“Your Highness, you must save me!”

“What exactly is the matter?”

“I was foolish, I was too careless. I never expected that mistakes made years ago would now come back to haunt me.” Xue He looked at the man sitting before him with pleading eyes and said, “Six years ago, I was momentarily confused to do such a thing.”

“…”

Xue He knelt on the ground: “At that time, Du Mubai and I were both students of Marquis Pingyang. In a moment of jealousy, I… bribed those three people who shared a room with him and had them falsely accuse Du Mubai of plagiarizing poetry. I was truly foolish to do such a thing! Your Highness, now that Bingzheng has written a confession and brought out the banknotes I gave him back then, and even… there’s a private letter where I secretly arranged to meet him. All these things have already been sent to the Ministry of Justice. Now the Ministry of Justice people are heading to my home to arrest me. I don’t know what to do and can only come to seek Your Highness’s help. I beg Your Highness, for the sake of me being your student, you must save me!”

After speaking, he kowtowed resoundingly!

Nearly knocking his forehead bloody.

Hearing him finish these words, Nayan’s face turned livid!

He grabbed the teacup at hand and threw it heavily at him.

The cup smashed against Xue He’s body, the tea inside spilling out completely, then crashed to the ground.

“Bang!”

Fragments scattered across the floor.

Xue He knelt on the ground with his head lowered.

Not moving at all!

Nayan’s face flushed red, veins bulging: “Hmph! This prince thought himself clever, yet fell into your trap! Now that you’re a student of my Second Prince’s residence, do you know that if you’re found guilty, my Second Prince’s residence will also suffer! How do you expect this prince to maintain his standing in court?”

“Your Highness…”

Before he could finish speaking, Nayan raised his foot and kicked viciously at his shoulder.

Then he took down a sword from the sword rack on the left side of the hall.

Aiming it at Xue He.

The fellow was kicked to the ground, not daring to resist.

Because he knew very clearly that right now, the only person who could save him was Nayan.

This lifeline, he must grasp tightly.

He said bitterly: “Your Highness, I know I’ve harmed you. Even if you kill me, I have nothing to say. But if I die, it will still implicate Your Highness! Since that’s the case, why doesn’t Your Highness help me?”

“Help? This prince would sooner kill you.” After speaking, he viciously stabbed a sword into Xue He’s arm.

The clothes tore open, blood flowing out!

The pain made Xue He cry out.

He clutched his bloody arm sitting on the ground, gritting his teeth.

Still not daring to resist.

Nayan could have killed him with one sword thrust, but Xue He was right—even if he really killed him, it wouldn’t prevent implicating himself.

So—

Right now there was only one solution!

He put away the sword, his sharp gaze looking outside, and shouted: “Someone!”

The residence guards came in.

“Take Xue He to bandage his wound, then immediately go to the Ministry of Justice.”

“Yes.”

Xue He was dragged up from the ground.

He endured the pain, his face full of panic, pleading: “Your Highness, please don’t send me to the Ministry of Justice. If I go, I’ll surely die! Your Highness, I beg you, save me.”

“Shut up!” Nayan rebuked him sharply, walked up to him, his sword-like brows furrowed tightly, and said, “You must go to the Ministry of Justice, because only by going to the Ministry of Justice will you have a chance to live.”

“…”

A moment later.

Nayan personally brought Xue He, who had been bandaged and changed into clean clothes, to the Ministry of Justice.

Liu He hadn’t expected the Second Prince would also come.

He hurried forward to greet him: “Greetings to the Second Prince.”

“No need for formalities.”

Liu He looked at the injured Xue He behind him: “This is?”

“Didn’t Minister Liu send someone to arrest Xue He? This prince is now personally bringing him over.”

“So Your Highness also knows about this matter.”

“Naturally I know, otherwise I wouldn’t have come.” As Nayan spoke, he walked into the Ministry of Justice’s main hall.

A minor official of the Ministry of Justice immediately prepared a chair and tea for him.

“No need for tea. This prince has only come to see what evidence the Ministry of Justice has obtained that can prove Xue He bribed several of Du Mubai’s roommates to falsely accuse him?”

At this moment, Xue He also mustered his courage, walked before Nayan, and said in a very firm tone: “Your Highness, I’ve been wronged. What bribing? What false accusation? I know nothing about it.”

Clearly, on the way here, the two had coordinated their story!

Liu He stepped forward and said: “In response to Your Highness, today this minister received a confession written by Fang Tong, along with several banknotes, and even a private letter written in Xue He’s own hand, proving that back then, he indeed bribed Fang Tong, Jiang Wen, and Bingzheng to falsely accuse Du Mubai. That’s why this minister ordered his arrest.”

“Oh? Just based on these things?”

“The evidence is irrefutable! Bingzheng’s confession is written clearly.”

“Bring them for this prince to see.”

“Yes!” Liu He brought those three items.

And handed them to Nayan!

Nayan examined them one by one.

Meanwhile, Xue He on the side was tense.

He saw every word and sentence written in Bingzheng’s confession, clear and organized, with solid basis.

Those banknotes were indeed what he had given Bingzheng back then.

He just hadn’t expected that fellow had never used them.

And that private letter was indeed written by him.

The handwriting was identical.

The three items were enough to convict him.

Thinking of this, although he appeared calm on the surface, his heart was in chaos like tangled hemp, and the sweat in his palms kept flowing more and more.

His legs even began to tremble.

Swallowing, he forced himself to calm down as much as possible, to avoid Liu He noticing anything unusual.

After all, this Liu He was no ordinary person!

At this moment, Nayan laughed while holding the three items in his hands.

He said: “Minister Liu, if this prince remembers correctly, you previously worked in the Ministry of Personnel, correct?”

“Yes! Because Minister Huang and Minister Zhong were dismissed from their posts, this minister is temporarily managing Ministry of Justice affairs.”

“No wonder your case judgment is so hasty.”

“Uh…”

Nayan first held up that confession and said: “The confession was written by Bingzheng, perhaps that’s correct. But how can you, Minister, be certain that what’s written on it is true? Surely you can’t convict Xue He based solely on his one-sided words?”

“There are the banknotes and…” Before he could finish speaking.

“Speaking of the banknotes is even more laughable.” Nayan held the banknotes, the corner of his mouth curling up, and said, “Is Xue He’s name written on these or what? How can you prove these were given by him to Bingzheng? Could it be… that all the banknotes under heaven belong to him?”

“…”

“And this private letter is even more laughable. As Xue He is this prince’s student, naturally this prince recognizes his handwriting. The characters in this private letter do indeed look like they were written by him, but it’s also extremely absurd! Hasn’t Minister Liu considered that perhaps someone deliberately imitated his handwriting and forged this private letter?”

Minister Liu immediately refuted: “Impossible. The paper of the private letter has yellowed, and judging from the ink of the handwriting, this was clearly written many years ago. If Bingzheng wanted to frame Xue He, wouldn’t he have had to start planning many years ago?”