"Treason? Instigating war? Can you provide evidence for any of these?"
The emperor didn't point at anyone, but Lady Liu, General Xie, and Princess Jinghe couldn't help but shudder.
"Father... I've never lied to you, I just don't know why..."
"Shut up! Jinghe, you're a princess of a nation! With such a petty mind, such a jealous nature, and such a troublemaking behavior, you have no princess-like qualities whatsoever!"
Jinghe trembled, her eyes instantly filling with tears of resentment.
Liu and General Xie trembled like leaves, unable to utter a sound.
The emperor took several deep breaths, forcefully suppressing the anger in his heart.
Then he turned to the Gu family members in the main hall and said:
"Today is all a misunderstanding, all of this is nonsense. Someone actually said that the entire Gu family are descendants of the Southern Lin Kingdom. This is truly... utterly ridiculous."
"I really shouldn't have believed these absurd and unproven things."
Gu Zan was generous and composed, showing no sign of dissatisfaction or resentment at being wronged.
As if possessed, Liu, filled with an inexplicable ferocity, stood up from the ground and shouted:
"Your Majesty! I have another way to prove that what I have said is true!"
"You've really gone mad!" General Xie was terrified and tried his best to pull her down to kneel.
But Liu was quite strong and easily shook off his hand.
"I don't know why this evidence seems to have grown wings and flown away! But the Gu family's identity is definitely questionable!"
"Since they are all here, if Your Majesty wants to know the truth, just have them take off their clothes, and you will know immediately!"
General Xie's eyes were bloodshot.
He stood up and slapped Liu across the face. Liu was stunned and immediately fell silent.
"I think you've forgotten who you are, and forgotten where you are!"
To be so arrogant and unreasonable in front of the Emperor—isn't that courting death?
The situation is so clear now; they have clearly been tricked!
But Liu was still obsessed with hatred and refused to see the truth!
The emperor frowned, about to get angry, but to his surprise, Gu Zan wasn't angry at all.
His voice was calm, like that of someone who had cultivated Taoism for decades.
He appeared calm, as if he were not at the center of the event at all.
Gu Zan stepped forward and bowed respectfully to Madam Liu and General Xie.
"I know the reason why the rumors spread so widely is because some people believe them."
"The way to debunk this rumor is indeed very simple."
"As this lady said, the whole truth can be found out with a single examination."
Liu was shocked by Gu Zan's calm demeanor.
Then they heard Gu Zan issue a command that shocked everyone.
"All men of the Gu family, obey my command and remove your shirts."
After saying that, in front of everyone, Gu Zan took off his shirt and revealed his back.
The man behind him also openly exposed the skin of his back.
Inside the main hall, everyone was dumbfounded.
No one expected Gu Zan to prove his innocence in this way.
Liu's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
She tried desperately to find something on Gu Zan's back, but to no avail.
Other family-oriented men are the same.
"impossible…"
The emperor also recovered from his shock.
Gu Zan, along with the other men, slowly and methodically put on their clothes one by one.
This action has already fully proven their innocence.
Gu Zan calmly said, "Your Majesty, I am just an old man, and those men are all carefree and don't care about their reputation, so it's not important for me to check your health."
"But the women in the family are all shy and delicate, so there's no need to verify their identities, right?"
Gu Zan spoke to the emperor, but after he finished speaking, he turned his gaze to Lady Liu.
The emperor immediately ordered, "Of course not! To make someone prove their innocence in this way is utterly absurd!"
Gu Zan smiled but remained silent.
Liu was stunned, as if she were a statue.
The emperor sat down angrily: "Now, what do you have to say? Do you know that this is just baseless slander?"
The reprimanding voice caused Liu's body to collapse to the ground.
When she looked up, she saw not the magnificent palace decor, but a pitch-black darkness.
At this moment, Xie Shiyan seemed to have been prepared all along, and slowly stood up.
"Your Majesty, I already said I would handle them, so please leave them to me."
Seeing Xie Shiyan approach, his eyes filled with shrewd calculation and ruthlessness, the emperor couldn't help but feel a chill.
"What...do you plan to do with them?"
Xie Shiyan smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. His voice was as cold as that of a hellish king, "Kill those who deserve it."
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