reporting to the Emperor conducts an inventory check every now and then, so how could the other party have left such a big loophole?

When this was mentioned, De Shun hesitated, thinking of something, and said, "Your Majesty, that year was the first time the young master left the palace to travel."

The State of Lu suddenly invaded the border, and the young master had not returned for half a year. You received news that the young master had been captured by the Lu army. Overwhelmed with worry, you suffered a stroke and fell into a coma...

"I only found out afterward that the news was a misrepresentation."

The emperor also recalled that incident, "Zhuzhu returned to the capital a few days later, and the empress was in charge of the situation on the day I fell into a coma."

Li Deshun nodded emphatically.

At that time, the State of Lu was aggressively invading the borders. With a foreign enemy at hand, many officials requested an audience with His Majesty to discuss the war between the two countries.

However, His Majesty was still unconscious. To prevent unrest among the people, the Empress suggested concealing the fact that the Emperor was in a coma.

Li Deshun, having lost his backbone, also felt that the Empress's words made sense, so he focused on taking care of the Emperor, leaving the Empress to deal with the ministers who came to the palace to see His Majesty that day.

"When I woke up afterwards, the court was stable. I even praised the Empress for her composure and ability to secure the rear for me."

"About half a month later, when I went to the memorial office, I met the Crown Prince on the way. The Crown Prince offered to help me get the memorials."

Following his recollection, Li Deshun slowly recalled some events and cautiously said, "As a result, the Crown Prince accidentally knocked over the teapot, wetting the register, so this old servant had to have it rewritten..."

However, since the Crown Prince was a playful, impulsive, and troublesome child, it wasn't the first time he had caused trouble while running around the palace.

At the time, the person in charge of copying was one of his own, and Li Deshun didn't think much of it after receiving the new register.

At that time, who would have thought that there was more to Gu Xiao's defeat than met the eye, and who would have thought that someone would be so audacious as to intercept even a memorial to the throne?

Looking back now, every single thing was interconnected.

The news of the young master's accident was most likely deliberately leaked by the Zhang family, and even His Majesty's coma was orchestrated by them.

The emperor, of course, realized what was happening and snorted heavily, "The empress is far from being composed."

It was clearly the Duke of Zhenguo who instigated the officials, and then had his daughter step forward to gain merit in front of the emperor.

Killing several birds with one stone.

At the time, he was so preoccupied with his daughter's capture and worried about foreign enemies that he never imagined the Zhang family would be so bold as to take action against the emperor.

Ok.

That's great.

The Zhang family father and son, and father and daughter, worked together seamlessly, even using the crown prince as a tool.

"Walk."

He immediately threw off the covers and got up, saying, "I'll go to the Cold Palace and ask the deposed empress."

Li Deshun hurriedly brought him an outer robe to put on. Gui Yao's thoughts were complicated. "Over the years, Marquis Weilie has found several sets of armor from that time and hid them outside the city of the capital."

She never presented any evidence, yet her father believed everything she said.

The emperor said, "If it were about Wuying, you wouldn't have come to me."

"I was confused before, and the Zhang family hid things well. Now, I've come to realize some things."

It's time to take this opportunity to rectify things.

"However, the Duke of Zhenguo is an old fox. Even if this matter is investigated, I'm afraid someone will make him a scapegoat."

"But I am not yet clear about the extent of his influence, so I do not intend to take action against him for the time being."

Gui Yao nodded. "I understand."

It would be good if we could get rid of the Duke of Yue this time.

The father and daughter didn't say another word and went to the Cold Palace one after the other.

The Cold Palace was dilapidated and desolate. In the more than twenty years since the emperor ascended the throne, there were not many concubines in the harem. In addition, he was tired of the infighting in the harem, so he maintained the position of the principal wife and did not give the other concubines the opportunity to develop ambitions.

His actions indeed reduced the intrigue and scheming in the harem compared to when the previous emperor was in power, and the Cold Palace was naturally left to decay.

Unexpectedly, the first person to move in was the deposed empress.

Even now, the deposed empress finds it hard to believe that she has been imprisoned in the cold palace. Therefore, upon seeing the emperor, she hurriedly stepped forward with joy, "Your Majesty, you have come to take me back, haven't you?"