Chapter 160: Interrogation of Li Kaigu

It was hard for Zong Huaichang. After suffering such a great defeat, he still kept the military order from Zhang Xuanyu and Ma Renjie.

He handed the crumpled military order to Zhao Ji and Yang Xuanji. When they saw it, they were both stunned.

Using the brazier on the city wall, Zhao Ji recited the words on the military order in a deep voice: "... the government troops have already defeated the bandits. If they are late in reaching Yingzhou, all the generals will be beheaded, and the soldiers will not be awarded honors..."

Yang Xuanji also frowned and carefully checked the seal on the military order. It was indeed correct, and there were even the signatures of Zhang Xuanyu and Ma Renjie on it.

"You good villain! You are so cruel and treacherous that you are misleading my army!" Yang Xuanji, who was always calm, couldn't help but curse.

Zhao Ji was even more confused and puzzled. Could it be that Zhang Xuanyu and Ma Renjie were both traitors of the Snake Spirit?
"Quick, bring up the Khitan general we captured today! I want to interrogate him!" Zhao Ji suddenly thought of Li Kaigu and ordered the soldiers.

A moment later, Zhao Ji, Yang Xuanji, Yan Feishi and Zong Huaichang occupied Qiu Jing's governor's office and interrogated Li Kaigu.

Qiu Jing followed calmly, wanting to hear what happened next.

Zhao Ji sat opposite Qiu Jing, staring at her coldly, with a somewhat impolite tone: "Governor Qiu, the next question may be about military affairs. It's getting late, and you have worked hard, I think you should step aside."

Qiu Jing looked around and saw that the other three had no objection, so he nodded helplessly: "I'll take my leave."

As soon as the man left, Shen Tao and Xiao Bao came to the lobby with Li Kaigu, who was tied up.

"You Khitan dog, why don't you kneel down!" Xiao Bao ordered Li Kaigu to kneel down in front of Zhao Ji and others.

However, Li Kai had his own pride and no matter how hard Shen Tao and Xiao Bao pushed him, he did not move at all.

Shen Tao and Xiao Bao were furious and were about to kick Li Kaigu's knee to force him to kneel down.

Yang Xuanji waved his hand to stop him and said, "Forget it. A man can be killed but not humiliated. Untie him."

Shen Tao and Xiao Bao looked at Zhao Ji and asked for his instructions. Zhao Ji nodded in agreement, and then the two of them untied the ropes on Li Kaigu.

Li Kaigu gently twisted his wrist and moved his body, but his face remained gloomy, clearly revealing his unwillingness to cooperate.

Yang Xuanji looked at the dark-skinned man in front of him and asked in a deep voice, "What's your name?"

"Li Kaigu." Li Kaigu answered concisely and clearly.

Yang Xuanji's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he asked, "Your surname is Li, what is your relationship with Li Jinzhong?"

Li Kaigu responded calmly: "I have nothing to do with the Khan. Several decades ago, the Khan of the Tang Dynasty granted the Daha family the surname Li. Apart from the Khan's branch, I don't know how many Khitans changed their surnames to Li."

When mentioning Li Shimin, Yang Xuanji couldn't help but show nostalgia in his eyes. This old general had actually experienced Li Shimin's era and even followed him to the battlefield.

Zhao Ji was standing aside and did not notice Yang Xuanji's emotional fluctuations.

He pretended to be surprised and said exaggeratedly: "Oh~ I see, how could Li Jinzhong have the heart to treat you as an abandoned pawn? If you were really related to him, I'm afraid you wouldn't be here."

Upon hearing this, Li Kaigu sighed, lowered his head, and looked gloomy. It was obvious that being treated as a victim was not a pleasant feeling.

Zhao Ji caught Li Kaigu's mood change, a smile appeared on his lips, and then he ordered: "Come on, serve wine and food to General Li."

Xiao Bao was stunned when he heard this. He didn't know what Zhao Ji was up to or whether Shen Tao was quick to react and went down to prepare.

Yan Fei Shi and Zong Huaichang couldn't figure out what Zhao Ji was up to, only Yang Xuanji seemed to be thinking about something.

As time was running out, Shen Tao brought a pot of wine and a pork elbow that Qiu Jing had left over from treating Zhao Ji and the others.

Li Kaigu had fought a whole day and it was already midnight, so how could he not be hungry? Now that there was food, he didn't care whether it was raw or cooked, hot or cold, and started to eat it. Zhao Ji couldn't help but laugh, thinking to himself: "In the past, King Xiang held a Hongmen Banquet to entertain Emperor Gaozu of Han, and Fan Kuai was probably like this. Li Jinzhong left his troops to delay time, and then ran away so fast, which really matched Liu Bang."

