Embedded Files
Psst! We're moving!
“Oh?” The emperor raised an eyebrow, seemingly even more surprised, then grew serious. “Bring the witness to the hall.”
Lu Zheng bowed once more, turned, and signaled to the palace attendants outside the hall. The attendant hurried off and returned shortly, leading another person into the hall.
The newcomer was a young man clad in armor. Before entering the hall, he removed his sword and knelt to pay respects to the emperor.
The emperor asked, “Who is this person?”
The man knelt and replied, “Your Majesty, I am an official under the Court of Judicial Review. Four years ago, I served as the captain of Jiankang’s city gate guards.”
The emperor nodded and asked further, “What do you have to report?”
Shen Xiling looked at the man. His face was utterly ordinary, leaving no impression on her. But when she heard the words “city gate guard,” memories of her escape from prison with her mother four years ago came flooding back. She remembered how, before Qi Ying came to rescue them, she and her mother had been caught by the gate guards. They had pinned down the wandering swordsman her father sent to protect them, surrounding him with spears and swords, and had closed in on her and her mother…
Shen Xiling looked at the man again, and suddenly, the memories from four years ago became vivid. This man… this man was…
The man spoke clearly, “On a snowy night four years ago, I was stationed at the city gate. That night, there were two fugitives being pursued by the Court of Judicial Review, and we were ordered to check the identities of those leaving the city. That night, this woman and her mother attempted to leave the city under the protection of a wandering swordsman. Finding their behavior suspicious, I intended to detain and interrogate them. However, Lord Qi Ying intervened. He claimed they were runaway slaves from his estate and forbade us from questioning them further, forcibly taking them out of the city.”
The man’s account was dry and matter-of-fact, but it instantly brought the scene from four years ago to life in Shen Xiling’s mind.
She recalled the heavy snowfall that day, her mother collapsing weakly into her arms, the swordsman’s gaze after being struck down by the soldiers, the overwhelming despair she felt until she heard the sound of carriage wheels and bells, and the expression on Qi Ying’s face when he stepped out of the carriage to meet her gaze…
She remembered everything, and it was as if she had been transported back to that moment. Even in the sweltering heat of May, she felt the biting cold of that December snowstorm.
Her entire body trembled with chills.
The court erupted in murmurs once again. The emperor’s brow furrowed deeply as he asked, “After four years, how can you still remember the appearance of that woman? Could you have mistaken her?”
The man glanced at Shen Xiling, then answered decisively, “This woman was young at the time, but her appearance has not changed significantly. Moreover, she has a red mole between her eyebrows. I could not possibly mistake her!”
His words were highly convincing.
When Shen Xiling had been brought into the hall by the palace attendants, the officials had already been struck by her extraordinary beauty, especially the striking red mole between her eyebrows. It was so exquisite that it seemed beyond human craftsmanship, finer than anything the most skilled painters could create. Anyone who saw her would find it impossible to forget.
They all believed him and began whispering among themselves.
The emperor nodded, apparently finding this explanation credible. After a moment of thought, he turned to Lu Zheng and asked, “Lord Lu, earlier I heard that the Court of Judicial Review was pursuing fugitives four years ago. Who were they trying to capture?”
Even though Shen Xiling’s heart had already sunk to the bottom, she still felt a jolt of fear at the emperor’s question.
It was as if she had fallen into a dense fog. When the mist cleared, she found herself surrounded by countless razor-sharp blades dripping with poison. She wanted to escape, but there was no way out.
She heard Lord Lu reply, “Your Majesty, I have reviewed the records from that time. The fugitives being pursued were the concubine and illegitimate daughter of the traitor Shen Qian.”
These words caused an uproar in the court!
The Shen family!
Could this beautiful young girl really be Shen Qian’s orphaned child?
None of the civil and military officials in the court were fools. Their minds worked quickly. On one hand, they recalled the catastrophic downfall of the Shen family years ago, and on the other, they observed the precarious state of the Qi family, once hailed as the foremost noble family of Jiangzuo. Their hearts were filled with complex emotions as they contemplated what it would mean if these two major cases were connected.
Who was Lord Qi Ying? A man who could turn the tides with a flick of his hand, outwardly a gentleman but inwardly ruthless, utterly cold and calculating. If this were about anyone else, one might argue that saving this girl was simply a matter of lust or compassion. But Lord Qi Ying was no shallow man. There must have been some deal between the Qi and Shen families! Perhaps the Qi family had gained immense benefits from the Shen family!
The officials’ gazes grew deeper, and their ears perked up as they listened intently to the emperor’s tone. Suddenly, the emperor’s voice turned icy as he asked, “Do you have concrete evidence?”
