Chapter 46

Half an hour later, a loud cry echoed from the study of the Wen family: "I found it! I found it!" It was a captain of the Mobile Corps, holding a red brocade box, who ran out of Wen Liren's study with a look of wild joy on his face, followed by two guards and a Golden Feather Knight.

The captain shouted and ran all the way to the gate of the Wen family, exchanging a meaningful glance with Prince Kang Song Xingyun, who had already informed the captain of the location of the box. The search by the others was just a ruse; the captain was the ultimate executor.

Prince Zhong and Prince Jing exchanged a glance. Since the matter was highly confidential, only the three brothers knew the details. At this moment, both princes could see a hint of joy in each other's eyes. Now that the box had been found, the moment of truth was at hand. Wen Liren and Prince Hai were about to meet their end, and the Holy Emperor would lose his most capable subordinate.

Song Xingyun took the box and presented it with both hands above his head, respectfully saying, "Your Majesty, the evidence has been found. Please review it, Your Majesty."

Song Xingtian glanced at Wen Liren and asked, "Vice Chancellor Wen, is this box from your residence?"

Wen Liren laughed and said, "Prince Kang, from what I can see, this captain has never even opened the box. He doesn't know what's inside, so how can he claim it as evidence? Could it be that you placed this box in my residence?"

Prince Kang's face turned dark. He wanted to grab the captain and whip him a few hundred times. Damn it, even though you knew what was inside, you should have pretended you didn't. Opening the box to check is such a simple thing; do you need someone to teach you? Fool, you're a complete fool!

The captain realized he had made a mistake. He wanted to lie and say he had already opened it, but he remembered the Golden Feather Knight who had followed him. Lying would be exposed immediately. Not knowing what to say, he remained silent.

Prince Kang, a cunning fox, remained calm and smiled faintly. "Such important evidence, a mere captain would naturally not dare to inspect it casually. If anything went wrong, he couldn't bear the responsibility. As a seasoned special agent, he simply presented what he considered the most suspicious evidence. Chancellor Wen, do you recognize this box?"

"Everyone says Prince Kang is wise, and indeed, you live up to your reputation," Wen Liren said with a mocking smile. "I recognize this box; it's used for storing letters. How could it become evidence in Prince Kang's mouth? I can't understand it. I hope Prince Kang can enlighten me."

"Even at the brink of death, you still pretend to be innocent." Prince Kang gave him a cold glance, then walked to the imperial palanquin, presented the box with both hands above his head, and said respectfully, "Please, Your Majesty, personally inspect the contents of the box. Whether Vice Chancellor Wen is a man or a ghost will be clear immediately."

An attendant took the box and presented it to the Holy Emperor.

Song Xingtian opened the box and found about ten letters inside, the seals already broken, indicating they had been read. He carefully read each letter one by one. Prince Zhong, Prince Jing, and Prince Kang watched with feigned calm, but they were inwardly elated. They were about to succeed in their plan, and Wen Liren and Song Xinghai would be branded as traitors, never to recover. Removing two thorns in their side and weakening the Holy Emperor's power would be a great victory.

"These are just ordinary letters between Vice Chancellor Wen and his close friends, with no mention of treason. What kind of evidence is this?" Prince Zhong and the others were immersed in their dreams when Song Xingtian's words were like a bucket of cold water, waking them up completely!

"What?" Song Xingyun exclaimed in shock. "How is this possible?"

"How is this not possible? Did Prince Kang see this box beforehand? Do you know what's inside?"

Song Xingyun felt he had lost his composure. Otherwise, with his caution, how could he have been caught by Wen Liren? He calmed himself, a smile returned to his face, and he bowed. "Your Majesty, may I inspect these letters?"

He was worried that Song Xingtian might be covering for his capable subordinate, deliberately misrepresenting the letters as ordinary. Although asking for the letters from the Holy Emperor was disrespectful, it was clear that he didn't trust the Holy Emperor. However, as a trusted confidant of Prince Zhong, and with the open secret that Prince Zhong and the Holy Emperor were at odds, he didn't care about maintaining superficial politeness.

Song Xingtian didn't mind and handed the box to an attendant, who then gave it to Song Xingyun.

Song Xingyun's heart sank as he saw the envelopes. The treasonous letters were forgeries he had created, and he was very familiar with them. Seeing the envelopes, he knew the letters had been switched and were no longer the ones he had placed there.

With a last glimmer of hope, he inspected the contents of the letters. They were indeed ordinary letters between Wen Liren and his friends and students, filled with literary musings and not a hint of politics. The more he read, the more alarmed he became. By the time he finished the last letter, he was chilled to the bone.

It was a trap! With Song Xingyun's shrewdness, he immediately realized this. The other side had definitely seen through their plan and turned it against them. He was certain they had a powerful countermove, but he didn't know what it was yet!

