“Oh?” The Son of Heaven raised his eyebrows, seeming even more astonished, then his expression became serious. “Bring the witness to the hall.”

Lu Zheng bowed again, turned and beckoned to the palace attendants outside the hall. The palace attendants outside understood and hurried away, returning shortly with another person at the entrance of the great hall.

The newcomer was a young man wearing armor. Before entering the hall, he first removed the sword from his waist, then knelt to pay respects to the Son of Heaven upon entering.

The Son of Heaven asked: “Who is below?”

The man knelt and answered: “Reporting to Your Majesty, this subject is a subordinate official of the Court of Judicial Review. Four years ago, I served as commander of Jiankang’s city gates.”

The Son of Heaven nodded and asked again: “What do you have to report?”

Shen Xiling looked toward that man. His face was extremely ordinary, leaving no impression on her, but upon hearing the words “city gate commander,” she suddenly remembered the scene from four years ago when she and her mother escaped from prison. She recalled that before Qi Ying came to rescue them, she and her mother had been caught by the city gate guards. They had pressed the knight sent by her father brutally into the snow, surrounding him with swords and spears, and they had also pressed her and her mother step by step…

Shen Xiling looked at that man’s face again, and suddenly the memories from four years ago became vivid. This person… this person was…

The man declared loudly: “Four years ago on a snowy night, this subject was stationed at the city gate. That evening the Court of Judicial Review happened to have two escaped prisoners, and we subjects were ordered to inspect the identities of those leaving the city. That night this woman and her mother, escorted by a knight, attempted to leave the city. Seeing their suspicious behavior, this subject intended to arrest and question them, but was unexpectedly stopped by the Chancellor. Young Master Qi claimed the several people were escaped slaves from his mansion and forbade us subjects from further questioning, forcibly taking them out of the city.”

The man recounted this matter-of-factly in dry detail, but the scene from four years ago immediately appeared before Shen Xiling’s eyes.

She remembered the heavy snow of that day, remembered her mother’s pallor as she collapsed in her arms, remembered the look that knight gave them after being struck down by the armored soldiers, remembered the sound of carriage wheels and bronze bells she suddenly heard in overwhelming despair, remembered Qi Ying’s expression when he stepped down from the carriage and met her gaze…

She remembered everything from that time, and seemed to truly return to that scene. She even felt the cold of that December flying snow in this prosperous May summer.

Chilled to the bone.

The court was again in uproar, and the Son of Heaven’s brows furrowed even tighter. He asked: “After four years, how can you still remember that woman’s appearance? Could you have mistaken her identity?”

The man turned his head to look at Shen Xiling, then answered decisively: “Though this woman was young at the time, her appearance differed little from today, and she has a red mole between her eyebrows. This subject would absolutely not mistake her!”

These words were indeed very convincing.

All the court officials had already been shocked by her stunning beauty when the palace attendants brought Shen Xiling to the hall, especially that red mole between her eyebrows that was so beautiful it didn’t seem real—more exquisite than anything painted by the world’s most skilled artists. Anyone who had seen her would surely find her unforgettable.

They all believed him and began whispering among themselves.

Upon hearing this, the Son of Heaven nodded, seeming to find this explanation quite credible. He thought for a moment, then looked toward Lu Zheng: “Lord Lu, earlier I heard that four years ago the Court of Judicial Review was pursuing escaped prisoners? I wonder who they were trying to capture at that time?”

Even though Shen Xiling’s heart had already sunk to the bottom, when she heard the Son of Heaven ask this question, she still felt her heart skip with terror.

She seemed to have fallen into a thick fog, and when the mist cleared, she saw countless poisoned blades. She wanted to escape, but was tightly surrounded by all of this.

She heard Lord Lu say again: “Reporting to Your Majesty, this subject has checked the old records from that year. At that time we were pursuing the criminal Shen Qian’s concubine and illegitimate daughter.”

As soon as these words were spoken, the court truly exploded!

The Shen family!

Could this incomparably beautiful girl actually be Shen Qian’s orphan!

Not one of the civil and military officials in court was a fool—their minds all worked extremely quickly. They recalled the tragic scene when the Shen family fell overnight years ago, while also observing how the Qi family, praised as Jiangzuo’s foremost aristocratic family, was now battered by wind and rain. Their hearts were truly filled with countless emotions as they pondered what kind of scene it would be if these two great cases were connected.

What kind of person was Young Master Qi? He could overturn clouds with one hand and bring rain with the other—gentleman in appearance but demon in heart, the most cold and unfeeling of all. If this matter concerned someone else, one might still say saving this girl was due to lustful nature, but how could Young Master Qi be such a shallow person? The Qi family must have had some transaction with the Shen family! Perhaps they had received tremendous benefits from the Shen family!

The expressions of the civil and military officials deepened further, and they all pricked up their ears, carefully listening to the Son of Heaven’s tone. They heard His Majesty’s voice suddenly turn cold as he asked: “Is there clear evidence?”

Lu Zheng answered again: “How would this subject dare to speak groundlessly without proof?”

With that, he requested a third witness to appear in court.

Having watched this far, the officials now understood clearly.