Lu Zheng replied, “How dare I make unfounded accusations?”
With that, he called for the third witness to take the stand.
By now, the officials were fully aware of what was happening.
Lu Zheng had overseen the Court of Judicial Review for many years, dealing with countless unresolved cases. If not for someone pulling the strings, why would he suddenly devote so much effort to investigating such a convoluted matter? And although the emperor had appeared to be defending Lord Qi Ying, he was actually systematically cutting off all possible avenues for exoneration, sealing every loophole. Clearly, he intended to publicly condemn Qi Ying in front of everyone, driving him into the depths of hell!
How perilous! How meticulous!
Such a masterful performance of political theater was rare indeed. Though the officials were filled with dread, they couldn’t help but turn their attention to the third witness.
Shen Xiling also stared blankly, only to see… her uncle.
Four years ago, she had traveled north to Langya with her mother’s body, kneeling and begging her maternal relatives to allow her to enter the family ancestral hall. But at that time, her so-called relatives had shown nothing but cold indifference. Their own sister had died, yet they remained unmoved, casting Shen Xiling out.
At that time, she had felt an overwhelming sense of desolation in Langya and had secretly vowed never to have anything to do with the Wei family again!
Who could have predicted…
Four years ago, when she begged the Wei family for help, they refused. Now, they eagerly sought to worsen her plight. Her uncle, upon entering the imperial hall, trembled with fear, a far cry from the imposing demeanor he had displayed when expelling her from the Wei family. Though cowardly, he spoke clearly, recounting every detail of her mother’s past, likely having memorized it over many days.
Her uncle even burst into tears, crying, “Your Majesty, please see clearly! My family cut ties with this mother and daughter decades ago! Because my sister eloped with another man and disgraced our family name, the Wei clan has long considered them dead. Everything they’ve done has nothing to do with the Wei family, Your Majesty!”
Under normal circumstances, such a display might have provoked laughter. But today’s revelations were too shocking, leaving the officials no time to mock the Wei family.
They recalled how, after the marriage alliance between the Shen and Fu families, Shen Qian had always been estranged from his wife, Fu Zhen. There were even rumors that they had never consummated their marriage. He did indeed keep a concubine, but he seemed to care little for her, reportedly even withholding money and luxuries, leaving her dissatisfied. After she bore him a child, he showed no intention of bringing her into the Shen household to raise the child. It was said that the Fu family tacitly approved of this arrangement after seeing how coldly Shen Qian treated the concubine.
Now, this rustic from the Wei family spoke with such certainty, even bringing the family genealogy to the hall, matching every detail with the events of the past. Naturally, the officials were convinced—this girl kneeling in the hall was truly Shen Qian’s orphaned child.
This revelation was monumental!
Not only had Lord Qi Ying allowed this girl to assume the identity of Fang Yukai’s daughter, but he had also defied the law to save the daughter of the exiled Shen family! He must have received significant benefits from Shen Qian. This was not just an affront to imperial authority but collusion with the remnants of the Shen family—a crime of treason!
The Qi family was already embroiled in legal troubles involving the eldest and third sons. Now, their sole pillar of support was implicated in an even greater scandal. This…
Was the end of the road!
As the officials pondered this, they suddenly heard a dull thud from the hall. Turning their heads, they saw that Zuo Xiang Qi Zhang, who had dominated the court for decades and wielded immense power, had fainted in public! His eldest and third sons, kneeling in the hall, rushed to their father in panic. The third son wept uncontrollably, creating quite the spectacle.
These scenes of life and drama in the court were soon relayed to the Empress through the palace attendants.
At that moment, the Empress was lounging comfortably on a chaise in her palace, leisurely enjoying freshly chilled grapes. She was utterly at ease.
She half-closed her eyes contentedly, recalling several recent events.
Her crippled aunt had revealed the true identity of the fake Fang Jun to her long ago. At the time, Qi Ying was far away in Jiangbei, unable to intervene—an ideal opportunity to act. But Fu Rong’s vision was far from shortsighted. What was a mere girl worth? Whether she lived or died mattered little. What Fu Rong wanted was to bring down the Qi family and ruin Qi Ying, leaving him no chance to recover.
A single girl with an ambiguous identity wasn’t enough to defeat the Qi family. The key lay with the foolish Qi Ning, who had been accused of illegal lending and land acquisition. She needed to solidify the charges against him and drag Qi Yun, the legitimate son, into the mess as well. Land taxes and population registration were matters of utmost importance throughout history. Those who violated them rarely escaped with their lives—the Shen family had met the same fate, hadn’t they? This was the imperial taboo.
