Chapter 178 Entering the Palace for an Audience (Part 2)

Several officials in the hall, such as Xie Ji, the Minister of Revenue, all had their brows furrowed.

Xie Ji stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. This matter is of great importance. It would be inappropriate to convict based solely on the Second Princess's testimony. Since Miss Xie is already here, why not let her defend herself before the palace? This will help to ascertain the truth and prevent the innocent from being wronged, thus discouraging the soldiers on the border!"

He specifically emphasized the border soldiers, reminding Emperor Xie Zhenting that he was about to return to the capital, and immediately some people echoed his sentiments.

The emperor's face grew even uglier, and his eyes swept over Xie Ji and the others with a sinister gaze.

Xie Ji, for some reason, has suddenly changed from his usual easygoing attitude and started to fight and compete.

Pei Yan snorted coldly: "Fine! I'll hear what you, Xie Sangning, have to say in your defense! If you dare utter a single falsehood, you'll be in for a world of hurt!"

All eyes instantly focused on the slender yet upright figure in the hall.

Xie Sangning slowly raised her head, her stunningly beautiful face now filled with confusion and just the right amount of doubt.

She blinked her almond-shaped eyes, her cherry lips parted slightly, and her voice carried a hint of confusion:

"Qingdai? Your Majesty... Please forgive my ignorance. Who is this Qingdai?"

She turned her head slightly and looked sincerely at Pei Mingyue, who was trembling with anger, "The Second Princess's maid? I have never seen her before, let alone know her. May I ask Your Highness, why did I want to kill her? And how could I sneak into the inner chambers of the Princess's residence under heavy guard and do such an inconceivable thing?"

Her tone was gentle, and her logic was clear.

"You! You're still pretending! You shameless bastard! You dare to do it but not admit it!"

Upon hearing this, Xie Sangning looked at the Second Princess with a pity for her going mad.

"Why would I inexplicably kill the palace maid beside the Second Princess? I don't even know her. Your Highness, are you sure you haven't mistaken her for someone else?"

Pei Mingyue was completely driven crazy by Xie Sangning's utterly innocent appearance!

She pointed at Xie Sangning and cursed, "It was you! Besides you, this ruthless and vicious woman, who else dares to treat me like this! You hate me! You hate me for sending people to kill you! So you took revenge! You cut off Qingdai's head to scare me! Xie Sangning! You will die a horrible death!"

She spoke without thinking, blurting out the plot to assassinate Xie Sangning that she had planned the previous night!

Xie Sangning chuckled, and his words shocked the entire hall!

"Mingyue! Shut up!"

The emperor's expression changed drastically, and he shouted angrily!

He never expected his daughter to be so foolish as to expose her shortcomings in public!

Xie Sangning's face showed shock and hurt: "Your Highness, please be careful with your words! Assassination? When have I ever offended Your Highness, that Your Highness would go so far as to send someone to assassinate me? What exactly is Your Highness's intention?!"

Her voice rose slightly, filled with grief and indignation, and her eyes were perfectly reddened, vividly portraying the image of a loyal and virtuous woman who had been wronged and humiliated.

"Slander?! Framing?!"

Pei Mingyue was so angry she nearly fainted, her reason completely shattered. Ignoring the emperor's reprimands, she screamed hysterically, "Qingdai just offered me a plan last night, and she died that very night! You threw her head on my bed! Who else could it be but you?! Oh... and Xie Wulu! You even killed your cousin! You heartless viper! You deserve to die!"

She screamed and, disregarding the decorum of a royal princess, lunged at Xie Sangning!

The palace guards rushed forward to stop them, and the scene became chaotic.

"Guards! Stop her!"

The emperor was so angry that the veins on his forehead bulged, and he gave a stern order.

The guards immediately pinned down the struggling and screaming Pei Mingyue.

Xie Sangning stood still, not moving an inch, only looking at the restrained Pei Mingyue with a gaze that was both pitying and disdainful, and sighed softly:

"Your Highness repeatedly claims that I killed Qingdai and Xie Wulu. May I ask, what is the evidence? Is it merely based on Your Highness's one-sided statement and... this conjecture?"

She paused, then turned her gaze to the emperor, whose face was ashen. Her voice was filled with grievance. “Your Majesty! I have never heard of what the princess said, and it is utter nonsense! It is the princess who hired someone to assassinate me. I beg Your Majesty to give an explanation! As for Xie Wulu… he is my cousin. Although he was expelled from the family by my grandmother because of his misdeeds, our blood ties still remain.”

At this point, Xie Sangning's tone turned sorrowful: "Your Highness said that I killed him to silence him? Quite the opposite! Last night, it was I who saved him! I pulled him back from the brink of death!"

"What?" Pei Mingyue froze, looking at Xie Sangning in disbelief.

How is he still alive?!

Xie Sangning turned slightly to the side and called out to the outside of the hall, "Your Majesty! I am not speaking without evidence! What happened last night was extremely strange, and I dared not conceal it. However, halfway through the treatment yesterday, I was taken away by the black-clad men who broke in. I intended to report to the authorities today, but I did not expect to be summoned to the palace this morning. But I guess Xie Wulu should be at the Princess's residence. The black-clad men yesterday looked like guards from the Princess's residence."

"Your Majesty, I beg you to find my cousin! I am extremely worried! Yesterday, he returned to the General's Mansion from the Princess's Residence, covered in whip marks, and almost lifeless... and then he was suddenly kidnapped... After all, we are family, and I cannot rest easy!"

