Emperor An was in a bit of a headache and could only turn to Zhu Tong for help.

"Minister Zhu, what are your brilliant ideas?"

Zhu Tong stepped forward, but before he could speak, a palace guard rushed in.

"Your Majesty, General Jinghong is requesting an audience outside the palace!"

"General Jinghong has arrived? That's wonderful! He can go straight to the palace for court. Why do you need to request an audience?"

The Jinghong Iron Cavalry was Emperor An's most prized army, and he was even more at ease knowing that Liu Jinghong had come to Jingzhou to participate in the martial arts examination.

However, Liu Jinghong usually went directly to court when he came to the capital, so it was rare for him to request an audience like he did today.

"Your Majesty... General Jinghong did not come on his own."

"Not myself?"

Emperor An raised an eyebrow, wondering if she intended to bring the Jinghong Iron Cavalry into the palace with her.

This is absolutely unacceptable.

Even if all the imperial guards in the palace were combined, they wouldn't be a match for the Jinghong Iron Cavalry. No matter how much he trusted Liu Jinghong, he would never allow the cavalry to enter the palace; that was the rule.

"Yes, Your Majesty, General Jinghong also brought..."

"What did you bring?"

Emperor An was very dissatisfied with the guards' stammering.

"They brought fifteen corpses!"

"Whoosh!"

These words caused an uproar in the audience.

The one most affected was Prince Xiang, Su Mowu, because he knew that Su Xinping had sent out fifteen men the previous night…

Emperor An stood up and paced back and forth in the Golden Palace.

The Jinghong Iron Cavalry could not enter the palace, and fifteen corpses were even less likely to be allowed. After much deliberation, he knew that Liu Jinghong would not be so reckless as to bring just some corpses to see him.

"Come with me to the palace gates!"

So he waved his hand and went out first.

...

Outside the palace gates, fifteen corpses lay in a row.

Apart from the first one who was stabbed to death by Liu Jinghong, the others committed suicide, so the scene was not too bloody.

But this was outside the palace gates, where usually only well-dressed ministers came and went, so this scene still made many people frown.

They'd heard of offering gifts to the palace, but offering a corpse? That was something they'd never heard of before!

I learned something new!

Emperor An frowned slightly and looked at Liu Jinghong, asking, "General Jinghong, who are these people?"

"Your Majesty, fifteen assassins!"

"Assassin?"

Another commotion arose from the crowd; it seemed no one could have imagined that so many assassins would suddenly appear right under the emperor's nose.

Just as Emperor An was about to ask another question, he suddenly realized that since Liu Jinghong dared to bring the corpse here, things must not be simple.

So he waved his hand and said, "Come back to the palace with me and we'll discuss this further!"

Back in the court, Emperor An immediately asked, "General Jinghong, please tell me what exactly happened!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Liu Jinghong strode to the front of the assembled officials, raised her head, and said, "These assassins tried to kill my brother yesterday, so I killed them! And I've come to the palace today to ask Your Majesty to uphold justice!"

Upon hearing this, all the ministers were greatly alarmed.

It was an open secret in the court that Liu Jinghong's younger brother was Jing Zhe, after all, the memory of Jing Wenmao being demoted to Pengzhou was still fresh in the minds of these veteran officials.

Jing Zhe has just made a big splash, who would dare to kill him? And Liu Jinghong said he wanted to find Emperor An to "uphold justice," could it be that the murderer is in the court?

The ministers were even more shocked at the thought of this possibility.

This morning's court session will probably go on until very late, but it should be quite lively!

Bai Qingyuan glanced at Su Mowu, only to see that Su Mowu had his head down and wasn't looking at him.

Bai Qingyuan was immediately shocked: Could it be that he was involved in this?

The thought of this possibility made Bai Qingyuan feel flustered and even more disheartened.

Alas, he's truly beyond redemption!

I clearly told you not to be his enemy anymore, why won't you listen?

I really don't know if my choice was right or wrong!

Emperor An's brows furrowed deeply: "What justice are you talking about? Have you found out who the murderer is? By the way, what about Jing Zhe? Is he alright?"

Liu Jinghong shook her head. "Zhe'er is fine, but if I hadn't shown up, things might have turned out differently! As for the mastermind behind it all, I haven't found out. These assassins were highly trained and all committed suicide. The last clue has been lost."

After she finished speaking, she glanced at the officials in the hall, her gaze lingering on Su Moyan and Su Mowu for a while longer.

"But I heard that last night, His Highness the Crown Prince hosted a banquet at the East Palace, and the Prince of Jin's heir invited Zhe'er to drink! Zhe'er encountered assassins as soon as he left the East Palace!"

As soon as these words were spoken, all eyes turned to Su Moyan.

"Your Highness, is this really true?"

"Father, I'm innocent!"

Su Moyan knelt down on the ground.

“Father, I did indeed host a banquet for Young Master Jing at the Eastern Palace last night, and I tried my best to invite him to stay overnight. However, Young Master Jing insisted on leaving and refused my offer to send someone to escort him. As for the attack on Young Master Jing, I truly know nothing about it!”

As he spoke, he kowtowed deeply to the ground, appearing extremely aggrieved.

Where is Su Xinping?

Emperor An knew Su Moyan's character very well, and Jing Zhe had no grudge against him, so he had no motive. But Su Xinping was different.

"Father, it can't be Xinping!"

Su Moyan raised his head: "Yesterday it was my suggestion that the two of them drink and make up! They had a very pleasant conversation, and Xinping even drank too much and is still unconscious!"

Emperor An glanced at Su Moyan, thinking to himself, "When will you ever come to your senses? You'll probably be sold out and still be helping the seller count the money!"

"Your Majesty, there is no evidence for this matter; it must not be publicized!"

At this moment, Zhu Tong, who had been silent until now, stepped forward.

"Although Jing Zhe was assassinated after leaving the East Palace, it seems more like someone deliberately framed him. If His Highness the Crown Prince really wanted to take action, why would he want to increase his own suspicion?"

Emperor Andi nodded, signaling him to continue.

"As for the others, I dare not speak. But the Third Prince of Southern Qi is still in Jingzhou, and Jing Zhe has just won first place in the Mid-Autumn Poetry Competition. If this matter were to be publicized, what would Southern Qi think? What would the people think? Your Majesty, you must not let people's hearts be chilled!"

After being prompted by Zhu Tongyi, the other ministers began to discuss among themselves. If anyone had the most motive to kill Jing Zhe, it would undoubtedly be Qi Jun Guang, who had been defeated by Jing Zhe three times in a row at the poetry gathering.

However, as Zhu Tong said, without evidence, Jing Zhe could only suffer in silence.

Upon hearing Zhu Tong's words, Emperor An suddenly had an idea.

The fact that these assassins chose to commit suicide suggests that their masterminds were even more secretive and difficult to trace.

Why not take this opportunity to appoint Jing Zhe to an official position?

However, he couldn't bring it up.

"My dear minister, do you have any good suggestions?"

"Your Majesty, my suggestion is to quickly bestow an official position upon Jing Zhe to appease the people and also as a reward for the honor he earned for Anguo at the Mid-Autumn Poetry Festival!"

Seemingly able to see through Emperor An's thoughts, Zhu Tong lowered his head and spoke in a gentle and patient manner.

Emperor An was overjoyed:

The one who truly understands me is none other than my beloved minister!

————