"A clear path?" Zhou Yanru gave a bitter laugh.
"Your Highness, please don't mock me. I have irrefutable evidence of colluding with the Japanese pirates, plotting treason, and smuggling heavy armor."
Returning to the capital would be a capital offense punishable by slow slicing and the extermination of three generations of one's family
Where is the right path?
"Who said Lord Zhou was colluding with the Japanese and plotting rebellion?"
Gu Moran looked at Zhou Yanru with surprise, her tone as sincere as if she were looking at a loyal minister.
"As the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, Lord Zhou learned that the deposed empress and that Shuangxi were plotting to collude with Japanese pirates and install a prince of unknown origin to usurp the throne."
He was filled with grief and indignation, but dared not speak out because of the powerful treacherous faction in the court.
Therefore, Lord Zhou endured humiliation and feigned allegiance to the Empress's treacherous faction, traveling alone to the East Sea.
They even endured the torment of toxic fumes at the Iwami Silver Mine.
"Just to find out the hiding place of those five thousand suits of rebel heavy armor in Osaka Bay for me!"
The hold was so quiet that the only sound was the waves crashing against the deck.
Zhou Yanru's mouth gaped open, his mind reeling as if he'd been struck by a giant sledgehammer.
Guided by Gu Moran's uniquely captivating voice, he was completely stunned:
"I... I'm enduring humiliation and bearing heavy burdens?"
"Feigning allegiance?"
"Of course!"
Gu Moran his thigh and pointed at the evidence bag in Tuoba Mang's hand.
"If it weren't for Lord Zhou risking his life to pull out the communication token from the sole of his boot and hand it to me in front of the assassins at the Tangshan Hot Spring Resort,
How could I possibly destroy the secret ships in Osaka Bay in one fell swoop and intercept irrefutable evidence of the Empress's faction's plot to rebel?
Lord Zhou, this isn't just colluding with the enemy, it's trespassing into the tiger's den!
A monumental achievement in turning the tide and saving the day!
Zhou Yanru's breathing became rapid, his Adam's apple bobbed, and his previously lifeless eyes...
Suddenly, a spark of survival ignited.
"As for you, Second Uncle, you're even more wronged."
Gu Moran turned her head and looked at the dumbfounded Gu Debai, her eyes filled with heartache.
Many years ago, the Qi and Lu Navy was attacked.
My second uncle discovered clues that a high-ranking official in the imperial court was colluding with Japanese pirates.
In order to find out the truth, Second Uncle had to fake his death to escape and hide in Hanseong for so many years!
A few days ago at the Bell Tower Street in Hanseong, my second uncle deliberately led two hundred archers to set fire, seemingly to ambush me.
In reality, they were using the thick smoke to guide me to the location of the flammable oil buried in the clock tower's cellar.
It saved the lives of 20,000 people in the entire city!
Gu Debai's hands were trembling as he gripped the iron railing.
Having lived for over forty years, this was the first time he had ever seen someone manage to whitewash "assassination and rebellion" into "undercover rescue of the emperor."
But Gu Moran's story was so detailed and convincing, with every point in time fitting perfectly!
"What... what exactly do you want?"
Gu Debai swallowed hard, his voice dry as he asked.
Gu Moran stood up, picked up his teacup, and walked to the iron cage on the right. He lowered his voice, each word like a feather scratching at their hearts:
"I possess a top-secret blood-written document from the Imperial Medical Bureau, unearthed from the Iwami Silver Mine, as well as a handwritten oath of alliance between the deposed empress's faction and the Japanese.
On the Dragon Boat Festival, we stormed into the Golden Palace of Chang'an.
The Empress and that fake prince are doomed; at least half of the ministers and dukes in the court will be vacant.
He paused, his gaze sweeping over Zhou Yanru and Gu Debai:
"However, I have been leading troops in Yi Prefecture for many years, and I lack my own people to help me in the court."
On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, in the main hall, as long as Lord Zhou and Second Uncle stood out in public,
He insisted that you were all coerced by the Empress and were actually spies planted within the treacherous party by me.
They poured all the blame onto the deposed empress and the crown prince's faction...
Gu Moran passed the hot tea to Zhou Yanru through the gap in the railing:
"After this is done, the position of Ministry of War will belong to Lord Zhou, and the tiger tally of the Grand Admiral of the Qi and Lu Navy will still belong to my second uncle."
