38 CHAPTER 38 : Young Master Wei's plan

"Answering the second prince, this minister had lost my personal jade not too long ago. This minister truly didn't kill anyone", minister Lu answered. Beads of perspiration could be seen on his face.

"Do you have any evidence to support your statement?", Long Jie asked another question.

Minister Lu could only shake his head, "No~".

Prefect Wei almost smile, 'I still have a chance!'. But his hope is crushed not too long after his initial joy.

"Is that so~ Then, would minister Lu share with us why are you late today? Is it really to frame prefect Wei? Is it to await for his blunder?", Long Jie watched the young prefect's face. His question seems like to support Prefect Wei but it's laced with hidden meaning.

"No. It's because this minister was captured last night! Fortunately a young hero helped me to escape", minister Lu replied. If one looked properly, one could see his cloth is full of dust and it doesn't look like a minister preparing for court.

"Well, is this the young hero?", Long Jie spread his left arm to the direction of the door. All the ministers turned their head around to look at the door. Step by step a young man comes in.

"Yes, that is him!", Minister Lu is overjoyed. He could finally prove his innocence.

The young man comes in and kowtowed, "Rui Sheng greet your majesty, the Emperor".

"You may rise!", the emperor allowed Rui Sheng to stand up.

The hall is in uproar once again.

"Isn't that the legendary young diviner of the Qilin sect?!"

"Yes it is him! Does the Qilin sect is involved in this case?"

"Qilin sect is not one to be involved in a murder. They are famous for their good conduct and principles in jianghu"

"This minister had only heard about the legendary young diviner. It is truly a blessing to meet him!"

"SILENCE!", the Emperor shouted. 'Why are these ministers behave like children today? This is the court!', the emperor is not pleased.

"May the young diviner tell the court on how did you happened to rescue minister Lu?", Long Jie asked.

"Answering the second prince, this young master happened to receive a sign from heaven on a certain good soul's calamity today. We as mere mortal could only follows heaven's willed and shouldn't freely decide on another's fate. This young master truly just rescued him this morning", he smiled and glanced at Long Jie.

'This cousin of mine, couldn't he think of another excuse?', Long Jie nearly smacked Rui Sheng's head.

As ridiculous as Rui Sheng's words, the ministers and the Emperor choose to believe him. Who had never heard about the Qilin sect? Qilin sect is famous for their righteous conduct. The young diviner of the Qilin sect is also famous with his ability to oversee the future. The crescent mark on his forehead served as prove that he is truly who he had claimed to be.

"Does the young diviner know who is the perpetrator?", Long Jie asked.

"Naturally it's that man over there", Rui Sheng pointed at prefect Wei.

"Emperor! You couldn't just trust this man's word! Who knows if he is telling the truth or not!", prefect Wei forgot his manner. What manner? If he is prosecuted today, having manner or not would not save him!

'Who is Rui Sheng? He is a diviner famous in jianghu! How could an insignificant young official dare to doubt his word? Does this stupid young prefect is courting death? Who didn't know about the Qilin sect?', the ministers are all revolted with the prefect's ignorance.

"Well, of course this young master brought the hired assassins!", said Rui Sheng enthusiastically. In a second, two people are brought in. The men with tied up wrists and full of wounds are tossed to the floor.

Prefect Wei paled. 'Why are they here? These bastards actually have been caught by another sect?! I shouldn't have believed them in the first place!', young prefect Wei regretted his decision to trust them.

Standing in front of the assassins, Long Jie pulled out the cloths in their mouth. "Now, tell the court who pay you to do this!", he ordered the assassins.

"It is the Young Master Wei. He asked us to kill minister Lu and framed the left prime minister!", the assassin blurted.

"Oh~ and how did he plan to do that?", Long Jie probed.

They couldn't tell about the orb, since it was a secret order from the Phantom sect's master. They had received an order to steal it from the left prime minister's house. They couldn't afford to reveal the sect master's plan, so the assassin shifted the blame to the young prefect, "The young Master Wei ordered us to sneak in the Li's residence and planted some evidence from the burnt corpse of minister Lu!".

The other assassin also said, "He also ordered us to kidnap the young miss of the Li's residence! I have the evidence! There is a letter in my robe from young master Wei!".

'These bastards actually tried to harm me?! They actually created stories about the evidence. When had he commanded them to plant evidence? He only told them to kidnapped Li Xi Rui and kill minister Lu!', prefect Wei wanted to retaliate. But if he said that, wouldn't he just put another crime on his head? He thought they would destroy the letter, but they actually keep it and it eventually sealed his fate. So he could just suffer from injustice as he watched Long Jie take out a letter from the assassin's robe.

In the end the young prefect could only let himself being dragged to the jail while proclaimed his innocence. At first he wanted to kill minister Lu and destroyed the evidence of his misconduct before the official could detect his dishonesty. He had been receiving bribes from the other nobles to release their sons from being charge of breaking the laws and embezzling the department's budget. It didn't matter what the crime is, as long as they pay him, they will be cleared of all charges. When minister Lu take over the position as the chief in ministry of revenue, he had requested all the account's report from all departments including the one he responsible of. Scared of being discovered, he determined to kill him and planted the crime on the left prime minister.

It's like killing two birds with a stone. After the left prime minister is convicted, he could finally get Li Xi Rui! She wouldn't be his wife or his concubine; she would only be the object to satisfy his lust. Who didn't know Li Xi Rui? She was once the most beautiful and talented woman in the capital! He had long been infatuated. After his sisters blunder, he vowed to take revenge on her and humiliated her! But how did he become the one convicted instead?