In the Golden Palace Hall, there was a deathly silence.
Xue Tingxue’s voice was not loud, yet it struck like a heavy hammer, slamming fiercely into everyone’s heart.
The smile on Fu Nanli’s face froze completely. He looked at the woman in the hall who should have been insane; at this moment, every word she spoke was like a poisoned blade, each one piercing a vital point.
Marquis Zhongyong was the first to recover, his finger pointing at Xue Tingxue trembling incessantly.
"You... you are spouting blood! Where is the evidence? You want to slander a court official with nothing but empty words?"
"Evidence?" Xue Tingxue let out a cold laugh.
She turned toward the Dragon Throne and kowtowed again, "Your Majesty, that batch of inferior military equipment is the evidence!"
"That batch of military equipment is currently in the warehouse thirty miles outside the city; one check will reveal the truth!"
"As for the Armament Department official Li De... the brother-in-law of Marquis Zhongyong, there must be even more unspeakable things in his residence!"
The Emperor’s gaze swept back and forth between Xue Tingxue, Marquis Zhongyong, and Fu Nanli.
He took a deep breath, his eyes seemingly spitting fire, and slammed his hand onto the armrest of the Dragon Throne, his grip thick and powerful.
An emperor is the most suspicious of all; at this moment, he would rather wrongly believe than allow anything that could potentially pose a threat to himself to occur.
"Guards!"
The guards outside the hall immediately rushed in.
"Pass on my edict! Where is the deputy commander of the Imperial Guards!"
A general clad in silver armor immediately stepped out and knelt on one knee.
"Your subject is here!"
"You are to immediately take a troop to the military warehouse outside the city and inspect that batch of military equipment! Do not let a single detail slip by!"
"Send another troop to blockade the Armament Department, seize the official Li De for me, and confiscate his property immediately! Bring back every scrap of paper and item from his home!"
"As you command!"
The general received the order and left quickly with his men.
Inside the Great Hall, the atmosphere was suppressed to the extreme.
The Armament Department official Li De knelt down on the ground with a thud, his face ashen, his entire body trembling like chaff.
Marquis Zhongyong’s expression was also ugly to the extreme; he glared viciously at Li De, wishing he could kill him with his gaze.
Fu Nanli stood in the line of princes, his hands clenched tightly within his sleeves, his palms covered in cold sweat.
Impossible, how could Xue Tingxue know about these things?
She must be crazy, talking nonsense!
Time passed bit by bit, and every minute and every second felt like a torment.
Finally, hurried footsteps were heard from outside the hall.
The deputy commander of the Imperial Guards strode in, followed by several soldiers carrying a heavy wooden box.
"Reporting to Your Majesty!" The deputy commander’s voice was as loud as a bell, "The military equipment in the warehouse outside the city has been inspected!"
"Just as Eldest Miss Xue said, that batch of military equipment is shoddily made; the blades of the swords curl at the slightest touch, the bowstrings snap when pulled, and the arrow shafts are as brittle as rotten wood—they cannot be used on the battlefield at all!"
Whoosh!
All the civil and military officials were in an uproar.
The Emperor’s expression was so grim it could drip water.
He looked at the wooden box that had been brought up.
"What is this?"
"Replying to Your Majesty, this was found in a secret compartment in Li De’s study!"
"Open it!"
The box was opened; inside were not gold and silver treasures, but stacks of thick letters and account books.
The head eunuch cautiously took out a letter and presented it to the Emperor.
The Emperor unrolled the letter, and after just one glance, his breathing suddenly hitched, and his chest heaved violently.
"Good! What a fine pillar of the nation!"
He threw the letter out violently; the paper fluttered and landed exactly at the feet of Marquis Zhongyong.
"Marquis Zhongyong! Open your dog eyes and look! This is the loyal official you recommended to me!"
Marquis Zhongyong shuddered, stiffly bent down, and picked up the letter.
He recognized the handwriting on the letter; it was written by a secret agent from the Hu Kingdom, urging them to deliver the next batch of military equipment as soon as possible and promising that after the deed was done, three cities in the Northern Border would be given as a reward.
Everything went black before Marquis Zhongyong’s eyes, and he nearly collapsed to the ground.
"No... this is not true... Your Majesty, this is a frame-up! It is Xue Tingxue framing me!"
"Framing?" Li De, who was kneeling on the ground, seemed to have grasped a final straw, crawling and scrambling to the Emperor’s feet, tears and snot streaming down his face.
