When Yang Cun heard the word "spy", he felt a chill down his spine. When he heard Rong Baichuan's pointed question, he broke out in a cold sweat.
Rong Baichuan didn't want his reply, so he curled the corners of his mouth and sneered.
Then he turned around, picked up the scroll on the ground, and stood up with his knees supported.
He shouted loudly, "Close the door."
Bang bang bang bang...
The palace doors were then slammed shut one by one.
The court officials in the hall immediately became panicked.
Wasn't he trying to prove his innocence? Why was he resorting to the usual tactics of treason?
And why did the Imperial Guards listen to him and close the gate? Is Rong Baichuan really planning a rebellion?
Rong Baichuan raised the scroll with both hands and looked at the emperor on the high throne, with a smile on his face and a cheerful tone.
"Your Majesty, do you still remember the stumbling block riddle?"
Hearing this, the emperor's brows moved slightly and he raised his hand to signal.
Fuling immediately went to retrieve the scroll from Rong Baichuan.
The "stumbling block riddle" was a coded code that the emperor and Rong Baichuan came up with when they were children passing notes in class to discuss how to trip someone up. It was known only to the two of them.
The emperor looked at the scroll in his hand, and Fuling handed him pen and ink at the right time.
The emperor unfolded the scroll completely, looking at it from back to front, and started to write.
Some court officials felt a chill down their spines as they looked at the emperor's increasingly gloomy expression.
Although they were prepared to be exposed and sacrificed, they had not yet overthrown Rong Baichuan and were all exposed. Not only would all their efforts be wasted, but all their efforts over the years would also be ruined.
Several people glanced at each other imperceptibly.
This is not Rong Baichuan's place where he has the final say. As long as I deny it and sue him for slander, he can't do anything to me.
Although some court officials were also nervous, they were thinking,
Could there be spies among my close friends? Would I be treated as a traitor?
Thank God, my friend is not a spy!
Amid the different speculations of everyone in the hall, the emperor's list was finally completed.
Fuling handed him a piece of white paper and he copied it down.
Next comes the reading of the death list.
As he watched Fuling coming forward with the "death list" in his hand, the sound of swallowing saliva became more and more audible.
Fuling glanced at Yang Cun who was standing beside Rong Baichuan and began to read.
"Adviser Yang Cun..."
When the first person came out, all the court officials were in an uproar!
"No wonder he's so active in reporting here today. Turns out he's a spy..."
"I'm just surprised. Yang Cun has always been timid, so why is he so bold today and dares to target General Rong like this..."
The whispered discussions continued, as did Fuling's reading.
"Grand Commandery Sima Zhu Weizhong, Hou Deshan, Fei Han, Niu Jia, Jiang Jing..."
Every time a name was read out, everyone in the hall was detained by the guards.
Those who do not attend the morning court will be subject to intervention by the Dali Temple.
"What are you doing?! Why are you arresting me? Let me go..."
"What have I done wrong? Why are the Dali Temple arresting me so arbitrarily..."
Inside Dali Temple.
"Young Master Ying, please."
Ying'an, the Shaoqing of Dali Temple, was the one who calmly found the scroll in Baichuan Study.
Ying An put down the book in his hand, slowly stood up, glanced at the people waiting at the door, then looked at Jiang Lingyu standing nearby, and said with a smile,
"What does Jiang Shaoqing mean?"
"There are some things that require Ying Shaoqing's cooperation in the investigation." Jiang Lingyu looked straight at Ying An with an ambiguous expression.
The brother walking side by side turned out to be a spy from the enemy country.
"Okay." Ying An still smiled.
Then he walked out of the room, took out a dagger from his sleeve while no one was paying attention, and slashed at the throat of the yamen runner who was escorting him with lightning speed.
Seeing the cold light flash, Jiang Lingyu quickly grabbed the yamen runner's neck and pulled him back, preventing him from being killed on the spot, but allowing Ying An to escape.
"Chase!"
…
At this time, in the Golden Palace with the doors closed, Fuling read out the names of all the spies.
Five court officials, including Yang Zun, were already in the hall and were being escorted to the center.
Some court officials were so frightened when they saw that among them were their close friends of many years that their eyes rolled back and they fell down.
The people around him were afraid of getting into trouble, so no one went to help him, and some even made an unusually obvious space for him.
"Your Majesty, this is all slander by Rong Baichuan to avoid punishment..."
"Your Majesty, it's unjust. We are wronged..."
There were constant cries of injustice in the hall.
"Don't worry, I'll explain to you now whether you are wronged or not."
Rong Baichuan smiled contemptuously. Turning to face the emperor, he bowed and said,
"Your Majesty, it is true that I assisted the Second Prince of Beiyi to seize the throne of Beiyi..."
"Your Majesty, this is a conspiracy by Rong Baichuan and Beiyi. You must not fall into their trap...ah——"
Before Yang Cun could finish his words in a hurry to excuse himself, he was kicked down by Rong Baichuan.
"You keep interrupting me. Is it because your ears are broken that you can't hear when others haven't finished speaking?"
After glaring at the man who fell to the ground and groaned while clutching his chest, Rong Baichuan continued,
"This list was conveyed to me by a spy placed beside the Second Prince of Beiyi. It bears the Second Prince's personal seal. Therefore, this list is absolutely authentic."
He had taken Chaoxi to meet the people on the list one by one and confirmed that they were spies and that no one was wrongly accused.
"Your Majesty, this is slander. I am a native of Dongwu, not a Northern Barbarian spy!"
"Yes, Your Majesty, this is all Rong Baichuan's conspiracy. He wants to disrupt the court and give the Northern Barbarians an opportunity to attack our dynasty..."
"Your Majesty, Rong Baichuan is a man of deep thoughts. You cannot believe his one-sided words..."
"Is this just my one-sided statement? If we check your family background, we'll know everything about your ancestors for three generations. Take them away."
The commander of the Imperial Guard ignored Rong Baichuan's order.
What a joke. He had already defied the emperor's authority by closing the door upon his orders. He wouldn't dare to do it again.
He looked at the emperor and saw him nod, so he took everyone away.
The court fell silent for a moment.
Most of the court officials were still in a daze.
Wasn't it the Rong Baichuan treason case? How did it become a spy purge case?
Then is it still a conspiracy of treason?
"Rong Baichuan." The emperor, after a long pause, spoke up. "When did this start?"
"Five months ago..."
"Five. Months. Ago!" Rong Baichuan had just begun to speak when the emperor gritted his teeth and said, "How long do you plan to keep this a secret if it's not discovered?"
The emperor angrily threw the scroll at Rong Baichuan again.
It’s not that the emperor was angry that Rong Baichuan kept it from him, he was angry that Rong Baichuan didn’t tell him about such a serious matter.
When he got the scroll, he was really worried that Rong Baichuan couldn't handle it.
When Marquis Annan came out to accuse Rong Baichuan of treason, a similar scene suddenly emerged in his mind.
There was blood in that picture, Rong Baichuan's blood, sprayed on his face, still warm.
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