Chapter 418 The Clown Was Himself
"Where...is she?"
King Jing suddenly stood up, and in his haste, the wine cup in his hand fell to the ground, rolled a few times, and made a crisp sound.
Everyone looked over here.
Shen Chu's initial probing had yielded an answer. He smiled faintly, turned around, and followed the Imperial Guards out of the hall.
King Jing stared intently at Shen Chu's departing figure, his eyes swirling with emotion.
With Shen Chu imprisoned in a death row cell and Pei Yuan flogged fifty times, the literary examination between Nan Yue and Da Wei came to an end today.
Emperor Longqing rubbed his head in exasperation and announced that the martial arts competition would be postponed until tomorrow.
The banquet ended unhappily.
Prince Heng was about to accompany Prince Jing away when Cai Chong stopped him.
"Your Highness, His Majesty summons you to the Imperial Study."
"I will go there immediately."
Prince Heng was secretly pleased with himself. His father must have wanted to discuss the selection of participants for tomorrow's martial arts competition.
It was originally arranged by the sixth brother.
Now that Lao Liu has been flogged fifty times, it's uncertain whether he'll be able to get up tomorrow.
As they left the main hall, they happened to run into Pei Yuan, who had just been flogged.
His bright red flying fish robe was soaked with blood, and the bloodstains fell on the snow, creating a glaring red stain.
Prince Heng shook his head, his face full of concern.
"She's just a woman. With our status, what kind of woman can't we have?"
Why must my sixth brother insist on going against our father?
Pei Yuan's face was somewhat pale as he gently pushed away Li Chengxuan and Zhou Jun, who were supporting him on either side.
He stood up straight, his usually captivating peach blossom eyes now filled with nothing but endless coldness.
"I have learned a lot from Fourth Brother's brilliant move today. We'll see how it goes."
Prince Heng chuckled, his eyes filled with undisguised smugness.
He leaned closer to Pei Yuan and lowered his voice:
"My sixth brother has already been stripped of his positions as commander of the Flying Eagle Guard and commander of the Five Cities Garrison. What can he do against me now?"
Hehe, Sixth Brother, you'd better go back to your residence to recover from your injuries. From now on, your Flying Eagle Guard and the Five Cities Garrison will have to be handled by your elder brother's men.
Sigh, thinking about it really makes me feel exhausted.
Having said that, he laughed loudly and turned to leave.
"This is outrageous!" Li Chengxuan was so angry that he jumped up and down, kicking the Prince of Heng's back several times.
With red eyes, Zhou Jun asked in a low voice, "Your Highness, what should we do now? Will A-Chu be alright in the death row?"
Pei Yuan's expression was cold and stern. "Go back first. I have something I need you to do."
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Prince Heng entered the imperial study, "Father..."
He had just knelt down and hadn't even finished speaking when the Longqing Emperor kicked him in the shoulder.
"You unfilial son! You scoundrel!"
One kick wasn't enough for him, so he kicked her twice more.
Prince Heng sat down on the ground, completely bewildered by the kick.
"Your Majesty, I am filled with fear. I do not know what I have done wrong to displease you."
"Heh." The Longqing Emperor looked down at him, his eyes blazing with anger, and the veins on his temples bulging slightly.
"Don't you know what you did wrong? You're so smart, able to incite so many court officials to speak out, how could you not know what you did wrong?"
Prince Heng lowered his eyes, his face filled with fear.
"Father, please forgive me. I only learned of Shen Chu's true identity today. I was shocked to find out that she had deceived the emperor."
Your Majesty, in my eyes, is a wise and mighty ruler. How can you allow a woman like Shen Chu to deceive and mislead you so easily?
Aside from that, I have no selfish motives whatsoever. As for inciting court officials, even if you gave me ten times the courage, I wouldn't dare.
They must have wanted to uphold the court and protect their father, just like their sons, which is why they pleaded with their father to severely punish Shen Chu.
The Longqing Emperor's beard stood on end in anger.
