“Your Majesty, Duke Xu requests an audience.” Director Ding reported in a low voice.

The Emperor had flared up into a fierce rage several days prior. His body was weakened, and he was lying in bed resting. Hearing this, he frowned and said coolly, “Did I not already say? The Empress is to remain in seclusion and no one is permitted to visit her. Tell Duke Xu to return.”

Director Ding coughed softly and cleared his throat. “Your Majesty has misunderstood. Duke Xu has not come to visit Her Majesty the Empress. He has come regarding the matter of the Prince Consort dying from a fall from his horse.”

What?

The Prince Consort was dead?

The Emperor was considerably taken aback and abruptly pushed himself upright in bed. “When did this happen? How was I not informed?”

The Prince Consort was Princess Changping’s husband and the Emperor’s own son-in-law. Though his standing did not match that of an imperial prince or grandson, he was still a proper member of the imperial family. For him to have just died like this was genuinely startling.

Director Ding thought of Duke Xu’s dark expression and Princess Changping’s pale and unpleasant one, and his own face could not help but reveal a troubled look. “As for the precise details, this servant is also not entirely clear. All this servant heard Duke Xu say was that the Prince Consort went horse riding in the morning for leisure, when the horse had been tampered with by someone. Midway along the road, it suddenly went wild. The Prince Consort was caught off guard and fell from the horse to his death.”

He paused, then added with caution, “Not only Duke Xu — Princess Changping has also arrived. Both are waiting outside the hall, requesting an audience with Your Majesty.”

The Emperor may have aged, but his mind was anything but muddled.

From the very tone of Director Ding’s words, he immediately knew that this matter had more to it than met the eye.

No matter how weakened his body, he could not afford to ignore a matter of life and death.

“Come, help Us change Our clothes.” The Emperor commanded gravely, and then said to Director Ding, “Have them wait inside the hall first.”

Director Ding accepted the order and withdrew. After escorting the grim-faced Duke Xu and Princess Changping into the hall, he had a vague sense that things were about to go badly. He quietly instructed an attendant to go to the Imperial Medical Institute in advance and summon Imperial Physician Wei.

The Emperor had already suffered from rising anger these past few days, and the old ailment was showing signs of flaring again. His body truly could not withstand further agitation.

The Emperor stepped into the hall.

Duke Xu was close in age to the Emperor. The grief of losing his son had aged him still further and left him looking gaunt and worn. The moment he saw the Emperor, without a word, he dropped to his knees, tears streaming down his face. “Your Majesty, the Prince Consort died with terrible injustice. This old subject is incapable of managing his own household matters and begs Your Majesty to decide what is just.”

The Emperor felt a sharp jolt in his heart, and reflexively glanced over at Princess Changping.

On her way to the palace, Princess Changping had been in a confused and disordered state of mind, entirely unable to determine where things had gone wrong or what kind of “irrefutable evidence” Duke Xu had in his possession. But now, in the presence of the Emperor, she felt her confidence return considerably.

Imperial Father had always been fondest of her. No matter what, he would take her side.

Xu Jian was already dead. Were they going to demand that she, a princess of the realm, pay with her life?

With this thought, what little guilt and unease she had felt evaporated without a trace. She pressed her fingers hard against her eye sockets until they reddened, and, weeping, she too knelt down. “Imperial Father, your daughter was devastated to hear the terrible news of the Prince Consort’s death. I went to the Xu residence to do my duty as a wife. But to my complete surprise, the Duke has been saying repeatedly that I killed the Prince Consort. Your daughter has been deeply wronged. I beg Imperial Father to uphold justice for your daughter.”

She spoke through sobs, her tears flowing like a beauty caught in the rain.

The Emperor’s uneasy premonition was now confirmed. He felt all the blood in his body rushing to his head, his temples throbbing and pounding.

In terms of emotion, he naturally leaned toward his eldest daughter.

