Mu Ange glanced at her coldly, unmoved.

Not to be outdone, An Ning deliberately raised her voice and spoke softly.

"By imperial decree, the Third Prince, Mu Ange, is summoned to an audience!"

Mu Ange glanced at her and said coldly, "Your subject obeys the decree."

Just as Anning was about to close the door, she saw Sister Yun standing in the courtyard. The dappled light and shadows accentuated her graceful figure, and her gentle smile was incredibly comforting.

"Sister Yun, hello Sister Yun!" An Ning was overjoyed and waved to greet her.

Sister Yun nodded slightly and said softly with a smile, "Hello, Xiao Ningzi."

With a bang, Mu Ange slammed the mansion gate shut, her tone displeased: "Let's go."

Throughout the journey, Mu Ange had a dark expression, and An Ning didn't give him a friendly look either. In any case, his unlucky days were just around the corner.

Inside the Yangju Hall.

"Your Majesty, the Third Prince has arrived."

An Ning stepped aside, and Mu Ange stepped forward to bow.

"You wretched child, kneel down."

The emperor rebuked him sternly.

Upon seeing this, Consort Zhang cried even harder: "Your Majesty, you must do justice for me!"

"You wretched thing, how dare you do such an improper thing to Consort Zhang! I knew you would always be an unfaithful and unfilial wretch."

The wrath of the emperor is earth-shattering.

If someone else were suddenly accused of such a thing, they would be shocked and terrified. Even An Ning was prepared to watch Mu Ange cry and plead his innocence.

Unexpectedly, Mu Ange remained calm and composed, knelt down and bowed with his back straight, saying, "Your Majesty, I know that I am not very talented and have a lowly character. I spend my days idly and have many concubines in my household. I have never dared to disobey Your Majesty or commit treason. When I enter or leave the palace, I am always respectful and do not dare to overstep my bounds."

"Though I am foolish and dull, I know that Father Emperor is the Son of Heaven, whose majesty shakes all corners of the land. Therefore, I have always been devoted to him and have always paid him homage. Moreover, Consort Zhang is Father Emperor's concubine, and according to protocol, she is my aunt. Even if you gave me ten times the courage, I would not dare to harbor the slightest disloyalty. I hope Father Emperor will understand."

'Tsk tsk tsk, that's quite the smooth talker.'

An Ning stood behind the emperor, watching him with amusement, but little did she expect that this guy would clear his name with just a few words. It seemed that this good show was about to end, what a pity.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, the Third Prince's words are truly malicious. Would I, your concubine, possibly use my chastity to falsely accuse him? He himself said that he has many concubines in his household, which means he must be a lecherous man. I never expected that he would be so bold as to lay his hands on me. Your Majesty, if the Third Prince is not severely punished, how can the sisters in the palace ever have a peaceful day?"

"Wow, this person's eloquence is truly exceptional!" An Ning was completely stunned; there really is always someone better.

"Mu Ange, things have come to this, what reason do you have to argue? As a subject, you actually dared to covet my woman, you deserve to die!"

"Father!"

Seeing that the situation was not good, Mu Ange kowtowed heavily: "Father, I swear by the blood of the royal family that I have not done anything improper to Consort Zhang. Consort Zhang, since you say that I have been disrespectful to you, do you have any witnesses?"

A glint of triumph flashed in Zhang Cairen's eyes, then vanished, replaced by a tearful expression: "Yes, of course there is. The guard who saved me yesterday is a witness."

"Summon him." The emperor leaned back in his chair, annoyed, not even bothering to give Mu Ange a glance.

An Ning breathed a sigh of relief: Mu Ange's situation is not good.

"This humble servant greets Your Majesty."

The Emperor said, "Get up. Did you witness the Third Prince attempting to take advantage of Consort Zhang yesterday?"

The guard bowed and said, "I witnessed it clearly. At that time, the Third Prince held Zhang Cairen's hand tightly and wouldn't let go. Zhang Cairen was terrified and cried out for help. I happened to be patrolling by and rescued Zhang Cairen. However, the Third Prince was not satisfied and fought with me, even cutting my arm. Afterwards, the Third Prince threatened me that if I told anyone about this, my whole family would be buried with me."

Mu Ange listened quietly to these words, his eyes gradually turning cold: 'A fight? If I were to intervene, you wouldn't even have a whole corpse left.'

An Ning overheard these words. Yes, she had seen Mu Ange's skills; they were not something a mere guard could stop.

"Father, you witnessed my skills when I was assassinated in the palace. If I had truly intended to harm Consort Zhang, a mere guard like myself would not have been able to..."

Mu Ange was interrupted by the guards before he could finish speaking.

"Knowing I am no match for the Third Prince, I have no choice but to take a roundabout approach. I told him that the time for the guards to change shifts is coming soon, and besides, there are many people and eyes in the Imperial Garden. If Consort Zhang shouts like this, it will probably attract even more people. At that time, the Third Prince will be able to confirm his crime. According to the iron law of the Great Qi, those who disrespect their elders and act in a disorderly manner shall be demoted to commoners and never be allowed to enter the capital again."

Mu Ange's usually nonchalant expression now had a hint of seriousness: "May I ask, Lady Zhang, when was it yesterday that I attempted to take advantage of you?"

The sudden change in tone startled Zhang Cairen for a moment. Just as she was about to speak, she saw Mu Ange's eyes, as sharp as a hawk's, staring at her coldly as if they were poisoned.

"Yesterday...yesterday was...it was the hour of You (5-7 PM). At that time, in the Imperial Garden, the Third Prince did something improper to me." Consort Zhang stammered at first, genuinely frightened by Mu Ange's sudden change. However, Consort Zhang thought again, what was there to be afraid of in a disfavored and infamous prince?

Mu Ange gave an "oh" indifferently, turned to the guard, and continued to ask, "So you also witnessed me committing indecent acts against Consort Zhang at the hour of You (5-7 PM)?"

Without a second thought, the guard replied, "Yes."

"Hehe, the palace guards rotate every two hours. You said you bumped into me at the hour of You (5-7 PM), which is not when the guards are on patrol."

Just now, you said that in the heat of the moment you lied and said that the next shift of guards would arrive soon, which made me helpless. According to palace regulations, the next shift of guards is changed at 7 PM. Therefore, your so-called change of guards is completely unfounded.

"The guards' shift change is a lie, so your lies certainly won't frighten me. Since they won't frighten me, how did you manage to use your cleverness to save Consort Zhang?"

After listening to his explanation, An Ning couldn't help but applaud him: He was truly brilliant! The guards were no match for him in either fighting or thinking, and it seemed that the truth of this frame-up case was about to be revealed! However... it was still a little regrettable that Mu Ange hadn't suffered any real hardship.

Seeing that things were not right, Consort Zhang quickly changed her words, saying, "No, no, I was so frightened that I remembered the time wrong. Yesterday was the hour of Xu (7-9 PM), not the hour of You (5-7 PM)."