Chapter 1906: Retaliation
When Zu An entered the palace, he immediately went to visit the crown princess to tell her about the results of his investigation. Even though he was supposed to be under ‘house arrest’ in the capital, what did that have to do with the Embroidered Envoy's Chief Commander? In that line of work, no one would stop him from entering and leaving the palace. The Embroidered Envoy had a vicious reputation. Regardless of who it was, no one wanted to get too involved with them. It was to the extent that he could meet with Bi Linglong in private and no one else in the Eastern Palace could object to it. After all, the Embroidered Envoy was a secret intelligence organization, so their interactions with others would definitely be classified. None of the Eastern Palace’s eunuchs and maids would dare to eavesdrop on that kind of conversation.
Bi Linglong was a bit absent-minded when she looked at the dark golden-clothed individual behind a sinister mask. A while later, she said, “I'm still more used to your Golden Token Eleven clothes.”
In the past, in the secret dungeon, the two had worked together to face Zhao Han’s split soul. After fighting together through life and death, there were practically no secrets left between them. When they came out of the secret dungeon, in order to combine what they both knew, they had told each other what resources and powers they had at their disposal.
When she found out that Zu An was Golden Token Eleven, Bi Linglong had felt so blessed that she almost fainted on the spot. After all, she had almost lost her life during the Devil Sect’s assault. It was only thanks to Golden Token Eleven that she was saved. Later, the two of them had come into contact with each other several times and she couldn't help but develop a good impression of that mysterious golden token envoy.
But in the secret dungeon, because of various reasons, she had ended up giving her body to Zu An. The two had fought together while drenched in blood, so she had ended up liking him before she realized it. Her feelings for that golden token envoy naturally couldn't compare to what she felt Zu An at that point. For some reason, though, she had still felt a bit of regret in the dead of night sometimes. That Golden Token Eleven had been like a trace of moonlight in her times of youth, filling her with regret; it had felt like an experience that was hard to forget about for the rest of her life.
After she met Zu An, she had already buried that darkness deep inside her heart. She'd just treated it as a secret that she would never speak of again. She often hadn't been able to help but feel guilt over that. She'd felt as if she really wasn’t a good woman for liking two men at the same time. As for that fat idiot Zhao Ruizhi, she had never treated him as a man.
But who would have thought that both of the men she liked were actually the same person? The tremendous feeling of bliss she had felt was still a strong memory. No wonder she had felt a mysterious sense of familiarity from the two of them; he was the same person! That night, she had been exceptionally moved. She had no longer felt as embarrassed and proactively embraced him that night.
Zu An chuckled, saying, “I’ll wear the Golden Token Eleven outfit when I see you in the future.”
“Okay,” Bi Linglong said. Her face reddened, and her heart rate sped up.
…
The two chatted for a while longer, and Bi Linglong’s thoughts returned to proper matters. She knew that this was a good chance to deal King Dai a blow, so she immediately gave out orders. She gathered all of her ministers who were loyal to the Eastern Palace to discuss their plans going forward. The whole group spoke for a few more hours. When Bi Linglong saw everyone else, however, she discovered that Zu An was already gone.
“Momo, where did he go?” Bi Linglong asked.
“Which 'he' are you referring to?” Rong Mo asked, stunned.
“Of course it’s… Ahem, I’m talking about the Embroidered Envoy's Chief Commander,” Bi Linglong said. She thought to herself, Why is this maid getting dumber and dumber?
“Oh, him? He already left a while ago," Rong Mo replied.
“When did he leave?” Bi Linglong asked.
“Around when your highness gathered the other subjects," Rong Mo answered.
Bi Linglong felt a bit disappointed and frustrated when she heard the reply.
He actually left so early.
She couldn't help but feel a bit resentful. Perhaps she was imagining things, but they seemed to have become a lot more estranged. When she recalled those strange questions he had asked her, her pretty brows furrowed.
Did he find out something I don’t know about?
…
The next morning, many subjects had begun discussing things spiritedly with each other. What was happening today? There was actually a morning court session, and all of the subjects had to go! Not even his majesty had held morning court sessions every day. After the battle of Violet Mountain, it had been even longer since they last had a court session. As of late, if someone had an important thing to bring up, they went to the Eastern Palace, or to the empress at the Palace of Peace. Why would anyone need to hold a morning court session?
As the officials all arranged themselves in the throne room, the crown prince finally came in late. From his fuming face, it seemed as if he clearly didn’t really want to do it. In his opinion, a morning court session wasn’t even as interesting as playing with crickets. But everyone else still needed him, the crown prince even if just in name, to sit there. Between that and his fear of the crown princess, he had no choice but to show up.
Immediately after, the crown princess and Liu Ning initiated the proceedings from behind the curtain in the emperor’s place, one on the left and one on the right. They were women, after all, so they needed to be separated from the subjects with pearl curtains.
First of all, once the morning court session was initiated according to procedure, the Meng Clan and King Dai led a group of subjects to voice their complaints. The murder of King Jin was brought up again, and they wanted the court to punish the murderer Zu An severely.
The other subjects' attention shifted to Zu An, but they saw that he just stood there indifferently, as if it didn’t have anything to do with him. Many people frowned, sensing that something wasn’t quite right.
Sure enough, the Eastern Palace’s officials voiced their objections. “Her highness the empress has already assigned the Embroidered Envoy to investigate this matter, and there should already be a result.”
The empress gave Zu An a glance.
That kid really is pretty handsome. Just looking at him standing there is enough to make my entire body heat up.
She said with a smile, “Have the Embroidered Envoy send in someone to report on the situation!”
