Chapter 125 Acting Righteously and Killing One's Own Kin?

"Boss Chen was thus crippled!" Remembering Chen Chang's appearance, and seeing that the soldiers of the Tunqi Battalion beside them showed no intention of calling a military doctor at all, with their cold and superior demeanor, Wang Wu felt both indignant and heartbroken. Especially when they swarmed forward to take Chen Chang away, Yao Da even blocked their way and wouldn't let them go!

"Where is Chen Chang?" Pan Yueqing frowned.

Wang Wu let out a sob. "The pain was so intense that he couldn't hold on. He bit his tongue and committed suicide..." As he said this, he raised his eyes and pleaded with Pan Yueqing, "Boss Chen wasn't a coward! He must have done this because the pain was really unbearable!"

When Pan Yueqing heard that Chen Chang was no longer alive, her eyes couldn't help but dim. She took a deep breath and said, "I understand."

The guards on the eastern city wall looked up at Pan Yueqing, seeing her showing a hint of compassion, and couldn't help but sob softly. Their Boss Chen was gone just like that... not dying on the battlefield, but being forced to death by their own people who were also soldiers of the Northern Qi... Pan Yueqing cleared her throat. "Go on."

Wang Wu blankly raised his head. He felt that describing it was like gouging out his heart and lungs, a truly heartbreaking thing.

"Yao Da said that he must bring Wu Yang's head to see His Highness the Prince of Xiangyang, because he firmly believed that Wu Yang was the one who did this. And the reason he thought so was just that Wu Yang has foreign blood in him!" Wang Wu let out a long sigh. "In fact, there's no definite conclusion about which ethnic group Wu Yang belongs to. He looks very similar to us Northern Qi people, but his eyes are like those of the Rong and Di tribes, and also a bit like the green eyes of Persian slave girls..."

"He started carrying guns and moving tiles here just for a bite of food since he was eight or nine years old. To say that our Wu Yang colluded with the enemy and assassinated His Highness the Prince of Xiangyang, that's simply impossible!"

Qi Sian slightly turned his head. Shiguang understood and stepped forward, lifting the wolf skin off Wu Yang. Under the wolf skin, his thin body was wearing a simple single-layered garment, a brown short coat that was the most common type worn by infantry soldiers. Shiguang called out in a low voice, "Excuse me." Then he reached out and probed the area on the left shoulder. With a normal expression, he turned back and said to Qi Sian, "Your Highness, the skin is smooth and there are no scars. He's not the thief from that day."

"I knew it wasn't him!" Wang Wu suddenly coughed twice and pointed at Yao Da. "He's the nephew of Captain Yao Zongkui of the Tunqi Battalion! He's been unreasonable here on a daily basis! He even said that by killing Wu Yang, he could get a reward from His Highness!"

"You old fool! Don't talk nonsense!" Yao Zongkui couldn't stand it any longer and stepped forward to cover Wang Wu's mouth.

Qi Sian stopped the action of fiddling with the tea cup in his hand, didn't raise his eyes, and said casually, "What? Are you going to perform a scene of maiming people and forcing them to death in front of me?"

Yao Zongkui stopped in his tracks and didn't dare to step forward at all.

Yao Da lay on the ground. "Your Highness! Don't listen to their nonsense! I didn't... I definitely didn't..." Pan Yueqing sneered. "I didn't believe it at first, but after witnessing your uncle's arrogance just now, I do believe it to some extent." She wasn't someone with a particularly good temper. Yao Zongkui had insulted her so much before, and she had no intention of letting it go. But she still had to maintain an appearance of magnanimity on the surface.

"Deputy Pan!" Yao Zongkui said through gritted teeth, trying to stop Pan Yueqing from speaking.

Yao Zongkui had a solemn expression. In his opinion, showing favoritism to his own nephew wasn't something wrong. Nowadays, who wasn't like this? Even in the imperial court, didn't Prime Minister Pan manage to climb up step by step relying on his relationship with Marquis Su of Dingyuan? On a smaller scale, wasn't it because of her father and uncle that Pan Yueqing could sit there and interrogate others?

