bookrandom Chapter 194 Slapping the Face of the Treacherous General 2
Chapter 194 Slapping the Face of the Treacherous General 2
Du Rong would affix his seal whenever he communicated with his confidants.
The people planted by Leng Yuexing had seen what the seal looked like; it was a seal about the size of a thumb, carved from jade.
The seal features a coiled blue dragon on top, and the pattern below it is not text, but a complex graphic.
Dragon decorations were not something a general could use. If anyone else was found using dragon decorations, they would be executed by slow slicing, or even have their family destroyed.
Leng Yuexing didn't think that a small seal could make her father order Du Rong's death, but it was enough to make Du Rong's image in her father's eyes plummet.
He carved an identical seal from extremely light wood and kept it in his bosom, waiting for the right moment.
On her way to a palace banquet, Leng Yuexing encountered Du Rong.
Upon seeing Leng Yuexing, Du Rong gave a perfunctory bow and said with a contemptuous expression, "I didn't expect to meet the Third Prince here. I suppose the Third Prince's confinement has been lifted."
Leng Yuexing glanced at him indifferently, her expression cold. "General Du Rong is currently a favorite of the Emperor, but who knows when he might make a big mistake and be reprimanded by the Emperor, possibly even being confined to his home."
After hearing this, Du Rong gritted his teeth and glared at Leng Yuexing, then said hatefully, "Third Prince, you need to watch your words, otherwise I don't know what I might say in front of the Emperor. It would be bad if I said something bad about the Third Prince."
Leng Yuexing glanced at Du Rong indifferently, then lightly dusted off the dust on her sleeves and walked past Du Rong.
"Then I'll wait and see," Leng Yuexing said calmly.
Du Rong stared at Leng Yuexing's retreating figure, his face filled with resentment. That's it! He hated the Third Prince's attitude the most.
He had previously defeated the Phoenix Feather Kingdom and returned victorious, and everyone looked at him with new respect, greeting him with smiles and fawning over him.
Only the Third Prince remained indifferent to him, showing no change whatsoever, offering only a congratulatory remark in a very flat tone.
It was one thing for him to be a lowly captain before, but now that he's a general, the Third Prince still treats him this way. How can he tolerate that?
Compared to the Third Prince, the Second Prince treated him with great enthusiasm, so he decided to support the Second Prince's ascension to the throne.
Although they are all legitimate sons of the Empress, the Third Prince's birth mother, Empress Jiade, has passed away, and the current Empress is Cao, the birth mother of the Second Prince.
The third prince only had the emperor's favor and the support of military generals.
But pampering is the most unreal thing; it disappears very easily.
Once the emperor's favor is gone and the Third Prince's allies are removed, he believes the Third Prince will be trampled into the mud!
Du Rong wanted to see the Third Prince looking dejected after losing the Emperor's favor and the support of the court officials.
Unfortunately, he failed to do so.
Even though the Third Prince has lost everything, he remains calm and composed, as if nothing can break him.
Du Rong clenched his fists and looked at the Third Prince, who was as aloof as an immortal. He decided to give the Third Prince another great gift.
The fact that the Third Prince did not appear dejected like a stray dog shows that he has not done enough and must work harder.
Leng Yuexing, who had already left, had a faint smile on her lips.
When Leng Yuexing arrived at the banquet garden, all the civil and military officials were already seated. Upon seeing Leng Yuexing, they all bowed to her.
After a cup of tea, the emperor arrived at the banquet garden. Leng Yuexing rose and, together with the princes and civil and military officials, bowed to the emperor.
When the emperor walked up to Leng Yuexing, he paused slightly, glanced at Leng Yuexing who was as aloof as ever, and his eyes deepened for a moment.
During this period, Leng Yuexing concealed her brilliance and avoided court intrigues, which made the emperor miss Leng Yuexing's previous spirited appearance and feel a pang of heartache.
Perhaps he had gone a bit too far… The emperor pondered as he walked to the throne at the front and sat down.
