Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 735 - 608: The Real Culprit (Climax, Request for Monthly Tickets)_1

Chapter 735: Chapter 608: The Real Culprit (Climax, Request for Monthly Tickets)_1

Upon Li Xuan’s words, the hall is filled with tumult. The kneeling courtiers all lift their heads, turning to look forward.

Expectation is clearly visible in the eyes of the Emperor sitting on the throne, who is now intently watching Li Xuan. He silently wonders, could there be developments in the Golden Knife Case?

Prince Xiang also subconsciously perceives that Li Xuan is referring to the Golden Knife Case, presuming that the Marquis of Guanjun wants to halt the assembly’s debate over the ’Regent Prince’ by shifting focus to this case.

He immediately bristles with anger, his facial hair quivering in indignation, "Is the Marquis of Guanjun again prepared to slander individuals and accuse me of involvement in the Golden Knife Case? Not long ago, didn’t you clearly state outside the Taihe Gate that there have been no developments in this case?

If you cannot produce concrete evidence today, I, the Regent Prince, will not let it rest!"

Shangshu Wang of the Ministry of Personnel also expresses deep concern, "Marquis of Guanjun, know your limits! Prince Xiang is an individual of high moral standing, clear as the sun and the moon. Without proof, you must not slander the innocent."

"Both of you, I did not say this involves the Golden Knife Case."

Li Xuan chuckles lightly, bowing slightly towards the Emperor, "Your Majesty! Regarding the Crown Prince’s sudden illness, I am fortunate to have fulfilled my duties and reached a conclusion.

In my hand, I hold irrefutable evidence that proves Prince Xiang, Yu Zhanshi, and the Wujing Boshi, Fei Yuan, were involved in poisoning the late Crown Prince, Prince Yi, Yu Jianshen, a year ago. These two cases are indeed related to their scheme to assassinate the former Crown Prince Yu Jianji."

Immediately, the court officials assembled in the great hall are once again abuzz.

Including Chen Xun, Gao Gu, Xiao Ci, Shang Hong, and Wang Wen, almost everyone is startled.

The courtiers, who are kneeling on the floor, are unable to maintain their posture as they rise to their feet and turn to look in Li Xuan’s direction.

The body of the Jingtai Emperor trembles slightly, his pupils dilating.

His concern for the incident regarding the Crown Prince’s sudden illness surpasses that of the Golden Knife Case.

The face of Prince Xiang, Yu Zhanshi, turns deathly pale.

He tries to maintain his composure and appear wronged and indignant. But Li Xuan’s calm demeanor and confidence leaves him feeling uneasy, a storm of uncertainty burgeoning in his mind.

He believes he has covered all his tracks in these two cases.

However, since Li Xuan has spoken of this matter in the presence of the Emperor, he certainly isn’t bluffing.

The Jingtai Emperor, with an icy gaze, looks at Prince Xiang, Yu Zhanshi, "You’re saying that the real culprit behind these two cases is my uncle? Li Xuan, be sure to present the truth behind the situation."

Li Xuan bows towards the Jingtai Emperor, "We must begin with the story of the Wujing Boshi, Fei Yuan. A year ago, Fei Yuan sacrificed himself to poison the former Crown Prince. When the truth was revealed, the court dispatched an emissary to Fei Yuan’s hometown to arrest and punish his family. However, it was found that Fei Yuan had no parents, no wife or children. All his family members had perished from a sudden illness several years prior.

At that time, the Left Dudu of the Xiuyiwei suspected that his family members faked their own deaths to escape. An arrest warrant was issued on the same day, and a nationwide search was conducted, but it yielded no results."

Du Du Tongzhi, the Left Dudu of the Xiuyiwei, promptly kowtows, "I have failed! I have not been able to find any trace of Fei Yuan’s family to this day."

"The reason they couldn’t be found is that they went to Fusou and two months after Fei Yuan’s poisoning incident, they were murdered, eradicating the entire family!"

