Chapter 204: Toppling the first Domino

The emperor was caught off guard. Of course he had thought about this as well. His conversation with Nan Xun replayed in his head. He huffed out a laugh. “The official may not know that Nan Xun has admitted to being attracted to only men. Having a descendant is never on the table.”

Sir Shangguan scoffed and looked up at the emperor. “There have been many homosexual men throughout history, and a good number of emperors kept male lovers. Your Majesty must know, however, that these men still ended up having a wife and children. This official has heard about the affair between Prince Nan Xun and Feng Baiyu. I was told that Feng Baiyu is a man with both intellect and bravery. His talent must be what attracted the prince. My daughter may not be the most talented person in the world, but she has her strengths. She can easily recite poems from the Classic of Poetry

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. She’s no worse than that man. Besides, maybe Prince Nan Xun is merely having a fling with the man. He’s unlikely to be truly in love. This official will tell my daughter to turn a blind eye to what the prince and Feng Baiyu is up to and pretend that they are friends.”

The emperor frowned as Sir Shangguan spoke. Everyone knew that the emperor was wary of Nan Xun. Sir Shangguan kept pushing his button by trying to make decisions for him. Sir Shangguan might think that he was safe as one of the founding officials, but he wasn’t. The emperor had let his interference slide the first few times. After a while, though, he started to get irritated.

“I didn’t know Sir Shangguan had such a silver tongue,” said the emperor. His narrowed eyes fixed on Sir Shangguan, sending a shudder down his spine. Fear crept into Sir Shangguan’s heart. He stayed on the ground, too afraid to say another word.

Huffing, the emperor got to his feet and put his hands behind his back. He looked down at Sir Shangguan. After what felt like hours, he finally broke the silence. “I’ve made my decision. Keep quiet and go.”

There were thousands of words at the tip of Sir Shangguan’s tongue, but he couldn’t possibly say anything now. He bid the emperor farewell and hurried out of the palace. After he had put some distance between him and the emperor, he finally let himself relax. He wiped away the sweat covering his face.

The emperor didn’t feel like reading now. What Sir Shangguan said did make some sense to him. He may be wary of Nan Xun, but he couldn’t let the Nan family bloodline ended after Nan Xun. It was time to talk to Nan Xun again.

Without wasting any time, the emperor ordered a eunuch to go retrieve Nan Xun. When the eunuch arrived at Prince Nan Manor, Nan Xun was having dinner with Jun Huang.

After bidding the emperor farewell, Nan Xun looked up at the cloudy night sky. He had an idea.

As the grand chancellor of the country, Sir Shangguan must be smart enough to destroy evidence of his wrongdoings, but no one could truly eradicate all records of his past. Nan Xun had planned to stay away from Sir Shangguan’s business, but no more.

He didn’t return to his manor. Instead, he took a few shadow guards and snuck into Shangguan Manor on a treasure hunt. He was able to find what he needed.

It would be unwise for Nan Xun to bring the evidence to the emperor himself. The emperor might get suspicious. The third prince, upon reflection, was the best candidate. Nan Xun asked a shadow guard to deliver the evidence to the third prince’s manor.

The third prince was over the moon when he saw the evidence. He was sure that he would be able to handle it himself, so he didn’t tell Ji Bo. Ji Bo, however, knew something was up with the prince. He simply wanted to wait and see what the prince would do.

Ji Bo only knew after a few days that the third prince, being the fool that he was, tried to blackmail Sir Shangguan into supporting him. He promised Sir Shangguan great power and fortune. Sir Shangguan, however, wasn’t going to be seduced like a lesser man would. As soon as he knew that the evidence was in the third prince’s hand, he sent out assassins to go after the prince.

The third prince had never been held at swordpoint his whole life. He trembled in fear uselessly. Even though his personal guards had rescued him in time, and he suffered no loss other than a scraped knee and having parts of the evidence taken away, he would not let Sir Shangguan off the hook.

The next morning, the third prince barged into the palace in a huff. There was a morning meeting this day. The third prince planned to announce the scandal while every official was in the room.

From under a pavilion in the third prince’s manor, Ji Bo watched the third prince leave. A smile tugged at his lips.

He knew the third prince was furious, and in fury, the prince had lost all sense and reason. The prince would do as he had predicted. Just in case something go wrong, however, he snuck into Nan Xun’s manor and told Jun Huang about what had happened.

In the morning meeting, the courtiers would take turns briefing the emperor on their work, and a discussion about the important matters the officials were dealing with would be held. It was coma-inducing. The third prince used to care nothing about the administrative affairs. Many meetings were spent dozing off, and many times he was kicked out by the emperor. He only changed after Ji Bo started assisting him. The emperor had praised him for his change. Afterwards, he had been parading the palace like a peacock for some time.

Once the items on the agenda had been addressed, the emperor opened his mouth to tell the eunuch to conclude the meeting. The third prince stepped forward and bowed down to the emperor the way an official would to his master. “This official has something to report.”

With an eyebrow raised, the emperor fixed his robe and cleared his throat. “What is it?”

“This official can prove that Sir Shangguan has been taking bribes, and that he has colluded with people in the martial arts world to create his own personal army in secret.”

The third prince had spoken slowly. He kept an eye on Sir Shangguan’s expression – it was like a patch of dark clouds had gathered over Sir Shangguan’s head. The third prince huffed with his chin lifted arrogantly.

Sir Shangguan dropped down to his knees and declared, “This old official is innocent! Please don’t be hasty, Your Majesty!”

The emperor turned to the third prince. “It’s your words against his – ”

“This son has the evidence to support my claim. Royal Father will understand as soon as you read it yourself.”

The third prince handed the documents to the eunuch, who presented it to the emperor. The emperor’s eyebrows drew closely together.

Sir Shangguan could feel his heart in his throat. He thought that he had taken everything back! He didn’t expect the third prince to possess more evidence…