Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress-Chapter 864 - 861: Turning Back is the Shore

In the eighteenth year of Xuanjia, on the tenth day of the fifth month, King Liang took the Emperor and the Crown Prince up to Wude Gate.

The Crown Prince, bound and gagged, was pushed up to the city gate. Upon seeing the Emperor, he couldn’t help but cry out, breaking free from the imperial guards holding him and rushing towards the Emperor. He knelt down and cried, "Father! King Liang, you beast! How could you do this to the Emperor!"

The Emperor, supported by King Liang as he ascended the city tower, felt both humiliated and furious. His cold, bone-chilling gaze fell upon the weeping Crown Prince, filled with intense disgust that startled the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince’s tears seemed frozen on his face; he hadn’t expected his father to look at him with such a gaze.

The Crown Prince didn’t know if the Emperor blamed him for being useless, for failing to save him, and was angry with him.

As soon as the Emperor appeared on the wall, the commanders of Yuanping’s army, led by Bai Jinxiu, dismounted and knelt, saluting the Emperor.

"Bai Jinxiu, who gave you the courage to besiege the Imperial City?!" The Emperor loudly reprimanded Bai Jinxiu, "The Crown Prince has been captured for rebellion by King Liang, and you dare gather troops to cause trouble? Do you even consider me your Emperor?!"

Bai Jinxiu glanced at King Liang, clasping his hands in a salute, "Your Majesty... Bai Jinxiu knows that you must be threatened by King Liang using the Crown Prince’s life! Bai Jinxiu feels guilty towards Your Majesty and the Crown Prince! Even though Your Majesty and the Crown Prince instructed Bai Jinxiu to capture King Liang regardless of the cost, I couldn’t give the order to assault the city! I cannot stand by and watch as King Liang harms Your Majesty and the Crown Prince even a little! Please rest assured, Your Majesty and the Crown Prince, Bai Jinxiu will surely find a complete solution. Even if I die... I will first rescue Your Majesty and the Crown Prince!"

Bai Jinxiu replayed the drama that King Liang performed at the gates of Wude, turning it against both the Emperor and King Liang.

The Emperor felt a surge of old blood stuck in his throat, almost losing his breath again. What madness is this!

King Liang’s face turned even uglier, not expecting Bai Jinxiu to mimic his actions so adeptly.

Bound and gagged, the Crown Prince was moved to tears upon hearing Bai Jinxiu’s words. He struggled free from the soldiers holding him and rushed forward, shouting to Bai Jinxiu below the city wall, "Mrs. Qin, don’t worry about me! Please, you must save the Emperor!"

The Emperor’s face turned pale with rage. He glared at the Crown Prince and shouted, "Who asked you to save me! Withdraw your troops at once! Otherwise, you will all be condemned for treason! Where are the commanders of the Yuanping garrison?!"

"Your Majesty, the commanders of the Yuanping garrison have perished in battle!" Bai Jinxiu finished, raising his head to look in the direction of the Emperor, and said loudly, "The Crown Prince gave Bai Jinxiu an imperial edict personally written by Your Majesty to mobilize troops to eradicate the rebel King Liang. Bai Jinxiu has been ordered to lead the Yuanping army to support the Emperor! Now, the Bai family’s army from Shuoyang has also come to our aid. Bai Jinxiu, along with all the Bai family’s army and the soldiers of Yuanping, will not rest until the Emperor and the Crown Prince are rescued and the rebel King Liang is slain!"

The Emperor’s eyes widened. Bai Jinxiu was threatening him!

Moreover, the Bai family’s army?! King Liang calculated the number of Yuanping and Shuoyang Bai family troops he could mobilize, but... he didn’t know how many troops from the Bai family’s army in Shuoyang had arrived.

He gritted his teeth, took a step forward, and looked at Bai Jinxiu, shouting, "The Emperor has already said that the Crown Prince is the treasonous rebel, Bai Jinxiu, are you still not retreating?"

"If the Crown Prince is truly the treasonous rebel, then why isn’t the loyal Prime Minister Lu here with the Emperor? Why aren’t Xie Yuchang and Fu Ruoxi, who are loyal commanders protecting the Emperor, present? I only see King Liang! I only see the rebel Fan Yuhuai! I only see the Left Prime Minister Li Mao who initially incited the Second Prince to rebel and then colluded with you!"

Bai Jinxiu looked at Li Mao, "Li Mao! The letters you used to incite the Second Prince to rebel, the evidence is in my hands. Lord Shoushan and Master Tan have already verified them. Now the whole world knows that it was you who incited the Second Prince to rebel all those years ago! Bring the items forward!"

Li Mao’s palms tightened, and his throat felt constricted.

Ji Tingyu received the order, commanding people to bring forth the ten-thousand-signature silk scroll verifying King Liang and Li Mao’s rebellion. It was unfurled...

On the silk scroll, in the forceful and vigorous handwriting of Master Tan, it was stated that letters proved... Li Mao first incited the Second Prince to rebel and, after failing, then incited King Liang to rebel. He was truly a traitor of the Jin Kingdom.

Beside the large characters on the silk scroll were the signatures of officials who were still in Dadu City or those considered insignificant by King Liang and not yet imprisoned.

Li Mao clenched his fists behind his back tightly. With the letter authored by Master Tan and the hundred officials’ signatures, if King Liang failed this time, he would be doomed.

"Li Mao, if the letters verified by Lord Shoushan and Master Tan aren’t enough for you, will the involvement of your son add enough weight? Li Mingrui was captured in Shuoyang! If he comes forward to testify that you incited the Second Prince to rebel, and now you’re inciting King Liang, do you admit it or not?!" Bai Jinxiu asked again.

After Ji Tingyu brought the captured Li Mingrui to Dadu City, Shen Bozhong had returned to see Bai Jinxiu once... asking Bai Jinxiu to spare Li Mingrui and let him take Li Mingrui away from the disputes in Dadu City.

Bai Jinxiu then went to meet Li Mingrui once. Bai Jinxiu did not use threats or bribes, but simply told the personal experience of her husband Qin Lang, telling Li Mingrui... how Marquis of Loyalty and Courage Qin Dezhao tampered with the military provisions in the southern border, and Qin Lang, with all the evidence, exposed his father Qin Dezhao, thereby saving the lives of the Qin family members.

After hearing this, Li Mingrui understood Bai Jinxiu’s meaning: sacrificing the life of one father for the lives of others in the Li family.

In principle, Li Mingrui, as the eldest legitimate grandson of the Li family, was educated from a young age to prioritize the interests of the whole family, and when necessary... sacrificing one person was acceptable.

This was also often taught to him by Li Mao, but Li Mingrui did not understand why Bai Jinxiu had to tell him these things.

It wasn’t until this moment that Li Mingrui realized... the old man who saved his life was actually a close friend of Bai Qishan.

He suddenly understood why King Liang raised a rebellion but Bai Jinxiu was prepared. She was not at ease with the old man, so let him leave first... but the old man went to inform Bai Jinxiu instead.

Li Mingrui felt heartbroken over the old man’s betrayal but also relieved.

Because he understood that this situation, though a disaster for him, was also an opportunity.

His father stood with King Liang, while he stood with the Crown Prince. In the end, whether King Liang or the Crown Prince won, the Li family could be preserved because of one person, and the sacrifice would be either him or his father.

Li Mingrui was brought forward. He wasn’t bound or escorted in chains. He was dressed neatly and walked out from among the soldiers, looking up at his father: "Father! Please, come back to the right path..."

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