I play the role of Jiajing in Zongwu: What crime have I committed?

Yuwen Jian's situation was a mix of joy and sorrow.

The good news is that Gu's main force was completely destroyed in this flood.

The worrying thing is that the public anger sparked by this flood is spreading and may endanger the country.

Suddenly, a palace attendant rushed in from outside to report.

"Your Majesty, Lord Qinglong has returned."

"Where is he?" The group was taken aback, and Yuwen Jian quickly asked.

"He carried a wooden stick on his back and knelt outside the palace gate to beg for forgiveness."

"Summon him in immediately."

Soon, Qinglong was helped in by the eunuch.

Yan Donglou and the others were stunned when they saw the Azure Dragon's appearance.

This once majestic grandmaster was now disheveled, his face stained with blood and tears.

As soon as he entered the door, he knelt down with a thud and banged his head on the ground.

"Your Majesty, this sinner deserves to die."

What happened?

Qinglong raised his face, which was streaked with tears, and said, "We fell into the Gu family's ambush. Only I was lucky enough to escape."

"what?"

Upon hearing this, Yuwen Jian's vision went black, and he almost collapsed to the ground.

Yan Donglou and his men were so shocked that their beards trembled.

One second they were celebrating that a flood had extinguished the Gu family's rebellion, but they never expected to be proven wrong so quickly.

Qinglong continued, weeping, "I originally intended to press my advantage and pursue the remnants of the Gu clan, but who knew they had already gathered their remaining forces and laid an ambush on the only road to Luozhou..."

Yuwen Jian stared at Qinglong, wishing he could kill him on the spot.

"When you received the order, I repeatedly instructed you to defend Pingdingshan to the death and block Gu's rebellion."

“You stubbornly refuse to listen to my advice and insist on holding Pingdingshan.”

"Thinking he has read extensively in military books and is well-versed in tactics, he insists on breaching the dam and releasing the flood."

"Now, this great flood has not only tarnished the court's prestige, but also caused it to be defeated by the traitor Gu, losing both its wife and its army."

"If you had listened to the generals earlier, how could you have caused such a disaster?"

Qinglong's eyes were filled with regret, and he remained silent as Yuwen Jiandao rebuked him.

"Your Majesty, please calm down!" Yan Donglou quickly advised from the side.

Yuwen Jian was no longer listening to any of it; he pointed at Qinglong's nose and continued to berate him.

"You were stubborn and self-willed, which resulted in the loss of Luozhou, the loss of soldiers and generals, and the fall of territory and cities."

"It's all your fault!"

Upon hearing this, Qinglong spoke with a firm and powerful voice.

"Your Majesty, Qinglong is willing to make amends by leading the army to fight Gu Ni again and vowing to destroy him."

Chapter 151 The troops are approaching the city

The flooding of Luoyang shocked the world.

Two different versions spread wildly in Southern Chu.

Version one is that Gu Siling, in order to breach Luozhou City, did not hesitate to breach the dikes and release floodwaters, causing devastation to the downstream areas.

Version two states that in order to prevent the Gu family from "purging the emperor's inner circle," the imperial court went so far as to flood Luozhou.

As Gu Siling's direct subordinates, Yuezhou Army naturally chose to trust their own general.

In their hearts, General Gu loved the people like his own children and would never do such a heinous thing.

They could imagine that the Gu family's soldiers must have suffered heavy losses under the flood.

For a moment, they all wished they could go to Luozhou to help.

However, Yuezhou was an important border town, and they all had the responsibility to defend the territory, so they dared not leave without permission.

Here, inside the council hall of the Governor's Office in Mizhou, Yunnan.

When news of the flooding of Luozhou spread, the entire governor's mansion was in an uproar.

Xiao Jinghuan slammed his fist on the table and stood up, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

"Okay, okay!"

"Gentlemen, I never expected that the Pingdingshan garrison would actually do such an unwise thing as Minister Hu and Mr. Su had planned."

"This is practically digging their own grave."

Mei Changsu, who was standing to the side, was also quite shocked.

The Eastern Depot actually managed to control the Pingdingshan garrison, the most crucial element of the entire operation.

He looked at Xuanwu with a meaningful gaze.

"I never imagined the Eastern Depot had such great capabilities."

Xuanwu smiled calmly upon hearing this.

"Mr. Su, you flatter me. The Eastern Depot's actions are merely to alleviate His Majesty's burdens."

Hu Ruzhen stroked his long beard, feeling quite excited.

"In any case, the water attack plan has succeeded."

