CH 137.2

Chapter 137.2 – Protection

After hearing what the Little Emperor said, Qi Yang had a mixed feeling. She couldn’t figure out yet what King Wei had discovered that he dared to come and lodge a complaint with the Emperor. However, she certainly could not admit guilt here. Even if there was solid evidence, she still had to argue back. So she sneered and said, “Royal Brother Wei is really someone who repays kindness and enmity. If we knew this, Prince Consort shouldn’t have saved you in the hunting grounds that day.”

King Wei showed an embarrassed appearance from her words, and right now he also remembered that when he fell from his horse and fell down the slop back during the Autumn Hunt, it was Lu Qipei who found and saved him. However, it couldn’t make him give up on his objective today. He turned his head around unnaturally and said, “We’re talking about important business, let’s not talk about anything else.”

Qi Yang did not give Lu Qipei a chance to argue at all, and was already charging ahead. She stared at King Wei, trying to discern something from his expression, but she continued to sneer and say, “Right, a Rong State spy who couldn’t bear to see you die. It can be seen that Royal Brother Wei has a deep connection with Rong State.”

The Nation Protecting Great General, who was watching the show from the side, couldn’t help bursting out in laughter before he quickly closed his mouth and continued trying to hold back his laughter.

Hearing this, King Wei jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. “Qi Yang, what nonsense are you talking about? This King is a good prince, and also a King of the Great Liang. How could I associate with the barbarians? You’re tarnishing my good name!”

Qi Yang then said lightly, “Then are you not tarnishing my Prince Consort’s good name?”

King Wei immediately pointed at Lu Qipei and said, “How am I slandering anyone? Just take a good look at the face of that person surnamed Lu. He looked very similar to that boy from Rong back then, and everyone there saw it. Now look at the portrait of Rong’s Xie Yuan, doesn’t it look like him? He’s clearly Xie Yuan’s nephew who changed his name and surname, and came to my Great Liang to plot something!”

While saying that, King Wei picked up a scroll from the royal case nearby and unfolded it. The man inside the painting appeared in front of everyone, and his appearance and temperament looked very similar to Lu Qipei. His was just looked a bit more rugged and had some extra short beard.

Qi Yang and Lu Qipei had never actually met Xie Yuan, and they’ve been planning and calculating all these years, not having the energy to care about what he looked like. Now that they heard that King Wei had a portrait of Xie Yuan on him, the two of them were actually quite curious and came together to take a look. After seeing it, they couldn’t help but from. There was something off with the portrait, but they couldn’t tell what it was.

But setting aside what it was, Qi Yang couldn’t possibly admit anything, so she disdainfully said, “Royal Brother Wei just randomly found someone to draw a portrait, then claim that it’s Xie Yuan and treat it as evidence. Don’t you think you’re being too hasty?”

When he heard this, King Wei wanted to refute, but Qi Yang didn’t give him the chance to speak. She said, “Xie Yuan has been in Rong in the north for more than twenty years, and we’ve never seen how he looked like before. Besides, he is dead now, so it’s even more difficult to verify it. Even if we take a step back and what you said about the Prince Consort looking similar to Xie Yuan is true, how many people in this world look similar to someone else?”

As she said that, Qi Yang glanced at King Wei and lightly said, “Royal Brother, do you believe me when I say that if we distribute your portrait to the capital, it won’t take more than a month to find three to five people who look similar to you? Are those all our royal family bloodlines wandering outside?”

The Prime Minister still looked as calm as ever, a smile flashed in King Lu’s eyes, and the Nation Protecting Great General had already turned his back and smiled.

On the other hand, the Little Emperor’s eyes were sparkling as he watched his aunt scold the troublemaking King Wei into silence – the Little Emperor was actually very smart, and could see King Wei’s aim today. On the surface, it was aimed at the Prince Consort, but in reality, wasn’t it aimed at Qi Yang? But Qi Yang and her prince consort was the Little Emperor’s biggest backer right now. If the two of them were lost, his would also be in trouble.

The reason why the Three Teachers did not intervene was exactly because they had seen through it. Right now, they had just taken over the position of assisting the government. It wasn’t easy to stabilize the situation in the court, and they didn’t want to make any trouble with King Wei.

King Wei was very angry with Qi Yang, but he couldn’t talk back to her. Plus, he also understood inside that it was impossible to bring down Lu Qipei with just a portrait, unless there was already a rift between her and the Little Emperor and Three Teachers. Just like Xie Yuan back then, if the Rong Emperor wasn’t already suspicious towards him and wanted to get rid of him, a fake corpse wouldn’t prove anything at all, and Xie Yuan could have been exonerated thanks to his silver tongue.

So, sometimes the crime existed only in the higher up’s mind.

But now, the time had not come yet. The portrait discussion was just the opener. King Wei couldn’t say anything to Qi Yang at this point, so he let it go for now. He glared hatefully at Qi Yang, but then raised his chin and said, “Let’s not talk about the portrait. For the Chaoyang Tower case, I have a witness!”

These words caught everyone’s attention. Lu Qipei saw that QI Yang had been fighting against him for a long time, and finally had the opportunity to stand up and say something for the first time. “Then let’s invite Your Highness King Wei’s witness to the hall, and confront This Lu in front of the Emperor.”

Author notes:

Qi Yang (fighting with words): Only I can bully my prince consort, no one else is allowed to!

Lu Qipei (excited): Your Highness is amazing! Beat him to death!

Her Royal Highness The Princess instantly changed from being awkward and angry, and turned into a wife-protecting rampaging monster in a matter of minutes…