No one knew better than Xie Jingxi why the battle of Luoyi was lost.
As he watched the commoners of Luoyi push their way to the palace gates, Xie Jingxi felt a chill run down his spine.
“Guards, seize these unruly people!” Xie Jingxi ordered his attendants, his voice already slurred with panic.
The guards dared not disobey the Second Prince’s command and immediately moved to surround the refugees from Luoyi.
However, the guards could subdue one person, but not ten. Even if they could hold back ten, how could they silence hundreds?
These refugees from Luoyi were already at their breaking point. Faced with the guards’ indiscriminate pressure, it was like pouring oil on a raging fire.
The long-suppressed anger finally erupted.
“The reason Luoyi is still occupied by the Turks is not because the sons of the Ji family were defeated, but because the Second Prince disregarded military law, repeatedly opposed the old General Ji, and even sent the old General Ji to the front lines, only to watch the sons of the Ji family die under the Turkic blades while he stood by with nearly ten thousand soldiers, watching with cold eyes!”
“We do not know why the Second Prince did this! But after all the sons of the Ji family perished, the Second Prince not only failed to report the news immediately but instead caused a slaughter among his own troops, piling the corpses of his soldiers on top of those of the Ji family’s men!”
“In the Battle of Luoyi, we only saw the old General Ji and the young generals of the Ji family fighting valiantly, killing the enemy. We never saw the Second Prince participate. What’s more! Some Western Liang soldiers, taking advantage of the ongoing battle, sneaked into Luoyi city, not to comfort the people or scout the enemy, but because the Second Prince found the army rations too dry and difficult to swallow, so he sent Western Liang soldiers to purchase fine grains and cured meats for him!”
The words of the Luoyi refugees shattered the worldviews of the citizens of the main city!
Whether it was the Second Prince abandoning the Ji family’s men on the front lines, the Second Prince turning his blade against the Western Liang soldiers, or the Second Prince using the war as an opportunity to send soldiers into Luoyi city for his own selfish gain…
Any one of these incidents would be enough to sicken and disgust people in the army. Let alone the Second Prince committing all three. Such actions were simply chilling to the extreme!
The Ji family women kneeling on the ground were stunned into silence.
They looked at the Second Prince, dressed in a python robe and appearing human, with disbelief. They never would have imagined that a prince of a nation could commit such heinous acts that defied heavenly reason!
Their men fought desperately on the battlefield, yet the Second Prince sent people to buy fine grains?
Could a human being do such a thing?!
Ji Ziyan sobbed. She never knew that her grandfather, father, and uncles had endured far more than what was recorded in the military dispatches.
Xie Jingxi glared at the Luoyi refugees with venom in his eyes, his voice like a viper’s hiss, “A bunch of ignorant fools! How dare you slander military affairs here! If you dare to spout any more slander! I will have your entire families’ heads!”
Ji Zizhao’s heart was filled with rage, and she stood up bravely. She had underestimated the Second Prince’s shamelessness.
The one who had committed such heinous acts not only showed no guilt in the face of the people’s outcry but instead wore a ferocious expression…
He was worse than a beast!
“Have these people, who fled from Luoyi all the way to the imperial city, come here to be threatened with death by the Second Prince? If the Second Prince had truly not done these things, why would these people now be denouncing him? Even if the people made a mistake, the people’s will comes from their voice. Instead of comforting them, the Second Prince not only failed to investigate the source of the rumors but also harshly threatened them without cause! Raising his butcher’s knife! Is this how the Second Prince conducts himself?”
Xie Jingxi’s chest ached, and he stared intently at Ji Zizhao, “Ji Zizhao, don’t push your luck!”
“Is the Second Prince threatening me now because he’s displeased with his threats to the commoners?” Ji Zizhao raised her chin, meeting Xie Jingxi’s gaze fearlessly, the fire of anger clearly visible in her eyes.
The surrounding Luoyi villagers, witnessing the Ji family’s eldest daughter daring to resist imperial authority, were all in tears of remorse.
Since their arrival in the main city, it was the Ji family who had treated them and provided them with a place to stay after their displacement. It was also the Ji family who had sent doctors to Luoyi to treat their families.
And they, all along, had cowered in the corners, concerned for their own safety, afraid to speak the truth.
The Ji family should blame them, even hate them…
But what was the Ji family’s eldest daughter doing?
Not only did she utter no complaints from beginning to end, but she also stepped forward when the Second Prince intended to punish them. If they did not repay such an act, how could they be considered human!
The guilt in their hearts was gradually replaced by anger. The Luoyi refugees risked their lives to continue their shouting, their voices echoing the things they had seen and witnessed within the city.
They didn’t quite understand what was happening to them. They felt as if a fire was burning in their hearts. Only by spitting out this resentment could they find release and peace.
Xie Jingxi staggered back a step, gritting his teeth in rage.
At the time, he had only been concerned with swiftly eliminating the soldiers loyal to the Ji family. Even though he knew that the commoners of Luoyi had witnessed it, he had paid it no mind.
Because he never dreamed that these commoners would one day come to the imperial city!
And stand before the palace, denouncing his crimes!!
Xie Jingxi knew clearly that if today’s matter could not be resolved, let alone if he could not account for himself to his father, even if his father truly favored him and he escaped punishment, his path to the throne would be forever cut off.
“The matter of going to the front lines was the old General Ji’s own decision. I tried to stop him several times, but my objections were rejected. Seeing a hundred thousand soldiers die on the front lines, what could I have done? I admit to the burning and killing of the soldiers. But it was precisely because those soldiers instigated others to avenge the old General Ji that I could not stand by and watch the soldiers of Yulin die again, and thus I was forced to raise my blade against those soldiers! As for sending soldiers to purchase fine grains… I was unaware of this.”
With a plea that appealed to both emotion and reason, Xie Jingxi stood tall again, appearing as the upright and resplendent Second Prince.
Even if the Luoyi refugees spun tales of incredible length, the soldiers loyal to the Ji family had all been silenced. Those who returned alive were now his confidants. As long as he denied it, no one could do anything to him.
“This bastard!” Ji Zixiu gritted her teeth, preparing to stand up.
Ji Ziyan tightly embraced the furious Ji Zixiu, “This is not the time to cause trouble, second sister. Do not be impulsive.”
Even if she couldn’t fully grasp the situation, she knew that the more the Ji family was in a weakened position, the more they would win the hearts of the people.
Xie Jingxi observed the subtle movements of Ji Ziyan and Ji Zixiu. The overall situation was now decided. No matter how much the Ji family showed weakness, it was of no consequence. His crimes were unsubstantiated rumors, but the evidence of the Ji family’s guilt in the military dispatches was undeniable.
Xie Jingxi’s gaze fell upon Ji Zizhao once more. A good-for-nothing is still a good-for-nothing. Did she really think that the shouts of a few unruly commoners could bring him down?
Ji Zizhao knew, of course, that the mere accusations of the Luoyi refugees were not enough to be conclusive.
So…
She had prepared a special gift.