Chapter 246: The Public Hearing

Thinking of this, a smug smile couldn’t help but appear on the envoy’s face.

He straightened his court attire, stepped forward, and said, “Your servant thanks the Emperor on behalf of my ruler. However, no amount of compensation can make up for our loss of Princess Xie. I implore the Emperor to deliver justice.” At this point, he shot a vicious glare at Yue Mingxuan before continuing, “Punish the murderer severely and give Nanxie the justice it deserves.”

Watching the Nanxie envoy behave like someone who had gotten a bargain and was now pushing his luck, everyone present felt a surge of disgust. Even the Emperor’s expression turned somewhat displeased. “The matter of Princess Xie’s poisoning has not yet been conclusively determined. For you Nanxie to now press Beirong for severe punishment, are you suggesting that Beirong would shield the culprit?”

Just as he thought he could press his advantage, the envoy was met with an unexpected rebuke. Hearing the Emperor’s words, the Nanxie envoy was so startled that he dropped directly to his knees. “Your servant would not dare.”

The Emperor’s displeasure deepened. By what right did a mere envoy of Nanxie presume to call himself “your servant” before him, thereby diminishing Beirong’s status? “Envoy, you are a subject of Nanxie. Here, you are a guest of Beirong. A guest from afar, Beirong naturally treats with courtesy. But if you forget your place, then know that Beirong is not to be trifled with.”

“Yes, yes, yes… this slave has committed an offense.” Even a fool could grasp the meaning behind the Emperor’s words. Cold sweat broke out all over the Nanxie envoy’s body, and he quickly changed how he referred to himself.

The Emperor waved his hand, and the envoy, as if granted amnesty, retreated to his position, head bowed, not daring to utter another word.

Seeing that the Nanxie envoy had settled down, the Emperor finally turned his gaze to Yue Mingxuan. “Yue Mingxuan, you have been accused of poisoning Princess Xie. What do you have to say for yourself?”

Yue Mingxuan rose, bowed to the Emperor, and said in a firm, clear voice, “It wasn’t me.”

Throughout his life, the thing Yue Mingxuan feared least was taking responsibility, and what he hated most was being falsely accused.

He admitted to finding Princess Xie tiresome, but having received a modern education, he was incapable of treating human life with such disregard.

Seeing that Yue Mingxuan would not confess, Imperial Consort Zhou quickly interjected, “Your Majesty, he was lied. Before Princess Xie’s poison took effect, the last person to see her was him. Several palace attendants witnessed it. Moreover, Yue Mingxuan and Xie Lianhua have always had a grudge. He must have seen that Xie Lianhua was confined by Your Majesty’s order and decided to go all the way and poison her.”

Hearing this, Yue Mingxuan rolled his eyes.

With reasoning skills like that, he might as well go write for Detective Conan.

Basing a conviction solely on the testimony of a few palace attendants?

Beirong’s law was not so flippant.

Sure enough, after hearing the Imperial Consort Zhou’s words, the Emperor frowned slightly and said, “My consort, if you rely solely on the words of two palace attendants to convict Yur Mingxuan, it would hardly be convincing to the public.”

Hearing the Emperor say this, several people in the crowd nodded in agreement.

At this moment, Imperial Consort Hua spoke up from the side, “At this rate, nothing will come of this interrogation. Each side has their own argument, and it would only strain relationships for no reason. With that in mind, I have a modest proposal.” She paused briefly before continuing, “First, summon the palace attendants to confront Prince Yue face to face. Second, we must determine exactly which poison killed Princess Xie.”

Hearing Imperial Consort Hua’s suggestion, the Emperor remained silent for a moment, rhythmically tapping the armrest of his chair with his fingers.

After a moment, he said, “Very well. Let’s do as my consort suggests.”

Having received the Emperor’s approval, Imperial Consort Hua gestured to the eunuch beside her.

Understanding the signal, the eunuch quietly slipped away.

Seeing that things had reached this point, Yue Mingxuan, who had felt somewhat unsettled moments ago, now found his heart strangely calm.

As the saying goes, “Meet soldiers with soldiers, water with an earth wall”—there was nothing to fear.

The imperial study fell into a deathly silence until the two witnesses entered, drawing everyone’s attention once again.

Yue Mingxuan carefully examined the two individuals before him.

He was certain he had never seen them before, so their accusations against him must have been instigated by someone else.

Having understood their identities, Yue Mingxuan felt greatly relieved and decided to watch carefully and see what scheme they were really playing at.

Seeing that the witnesses had arrived, the Emperor began, “Which of you two saw Prince Yue commit the poisoning?”

Unexpectedly asked this question, the two glanced at each other hesitantly and remained silent.

After a moment, Imperial Consort Zhou spoke first, “Your Majesty, naturally no one saw Yue Mingxuan poison anyone. But the fact remains that after he left, Princess Xie was poisoned.”

For some reason, she felt that the Emperor seemed to be favoring Yue Mingxuan.

The Emperor cast a dissatisfied look at her and said, “If that’s the case, then if I had happened to visit Princess Xie, would I become the poisoner?”

Hearing the displeasure in the Emperor’s tone, Yue Mingxuan rejoiced inwardly.

He had remained silent until now because he couldn’t gauge the Emperor’s attitude.

Since the Emperor seemed inclined to show favor, it would be foolish not to seize the opportunity.

He turned to the two witnesses and asked, “Since you’re both certain that the person you saw that day was me, then tell me, what clothes was I wearing?”

The two had no idea why Yue Mingxuan was asking this.

One of them pondered for a moment and said, “The sky wasn’t bright at that time, so this servant didn’t see clearly.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep