A hearty laugh rang out in the grand hall.
It was like a stone dropped into the bottom of a lifeless lake.
First, Taoist Qiu cast a glance at the crown prince, his eyes full of admiration.
Then, he slowly walked up to the emperor, his gaze profound.
"Your Majesty, behind Yue Chengkong is a great parasite of the Great Zhou. This person wields great power and is driven by unrestrained desires. If we allow this person to continue causing chaos, who knows how many commoners will suffer. As long as this person remains at large, the Great Zhou will never know peace."
He neither pleaded for the crown prince nor blamed the emperor for his harshness.
But every word he said struck a chord in the emperor's heart.
The emperor's dignity was important, but the commoners and the country in his heart were even more so.
The emperor was concerned about his reputation, but he was not a fool.
Taoist Qiu's words woke the emperor up from his reverie.
The princess's attack on the crown prince had almost made him lose sight of the key issue.
"Uncle San is right," the emperor said.
He decided to put aside the matter of the crown prince's disobedience for the time being.
"Hong'er, you said Yue Chengkong is not dead. Where is he?"
The little color that had returned to the princess's face instantly faded.
She could no longer prevent Yue Chengkong from showing up.
Yue Chengkong must not tell the truth, or else...
The crown prince gave an order, and Little An scurried out of the hall.
Not long after, four eunuchs carried a stretcher in.
At the sight of Yue Chengkong's miserable state, some people gasped in surprise while others sighed with pity.
His eye sockets were now two black holes, and his limbs were limp. He could only lie on the stretcher, struggling to raise his head and kowtow in the direction of the emperor.
"Your humble subject, Yue Chengkong, pays respects to Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty."
His voice was filled with a calm sense of death and endless desolation.
The emperor was greatly shocked.
How had this once powerful general, as strong as a bear, ended up like this?
"Crown prince, even if Yue Chengkong deserves to die, you shouldn't have used torture on him! How can the heir apparent of a country be so cruel and heartless?" the princess preempted.
She had to make Yue Chengkong believe that she was his only hope of survival.
By pleading for Yue Chengkong, he would surely be deeply touched.
But upon hearing the princess's words, Yue Chengkong remained calm, showing no reaction.
Yaoguang said in a deep voice, "It was I who injured Yue Chengkong. I originally wanted to kill him to avenge my parents and the others, but the crown prince stopped me. The crown prince has the well - being of the Great Zhou at heart and wants to expose the traitor behind Yue Chengkong. Moved by his noble spirit, I spared Yue Chengkong's life."
"You were brought in by the crown prince. Naturally, you'll speak for him," the princess insinuated, implying that Yaoguang and the crown prince had rehearsed their stories in advance.
But Yue Chengkong spoke up at this moment, "The princess is right. If not for the crown prince's persuasion, I would have died by the princess's sword long ago."
The princess's face had turned as white as a sheet, and even her lips had lost their color.
She barely managed to steady herself, then suddenly let out a long sigh, her expression sorrowful.
"It's so pitiful that your whole family is either dead or exiled, and Nanny Yue passed away so suddenly. I was thousands of miles away and couldn't even see my wet - nurse off for the last time."
She steered the topic back to the dead.
The emperor gradually saw through the princess's intentions.
At first, he thought the princess was just unhappy about being outwitted by the crown prince and Liang Yuzhou and was deliberately diverting the topic to make things difficult for the crown prince, hoping that he would scold the crown prince.
But his elder sister had been repeatedly obstructing his investigation into the fall of the Gaochang Kingdom.
Her motives were suspect, and her actions were suspicious.
A terrifying thought occurred to him.
Instinctively, he wanted to deny this thought.
But he was determined to get to the bottom of the truth.
"Yue Chengkong, who instigated you to collude with the barbarians and destroy the Gaochang Kingdom?"
