Find evidence

It was late at night. Yifei was out for a social event tonight and would not be back early. Although she had not left the house, she had been observing the mansion for a long time and was aware of all the movements.

Not long ago, Prince Ping went south to deal with floods and had been away from home for several days. Every night, she would rush out of the courtyard and sneak into Prince Ping's study to search. This was the most likely place for confidential documents. The servants had said that Prince Ping's study was restricted, and even for cleaning, only a few servants were allowed in. What she wanted must be there.

That day, she was still searching in the study room without success when she heard a commotion outside the room. Thinking someone was coming, she bumped into the shelf in the corner where the flower pots were placed. Her heart was in her throat, and she was prepared for the flower pots to fall and break, attracting people. She stepped on the wall for leverage and flew onto the beam. She lay on the beam for a while and saw that no one had entered. The voices just now were just passing by. It seemed that a group of servants from the mansion were passing by. Moreover, the shelf did not fall over and the flower pots were not broken.

She thought it was strange. She had used quite a bit of force just now. Even if the shelf hadn't fallen, the flowerpot should have fallen over. She came down from the beam and reached over to check. She found that the flowerpot seemed to be stuck to the shelf and couldn't be lifted. At first, she thought it was something coated on the bottom of the pot to hold it in place. When she grasped the flowerpot tightly with both hands and tried to twist it left and right, the bottom of the flowerpot separated from the shelf and flew away in two directions.

The flowerpot and the shelf were originally one. It was not a decoration, but a mechanism. The wall behind him cracked in the middle, and a door slowly opened in front of him. There was a dark room hidden inside the door.

The room was filled with exquisitely carved treasure chests, filled with all sorts of precious treasures. She recognized several night-shining pearls, and even in the dark, windowless room, these rare pearls illuminated the room like daylight, even without a lamp. The sight of these priceless treasures was a mystery, but how much silver had been embezzled from the treasury to buy them? Besides these, there were also rare treasures brought in as tribute from the border areas.

But these were not what she was looking for. Where was that thing?

She searched through the treasure chest, finding nothing and returning it to its original place, even leaving the treasures in their original orientation. She also searched the entire cabinet, but found nothing. Frowning, she looked around. A painting on the right wall caught her eye. It showed a ferocious tiger descending a mountain, crushing a cub underfoot. The tiger looked up, smug and content, a picture of the wolfish nature of King Yao.

She suddenly walked towards the painting as if possessed, stood in front of it for a moment, frowned, and suddenly opened the painting.

She could take action after everyone in the mansion had gone back to their rooms, turned out the lights and gone to bed. When she came back after the task was completed, even if Yifei had already returned to his room, she could still make an excuse that she couldn't sleep and walked around, and Yifei would never suspect her.

Looking out from the courtyard, the lights in the mansion gradually dimmed and the voices gradually disappeared. She dismissed the servants, took out the black clothes hidden in the secret compartment under the bed, blew out the oil lamp in the room, and peeked around the courtyard. Seeing that there was no one in the courtyard, she carefully closed the door, climbed over the eaves and walls, and left the courtyard.

At the corner of the corridor, a crooked and swaying figure slid across the wall. He looked up and saw her, and the figure paused slightly. Yifei was almost sober.

She knelt down in front of the imperial table, and the letter was thrown out violently. It fluttered like feathers, slowly fell, and scattered all over the hall.

"Rebellion! Really rebellion! Who gave him such a boldness! So audacious!" Emperor Hong roared.

She silently bent over and picked up the scattered letters one by one, placing them back in front of him on the imperial table. She looked at him hunched over in the dragon chair, exhausted, wanting to cry but unable to, his forehead propped up by his hand, his eyes closed. She just stood there silently, without saying a word, as she always did.

Listen to him: "I knew he was collaborating with the enemy and committing treason, committing crimes, and plotting rebellion, but I didn't know he would go so far as to go to such an extent..." He opened his eyes and looked ahead, his expression angry and disappointed, "He stole national treasury funds to secretly communicate with the Qiang and Rong, bribed Nansai, provided money and supplies for the Qiang, Rong and Nansai rebellion, and even... sent beautiful women to the rebels as companions. He also misappropriated national treasury funds for personal use, and even the whereabouts and use of them are unknown. The national treasury has become his personal vault. I didn't even know that the current national treasury has been almost emptied by him! What's worse, he is my uncle, and to seize the imperial power, he actually... wants to kill me!"

She listened silently, her expression calm as usual.

"My father has passed away, and my uncle, Prince Yao, has also passed away. I only have this uncle left... and he is like this..."

In a trance, she saw herself kneeling in the bustling market waiting for someone to help her bury her relatives. Although there were no tears on her face, her heart was as cold as ice. She was extremely desperate. She knew that she would be alone and helpless from then on. She was the only one left in the world. All those she could rely on had left her. She was completely abandoned by everyone.

She saw herself staggering out of the death camp again, leaving a bloody trail behind her, and she was on the verge of collapse. The breath she had held on to in the death camp suddenly disappeared. She thought she was finally going to die at this moment after surviving the disaster, but someone came up and wiped her wounds. The man asked her, "Can you stand up?" She opened her eyes and saw him.

After her grandmother died, she thought that the only thing left in her world was living. From the moment she saw him, her life was only about him.

He was hunched over the dragon throne, looking precarious, just like she had been back then. She took a step forward and asked, "Can you stand up?"

He was stunned for a moment, then looked at her with some confusion.

She asked again, "Can you stand up?" and stretched out her hand to him.