Pan Yueqing slightly raised her eyes, with a smile on her face as she turned to look at Yao Zongkui. "Does Captain Yao have any instructions?"

"No, I just want to remind you not to just listen to one-sided words." Yao Zongkui gritted his molars. He clearly saw that when Prime Minister Pan, who was sitting behind Pan Yueqing, cast his gaze on him, it was terrifyingly cold.

"You're right," Pan Yueqing nodded. Then she turned her gaze to Yao Da, who was prostrating on the ground. "Yao Da, I'll ask you this. Did you force Chief Chen Chang of the guards to death?"

"I..." Yao Da hesitated for a moment and then loudly said to Pan Yueqing, "No! How could I treat my own brother like that?! Everyone knows that this Wu Yang is a madman and has always been used by that dog official Qian Cheng to eliminate dissidents! Who can guarantee that he didn't assassinate His Highness to repay that dog official Qian Cheng for his kindness of recognition?"

"He wouldn't do that." Pan Yueqing glanced at Wang Wu and the others, who were emotionally agitated.

"Why are you so sure?" When Yao Da heard Pan Yueqing's decisive conclusion, as if he had caught a loophole in her words, his eyes were already filled with madness. "Could it be that you've known them for a long time? No wonder you've been protecting them from the start!"

Pan Yueqing sneered and said calmly, "All the people in Suoyue City know that it was my suggestion that Qian Cheng be sentenced to death by dismemberment. At that time, His Highness the Prince of Xiangyang hadn't even come here yet. If he wanted revenge, he should have come for me."

Su Jing cleared his throat and said, "I'll just ask you this. Did Yao Da ever say something like 'Presenting Wu Yang's head to His Highness the Prince of Xiangyang will ensure a promotion to the position of Garrison Commander'?"

He directed his gaze at the few soldiers of the Tunqi Battalion standing by the side. The soldiers who took off their helmets and face guards looked at each other, and no one dared to speak up first.

Yao Da said in disbelief, "General, are you also taking their side?" According to what his uncle had described, Marquis Su Jing of Dingyuan loved his soldiers like his own children and was the most protective of them!

Su Jing half-closed his eyes and his face showed indifference. "Which side? I, Su Jing, have always stood on the side of the safety of the Northern Qi! The Dingyuan Army of my Su family only swears allegiance to the Emperor!" As he said this, he slightly raised his eyes and met Yao Zongkui's resentful gaze. "If anyone raises a knife against their own brothers, I, Su Jing, will cut him down with one sword!" "Are you mute?!" With Su Jing's sudden shout, Yao Da and Yao Zongkui's faces turned extremely Ugly. The two soldiers standing by the side braced themselves and stepped forward. "Report to the general, he did say that."

"General Su just submitted the promotion list to me a few days ago," Pan Haiyun said with a smile. "So, who leaked the news about such a promotion to the position of Garrison Commander?"

Qi Sian coughed twice. "Personnel promotion is a matter of confidentiality and should be dealt with as the leakage of military secrets."

Yao Zongkui's face turned Red face. When he heard the word "punishment", Yao Da looked at Yao Zongkui in a panic and happened to meet Yao Zongkui's ambiguous gaze. Yao Zongkui spoke first, "Since my own nephew has done such a thing, I won't trouble the general and the prime minister. I'll kill him right now!" As he said this, he drew out the long sword at his waist and stabbed towards Yao Da.

"Uncle! You were the one who told me that if I did my job well, I could be promoted to the position of Garrison Commander!" Amid Yao Da's scream, Shiguang blocked the sword with a short blade in front. Shiguang lowered his eyebrows and smiled faintly as he faced Yao Zongkui, whose killing intent was running wild. "It's a bit too late to act righteously and kill your own kin now."