Seeing how pitifully they were crying, the emperor felt embarrassed to say anything.
Sheng Jingyu frowned, his disdain written all over his face, and asked, "You didn't fight back after being treated like this?"
Back in Anchuan Kingdom, Empress Yuan and Jin Kouhe were practically worshipped. They were always ready to complain, and no one dared to offend them. If Su Wenyuan hadn't scolded them, they would have dared to ask for the stars and the moon.
They were all envoys, so why were they so spineless?
It's unclear why Sheng Jingyu's words resonated so deeply with them.
A sudden wail startled everyone.
"Your Highness...you don't know! They've gone too far. We were furious at first...but we went to look for them several times, and each time it ended in vain."
"Your Highness, you must stand up for us! They not only bullied the envoy, but also slandered the Princess Consort's reputation. After Empress Yuan returned to recover from her injuries, she started spouting nonsense."
"The Crown Prince Jin also joined in the ridicule and mockery, saying, 'You should have killed them back then! How could you let them go back! After they returned, they still showed no remorse, and the Emperor of Qikong even went back on his word and started to protect them...'"
Sheng Jingyu snorted coldly and said, "I didn't kill anyone, yet you're all so relentless in your pursuit of me. If I really did kill them, wouldn't you tie me up and make me pay for it?"
These people didn't say that when Jin Kouhe was stabbed by Sheng Jingyu.
Now that I've suffered a loss, I realize that some people shouldn't even be alive.
Faced with Sheng Jingyu's ridicule, the group didn't react in any special way. They continued to cry, sobbing uncontrollably, saying whatever came to mind, and even swearing on the spot to prove that what they said was true.
Sheng Jingyu immediately stopped them, saying, "Alright, alright, let's say something useful."
It's clear that their words came from the bottom of their hearts; there was no need for them to swear an oath.
If she hadn't been wronged, she wouldn't have cried so bitterly.
The ministers standing nearby were heartbroken and shed tears. Regardless of the envoys' stance before they left, once they were gone, they would represent the face of Ankawa.
It is utterly outrageous that our own envoys have been so humiliated.
But that wasn't all. The Emperor took out the letter and said, "This is a letter from the Emperor of Qikong Kingdom to me, and there is also a letter from the Princess."
The eldest princess is the emperor's elder sister. Princess Heyi went to Qikong Kingdom thirteen years ago, while the eldest princess went thirty years ago.
Thirty years ago, Fuchuan was destroyed and Qikong Kingdom was successfully restored. At that time, it was said that the two countries should be on good terms, so the two countries sent princesses to each other for marriage.
The princess sent by Qikong Kingdom died of illness in Anchuan Kingdom five years later.
The eldest princess is safe and sound. However, a few months ago, when the prince consort was traveling, his horse was startled, and he fell off and died instantly.
The prince consort is dead, and the eldest princess requests to return to Anchuan. The emperor of Qikong Kingdom has already agreed, and now it depends on what Anchuan Kingdom decides.
"Your Majesty, the Qikong Kingdom's mistreatment of its envoys is a provocative act. The Princess will surely suffer injustice in the Qikong Kingdom as well. Since the Prince Consort is dead, I propose that we send someone to bring the Princess back."
It's rare that everyone agrees; the person definitely needs to be brought back.
The problem is deciding who to send; these few who just returned haven't even dried their tears yet.
The newly appointed ones should be assertive and able to save face for Yasukawa.
The group argued incessantly about this matter.
Sheng Jingyu reminded her, "The prince consort fell from his horse several months ago. At that time, he wrote a letter. The princess could have returned with the envoy. Besides, didn't you see the princess when you arrived in Qikong Kingdom?"
The envoys looked at each other, and finally shook their heads in unison.
"The eldest princess claimed to be ill and did not summon us."
They were struggling to survive themselves, and had no interest in actively seeking out the princess; in fact, they had even... forgotten about her.
He was tormented by Prince Jin and his men on the way and didn't even think about it.
Sheng Jingyu didn't say anything more, letting them continue arguing, which of course ended without a conclusion.
This is not something he should worry about; what he needs to do is submit the evidence to Sheng Zixi.
Overturning a verdict is really difficult.
This was a shared thought among them. Sheng Zixi's difficulty lay in the fact that he had already seen the so-called letter of treason and the files from that year.
However, the records in the case file were very brief, and the evidence consisted of just a stack of forged letters.
Whether it was then or now, it wouldn't be enough to convict someone.
What's the point of overturning the case? Just by taking out the letters, everyone can see without Sheng Zixi saying anything that the Emperor is just going through the motions in his judgment.
But that's obviously not going to work! Would the Emperor be happy?
Left with no other option, Sheng Zixi could only carefully investigate the source of the letter, trying to make the scheme appear more meticulous so that everyone would think it was the Emperor's momentary oversight.
Those who planned this back then could never have imagined that, thirteen years later, someone would still be helping them to refine their plan and make it appear flawless.
Sheng Zixi's dedication is admirable; anyone who didn't know better would think he was the mastermind behind it all.
Fortunately, the confessions of those on the front lines revealed that the intercepted treasonous letter was fake, obviously fake.
They also said that the matter itself was unreasonable, and that the masterminds had even discussed privately whether to report it.
The repeated defeats were entirely their own fault, not because anyone in the court had betrayed the country.
Logically speaking, there's no need to rush to report letters that are confirmed to be fake.
At most, it will be mentioned briefly when reporting military intelligence later.
However, the final decision made by the group was to send someone back to the capital to report back, and to reenact the process of the letter being intercepted.
The letter was so fake that the group was afraid that their scheme would be exposed and that people would suspect they had forged it.
Even if the secret letter is fake, it has nothing to do with them if it is found in front of everyone.
Thus, under the watchful eyes of everyone, the letter of treason was discovered a second time.
Few people knew that the letter of treason had been searched twice, but those who did know gave consistent testimonies, and those who didn't know clearly witnessed the second search.
With details and testimonies, Sheng Zixi had already resolved this part. What puzzled him now was who delivered the letter to the study of the Marquis of Anle's mansion in the capital.
Sheng Jingyu told him to ask the Duke of Wan, but when he did, the Duke denied it.
When this news reached the Prince Chen's residence, Su Wenyuan was also troubled. It was said to be the Duke of Wan, but that was just her guess.
The people in the Marquis of Anle's mansion are all dead. If he bribed the servants to let them in, there would be no way to verify the story or investigate.
"Just a few sheets of paper, put them in front of everyone, pass them around, and that's it. There's no need to say anything more. What's the point of investigating?" Su Wenyuan said irritably, throwing the letters aside.
This was sent by Sheng Zixi; it's not the original.
After reading it, Su Wenyuan really wanted to curse.
No wonder the Emperor never let them see these letters. The original Su Wenyuan also saw them; the handwriting was wrong, the writing habits were wrong, and the paper and ink were all wrong.
It's ironic that they tried to frame someone, but they didn't even bother to fabricate evidence.
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