Amid the clamor of the courtiers, many were whispering in the open or behind closed doors, predicting doom. They seemed to have already resigned themselves to the death of Dugu Tianqing, imagining the Northern Frontier falling into chaos and being seized by the Prairie Royal Court, while the Southern Frontier and the Wa State of the East Sea launched full-scale offensives. In their eyes, the only way for the Daxia Dynasty to avoid collapse was to surrender, sign humiliating treaties, cede territory, and pay reparations.
Some officials repeatedly spoke up, feigning sympathy for their old friend Dugu Yihe, sighing that a brilliant young talent like Dugu Tianqing was destined for an untimely death, lamenting that the heavens were blind to human suffering.
Others fanned the flames, quietly shifting the target of blame toward Zhao Wujiang.
Chapter 109