"Your Majesty, spare my life! Your Majesty! I confess! I will confess everything!"
He pointed at Marquis Zhongyong, his voice sharp and harsh.
"It was all him! It was Marquis Zhongyong who instructed me to do this! He said that Duke Dingguo had merit so great it threatened the master, and sooner or later he would be a confidant threat that had to be eliminated!"
"He also said that as long as we overthrew Duke Dingguo, held the military power in our hands, and coordinated with the Hu Kingdom from within, we could... we could help Your Highness Prince Yu ascend the throne!"
These words were punishable by death.
Li De’s words exploded in the Great Hall like a thunderclap.
Everyone’s gaze instantly focused on Fu Nanli.
Fu Nanli felt a chill rush from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head; he felt as if he had been struck by lightning.
He knelt down with a thud, his face as pale as paper.
"Father Emperor! Father Emperor, please see clearly! Your son knows nothing of this! Your son was deceived by them!"
He pointed at Marquis Zhongyong and Li De, arguing hoarsely.
"Your son only felt that Duke Dingguo was relying on his troops to act arrogantly and wanted to share the burden for Father Emperor, so... so I was momentarily confused and listened to their slander! I beg Father Emperor to investigate!"
The Emperor looked at his son kneeling on the ground, making a fool of himself, his eyes filled with endless disappointment and ice-cold indifference.
"Guards!" The Emperor’s voice carried not a hint of emotion.
"Take Marquis Zhongyong and Li De, these two traitors who colluded with the enemy, strip them of their official titles, and throw them into the Heavenly Prison! Hand them over to the Dali Temple, the Ministry of Justice, and the Censorate for a trial by the Three Judicial Offices! I want their nine generations of relatives executed!"
"No! Your Majesty, spare my life!"
"Prince, save me! Prince!"
The cries and pleas of Marquis Zhongyong and Li De faded into the distance until there was no sound left.
The Great Hall returned to silence.
The Emperor’s gaze turned toward Duke Dingguo, his tone softening significantly.
"Duke Dingguo, you have endured humiliation to serve the country and root out traitors; you have been wronged."
Duke Dingguo bowed, "Sharing the burden for Your Majesty is this subject’s duty."
The Emperor nodded, his gaze falling on Xue Tingxue, his eyes complex.
"Xue Tingxue, you are wise and resourceful, and you have rendered meritorious service in protecting the country. What reward do you want?"
Xue Tingxue kowtowed again, her voice crisp.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, serving the country with loyalty is the family motto of the Dingguo Mansion; your subject dares not claim merit, and even less dares to ask for any reward."
She paused, raised her head, and her gaze passed over the crowd, landing on Fu Nanli, who was still kneeling on the ground.
She suddenly laughed, her smile bright and moving.
"However, if one must speak of merit, in truth, today’s events are thanks to Your Highness Prince Yu."
Once these words were spoken, the entire court fell silent.
Everyone looked at the ashen-faced Fu Nanli with the eyes of someone watching a show.
Xue Tingxue slowly stood up, bowed gracefully toward Fu Nanli, and curtsied.
The posture was extremely elegant, yet also extremely ironic.
"If it were not for Your Highness’s sharp eyes, 'discovering' the 'evidence' of my father privately mobilizing military equipment."
"If it were not for Your Highness’s eagerness to drive us into a desperate situation, immediately bringing this matter before Father Emperor and causing such a stir that it became known to all."
"My father and I would not have known how long we would have had to keep performing this grand play of luring the snake out of its hole before these venomous snakes hiding in the dark would have revealed their heads."
Her voice was not loud, yet it clearly reached every corner of the Great Hall.
She looked at Fu Nanli, the smile on her face becoming even more radiant.
"Speaking of which, Your Highness has truly done the Dingguo Mansion a tremendous favor."
"Your subject is here, on behalf of my father and the entire Dingguo Mansion, to thank Your Highness."
Fu Nanli raised his head, staring fixedly at Xue Tingxue.
Her smile was more painful to him than the most vicious curse.
He finally understood.
From beginning to end, he was nothing but a buffoon.
His self-righteous schemes and his proud methods were nothing but a joke in front of Xue Tingxue.
He had been played in the palm of the hand by this woman he had always looked down upon.
He had even personally handed her the knife to overthrow himself.
"Pfft—"
A mouthful of fishy, sweet blood could no longer be suppressed, and it sprayed violently from Fu Nanli’s mouth, staining the golden floor tiles red.
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