“Reasoning?” Ji Zeyu said coldly: “That was disobeying military orders. And you dare to argue before His Majesty!”

“Although you are the temporary commander of the Huben Army, you don’t understand the internal affairs of the Huben Army. Your reckless commands could easily lead to demoralized troops! Since we have received His Majesty’s trust and been entrusted with important responsibilities, we must be wholeheartedly loyal to His Majesty. You’re merely a new official taking office who wants to monopolize power, yet now you have the audacity to speak of military orders!”

“Exactly! You just want to monopolize power! Disregarding the original structure of our Huben Army, wanting to meddle recklessly. Who knows where you place the national interest and His Majesty’s trust!”

…

Six people with six mouths all attacked Ji Zeyu together. Ji Zeyu wasn’t the type skilled with words, and at this moment, facing six people alone, perhaps he couldn’t out-argue them, or perhaps he disdained to argue with these people. He just stood there with a cold expression, hands behind his back, his face growing darker and darker, clearly reaching the edge of his patience.

Li Qitian impassively let them argue, taking the opportunity to observe their expressions and demeanor to determine whether they were truly arguing or had planned this together.

To be honest, although he trusted Ji Zeyu relatively more, he didn’t trust him completely and harbored some doubt and wariness in his heart. At the most crucial moment, he had entrusted the task of capturing Pang Xiao to Ji Zeyu, yet Ji Zeyu had created such chaos at the critical time, ruining his plans. How could Li Qitian not be suspicious?

However, after Li Qitian’s careful observation for so long, he saw no flaws. Ji Zeyu and those six rough soldiers had indeed reached the point of mutual hatred, wishing they could kill each other. Li Qitian felt that if he weren’t presiding here now, they might draw swords against each other on the spot.

Since Ji Zeyu wasn’t colluding with people in the Huben Army, there were two possibilities. Either the Huben Army people were following Pang Xiao’s instructions, choosing to cause trouble at this moment. Or Ji Zeyu’s foul temper had aroused collective anger in the Huben Army, these people wouldn’t buy his authority, their rage had accumulated to a certain degree, and it exploded when Pang Xiao returned.

While Li Qitian was deep in thought, the atmosphere between Ji Zeyu and those six men had become so tense they were about to come to blows.

Li Qitian didn’t want to make things worse, and even less did he want to see them cause trouble under his nose, so he said: “All of you, quiet.”

Li Qitian’s voice was neither high nor low, but it was an imperial command.

Everyone obeyed the order and fell silent, also realizing their arguing behavior in the Imperial Study was somewhat excessive, and they all lowered their heads.

Li Qitian snorted coldly and said: “You have such audacity, daring to clamor like this even in my Imperial Study. Do you want to rebel?”

“We subjects know our crime, please forgive us, Your Majesty.” All seven knelt and bowed.

Li Qitian then reprimanded: “Regardless of what Ji Lan’s orders were, he is the commander I personally selected. I trust his ability to command troops and intend to entrust all matters of the Huben Army to his disposal. You only have the duty to obey military commands. Do you understand?”

The six men had nothing to say for a moment, only responding after a long pause: “Yes.”

Li Qitian looked at these six men, recalled them briefly, and confirmed they were all capable subordinates by Pang Xiao’s side. His heart filled with joy and excitement.

Such a good opportunity – if he could seize the right moment to capture them all, wouldn’t Pang Xiao lose six military allies in one stroke?

Thinking of this, Li Qitian was so excited he nearly blurted out the order to execute all six.

But on second thought, although these six weren’t as famous as Pang Xiao and Ji Zeyu, they were all military officers who had served the court for many years. If he killed them all at once, saying they intended rebellion by placing their commander under house arrest would certainly work, but such a claim could easily arouse outside suspicion of him.

Having just experienced the Pang Xiao affair, Li Qitian couldn’t withstand more rumors and gossip from the outside world.

Thinking of this, Li Qitian said: “You placed your commander under house arrest and disobeyed imperial orders. Your crime deserves death!”

The six men’s faces all turned pale at once, but none of them panicked. They all kept their heads lowered, waiting for Li Qitian’s next decree.

Seeing how composed these men were, Li Qitian felt frustrated again.

Could they really be following Pang Xiao’s instructions to do this, having something to rely on and being certain he wouldn’t kill them?

Li Qitian’s hand gripped the chair’s armrest tightly.

He very much wanted to kill them directly to vent his anger. But thinking that his reputation was most important, he finally forced himself to endure.

“However, considering that you have served the country loyally for many years and shed blood and tears on battlefields, I will not hold this against you. But while the death penalty can be avoided, punishment cannot be escaped. Guards!”

“Yes!”

Twenty or thirty Imperial Guards immediately surged in, all looking tense and ready for battle.

Li Qitian declared loudly: “Strip these six men of their official robes, give each twenty heavy strokes, then send them back to their residences. Strip them of all official positions, never to be employed again.”

“We obey the decree!”

The Imperial Guards immediately responded and stepped forward.

Those six men silently allowed their official robes to be stripped, leaving only their undergarments, and were dragged outside for a crackling beating. After the beating, eunuchs were arranged to escort each back home.

While those six men were being beaten and punished, Li Qitian didn’t let Ji Zeyu rise either, only stared at him silently.

Ji Zeyu wore his usual calm expression, listening expressionlessly to the sounds of punishment, then expressionlessly raised his eyes to meet Li Qitian’s gaze.

Li Qitian met those emotionless eyes and said sternly: “Ji Lan, you have greatly disappointed me.”

Ji Zeyu lowered his head, pressing his crimson lips together, his long eyelashes casting two shadows on his eyelids.

Li Qitian continued: “You’ve been a main general commanding troops in the Longxiang Army for many years. I refuse to believe your ability would let things develop to this state.”

Speaking to this point, Li Qitian stood up and walked step by step to Ji Zeyu’s front. Looking down at Ji Zeyu’s upright kneeling posture, the anger he had forcibly suppressed erupted once again.

Li Qitian kicked Ji Zeyu’s shoulder.

Ji Zeyu neither dodged nor avoided, being kicked down to the ground.

“Ji Lan! You dare say today’s events weren’t intentional! You clearly knew how important today’s events were to the court, clearly knew this was the best opportunity to eliminate a hidden threat in one stroke, yet because of your inaction, all my arrangements were wasted, making me a laughingstock in court and among the people!”

Ji Zeyu crawled up and knelt properly again, his voice still as cold and indifferent as usual, his emotions showing no fluctuation: “What I did was for Your Majesty’s sake.”

Upon hearing this, Li Qitian’s rage shot up to new heights.

“You admit it? You really did it intentionally! When Li Guanwen saw your control over the Huben Army that day, it wasn’t fake. You could command those people like your own left and right hands then – there’s no reason they would place you under house arrest at the crucial moment! Don’t I know your capabilities? When you told me you were under house arrest, I didn’t believe it from the start!”