Chapter 39 A loud bang at the wedding banquet, dragons and phoenixes dancing
"I bow to Heaven and Earth!"
"Bowing to the parents twice!"
"Husband and wife bow to each other!"
When the third "husband and wife bow to each other" was shouted, a strange sound suddenly came from the sky.
"Smack!—"
A flash of lightning and a clap of thunder.
A dragon and a phoenix suddenly appeared out of nowhere and became entangled with each other.
A golden dragon soared into the sky, its scales shimmering, circling above the palace roof, while a colorful phoenix spread its radiant wings, its melodious cry echoing around the beams.
The guests who were watching the ceremony inside rushed outside to look at the dragon and phoenix intertwined in the sky.
"Dragon, Phoenix, the auspicious combination of dragon and phoenix. How could I possibly see a dragon and phoenix in my lifetime?"
"Is this the legendary dragon soaring in the sky, the phoenix spreading its wings? Could it be that the rumors are true? Is His Highness the Third Prince born with the countenance of an emperor, and His Consort the Third Prince born with the destiny of a phoenix?"
The emperor demanded, "What's going on here?"
Yun Jiaoyue was immediately unsettled. She lifted her veil and looked outside. How could this be?
There were no dragons or phoenixes in my previous life.
The Third Prince secretly clenched his fingers, his heart pounding in his chest.
How could this happen? Why did this happen?
He had painstakingly planned for many years; could it all be ruined in one fell swoop?
Why does fate always seem to be working against him? Why was this matter exposed so quickly, before he even ascended the throne?
Mother, Mother, may your spirit in heaven protect your son and help him through this ordeal.
Unlike the Third Prince's fear, the Crown Prince and the Second Prince were jealous and gloating, while the Emperor's face was as dark and gloomy as the bottom of a pot.
The emperor is not dead yet, but his son is already impatient for the dragon to appear. Isn't this a curse to his death?
No one is unafraid of death, and emperors cherish their lives even more.
"Third brother, what do you mean by 'the countenance of an emperor'? 'Born with the destiny of a phoenix'? What's going on?"
The third prince knelt down with a thud.
Yun Jiaoyue and the others from the Three Emperors' Mansion also hurriedly knelt down.
The third prince crawled on his knees to the emperor's feet and kowtowed loudly. "Father, please calm your anger. I don't know who I offended. They secretly framed me and made me lose your favor."
The emperor has lived most of his life and has never seen a dragon or phoenix; it's probably just some kind of supernatural trickery.
It was a blatant frame-up, so the third prince was not blamed.
"Get up first."
"Your Majesty, the dragon and phoenix have landed in the Third Prince's backyard."
The Emperor ordered the Imperial Guards, "Send men to investigate immediately."
"yes!"
The commander of the Imperial Guard led a small group of men running towards the backyard.
Later, Yun Zhaoxue, disguised as a maid, secretly took the weapons she had collected from the Shen family from her spatial storage and put them into the Third Prince's private treasury.
He's hoarding weapons and has the air of an emperor; those people he met today aren't pushovers either.
The emperor suspected the third prince, and once the suspicion was confirmed, he would be exiled on some pretext.
No matter how much the emperor dotes on the third prince, he will not allow him to threaten his throne or his life.
"Father, I have something to report."
"explain."
"Before you came to the Prince's Mansion, a wandering fortune teller said that the Third Prince and his newlywed princess were a perfect match, one with the countenance of an emperor and the other with the destiny of a phoenix."
“Father, that Taoist priest is a fraud. He is involved in this matter. I will send men to capture him, interrogate him under torture, and find out who is behind him. I will give you an explanation.”
The Emperor responded calmly, "...Yes, get up first."
The third prince bowed respectfully, then stood up and said, "Thank you, Father Emperor."
The Emperor's cold gaze swept over the Crown Prince and the Second Prince's entourage.
The Crown Prince lowered his head, while the Second Prince stood ramrod straight, his head slightly raised and chin tilted back. Anyone who had done something wrong would never raise their head so high.
The fact that the crown prince hung his head didn't necessarily mean he had done something wrong; he had always been like that, cowardly and irresponsible.
Soon, the imperial guards who had been sent to search the backyard returned. "Your Majesty," they reported, "the servants in the backyard of the Prince's residence said that a golden dragon and a golden phoenix rushed straight towards the Third Prince's private treasury. The roof caught fire, but the servants discovered it in time and put it out with water. When I went in to check, I found weapons, a total of fifty boxes."
