Chapter 357: Treason

Side hall.

Mu Xi leaned against the wall, the hand hanging at his side trembling slightly, not uttering a word.

Mu Xianqi and Song Yusui stood side by side on one side, both of their faces grim and cold.

Song Lujing and Song Yan, being the most unable to help among them, silently stood by the window.

Qing An paced back and forth, walked several circles, finally unable to hold back: 'Have you found out about those people?'

'It's been investigated.' Qing Wei's voice came from the doorway.

He pushed the door open and entered, with Ruo Ya following behind.

Everyone's gaze gathered over there.

Qing Wei walked to the sofa and sat down, his face solemn: 'Those people are indeed the remnants of the old nobility purged by my father back then.'

Qing An only knew these people were coming for Qing Wei, unaware of the background; for now he just silently watched the two, waiting for what comes next.

Mu Xi frowned slightly, 'Old nobility?'

'Ten years ago, M Guo experienced a coup.' Qing Wei said calmly, 'A group of old aristocrats banded together, aiming to overthrow the royal family and install a puppet.'

'My father got the news in advance…… Coincidentally, my parents were raising me at that time, so I, representing the royal faction, struck first and wiped them all out.'

'The leading families were exterminated to the last member; the remaining followers fled everywhere, hiding in the shadows these years.'

Ruo Ya interjected: 'Qing An is the royal family's soft spot, everyone outside knows this; these years they've been looking for a chance to strike at us and at Qing An.'

'But our side's defenses are too tight, they can't find a breach.' Qing Wei's voice carried lingering fear, 'So they turned their attention to the people around me, assuming I had a close sister, a princess hidden by the royal family.'

Mu Xianqi said coldly: 'How could they think Youbao is Qing An's sister?'

'I've been wondering about that too.' Qing Wei turned his gaze to Ruo Ya.

Ruo Ya took out a tablet, pulled up a file: 'This is what I had someone hack from one of the kidnappers' phones; it contains Mingxi's photo and intelligence.'

Intelligence?

Mu Xi took the tablet and skimmed through it quickly.

The photo was taken at the earl's mansion banquet a few days ago, the angle tricky, it happened to capture Mu Youyu and Qing An standing, with everyone else blurred.

Beside it was annotated: 【M Guo royal family's secret princess, Qing An's sister, living in seclusion year-round】

Qing An frowned again, 'What nonsense is this?'

Song Yusui snorted coldly, 'Someone deliberately gave them false intelligence.'

Mu Xianqi finally spoke: 'Who?'

'Still under investigation.' Qing Wei said solemnly, 'But whoever could provide this level of intelligence wouldn't be an ordinary person.'

The room fell silent for a few seconds.

Mu Xi set down the tablet, 'What are you planning to do with them?'

'Hand them over to our country's Supreme Court to be tried for treason.' Qing Wei's tone unwavering, 'The principal offenders get the death penalty, accomplices life imprisonment, none spared.'

Qing An's inner anger had not diminished in the slightest.

He still felt it was too lenient; perhaps no matter how those people were dealt with, he would not be satisfied.

Mu Xi followed up: 'When is the court date?'

Qing Wei glanced at him, 'How so?'

'Nothing.' Mu Xi lowered his eyes, 'I just want to see them die with my own eyes.'

After those words, no one responded, and no one moved.

Mu Xianqi walked to the window, pinching an unlit cigarette between his fingers, turned it twice, then finally put it back into the cigarette case.

'The court date hasn't been set yet.' Qing Wei's voice broke the silence, 'It won't be long; the royal court's procedure is faster than ordinary courts, the evidence has already been submitted.'

Song Yusui leaned against the sofa, lifted his eyes to him, 'What evidence did you submit?'

'Testimonial and material evidence, including tracing the source of the intelligence from that phone,' Qing Wei said, his gaze falling on Mu Xi, 'plus the surveillance recordings you provided.'

Song Lujing stood by the window, the hand hanging at his side slowly clenching.

Song Yan glanced at him, said nothing, merely leaned a bit closer.

'That recording…' Mu Xi's voice hoarse, 'Have you listened to it?'

Everyone nodded.

Mu Xi didn't ask further; he of course knew what was in that recording.

A listening device was hidden in his sister's necklace, left on the whole time.

From the moment she was shoved into that car, every word spoken in the warehouse was recorded in full.

During the rescue earlier, Mu Xi had been frantically tracking, afraid to disturb his emotions, he dared not listen.

Upon reaching the warehouse location, while waiting outside for his sister, others were listening; he and Mu Xin kept their distance, not daring to approach.

Just knowing what those people had said already made him want to kill.

'The recording will be submitted as evidence in court.' Ruo Ya added.

Mu Xianqi lifted his eyes, no longer beating around the bush, his tone cold and hard: 'And the person behind who supplied the intelligence?'

'Still under investigation.' Qing Wei said solemnly.

'Can't you find them?' Mu Xianqi's tone didn't fluctuate much, yet everyone present heard the implication——

'You are the power holder of M Guo; on your turf, someone moved against my sister, and you can't find them?'

Qing Wei did not avoid his gaze: 'The trail cut off within M Guo's borders; the other side is very cautious, using overseas servers, layered encryption, passing through several hands.'

'My people traced it to the final layer, the IP address points to……' He didn't continue.

Qing An said urgently: 'Where does it point?'

'Z Country.'

Those two words landed, and the room fell silent again for a few seconds.

Mu Xi rose straight from the wall, "Z Country?"

"The exact location is still being investigated." Qing Wei nodded, "But we can confirm that at least part of the force of the person who gave false information is within Z Country."

"Z Country…" Qing An frowned, "Who has my sister offended domestically?"

Everyone present understood Mu Youyu's character.

She was mild and polite with everyone, well-behaved, and never provoked trouble.

Domestically, she knew few people, and those she had grudges with could be counted on one hand.

Song Yusui pondered for a moment, "It could also be a feud between aristocratic families."

Domestically, there are too many aristocratic families entangled with my sister.

Domestically, the four major conglomerates and other powerful families—many have connections with her.

Mu Xianqi's tone was cold: "Which one?"

No one answered that question.

Mu Xi fell silent for a moment, didn't linger any longer, turned and walked out.

Mu Xianqi called out to stop him: "Where are you going?"

"I'll make a call." Mu Xi threw back over his shoulder without turning, "Domestic affairs—let domestic people handle them."

No one spoke up to stop him.

Z Country is the main base of the four major conglomerates; only by using domestic resources can the mastermind behind the scenes be found quickest.

As Mu Xi pushed open the door, Mu Xin sat dazed on the sofa, with Nuo Mi earnestly rubbing against his feet.

He didn't step forward to greet, just walked straight outside.

The hallway was empty; only a few palace servants stood far away, seeing him come out, they lowered their eyes and retreated even farther.

Mu Xi walked to the window at the end of the hallway, took out his phone, and dialed a number.

It rang for a long time, only being answered just before it would have been hung up.

"Hello?" The voice on the other end, thick with sleep‑roughness, said, "Little Xi?"