While Song Xingyun was thinking and considering his options, the guards and knights who had searched the residence of the Chief Cabinet Minister Huang Tingxuan returned.

Prince Kang was shocked to see the lead Golden Feather Knight holding a red brocade box identical to the one found in Wen Liren's residence!

What was going on? How could there be such a box in Huang Tingxuan's residence? Prince Kang stared suspiciously at the box, completely baffled and momentarily stunned.

Chief Cabinet Minister Huang Tingxuan was also stunned as he looked at the red brocade box held by the Golden Feather Knight. In his memory, this box was definitely not from his residence. He watched as the knight found something he had never seen before in his home. Although he couldn't be sure what was inside, his political acumen told him it was extremely damaging evidence!

In a flash, he pieced together the events. Although he didn't know the specifics of Prince Kang's plan, it was clear: Prince Kang had intended to frame Vice Chancellor Wen but had been outsmarted. The most critical point was that he might be the primary target of their counterattack!

Thinking of this, Chief Cabinet Minister Huang's face turned paler than a wall, and his hands trembled violently inside his sleeves!

What Huang Tingxuan could think of, Prince Kang could also think of. He was momentarily stunned but quickly realized: It's bad!

When things are abnormal, there must be a reason. Among the three princes, Song Xingyun was the most skilled in intrigue. With his intelligence, if he couldn't see the problem at this point, he wouldn't be the feared "Poisonous Snake Ninth."

When the Golden Feather Knight presented the red brocade box and he saw Huang Tingxuan's face, Prince Kang's mind was like a mirror. He knew the box was not from the Huang residence and that Vice Chancellor Wen must have already seen through their plan! This realization shook Prince Kang deeply because the plan was highly confidential, known only to Prince Zhong, Prince Jing, and himself. They wouldn't have leaked the secret, so how did Wen Liren know?

Who else? Who else knew? Prince Kang's mind raced... Song Qingshan! He remembered a time when his son Song Qingshan had entered the study while he and Prince Jing were discussing the plan. Song Qingshan had casually asked what they were discussing. Song Xingyun trusted his son, who was almost a carbon copy of himself, extremely cunning and cautious, knowing the gravity of the situation and never revealing secrets. So he had told his son the plan.

It must be him! Realizing this, Prince Kang and Prince Jing exchanged a glance with Prince Zhong. The two princes' eyes were filled with doubt. They also felt something was wrong, but since the entire plan was orchestrated by Prince Kang, they weren't very familiar with the details. They didn't know if the box in Huang Tingxuan's residence was also part of Prince Kang's ruse.

But the two princes and Song Xingyun exchanged a glance and immediately knew it was bad!

Given their understanding of Prince Kang, if the situation wasn't extremely urgent, his eyes wouldn't show such panic!

Prince Zhong raised his head and stared intently at Song Xingtian's face, trying to catch any hint from the Holy Emperor's expression. At this point, Prince Zhong knew their plan had been seen through, and the other side had played a brilliant "turning the tables." Prince Zhong didn't know if the Holy Emperor was involved in the counterattack.

But Song Xingtian's expression was calm, showing no signs of abnormality. Despite Prince Zhong's sharp eyes, he couldn't discern any information. He cursed inwardly: Old fox!

Not getting the information he wanted from the Holy Emperor, Prince Zhong immediately turned to Prince Kang. Song Xingyun was adept at reading Prince Zhong's intentions. Seeing his expression, he knew Prince Zhong was urging him to solve the problem immediately!

Song Xingyun couldn't help but curse in the national swearword of the Holy Lion Empire. With the evidence in plain sight, how could he solve the problem in front of everyone?

But he knew Prince Zhong's methods too well. This man appeared kind and gentle, never offending anyone, but his heart was harder than anyone else's. Despite his current favor with Prince Zhong, if this plan failed and caused a loss to Prince Zhong's faction or threatened his position, Song Xingyun might face unprecedented punishment.

So Song Xingyun had to solve this problem. As the Golden Feather Knight approached the imperial palanquin, Prince Kang's mind raced. Although he didn't know what was in the box, it was clearly very damaging evidence against Huang Tingxuan and might implicate others. This box was the key to solving the problem!

The situation was urgent. One bold move or nothing. If he could snatch the box from the Golden Feather Knight, without the evidence, everything would return to the starting point.

Seeing the Golden Feather Knight approaching the imperial palanquin, Prince Kang gritted his teeth and gave a secret signal to two black-clothed, sword-wielding guards in the crowd, ordering them to "seize the box"!

Each of the three princes had their own guards. These two guards were Prince Kang's loyal assassins, trained for just such a situation!

Seeing their master's signal, the two black-clothed guards leaped into the air like hawks spotting prey, diving toward the Golden Feather Knight holding the box!