Su Ziji raised the memorial in his hand. "Trouble has broken out on the frontier. The Ning Kingdom has seized three counties. I assume all of you have heard?"
The news had reached the Grand Secretariat yesterday, after Su Ziji left. The grand secretaries had debated it fiercely at the time, and word had now spread within a small circle. Seeing the Duke of Dai suddenly bring it up again, Xie Zhi narrowed his eyes.
Could another memorial about this have arrived?
Zhao Xulin had been furious about the Ning Kingdom's invasion yesterday, and anger now showed on his face again. "Hmph! How laughable that such a tiny kingdom dares provoke us on the frontier!"
"Great Zheng has treated its vassal states generously and always shown them tolerance. Even if they ran short of food, they need only ask, and we would surely send aid. Yet they actually stormed our counties! They're wolves that can never be tamed, no matter how well we feed them!"
For a moment, everyone voiced their indignation.
Once the atmosphere had eased a little, Su Ziji inclined his body and said evenly, "Actually, this did not happen without reason. At its root, this is Prince Shu's fault. I intend to submit a memorial impeaching him at tomorrow's court assembly."
At those words, the entire Grand Secretariat fell silent. Cui Zhaoqian, who had been drinking tea, even spat out half a mouthful and hurriedly wiped it up with a cloth.
Only after a long pause did Xie Zhi, his gaze deep and unreadable, ask, "Duke of Dai, you say this is Prince Shu's fault? What happened?"
"Please take a look at this memorial, gentlemen. I wrote it and intend to submit it to His Majesty."
Su Ziji handed the memorial to Cui Zhaoqian, who sat closest