This Lu Zheng had controlled the Court of Judicial Review for many years, with countless old unsolved cases piled up under his authority. Without someone’s instruction, where would he find the damn time to investigate such convoluted major disputes! And though His Majesty seemed to be exonerating Young Master Qi today, he was actually step by step blocking all his escape routes, thoroughly sealing every possible opening for appeal. He clearly intended to completely cast the man into the eighteenth level of hell before this great assembly!

How dangerous! And how thorough!

Such an excellent double act—who knew when they might see another like it! Though the officials were extremely fearful in their hearts, they still couldn’t help but turn back to look at this third witness taking the stand.

Shen Xiling also looked over woodenly, only to see… her uncle.

Four years ago, she had brought her mother’s corpse north from Jiankang to Langya, kneeling and kowtowing to request that her mother’s relatives allow her into the ancestral hall. But at that time, her so-called relatives were completely cold and indifferent, showing no grief—their own sister was already dead, yet they showed no emotion at all and swept Shen Xiling out the door.

At that time, alone in Langya, she felt incomparably desolate and had secretly sworn never to have anything to do with the Wei family again in this lifetime!

Who could have expected…

Four years ago when she asked the Wei family for help in the snow they refused, but four years later they were diligent about adding insult to injury. As soon as her uncle entered the Son of Heaven’s hall, he nervously shrank into a ball, completely lacking the imposing manner he’d had when driving her from the Wei family. Though he was timid as a mouse, his speech was still clear, explaining every detail of her mother’s past affairs cleanly—who knew how many days he had rehearsed in advance!

Her uncle also wept bitterly, saying: “Your Majesty’s wise judgment! This commoner’s family has long severed ties with this mother and daughter—we haven’t seen them for decades! Because her mother eloped with someone years ago and sullied our family’s reputation, the Wei clan has long considered them dead. All their actions have nothing to do with the Wei family, Your Majesty!”

Such ugliness would naturally invite laughter at ordinary times, but today’s various twists were too shocking, so all the court officials had no time to mock the Wei family.

They all recalled and indeed remembered that after the Shen and Fu families’ marriage alliance, Shen Qian had always been at odds with his wife Fu Zhen, with vague rumors that the two never shared a room. He did indeed keep a concubine, though apparently didn’t truly care for her much. It was said he was even stingy with gold and silver, making that concubine’s life quite difficult. After having a child with that concubine, he had no intention of bringing them into the Shen family for upbringing. It was said the Fu family, seeing Shen Qian’s cold attitude toward that concubine, had tacitly permitted the arrangement.

Now this country bumpkin from the Wei family spoke so conclusively, even bringing his family genealogy to the hall. Every detail matched the old affairs, naturally making the officials deeply convinced—this girl kneeling in the hall was truly a Shen family orphan.

This was truly an enormous matter!

Young Master Qi had not only let this woman assume the identity of the Fang family’s daughter, he had even violated national law to save the Shen family daughter who should have been exiled! He must have received many benefits from Shen Qian’s hands. This was not only challenging imperial authority, but also colluding with Shen family remnants—broadly speaking, it was the crime of treason!

The Qi family was already overwhelmed by the lawsuits of Young Master Qi and Third Young Master Qi, and now their only pillar had gotten involved in an even greater matter. This…

This was already a sign of desperate straits!

Just as the officials were thinking this, they heard a muffled sound from the hall. Everyone turned to look, only to see that Left Prime Minister Qi Zhang, who had dominated the court for decades with great power at the height of his influence, had fainted in public! His eldest and third sons kneeling in the hall rushed toward their father in great worry, with the third son crying inconsolably—truly a lively scene.

These various scenes of life in the court were quickly relayed word by word through the palace attendants to Empress Fu’s ears.

At that time, this lady was leisurely reclining on the imperial concubine’s couch in her palace, comfortably eating freshly picked iced grapes—truly extremely pleasant.

She comfortably half-closed her eyes and thought again of several things that had happened before.

Her crippled aunt had told her the true identity of that fake Fang Jun long ago. At that time, Qi Ying was far away north of the river beyond reach—it had been an excellent opportunity to act. But Fu Rong’s vision would never be so short-sighted—what was a mere girl worth? What did it matter whether she lived or died? What Fu Rong wanted was to bring down the Qi family, to make Qi Ying ruined and disgraced with no hope of recovery.

With just one girl of ambiguous identity, she couldn’t deal with the Qi family. The key to this matter still lay with that fool Qi Ning. She wanted him to confirm the crime of private lending and land acquisition, and also drag the legitimate son Qi Yun into the situation. Land and population taxes were of utmost importance in every dynasty—anyone who committed crimes in this area rarely kept their lives. Hadn’t the Shen family been just like this years ago? This was the imperial family’s reverse scale.

She wanted their family to be in extreme danger, then at this final moment bring up the matter of the Shen family daughter to nail Qi Ying down completely, giving him absolutely no chance of recovery!

