This question directly classified the matter as a serious crime of deceiving the emperor!
The third prince immediately understood and stepped forward. The prince, who had just been healed by Xia Qingdai, had a face as dark as ink.
"Lord Xia, how dare you!" The Third Prince's voice was so cold it made the temperature in the hall drop sharply. "Deceiving the emperor is one thing, but to treat even blood ties like a joke! If everyone were like you, families would cease to be families, and nations would cease to be nations!"
Xia Mingde collapsed to the ground, his face ashen.
In the midst of this deathly silence, Pei Qingfeng, the heir of the Marquis of Anding, suddenly slammed his fist on the table and stood up.
"Well done, Lord Xia!" Pei Qingfeng's handsome face was contorted with rage. He ripped off the dragon and phoenix jade pendant that symbolized their engagement from his waist and hurled it at Xia Mingde amidst gasps from the crowd. The pendant grazed Xia Mingde's official hat, leaving a bloody mark before shattering into pieces.
His handsome face was contorted with rage. "How dare your Xia family! You actually dare to try and fool our Marquis's mansion with an imposter!" He turned to the emperor, kneeling on one knee: "Your Majesty, I request the immediate annulment of the engagement with the Xia family! Such deceitful and misleading acts cannot be tolerated!"
"No! Brother Pei!" Xia Yuwei cried out in anguish, crawling on her knees trying to grab Pei Qingfeng's clothes. "You can't do this to me! We clearly..."
"Shut up!" Pei Qingfeng disgustedly shook off her hand, his eyes filled with contempt. "A bastard of unknown origin dares to call me 'Brother Pei'?"
Xia Yuwei collapsed to the ground, her carefully applied makeup ruined by tears, looking as if she had been struck by lightning.
She couldn't believe that the man who had once been so gentle with her was now using such vicious language to humiliate her.
The emperor coldly observed this farce, then slowly nodded: "Granted. Xia Mingde, do you know your crime?"
Xia Mingde's face turned ashen, and he collapsed to the ground. His meticulously planned schemes of many years, the marriage alliance he had painstakingly cultivated with the Marquis's family, all his ambitions and calculations—all of it had vanished in an instant. Prince Pei was the best marriage prospect he could find for Xia Yuwei, and also his most important asset in his career; now, everything was over.
"Your Majesty...I know my crime..." His voice was hoarse, as if all his life had been drained away in an instant.
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