I read a story and there's this 1 part 話だけで良いのなら, which i don't understand much and can only guess as : "If stories are all we need (to find out the truth in events that happened inside Imperial court recently"
Hope someone knowledgeable about Japanese could help me understand correctly. Context: Main protagonist and his friends came to the Forbidden City (located at the capital named 洛陽/ Luoyang).One person is a military advisor 朱里, and the other is a province governor 公孫賛. Recently there was a political revolt happened inside the Imperial court, lead by a character 董卓. This person replaced the old emperor 霊帝 with a new emperor 献帝, also purged all high ranking officials that she considered corrupt.
Main characters and his friends want to find out the truth of what had actually happened here, since all they've heard after they arrived at the capital are rumors.
Main character「ここ最近の朝廷は、なんだかとんでもない事になってるみたいだしな」
公孫賛「朝廷はどこを歩いても血の臭いがするとか、挨拶に行った州牧だか太守だかが追い返された……なんて噂も聞くし」
朱里「情報を集めてはいるのですが、とにかく錯綜していて、真実の精査が困難を極めています」
朱里「今のところ確かだと言えそうなのは、十常侍を含む高級官吏の多くが粛正されたことと、それを指揮しているのが董卓さんだということ――」
朱里「あとは、霊帝に代わり、献帝が即位されたことですね」
公孫賛「その献帝が、帝位を簒奪するために董卓をそそのかした、なんて話もあったぞ」
朱里「話だけで良いのなら、董卓は匈奴の先手だとか、既に真の董卓は亡く、もののけがすり替わっているのだ、なんて噂もありました」
