Fan Tieshan's fists clenched so tightly they cracked, his eyes blazing with anger. He wiped the blood from his mouth and said in a vicious voice:
"What slander? If His Highness Prince Jing has nothing to hide, why won't he allow us to search? Besides, we are only acting on the Emperor's orders! Does His Highness intend to disobey orders?"
He didn't take Yun Zhuo seriously.
Why should we take a prince seriously when he has committed a heinous crime and is under house arrest, with no future and no power?
Moreover, before he set off, he had already received definite news: the emperor believed that Prince Jing's unauthorized troop deployment was definitely for rebellion, and that all that was needed was to find irrefutable evidence in Prince Jing's residence to completely convict him and send him to his death.
Fan Tieshan was promoted to deputy commander of the Palace Guard because he killed more people when Empress Shen and Prince Ding forced the emperor to abdicate, which caught the emperor's eye and led to his promotion to deputy commander.
Coming to Prince Jing's residence was his first assignment since becoming deputy commander. He wanted to do a good job and let the emperor know that this promotion was an excellent choice.
He will not disappoint the emperor.
Of course, this is also an excellent opportunity to win over your subordinates!
A prince who is not tolerated by the emperor is nothing to fear.
Yun Zhuo stretched out his hand to Fan Tieshan: "Where is Father's imperial edict?"
Fan Tieshan's face turned ashen: "His Majesty only issued a verbal order, not an imperial edict. What, does Prince Jing not trust me, or does he not trust His Highness Prince Xuan?"
Yun Zhuo said, "Without the Emperor's decree, I would never allow you to search the Jing Prince's residence."
"If you allow me to search, regardless of whether you ultimately find evidence of my rebellion, my reputation will be ruined. I am, after all, a prince; how can I tolerate such humiliation?"
Yun Xun hurriedly said, "Brother Jing, what do you mean by that? We searched Prince Jing's residence precisely to clear your name, didn't we?"
Yun Zhuo said, "If a young woman allows herself to be searched to prove her innocence, how can she still remain innocent?"
Fan Tieshan was furious, feeling that he was being unreasonable, but unable to find a rebuttal, he said to Yun Xun:
“Your Highness Prince Xuan, this humble servant believes that a direct search is sufficient. If Prince Jing refuses, it would be disobeying the imperial decree. We can bind Prince Jing and take him back to the palace to be handed over to the Emperor for punishment!”
Fan Tieshan became increasingly convinced that the information he had received was true: Prince Jing had secretly mobilized troops in order to rebel. Otherwise, why would Prince Jing resist the search of his residence so much?
He absolutely has to make a great contribution to this job tonight!
Yun Xun frowned deeply: "Brother Jing, must you put your younger brother in such a difficult position?"
"Is it difficult?" Yun Zhuo chuckled. "You can just go to the palace and ask the Emperor for an imperial decree. Anyway, the Jing Prince's Mansion will always be here and won't run away!"
Fan Tieshan said, "The Prince Jing's residence can't escape, but Prince Jing himself is very likely to run away! Your Highness, we have the Emperor's decree, there's no need to waste words with him!"
Yun Xun glanced behind Yun Zhuo.
It seemed like they were considering the feasibility, calculating the time, or determining something else unknown.
“Brother Prince Jing, Father has ordered that the Prince Jing’s residence be searched as soon as possible to confirm that you have no intention of rebelling, so that he can sleep peacefully. If we go to the palace from here and back, it will probably be dawn. If Father cannot sleep soundly, it will be our fault as sons.”
Yun Zhuo sneered: "Seventh Brother, are you planning to search us by force?"
Yun Xun cupped his hands in greeting and said solemnly, "Brother Jing, I have no choice but to offend you. I hope you won't take offense. I'm doing this not only to reassure Father Emperor, but also for your own good!"
Withdrawing his gesture, Yun Xun raised his hand and said in a deep voice, "Men, twenty of you, keep an eye on His Highness Prince Jing. The rest of you, search Prince Jing's residence!"
"From this moment forward, no one from the Jing Prince's Mansion is allowed to enter or leave any of the gates until it is confirmed that there is no evidence of rebellion within the Jing Prince's Mansion!"
Fan Tieshan snorted coldly at Yun Zhuo, looking very arrogant.
But the moment he met Yun Zhuosen's cold gaze, he felt a sense of suffocation, like a chicken running into solid ice.
Fan Tieshan was stunned for a moment, then his anger surged—damn it, is this just my imagination?
Would he be afraid of a prince who has lost power and is about to be executed?
Fan Tieshan withdrew his gaze and prepared to lead his men to search the Jingwang Mansion thoroughly.
Unexpectedly, Yun Zhuo blocked his way.
"Without my permission, no one may search my Prince Jing's residence!" Yun Zhuo declared.
And so the two sides started fighting.
The guards of the Prince's Palace immediately blocked the other side's forces, and the scene was chaotic.
However, Yun Xun and Fan Tieshan brought too many people. Yun Zhuo could only hold off a portion of them, while the majority rushed in directly.
Moreover, it was Yun Xun who led the way.
They swarmed like locusts, searching every inch of the land, leaving no place untouched.
Yun Xun, on the other hand, kept looking into the inner courtyard of the Prince's mansion, as if he was waiting for something.
...
Meanwhile, Ye Qingxue went to the backyard and found that it was on fire, and the servants were fetching water to put it out.
Chaos was everywhere.
Before they could understand what was happening, someone grabbed a servant and threw him in front of Zhuang Xin:
"Lord Zhuang, this man is from our Prince's Mansion, but before the fire, he sneaked into the mansion with several people. We suspect that they set the fire!"
Zhuang Xin looked at Ye Qingxue.
Ye Qingxue immediately asked, "Where did the people he brought in go? Have you noticed?"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than someone came running up, panting: "When the fire broke out, the guards sent by the palace came to check the situation, but they were actually causing trouble. Our men couldn't stop them at all. It seems that the group went towards the direction of the prince's study."
Ye Qingxue immediately rushed to the study.
—Yun Zhuo must stall the people outside for as long as possible.
Zhuang Xin followed.
He didn't see any unfamiliar figures, but Zhuang Xin still opened all the places in the study where things could be hidden, including all the secret compartments, in front of Ye Qingxue.
Surprisingly, they found a forged dragon robe and jade seal in a compartment on the bookshelf.
Ye Qingxue: "..."
How could they be so blatant as to frame someone?
They don't teach any techniques at all?
Zhuang Xin clutched the two items, so anxious he couldn't think straight, all he could ask was, "What do we do?"
"Throw the dragon robe into the fire and burn it to ashes, smash the imperial seal into dust," Ye Qingxue replied. "But be quick! Don't leave any clues!"
If these two things are seen by outsiders, even if it's just a simple frame-up, it will be difficult to clear one's name!
But how could they have found the stolen goods so easily, given that the other party came with such a fierce attack and split into two groups?
That's way too easy!
Could it be that...
A feint attack?!
Just then, someone rushed over, his face as pale as a ghost, as if he had already stepped into the gates of hell.
When Ye Qingxue and Zhuang Xin saw another wave of "stolen goods," they gasped in shock.
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