Recently, Huichuan County had been in a state of extreme tension and alarm. The common people didn’t actually know what exactly had happened, but the sudden arrival of troops and the imperial presence had thrown them into extreme anxiety and panic.

Now, when people went out to queue up to buy rice, they saw Prince Zhongshun’s ceremonial procession entering the city under military escort. Connecting this to the fact that this prince had once been the supervisor responsible for the imperial mausoleum construction, the people all had their speculations.

This prince was most likely also implicated by the mausoleum affair.

For the sake of an imperial mausoleum, how many lives had been lost inside it!

Those who were more well-informed, or who happened to have been to the capital before Pang Xiao arrived in Huichuan County, knew the rumors that were circulating in the capital at the time. Their private discussions were quite insightful: “You don’t understand anything. It’s quite possible that the prince’s assignment as supervisor of the imperial mausoleum was deliberately arranged by someone with ulterior motives!”

Pang Xiao paid no attention to these matters at all. Amidst all the discussions, he arrived at the government office, calmly alighted from his carriage, and went to the rear courtyard accompanied by Xiong Jinshui and Ma Cheng.

Li Qitian was currently reading memorials that had arrived from the capital.

“Reporting to Your Majesty, Prince Zhongshun has been brought here.”

Li Qitian’s gaze, which had been scanning the memorial, paused. He calmly set the memorial down. “Let him in.”

“By your command.”

Shortly after, Pang Xiao, dressed in a silver-white cloud brocade arrow-sleeved outer robe with a jade belt around his waist, entered the room “accompanied” by eight guards.

Li Qitian sat upright in the primary seat, squinting slightly as he looked at Pang Xiao. That man approached with large strides like an orchid or jade tree, so young and handsome that Li Qitian’s heart grew increasingly troubled.

“Your subject pays respects to Your Majesty.” Pang Xiao respectfully performed the grand ceremony.

Li Qitian didn’t respond, his appraising gaze turning into scrutiny.

It seemed that during Pang Xiao’s time in Danfu County, he had lived much more comfortably than Li Qitian himself.

While Li Qitian had been toiling for the country, Pang Xiao had been enjoying himself leisurely, and in the end had effortlessly stolen away his treasure!

The anger he had originally been able to suppress suddenly blazed like a prairie fire. Li Qitian slammed his hand on the table and angrily rebuked: “Pang Zhixi! Do you know your crime!”

Pang Xiao kept his forehead respectfully bowed: “Your Majesty, please calm your anger.”

“Calm my anger? You have deceived and exploited me like this, and you still want me to calm my anger!”

“Your subject doesn’t understand Your Majesty’s meaning. If your subject has erred, please enlighten me, Your Majesty.”

Li Qitian’s chest heaved violently, and in his extreme anger, he laughed instead: “Since you want me to be explicit, I shall be explicit with you! Where have you hidden the treasure? Speak up, and I can save myself the trouble.”

Pang Xiao looked bewildered as he straightened up. He couldn’t even be bothered with the rule about not looking directly at the imperial countenance, and said in astonishment: “Your Majesty speaks of treasure? Is it that batch of treasure from the Yan Dynasty?”

This man was still putting on an act!

“What else!” Li Qitian angrily rose to his feet, strode up to Pang Xiao, and looking down at him said, “I treated you as a brother and was not unkind to you, yet you repeatedly violated prohibitions. This time, you clearly knew that Great Zhou needed this batch of treasure, yet you secretly hid it away. Acting in such a manner, how can you face our sworn brotherhood from years past!”

Pang Xiao seemed to have been provoked to some anger by Li Qitian’s furious shouting. His sword-like eyebrows knitted tightly together, and a vertical line appeared between his brows.

“Your Majesty, where do these words come from! Your subject has been resting in Danfu County by imperial decree all along, never stepping foot outside of Danfu. How could I know anything about treasure!

“Your Majesty says the treasure was hidden by your subject – where did you hear such nonsense? As a subject, my family line has already been severed, and my fiefdom income is sufficient for my use. Why would I go about hiding treasure?

