Bian Ruohan could feel that when the Emperor came this time, his aura was different. He was obviously suppressing his rage, and with so many soldiers and horses in the mansion, she and Lu Heng were locked up together…

The more Bian Ruohan thought about it, the more frightened she became, almost crying on the spot.

In the study, Lu Heng knelt down properly to pay his respects. “Your Majesty has personally arrived, but this humble minister was unable to greet you from afar. Please forgive this minister’s transgression.”

Upon hearing this, Li Qitian let out a cold laugh. “Oh? Does Earl Zhongyi only have this one transgression?”

Lu Heng was extremely clever. From the incident’s occurrence until now, having been detained for an entire afternoon, he had already figured out the cause and effect, and naturally had also thought through his counterstrategy.

“Your Majesty, this humble minister has a matter to report.”

Li Qitian looked at Lu Heng sideways, using an expression that said “I’ll just see how you perform” as he watched him, drawing out his voice: “Speak.”

“Yes. Yesterday, this minister learned that Prince Zhongshun had actually long known the whereabouts of that batch of treasure Your Majesty seeks. He hid the treasure within the stone materials, luring this minister to transport them, planning to steal the treasure at the opportune moment. This minister was wholeheartedly focused on procuring stone materials to build the imperial mausoleum, never thinking that Prince Zhongshun would take advantage of this opportunity to act, allowing him to exploit this opening.”

Li Qitian narrowed his eyes, clearly not entirely believing Lu Heng’s words.

However, if it was said that Pang Xiao would participate in this, that there was Pang Xiao’s scheming involved, Li Qitian believed it.

Don’t look at how that fellow Pang Zhixi outwardly pretended to be a righteous gentleman – only he himself, who had suffered many secret losses at his hands, knew just how sinister this person truly was, and how skilled he was at playing the good person before civil and military officials and foolish commoners.

He had always been good at handling affairs – when doing good deeds, he would make them widely known; when doing evil, he would keep them secret and undisclosed. Even if someone discovered his secrets, he had the ability to make people feel that he had suffered great injustice and had no choice but to act thus.

He was also skilled in warfare, truly using troops like a god. Throughout all of Great Zhou, however many soldiers and horses there were, there were that many crude men who blindly worshipped Pang Zhixi! This was what made Li Qitian most furious.

Now that Lu Heng had said this, why shouldn’t he have the man arrested and thoroughly interrogated?

In any case, he was now determined to obtain the treasure. Even if Lu Heng was lying and falsely implicating Pang Zhixi, he could still use this as an excuse to eliminate a major threat to his heart!

Thinking of this, Li Qitian had already made up his mind. He said in a deep voice, “Do you know that what you report involves this dynasty’s only Prince with a different surname? Falsely accusing a Prince is a grave crime.”

Lu Heng’s mind raced, and he had already understood Li Qitian’s intention. He respectfully kowtowed: “In response to Your Majesty, every word this minister speaks is true. This minister truly did not know. When I first discovered this matter, because I had not yet confirmed it, I did not dare report directly to Your Majesty. When this minister wanted to investigate this matter thoroughly, Your Majesty had already personally come to this place. This minister could only report face to face.”

“Oh?” Li Qitian snorted lightly. “Could it be that you didn’t learn of the treasure’s whereabouts and foolishly want to monopolize it, then after being discovered by me, you’re implicating others?”

“In response to Your Majesty, my family has operated for a hundred years. Although I cannot say how much silver we have, silver is truly not the most important thing for this minister and my family. Moreover, this Great Zhou’s stable realm was not easily achieved. This minister wishes nothing more than to bare his liver and drain his gallbladder to repay the court and Your Majesty’s gracious recognition. How could I covet treasure?”

Lu Heng’s words successfully made Li Qitian recall the support the Lu family had provided to his army at the founding of the dynasty.

Moreover, what Lu Heng said did have some logic. Such a great family indeed did not lack money. Lu Heng had no need to ruin his future prospects for treasure.

So everything was truly the doing of that fellow Pang Zhixi?

