Chapter 49

Prince Zhong gave a meaningful glance, and Prince Kang Song Xingyun stepped forward, clasping his hands and said, "Your Majesty, Premier Huang Tingxuan is loyal to our dynasty, and there is no way he could collude with foreign powers! Perhaps there is another hidden reason. I hope Your Majesty will investigate the facts to avoid falling into the trap of a villain and causing the loyal to suffer and the enemies to rejoice, which would chill the hearts of the pillars of the state."

"Is that so?" The Emperor raised an eyebrow, drew out several letters from a brocade box, and said calmly, "Here are a few letters, correspondence between you, Prince Kang, and Premier Huang. According to the letters, you are also implicated. Although you do not explicitly state it, you mention 'uprising' and 'rewards.' I would like to ask, Prince Kang, what uprising are you referring to? And for what reason are you rewarding?"

Cold sweat poured down Prince Kang's back, and he cursed inwardly. Damn it, this was his strategy to deal with Duke Song Xinghai, but it had been cleverly redirected back at him! Who could have thought of such a vicious plan? This person had turned the tables on Huang Tingxuan when he tried to scheme against Wen Liren, and now he was scheming against Prince Kang when he tried to scheme against Song Xinghai!

It seemed this was a vengeful person with an even bigger appetite! To try to take down both Huang Tingxuan and Prince Kang at once, the plan was meticulously crafted! If it succeeded, Prince Zhong's power would be reduced by at least a third!

If he knew that this brilliant plan was devised by a 16-year-old Song Li, he might roll his eyes and faint.

"Your Majesty, this humble subject has never written such letters to Premier Huang. This must be a frame-up!" Prince Kang, though panicked inside, maintained a calm exterior. He knew that Prince Zhong would not stand by and let him be implicated.

Wen Liren, who had been silent, sneered and said sarcastically, "If these letters had been found in someone else's residence, Prince Kang would not say such things, right? The guards of the Special Services are your subordinates, and the Golden Feather Knights are the Emperor's subordinates. They conducted a joint search. Who else could have framed you? I think Prince Kang should confess early. What's the point of denying when the evidence is ironclad?"

Wen Liren knew very well that if Duke Hai had not foreseen the plot and made countermeasures, the one shouting injustice in the court would be him, Wen Liren, not Huang Tingxuan. He felt relieved and a bit scared as he watched Prince Kang dig his own grave. This time, he really owed Duke Hai a great favor.

"Wen Liren, we are colleagues, and you are throwing me under the bus. Where is the dignity of a deputy prime minister? Could the one framing me be you?" Prince Kang glared at Wen Liren with hatred. He had intended to remove this thorn in his side, but one wrong move had backfired. Not only had he failed to remove Wen Liren, but he might also lose Huang Tingxuan and implicate himself. So Song Xingyun truly hated Wen Liren to the bone.

He never considered that he had been the one to frame others first. After all, the logic of villains is the same: they can wrong others, but others cannot wrong them.

"Ha ha ha, Prince Kang, so this is your level! What, are you desperate now? Starting to bite anyone?" Wen Liren was unafraid, laughing coldly.

Song Xingyun did not respond to Wen Liren's provocation and continued, "Your Majesty, this must be a letter forged by someone with ill intentions, attempting to frame this humble subject and Premier Huang. Therefore, I request that the handwriting be personally verified. No matter how well the forger imitates, there will still be differences when compared to the original."

Right, the handwriting... Huang Tingxuan's mind suddenly became active. Why hadn't he thought of this? If the letters were forged, wouldn't verifying the handwriting prove it? As Prince Kang said, no matter how skilled the forger, the original would always reveal the truth!

The Emperor nodded and said, "I will not let you see the letters until you are convinced."

He then called the names of several respected ministers in the court, including Prince Zhong Song Xingchen, to verify the handwriting of the letters together.

With Prince Zhong leading, Prince Kang and Huang Tingxuan felt reassured. At least they didn't have to worry about these ministers deceiving them.

The leading ministers, including Prince Zhong, took out some of Prince Kang and Huang Tingxuan's usual memorials and compared them with the letters. Everyone's expression was serious and solemn. This was a matter of life and death. If the charge of colluding with foreign powers and plotting rebellion was true, it would mean the extermination of their families. So they were all very cautious.

They compared each word and stroke carefully. In the end, even Prince Zhong was stunned. The handwriting in the letters was identical to the memorials, not just in the words and strokes but also in the writing style and punctuation. If it was a forgery, the forger's skill was too high, even surpassing the original!

