Dance Of The Dragons
Chapter 160 : The Bird’s Judgment (3)

Chapter 160: Chapter 160 : The Bird’s Judgment (3)

A private court session was not usually attended by anyone other than the disputing parties and the Heavenly Emperor. Thus, Xie Jianyu’s unexpected appearance was frowned upon by everyone else but Zhang Fengxi.

"Apologies for the intrusion," Xie Jianyu said. "I am just here to bring this bird to attend the court."

Xie Jianyu lightly shook his arm, and the tiny bird that perched on him squealed in agreement.

"Your Majesty, with all due respect, the bird is just going to disrupt the proceeding of the court," Liu Yichen said while gnashing with his teeth.

"Kindly remove the bird from the hall."

Head Eunuch Gao’s jaw dropped open in shock. How brazen!

Even Xie Jianyu was momentarily speechless.

The Wuyang Palace Master did not seem to notice or care that he had been extremely disrespectful to Xie Jianyu. Although he was a palace master, he rarely managed to control his wolf blood and often fell victim to his own aggression instead. Or maybe that was because the Crown Prince had lost his standing as an alpha.

Zhang Fengxi stepped before Xie Jianyu, shielding him from Liu Yichen’s vicious glares before he responded to Liu Yichen’s rude words.

"Pardon me, Wuyang Palace Master. The Crown Prince is here on my invitation. Please mind your manners."

"You...!!! Zhang Fengxi, do you think that this court session is a spring banquet???"

In the middle of the heated atmosphere, Head Eunuch Gao’s voice rang throughout the hall.

"His Majesty, the Heavenly Emperor, arrives!"

Everyone instantly fell on their knees and bowed.

"Wishing the Heavenly Emperor a reign of ten thousands of years!" They shouted in unison.

The Emperor crossed the hall at a languid, even pace.

Shaking his sleeves as he took his seat at the end of the hall, the ruler of the Heavenly Realm then let his gaze wander upon the disputing parties.

When he saw his youngest son next to Zhang Fengxi, he could not help but raise a quizzical brow.

"Jianyu, you are also here."

Xie Jianyu raised his head. Self-awareness nagged on him. He knew that he was not supposed to be there.

"Yes, Father. I am sorry for the slight intrusion. I will leave right away."

Xie Jianyu bowed one more time before he rose to his feet, but Zhang Fengxi grabbed his wrist and spoke, "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince is here due to my specific invitation. Please allow him to stay."

The Emperor stared at the hand that was clasped tightly around Xie Jianyu’s wrists.

His gaze then moved on to the tiny bird on Xie Jianyu’s other arm. A hint of amused smile played around his lips.

"I shall allow the Crown Prince to stay," the Heavenly Emperor decided.

Liu Yichen looked like the Emperor had personally slapped him in the face. Fortunately, he had enough common sense to suppress his displeasure. All he could do was throw stabbing glares in the Longjing Palace people’s direction surreptitiously.

He almost jumped out of his skin when the Heavenly Emperor suddenly addressed him.

"Wuyang Palace Master, go ahead and tell us all your side of the story."

Liu Yichen quickly gathered himself.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!

First and foremost, I thank you deeply for bestowing a marriage between our two palaces. My son Wenyuan and Prince Zhang Fengxi are made for each other, a pair of mandarin ducks that are fated to conquer life together."

"Squeeee!!! Squeeee!!!" the bird cried out in vehement protest.

A vein popped at Liu Yichen’s temple, but he continued speaking.

"Alas, Prince Zhang Fengxi kept bailing out of his responsibility toward my son. He first broke up with my son on the night of the Winter Solstice Celebration. And then he went back together with him again, only to break his heart again!

Your Majesty, please help my poor son! My son has already given himself to Prince Zhang Fengxi and is currently pregnant with his child!"

"SQUEEEEE!!!! SQUEEEE!!!"

The bird’s reaction was huge.

The tiny creature was struggling to free itself from Xie Jianyu’s grip. It seemed to want to fly over to Liu Yichen and peck him to death.

The entire hall fell into silence. All eyes were directed on Xie Jianyu and the bird in his hands.

In order to draw the court’s attention back to him, Liu Yichen quickly said, "Your Majesty, our Wuyang Palace is asking for your help to uphold justice!"

"Twice," the Heavenly Emperor said. "The bird shouted out in protest when you made your statements just now, Wuyang Palace Master. Why, do you think, did it do that?"

Blood drained from Liu Yichen’s face as quickly as water from an unclogged sink.

"Your Majesty, I deeply apologize, but I don’t know why."

"You don’t? Well, I shall tell you. This is a special bird that hatched from a ’Blessing Of The Ocean’ pearl. A rare animal that I have only seen in accompaniment of people from Qingyuan Palace."

Liu Yichen’s eyes widened in disbelief. He did not recognize the bird at first because it came with Xie Jianyu, but now that he looked closely...

Nevertheless, Liu Yichen refused to give up.

"I... Your Majesty! My words shall not be judged by a mere birdling! It has yet to mature! Its judgment might be faulty!"

"I don’t think so, Liu Yichen," the Emperor said. "Do you wish to amend your statements?"

"I..."

Liu Yichen stuttered. He turned to look at his son, whose face was as dark as the night.

The omega fell to his knees and asked while keeping his head bowed, "Your Majesty, may this subject please speak on his behalf?"

"Permission granted," the Emperor said. "Speak."

"When this subject was detained in the Golden Dragon Palace’s prison recently, the palace physician who was in charge of examining me found that this subject was pregnant.

Unfortunately, a day ago, this subject shed some blood. Right now, this subject is not sure about the pregnancy anymore."

As long as the bird was present in the room, Liu Wenyuan could not risk another lie. Lying in the presence of the Heavenly Emperor was punishable by death.

"In that case, I will ask one final question. Has Prince Zhang Fengxi spilled his seed inside you or not?"