When Li Qitian thought this, he immediately felt incomparably pleased in his heart. He had wanted to deal with Pang Zhixi for a long time, but had always suffered from not finding a suitable reason. He could only gradually diminish his power bit by bit. Now Lu Heng had given him a perfect reason – Li Qitian felt this was simply double happiness!

“Very good. I have always been clear about your heart of serving the country. It’s just that this incident happened suddenly and the implications are widespread. I am willing to believe you, but I must also investigate the matter clearly. I cannot favor any side, nor can I wrongly accuse anyone.”

Lu Heng secretly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. It seemed his speculation about Li Qitian’s thoughts was correct. Li Qitian wanted both the treasure and to eliminate Pang Xiao, who threatened his position. The reason he provided, whether true or not, Li Qitian hoped it was true. After all, compared to Pang Xiao, his apparent threat was much smaller.

But was someone who didn’t lead troops really without threat?

Lu Heng inwardly sneered. In any case, this situation also suited his intentions. The black pot had already been placed on Pang Zhixi’s back, and he very much wanted to see this scene of dragons and tigers fighting.

“I ask you. Do the stone materials from those other routes also contain treasure?” Li Qitian asked in turn.

Lu Heng shook his head with a bitter smile. “In response to Your Majesty, this minister truly does not know. I imagine that if there were treasure, Prince Zhongshun would not possibly reveal the information to this minister. Please investigate thoroughly, Your Majesty.”

He naturally knew which routes had treasure, but he simply didn’t want to let Li Qitian obtain them easily. Although he knew that he could no longer obtain this treasure, it didn’t prevent him from adding fuel to the fire, making the Emperor hate Pang Zhixi even more amidst the troubles of searching for treasure.

Li Qitian sneered coldly: “I will naturally investigate.”

Standing up and looking down at Lu Heng kneeling on the ground, Li Qitian said in a deep voice, “During these days, you shall rest and recover well in this place. Without my orders, you cannot leave the city at will.”

“Yes. This minister thanks Your Majesty for your great benevolence.” Lu Heng respectfully paid his respects.

Li Qitian immediately strode out quickly, instructing Xiong Jinshui, “Go to Danfu County and tell Prince Zhongshun to immediately come see me.”

Ma Cheng, who was standing nearby, saw that Li Qitian’s expression was wrong and felt somewhat tremulous in his heart. Knowing that the Emperor wanted to summon Pang Xiao to come, he knew there must be nothing good in this. He dared not reveal the slightest concern for Pang Xiao and only stood with his head bowed.

Xiong Jinshui immediately responded affirmatively and withdrew with a bent waist.

Danfu County.

Pang Xiao had already received news sent by spies.

“Your Majesty has personally arrived – he must have learned of the treasure matter and specially rushed here,” Xie Yue remarked. “Who would have thought that Tao Hanshan could actually defect to Qian Ying’s command, and that Qian Ying could trust Tao Hanshan so much.”

Xu Weizhi said: “This is precisely Tao Hanshan’s capability.”

Pang Xiao knew that these past days, due to the Sakurai incident, Qin Yining was unhappy in her heart. Hearing Tao Hanshan’s name made her hold back her anger, so he also didn’t continue this topic, instead saying:

“What’s surprising is that the Emperor did not do anything to Earl Zhongyi. It’s said that Earl Zhongyi and his wife are under house arrest in Huichuan County. They can leave the mansion but cannot exit the county town gates. I don’t know how he managed to dissipate the Emperor’s fury – it’s truly quite curious.”

Xu Weizhi said in a deep voice: “Your Highness, this old man always feels that the matter is not simple. Earl Zhongyi very likely pushed the blame onto you.”

Qin Yining, who had been silent all along, nodded and said: “I also think so. Earl Zhongyi is a clever person. Since the Emperor has personally arrived, he knows he cannot obtain the treasure. Since he cannot get the treasure, he naturally wants to use the treasure matter to achieve maximum effect. Among these, he can exploit the Emperor’s hostility toward you and also protect himself – this kills two birds with one stone.”