She naturally knew that the Embroidered Envoy Chief Commander was actually standing right there, so she said that to help him out.
Soon after, a Silver Token Envoy rushed over. Zu An saw that it was actually Xiao Jianren. His condition seemed to have improved quite a bit. Xiao Jianren voiced the conclusion that King Jin had died from excessive anger triggering his body’s poor condition, and that there were no external wounds.
The entire court immediately erupted into a commotion!
King Dai couldn't hold himself back and was the first to curse, “There is a hidden plot behind this, there definitely is!”
Meng Yi frowned slightly when he saw that. Wasn’t this son-in-law losing his cool a bit too easily?
Do you need to say that yourself in this kind of situation? Look at the empress and crown princess; they never have to say their intentions themselves and it's always their subordinates who do it. That allows them to always be in a position where they can advance or retreat.
My daughter has controlled him too strictly. He doesn’t even understand something like this. It’s such a pity that Chan’er was born a woman and that she could only marry this idiot.
But with how things were, he could only give his subordinates a look. Many subjects spoke up to support King Dai.
“That’s right, so many people saw King Jin murdered by Zu An; how could there not be any external injuries?!”
“This humble official requests for the Ministry of Justice and Commandant of Justice’s people to investigate this matter again together!”
…
When he saw the other subjects get all worked up, an official under the Eastern Palace retorted with a sneer, “Are you questioning the fairness of the Embroidered Envoy right now?”
When those words were spoken, the entire palace instantly became quiet. They reflexively looked at Xiao Jianren, whose expression was ice-cold. Even though he was a trifling Silver Token Envoy, he represented the entire Embroidery House right now. The Embroidered Envoys had always been the ruthless sort. They had left countless important ministers destitute and ruined. Who dared to offend them?
When he saw that the others became quiet, Meng Yi could only speak up as well. “They are naturally not questioning the Embroidered Envoy, but this matter is related to the death of a prince. It does need to be treated with a bit more seriousness.”
With him taking the lead, many people spoke up in agreement.
“That’s right! We should have those from the Ministry of Justice look into it.”
“I suggest that Commandant of Justice Jiang personally looks into it. Sir Jiang has always been impartial, the spokesperson of the law. That is something everyone has seen!”
…
Bi Linglong frowned slightly. King Dai and the Meng clan’s influence seemed to be greater than she had imagined. Her side hadn't felt that to be the case when they worked together to face King Qi, and only now did they realize that the other side had actually already roped in so many people.
Xiao Jianren spoke up and said, “Our Embroidery House does not mind letting others investigate this case, but if the results are the same as our conclusion, may I request for all the sirs who caused a commotion here today to accompany us back to the Embroidery House as compensation?”
When they heard that, those officials that were still arguing noisily gave in. Who wanted to put their own clans on the line for this?
King Dai didn’t share their fears. When he saw the situation, he said with a cold snort, “I am willing to make that bet with you! The Ministry of Justice and the Commandant of Justice’s people should go, and it’s best if we throw in Magistrate Yin and the Security Officer’s people into it! That way, there should be no opportunities for falsification.”
If there was anyone who could scheme with all of those departments, their influence would be no weaker than that of the emperor himself. Like hell they would still be arguing here if that was the case! As for the threat of the Embroidered Envoy, he didn’t attach any importance to it. He was a glorious king. Would they really dare to arrest him in the Embroidery House? When he thought about how his plans with Madam Jin had been interrupted, and his own guardian had been captured by their Chief Commander, he found the Embroidered Envoy extremely unsightly.
Xiao Jianren harrumphed. “King Dai, please do not be so impatient. This matter has a huge connection to you.”
“What do you mean?” King Dai exclaimed in alarm.
“According to our investigations, the reason why King Jin targeted the Murong clan, Qin clan, and then Sir Zu in such an aggressive manner was actually because there was someone in the background who harbored unfathomable motives. They secretly incited disharmony. In the end, the one who instigated all of this is the one who truly harmed his highness King Jin,” Xiao Jianren replied coldly.
There was a huge uproar when those words were spoken. The Eastern Palace’s people all looked at King Dai. The others reflexively followed their gaze too. Everyone who could stand in this throne room was intelligent. They immediately knew that the one who had the greatest to gain out of all of this was King Dai. In other words, he had the greatest motive. He had always been jumping up and down over the matter, meaning that he clearly cared a lot about it.
Bi Linglong asked with a smile, “May I dare ask who this mastermind behind the scene is?”
Xiao Jianren said coldly, “It is none other than his highness King Dai right here!”
King Dai's entire body became ice-cold. However, Meng Yi erupted into fury, yelling, “Simply preposterous! Do you know that planting false evidence against a king is a crime that is enough to eradicate your entire clan?!”
The empress glanced at Zu An from her high seat. Then, she shifted her gaze to Xiao Jianren and asked, “Do you have proof for what you have said?”
Xiao Jianren bowed and said, “Reporting to your highness, I have people here who can attest to it.”
Then, he presented a memo containing the oral confessions of the servants from King Jin Manor and other eyewitnesses.
The empress gave it a look, then handed it to her subjects to read out loud. On it, it was written that on a certain year, month, and date, Madam Dai and King Dai visited King Jin in succession, and a rough account of what had been said. King Jin had then become furious and rushed out of the manor.
“Those are nothing more than the complaints of servants; how can they serve as proof? As for how my wife and I have both acted, Madam Jin understands best. She can serve as a witness for us!” King Dai urgently said.
The empress wanted to say something, but Bi Linglong was the first to say, “In that case, bring in Madam Jin!”
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