Chapter 393: Furious Rage

Jinling.

The scorching summer sun made this place as hot as a furnace.

Yet at this moment, the atmosphere in this Capital City was as cold and gloomy as a deep, desolate palace.

Although the Third Prince had not yet returned to the Capital City, rumors regarding the Third Prince's wretched state had long been spread far and wide, fueled by those with ulterior motives.

Yet, whether they were nobles, powerful clans, or commoners, no one dared to discuss it in front of others.

"It is said that the Third Prince is no longer a man. This Xiliang is too vicious; it simply cannot be called an insult. No one could endure this. If it were my son who had been castrated, I would draw my blade and kill," two men whispered in a courtyard.

"We might not be able to endure it, but the Imperial Court might not necessarily be unable to. Haven't they been enduring things just like this all these years?" another said.

"That is true, but if the Imperial Court can endure this too, we had better stop discussing state affairs from now on. Let it be whatever it may; I won't pay it any mind."

"Hehe, you're right, let's not ask anymore."

"..."

A restaurant.

A merchant poked his head out to look outside, and seeing no one, closed the door to the private room.

"This matter is true. Merchants coming from Jingzhou have confirmed it. One of their family members is a soldier at Wuguan and saw it with his own eyes. It can't be hidden anymore," the merchant said.

"I thought Xiliang would want some benefits, but I didn't expect them to be so ruthless. If we don't launch a punitive expedition against Xiliang, what face will the Imperial Clan have left in the future? The common people will also sneer at us," one person said.

"I suspect there will be a war. This Dou Family has always been close to the Third Prince and is the nephew of the Prime Minister. In the past, he repeatedly advocated for peace. Now that this matter has fallen upon him, let's see how he advocates for peace this time?"

"It would be better not to fight. Can we even defeat Xiliang? Besides, there is Northern Di behind Xiliang. If we lose, the country will truly cease to be a country," someone lamented.

"Fight, we must fight. If we don't, where will our dignity go? As a Song People, I feel ashamed."

"..."

The merchants began to argue.

At this moment, the Dou Mansion.

Dou Wei leaned against the bed like rotting, withered wood.

Two tear tracks hung on his face.

Upon learning that the Third Prince had been sent back, he was initially overjoyed, but later, upon hearing what Xiliang had done to the Third Prince, he was so enraged that he fainted.

When he woke up again, he sat on the bed weeping, his heart turned to ash.

Dou Kuang stood by the window, looking at his father's appearance. He felt a bit of heartache, but more than that, he felt hatred.

A voice repeatedly asked him why his father valued the Third Prince so much.

He is an Imperial Prince, a member of the Zhao.

Yet he himself bears the surname Dou, and is his eldest legitimate son!

But the affection he received from his father was not even one-thousandth of the Third Prince's.

How could he not be angry, how could he not be resentful?

"I want to see the Emperor!" The deathly silence in the room was finally broken by Dou Wei.

Then he told Dou Kuang to fetch a large basin of water.

After washing his face, Dou Wei changed into his official robes, and Dou Wei resumed the faint smile he usually wore on his face.

Dou Kuang lowered his head, even though his father appeared to have regained his composure.

But he could feel the fury, like a giant wave, that his father was deliberately suppressing in his heart.

He did not dare to say a word, but simply prepared the carriage and watched his father head toward the Imperial Palace.

The Imperial Palace.

Zhao Heng smashed everything in the Imperial Study that could be smashed.

Liang Cheng stood to the side, cowering, his mouth merely repeating, "Emperor, please take care of your dragon body."

Having served Zhao Heng for so many years, he had never seen Zhao Heng fly into such a rage.

"Tuoba Hao, you have gone too far! If I do not annihilate your Xiliang this time, I will never be able to soothe the hatred in my heart!" Zhao Heng smashed an inkstone fiercely against the map on the wall, at the very location where Xiliang was situated.

Seeming exhausted, Zhao Heng braced himself against the table and began to pant heavily.

Zhao Mu was his son, an Imperial Prince of the Great Song.

A prince being captured was already a national disgrace.