Zhong Yujing flipped through the thick stack of letters and documents, nearly obscuring her vision. Like piles of documents, they chronicled Prince Ping's schemes and crimes over the years, too numerous to list. He even established his own private treasury, transferring state funds into it, practically turning it into a personal bank. Not to mention the contents of the letters, their intention to seize the throne was clear as day. In his letter to Setu, Prince Ping offered to establish Nansai as a prefecture and Setu as a prince in exchange for Setu's rebellion, support for Prince Ping, and help him kill Emperor Hong, seize the throne, and replace him.

The last page of the letter slipped from Zhong Yujing's hands. A huge weight finally fell from her heart at that moment. She turned to look at Shangguan Yichen, who was examining the evidence beside her. The evidence they had been struggling to find was now as solid as a mountain, quietly piled on the emperor's desk. Prince Ping could finally be arrested and brought to justice.

"Yao Xian...she got these evidences last night and sent them to me." Emperor Hong said to them with his hands behind his back.

It was indeed a brilliant move, which defeated the opponent in one move and decided the outcome in one fell swoop.

Shangguan Yichen stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, there is one thing that neither Prime Minister Jing nor I have intentionally concealed. We simply lacked evidence, so we have not reported it. In fact, during the Nansaiping War, Prime Minister Jing and I met Yifei and even clashed with him. Your Majesty once asked why Prime Minister Jing and I fell off the cliff. It wasn't that I refused to tell the truth at the time; it was because this fact was related to Yifei."

Emperor Hong turned around, stunned, and demanded, "Yi Fei also went to Nansai? What did he do?"

Shangguan Yichen said sternly, "He went to deliver military rations and supplies to Setu, and he also promised Setu's military advisor that he would give them a portion of the military pay. Minister Jing and I heard of their treacherous plot, so we managed to destroy the military rations and supplies, leaving them no room for maneuver, and ultimately achieving victory in the battle."

"How did Yifei cause you to fall off the cliff?" Emperor Hong asked again.

Shangguan Yichen was always filled with fear whenever he mentioned this matter. He took a deep breath and said, "He held Prime Minister Jing hostage and forced me to abandon my troops and commit suicide. If it weren't for Prime Minister Jing's righteousness, I'm afraid the two of us wouldn't be here today. I will tell Your Majesty the truth."

The inkstone on the imperial table was slammed into the corner and shattered. "How dare they! They colluded with rebels, rebelled against their superiors, and wanted to kill the prince and the court officials. Who gave them the audacity?"

Sun Zili, who had been standing silently nearby, slowly said, "The written evidence and the virtuous king's account are now consistent with Setu's confession in prison. A complete chain has been formed, proving King Ping guilty of treason. I ask Your Majesty if you can confirm the case."

Shangguan Yichen and Zhong Yujing both looked at Sun Zili in surprise. Saitu had betrayed Prince Ping in prison? Then why didn't the Supreme Court Minister report it in court? Sun Zili didn't mention it either.

Emperor Hong looked at Sun Zili and fell silent. Sun Zili looked up at him and asked, "Your Majesty has sent me to work with the Minister of Justice to thoroughly investigate this case. I have fulfilled my duties faithfully and have not missed a single step. I have collected and recorded everything I have seen, heard, investigated, and proved, and presented it to Your Majesty along with my memorial. I ask Your Majesty to direct how Prince Ping's crime should be punished."

It turned out that when Shangguan Yichen brought Setu back to the Dali Temple for questioning, Emperor Hong had anticipated that the Dali Temple's chief judge would never truly investigate the case. Prince Ping was a powerful and influential prince, with numerous loyalists and deep-rooted connections within the court. Regardless of whether the emperor was determined to convict Prince Ping, even if he had the courage and ambition, a senior official like the Dali Temple's chief judge wouldn't dare bet on who would win or lose. During the interrogation, Setu confessed the whole truth, which was completely beyond the expectations of the Dali Temple. If he had deliberately concealed something or refused to confess, the Dali Temple would have simply recorded the case truthfully. However, he acted like a dying man and confessed everything he should and the Dali Temple thought should not be confessed, without reservation. This was completely beyond the limits that the Dali Temple believed the case should be tried. This increased the difficulty of the Dali Temple's work, and he had to go back and carefully consider, evaluate and delete Setu's confession, and his workload suddenly increased.

The Dali Temple Minister originally thought that the emperor ordered him to thoroughly investigate the case of Setu's rebellion and did not mention anything else. Therefore, no matter who or what Setu mentioned, as long as it was not related to Setu and Sete, it had nothing to do with this case and could be ignored.

The Supreme Court Justice's foolproof plan for survival faced a significant threat from Sun Zili. This usually experienced and sophisticated subordinate acted drastically differently this time. He stood by during Setu's interrogation, silently taking notes and occasionally asking questions. Afterward, he completely dissented from the Supreme Court Justice's deliberations. Even when the Supreme Court Justice sought his opinion, he simply echoed his superior's lead, appearing rather perfunctory. The Supreme Court Justice was already wary of him, fearing his youthful impulsiveness would lead to something that would jeopardize his career and ruin his own future. He repeatedly offered indirect advice, but he remained silent, neither answering nor refuting. Finally, the Supreme Court Justice had no choice but to give up.

Until that day in the court, Emperor Hong called Sun Zili by name and asked him to talk about the case. The heart of the Dali Temple Minister was instantly in suspense. However, Sun Zili was neither indifferent nor angry. His calm statement was consistent with what the Dali Temple Minister had found out. The Dali Temple Minister was relieved, but also felt vaguely uneasy. He always felt that Sun Zili was planning something big that even he didn't know about.