The news that Empress Xin, who had only been on the throne for a month, had drowned in Taiye Lake spread quickly throughout the capital.

Just when everyone had no time to be surprised, the second piece of news that followed made everyone drop their jaws even more.

It turned out that the new queen was not appointed by the emperor himself, but she colluded with the court official Kong Chenyang to forge an imperial decree to appoint the queen.

The ministers of the previous dynasty were suddenly in an uproar, and those in the cabinet were even more shocked, because they had seen the edict with their own eyes, and it was indeed stamped with the imperial seal.

Now you say the imperial edict is fake. Isn't this the biggest joke?

But there is no smoke without fire. Nan Yue, one of the protagonists of the incident, is dead. Now everyone's eyes are on Kong Chenyang.

The cabinet ministers unanimously agreed to temporarily remove Kong Chenyang from his position as cabinet minister, return home and refuse visitors until the truth is revealed before making a decision.

However, those who knew about it knew that, rather than returning home and closing the door to visitors, in fact, Kong Chenyang was imprisoned in the Kong Mansion and was not allowed to go out.

Kong Chenyang did not say a word about this and returned home very calmly, as if he had expected it.

Just like when he learned that Nan Yue had drowned, Kong Chenyang felt something in his heart, fearing that Nan Yue's death was just the beginning and that bigger things were yet to come.

And the facts were just as he expected. Soon, the news of Nan Yue's forging the imperial edict and secretly forging the edict to confer the title of empress was spread out, and Nan Yue was already dead. In the end, everything pointed to him.

If, to this day, he still doesn't know that someone is deliberately targeting him, then he would be doing a disservice to his many years of ups and downs in officialdom.

But who is behind this? Is it Ye Wang Chu Xuan and Lu Yanluo who planned all this?

But the news from Tatuo was that the battle of Tianque Pass was at a critical moment. How could Chu Xuan have the energy to interfere in the affairs of the capital?

But who could it be?

Kong Chenyang was thinking about the whole thing seriously. Suddenly, a figure floated in from the darkness and landed in the study where Kong Chenyang was in just a few breaths.

"Who is it?" Kong Chenyang stood up quickly, his eyes full of vigilance, staring at the person who came and questioned.

The man was dressed in black and had an ordinary appearance. He looked at Kong Chenyang for a long time without saying anything. He just took out a portrait from his arms and slowly opened it in front of Kong Chenyang.

Kong Chenyang's face darkened instantly. He walked out from behind the desk and asked again, "Who are you? Why do you have this painting?"

Kong Chenyang was not unfamiliar with this painting, because he had seen it for many years. The person in the painting was dressed in a blood-red dress, dancing gracefully among the flowers on the mountain. Even with his eyes closed, he could depict the woman's voice and appearance.

The visitor still had no expression on his face. Under Kong Chenyang's questioning, he calmly closed the painting, and then finally spoke: "Master Ah Hongshan, my master wants to see you. Please follow me."

Ah Hongshan, upon hearing this name, Kong Chenyang's expression suddenly changed. In this capital, very few people knew his true identity, and this man had a portrait of Luochuan in his hand, which made Kong Chenyang even more suspicious.

"Who is your master?" Kong Chenyang asked, but secretly he was already preparing to dispatch the guards in the mansion to capture the man in front of him.

But the visitor seemed to see through Kong Chenyang's thoughts at a glance, and said in a calm voice: "Master Ah Hongshan, I advise you to come with me. I don't want to disturb the young master in the mansion."

The threat in the words was too obvious, Kong Chenyang had to consider Xiaobao's safety, after all, that was his only blood.

After much deliberation, Kong Chenyang finally chose to leave with this mysterious man and meet his master.

After leaving the mansion, Kong Chenyang felt a lump in his heart, and was extremely glad that he had chosen to follow the visitor's wishes. In the darkness, the street outside the mansion was full of men in black holding swords, each ready to attack. If he did not agree, the Kong Mansion would be razed to the ground tonight.

A group of people escorted Kong Chenyang to the carriage and galloped away. It was quiet at night. The people outside were well-trained and no footsteps could be heard. For a moment, on the empty Zhuque Street, there was only the sound of the carriage wheels rolling over the ground. Kong Chenyang became more and more uneasy in this continuous sound.

About half an hour later, the carriage finally stopped. The man in black who had entered the mansion before appeared again, lifted the curtain, and asked Kong Chenyang to get off.

The moment the car curtain was lifted, Kong Chenyang's heart sank. This was not some other place, but the place he had visited most often in recent times, the Tai Chi Hall.

This is where the prince is, and no outsiders are allowed to enter or leave at will. At this moment, Kong Chenyang finally confirmed who was behind the recent events, including Nan Yue's death.

When this moment really came, all the vigilance and panic in Kong Chenyang's heart disappeared completely. Years of hatred would be settled today, and he was actually looking forward to meeting the emperor.

Pushing open the heavy palace door, Kong Chenyang walked in. As expected, the emperor was sitting upright behind a book, waiting for him.

The man in black appeared again, returned the portrait in his hand to its original owner, presented it to the emperor, then retreated and disappeared into the darkness.

"Are you here? Please sit down," the emperor spoke slowly. His tone no longer had the majesty of an emperor as usual. It sounded as if he was speaking casually to a friend he hadn't seen for a long time.

Kong Chenyang sneered, and instead of sitting down, he sneered, "Since you already know my identity, why do you have to keep pretending, Your Majesty?"

"I didn't expect it was you. We only met once back then. Later Luo Chuan died. I was planning to look for you, but you had already disappeared by then."

"Shut up!" Kong Chenyang shouted angrily, "You are not worthy of calling her name. How dare you call her name again! If it weren't for you, how could she have died? How dare you call her name again!"

The emperor fell silent, then nodded after a while: "Yes, I am not worthy of calling her by her name, Ah Hongshan, it was indeed me who was sorry to Luochuan, but I was also forced by the situation at that time, and I had no choice but to do so. At that time, among the five sons of the previous emperor, the eldest prince was the eldest and the most legitimate, and many people in the court supported the eldest prince as the crown prince. Going to the battle of Jingjing was my only chance, and I could only win and not lose!"

"Enough!" Kong Chenyang looked at the emperor with disgust. He was too lazy to listen to him reminiscing about the past. Every scene of those years was a torture to himself.

"You are so hypocritical. Do you think I can empathize with your situation? What a joke. You were forced by the situation, but what about Luochuan? And what about the innocent people of Jingjing Country? They were originally free and lived happily and casually. It was you who destroyed the peaceful life there because of your selfishness."

"You obtained your throne by stepping on the corpses of those people."