C93

In the morning assembly, the imperial censors in Qin Xiang's faction all wrote letters denouncing Prince Yanbei, Xiao Jiu'an, for bullying the weak, abusing his military authority, killing innocents during wartime, and public lynching in the street.

The imperial censors were not part of the Ministry of Justice. They had always held to the principle of moving according to how the political winds blew and did not need evidence. As long as they heard the rumors and made their arguments justifiable, they would be fine.

After all, the timing of Xiao Jiu'an's poisoning was too coincidental, and the timing of the detoxification was too coincidental as well.

The poison had put him in a coma for several months, and the doctors were helpless to do anything. Just as everyone was about to give up on him and divide up the Yanbei Army, Xiao Jiu'an suddenly woke up and spread the news that the poison had been cured. Then, he used iron and blood to calm the rebellion in the Yanbei Army

and he unexpectedly killed everyone involved.

The officials of Xiao Jiu'an's faction had wanted to ask about the rewards owed to him, but the chance was snatched away by the people of Qin Xiang's faction. They could only put the matter aside and defend Xiao Jiu'an.

Without mentioning anything related to his bullying the weak, the lynching, and abusing his military power, the officials on Xiao Jiu'an's side only mentioned about him being poisoned.

"That day when the Prince Yanbei was poisoned, not only did the imperial physicians diagnose him one after another, but even the reputable doctors of the capital came over to diagnose him. The fact that Prince Yanbei was poisoned is irrefutable, and you should not spread lies."

Most of those on Xiao Jiu'an's side were generals, and many of the scholars were against them. They had always disdained to get along with the generals; therefore, they could not stand by Xiao Jiu'an, a Prince with a different surname and who wielded a large army. The generals were on the defensive so they lost a few points of strength, but there was an additional bit of bluntness in their words.

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the officials from Qin Xiang's faction caught onto the conversation, "Lord Zhou, you said the wrong thing. This Official has never said that Prince Yanbei was not poisoned. This Official only suspects that he poisoned himself. After all, the Southern Wilderness is a place filled with poisonous plants and snakes. Prince Yanbei has always been stationed near the Southern Wilderness."

"What do you mean? The imperial physicians couldn't identify or cure the poison, but you know that the poison in Prince Yanbei's body had something to do with the Southern Wilderness?" Although Lord Zhou was a civilian now, he had transferred from a military post.

"Yes and no. I'm afraid I can only ask Prince Yanbei himself." There was a trap in every word of Qin Xiang's faction. Although the generals were not good at quarreling, it did not mean that they were stupid. Seeing that the other party's words were full of traps, they decided to avoid mentioning it.

"The one who detoxified Prince Yanbei was Prince Yanbei's Wife. Everyone knows that Prince Yanbei's Wife had cured the Emperor of his strange poison. If anyone has any questions, you can ask Prince Yanbei's Wife." They were all rough people, and they could not compare to these noble scholars. Prince Yanbei's Wife was the daughter of Imperial Advisor Ji, so she was not inferior to these scholars.

Seeing that the officials of Prince Yanbei were talking about Ji Yunkai, Imperial Advisor Ji was secretly annoyed and discreetly glanced at the Emperor. Sure enough, he saw that the Emperor's face turned solemn and displeased.

"Husband and wife are one. Prince Yanbei's Wife will naturally speak up for Prince Yanbei. Her words are not trustworthy." Many people knew about what had happened in the Imperial Palace yesterday.

Although they did not know the details, everyone knew that Prince Yanbei was on angry on her behalf.

A sixteen-year-old little girl was the most foolish and easily deceived. Prince Yanbei's Wife was still young and when facing the handsome and domineering Prince Yanbei, how could she not fall for him?

After what happened yesterday, even without asking, it was already clear to people that Prince Yanbei's Wife must have feelings about Prince Yanbei.

"You... you guys are forcing me!" The officials of Xiao Jiu'an's faction wanted to beat someone up in anger when facing such shameless imperial censors. Since they were in the Imperial Court, no matter how furious they were, they could not do it.

One military general was beyond angry. He jumped out and said, "What evidence do you have to prove that the poison in Prince Yanbei was related to the Southern Wilderness?"

"What evidence do you have to prove that the poison in Prince Yanbei has nothing to do with the Southern Wilderness?" The imperial censor changed his words and easily threw the problem back at him.

"We… we…" The general's words were poor, and he was rendered speechless.

They had no evidence.

"Since we can't prove it, what else can we say?" The imperial censor had the upper hand. Though he maintained his scholarly bearing and did not put on a proud face, his expression was still quite disgusting.

After the imperial censors gained the upper hand, they did not stop and continued, "Your Majesty, This Official suspects that the poison that Prince Yanbei and Your Majesty were infected with was related to the Southern Wilderness. I humbly request Your Majesty to investigate this."

"Prince Yanbei used private punishment, rode his horse through the streets, publicly avenged his grudges, and he relied on his power to bully others and acted maliciously, I plead for the Emperor to discipline him."

"Prince Yanbei...."

The imperial censors talked back to each other, calling Xiao Jiu'an unforgivable and acted as if killing him was not enough to quell the anger of the common people.

The group of generals was so angry that their eyeballs almost popped out. They wanted to jump out a few times to defend Xiao Jiu'an, but when they thought about how they lost to the imperial censor just now, they held it in.

They could not prove that these matters had nothing to do with their Prince, but these imperial censors could only speak for themselves. They could not prove that these matters were related to their Prince either.

As an Emperor, who aimed to be enlightened, wise, and noble, he naturally would not ignore the suggestions of his ministers. He immediately ordered Xiao Jiu'an to go to the Imperial Court tomorrow to defend himself.

Xiao Jiu'an was a Prince with a different surname and his feudal fiefdom was in Yanbei, which was close to the Southern Wilderness and Beichen. Even though there was a mansion in the capital, he was always stationed at the border. Naturally, he would not be like the officials in the capital, who would head to the Imperial Court every day.

Xiao Jiu'an only found out about what had happened in the Imperial Court after he heard that the Emperor wanted him to clarify things. Xiao Jiu'an sneered, "Your Majesty, the more you fail, the braver you become."

From the looks of it, not only did yesterday's incident not serve as a warning, but it even infuriated the Emperor more.

The Steward quietly raised his head and looked at Xiao Jiu'an, and said worriedly, "Your highness, the Emperor wants to punish you. I'm afraid he won't bring up the matter of the rewards."

The Emperor used the name of Yanbei Army's great victory to bestow the Yanbei Army with rewards to call Xiao Jiu'an to lead his troops back to the capital. From the looks of it, this matter was a conspiracy against Prince Yanbei's Mansion.

The Emperor probably would not let their Prince return to the feudal fiefdom again!