Not only will your wives, children, and elderly parents not have to go to the execution ground, but they will also be able to enjoy official positions and privileges alongside you.
I'd rather die in this dark, stinking ship's hold as a traitorous ghost.
Or, half a month later, he would be dressed in a purple robe and jade belt, serving as a meritorious official in the Golden Palace.
You two can choose for yourselves.
Inside the iron cage, Zhou Yanru's hands trembled as he accepted the cup of hot tea, tears streaming down his face.
Faced with the extreme fear of death and the immense temptation of becoming a high-ranking official, coupled with Gu Moran's almost sorcery-like brainwashing techniques,
Zhou Yanru's mental defenses crumbled in less than three seconds. He knelt down in the cage with a thud and kowtowed repeatedly to Gu Moran.
"Your Highness's kindness in saving me!"
This humble official... this humble official was originally the prince's spy!
Once we reach the Imperial Palace, even if I have to grit my teeth and burn them to dust, I will definitely bring the Empress's traitorous clique to justice with irrefutable evidence!
Gu Debai glanced at Zhou Yanru, who was kowtowing, and then at Gu Moran, who had a gentle smile on his face.
A layer of white sweat broke out on his back, his knees buckled, and he knelt down as well.
"I... I'll obey Your Highness's orders!"
This old minister will certainly point out that the Empress and the Crown Prince's faction is plotting a rebellion!
The Eunuch Shuangxi in the middle cage got anxious and, clinging to the bars, shouted in his hoarse voice:
"Your Highness! What about our family?"
Our family has served in the palace for thirty years.
Knowing where the Empress and Crown Prince's private treasury is, our family can also become their undercover agents!
Gu Moran glanced at Shuangxi, put the teapot on the table, and waved to Tuoba Mang:
"Go, bring me the pair of war boots that General Tuoba took off the day before yesterday, and put them in Eunuch Shuangxi's arms so he can hold them and smell them."
Once we arrive in Chang'an, I will naturally have my uses.
The seagoing vessel braves the wind and waves, heading straight for Great Yan Dengzhou.
Meanwhile, in the Great Yan border of Dayan, in the Tubo Silver City, the city lord's mansion was fraught with danger.
As night fell, a sandstorm swept through Silver City.
In the main hall of the city lord's mansion, the Tubo commander-in-chief, Zhaxi Dawa, with dark circles under his eyes, was dozing off on a tiger-skin chair, clutching his sword tightly to his chest.
He had only been in a daze for less than a quarter of an hour when a series of hurried and chaotic footsteps suddenly sounded outside the hall, followed by the muffled groans of two deaf-mute guards having their throats slit.
Zhaxi Dawa jumped up with a start and drew his scimitar:
"Who?!"
With a bang, the heavy wooden door to the lobby was kicked open from the outside.
During the day, they would serve him butter tea and praise his brave and skilled leader.
At this moment, his eyes were bloodshot, and the veins on his neck were bulging. He led a dozen or so centurions, whose faces were also flushed and who were breathing heavily, and rushed in, surrounding Zhaxi Dawa in the center.
Behind this group of Tubo generals, a middle-aged Han Chinese man with a goatee and wearing a brocade robe walked in with his hands behind his back.
He was still toying with two crystal-clear jade medicine bottles in his hands; it was Yang Tie!
"Are you all insane?! How dare you draw your swords against me?!"
Zhaxi Dawa was filled with shock and anger. Looking at his closest leader and most trusted subordinate, the words Chen Qing had repeated throughout the journey flashed through his mind.
"That sorcerer Chen Qing was right after all."
You've all been bought off by the Han Chinese!
Gesang's hand holding the scimitar trembled slightly. He swallowed hard, his gaze fixed on the jade medicine bottle in Yang Tie's hand.
"My great general, don't blame us!"
You led your troops to Zhen Daijin defeat at Bronze Gorge, and now Silver City's provisions are only enough for ten days!
Mr. Yang said that as long as we surrender Silver City, we can take the remaining 20,000 cavalry and capture the west gate of Yi Prefecture for him.
He not only guarantees us wealth and luxury, but also bestows upon us three extra Crimson Blood Divine Pill every month, granting us superhuman strength and the ability to sleep with ten women a night!