“Moreover, the Yan Dynasty’s treasure must be no small amount. If your subject had touched the treasure, how could it not alarm others? Who exactly told Your Majesty about this matter? Someone must be framing me!”

The more Pang Xiao argued, the louder his voice became, until he was nearly roaring at the end.

Li Qitian knew that while Pang Xiao appeared rough and careless, he was actually very cautious as a person. Shouting and yelling in front of him was something that would no longer occur, but now he was losing his composure over this matter, which showed how urgently angry he was.

And the reason he would be so furious – did it represent that he had been wronged?

Li Qitian began to have some doubts about Lu Heng’s words.

Lu Heng’s every action and movement from that day were still clearly before his eyes as if it had just happened. Li Qitian carefully recalled it all and discovered that Lu Heng had seemed excessively calm at the time.

Comparing it to Pang Xiao’s current loss of composure, the performance of these two men made Li Qitian believe Pang Xiao’s appearance more.

However, Li Qitian was more willing to believe the facts that Lu Heng had described.

“You still want to make excuses! I, thinking of our brotherhood over many years, was unwilling to directly issue an edict to have you arrested, and only called you here to ask you personally, yet you still won’t speak the truth! Do you want me to hold court to try you, or hand you over to the Three Judicial Offices before you’ll tell the truth!”

“Then Your Majesty should hand your subject over to the Three Judicial Offices!”

Pang Xiao stiffened his neck, feeling deeply wounded, and said, “Your subject is utterly loyal to Your Majesty and still remembers the bond of fighting together for the realm in the past. Though I serve Your Majesty as master, in my heart I regard Your Majesty as an elder brother. I never expected Your Majesty would believe others’ nonsense and accuse me without any basis! Your subject hasn’t done something, so why should I admit to it! You want me to hand over some treasure – I haven’t hidden any, so what am I supposed to hand over!”

“Fine. Fine. You haven’t hidden anything, you’re wronged.” Li Qitian sneered as he turned around, strode back to his desk and sat down heavily. His hand wearing the jade thumb ring clenched tightly into a fist. “Since you won’t tell the truth now, I’ll have you go to the Three Judicial Offices to speak!”

“I’ll go then!” Pang Xiao actually stood up abruptly, his face flushed red as he said, “This is simply inexplicable! Your Majesty is supposed to be the elder brother, yet you suspect your younger brother like this? Even to convict someone, there should at least be witnesses and evidence. But now, with nothing at all, you’re forcing your subject to confess guilt. I’ve never even seen any treasure – how am I supposed to confess guilt? And how am I supposed to reveal its whereabouts! Your Majesty is simply being inexplicable!”

“You!” Li Qitian was furious, heavily pounding the table once. “Do you still have me, this emperor, in your eyes!”

“If you weren’t the emperor, I would have beaten you up long ago! Look at yourself – do you still look like an elder brother should!”

“Insolent! Someone come, drag this insubordinate fellow away and give him twenty strokes of the rod to teach him what rules are!”

The guards standing inside and outside had long been frightened into silence. Having followed Li Qitian for many years, this was the first time they had seen a subject dare to quarrel with His Majesty, and now they had quarreled to the point where His Majesty was angrily ordering the prince to be beaten with rods!

They all felt troubled in their hearts. Prince Zhongshun hadn’t said anything wrong either – to blame someone without proof or evidence and force them to reveal the treasure’s whereabouts, how could anyone answer that? His Majesty had truly become confused from anxiety over the treasure these past few days. They just didn’t know if His Majesty would regret it after beating the prince with rods.

What if the prince held a grudge against them and sought revenge for the beating in the future?

In their hesitation, several guards stepped forward, pressed down on Pang Xiao’s arms, and led him outside.

Pang Xiao was still angrily shouting: “Your Majesty wrongs a loyal subject! Without proof or evidence you want to convict your subject of crimes, and you’re punishing a loyal subject without cause – your subject refuses to accept this!”

Seeing that Pang Xiao was still making a commotion even after reaching the courtyard, letting everyone know about this matter, Li Qitian became even more furious: “Then beat you until you accept it! Beat him! Beat him ruthlessly!”