Li Xuan leisurely continues in the face of everyone’s astonished gazes, "Ironically enough, the Imperial Censor of the Huguang Branch, Si Zhengliang, who was secretly instructed by Huangfu Xuanji to release the water ape, Wu Zhiqi, causing a great flood in the south, fled to Fusou after the incident. Relying on his experience and eloquent speech from serving in the Central Plains, he gained the trust of the Shogunate General of Fusou, becoming the ’Sobayounin’.

This is the highest position for servants, its authority is roughly equivalent to that of the Bingbi of our Sili Bureau. It just so happened that at this time, the family of Fei Yuan, who were hiding in Kyoto of Fusou, were exterminated. The ’Kyoto Magistrate’ of the Ashikaga Shogunate investigated for several months with no results, so the Shogunate General assigned Si Zhengliang to take over this case—"

The Left Dudu of the Central Army, Guo Cong, the Marquis of Fengcheng, can’t help but twitch at the corner of his mouth upon hearing this.

The matter of Huangfu Xuanji instructing Si Zhengliang to release the water ape, Wu Zhiqi, is still lacking solid evidence to this day. Li Xuan’s words clearly contain implied slander.

Normally, he would have defended Huangfu Xuanji, but at this time, he dares not interrupt. He is more captivated by Li Xuan’s words, listening attentively.

In the face of numerous gazes in the court, Li Xuan continues confidently, "Although Si Zhengliang is evildoer, his ability to investigate cases is good.

The assassins sent by Prince Xiang were thorough, leaving almost no clues. But Si Zhengliang found out that the wife of the Wujing Boshi, Fei Yuan, had sent her young daughter and a maid to the Fusou Palace several years ago. They were taken in by the benevolent Prince of Fusou as his godchildren, while to the outside world, they announced that her young daughter had died early."

The complexion of Prince Xiang turned red, swelling with anger, "Nonsense! When did I ever send any assassins? What does the Wujing Boshi, Fei Yuan, have to do with me?"

Ignoring him, Li Xuan pulls out several letters from his sleeve, holding them up, "Fei Yuan’s wife had been wary of Prince Xiang for a long time. Not only did she retain twenty-seven letters from her husband before his death, but she also penned a blood-written testament half a month before the incident and gave it to her young daughter to keep safe.

Her goal was to be prepared for any circumstances, to guard against Prince Xiang. Sure enough, as she predicted, Prince Xiang dispatched someone to Fusou, seeking the annihilation of her entire family!"

That same moment, Qian Long, the head eunuch from the Sili Bureau, elegantly flicked his horsetail whisk, accepted the letters from Li Xuan’s hand, and respectfully handed them to Jingtai Emperor.

Jingtai Emperor quickly went through the letters, his voice cold as he ordered, "Hand these letters to the officials of the 3rd-rank and above in the court to read."

While Chen Xun and Gao Gu, along with others couldn’t wait to go through these letters, Li Xuan looked toward Prince Xiang, Yu Zhanshi, "At this moment, Fei Yuan’s young daughter, along with the Kyoto Magistrate of Fusou, is waiting outside the Wu Gate. They can be summoned by Your Majesty anytime for further inquiry!"

Chen Xun, the Grand Secretary, had already finished reading the letters. His expression subtly shifted, "So, this is why Marquis Guanjun has been attacking the Neiguan Bureau and the Ministry of Revenue’s Guangji Granary over these past few months, obstructing our trade agreement?"

Two months ago, he genuinely believed that Li Xuan was solely obstructing the trade agreement due to personal grudges.

He even lamented that the Marquis of Guanjun was slightly selfish and ignorant of the bigger picture.

But now it seems that he was judging a man’s heart with mean standards.

"Exactly!" Li Xuan turned around and nodded at Chen Xun, "I needed to pressure the Fusou people to send all the human and material evidence to the Jin Dynasty. I needed them to keep it confidential to prevent startling the snake, hence this measure was unavoidable."

"Absurd! This is utterly absurd!" mocked Prince Xiang, "To conclude that I was the mastermind behind the poisoning of Wujing Boshi Fei Yuan based on some culprits’ letters and an alleged blood-written letter left by a culprit’s wife? And knowing whether these so-called human and material evidences from Fusou are genuine, or fake?"

