Chapter 334: Confrontation

Mu Yuanzhi: "Your Majesty, I think I should be the one to speak about this."

Alright, Princess, you speak.

Actually it's simple; this matter was clear from the start: it's just that the Crown Prince coveted the heir's position, disliked me being in the way, and thus plotted this series of events, including the previous assassination attempt on Prince Ling, all orchestrated by the Crown Prince!" Mu Yuanzhi said.

You're spouting bloody slander!" Pi Biao angrily pointed at Mu Yuanzhi: "Guardian Princess, I have no past grudge with you, no recent enmity; why are you slandering me like this?"

Mu Yuanzhi curled her lips: "It's true that we had no past grudge, no recent resentment—but you'd better ask the Crown Prince yourself about that? You used celestial phenomena to fabricate an ominous star's descent, wasn't that just to get rid of me? His Majesty, out of compassion, wouldn't let me go for a marriage alliance, so you came up with this vicious scheme to eliminate me and my child together!"

Nonsense!" Pi Biao flicked his sleeve, then cupped his fists before the new emperor: "Father Emperor, you must never easily believe this, the Guardian Princess doesn't know

Whose slander have you believed, to slander your subject like this!"

Pi Di chuckled: "Big brother, why the rush? Elder Sister Mu hasn't finished speaking yet."

Even you, the Crown Prince, have been deceived!

"Shut up!" the new emperor rebuked, "I haven't given you permission to speak!"

Pi Biao unwillingly closed his mouth, his heart already panicking beyond control.

Mu Yuanzhi continued: "For your scheming plots, the Crown Prince didn't hesitate to plan an attack on Prince Ling, causing him severe injuries and ruining his martial arts; yet His Majesty, though wise, still didn't believe such rumors, so you simply went all out, using your own younger brother, the empire's heir, as a pawn—this would make His Majesty believe and also severely weaken your rivals, killing two birds with one stone, utterly vicious!"

"This is just your one-sided story; where's the evidence?!" Pi Biao shouted in accusation.

"Isn't the evidence right here? Otherwise, why do you think I've been holding onto Xiao Yichen all this time?" Gu Rongjin laughed as he pushed Xiao Yichen a step forward.

Xiao Yichen seemed to have lost his soul, showing no reaction; his deep eyes were like a vortex, twisting and bottomless, unknown what he was thinking.

By now, he truly had no way out, caught red-handed; Mu Yuanzhi inwardly sneered.

Foolish, no wonder it's Xiao Yichen!

Pi Biao stubbornly clung to his denial: "I don't understand what you mean!"

"You don't even remember your own plan?" Mu Yuanzhi scoffed, "You've resorted to the same old trick, hypnotizing a feral beast to attack the Crown Prince, but fearing you might kill him outright, you sent Xiao Yichen to supervise—yet all this has long been under our control; the Crown Prince came to no harm, and Xiao Yichen has been captured by us."

Pi Biao laughed loudly: "What a vivid fabrication! Still, my stance remains: where's the evidence?"

"Your Majesty!" Mu Yuanzhi cupped her fists, "I request that Sir Si Ma be summoned!"

Summon Si Ma?!

What does that mean?

Pi Biao only now realized that Mu Yuanzhi hadn't directly mentioned Si Ma earlier, either in or between her words; he now sensed something off, wondering why she was singling out Si Ma.

What exactly is she plotting?

The new emperor nodded: "Someone, summon the Chief Clerk Si Ma for an audience!"

"Yes!"

Soon, the shaman-doctor arrived, still wearing his usual attire, except without the hood; many people saw his face clearly for the first time.

However, nowadays probably few have the leisure to admire his looks; everyone is waiting to see how this drama will conclude.

Pi Biao was even more tense, his chips, his trump cards, now seemingly completely out of his control……

This unexplained unease grew stronger as the shaman-doctor drew nearer.

"Your servant pays respects to Your Majesty, long live the Emperor!" the shaman-doctor said, performing a respectful salute.

"Enough, no need for so much ceremony."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." the shaman-doctor remained fully courteous.

Mu Yuanzhi turned to look at the shaman-doctor, "Sir Si Ma, you may begin."

Seeing the two of them so familiar with each other, Pi Biao felt even more afraid.

"What's going on? Could they have secretly colluded behind his back?"

"No, impossible!"

"This will absolutely not happen; they're on the same boat!"

"Si Ma defecting would bring him no benefit at all!"

The shaman-doctor glanced at Pi Biao, then cupped his fists before the new emperor: "Your Majesty, regarding the celestial omens, the National Teacher is correct; the so-called ominous star's descent is something the Crown Prince had me say."

"You!" Pi Biao was so angry he lost his words.

"This shaman-doctor is crazy!"

The new emperor's expression didn't change at all, as if he had anticipated this; it only heightened Pi Biao's panic.

"Father Emperor wouldn't, he's long… long been waiting for him to walk into the trap, right?!"

The shaman-doctor continued: "The Crown Prince's original plan was to take advantage of the proposal for a marriage alliance from the Emperor of Ying Xu State, press the attack—if successful, it would send the Guardian Princess to the marriage alliance; if not, it would still inflict mutual loss on the princess and her child; either way, it would break the Crown Prince's left and right arms."

"Si Ma, you're in league with them, all coming to slander me!" Pi Biao anxiously cupped his fists: "Father Emperor, you must never casually believe their deceitful lies!"

The new emperor seemed not to have heard, telling the shaman-doctor: "Please continue."

Pi Biao had no choice but to close his mouth again.

The shaman-doctor: "But Your Majesty, being wise, did not listen to my slander; this left the Crown Prince restless, so he had me devise an attack on Prince Ling to make Your Majesty believe in the ominous star, yet Your Majesty still didn't believe, so the Crown Prince conceived a wicked plot, wanting me to strike the Crown Prince tonight; this matter was truly too great, I dared not commit such a harm to the realm's stability, thus I repented, sought out the Guardian Princess and her allies, laid bare the matter, pulled back from the brink, thereby sparing the Crown Prince from disaster."

He spoke with such conviction, each word from the heart, as if he himself were utterly innocent.

Pi Biao listened, seething with anger, this treacherous minister with a sinister face!

He was far too unprepared, far too trusting of this monster!

"Sir Si Ma says all this, but where's the evidence? You've been talking half the day with nothing but empty claims!" Pi Biao angrily flicked his sleeve: "I've done nothing! Does the Younger Brother Crown Prince truly not tolerate this elder brother of mine?!"

Pi Di: "Big brother, you really know how to play the victim first—why the rush? Si Ma hasn't finished speaking yet."

Mu Yuanzhi: "Sir Si Ma, if you don't produce solid evidence, the Crown Prince will likely keep denying."

"I naturally have evidence," the shaman-doctor said, producing a jade pendant from his sleeve: "This is a token the Crown Prince gave me, an ancestral heirloom jade pendant; so valuable, I imagine the Crown Prince would not lightly give it away."

The chief eunuch stepped forward to receive the jade pendant and hand it to the new emperor.

Upon seeing it, Pi Biao's pupils shrank sharply: "I've never given you this!"

"He couldn't possibly be that foolish to hand over such an important handle to someone else—when did this traitor steal it?!"