Feudal lords were not allowed to enter the capital without imperial summons.
Now Emperor Yongchang had summoned Qi Wang to the capital for no stated reason— The meaning was obvious: he was to be questioned, held accountable.
Cao Xingwang was so anxious he was practically an ant on a hot pan.
Inwardly, he cursed Qilin ten thousand times.
And this was supposed to be a deathsworn?
What a useless deathsworn!
He couldn’t even handle something so small without messing it up— What good was he for anything else?!
Cao Xingwang couldn’t help but speak softly: “Your Majesty, this man’s behavior is highly suspicious. Why not detain him first and interrogate slowly?”
With a slower process, he would eventually get the chance to silence him forever.
But this time, Emperor Yongchang ignored him.
He stepped forward, came to stand in front of Qilin, and said lightly: “I’ll give you one last chance. Should I let Qi Wang do the talking, or will you confess yourself—why exactly are you here?”
As soon as the Emperor’s words fell, Lu Yifeng gave Qilin a hard kick to the rear.
Qilin shut his eyes, seemingly on edge, swallowed nervously, and in a low voice said: “This lowly one… this lowly one was under orders— Ordered to sabotage the relief grain… swap it with sand and stones…”
Before the Emperor could react, it was Cao Xingwang who swore first and kicked Qilin hard in the chest.
A deathsworn?
Couldn’t even endure a little punishment before spilling the truth?!
Was he insane?!
What benefit was there in doing this? Even if he gave up His Highness, so what? Would it lighten his sentence?
The Emperor’s face was hidden in dappled light and shadow; His expression couldn’t be clearly seen.
But when he heard Qilin’s words, he gave a soft laugh.
The sound was faint—
Yet it made everyone’s scalp tingle.
All fell silent, holding their breath, not daring to move.
Until the Emperor let out a soft “Oh”.
“Swapping relief grain?”
He gave a snort of laughter, as if it were truly absurd. Then he paused and asked again: “Then tell me— The capital’s granaries are so heavily guarded. How did you get in? Who were you sent to assassinate?”
Qilin whimpered, collapsing to the floor like a man with no way out: “It—it was Eunuch Cao who gave this lowly one the token seal… That’s how I got inside. As for the guard—this lowly one only tried to kill him because he discovered me…”
Cao Xingwang had still been racking his brain— Trying to think how Qilin might escape this or how to buy time.
He never expected Qilin to just blurt his name out.
All the blood rushed to his head.
He would’ve never dreamed that Qi Wang would send such a complete fool!
Useless! Absolutely useless!
But now was not the time for scolding.
Cao Xingwang knew the Emperor— And he understood his temper well.
Without hesitation, he fell to his knees with a loud thud in front of the Emperor, crying: “Your Majesty! Your Majesty, this old servant is being falsely accused!”
If he had a blade in his hand right now, he would’ve stabbed Qilin without a second thought.
That fool!
If only he had kept his mouth shut and taken the blame, Then as long as he, Cao Xingwang, remained free, there was still a chance to rescue him.
But the idiot had no brain!
The Emperor studied Cao Xingwang for a moment— Then suddenly raised his brow and asked: “Oh, by the way… The memorial you submitted just now said the Imperial Grandson wasn’t at Mount Mao but at Longhu Mountain. That’s a crime of deceiving the sovereign, isn’t it?”
Cao Xingwang felt a chill down to his bones.
He trembled, groveling on the ground in tears and fear: “Your Majesty, this has nothing to do with this old slave, I swear! He—he’s slandering me!”
The Emperor glanced at Eunuch Xia.
Eunuch Xia turned and exited—bringing in Qiao Congzhen.
Qiao Congzhen had been waiting outside, watching all the high-ranking officials come and go with envy.
After all, the Bureau of Buddhist Affairs was a lucrative office— Temples were never short of money.
But the problem was, he wasn’t a high-ranking official there. Even if there were benefits, none reached him.
Still, as long as this matter succeeded— The rewards would follow.
Just as he was imagining this, Eunuch Xia beckoned him in. He hurried into Taiji Hall, all smiles.
But as soon as he entered, he sensed something was off.
Cao Xingwang was kneeling, pale-faced.
Qilin laid on the ground, looking scared half to death.
What was going on?
He was startled.
The Emperor suddenly threw a memorial at his head: “This memorial—did you write it?”
At any other time, he would have readily admitted it— It was, after all, a contribution.
But now, seeing the Emperor’s demeanor and everyone’s faces, He realized something was wrong. Trembling, he knelt down in fear.
The Emperor sneered coldly and flung a vermilion ink tray at him: “Good! Very good! All this, just to harm my Imperial Grandson— Staging such a drama, trying to have him killed!”
Qiao Congzhen was stunned.
Wait—
Hadn’t His Majesty believed it before?
He had even said to summon Taoists from Longhu Mountain to verify it.
Why now did he suddenly decide the whole thing was false— A malicious setup?
He turned toward Cao Xingwang in panic.
But Cao Xingwang had no mind to look back.
He was already falling apart.
Only Qilin remained still on the ground, like a man who didn’t care if he lived or died.
Lu Yifeng sneered in his heart.
With courage like that— And he had dared to conspire against disaster relief grain?
What was going on in his brain?
The Emperor saw that Qiao Congzhen couldn’t utter a single word. That only further confirmed his suspicions.
He let out a half-laugh: “You wrote that memorial, said all that nonsense with such confidence— Now you can’t say a single word? Go on, keep talking. I’d love to hear more!”
Qiao Congzhen’s legs went weak.
He couldn’t speak, only kept kowtowing.
Cao Xingwang was doing slightly better. His mind was a mess, but he knew one thing: He must not admit to this.
He could not follow Qilin’s confession— Or he’d be as good as dead.
The Emperor loathed betrayal most of all.
Cao Xingwang banged his head on the floor again and again: “Your Majesty, this old slave has served you loyally for decades— Never once harbored disloyal thoughts! I truly knew nothing of this matter!”
But Qilin suddenly sprang up: “Eunuch Cao! How can you say that?! You dare say you don’t know? You didn’t know Qiu Chuying is hiding at the Huang Daxin Temple in the capital? You didn’t know where his gold came from? And Li Changqing—how he makes his pills—you didn’t know that either?!”
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