In terms of reason, he understood equally well that Duke Xu would never stir up trouble without cause. The Empress and her children were the Xu family’s backing. If Duke Xu had not reached the extreme limit of his resentment, why would he come before the imperial presence to lodge a complaint against Changping?

This Changping!

She still had the nerve to weep and put on this performance in front of him!

Whatever had happened to Xu Jian, she was certainly involved.

The Emperor grew more furious the more he thought on it, though he let nothing show on his face. He turned to Duke Xu first and said, “Duke Xu, you are advanced in years. There is no need to keep kneeling. Say what you have to say standing up.”

Duke Xu refused to rise, and wept with great distress as he spoke. “Your Majesty bestowed his beloved daughter upon the Xu family, and our household, from the highest to the lowest, was deeply grateful and treated the Princess with the utmost reverence and respect, never daring to be the least bit remiss. The Prince Consort was dull and slow, unworthy of the Princess. Our Xu family always felt we had failed her. And so when the Princess chose to live alone in the Princess’s residence, we bore it without complaint.”

“The Prince Consort was certainly unremarkable and unworthy of the Princess. But aside from that, he never did anything to wrong her. This old subject could never have imagined that the Princess would take such dissatisfaction with him as to scheme against him in secret and take his life…”

Princess Changping ground her teeth in fury. She even forgot to keep up the pretense of weeping and glared at Duke Xu with open anger, cursing him. “You old scoundrel! What evidence do you have that I killed the Prince Consort? You dare slander me before Imperial Father? If you cannot produce evidence today, do not blame me for not showing you courtesy!”

Duke Xu did not spare a single glance at Princess Changping, and continued to weep before the Emperor. “Since this old subject dared to come before the imperial presence and speak of this matter, naturally I have evidence.”

“The Princess secretly bribed a horse groom from the Xu family, placing a drug into the feed of the horse the Prince Consort habitually rode, and also installing iron spikes inside the stirrups. This old subject has already brought that horse groom. I respectfully request that Your Majesty investigate this carefully.”

Princess Changping’s entire body shuddered, and her complexion suddenly drained to white.

That horse groom — hadn’t she already secretly arranged to silence him? How was he still alive?

Duke Xu’s final words completely crushed Princess Changping. “Furthermore, the guards the Princess dispatched to kill and silence the witnesses — this old subject has brought them into the palace as well. If the Princess is innocent and blameless, there is no reason she cannot face a confrontation in Your Majesty’s presence. Let us see whether this old subject is slandering the Princess with baseless lies — or whether the Princess is ruthless and heartless enough to murder her own husband.”

Princess Changping trembled uncontrollably from head to toe, and all her former imperious manner had vanished.

The Emperor, having heard all of this, was left with nothing he did not now understand. Fury surged within him, and his already pale face flushed with an unnatural red. “Changping! How did all of this come about? Tell Us the truth!”

Changping’s lips moved for a long while but she could produce no words.

The Emperor swayed slightly where he sat and said through clenched teeth, “Come, summon them into the hall.”

The horse groom and guards Duke Xu had spoken of were quickly brought in under escort.

Having knelt down, the two of them kowtowed frantically, begging for their lives. “We beg Your Majesty to spare us! We were foolish for a moment. We took the silver the Princess’s people sent us and dared to place the drug in the horse’s feed and install the iron spikes in the stirrups. Everything was done at the Princess’s instigation…”

“Your Majesty, we acted on the Princess’s orders. First, we spent a large sum of money to bribe the horse groom. After it was done, we were to kill him to silence him. But before we could act, we were caught. This servant knows this is a capital offense and does not dare beg Your Majesty to spare our lives. We only hope Your Majesty will show mercy to our families.”

Duke Xu listened with a heart that felt as though it were being cut apart, tears running down his face without ceasing as he collapsed weeping in the hall. “I beg Your Majesty to redress the injustice and decide what is just for the Prince Consort who has died.”

The Emperor’s vision went dark, and he nearly fainted.