Upon hearing this, several officials immediately stepped forward and requested an investigation. Looking around, they turned out to be a quarter of the court officials.

The emperor's face was beyond ugly; he stared intently at Xie Sangning, then glanced at the completely dumbfounded Pei Mingyue. He gritted his teeth and forced out a single word:

"check!"

Not long after, two eunuchs carried in a staggering figure who was almost unable to walk on his own.

It was Xie Wulu!

He was only wrapped in a thin undergarment, and the exposed neck, wrists, and ankles were covered with gruesome whip marks and deep, bone-revealing wounds that were shocking to behold!

His once handsome face was swollen and deformed, covered with bruises and purple marks, his lips were cracked and bleeding, and he looked as if he had just been pulled out of hell!

"thump!"

As soon as the eunuch let go, Xie Wulu collapsed to the ground like a rag doll.

He seemed to struggle to bow, but he didn't even have the strength to lift his head; he could only gasp for breath.

The hall was deathly silent.

"Your Majesty, the person was found in the outhouse of the Second Princess's residence."

Upon hearing this, everyone who saw Xie Wulu's miserable state, including the emperor high above, had their pupils suddenly contract!

It really was in the Second Princess's residence, and in the outhouse!

Is this even human anymore?!

This is clearly a living ghost that has been tortured to the point of barely clinging to life!

This is inhumane torture!

Xie Sangning spoke up at the opportune moment, her voice filled with sorrow: "Your Majesty, Your Excellencies, this is my cousin, Xie Wulu. Last night, he was abandoned by the Princess's people like a stray dog, left covered in blood and barely alive at the back gate of the General's Mansion. If it weren't for my family's physician's best efforts to save him, he would probably be a cold corpse by now!"

"This humble woman is heartbroken to see this, and there are a few things I must say! Your Highness! Who doesn't know that my cousin went to seek refuge with you! These wounds on his body didn't appear overnight! You used private torture on innocent people, whipping and abusing them to the point of near death! The cruelty and brutality of your methods are outrageous!"

"Your Highness, where is the law? Where is benevolence? As a royal princess, how can you so blatantly disregard human life and trample on the law, treating the principles and norms of the nation as nothing? Where do you place His Majesty's dignity? Where do you place the reverence of all the people under heaven?"

Every word was powerful and resounding! Every sentence pierced the heart!

Xie Sangning's questioning no longer dwelled on Qingdai's death, but instead pointed the finger directly at Pei Mingyue's heinous crimes of torturing innocent people and disregarding the law!

This hat is a hundred times heavier!

Because it undermines the very foundation of imperial rule—the imperial family!

"No...no! Father! She's talking nonsense!" Pei Mingyue panicked completely and tried to explain incoherently.

"His Majesty!"

Xie Sangning gave her no chance to argue, suddenly kneeling down, her voice filled with sorrow, "This humble woman also hopes it is a misunderstanding. This humble woman begs Your Majesty to investigate thoroughly! Severely punish the perpetrators! Give the innocent justice! This is also in accordance with the laws and regulations of our Great Qing! Otherwise, if the whole world knows that a royal princess can arbitrarily torture and kill innocent people and get away with it... the foundation of the country will be shaken, the people's hearts will be scattered, and the nation will be in danger! This humble woman dares to suggest that this case be handed over to the three judicial departments for joint trial! It should be announced to the whole world! To serve as a warning to others!"

"You...you dare!"

Pei Mingyue screamed, fear instantly overwhelming her anger.

A joint trial by three judicial authorities? A public announcement to the world?! That would mean she's completely finished!

Seeing the princess's reaction, everyone understood what had happened; if it weren't for her, there wouldn't have been such a drastic reaction.

The emperor's face was extremely gloomy, and his chest heaved violently.

He stared intently at Xie Wulu, who was sprawled on the ground, then at Xie Sangning, who was kneeling below, speaking sharply and righteously, and finally at his foolish daughter, Pei Mingyue.

A feeling of powerlessness almost made him vomit blood.

In this situation, can he punish Xie Sangning? And how?

Pei Mingyue, that idiot, confessed herself to sending assassins to kill Xie Sangning and torturing Xie Wulu!

Xie Wulu's miserable state is irrefutable evidence!

Xie Sangning had all the advantages of timing, location, and people!

If he were to forcibly punish Xie Sangning, not only would it be illegitimate and unjustifiable, but it would also confirm his reputation as a foolish ruler who condoned his daughter's violent acts and disregarded the law!

This will further fuel resentment in Xie Zhenting, who is about to return to the capital and whose achievements already overshadow his superiors!

After a long silence, the emperor seemed to age ten years in an instant. He spoke slowly, his voice hoarse:

"Second Princess Pei Mingyue... is morally deficient, fails to manage her subordinates strictly, and tarnishes the reputation of the royal family. Effective immediately, she is stripped of her title, demoted to a commoner, and expelled from Jinling!"

If the three judicial departments were to conduct a joint trial and announce it to the world, what face would the imperial family have left?

Pei Mingyue had no choice but to give up.

"Father!!"

Pei Mingyue was struck dumb, let out a scream, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted completely.

Xie Sangning slowly straightened up, a fleeting hint of mockery in her eyes.

She bowed respectfully towards the dragon throne:

"Your Majesty...is wise."

A smile played on her lips, but her voice held no trace of grievance.