Unconsciousness was good—in unconsciousness, one wouldn’t witness the upcoming bloodshed.
After a moment’s hesitation, Yin Gezhi felt relieved and lifted the person wearing imperial guard clothing, handing them to Guanzhi and Ling Shu.
Ling Shu’s brows furrowed tightly as she turned, quickly saying, “The Prince’s orders have already been transmitted.”
With those words, her red robes swirling, she attempted to escape with Guanzhi, taking Fengyue with them.
“Stop!” Through the rain curtain, Prime Minister Shi suddenly stood up, pointing at them, and declared, “We cannot let the Emperor’s murderer escape!”
Those around were shocked. The Empress and Crown Prince, who had just been crying sorrowfully, quickly rose to their feet. The guards following the imperial procession instantly surrounded the temple.
Rainwater streamed down their faces. Yin Gezhi gently raised his hand, wiped his face, removed his silver robe embroidered with three-clawed dragons, and carefully covered Emperor Wei’s face. Then he looked up and asked Shi Hongwei, “Who does the Prime Minister claim is His Majesty’s murderer?”
Pointing sharply at the red-robed “Guan Qingyue,” Shi Hongwei angrily said, “Only the Guan family’s remnants would have the motivation to murder His Majesty! Everyone present is the imperial family or trusted confidants of the Emperor! Only this woman was forcefully brought here by the Prince! Now the Emperor has been murdered—the Prince must give us an explanation!”
“Yes, explain to the officials, explain to all under heaven!” The Crown Prince’s faction immediately chorused in support.
Sweeping his gaze over these people, Yin Gezhi shook his head: “Guan Qingyue was five steps away from Father Emperor—it would have been impossible for her to harm him.”
“What do five steps matter?” the Empress raged. “Even at that distance, couldn’t hidden weapons be used?”
“They could,” Yin Gezhi smiled coldly. “However, using hidden weapons in my presence without my noticing is impossible.”
Everyone was stunned. The Empress frowned and scolded, “What’s there to discuss? The person was brought by you—surely they acted under your orders to harm His Majesty!”
The thunder had grown distant, and Yin Gezhi’s movements were no longer stiff. His gaze instantly turned sharp: “My orders? May I ask Empress, why would I want to kill Father Emperor? Not only would I never commit such an unfilial act, but even if I had lost my mind and wanted to seize the throne, shouldn’t I have killed the Crown Prince as well?! Otherwise, without proper legitimacy, how would the throne fall to me?!”
The Empress was speechless, her gaze shifting to the ground, moving left and right uncertainly.
Seeing the Empress had no response, Shi Hongwei frowned and said, “Who doesn’t know of Yin Chenbi’s cunning and resourcefulness? Since you dared to harm His Majesty, you must have calculated everything that would follow! If this old official isn’t mistaken, the Prince’s next move would be to claim His Majesty was killed by the Crown Prince, who wanted to usurp the throne!”
Indeed, the learned Prime Minister Shi’s words instantly cut off Yin Gezhi’s retreat, making it impossible for him to accuse the Crown Prince.
Yin Gezhi’s expression darkened as he lowered his eyes in thought.
This situation was very unfavorable for him, especially since he and “Guan Qingyue” had been closest to Emperor Wei moments ago. Now with the Empress and Prime Minister both belonging to the Crown Prince’s faction, he needed to find a breakthrough in this confrontation and couldn’t speak rashly.
Seeing his silence, Shi Hongwei was delighted and snorted, wiping away rain as he prepared to speak again!
Unexpectedly, someone suddenly jumped out.
“Since Prime Minister Shi speaks thus, I must ask!” The typically unrestrained Feng Ming stood up and immediately declared loudly: “I dare ask Crown Prince, did you plot to harm His Majesty because the First Prince returned home as an Enfeoffed Prince with the golden seal, making you feel your position as Crown Prince was precarious, wanting to ascend the throne while you still held the position?!”
Yin Chenyu’s expression changed at these words, and he lowered his head without daring to speak.
The Empress was furious: “Feng Ming, how dare you! Without evidence, how dare you make such speculations about the Crown Prince!”
“Does one need evidence to speculate?” Feng Ming laughed: “Then may I ask what evidence Prime Minister Shi has to make such speculations about the Prince who holds the golden seal!”
Shi Hongwei was stunned, his gaze sinking: “General Feng truly lives up to being the one who helped Guan Qingyue escape prison—listen to these words, each one defending traitors!”
With a “zheng” sound, a long sword cut through the rain, bringing a fresh watery air, stopping at Shi Hongwei’s neck.
Shi Hongwei was stunned, turning back in surprise to see Yin Gezhi expressionlessly gripping the sword handle, saying in a deep voice: “Before Father Emperor passed, he had finished reading the statement of exoneration, declaring the Guan family innocent. Now Father Emperor’s body isn’t yet cold, and if the Prime Minister dares to call an exonerated person a ‘traitor’ before Father Emperor again, don’t blame me for sending you to accompany Father Emperor!”
The voice, carrying internal energy, penetrated the rain curtain and resonated across half of Dragon Platform Mountain, making the kneeling officials below tense.
Shi Hongwei frowned slightly, stiffly saying: “If the Prince wants to kill this old official, simply do it—why bother finding such a righteous excuse?”
“A righteous excuse?” Yin Gezhi turned, asking those below: “Who is familiar with Great Wei’s laws?”
Wu Ze knelt forward, cupping his hands: “Your subject is well-versed!”
“Then recite the third law of Great Wei for the Prime Minister.”
