The main hall of the Eastern Chu Kingdom.
Xuanyuan Peng and the others waited in the main hall for a long time before they heard the announcement from outside: "The Three Ministers are entering the hall!"
"Your Majesty, we pay our respects."
Qiu Ye, Pang Hui, and Zhu Yu entered the hall and bowed to Xuan Yuanpeng together.
"Why did it take so long?" Although he had arrived, Xuanyuan Peng was still somewhat dissatisfied.
Qiu Ye quickly bowed and reported, "Your Majesty, we were ambushed by assassins on our way to the palace, which delayed us and caused us to arrive late."
Qiu Ye's words immediately caused a huge uproar.
"Another assassin?"
"These people are incredibly audacious; they even dared to assassinate someone from the Dali Temple."
"The three officials had just been summoned to the palace when they were attacked. This assassination attempt must be no simple matter!"
Some ministers who understood the implications of this situation looked towards Consort Su and Xuanyuan Yu.
The matter couldn't be simpler: whoever least wants those witnesses to come to the main hall is most likely the one who sent the assassins.
Xuan Yuanzhan and Su Xuening exchanged a glance, and their hearts sank simultaneously.
Unexpectedly, they pulled a drastic measure!
Xuanyuan Yu stood with his head lowered and eyes downcast. When he heard that Qiu Ye and the others had been attacked by assassins, his face remained expressionless, as if the matter had nothing to do with him.
Upon hearing that Qiu Ye and his group had been assassinated, Consort Su was shocked and asked anxiously, "Where is Lord Su? Those assassins were after Lord Su, weren't they? Someone knew they couldn't frame Lord Su, so they tried to assassinate him on the way! How is he?"
Su Fei's shout gave everyone a new idea.
If the assassins were targeting Su Renyi, then they were probably not sent by Consort Su and the Third Prince.
Could it be that the Holy King sent assassins to assassinate Lord Su?
Qiu Ye glanced at Consort Su and bowed to her: "Your Majesty, rest assured, Marquis Su is fine. Those assassins were not after Marquis Su, but after the leader of the assassins, Shao Kun."
Qiu Ye's words directly refuted Su Fei's hypothesis.
The way everyone looked at Consort Su again was different.
This Consort Su is really something. She was the one who did it, but she took the initiative and even cried wolf!
Xuanyuan Peng also gave Su Fei a meaningful look, and said with a stern face, "Is Shao Kun dead?"
Qiu Ye glanced at the secretly smug Su Fei, then bowed to Xuan Yuanpeng and reported: "Thanks to the esteemed officials, who were worried about something going wrong on this trip, they put a death row inmate under a hood and put him in Shao Kun's prison cart in advance. So it was that death row inmate who was pierced by a thousand arrows, and Shao Kun did not die."
The officials were stunned by this unexpected turn of events.
Even Su Xuening looked at Zhu Yu in surprise.
She also thought Shao Kun was dead, but she didn't expect Zhu Yu to have made arrangements in advance.
Fortunately, he made such an arrangement, otherwise it would have been terrible!
Su Fei stared at Zhu Yu in disbelief, her eyes nearly popping out of their sockets in shock.
How could Zhu Yu have known that they would arrange for assassins to kill the Black Serpent Society leader, and even made arrangements in advance?
He ruined the whole plan. If he hadn't intervened, Shao Kun would be dead by now, and no one would be able to testify against Su Renyi, thus saving Su Renyi completely.
It's all Zhu Yu's fault. If it weren't for the Su family's support, could he have climbed to the position of Minister of Justice so quickly? Not only is he ungrateful, but he also wants to kill them. He's utterly despicable!
When Xuanyuan Yu heard that they had killed the wrong person, and that it wasn't Shao Kun who had died, the smug light in his eyes instantly dimmed.
If Shao Kun isn't dead, then Su Renyi is finished.
What a Zhu Yu! He dares to oppose him; he's courting death!
Xuanyuan Peng hadn't expected Zhu Yu to be so thoughtful, and gave him an appreciative look: "Well done. The three departments have done a good job protecting the witness this time, and they will all be rewarded."
"Thank you, Your Majesty," the three said in unison.
"Alright, since everyone's alright, bring them all up."
At Xuan Yuanpeng's command, the constables of the Dali Temple immediately escorted Su Renyi, Shao Kun, the Black Snake Society assassins, and two groups of Black Snake Society assassin corpses to the palace.
Su Renyi and Shao Kun were both severely tortured. When they were brought to the main hall, they collapsed to the ground.
Su Renyi was tortured so badly that his face was unrecognizable, and the officials who had worked with him every day almost did not recognize him.
When Su Fei saw Su Renyi, who was covered in bruises, she felt intense hatred for Su Xuening and resentment towards Su Renyi.
What a useless fool! If he had even half the courage and boldness of his elder brother, none of the three officials would have dared to inflict such severe torture on him. Even if the emperor had given the order, the three officials wouldn't have dared to actually carry out such severe torture. At most, they would have inflicted some superficial and painful injuries. Unlike him, who was tortured so miserably.
Xuanyuan Peng gestured with his chin toward Qiu Ye and the others: "After a few days of investigation by the Three Judicial Offices, can you clarify the matter of Su Renyi's assassination attempt on me and the Holy King? Are there any suspicious points in the case?"
Qiu Ye bowed again: "Your Majesty, after days of investigation by the three judicial departments, there are no doubts about the case. The mastermind behind the assassination attempt on Your Majesty and the Holy King is Su Renyi."
Upon hearing this, Su Renyi opened his mouth to protest his innocence, but as soon as he opened his mouth, a mouthful of blood flowed out, and he could not utter a single word.
Consort Su, however, vehemently disagreed, angrily retorting, "Nonsense! Su Renyi would never hire assassins to kill the Emperor and the Holy Prince. You have absolutely no evidence!"
Qiu Ye ignored Consort Su and looked at Pang Hui, who quickly presented the confession: "Your Majesty, this is Shao Kun's confession."
Zong Jiu immediately descended the jade steps, and handed the confession that Pang Hui had presented to Xuan Yuanpeng.
Xuanyuan Peng carefully reviewed the confession, then looked at Shao Kun and asked, "Shao Kun, I'll ask you one more time, who exactly ordered you to assassinate me and the Holy King?"
Shao Kun knelt on the ground, raised his head, pointed at Su Renyi beside him, and said with difficulty, "It's this person. He bribed me with a box of gold... to assassinate the Holy Prince's family. That day... I didn't intend to assassinate the Emperor. I wanted to assassinate the Holy Prince's Dowager Consort. It was the Emperor... who shielded her. I beg Your Majesty to investigate. I... would never dare to assassinate the Emperor. I beg Your Majesty... to spare my life. I will never dare to do it again!"
Although Shao Kun had also been tortured these past few days, he had already suffered serious injuries from having his arm cut off by Xuan Yuanzhan. As a very important witness, the three judicial departments spared his life and did not kill him. Therefore, Shao Kun's condition was much better than Su Renyi's at this moment, and he spoke very coherently.
Upon hearing Shao Kun's testimony, Consort Su was furious. Pointing at Shao Kun, she angrily rebuked him, "How dare you! You dare to frame Lord Su in front of the Emperor! Who instructed you to frame Lord Su? Was it Su Xuening?!"
Upon hearing Consort Su's words, all the officials turned to look at Su Xuening, only to hear Bai Shi scoff disdainfully, "I don't understand who is actually handling the case. Isn't it His Majesty personally conducting the trial? Or is Consort Su perhaps the Emperor himself?"
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