She wanted the Qi family teetering on the brink of collapse, and at the last moment, she would reveal the truth about the Shen family girl, nailing Qi Ying to the ground and giving him no chance to recover!
After hearing her aunt’s advice, the first thing she did was send people to find the real Fang Jun. She must still be alive; otherwise, Qi Ying wouldn’t have given her name to the Shen girl. It took considerable effort to locate the real Fang Jun and secretly neutralize the people Qi Ying had arranged to care for her in Bazhong. Then, she brought Fang Jun to Jiankang and summoned renowned physicians from across the land to treat her, all to ensure that Qi Ying would be left speechless in the hall today!
She would not allow him any chance to overturn the case. She sent people to the Court of Judicial Review to investigate traces of the Shen girl’s prison escape and dispatched others to Langya to find her mother’s relatives. Every step was meticulously planned. Even if Qi Jingchen held all the wisdom, how could he possibly break this scheme?
Fu Rong chuckled softly and picked up another grape.
Qi Ying, aren’t you so impressive? Didn’t you refuse to marry me?
Now your life and death are in the hands of a woman you once scorned. How does it feel? Does it hurt?
And your little darling… I will have her die in front of you. Do you understand?
She smiled faintly, radiating elegance and grace, and popped the grape into her mouth.
Mmm, so sweet.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere in the court was grim.
The sudden unveiling of such a shocking case left the assembled officials trembling with awe.
Unconsciously, they all turned their gaze toward Qi Ying.
The Chief Secretary of the Privy Council who had single-handedly saved the Great Liang from calamity, the young prodigy who had earned fame across Jiangzuo, the second son of the Qi family revered as the epitome of nobility.
He was so silent.
He neither spoke nor moved, merely standing there as if everything happening in the court had nothing to do with him. Even when his father collapsed, he made no move. Some even saw him close his eyes gently.
Those phoenix eyes that could always pierce through illusions.
What was wrong with him?
Had he given up?
Or was this something even he could not handle?
As the crowd speculated, Xiao Ziteng atop the dais was also gazing down at Qi Ying.
He did not immediately break the silence in the court but instead savored the sight of Qi Jingchen bowing his head and closing his eyes.
How rare this was.
He had always risen above others, possessing talents surpassing everyone, a family stronger than any, and character more outstanding than all.
He would never fall into distress or lose himself in confusion. He was admired by all. Even if he knelt before you, he still appeared more like a superior being.
But today was different.
Today, he had lost.
The invincible Qi Jingchen had finally been defeated by Xiao Ziteng.
Utterly crushed.
Not just him, but his entire family.
A barely perceptible, deeply satisfied smile appeared in Xiao Ziteng’s flirtatious peach-blossom eyes.
He looked down at Qi Ying, who stood with his head bowed and eyes closed, relishing the overwhelming pleasure in his heart. He wished the whole world could see this—the defeated Qi Jingchen, the Qi Jingchen who had lost.
How delightful.
Xiao Ziteng’s gaze briefly swept over Shen Xiling, kneeling in the hall. Her eyes were completely vacant, her last shred of sanity shattered.
A faint smile curled the corners of his lips as he recalled the lantern festival years ago. Back then, he had sent a message through a child attending Qi Ying, saying, “Being too beautiful can be quite dangerous for a young girl.”
Jingchen, look. I didn’t lie. She was so beautiful, and in the end, she truly brought disaster upon you, didn’t she?
The smile in Xiao Ziteng’s eyes deepened.
He savored the sight of Qi Ying’s defeat for a while longer, indulging in the unprecedented pleasure, before reluctantly continuing with the court proceedings.
He was about to speak—he was the emperor, whose words were golden. With a few light words, he would sentence the Qi family, turning their century-old legacy to ashes in an instant. He would ensure they… never rose again.
The officials below watched as the emperor straightened his expression, signaling that he was about to speak. Everyone knew this was the moment of life and death for the Qi family.
Everyone held their breath, waiting for the sharp blade to rise high and fall hard, severing the necks of the Qi family members in a bloody mess!
But just as the emperor was about to speak—
A eunuch rushed into the hall, clutching a military report. He knelt and shouted, “Your Majesty! War has broken out at the border! The Great Wei has openly torn up the treaty. Gu Juhán has led an army of 200,000 and seized Yongzhou!”
The sudden change occurred in the blink of an eye!
The Liang Palace hall erupted like boiling oil hitting water! The officials panicked, and even the emperor’s expression changed instantly!
No one noticed.
At this critical moment.
The Chief Secretary’s eyes suddenly opened.
His face was expressionless, but within his phoenix eyes burned a steely resolve.
Fierce like a demon emerging from the underworld.
Compassionate as a deity saving sentient beings.
Google Sites
Report abuse