When she first heard her aunt’s words, the first thing she did was send people to find the real Fang Jun. She must still be alive—otherwise Qi Ying wouldn’t have given her name to the Shen family daughter. She had indeed spent considerable effort to find the real Fang Jun, then secretly dealt with the people Qi Ying had arranged in Ba Commandery to care for Miss Fang. She secretly brought her to Jiankang and invited famous doctors from throughout the realm to treat her, all for today’s moment in the palace hall when Qi Ying would be unable to defend himself!

She wouldn’t allow him any possibility of appeal—she arranged for people to search the Court of Judicial Review for traces of the Shen family daughter’s prison escape years ago, and sent people far to Langya to find her mother’s natal family. Step by step, meticulous in every detail—even if Qi Jingchen held wisdom in his grasp, how could he break this situation?

Fu Rong smiled softly and slowly picked up another grape.

Qi Ying, aren’t you remarkable? Didn’t you refuse to marry me?

Now your life and death are controlled by me—a woman you once disdained. How does it feel? Are you in pain?

And your little darling… I want her to die before your eyes, do you understand?

She smiled faintly, gracious and noble, placing that grape in her mouth.

Tsk, truly sweet.

At this time in the court hall, however, there was a scene of slaughter.

Such a shocking great case suddenly unfolding before their eyes gave all the civil and military officials a thrilling sensation.

They all involuntarily looked toward Qi Ying.

That Director of the Privy Council who had single-handedly saved Great Liang from fire and flood, that young second-place scholar who had shaken Jiangzuo at such a young age, that Second Young Master Qi whom Jiankang’s noble families revered as the exemplar of aristocratic families.

He was so silent.

He neither spoke nor moved, merely standing there, as if all the commotion in the court hall had nothing to do with him. Even when his father collapsed, he made no movement. Some people even saw him gently close his eyes.

Those phoenix eyes that could always see through all illusions.

What was wrong with him?

Had he given up?

Or was all this beyond even his capabilities?

While everyone speculated, Xiao Ziheng on the imperial steps was also looking down at Qi Ying.

He didn’t quickly break the silence in the court hall at that moment, but was savoring it—savoring the sight of Qi Jingchen with lowered head and closed eyes.

What a rare thing this was.

He had always stood above others, with talent more outstanding than everyone else’s, a family more powerful than everyone else’s, and character more excellent than everyone else’s.

He would never fall into difficulty, and would never be lost and confused. He was looked up to by everyone—even when he knelt before you, he still seemed more like a superior than you.

But today was different.

Today he had lost.

Such convincing Qi Jingchen had finally lost at the hands of Xiao Ziheng.

Completely defeated.

Not just him, but his family too—all of them were like this.

An extremely pleasant smile that was hard for others to detect floated up in Xiao Ziyu’s romantic peach blossom eyes.

He looked down disdainfully at Qi Ying below the imperial steps with lowered head and closed eyes. The satisfaction in his heart was almost maddening—he wished he could have everyone in the world come see Qi Jingchen’s defeated appearance, Qi Jingchen’s losing appearance.

How delightful it was.

From the corner of his eye, Xiao Ziheng also glanced at Shen Xiling kneeling in the hall. Her eyes had completely lost focus, and even her last trace of sanity had collapsed.

The corners of his mouth curved in a slight smile as he remembered the Lantern Festival scene from years ago. At that time, he had asked a child beside Qi Ying to relay a message to him, saying: A girl being too beautiful can be quite a dangerous thing.

Jingchen, you see, I didn’t speak falsely. She is so beautiful, and in the end she indeed brought you disaster, didn’t she?

The smile in Xiao Ziheng’s eyes grew thicker.

He savored Qi Ying’s defeated and miserable appearance for a while longer, tasting the unprecedented pleasure in his heart for a moment, then reluctantly continued pushing the court proceedings forward.

He was about to speak—he was the Son of Heaven, his words were golden and jade-like. He would use light, airy words to condemn the Qi family, he would make their hundred years of foundation turn to nothing in a single day, he would make them… never able to rise again.

The officials below only saw His Majesty straighten his expression, seeming about to speak, and everyone knew this was the moment of life and death for the Qi family.

Everyone held their breath and waited, waiting for that sharp blade to be raised high and then viciously brought down, bloodily severing the necks of the Qi family members!

And just at the moment when the Son of Heaven was about to speak.

A eunuch rushed into the hall in panic, holding a military report, kneeling below and declaring loudly: “Your Majesty! Military affairs have erupted at the border again. Northern Wei has brazenly torn up the treaty. Gu Juhan leads an army of two hundred thousand and has already taken Yongzhou!”

The sudden change occurred in an instant!

Liang Palace’s great hall suddenly became like a pot of boiling oil! The officials were alarmed, and even the Son of Heaven immediately changed color!

No one noticed.

At this crucial moment.

The Chancellor’s eyes suddenly opened.

His face was expressionless, but his phoenix eyes held a steely gleam.

Sharp as a demon emerging from ghost gates.

Compassionate as a Buddha ferrying all beings.

Author’s Note: Sounding the horn of counterattack as the New Year approaches! Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

PS: The Wei family members were also mentioned here, so congratulations to the little angel from Room 310 who guessed correctly~ Thanks to all readers for their comments!