Now Xiliang was actually so despicable as to turn him into a eunuch.

Whether as the Emperor of the Great Song or as a father, how could he swallow this insult?

After learning this news, his heart felt as if it had been gouged out and pierced fiercely with needles.

Among all the princes, he indeed liked the Crown Prince the most.

But Zhao Mu, Zhao Qu, and the other princes often accompanied him, and he felt the same fatherly affection for them.

He was only annoyed that they were competing with the Crown Prince for the throne.

"It is all that old thing Dou Wei. If it weren't for him pushing Zhao Mu to compete for the position of Imperial Prince and sending him to Wuguan, how could today's events have happened!" Zhao Heng shouted hysterically.

Then he looked at Liang Cheng with bloodshot eyes, "Go, go now and summon Dou Wei. I want to kill him with my own hands!"

Just as he finished speaking, a young eunuch poked his head in from outside the study, "Emperor, Dou Prime Minister requests an audience."

"Hehe, he comes at the right time." Zhao Heng gritted his teeth, his face twisted, "Tell him to roll into the Imperial Study immediately."

The young eunuch left, and before long, Dou Wei walked slowly into the Imperial Study.

Before he could speak, Zhao Heng suddenly smashed a Glass Cup against his head, "Look at the good deed you've done!"

Dou Wei felt the pain, but endured it without making a sound, instead kneeling on the ground, "Your subject is guilty of a capital crime. If the Emperor kills me, I have nothing to say."

Having said this, he closed his eyes and let the blood from the wound flow down his face.

"Do you think that by doing this I will forgive you? Dou Wei, I have endured you for too long. In the past, I let your various acts of overstepping your bounds slide, but if it weren't for your own selfish interests, how could this have happened?" Zhao Heng pointed at Dou Wei and cursed angrily.

The fury in his heart left him unable to care about anything else.

Whether Dou Wei continues to feign illness or leads officials to make a scene with him, it matters not.

Even if state affairs are neglected, he must scold him today.

"The Emperor is right to scold me; this old subject wishes he were dead right now, but the Third Prince has suffered such a strange and humiliating insult, and the Great Song is bullied by Western Liang to this extent; this old subject only wishes to avenge the Third Prince and the Emperor!" Dou Wei said loudly.

"Avenge, you say? Tell me then, how should one go about avenging this!" Zhao Heng said with a face full of mockery.

"This despicable act of Western Liang is worse than that of beasts; for them to be neighbors with our country is simply an insult to the Great Song. They must be destroyed. This subject is willing to mediate between other powerful clans and the Dou Family to set out together to crusade against Western Liang, recover Qinzhou and Yongzhou, invade Western Liang, and kill that Tuoba Hao!" Dou Wei said sternly.

Zhao Heng narrowed his eyes.

Western Liang had treated an Imperial Prince of the Great Song in such a manner.

If he were to continue to endure it, the Imperial Clan would become a laughingstock of the Great Song, and the common people of the world would also mock him for being incompetent.

A crusade against Western Liang was imperative.

Moreover, even without this incident involving the Third Prince, he originally had plans to recover Qinzhou and Yongzhou.

Now that Dou Wei was taking the initiative to mediate between the powerful clans and himself to send troops together, it was naturally for the best.

If he had been this proactive back during the Ningjindusizhizhan.

How could the Great Song have lost the Ningjin Dusi?

Gazing deeply at Dou Wei, he said, "I hope you do not go back on your word, otherwise I will not spare you."

"This subject currently wishes to tear Tuoba Hao into ten thousand pieces and will absolutely not go back on his word," Dou Wei said.

This time, he was sincere about the crusade against Western Liang.

Western Liang had ruined the Third Prince by doing such unbearable things to him, destroying all of his hopes.

He hated them as if it were the vengeance for the murder of his own son.

But relying solely on the Dou Family to crusade against Western Liang was like throwing an egg against a rock.

He knew in his heart that Zhao Heng could not endure this matter, so he conceived the idea of winning Zhao Heng's support and gathering the military strength of the Imperial Clan and the powerful clans to crusade against Western Liang.