Wu Ze cupped his hands, reciting word by word: “The nation holds the sovereign as supreme, and the ancestors and previous emperors as most venerated. Anyone who offends them defies their teachings, or disrespects their will, from imperial relatives above to common people below, shall all be punished by beheading!”
Each word rang clear, making Shi Hongwei’s face pale as he quickly changed his tone: “I spoke wrongly!”
The Empress watched anxiously, stamping her foot: “Let’s discuss this properly. Put down the sword first! His Majesty is still here—how can weapons be drawn!”
Yin Gezhi nodded, throwing down the sword and clasping his hands behind his back: “His Majesty’s passing is a grave matter. Since everyone believes Father Emperor was murdered, no one present shall leave. I’ve already sent for imperial physicians and coroners. Soon, we shall have the truth.”
Yin Chenyu became somewhat panicked, frowning: “In such heavy rain, are we all to stand here getting soaked?”
“That’s easily solved.” Pointing to the temple behind them, Yin Gezhi said: “We can take shelter inside.”
With those words, he bent down to lift Emperor Wei’s body and led the way forward.
Everyone bowed in respect. The Crown Prince, however, jumped to one side in fright, cowering and watching, staying close to the Empress as they walked forward.
This behavior was witnessed by all present. Among the court officials were those of upright stance who, seeing this scene, made their judgments.
The Empress felt uneasy, gently pulling at Shi Hongwei’s sleeve.
Shi Hongwei narrowed his eyes, looking at the surrounding guards, suddenly saying: “The civil and military officials are outsiders after all. This temple has two floors. The first floor shall be left for His Majesty and the royal family members, while the rest should go upstairs.”
Feng Ming frowned: “Why? There’s nothing improper about staying together.”
“General Feng is young, and likely unclear about many funeral customs,” Shi Hongwei sneered. “His Majesty has just passed—only those with close blood relations should remain nearby, while others should keep their distance.”
“Then shouldn’t the dragon’s body be placed higher? How can subjects go upstairs?”
“The dragon’s body shouldn’t be moved up and down!” Waving his sleeve, Shi Hongwei angrily said: “General Feng had better not interfere with these customs!”
The officials pushed and squeezed their way upstairs. Yin Gezhi watched coldly as many guards followed them up—these people would likely be unable to come down even if they wanted to later.
Giving a light laugh, he waited quietly until only the royal family members and Shi Hongwei remained before speaking: “Prime Minister Shi doesn’t plan to go up?”
“This old official has words to speak with the Prince.” With deep eyes, Shi Hongwei waved his hand, and the guards outside silently entered, surrounding the more than twenty royal family members present.
“What is the Prime Minister doing?” a prince asked nervously.
The atmosphere instantly became tense. Except for Nan Ping, who was still immersed in grief over the Emperor’s passing, everyone else’s expressions were unhappy.
Yin Gezhi turned his head, reaching out to protect Guanzhi, Ling Shu, and the unconscious person behind him, then unhurriedly looked at Shi Hongwei: “The Prime Minister may speak freely.”
“You and I both know who killed His Majesty,” With a serious face, Prime Minister Shi cupped his hands and said: “Everyone fears the Prince’s unmatched martial arts and deep scheming, even His Majesty was no exception. Now that His Majesty has passed and the Crown Prince is without support, this old official truly fears the Prince will plot to usurp the throne. Therefore, I wish to send the Prince on his way.”
Wind swept in from outside, making Yin Gezhi’s black hair flutter slightly. He pressed his lips together and spoke quietly: “I know very clearly who killed Father Emperor, and now I just await one piece of evidence to avenge this patricide. If the Prime Minister wishes to move against me before the evidence arrives, don’t blame me for being discourteous.”
Hearing these words, Shi Hongwei smiled lightly: “Discourteous? How does the Prince plan to be discourteous? To prevent any rebellion, this old official has specially stationed five hundred elite soldiers guarding this place. Even with heaven-defying abilities, what can the Prince do?”
As if coordinating with his words, the surrounding guards all drew their swords and sabers. The cold glint of steel frightened the others into exclaiming softly.
However, Yin Gezhi’s face remained expressionless across from them. Though wearing only his close-fitting robes, he didn’t appear the least bit vulnerable—rather, he looked intimidating.
“Many years ago, Guan Canghai, being unskilled in words and unable to resist, couldn’t even cry out his innocence.” Sighing softly, he raised his eyes, his gaze sweeping past Yin Chenyu, past Empress Shi, finally landing on Shi Hongwei, saying quietly:
“Many years later today, I won’t let tragedy repeat itself. Those who should die will die. Those who shouldn’t die—you won’t touch a single hair on their heads!”
“Ha!”
As his words fell, a thunderous shout from soldiers suddenly rang out from outside, as if responding to him. The sound was so loud it echoed throughout the forest, taking long to dissipate.
Shi Hongwei hadn’t reacted, taking two steps outside and stretching his neck to look.
“Reporting to master,” Guanzhi finally spoke: “The rescue order has been transmitted to Li Capital. Over three thousand troops from the city guard and imperial army are rushing here, and one thousand imperial troops have already assembled around the temple, ensuring the safety of the imperial clan!”
At these words, the royal relatives all sighed in relief, while Shi Hongwei turned back in disbelief to look at Yin Gezhi.
Meeting his gaze calmly, Yin Gezhi’s thin lips parted: “In battle, I always deploy reinforcements first. Prime Minister Shi, you haven’t done your homework well enough—it seems you’ll suffer a great defeat today.”