A precious sword was hidden in a secret box among the pillars of the Zichen Palace. In his rage, the emperor drew it out and was about to chop off Ye Qingxue's head.

At this critical moment, Prince Yu rushed out of the palace, grabbed the emperor's arm with both hands, and stopped his sword from slashing down.

"Brother, you mustn't!"

Also entering was Prince Xuan, who knelt down at the emperor's feet with a thud: "Father, no matter what serious mistake Miss Ye has made, please spare her life!"

"She once performed three great feats for the Great Zhou Dynasty, and her father, the Marquis of Loyalty and Valor, was a great hero who fought on the battlefield and defended the country!"

The emperor's arm was held tightly by Prince Yu, making it impossible for him to slash at Ye Qingxue. He simply sheathed his sword.

But he was still furious, his veins bulging.

"Do you know what she and former minister Pan Yuanzhou said to me just now?"

The emperor was furious and kept sneering.

"She actually claimed that the river's breach and the raging flood were caused by Prince Ding secretly sending people to destroy the dikes, resulting in the innocent drowning of thousands of villagers! How can we let her spread such rumors about the current prince go unpunished!"

The Emperor said, “Prince Jing was swept away by the flood and his whereabouts are still unknown. I am heartbroken and can understand her pain, but she cannot blame other princes for Prince Jing’s accident and the drowning of the villagers!”

"I have already shown Marquis Zhongyong enough face by killing her without publicly beheading her, and I have done everything I could to be kind to her!"

"If I continue to indulge her, who knows what other outrageous things she might do! All of you get out of my way! Anyone who dares to obstruct me will be killed!"

With a wave of his wide sleeves, the emperor unleashed a furious roar that nearly engulfed the crowd, leaving them speechless with fear and terror.

Ye Qingxue frowned, suddenly remembering that before Yun Zhuo's accident, she had ordered Zhuang Xin to protect her and asserted that she would be in danger in the palace.

Could the real danger come from the emperor?

Because he favored and trusted Empress Shen and Prince Ding Yunchi?

……is that so?

Is that all?

Even though Prince Yu and Prince Xuan pleaded for him, it couldn't change his mind. Just as the long sword in his hand was about to strike again, Pan Yuanzhou suddenly pounced on him and hugged his legs!

"Your Majesty, your favoritism and blind trust in Prince Ding, your inability to distinguish between good and evil, will sooner or later destroy the century-old foundation of the Great Zhou!"

Upon hearing this, the emperor became even more enraged, kicked Pan Yuanzhou away again, and charged toward Ye Qingxue with his sword.

Ye Qingxue suddenly stood up and grabbed the emperor's wrist.

The emperor was stunned: "I want to kill you, do you dare disobey?!"

Ye Qingxue's gaze was firm, without the slightest hesitation or fear.

"It doesn't matter if Your Majesty kills me! But even if I die, I want Your Majesty to know the truth!"

Ye Qingxue stood tall and straight, calm and composed, and said firmly, "General Lan, please bring the witness to the court!"

The witness that Zhuang Xin had sent to the palace in advance was thus brought to the hall by General Lan.

There were two people, both seriously injured and bound hand and foot, looking disheveled and extremely haggard.

Ye Qingxue said, "Your Majesty, they are the ones who deliberately sabotaged the dike. The night Prince Jing went to evacuate the villagers, he noticed their presence. In the past few days, Zhuang Xin has been leading his men to capture and interrogate them, and we have finally gotten the results!"

Prince Yu and Prince Xuan said in unison, "Brother/Father, even if you want to execute Miss Ye, you should at least interrogate the witnesses!"

The emperor looked at General Lan, then at Prince Yu and Prince Yu, and then at the two witnesses, his eyes still filled with a strong sense of hostility.

Ye Qingxue gripped his wrist tightly and knelt down again: "As long as the truth remains unclear, I will not die. Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"

She was disheveled, with injuries on her face and hands, but when she spoke, every word was still like a hammer blow, striking down again and again.

It seemed like there were no emotions involved, only determination.

The emperor angrily demanded, "Fine, tell me, whose people are you? Who ordered you to sabotage the dikes? And what was your purpose?"

"Your Majesty, spare us! We only know how to follow orders and do not know why Prince Ding ordered us to destroy the dike."

The two witnesses had been tortured for two days without a moment's rest. They were at their limit, feeling worse than dead, and immediately confessed about Yun Chi.

Pan Yuanzhou crawled to the emperor's feet, weeping and pleading, "Does Your Majesty now believe that Miss Ye did not frame Prince Ding?"

The emperor was struck as if by a heavy blow, panting heavily and swaying precariously; he clearly could not accept this outcome!

Suddenly, Eunuch Huaifu shouted, "His Highness Prince Ding has arrived!"

Yun Chi, dressed in a dark blue brocade robe, walked in from outside the palace.

He was tall and slender, with handsome features and fair skin; no matter how you looked at him, he was the epitome of a refined gentleman.

Looking at him like this, no one would have imagined that he would secretly send people to destroy the dikes and easily send thousands of people to their deaths!

"Your son pays his respects to Your Majesty. What has happened to enrage Your Majesty so?"

Pan Yuanzhou angrily retorted, "Your Highness, on the day of the torrential rain, you were afraid that Prince Jing would perform a great service and be reinstated as Crown Prince, so you secretly arranged for people to destroy the dikes, causing the tragic deaths of thousands of innocent villagers! Now the evidence is conclusive, do you admit it or not!"

Everyone was looking at Yun Chi.

Now that things have come to this, what else can he say?

Among all those gazes, only the emperor's eyes were different; he looked at Yun Chi with anticipation, hoping that Yun Chi would give a different answer.

Yun Chi was stunned for a moment, then looked completely innocent: "On the day of the rainstorm, I was on my wedding day. That night, I was with my father in the Zichen Palace. How could I have sent people to damage the dikes?"

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