I've been bullied and humiliated for thirteen years; when I wake up, I'll be bloodthirsty.

Chapter 866 Cause of Death

After Changshan entered the hall, he subconsciously glanced at Duke Xiao.

Then he hurriedly knelt down and bowed.

"This humble subject, Changshan, pays his respects to Your Majesty."

Rong Xin pointed to Changshan and asked Duke Xiao, "Does Duke Xiao still recognize this person?"

Duke Xiao looked at Changshan; this face was actually quite unfamiliar to him.

How could he possibly remember his subordinate from almost seventeen or eighteen years ago?

However, when this person and this name stand in front of him, he can naturally recall everything about this person.

He couldn't deny it, after all, Changshan had been his confidant and had appeared in public more than once.

However, Duke Xiao did not believe that Changshan could be hiding any evidence.

"Your Majesty, Changshan was once my guard. He disappeared during a war many years ago. I always thought he was dead, and I have never seen him since," Duke Xiao said carefully.

"Does Duke Xiao still remember when, where, and how Changshan died?" Rong Xin continued to ask.

"I don't remember," Duke Xiao replied frankly. "I have always treated my subordinates well and have already given them enough face during my lifetime. I am busy with trivial matters and naturally would not deliberately remember these things."

He is a Duke, busy with important matters of state, how could he care about the life and death of a servant?

But Changshan could never forget Duke Xiao, his former master.

Rong Xin looked at Changshan and said, "Then let him tell us himself how he died, when, and why."

Changshan looked at Duke Xiao's retreating figure and lowered his head. "This humble citizen, Changshan, was once Duke Xiao's subordinate. I entered the Xiao family when I was just over ten years old. Later, because of my promising aptitude, I was selected to learn martial arts. I began serving Duke Xiao at the age of fifteen, for a full ten years. In the Battle of Chenzhou, Duke Xiao and Helian Rui, the Left Wise King of Northern Yan, had a secret plot to have General Rong die in Chenzhou. To show his sincerity, Duke Xiao secretly transferred all the troops originally stationed in Jinzhou to Chenzhou, awaiting Helian Rui's orders. The leak of secrets within General Rong's army was also arranged by Duke Xiao. He planted people in the army and leaked the marching route from the beginning, causing the Rong family army to suffer repeated defeats in the early stages, forcing them to retreat to Chenzhou. Helian Rui dared to mobilize 150,000 troops of Great Yan in one fell swoop because he already knew General Rong's arrangements beforehand. Adding the 30,000 troops in Jinzhou, that's almost twice the number of the Rong family army at the time. Chenzhou is bound to be a dead city."

"General Rong ordered General Luo to take men to Jinzhou to seek reinforcements. Whether Duke Xiao was in Jinzhou or not, it was impossible to get reinforcements, because there were no reinforcements to begin with. The so-called reinforcements had long since colluded with the Yan army and raised their swords against them. The reason why Duke Xiao abandoned his post and went to Suzhou at the critical moment of General Rong's northern expedition was to cover up the actions in Jinzhou."

"The 30,000 soldiers in Jinzhou were also massacred on Helian Rui's orders after General Rong's death and the massacre in Chenzhou. At that time, I was the one responsible for delivering Duke Xiao's letter to Helian Rui. The letter contained only four words: 'Cut the weeds and eliminate the roots.' I personally witnessed Helian Rui order the massacre of those 30,000 Jinzhou soldiers. Afterwards, Helian Rui ordered people to set fire to Chenzhou, burning it down. So many years have passed, and most of the traces have disappeared. However, if we dig up the mass graves from that time, we should still be able to find incomplete Yan army uniforms and the remains of Jinzhou soldiers wrapped in those uniforms. One or two sets might be unrecognizable, but the skeletons of Yan soldiers are mostly larger and different from those of the Da Zhao soldiers. An experienced coroner can easily identify them with an examination."

"Afterwards, knowing that I would be silenced, I deliberately went through a bandit-infested area on my way back to report and faked my death to escape."

"This is the cause of my death."