Pei Heng was not pretending to be calm at this moment, but he was sure that he had not left any evidence. He had destroyed all the witnesses and evidence. What Chu Jianglan said was probably instructed by Pei Ji?

He glanced at Pei Ji, but couldn't tell anything from his expression.

Humph, Pei Ji managed to get away with it this time, but the rumors alone were enough to get him into trouble! Next time, he would definitely be more careful and cautious.

Pei Heng stroked the jade ring on his thumb, pondering in his heart.

However, when the witness was summoned to the throne room, his expression suddenly changed. Although he quickly recovered from his loss of composure at that moment, it still caught the attention of many people with ulterior motives.

The witness who was summoned to the palace was a scholar in his thirties named Han Wo (Wa Xuan). He had failed the imperial examinations many times, but he had beautiful handwriting and could imitate other people's handwriting to the point of being indistinguishable from the original.

"...I was blindfolded by my employer and taken to a secret room. I realized something was wrong, but it was too late to leave. My employer produced an imperial edict and asked me to imitate the handwriting. I was about to refuse, but he threatened my life. I had no choice but to feign agreement, hoping to save my own skin first. While imitating His Majesty's handwriting to write the imperial edict, I secretly tampered with it..."

As Han Wo continued to speak, King Rui could no longer maintain the smile on his face that he had worn for so long.

Isn't Han Wo already dead? Why is he here in the Golden Palace now?

Pei Heng did not do it himself. After all, killing people was something that could be left to his subordinates, and there was no need for him to condescend to do it. So when his subordinates reported that Han Wo had been dealt with, he no longer took this insignificant little man to heart.

But now, the dead person reappears!

Could it be that Han Wo has returned from the dead? Or has his subordinates betrayed him long ago?

At this moment, all kinds of speculations flashed through Pei Heng's mind.

Thinking that Pei Ji had also come back to life, Pei Heng couldn't help but look at him. Meeting his deep and cold black eyes, Pei Heng felt a chill on his back and a sense of fear crept up on him.

After Han Wo finished his testimony, Pei Ji ordered, "Present the evidence."

A nanny wearing an autumn-scented jacket walked in with a tray in her hands.

When he saw the nanny, Pei Heng's pupils suddenly shrank to the size of a needle tip.

Aunt Wei! Grandma's personal nanny, who had served her for decades, how could she appear here?

When he saw the two volumes of imperial edicts on the tray, his heart suddenly sank, as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

There were two masterminds behind the plan to poison the emperor, forge the imperial edict, and get rid of Pei Ji. Pei Heng was one of them, and the other was the empress dowager.

Pei Heng completed the task of forging the imperial edict, but when the emperor passed away, he could not produce the edict. The empress dowager was obviously the most suitable candidate.

Pei Ji appeared and saved the emperor. Their plan failed. Before leaving the palace, Pei Heng hinted to the empress dowager to destroy the two fake imperial edicts as soon as possible. The empress dowager knew the seriousness of the matter and later sent him a message saying that the imperial edicts had been burned.

So now, what is Nanny Wei holding in her hand?

They were two intact fake imperial edicts!

Nanny Wei was the Empress Dowager's dowry and had been with her since she entered the palace. The master and servant had been through many ups and downs together for decades, so the Empress Dowager trusted Nanny Wei very much and even entrusted her with matters like handling fake imperial edicts.

At that time, Nanny Wei showed the ashes of the burned fake imperial edict to the empress dowager, who then felt relieved and wrote a letter to Pei Heng.

And now, the two fake imperial edicts that should have been burned to ashes were presented here.

Nanny Wei betrayed the Queen Mother!

Two fake imperial edicts were circulated among the ministers. When one of them, which said "pass the throne to the eldest son Yu", was handed to Pei Yu, Pei Yu, who had always been calm, couldn't help but twitch his face.

He immediately understood Pei Heng's conspiracy. He wanted to induce a quarrel between him and Pei Ji, and then he could come out and reap the benefits!

How great it would be if this imperial edict were true.

Pei Ji asked, "Madame Wei, where did these two imperial edicts come from?"

Nanny Wei then told the whole story of how Pei Heng and the empress dowager discussed poisoning the emperor and how they made the conspiracy.

Pei Heng gritted his teeth so hard that his cheeks bulged.

This old bastard deserves to be chopped into pieces! Damn it!

Prime Minister Wang Hui asked, "Han Wo, you said you tampered with the fake imperial edict. What did you do?"

Han Wo: "I secretly wrote a message on the fake imperial edict using a potion made from a mixture of ground gallnuts and water. After writing with this potion, the words will gradually disappear. However, if you spray it with soapberry water, the hidden words will reappear."

Prime Minister Wang Hui looked at Pei Ji and asked, "Your Highness, could you please have some soapberry water served?"

Pei Ji nodded and glanced at Yuan Huai.

Yuan Huai went downstairs and brought up a bowl of soapberry water.

Wang Hui sprayed soapberry water on two imperial edicts in turn, and wrote the same sentence on both of them: Heaven in heaven, Han was forced to forge a false imperial edict and committed the crime of deceiving the emperor. I hope that in the underworld, the King of Hell will deal with me as appropriate. I bow down to you.

Such a sentence was like a sharp slap in Pei Heng's face, and it happened on both sides.

Now, with both witnesses and evidence present, Pei Heng couldn't deny it even if he wanted to.

Pei Ji said calmly: "Pei Heng, do you have anything else to say?"

Pei Heng clapped his hands slowly a few times, "Pa, pa, pa," and said, "Your Highness the Crown Prince is very capable. I am ashamed to be inferior to him."

Pei Ji: "Take him away."

Two silver-armored guards walked in clangingly and escorted Pei Heng out.

Soon, Pei Heng's sentence came down. "...demoted to a commoner, imprisoned in the clan residence, never to be allowed out."

After hearing this, Pei Yu said, "What a pity."

This time, Pei Ji was merciful and did not kill Pei Heng.

He originally thought that Pei Ji would take the opportunity to kill Pei Heng, and he had even made some preparations for this, intending to add more glory to Pei Ji's reputation for brutality and bloodlust.

Now, we can only keep our troops in place, watch and wait for the opportunity.

Pei Heng's evidence of guilt was made public, and notices were posted on bulletin boards in government offices and on city walls.

Crowds of people came over to watch.

"He poisoned the Emperor, forged an imperial edict, and framed His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Prince Rui is truly ruthless!"

"I can't believe that the romantic and dissolute Prince Rui could do such a thing. You can't judge a person by his appearance."

"Which of those princes and grandsons of the emperor is simple? They all have deep thoughts."

…

However, within just a few days, the direction of public opinion changed, from the previous implicit criticism of the prince to disgust towards Pei Heng.

In the palace, Concubine Hui ran to Kunning Palace and threw herself before the Queen Mother, crying, "Mother, how could Heng'er do such a thing! Someone must have framed him, right? Please help me ask His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to spare Heng'er..."