Chapter 431

"Pretending to waver? A double act??"

Wei Wenlie laughed in anger. "What a good pretense of wavering! What a good double act! Cui Yan! Are you a three-year-old child?!

What kind of person is Luo Feng? He is the trusted aide Jiang Jinshi brought out from the very beginning! He is a fierce general who fought to build the Beijiang foundation with his head on the line!

Would he betray Jiang Jinshi because of a few words from a woman, because of a few provocations about 'unfair new policies'?!

Do you think this King is a fool?! Or has your entire Cui family been blinded by pig fat?!"

He leaned over abruptly, almost sticking to Cui Yan's ear, his voice extremely low, carrying killing intent: "Where is Dou Wen? Where is that Dou Wen who patted his chest and guaranteed that Luo Feng had taken the bait?

Where is that Dou Wen who swore that the inside contact in Guanzhong was foolproof?!

How did I hear that the Dou residence was surrounded by Luo Feng's personal guard battalion last night? The entire clan, not even a chicken or dog left?! Hmm?!"

Upon hearing this, Cui Yan raised his head violently, his eyes filled with unbelievable horror: "No... impossible! Dou Wen... Dou Wen he..."

"Impossible?"

Wei Wenlie stood up straight, pulled a blood-stained secret report from his sleeve, and smashed it fiercely onto Cui Yan's face. "Look for yourself! Wang Hou's secret pillars had long ago figured out the list clearly!

Overnight, the Dou family, Wei family, Zhang family, Fu family... the six great clans of Guanzhong who participated in the conspiracy, along with the death squads and private soldiers they raised, were uprooted! Chang'an was washed in blood! Their heads are all hung on the city gate tower!

This is the foolproof inside contact you, Cui Gong, carefully selected! This is the 'heavenly road' you paved for this King! Ah?!!"

It was just that the news had not fully spread yet; the six great clans of Guanzhong had only been wiped out in the capital area, and the remaining clansmen in various places... Huang Yan was on his way.

The secret reports were scattered on the ground. Cui Yan looked at the shocking "executed" and "captured" behind each familiar name, and his eyes went dark, almost fainting.

It's over... it's all over... the secret lines operated in Guanzhong for many years were wiped out in one net!

The Dou family... the most important chess piece his Cui family had in Guanzhong, was just gone like that!

"Your Highness!"

Cui Yan no longer cared about his dignity, crawling on his knees a few steps while streaming with tears, hugging Wei Wenlie's leg. "This old minister was confused! This old minister deserves to die! This old minister was deceived by that traitor Luo Feng and misled by that idiot Dou Wen!

Causing the royal army to suffer losses and soldiers to be killed, this old minister deserves to die ten thousand times! I beg Your Highness to look at this old minister's loyalty, and look at the Cui family's dedicated service to Western Liang..."

"Dedicated service?"

Wei Wenlie kicked him away. "Your Cui family enjoys the wealth of my Western Liang! But what kind of things have you done for this King?! You buried tens of thousands of my Western Liang elites! You buried the great opportunity for this King to seize Guanzhong! You buried this King's hope of reaching the Central Plains!"

The more he spoke, the angrier he became, pointing at Cui Yan's nose and cursing: "Old rascal! Pedantic scholar! Traitor who ruins the country! Why did this King believe your ghost words back then!

What 'Luo Feng can be plotted against'! What 'inside-outside cooperation'! It's all bullshit! It is your Cui Yan's incompetence! It is your Cui Yan's stupidity! It is your Cui Yan who, for the sake of your own selfish interests of the scholar-gentry clans, sent this King's army into the gates of hell!"

Cui Yan knew that this mistake would inevitably make life difficult for Cui Wangshu as well; after all, Cui Wangshu was only a concubine!

But at this moment, he could no longer care about this, only thinking about protecting himself, fearing that Wei Wenlie would slaughter him in a fit of anger.

The military generals present were silent as cicadas in winter, and the civil officials were shrinking their necks even more, fearing being implicated.

