Li Yuan slammed the table heavily and said coldly, “You committed such a filthy deed, yet you still have the audacity to ask for mercy!”

Gaoqi was so frightened by his rebuke that he dared not speak further, only constantly touching his head to the ground, hoping Li Yuan would show mercy and spare his life.

Wan Shi gently advised, “Your Majesty, please calm your anger. This matter currently only has Gaoqi’s word alone—whether it’s true or false is still unknown. In this subject’s opinion, why not first summon Marquis Zheng to question him?”

Li Yuan had the same thought and said to the eunuch standing nearby, “Convey my decree—immediately summon Zheng An for an audience!”

“By your command!” During the time the eunuch went to summon Zheng An on the imperial decree, the Imperial Study was silent with an extremely tense atmosphere. Though Gaoqi’s back was burning with pain, he dared not make the slightest sound.

As soon as Zheng An stepped into the Imperial Study, he felt something was wrong with the atmosphere. Seeing Gaoqi prostrate on the ground with blood soaking through his back garments made him feel even more uneasy. But unable to guess what had happened, he could only suppress his speculations, step forward to pay respects to Li Yuan, then greet Wan Shi and Li Jiancheng respectively.

“Zheng An, do you know your crime?” Li Yuan’s words left Zheng An utterly bewildered. He said in shock, “This subject… knows of no crime.”

Li Yuan snorted coldly and stared at him. “Gaoqi has already confessed everything. Will you still not tell the truth?”

Learning of Li Yuan’s purpose in summoning him, Zheng An was greatly alarmed. He hurriedly prostrated himself on the ground, loudly protesting his innocence. “This subject is wronged! The Crown Princess is even more wronged!”

“So you refuse to admit it?” Faced with Li Yuan’s words, Zheng An hurriedly said, “How can Your Majesty ask this subject to admit to something that never happened?” After pausing briefly, he continued, “It’s true that the concubine I recently took has a weak constitution, and I did have Gaoqi enter the residence to treat her. But I absolutely never instructed him to frame Consort Ji. This subject and he are merely casual acquaintances. Please, Your Majesty, see clearly.”

Li Yuan said coldly, “If you’re merely casual acquaintances, why would you sell your residence to him for a mere hundred strings?”

“A hundred strings?” Zheng An looked completely bewildered. After learning which residence it was, he hurriedly said, “This subject did indeed sell a residence, but the price wasn’t a hundred strings—it was twelve hundred strings. And it wasn’t two months ago as Gaoqi claimed—that residence was sold at least half a year ago.”

Li Jiancheng sneered, took a ledger from a eunuch’s hands, and threw it in front of Zheng An. “This is the ledger I had retrieved from the trading house. It clearly records the price and time of your residence sale. Who is lying can be seen at a glance.” On the way to the palace, thinking of this matter, he had someone retrieve this ledger from the trading house Gaoqi mentioned. It had just been delivered to the palace moments ago.

Zheng An frantically opened the ledger. When he saw the page recording his residence, he was completely stunned. The records matched exactly what Li Jiancheng had said, but he remembered very clearly that when he had entrusted the trading house broker to sell this residence, it was indeed twelve hundred strings, completed half a year ago, and the buyer’s surname wasn’t Gao either. How could it have completely changed when recorded in this ledger? What was going on?

Li Jiancheng saw Zheng An’s unease and said coldly, “What do you have to say now?”

Zheng An came to his senses and hurriedly said to Li Yuan, “Every word this subject spoke is true. This ledger must have been tampered with, deliberately framing this subject and the Crown Princess just like with Gaoqi.”

Li Yuan said expressionlessly, “Who would do this? And why would they want to frame you and the Crown Princess?”

Zheng An glanced at Li Jiancheng and said through gritted teeth, “Whoever benefits the most is the most suspicious!”

Li Jiancheng couldn’t fail to understand his meaning and scoffed, “You’re implying Consort Ji? She’s merely a weak woman—how could she do such things? It’s utterly absurd!”

“Consort Ji appears gentle on the surface but has great ambitions, always coveting the Crown Princess position. It’s not strange at all for her to do such things.”

Li Jiancheng stared at him coldly. “What about Chengzong then? What about Nanny Tong? Were they all harmed by Consort Ji too?”

Zheng An’s eyelid twitched as he lowered his head. “For all this, Your Highness should ask Consort Ji…”

“No need!” Li Jiancheng interrupted him, his eyes flashing with cold light. “I’ve already investigated. Nanny Tong was forced by someone to take responsibility for crimes that weren’t hers, leading to her suicide. You just said that whoever benefits the most is often the most suspicious. So tell me, who benefited the most from Nanny Tong’s suicide?”

Zheng An was rendered speechless by his question. After a long while, he managed to say, “Is Your Highness determined to pin this matter on this humble official as well?”

“I’m not pinning anything on you—all of this was indeed your doing!” Li Jiancheng pointed at him hatefully. “Regarding the Chengzong affair, I chose not to pursue it further. Who would have thought you two would become even more brazen, even wanting to harm Consort Ji? This time, I will absolutely not forgive you!” As he spoke, he again addressed Li Yuan: “Zheng Shi and Marquis Zheng have colluded to commit acts that defy heaven and reason. Please, Father Emperor, severely punish them both and depose Zheng Shi from her position as Crown Princess!”

Hearing this, Zheng An hurriedly said, “No! This subject didn’t do it! This subject is wronged, wronged!”

Wan Shi’s eyes moved as she said gently, “Marquis Zheng, at this point, there’s no room for your sophistry. If you still have any regard for His Majesty, quickly confess truthfully.”

Zheng An was truly in indescribable misery now. What did they mean by “trouble comes from nowhere while sitting at home”? He was experiencing it firsthand—selling a residence properly had somehow become an act of bribing Gaoqi, and Li Jiancheng had even dragged up the Nanny Tong affair.

“If you continue to deliberately conceal, you’ll not only harm yourself but also harm the Crown Princess.” Wan Shi’s next words stirred something in Zheng An’s heart. His gaze quickly swept over Wan Shi, then he lowered his head, apparently thinking about something.

Not hearing Zheng An speak for a long time, Li Jiancheng said impatiently, “Father Emperor, both human and material evidence are present. Zheng An cannot deny it any longer. Please, Father Emperor, punish severely to uphold court discipline and maintain legal order.”

Wan Shi spread her sleeves embroidered with colorful divine birds and said gently, “Crown Prince, please don’t be hasty. Since His Majesty knows of this matter, he will certainly handle it appropriately. Why rush for a moment?”

As Wan Shi was a Noble Consort and their stepmother, once she had spoken, Li Jiancheng couldn’t say much and had to temporarily stop speaking, stepping aside.

Li Yuan said sternly, “Zheng An, I ask you one more time—did you do this or not?”

Just when Li Jiancheng thought Zheng An would deny it once again, he actually gritted his teeth and said, “Yes, it was indeed this subject’s doing. This subject bribed Imperial Physician Gao and harmed Consort Ji.”

Li Yuan said angrily, “How dare you! In consideration of your merit, I enfeoffed you as marquis, yet you committed such despicable acts. How can you face me?”

Zheng An prostrated himself and said hoarsely, “This subject has failed Your Majesty’s expectations and truly deserves death ten thousand times over. But this subject was also forced into this desperate situation. Please, Your Majesty, show mercy!”

Li Jiancheng sneered, “What fine words—’forced into a desperate situation.’ Did someone hold a knife to your throat and force you to do this?”