Since they were acting under the pretext of "investigating the rumors and relieving the king's worries", they were undoubtedly the "upright faction".
With this upright reputation, they could smoothly gain an audience with King Xia Jie.
Yu Shuang and her companions claimed to be under Yue Qi's command. After an investigation by the Ministry of Justice, they had traced the source of the rumors to these brothel girls.
Then, in front of King Xia Jie, they presented the golden cube.
King Xia Jie naturally knew what this item was. After all, the jade token was bestowed by him upon Xia Yanhe and was unique in the world.
Sure enough, the moment King Xia Jie saw the golden cube, he flew into a rage. He coughed up blood and gasped for breath. No matter how Chen Qi tried to soothe him, he couldn't calm down. Finally, he tremblingly pointed at Tian Che, the commander of the imperial guards, and shouted, "Go! Arrest that unfilial son for me! Throw him into the dungeon! Now!"
Upon hearing this, Tian Che quickly organized his men and headed for the residence of the Prince of Yu. Yu Shuang and her companions also followed the imperial guards to the prince's mansion as per Shen Qingfeng's order.
When they arrived, they happened to see Qi Yan leading a group of people, trying to shove Xia Yanhe into a carriage to help him escape. Yu Shuang was quick - witted. She leaped off her horse and landed right in front of Prince Xia Yanhe. Then she grabbed his collar, knocked him unconscious with a chop to the neck, and slung him over her shoulder.
Seeing this, Qi Yan's face paled in shock. She screamed and burst into tears. While scolding, she tried to assert her authority as the queen and ordered Yu Shuang to put the prince down immediately. But Yu Shuang ignored her. She told Xiang Cheng and the others to hold Qi Yan back, then walked straight back and threw the unconscious Xia Yanhe onto the horse's back.
Qi Yan cried even louder. She had heard the news in the palace and knew that Xia Yanhe had caused a huge problem. If things went badly, he might even lose his life. So she didn't care about her image anymore. Her hairpin came loose, and her hair was disheveled. Like a shrew, she cursed and tried desperately to rush forward.
Tian Che was, after all, the commander of the imperial guards. As the queen, Qi Yan was half his master. Seeing the queen being blocked by a group of people from the Ministry of Justice, he thought it inappropriate. He stepped forward and told Xiang Cheng to let Qi Yan go, but Xiang Cheng just glared at him and said, "Why should I follow your order?"
Tian Che was taken aback and angrily retorted, "What do you mean by 'your order' and'my order'? Are you tired of living? How dare you block the queen!"
Xiang Cheng sneered and continued to stand in front of Qi Yan. They managed to block Qi Yan so that she couldn't take a single step forward.
Qi Yan saw that Yu Shuang had already mounted the horse behind Xiang Cheng and was about to take the unconscious Xia Yanhe away. She let out a shrill scream and pointed at Yu Shuang, scolding, "You're rebelling! Didn't you hear me tell you to put the Prince of Yu down? Is the Ministry of Justice trying to stage a rebellion?"
"Rebel against whom?" Yu Shuang snorted and retorted, "The Ministry of Justice is acting on the king's order. It seems to have nothing to do with you, Your Majesty."
Hearing this, Tian Che shouted angrily, "Is this how Yue Qi taught you? A low - ranking official from the Ministry of Justice dares to talk to the queen like this! Quickly follow the queen's order and put the prince down!"
As soon as he finished speaking, some of the imperial guards understood his intention and blocked Yu Shuang's way tightly.
Yu Shuang turned to look at Tian Che and said, "What do you mean, General Tian? The Ministry of Justice is acting on the king's order. Do you dare to stop us?"
Tian Che replied, "This is the queen's order. How can we not follow it? Quickly put the prince down and ask for clarification first..."
"So what if it's the queen's order?" Yu Shuang said coldly, "I'm acting on the king's order to arrest the Prince of Yu. But you're asking me to let him go. As the commander of the imperial guards, whose order do you follow, the king's or the queen's?"
Tian Che was instantly speechless, "I..."
By now, Qi Yan had gone crazy. She was firmly blocked by Xiang Cheng and the others. Looking at the unconscious Xia Yanhe lying on the horse's back, she was extremely anxious. She turned to Tian Che and roared, "Tian Che! Are you good for nothing? Get these people out of the way! Hurry up!"