Without the slightest hesitation, Yue Chengkong blurted out, "It was the princess. She coveted the national treasure of the Gaochang Kingdom, the Blood - Dripping Rose. But I didn't have enough troops. With only my 20,000 soldiers, I couldn't obtain the Blood - Dripping Rose. So the princess secretly colluded with the barbarians. Coincidentally, the barbarians had long wanted to destroy the Gaochang Kingdom. They rallied 50,000 troops, and with my 20,000, the Gaochang Kingdom couldn't resist, and its city was captured."
The words "princess" reverberated in the emperor's mind like a giant bell being struck.
The princess flew into a rage and violently overturned the table in front of her.
"How dare you! Yue Chengkong, what benefits did the crown prince promise you that you would slander me?"
Her face was as red as a volcano about to erupt, and her eyes were bloodshot, looking as if she was about to devour someone.
The outburst just now had almost exhausted all her strength. Her shoulders were shaking violently, and she was gasping for breath. She stared fixedly at the emperor.
Like someone clutching at the last straw, she shed tears as if she had suffered a great injustice.
"Your Majesty, do you see? All of this today is a carefully - laid trap by the crown prince. It's all aimed at your elder sister! He's a junior, my nephew, and yet he can't tolerate his own aunt! In order to frame me, he's even pinning the charge of treason on me!"
She slumped to the ground, crying heart - rendingly.
The once - majestic princess did look a bit vulnerable and wronged at this moment.
The emperor said nothing, silently looking at her with a look in his eyes that was too complex to describe.
"Your Majesty, the crown prince is not slandering the princess. The national treasure of my Gaochang Kingdom, the Blood - Dripping Rose, is in the princess's possession!" Yaoguang said.
"You're lying! I have so many treasures. Why would I go through so much trouble to snatch something insignificant?" the princess barked at Yaoguang like a dog with its tail stepped on.
Her ferocious appearance bore no resemblance to the pride and authority of a royal relative.
The crown prince picked up where Yaoguang left off, "Father, your son dared to order the Minister of the Supreme Court, Shi Jinglu, to search the princess's mansion with your son's token. Whether the princess has the Blood - Dripping Rose or not will be revealed once Shi Jinglu returns with his report!"
"Lu Sihong, do you really think the world is already yours? How dare you search my mansion without permission?" the princess roared angrily, wishing she could tear the crown prince to pieces.
She gritted her teeth, still holding on to a glimmer of hope.
The constables of the Supreme Court numbered no more than 300, while her own mansion guards had over 500.
Shi Jinglu would never be able to enter the princess's mansion!
She looked at the emperor with pleading red - swollen eyes.
As long as the emperor softened his heart and put an end to this farce with a single word, she would still be the noble princess.
As long as the Blood - Dripping Rose was not found in her mansion, Yue Chengkong's words would be baseless.
Without evidence, no one could convict her of treason!
The grand hall fell into a tense state of waiting.
"Your Majesty, the Minister of the Supreme Court, Shi Jinglu, requests an audience outside the hall!"
"Quickly admit him!" the emperor said impatiently.
Shi Jinglu walked into the main hall with hasty yet steady steps.
In his hand, he held a tray.
The princess's pupils dilated in horror.
How had Shi Jinglu managed to enter the princess's mansion so easily?
It must be that bitch, Aunt Fang, who had betrayed her!
Why was everyone against her?
"Your Majesty, this is the national treasure of the Gaochang Kingdom that your subject found in the princess's mansion," Shi Jinglu said.
When the brocade cloth on the tray was lifted, the brilliance of the Blood - Dripping Rose illuminated the entire hall.
The princess slumped to the ground无力地.
It was as if an invisible iron hand had grabbed her throat, squeezing the air out of her lungs and slowly suffocating her.
The emperor stared at the Blood - Dripping Rose, stunned, furious, confused, but most of all, filled with a great sense of remorse that was beyond words.
If only he had listened to Uncle San's advice back then and stopped the princess when she first showed signs of arrogance and debauchery, strangling her desires in the cradle...
The princess's sins were the result of his indulgence!
This time, he could no longer forgive her.