"Fourth Prince, do you take me for a fool? Without your signal, would those people swarm at us like that?"
Prince Heng gritted his teeth and refused to admit it, a look of grievance on his face.
"Father, I am truly innocent! I only wanted to prevent the emperor's authority from being humiliated. I had no other selfish motives whatsoever."
It's clear that your sixth brother and Shen Chu have been deceiving you until now. You don't blame them for deceiving the emperor, so how can you blame your son who exposed them?
It would have been better if he hadn't brought it up, because the moment he did, the Longqing Emperor kicked him in the chest in a fit of rage.
"You scoundrel, how dare you try to argue with me? Let me tell you the truth, I already knew about Shen Chu's identity before today."
The reason I didn't punish them was because the Nanyue delegation was in the capital, and I didn't want to make a fool of myself in front of foreign powers.
You've already made a fool of yourself at the meeting hall yesterday, and today you've publicly exposed Shen Chu and Lao Liu in the imperial court.
"Do you think it's honorable to let the Southern Yue see our Great Wei's subjects deceiving the emperor and brothers fighting amongst themselves?"
The Longqing Emperor rattled off a string of words, growing angrier with each word, his chest trembling with rage.
"I warned you repeatedly yesterday not to embarrass yourself in front of the Southern Yue delegation, and to prioritize the prestige of the Great Wei."
Look at what you've done! Fourth Prince, you've disappointed me greatly.
Prince Heng stared blankly at Emperor Longqing, his back instantly drenched in cold sweat.
"Father... Father knew all along that Shen Chu was a woman?"
Emperor Longqing paused slightly.
It wasn't very early; just two days ago, the Shadow Guard encountered Li Anning and "Chen Chu" in the palace.
Hearing Li Anning call out to Shen Chu several times, Ling Ce was heard.
The shadow guards took note and followed him all the way to the Ning'an Marquis's residence.
They were shocked to discover that the real Shen Chu was actually a woman.
When he received the secret report from the shadow guard that day, he was furious and wished he could drag Shen Chu into the palace and behead him on the spot.
But he quickly calmed down. The South Vietnamese delegation was in the capital, and it was not a good time to deal with Shen Chu's matter.
So we put the matter aside for the time being.
However, there's no need to tell Prince Heng these things.
The Longqing Emperor snorted with a dark expression.
“If the Southern Yue delegation hadn’t been here, I would have already begun to deal with this matter.”
Prince Heng couldn't quite describe the feeling in his heart.
He thought he had discovered Shen Chu's true identity first. In order to expose Shen Chu's identity, he secretly planned for a long time and even mobilized many of his own people.
Unexpectedly, it was a case of the blind lighting a lamp – a complete waste of time and effort.
The Emperor already knew Shen Chu's identity. Even if he didn't expose it, the Emperor would eventually bring it up.
He's been jumping around like a monkey for so long, even at the cost of exposing so many people around him.
In the end, it was discovered that the Joker was himself.
Everything he did must have seemed like a clown's act to his father, right?
In that instant, all the pride in Prince Heng's heart vanished.
My mouth felt dry and bitter; I couldn't quite describe the taste.
The Longqing Emperor gazed intently at him and continued:
"I was once a prince myself, and I know your little schemes. But Fourth Prince, you shouldn't have revealed Shen Chu's identity at today's state banquet."
You almost made me lose face in front of the envoys from Nanyue. If the sixth prince is hateful, how much better are you than the sixth prince, who disregarded the prestige of the Great Wei Kingdom?
From this day forward, the Cabinet will be responsible for receiving the South Vietnamese delegation. You may return to your residence and reflect on your actions.
Prince Heng collapsed to the ground, looking utterly panicked.
"Father, I know I was wrong. Please forgive me."
The Longqing Emperor was furious and refused to listen to his explanation, turning around and going straight into the inner room.
Chief Eunuch Cai rushed in and carefully served a cup of hot tea, asking in a low voice:
"Your Majesty, what should be done with those in the death row?"
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