He tossed his crown away, filled with righteous indignation, and knelt on the floor, "Your Majesty, are you just going to sit back and allow Guanjun to frame me, smear my name, and corner me into a life-or-death situation? I have mentioned before that I lack virtue and ability and am unfit to inherit the court. I wish to relinquish my Dazongzheng position and return to my fiefdom.

If Your Majesty is unwilling to have me as the ’regent prince,’ you could just approve my request and send me to my own kingdom; there’s no need for all this trouble!"

By the end of his speech, not only was Prince Xiang filled with bitterness, but he also seemed to be on the brink of tears.

At this moment in court, upon hearing his words, Gao Gu, Xiao Ci, and Shang Hong, among others, couldn’t help but let out a cold laugh.

Based on the evidence from these letters, the one who instructed Wujing Boshi Fei Yuan to set a trap to poison Prince Yi, Yu Jianshen, was none other than Prince Xiang himself.

After the incident, Jingtai Emperor, the empress dowager, faced mutual suspicion with Prince Yi, Yu Jianshen.

Though Li Xuan clarified the case as Fei Yuan’s suicide, relationships between the emperor, the empress dowager, and Prince Yi quickly deteriorated, leading to his dismissal.

Prince Xiang’s scheme may have fooled all the court officials but not him.

Jingtai Emperor let out a soft hum. He could tell that Prince Xiang’s remarks were extremely malicious, falsely suggesting that Li Xuan’s actions were driven by his own manipulations to prevent Prince Xiang from becoming the regent prince.

On the other hand, a good number of prostrating officials seem to have believed Prince Xiang’s words.

They gambled their careers to win the credit of supporting Prince Xiang, Yu Zhanshi’s ascension to the throne. They were unwilling to believe that their virtuous and benevolent prince was really a wild and ambitious man.

Shangshu Wang Wen from the Ministry of Personnel also frowned, "Your Majesty, Wujing Boshi Fei Yuan had a profound mastery of handwriting. I have seen a few of his memorials before, leaving a deep impression. From the handwriting on these letters, it is indeed handwritten by Fei Yuan himself.

However, though Fei Yuan mentioned Prince Xiang multiple times in these letters and revered him greatly, he never directly mentioned the case of Prince Yi, Yu Jianshen’s poisoning. Moreover, Fei Yuan’s wife’s blood-written letter is filled with speculations."

Upon hearing this, Prince Xiang perked up instantly. He was initially anxious and worried that Li Xuan possessed some concrete evidence against him.

But if the situation was as Shangshu Wang Wen had just summarized, then he still stood a chance today.

He only needed to engage the will of the officials; he might even be able to turn the situation around.

Upon hearing this, Second Secretary Gao Gu couldn’t help but sneer in his heart, thinking this Shangshu Wang was really naive. Were these letters and the blood-written letter not enough proof?

This was a case involving treason; where was the need for irrefutable evidence?

He scoffed, "What Shangshu Wang said was absurd. From these letters, it is clear that Wujing Boshi Fei Yuan was exceedingly close to Prince Xiang and was supported by him on numerous occasions. This man is clearly one of Prince Xiang’s followers."

The right Canyi official from the Tongzheng Division, Xu Yuanxian, immediately stepped forward from the group of officials, "This isn’t quite right. Prince Xiang is highly respected in the court and is known for his philanthropy. Many officials have benefited from him. Wujing Boshi Fei Yuan was also highly close to the previous crown prince, Prince Yi, before his death. How can we know if this was not self-staged by Prince Yi?"

Li Xuan had anticipated this scene, which was why he waited two months before attacking Prince Xiang. He knew that the letters left by Fei Yuan’s wife were insufficient to peg him down, make him genuinely disgraced, and lose public support.

So, up next, he bowed to the emperor on the throne with composure, "Your Majesty, what I am going to talk about next is the real murderer behind the sudden illness of the crown prince!"