Tian Che glanced at Qi Yan. Yu Shuang's words made him hesitate. Among King Xia Jie and Qi Yan, he naturally leaned towards King Xia Jie. But Qi Yan was the queen and from the Qi family. He didn't dare to neglect her, as he still had to make a living in the Bian Palace. So he said to Yu Shuang, "Put the Prince of Yu down and ask him properly. How can you take him away privately?"
Yu Shuang rolled her eyes and impatiently patted the back of Xia Yanhe's head, saying, "He's unconscious. How can I ask him? You're talking nonsense."
Tian Che: "..."
Qi Yan shouted at Yu Shuang like a shrew, "You dare to hit the prince? If a single hair on the prince's head is missing, you're dead! I'll surely kill you!"
Yu Shuang looked at her, reached out her hand, slowly moved it down, plucked a hair from the back of Xia Yanhe's head, and tossed it to the ground.
Tian Che: "..."
At that moment, he sighed. No matter how he tried to be a peacemaker, Qi Yan was bound to vent her anger, and it would surely affect him.
Yu Shuang slowly dropped the hair on the ground. The next moment, beside Tian Che, came Qi Yan's screams and curses.
After that, Tian Che knew he couldn't escape. So he didn't stop Yu Shuang anymore. He gave her a chance to break through and run away. Then he handed the crying and collapsed Qi Yan to some of his subordinates and left this troublesome place in a hurry on his horse.
While Xia Yanhe was being imprisoned, the "rumors" spread by him were rapidly fermenting in Liange City and soon spread to Qimen, where the two armies were facing each other.
The news that King Xia Jie was critically ill and on the verge of death was great news for Yuwen Qian of the Donghu tribe. With a change of regime in Liange City, the border guards would surely be slack. They could take this opportunity to launch an attack and might even be able to march south and annex the entire Lixia Kingdom.
Yuwen Qian was still young - spirited. This was his first time leading an army to attack Lixia. His victory in Liangcheng had made him famous. The critical illness of King Xia Jie was like a pillow at the right time. Yuwen Qian began to make preparations. Ignoring the advice of his military advisor, he immediately sent people secretly to Xirong to persuade them to form an alliance with him again. He hoped that Xirong would send troops to harass the southwest region when he attacked Qimen, so as to hold back the Marquis of the Southwest and prevent him from providing support.
However, the king of Xirong still had his eye on the trade with Lixia. The previous requests to persuade King Xia Jie to reopen the trade had failed. Xirong had abundant rainfall. During the normal trade, Xirong used to exchange timber and mushrooms for wheat and flour from Lixia. As time passed, Xirong couldn't rely on timber and mushrooms to feed its people.
So, the Xirong Kingdom once again refused Yuwen Qian's offer of cooperation.
When Yuwen Qian was rejected again, he felt humiliated. His youthful pride couldn't tolerate this loss of face. So he directly sent his troops to attack Fengping.
When Lu Yan, who was guarding Fengping, heard that Yuwen Qian had started to attack the city, he burst into laughter and said to Chu Jietian, "This Yuwen Qian is far inferior to his father, Yuwen Nanwang."
Chu Jietian placed a black piece on the chessboard and pouted, "Lu Yan, you're being too arrogant."
"Am I?" Lu Yan said as he slowly placed a white piece on the eye of the chessboard, capturing Chu Jietian's black piece. The white pieces won.
"Just watch carefully," Lu Yan said. Then he waved his sleeve, got up, and walked straight out of the door.
In just one day, Yuwen Qian's plan to attack the city ended in failure.
Yuwen Qian couldn't understand why the Lixia army, which seemed so useless in Liangcheng, was completely different in Fengping. In Liangcheng, they chased the Lixia army, but in Fengping, they were routed.
In Liange, not long after Xia Yanhe was imprisoned, King Xia Jie heard the news of Yuwen Qian's attack and failure. He also knew that these things had been triggered by the leakage of his health condition. He was so angry that he coughed up a few mouthfuls of blood and ordered that Xia Yanhe, who was already in the dungeon, be whipped thirty times.
When Qi Yan heard this, she pleaded with King Xia Jie again. But this matter was of great importance. In the end, Xia Yanhe was whipped twenty times. King Xia Jie was also extremely annoyed by Qi Yan.
But this wasn't the end of the matter. The rumor that the King of Lixia was critically ill needed to be "clarified" urgently, or there would be endless troubles.
At this time, Shen Shiqiu submitted a memorial, suggesting that King Xia Jie appear in public looking healthy and reward Lu Yan. Then the rumor would be self - refuted.
King Xia Jie agreed.