"Your Majesty, the handwriting in the letters is identical to the memorials, with no differences at all!" Prince Zhong reported this result with a stiff face. With several respected ministers watching, he couldn't lie, or it would damage his reputation as a virtuous person.

"Very well." Song Xingtian nodded slightly and said calmly, "Prince Kang, what do you have to say now?"

"How is this possible? How is this possible?" Song Xingyun shook his head in disbelief. Even though he thought his imitation skills were extraordinary, they were at most 90% similar. If carefully examined, some discrepancies would still be noticeable. He had thought no one could match his skills, but reality told him that there was always someone better.

"Your Majesty, this humble subject... would like to see those letters." Prince Kang made this request. He was not satisfied until he saw them himself.

The Emperor nodded slightly and said, "Granted." He was not worried that Prince Kang would destroy the evidence. Many ministers had already seen the letters, and even if he destroyed the physical evidence, there were still witnesses.

Song Xingyun took the letters from Prince Zhong and examined the ones he had supposedly written. The more he looked, the more shocked he became. As they said, the handwriting in the letters was identical to his, even down to the smallest habits. If he hadn't been sure the letter wasn't his, even Prince Kang might have believed it was his handwriting.

On the other side, Huang Tingxuan, with the Emperor's permission, examined the handwriting in the letters. After reading just one letter, his head drooped in despair.

As they said, it was completely identical.

Song Xingyun and Huang Tingxuan exchanged a glance. They knew they had encountered a master, and unfortunately, this master was on the enemy's side.

Seeing that Prince Kang and Premier Huang were silent, an attendant collected the letters and presented them to the Emperor. Song Xingtian's stern voice echoed in the hall, "Since the evidence is clear, Premier Huang Tingxuan has colluded with the enemy and plotted rebellion. From today, he is stripped of his position and imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison. His family will be punished with him and imprisoned, awaiting execution. All of his property will be confiscated. Since I have just ascended the throne, I do not wish to create more bloodshed, so the punishment will not extend to his clan."

"Your Majesty is wise, long live the Emperor, long live, long live!" The ministers shouted in unison, praising the Emperor's wisdom and valor. Huang Tingxuan was among them. Although he knew he was framed, it was too late to argue.

Politics is this cruel. It's either you or me, with no second place. Only one side can win, and the loser dies.

When he joined Prince Zhong's camp, he should have been prepared for this. In fact, the charge of rebellion was not entirely unjust. He had colluded with Prince Zhong, not with the Kingdom of Lambis.

Prince Zhong was always plotting to take the Emperor's place, and Huang Tingxuan, as his trusted aide, knew this.

Moreover, the Emperor did not go to extremes. According to the law, colluding with the empire and plotting rebellion warranted the extermination of nine generations. But Song Xingtian made a concession, ordering only the execution of Huang Tingxuan's family and sparing his clan. He knew that Huang Tingxuan had not truly colluded with foreign powers but was a victim of the conflict between the Emperor and Prince Zhong.

Confiscating his property without extending the punishment to his clan was already a lenient sentence.

"Deputy Premier Wen Liren, from today, you are the new Premier. There is now a vacancy among the five Grand Secretaries. You must quickly select a new member from the Hanlin Academy." As expected, after removing Huang Tingxuan, the Emperor promoted Wen Liren to Premier.

Under normal circumstances, Prince Zhong would have opposed this. But at this sensitive moment, he could not afford to stand out.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, long live the Emperor!" Wen Liren's face lit up with joy as he accepted the decree.

"As for Prince Kang..." Song Xingtian paused, and Prince Zhong stepped forward, clasping his hands and said, "Your Majesty, the evidence against Premier Huang Tingxuan is clear, but there is no clear evidence in Prince Kang's letters. There are only a few vague hints. It would be unfair to charge a prince based on such ambiguous words."

He had already lost a Premier. If he lost a prince, the situation would be dire. So Prince Zhong was determined to protect Prince Kang.

In fact, when Song Li devised the plan, he never intended to remove Prince Kang at once. Otherwise, the letters would have been as incriminating as those against Huang Tingxuan. But he knew that if that happened, to protect Prince Kang, Prince Zhong's faction might clash with the Emperor's forces, which would be disadvantageous to the Emperor. After all, the Emperor's faction did not have a sure victory. So Song Li's goal was to warn and annoy Prince Kang.

"Although we cannot confirm his guilt, we cannot clear his suspicion either," Song Xingtian snorted and said coldly, "Prince Kang Song Xingyun, I will strip you of your authority in the three special services and demote you to Duke. You must not leave the capital until your suspicion is cleared. Do you accept this?"

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