The third prince looked completely bewildered. "Weapons? What weapons?"
The second prince immediately jumped out and said, "Well, third brother, you dare to hoard weapons? Are you planning a rebellion?"
"Bring it here."
The commander of the Imperial Guard waved his hand, "Bring it in."
His men carried in several boxes for the emperor to inspect. There were also dozens of boxes in the courtyard, all covered with a thick layer of dust, indicating they had been there for at least a year.
The Third Prince felt a sense of familiarity when he saw the box, and quickly remembered that it was a weapon he had stored in the Shen family.
Why is it in his backyard? Damn it, who wants to harm him?
Could it be that the Shen family betrayed him and turned to someone else, selling him out as a pledge of loyalty?
The Third Prince knelt down again, tears streaming down his face. "Father, I am innocent! It must have been that person who placed the weapon in the Third Prince's residence to frame me. Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that the fire happened in the backyard of my residence? Someone must have deliberately set the fire. Please, Father, investigate thoroughly and clear my name."
"Someone, go and invite the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review and the Minister of Justice."
"Your Majesty, today is the day of the joint trial of Prince Xiao by the three judicial authorities. Those officials are at the Dali Temple."
"Then let's find the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice and the Imperial City Guard."
The Emperor suspected that the Prince of Zhenbei had deliberately framed the Third Prince in order to divert the court's attention.
The idea was to divert people here to distract them, which suited the Zhenbei Prince's wishes perfectly.
But things couldn't go as they wanted.
The Great Zhou Dynasty is full of talented people; I don't believe that besides those few, there aren't any others who can handle cases.
Dali Temple.
The officials in charge of the trial desperately tried to smear the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion.
Holding a pile of letters about 'colluding with the enemy and betraying the country' and the confessions and signatures of some generals of the Xiao family army.
Xiao Xuance refused to admit that he had paid for the letter of treason and insisted on verifying it with his own eyes.
The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review ordered the jailers to take it down and spread it out in front of him.
Xiao Xuance discovered that the forger had given himself away when imitating the lower part of the character "Xiao" (萧), which is "Su" (肃).
“My father’s calligraphy of the character Xiao is flowing and graceful, with the left stroke always connected. The forger seems to be too cautious, as the brushstroke clearly pauses at this point, causing the ink to accumulate and form a small blot.”
He concluded, "My lord, this letter is not my father's own handwriting, but a forgery."
"Alright, if we can't verify the authenticity of those letters, then the confessions of these Xiao family army generals are definitely true."
"I'm afraid they were tortured into confessing, their hands and feet were broken, and they were forced to sign the document. Even I almost couldn't withstand it. The Dali Temple's ruthless methods will have to be used against them."
"A confession obtained under torture is still a confession. They said in their letter that your Zhenbei Prince's Mansion is a traitor and colludes with the enemy. The Zhenbei Prince has close ties with the Second Prince of Jingguo. How do you think you can deny that?"
"Where are the letters of treason? Let me see them."
The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review produced several letters from the second prince of an enemy state to the Prince of Zhenbei.
The letter stated that the Prince of Zhenbei was deliberately dragging out the war to continue being heavily relied upon by the court, in order to deceive the court into providing military supplies and fodder, strengthen his army, and take the opportunity to rebel...
One of the letters was a forged letter to the Second Prince, written in the handwriting of the Prince of Zhenbei.
Xiao Xuance discovered that the letter was printed on Chengxintang paper.
This imperial paper is as thin as a cicada's wing, with a dense texture and delicate weave, and was exclusively used by the royal family and high-ranking officials to write important memorials.
"Chengxintang paper? The paper my father used to submit memorials to the Emperor was ordinary Xuan paper, nothing more. Where did Chengxintang paper come from?"
“The Prince of Zhenbei is a second-rank official. He uses ordinary Xuan paper to submit memorials to the emperor. This shows that he has long harbored rebellious intentions and does not respect the emperor. Instead, he flatters and pleases the crown prince of the enemy country and writes letters to him using expensive Chengxintang paper.”
"Lord Liu, you are turning black into white. This letter was not written by my father, so how can it be considered flattery? My Xiao family is loyal to the Great Zhou and has never had the intention to betray our lord. This letter is also a forgery!"
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