Murong Ke, Tufa Yan, and Helian Bobo knelt on the ground, not daring to raise their heads, their hearts filled with fear, and even a hint of resentment toward Cui Yan.

If it weren't for this old man swearing that the inside contact in Chang'an was done and Luo Feng had rebelled, how could they have underestimated the enemy and advanced so rashly?

"Your Highness, calm your anger."

Si Wushuang, who had been watching silently, finally spoke. He walked out of the ranks slowly and bowed to the furious Wei Wenlie.

"Wushuang?"

Wei Wenlie looked at him with red eyes, his anger slightly restrained. "What do you have to say? Could it be that you also want to plead for this old rascal?"

"This minister would not dare."

Si Wushuang's voice was steady, neither humble nor arrogant. "Cui Gong failed to recognize the person, misjudged Luo Feng, caused the army to suffer a crushing defeat, and destroyed the inside contact in Guanzhong; he indeed has a great crime that cannot be forgiven."

Hearing this, Cui Yan's body trembled violently, looking at Si Wushuang in despair.

Si Wushuang changed the subject: "But the defeat in this battle is not Cui Gong's fault alone. Luo Feng's disguise was deep, and the Beijiang counter-espionage scheme was exquisite; it was indeed unexpected.

Jiang Jinshi and Wang Hou had long been prepared, playing along with the scheme to set up a net. Our army... was defeated by the opponent's calculations."

He glanced at the sorry-looking Cui Yan on the ground and continued: "Although Cui Gong has faults, his heart is pitiable. Previously, Cui Gong contacted the Guanzhong scholar-gentry, raised money and grain for Western Liang, transported intelligence, and contacted all parties; if there is no merit, there is at least hard work.

And the Cui family is the leader of the Guandong scholar-gentry, with students and former officials all over the court; if Cui Gong is severely punished for a momentary mistake, I fear it will chill the hearts of scholars all over the world, which is unfavorable to the overall situation of Western Liang."

He paused, looked at Wei Wenlie, his voice low and powerful: "The urgent priority is not to pursue blame, but to clean up the mess and reorganize the drums.

Although General Murong, General Tufa, and others were defeated, they are all generals of a hundred battles, and their experience remains.

Although the inside contact in Guanzhong is destroyed, the foundation still exists, and Western Liang's infiltration in Bashu and Jingxiang has not stopped.

Our main force has not been fundamentally damaged and still has the strength to fight again. If we throw ourselves into chaos at this time and severely punish important ministers, wouldn't that be exactly what Jiang Jinshi wants?"

Si Wushuang's words were like a basin of cold water poured on Wei Wenlie's raging anger.

His chest heaved, staring fixedly at Si Wushuang, and then sweeping over the desperate Cui Yan on the ground and the officials who were silent as cicadas in winter.

Si Wushuang was right; killing Cui Yan now would be of no use other than venting anger, and would instead shake people's hearts, making Western Liang, which had already suffered heavy losses, even worse off.

The Cui family... after all, is the leader of the scholar-gentry; if he kills him, what will those Guandong clans think?

It was just that the anger in Wei Wenlie's heart was really hard to calm; if it weren't for this old bastard Cui Yan swearing, how could he be in this situation today.

Wei Wenlie had been able to recuperate in Western Liang for many years and had never been a master lacking patience.

But the current situation was becoming more and more unfavorable to him, and he himself understood that he did not have a second chance to lurk.

Every failure meant he was getting further and further away from the throne; how could he not be anxious?

Wei Wenlie stared fixedly at Cui Yan, who was kneeling on the ground. So many elites! Just like that, they were gone! Buried by this old rascal with a light sentence of "failing to recognize the person"!!

"Cui Yan!"

Wei Wenlie spoke after a long time of consideration. "You ruined this King's major affairs and buried the royal army; your crime is unpardonable!"

Cui Yan closed his eyes in despair, waiting for the judgment.

"But..."

Wei Wenlie changed the subject, suppressing the killing intent in his heart. "Considering your Cui family's dedicated service before, and considering Military Advisor Si pleading for you, this King... will temporarily keep your head on your shoulders!"