Gao Sheng pressed his thin lips tightly together, kneeling in the hall without making a sound, allowing fresh blood to soak through his dark azure robes. The blood that had yet to stop continued to drip steadily onto the polished floor that could reflect one’s image.
The Emperor looked at Gao Sheng, narrowing his eyes as he felt he had seen this person somewhere before.
“Father Emperor! Your son truly has not committed such bestial acts! Your son has been timid since childhood… Father Emperor, you know this!” Prince Liang continued to cry and plead.
“Silence!” The Emperor roared angrily. How had he given birth to such a weak and incompetent son?
Both Prince Liang and Tong Ji were frightened into cowering, not daring to make another sound.
Bai Qingyan stood behind the Grand Princess, watching quietly, her heart unmoved without any ripples.
The Emperor pinched the bridge of his nose and frowned as he addressed the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, Lu Jin: “Lu Jin, you interrogate!”
After Lu Jin respectfully bowed to the Emperor, he looked toward Xiao Ruohai: “You are the one who captured Liu Huanzhang and the guards from Prince Liang’s mansion?”
Xiao Ruohai nodded: “Yes, this commoner did!”
“Explain the cause and effect in detail…”
Xiao Ruohai, covered in blood, showed not the slightest trace of fear. After respectfully kowtowing, he said: “This commoner does not know about how Prince Liang’s attendant arranged to meet with our eldest miss’s maid Chun Yan earlier. This commoner only knows that today, just as the funeral procession returned, the steward nanny beside our eldest miss brought the maid Chun Yan along with the attendant from Prince Liang’s side, requesting that the Grand Princess decide for our eldest miss! They said Prince Liang wanted Chun Yan to place a love letter written by His Highness to our miss into Duke Zhenguo’s study. Prince Liang would arrange for someone to discover that letter, then use the excuse that the Duke had said he would arrange a wedding between Prince Liang and our eldest miss upon returning from the campaign to request marriage to our eldest miss, while also taking this girl called Chun Yan as a concubine! Chun Yan agreed! That attendant, called Tong Ji, also instructed Chun Yan not to open the letter, because opening a junior’s correspondence was not Duke Zhenguo’s style. Tong Ji said he would wait at the back corner gate, telling Chun Yan to quickly go place it and then inform him!”
Xiao Ruohai spoke with clear logic and a steady voice, making it easy for people to listen and understand.
Hearing this, Chun Yan could no longer endure the fear in her heart. She wanted to cry and plead for mercy from Bai Qingyan, but feared the Emperor’s majesty, nearly fainting several times.
“As a result, our family’s fourth miss, who has an upright nature… wanted to see what was written in the letter that could force our eldest miss to marry Prince Liang, so she opened it in front of everyone to read! Who would have thought… the content was a letter from Duke Zhenguo secretly communicating with enemy nations! There was also an attached so-called personal letter from Duke Zhenguo, but that personal letter was in Emperor Gaozu’s handwriting!” Xiao Ruohai lifted his eyes to glance at Tong Ji, “At this point, my lord may inquire whether Prince Liang’s attendant confirms this or not.”
Lu Jin looked toward Tong Ji and Chun Yan: “Is this true or not?”
Chun Yan’s tears kept falling, and though she opened her mouth, she was so nervous she couldn’t make a sound.
Tong Ji nodded weakly and submissively: “Yes, that’s how it was, but…”
Before Tong Ji could continue, Xiao Ruohai continued: “This commoner was standing on the high steps at the time and saw someone with a panicked expression squeeze out of the crowd and hurry away. Feeling there was something suspicious, I took a team of men to follow. Unexpectedly, I saw that panicked person enter Prince Liang’s mansion! This commoner sent one person back to report to my master and await instructions. Who knew that in less than half an incense stick’s time, I saw this person hurriedly leave Prince Liang’s mansion and gallop away on horseback…”
Xiao Ruohai glanced at Tian Weijun: “So this commoner led men to quietly pursue and investigate. Who knew that when we followed a shop selling paper funeral offerings, we heard Liu Huanzhang’s voice! Liu Huanzhang betrayed the Kingdom and harmed all the men of our Bai family. With such hatred before us… We, loyal servants of the Bai family, wanted to capture Liu Huanzhang alive! Who knew that this highly skilled lord from Prince Liang’s mansion, seeing he couldn’t rescue Liu Huanzhang from our hands, killed Liu Huanzhang with one sword stroke! My lord may inquire of these two guards from Prince Liang’s mansion whether this is true or not.”
