Chapter 245: If you want to accuse someone, you can always find a pretext.

The young regent in front of him, dressed in black, had a low voice, but it seemed to carry an invisible pressure, causing the killing sounds in the audience to suddenly stop.

Helian Feng looked at the familiar black python robe, and a meaningful smile appeared on the corner of his mouth:

Xiao Nanyan, you finally showed up! In front of everyone, you saved the Northern Cang Emperor. If this isn't treason, then what is it?

Emperor Helian Cong's veins bulged as he gripped the reins, his gaze shifting from under his nine-tasseled crown:

"Nan Yan, I'm capturing the Northern Cang rebels, why are you trying to help?"

Before Xiao Nanyan could speak, he saw another fast horse coming from a distance. As it approached, the man jumped off the horse and rushed through the crowd, covered in blood. The blood from the arrow on his shoulder left a scarlet trail.

"Your Majesty, Xiao Nanyan, he's rebelled!"

When everyone looked, they saw that the person coming was the guard commander Yan Feng!

Helian Cong frowned and said sternly:

"What's going on?"

Yan Feng rolled and crawled to his knees in front of Helian Cong's horse:

"Your Majesty, I followed your orders to summon Xiao Nanyan to the hunting platform to meet you. However, without any investigation, he ordered his men to kill everyone I brought with me. Fortunately, I escaped death!"

The whole audience was in an uproar!

Helian Feng reined in his horse and took a step back, a sneer on his face:

"Xiao Nanyan, you actually dared to disobey the imperial order, slaughtering the imperial guards and injuring the guard commander Yan Feng. It seems that you have truly rebelled!"

Helian Cong stared at Xiao Nanyan, veins bulging in the corners of his eyes:

"Xiao Nanyan, Yan Feng summoned you here on my orders. How dare you disobey my orders and even kill my imperial guards! Could it be that you really want to rebel against me?"

Xiao Nanyan sneered:

"Your Majesty, then you should ask Commander Yan, did he go there to deliver the imperial decree, or to kill me?"

Yan Feng was shocked and said angrily:

"Prince Regent, please stop slandering me!"

The cold light in Xiao Nanyan's eyes was like an icicle:

"Just now, I was hunting in the forest when you suddenly arrived with three hundred powerful crossbowmen. You immediately accused me of colluding with Bei Cang to rebel and threatened to kill me as a traitor. If it weren't for the extraordinary skills of my guards, I, Xiao Nanyan, would have been a bloody corpse by now!"

Yan Feng's eyes met briefly with the Queen's, and he quickly turned away and cried to Helian Cong again:

"Your Majesty, this Xiao Nanyan is slandering me! All the guards I brought with me have been slaughtered by them, and no one has come forward to testify on my behalf! He clearly defied Your Majesty's authority and deliberately disobeyed, wanting to kill us without asking any questions. This man is truly a traitor!"

Helian Feng was beside him and spoke slowly:

"Father, anyone with a discerning eye can see that Xiao Nanyan is a fish in a dry ditch, struggling to survive. He must have known that today's events would be exposed, and he has openly rebelled! Otherwise, why would the armory have caught fire by chance? It would all support the confession of the Northern Cang assassin!"

Xiao Nanyan's lips curled slightly:

“If you want to accuse someone of a crime, you can always find a pretext.”

Helian Cong suppressed his anger and glared at Xiao Nanyan with a sharp gaze:

"Xiao Nanyan, even if there are a thousand reasons, the fact that you blocked the arrow shot by the Crown Prince to kill Xuan Lie is irrefutable evidence!"

Xiao Nanyan remained neither humble nor arrogant, still sitting firmly on his horse:

"Your Majesty, have you ever considered that if Xuan Lie were to die in Yunqiu today, with no witnesses to prove his guilt, I would be convicted of treason. This is truly an injustice that could never be cleared even by jumping into the Yellow River!"

Helian Feng laughed coldly and said, "In your opinion, if the Northern Cang Emperor cannot be killed, what should we do?"

Xiao Nanyan smiled slightly:

"Of course we release him! Your Highness, think about it, it's easy to kill one person, but it's hard to save ten clans! Your Majesty killed one Xuan Lie today, but there will be thousands more Xuan Lies in Northern Cang. For the sake of the people, why bother killing again? The best policy is to turn hostility into friendship."

"What a 'difficulty in pacifying the ten clans'!" Helian Feng seemed to have heard a joke:

"I never thought the Prince Regent, who is usually taciturn, could be so eloquent, making the accusation of treason so plausible!"

Helian Feng turned around and saluted Helian Cong again:

"Father, according to your investigation, Xiao Nanyan has evil ambitions. He secretly communicates with Bei Cang and colludes with court officials. He has raised assassins in the palace and framed many loyal officials, including Prime Minister Su, in order to overthrow Tianqi and avenge his father, King Xiao Beicheng!"

When Helian Cong heard the name Xiao Beicheng, his pupils suddenly shrank and his gaze slowly turned to Xiao Nanyan:

"Xiao Nanyan, ask yourself, how have I treated your family in the past eight years since your father's death? Why do you still harbor evil intentions and want to overthrow my apocalypse?"

Xiao Nanyan curled his lips slightly:

"Your Majesty has truly been very caring towards my family. As soon as my father passed away, the Xiao family's power was completely shattered. This is something I will never forget. And Your Majesty knows how my father died better than I do!"

Helian Cong's body trembled slightly, and he pointed at Xiao Nanyan:

"You... truly hold a grudge against me! Your father secretly colluded with Nan Zhao, forged the imperial robe and jade seal, and attempted to usurp the throne. Even if I kill him, what's wrong with that? To protect your Xiao family's reputation, and also for... to publicly claim he died on the battlefield, I've been far too tolerant of you, Xiao clan. You're ungrateful, and yet you're rebelling against me. How despicable!"