"Your Majesty, I possess evidence of Prime Minister Xu and his clan's crimes, including seizing fertile land, forcing women into prostitution, illegally mining, and raising troops! It was because I could not tolerate the Xu clan's deception of Your Majesty and the court that I risked coming to the capital. However, I was pursued all the way here. If it weren't for a few officials who were also being forced by the Xu clan protecting me, I fear I would not have seen you again! Of the dozen or so people who secretly came to the capital from Lingzhou, only I remain!"

The military commander of Lingzhou burst into tears, and all the officials in the court were shocked to hear this. How could Prime Minister Xu have such audacity!

Prime Minister Xu kowtowed repeatedly, tears streaming down his face: "Your Majesty, I have been wronged!"

The emperor looked at him coldly and said only to the military commander of Lingzhou, "Bring the evidence of your crimes to the court!"

The entire hall was silent, everyone afraid of saying the wrong thing and getting themselves implicated. The most terrified were those who had previously supported Prime Minister Xu. With the Lingzhou military commander coming to the capital like this, it seemed that the Xu clan had indeed done those things. Would His Majesty suspect that they had also rebelled with the Prime Minister? What kind of mess was this?

Especially the military officers who sided with Prince Xun. They originally had no conflict with Prime Minister Xu, but because Prince Xun had just married Prime Minister Xu's daughter, they spoke up for him out of respect for Prince Xun. If they were implicated in a rebellion because of this...

Some people couldn't help but feel resentful. Before the princess was even married into the family, Prince Xun had already ruined his reputation. Now that he had just married her, he had already gotten into such a big mess. Could it be that he had married a jinx?

With a "smack," the evidence was thrown in front of Prime Minister Xu, and the Emperor was furious: "Xu Pinghai, take a look for yourself!"

Prime Minister Xu crawled over shakily, his hands trembling as he picked it up: "Your Majesty, this humble subject..."

Before he could finish speaking, the emperor roared again: "I trusted you so much and granted you the position of prime minister, and this is how you repay me! Guards, immediately detain the prime minister and surround the prime minister's residence. Do not let a single person out!"

"Your Majesty... I know nothing about these matters!"

"You don't know? If the Xu clan didn't tacitly approve, how dare they do this? Minister of Justice and Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review, listen to my command."

"Your humble servant obeys."

"I order the two of you to work together to investigate this case. No one who has any dealings with this person should be let off the hook."

"Your humble servant obeys."

Upon hearing this, half of the court officials panicked. Putting aside their usual etiquette, they had even sent lavish gifts to Prime Minister Xu yesterday to show their closeness when he married off his daughter. Would His Majesty think that they had also interfered?

After giving the instructions, the emperor was still not at ease, so he ordered his two sons, "Hui'er and Zhao'er, this time you will also work with the two ministers to handle this case."

"Yes, Father."

It turns out that both princes are involved. It seems that Prime Minister Xu will not be let off easily this time. Even if His Highness Prince Xun tries to find loopholes with the Minister of Justice and the Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review, he probably won't be able to hide it from the two princes. It is possible that Prime Minister Xu will face the extermination of his clan and the confiscation of his property.

After the imperial edicts were issued, the entire capital city immediately fell into a solemn atmosphere. Even the small vendors on the street sensed something was amiss and went home early.

The Prime Minister's residence remained in a festive atmosphere until soldiers entered and ordered all the masters and servants to be imprisoned separately, which finally alerted the Prime Minister's wife.

"How dare you! Who gave you permission to run rampant in the Prime Minister's residence?" The Prime Minister's wife rushed to the front yard.

The leading officer sneered, "This is an imperial edict. It would be best for the Prime Minister's wife not to resist. Prime Minister Xu and his clansmen are suspected of rebellion. No one is allowed to make any move. Anyone who disobeys will be executed immediately."

"You're talking nonsense..." The old servant beside the Prime Minister's wife stepped forward to argue, but before he could finish speaking, his head was chopped off by the soldiers.

Everyone was immediately stunned. Blood splattered on the Prime Minister's wife's face, and it took her a long time to scream in terror.

"Shut up! Don't you want to live anymore?"

The Prime Minister's wife's voice suddenly went hoarse, her body trembling uncontrollably: "Prince Xun, Your Highness is... I..."

"Even if the Heavenly King himself came, he couldn't save your Prime Minister's Mansion." The First Prince slowly approached. "Why waste words with them? Separate the masters and servants in the mansion and interrogate them one by one. The study, the bedroom, the storeroom—nothing that looks like an account book should be overlooked."

"Yes, Your Highness."

The second prince smiled and said, "Brother, I've heard that these powerful families like to build secret rooms, hidden rooms, and dungeons. Let's go see if there are any in the Prime Minister's residence."

The eldest prince nodded: "Go ahead, Your Majesty will wait here for Prince Xun to arrive."

With such a large-scale operation at the palace, news of the Prime Minister's residence being besieged quickly spread throughout the capital, and the Prince Xun's residence was among the first to receive the news.

"What's going on?" Si Hengnian, disregarding his tender moment with Xu Huixin, hurriedly got up.

Xu Huixin, ignoring her aches and pains, hurriedly changed her clothes: "Hengnian, why is the Prime Minister's residence surrounded all of a sudden?"

"I don't know either." Si Hengnian's face was gloomy. "What exactly happened that even I don't know about? What are you all doing?"

"Your Highness, news has come from the palace that the military commander of Lingzhou has brought evidence to the capital, accusing the Prime Minister and his clan of treason! His Majesty has ordered the Minister of Justice, the Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review, the First Prince, and the Second Prince to cooperate in the investigation."

“That’s impossible!” Xu Huixin said firmly. “My father would never rebel.”

Si Hengnian comforted him, "Don't worry, I also believe that it's impossible for my father-in-law to do this. There must be some misunderstanding, or someone is deliberately framing my father-in-law. Don't worry, I won't sit idly by."

Xu Huixin grabbed his arm and pleaded, "Hengnian, you must save my father and the Prime Minister's mansion. My mother must be terrified if the mansion is besieged."

"Don't panic, we'll be right there."

The two rushed there as fast as they could. When Si Hengnian saw that the soldiers were surrounding them, he grabbed Xu Huixin and tried to force his way through.

"Your Highness, please do not make things difficult for your subordinate. This is His Majesty's order, and no one is allowed to enter without permission."

"You dare to stop even me, the King?"

"What? Does Your Highness now disregard even imperial edicts and dare to defy the emperor's orders? Could it be that you and the prime minister participated in the violation, and therefore you don't respect the emperor?" The eldest prince walked over step by step, his aura no less imposing than Si Hengnian's, and even more so.

These officers and soldiers hadn't realized it before, but now, in comparison, they suddenly understood that a prince was indeed a prince, and his demeanor was incomparable to that of a commoner like Prince Xun.

Si Hengnian's face darkened, because he had never realized before that the eldest prince could exert such a strong sense of pressure on him. Wouldn't that mean all his previous plans would be in vain? The eldest prince of the emperor was actually hiding his abilities in front of a mere subject like him? Could it be that he had already discovered something? This thought made Si Hengnian's eyes grow even colder.