Gao Sheng’s expression remained unchanged, kneeling there without making a sound.
Tian Weijun lowered his head and remained silent.
Xiao Ruohai stopped speaking, giving Gao Sheng and Tian Weijun a chance to defend themselves. When both remained silent, Lu Jin said, “Continue…”
Only then did Xiao Ruohai continue: “After that highly skilled lord killed Liu Huanzhang, seeing that we had captured alive the guard who came from Prince Liang’s mansion to deliver the message, he turned to kill this guard as well. It’s quite laughable – it was we who risked our lives to protect this guard from Prince Liang’s mansion, who came to deliver the message, and we searched for a letter from this guard’s person. What the letter contained was using the lives of Liu Huanzhang’s entire clan as leverage to threaten Liu Huanzhang into going to the Court of Judicial Review to confess, admitting that Tong Ji had switched the letter in his possession! It also demanded that Huanzhang insist that the purpose of switching the letter was to frame Duke Zhenguo for treason! The letter is here. My lord may also inquire of these two guards from Prince Liang’s mansion to verify whether what this commoner has said is true.”
As Xiao Ruohai spoke, he took out that letter from his chest, holding it high above his head…
Prince Liang was greatly shocked, never having imagined that Liu Huanzhang would be discovered by the Bai family’s loyal servants. He instinctively raised his eyes to look in Bai Qingyan’s direction, only to see… that Bai Qingyan’s clear and composed eyes were also looking at him.
Something flashed through his mind in an instant, and he suddenly remembered the list that Bai Qingyan had obtained from Qin Dezhao.
Could it be that he had fallen into a trap?!
“Your Majesty! Gao Sheng wanted to kill Liu Huanzhang and Lord Tian Weijun! He must be the one framing His Highness! Your Majesty, please see clearly!” Tong Ji cried while kowtowing to the Emperor, “I received the letter from Gao Sheng’s hands! It was him! It must be Gao Sheng!”
Tong Ji’s crying and shouting made Prince Liang’s heart grow even colder.
Lu Jin stepped forward, took the letter from Xiao Ruohai’s hands to look at it, and his expression showed great shock!
It was Prince Liang’s handwriting!
“This…” Lu Jin hurriedly turned to face the Emperor: “Your Majesty, this handwriting appears to be Prince Liang’s script!”
Bai Qingyan was startled. A personal letter?!
How could Du Zhiwei let Prince Liang make such a foolish move, leaving behind a personal letter… This was equivalent to handing over evidence to others. Du Zhiwei would never make such an oversight!
The Emperor saw Prince Liang’s face lose all color in an instant, unable even to cry anymore, and almost ground his teeth: “Bring it here!”
As Prince Liang’s father, how could the Emperor not recognize Prince Liang’s handwriting?!
Seeing that letter, the Emperor was so angry that his hands trembled. Lu Jin, observing this, stepped forward: “Your Majesty, this minister believes… handwriting can be forged. Why not request that the old Imperial Teacher Master Tan Song and Lord Shoushan, these two who have achieved mastery in calligraphy, come to make a judgment! Moreover, this paper and the ink traces on it… also need to be thoroughly examined to avoid wrongly accusing Prince Liang!”
Imperial Teacher Tan Song had already retired and had been living peacefully at home for these years. He was a person of virtuous character whom the Emperor trusted.
Lord Shoushan was a famous leisured gentleman in the capital city, whose calligraphy achievements were unmatched by almost anyone.
“Go summon them!”
The Emperor was determined to settle this case today.
Gao Demao hurriedly arranged for people to invite the Imperial Teacher and Lord Shoushan.