Shangguan Wanning felt a sharp and biting cold wind blowing past her, making her scalp numb and almost unable to stand.
If Mu Jingrui hadn't been holding her, she would have fallen to the ground like those guards.
"Oh, it's quite lively."
The chief eunuch came out with the young eunuch Liang. He quickly glanced around and seemed to understand what was going on.
He stepped forward and bowed deeply to Ling Ruiying.
"Lord Ling, you are finally back. The Emperor and the Empress are both thinking about you." The head eunuch smiled. "The Emperor has not yet left the court. Please go in quickly. You can meet many colleagues."
The chief eunuch made a "please" gesture.
Shangguan Wanning could see that he was trying to help her out.
However, Ling Ruiying didn't buy it and was in an aggressive mood.
"Eunuch Tao, I just came back and encountered this interesting thing." Ling Ruiying looked at Shangguan Wanning, "The daughter of the prime minister is coming to file a complaint. We must not delay it. Let's find someone else to continue the execution."
The chief eunuch glanced at the expressionless Mu Jingrui from the corner of his eye.
This guy is not easy to mess with. He has followed the emperor for so many years and understands the emperor's mind very well.
He knew that the emperor valued Mu Jingrui very much.
"Lord Ling, let me ask Princess An Ning again..."
"Why are you asking? Don't waste your time. She is a wanted criminal by the imperial court. If she cannot be arrested and thrown into prison, she should be executed on the spot."
"Although you are the governor, you have no right to inquire about criminal cases in the capital, not to mention that they involve the prime minister."
Mu Jingrui's refusal to give an inch gave Eunuch Tao a headache. He kept winking at Mu Jingrui, but Mu Jingrui pretended not to see anything.
In fact, if it were something else, Mu Jingrui would also give Eunuch Tao this face.
But today's things are different.
If he took a step back, Shangguan Wanning might face a life-or-death crisis.
"Your Highness, Chief Steward Tao, the Emperor has ordered that Lord Xuan Ling, Lord Mu, and Princess An Ning come to the palace."
The young eunuch ran out in a hurry, which really solved the problem for Eunuch Tao.
Ling Ruiying sensed the emperor's favoritism towards Mu Jingrui and Shangguan Wanning, and his face became a little gloomy, but he still followed the eunuch to the Golden Palace.
After the three of them saluted, the emperor's eyes swept over each of them.
"The daughter that Lord Shangguan has educated is indeed extraordinary. She is able to come to my throne room unscathed."
"Your Majesty is merciful, so I can survive until now." Shangguan Wan Ning did not dare to stand up, kneeling in the palace, her voice choked with sobs, "But, my parents have been wronged, please Your Majesty look into the details and clear their name."
The emperor nodded slightly, looked at Shangguan Wanning for a long time, and said: "Although your sister is only the concubine of the King of Qin, the child in her belly is of royal blood. Your mother hurt her at will, and your father condoned and protected her. Each of these is a capital crime. Now, you say they are wronged, do you have solid evidence?"
"Yes." Shangguan Wanning was about to take out the evidence when she was interrupted by Ling Ruiying.
"Wait a minute."
"My dear Lord Ling, do you have any questions?" The emperor turned and looked at him and asked.
Ling Ruiying walked forward and glanced at Shangguan Wanning with contempt.
"Your Majesty, this should be considered as a complaint to the Emperor, right?"
The emperor would soon understand, but he would not be able to deny it.
"certainly."
"Since we are filing a complaint with the emperor, the rules passed down by our ancestors cannot be broken."
As soon as Ling Ruiying finished speaking, whispers were heard in the court.
"Your Majesty, Princess An Ning is a woman, I'm afraid she can't stand the punishment of being caned. I am willing to take her place. To show my sincerity, I can accept double the number of canings."
Shangguan Wanning was shocked and looked at Mu Jingrui anxiously, but it was too late to stop him.
"Filing a complaint to the emperor is such a serious matter. You two are not related, how can you just replace him? Isn't that breaking the rules?"
"Rules can be made and broken." Mu Jingrui showed no weakness, looking at Ling Ruiying with a sneer of contempt. "Lord Ling has repeatedly stopped Princess An Ning from filing a complaint. Is he worried about something?"
Mu Jingrui's words touched Ling Ruiying's pain. He felt guilty and suddenly became furious.
"How dare you, a mere Minister of War, speak to me like this? Since you want to stand up for the Shangguan family, do you dare to compete with me?"
As soon as the words fell, the Golden Palace suddenly became quiet.
"How do you compare?"
“Jingrui…” Shangguan Wanning pulled Mu Jingrui’s sleeve and shook her head vigorously.
Mu Jingrui ignored it.
"Your Majesty, please be my witness," Ling Ruiying clasped his fists and saluted the emperor, saying, "I will have a fair fight with Lord Mu. In order to avoid being accused of bullying the weak, I will yield to him. If he can dodge my thirty moves, I will lose."
After these words were spoken, there was complete silence.
The emperor pondered for a long time and said nothing.
After a long while, he looked at Mu Jingrui and asked, "What do you think?"
"Thirty moves?" Mu Jingrui sneered, "Lord Ling, you really look down on me."
"Okay, then I will be your witness."
The emperor smiled widely and ordered Eunuch Tao to go to the martial arts training ground to make arrangements. All the court officials followed him.
“Jingrui,” Shangguan Wanning was very worried. She held Mu Jingrui’s hand and refused to let go. “Ling Ruiying is very skilled in martial arts and is known as the best martial artist in Central Plains. You…”
"It's a very impressive title. I like it, too."
"you……"
Shangguan Wanning felt a dull pain in her heart when she saw Mu Jingrui's nonchalant look.
He could have stayed out of it, but he chose to risk his life...
Mu Jingrui withdrew his hand and walked to the center of the school martial arts field.
Ling Ruiying has changed out of his heavy armor and is now wearing light armor.
"Young man, you have a bright future in both courage and martial arts. If you admit defeat now and follow me in the future, I promise that you will be able to rise to great heights."
"I don't have to follow you to fly, and I will definitely fly above you."
Mu Jingrui's arrogance made Ling Ruiying's eyes more murderous. He knew very well that people like Mu Jingrui could not be used for his own purposes and must be completely eradicated.
"You are the junior, I will let you make the first move."
"Thank you very much."
Mu Jingrui was not polite and drew his sword to respond.
Ling Ruiying had already had a brief confrontation with Mu Jingrui at the entrance of the hall. He had been on high alert from the beginning and did not underestimate the enemy.
However, the more the war went on, the more frightened they became.
After more than twenty moves, although Mu Jingrui was at a disadvantage, he showed no signs of defeat for the time being.
"Twenty-seven, twenty-eight..." Shangguan Wanning kept counting the moves, "Thirty."
She deliberately raised the volume of "thirty", but Ling Ruiying had no intention of giving up.
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