Li Kaigu naturally didn't know what Zhao Ji was thinking. He quickly ate the food and wine and bowed down to Zhao Ji: "General, you are so brave today. I, Li Kaigu, am not as good as you. I am convinced."

"Thank you for letting me have a full stomach before I die. I will repay you for your kindness in my next life! Just kill me!"

Zhao Ji smiled slightly, walked over and helped Li Kaigu up: "We will not kill you. Whether you can live or not does not depend on us. It depends on you and the current emperor."

"You won't kill me?" Li Kaigu was a little unconvinced.

Zhao Ji shook his head and said, "I just want to ask you a few questions."

Yang Xuanji came back to his senses from his recollection of Li Shimin, and suddenly asked Li Kaigu: "According to what you said, it seems that there are many people in the Khitan tribe who admire the power and virtue of His Majesty Taizong. Then why did you Khitans rebel?"

After these words were spoken, Zhao Ji, Yan Fei Shi and Zong Huaichang all looked sideways with expressions of surprise.

These three people were able to lead troops on the front line, so they were all Wu Zetian's confidants. Yang Xuanji's question was a bit sensitive. Moreover, it had been many years since Li Shimin, so there was no point in asking this question.

Li Kaigu was an outsider and didn't care about the twists and turns. He said bluntly: "The current emperor of the Great Zhou has the surname Wu, not Li. If she returns the throne to the descendants of Emperor Taizong, we Khitans may not rebel."

When Zhao Ji, Yan Fei Shi and Zong Huaichang heard this, their jaws almost dropped in shock.

No, brother, although what you said may be from your heart, can you please not say it in front of us?

"Hehe, isn't it said that you Khitans suffered from famine, and the Yingzhou governor Zhao Wenhui oppressed you and refused to provide relief, so you rebelled?" Zhao Ji immediately changed the subject, not wanting to delve into it further.

Li Kaigu showed a puzzled look: "It is true that Zhao Wenhui, this bastard, looks down on us Khitans. But what is the famine? What famine?"

Zhao Ji understood what was going on and turned to Yang Xuanji and said, "General Yang, it seems that Li Jinzhong is ambitious and has been planning for a long time. He is determined to rebel. The so-called famine is just an excuse to show weakness and lure our army into a trap."

Yang Xuanji's expression turned serious and he nodded slightly.

Yan Feishi and Zong Huaichang nodded hurriedly. Since Li Jinzhong had been planning this for a long time, the so-called Taizong's power and virtue and returning power to Li Tang was a sinister move and nonsense.

Zhao Ji asked again: "Do you know the three people Zhang Xuanyu, Ma Renjie and Cao Renshi?"

Li Kaigu nodded: "Ma Renjie was captured by my men. It is said that he and Zhang Xuanyu surrendered. As for the man surnamed Cao, it seems that he died in battle."

Hearing this, Zong Huaichang's eyes widened like bells, and he was so angry that his lungs were about to explode: "No wonder these two people signed the military order!"

Yan Feishi jumped up, rushed to Li Kaigu, grabbed his collar and asked, "Are you telling the truth?"

Li Kaigu was startled by Yan Feishi's excitement: "Of course it's true."

After getting the confirmation, Yan Feishi laughed loudly, tears flashing in his eyes: "These two scums deserve to be cut into pieces! It's a pity that so many good men were ruined by these two beasts!"

Zhao Ji's face also looked extremely ugly. He first asked someone to take Li Kaigu away, and then comforted Yan Fei Shi and Zong Huaichang.

"It's not the fault of the two generals. Who could have thought... that the army's commander, captured on the battlefield, would not only surrender, but actually help the enemy army to harm his own comrades. This is something that even beasts cannot do!" Zhao Ji shook his head and sighed.

Yang Xuanji waited until the two calmed down and concluded, "The situation has collapsed because of Zhang Xuanyu and Ma Renjie. Now that things have come to this, we have no choice but to tell the truth to the court, impeach the two, and ask General Li Duozuo to leave as soon as possible and come here to take charge of the situation."

Zong Huaichang and Yan Feishi nodded helplessly. After all, they were less responsible for the defeat, the loss of tens of thousands of soldiers, and the capture of their chief general. If the emperor came to punish them, their fate would be better.

(End of this chapter)