"More importantly, Gu Siling suffered heavy losses this time."

He stood up and walked to the corner.

"Gu Siling has always been the biggest obstacle to our Great Liang's southward expansion. Now that Southern Chu is in turmoil and Gu Siling has suffered a crushing defeat, this is a golden opportunity."

"Minister Hu is absolutely right!"

Xiao Jinghuan quickly chimed in, "Now is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. How should we fight this next battle?"

Hu Ruzhen smiled slightly, her gaze deep as she looked at Xuanwu.

"His Majesty must have already given instructions to your Eastern Depot!"

Upon hearing this, the expressions of the people in the hall varied.

A look of understanding flashed in Mei Changsu's eyes.

Only Xiao Jinghuan was taken aback upon hearing this.

"Father?"

He was puzzled, his questioning gaze shifting back and forth between Hu Ruzhen and Xuanwu.

Hu Ruzhen smiled without saying a word, but simply gestured "please" to Xuanwu.

Seeing this, Xuanwu slowly said, "His Majesty ordered me to bring Prince Ling of Southern Chu, Yuwen Xuan, here precisely for this matter."

"Yuwen Xuan?"

Xiao Jinghuan's pupils widened suddenly, and his mind was reeling as if struck by lightning.

He was not a fool, and he immediately grasped the crux of the matter.

It turns out they wanted to use Yuwen Xuan to trick Yuezhou into opening up the city.

Xiao Jinghuan felt increasingly uneasy.

Yuwen Xuan entered Jinling several months ago, and it wasn't until now that he was brought to Yunnan.

He initially thought that Emperor Liang wanted to let him go back, but he never expected it was because of this matter.

But was this a spur-of-the-moment decision by the Emperor, or was it premeditated?

If it is the former, then leaving Yuwen Xuan in Jinling at that time was a stroke of genius.

If it is the latter, then it means that the Emperor had already begun his plans for Southern Chu as early as when he detained Yuwen Xuan.

Several months in advance…

If that's the case, wouldn't it mean that the internal strife in Southern Chu and the rebellion of the Gu family were all orchestrated by the Emperor?

Xiao Jinghuan felt a chill run down his spine as he thought about it, and before he knew it, cold sweat was trickling down his back.

My father's mind is indeed unfathomable and terrifying.

He dared not think about it any further.

Composing himself, he quickly asked, "Now that you have Yuwen Xuan in your hands, are you planning to use him to trick Yuezhou into surrendering?"

"good."

What if this person doesn't listen?

Xuanwu chuckled softly, his voice resolute.

"He will listen. Several months ago, he learned from Consort Xi that the Great Liang was going to attack the Southern Chu and wanted to use him to trick the city gates open."

"But he neither chose to commit suicide for his country, nor did he fight to the death; instead, he has survived to this day..."

"This is enough to show that he values ​​his life quite a bit."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jinghuan suddenly realized what was going on.

Then he nodded slowly.

As a prince, he was the person of the highest status present, and naturally, the order to attack Southern Chu was made by him.

"Alright, in that case, we'll have to rely on you all."

He slammed his hand on the table and stood up abruptly, his voice ringing out.

"This time, we must take down Southern Chu in one fell swoop!"

"Yes."

The crowd inside the hall responded in unison, their fighting spirit soaring.

When Xuanwu arrived at Yuwen Xuan's residence and pushed open the door, he found him standing by the window.

The next second, he saw the King of Southern Chu slowly turn around, his face calm as if he had expected it.

"Are you preparing to attack my Southern Chu?"

"His Highness Prince Ling is indeed intelligent."

Has something happened in Southern Chu?

Xuanwu did not hide anything and recounted the floods in Luozhou and the rebellion of the Gu family.

With each sentence he spoke, Yuwen Xuan's face grew paler.

"I never imagined that the situation would deteriorate to this extent in such a short time."

Yuwen Xuan sighed deeply, his gaze towards the south filled with complex emotions.

With internal and external troubles plaguing Southern Chu, how can it possibly withstand the iron cavalry of Daliang?

"I can agree to what you said before."

He said calmly, "I will help your Great Liang to trick Yuezhou into opening up the city, but Great Liang must also agree to two conditions."

"Your Highness, please speak."

Xuanwu quickly replied, "If you have a request, that's easy to handle."

"First, save my life."

"Secondly, even if the Southern Chu Kingdom falls, my food, clothing, and daily necessities for the rest of my life must be of the same standard as those of princes and nobles."

Xuanwu burst into laughter upon hearing this.