The emperor, dressed in a black robe embroidered with golden dragons, should have appeared extremely domineering and majestic, but due to his old age, he had lost some of his power, resembling an old dragon on its deathbed.
The emperor's arrival signified the official start of the banquet. This court banquet coincided with the Mid-Autumn Festival, and included a segment where civil and military officials presented gifts.
When it was General Du Rong's turn, he carried a long box to the center of the banquet, raised the box, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, this is a precious sword that I specially commissioned to be forged..."
Before Du Rong could finish speaking, a seal suddenly fell from his body. Du Rong looked down in confusion, his eyes widened in disbelief, and then cold sweat poured down his back.
Because he was very close to the emperor, the emperor saw the seal that had fallen to the ground at a glance and ordered the attendant beside him to pick it up and give it to him.
After the servant picked it up, Du Rong grabbed his hand, his face turning pale as he held the servant's hand.
"Please let go, General," the attendant said, neither humble nor arrogant.
Du Rong released his grip and frantically tried to think of a solution, his entire back soaked in cold sweat.
The attendant handed the imperial seal to the emperor, who took it and saw a blue dragon coiled above it.
The seal feels warm and smooth to the touch, carved from fine wood, with an oily and smooth surface, clearly indicating that it has been handled frequently.
The emperor snorted coldly, gripping the seal tightly. He said in a deep voice, "Du Rong, what is this? Do you know that ministers are not allowed to forge seals? And there's a blue dragon decoration on it. Do you intend to rebel?"
Du Rong knelt down with a thud, his head on the ground, and wept bitterly, saying, "Your Majesty, I am innocent! That seal does not belong to me. I do not know how it came to be on my person. It must be a frame-up by a thief!"
The emperor picked up a teacup from the table and threw it at Du Rong. "You treacherous accuser! Who would dare to use such a tactic? Tell me!"
Du Rong's head was bleeding profusely from the blow, but he dared not wipe it with his sleeve. Thinking of Leng Yuexing, whom he had just met, he said angrily, "When I came here, I encountered the Third Prince. This seal must have been left on me by the Third Prince!"
Upon hearing this, the emperor looked at Leng Yuexing, his eyes filled with coldness. "Yuexing, what do you have to say?"
Leng Yuexing stood up calmly and bowed, saying, "Father, I have never used any seals without permission. Please investigate this matter thoroughly."
The emperor's gaze toward Leng Yuexing was inscrutable, but he finally said in a deep voice, "Sit down."
"Jin'an!"
Jin An, the leader of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, stepped forward and knelt down, saying, "Your subject is here!"
"This matter is entrusted to you to investigate. You must find the true owner of the seal!"
"Wei Chen takes orders!"
After Jin'an withdrew, the emperor looked at Du Rong and said, "Du Rong will be fined three years' salary and confined to his room for one month to reflect on his mistakes, as a warning to others!"
Upon hearing this, Du Rong wiped away his tears with his sleeve and choked out, "Your humble servant obeys the decree!"
That was the end of it. Leng Yuexing calmly picked up the tea on the table and drank it all in one gulp.
Du Rong holds half of the military power in Longyuan Kingdom, and the Emperor will not execute Du Rong because of this seal.
However, Leng Yuexing believed that from then on, Du Rong's reputation in the Emperor's eyes would plummet, and the Emperor would gradually take back military power.
Because of the exposure of Du Rong's official seal, the letters he had written have become a huge hidden danger. He will definitely take action in the short term, which will make it easier to collect evidence against him.
After the palace banquet ended, Leng Yuexing left the palace to go to his villa in the suburbs. He hadn't seen Wenren Mo for a long time, and he wanted to check on Wenren Mo's progress in his studies and give him a Mid-Autumn Festival gift.
As the carriage traveled through the suburban jungle, a sudden gust of wind arose, and dozens of men dressed in black appeared ahead, brandishing knives and charging towards the carriage.