Chapter 352: See How Well This Dragon Robe Fits Me
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“Xiao Jill, you’re hiding the river pirate yet you still refuse to admit it! Previously, you ordered the Imperial Guards to stop the officers from arresting him, and now you want to stop me from searching for him?” Xiao Jue gritted his teeth and suppressed the chill in his heart. He glared at Xiao Jin in fury and refused to let himself appear weak.
“Your guys have practically dug up the roots and you still haven’t found him?”
Xiao Jue gritted his teeth. “Search! Continue searching!”
Xiao Jin didn’t stop them and allowed the soldiers to search.
However, gradually, the soldiers who went to search returned.
“Your Highness, we have searched everywhere in the front courtyard, and we didn’t find anyone suspicious.”
“Your Highness, we’ve searched the back courtyard, but there’s nothing.”
Nothing here, nothing there, there was nothing anywhere. How was this possible!
Xiao Jue was so angry that the veins on his forehead were bulging furiously.
Very soon, all the soldiers who were searching returned, but they still turned up nothing!
Xiao Jue felt resentful, but he had no other choice. He glared icily at Xiao Jin. “It seems that Prince Qi has already moved that fellow.”
Xiao Jin slowly walked out of the shadows. His dark eyes were almost blending into the night.
“Are you done searching?”
Xiao Jue gave a disdainful snort. “Let’s go.”
“Wait a minute.”
Xiao Jue stared at him icily. “What? Prince Qi wants to confess?”
Xiao Jin’s lips curled up, but he wasn’t smiling. “Now that Your Highness has finished searching, it’s my turn. 1 suspect that you colluded with important officials of the court, embezzled the court’s silver, and attempted to rebel. All the evidence is in the First Prince’s Mansion. Men, follow me to the First Prince’s Mansion and search for all the evidence.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Xiao Jue’s expression changed at once and he said furiously, “What right do you have to search my mansion? I have an Imperial edict. What right do you have?”
Xiao Jin’s dark eyes swept across the crowd. “The Imperial Guards has this right.”
The Imperial Guards were in charge of the security of the capital. If they discovered anything that threatened the security of the capital or the Emperor, they could conduct searches directly without getting prior permission from any department. They had the right to act first and report later.
“Good. What a powerful official authority! I want to see what you can find. Let’s go!”
Xiao Jin returned to his room and changed into a clean robe.
“Your Highness, what is going on?”
After Jiang Yang got married, Xiao Jin granted him leave for a few days. When he saw Jiang Yang’s baffled expression, Xiao Jin didn’t explain much. “You’ll know after searching. Let’s go.”
The First Prince’s Mansion was not far from Prince Qi’s Manor, so the team arrived very quickly.
Xiao Jue stood at the gate of the mansion with an ominous expression. “If you can’t find anything, I won’t let this matter rest.”
“It’s best if we can’t find anything.”
The Imperial Guards barged into the First Prince’s Mansion and began to search with wild abandon.
Meanwhile, in the prison of the Capital Governor’s Office.
Chu Mo looked at Su Ying in shock. He felt that there was a hidden meaning behind her words.
“Your Highness, aren’t you trying to make me admit that 1 am a killer from the Red Demon Sect? Don’t tell me I have other uses?”
Su Ying raised her eyebrows and gave a scornful sneer. “What do you think?”
Su Ying’s sneer made Chu Mo feel uneasy. “What do you mean, Your Highness?”
Su Ying slowly stood up and walked up to him. Then she looked down at him loftily, “How stupid must a person be to fall into the same trap again? Surely you guys don’t think that you’re the only smart people in this world, do you?”
Chu Mo’s expression changed slightly and his body gradually stiffened.
The rays of golden light tore the veil of darkness apart, and wispy white clouds gradually swallowed the darkness.
Xiao Jin walked out of Xiao Jue’s study with a box.
The moment Xiao Jue saw the brocade box, his expression changed drastically. He stretched out his hand to snatch it.
Not surprisingly, Xiao Jin did not allow him to do as he wished.
He opened the brocade box and pulled out the item inside. A bright yellow dragon robe was revealed to everyone.
Xiao Jue looked at the dragon robe in front of him and his eyes widened abruptly. He rushed forward to snatch it like a madman.
Jiang Yang and the others swiftly went forward to stop him.
Xiao Jin raised the dragon robe in his hand, and his smile was overflowing with iciness. “It seems that the First Prince can’t wait to try on the dragon robe.”
Xiao Jue roared ferociously, “Someone framed me! Someone framed me!”
However, no one took any heed of his furious roar. Xiao Jin ordered his men to tie Xiao Jue up straightaway before bringing him into the palace with that dragon robe.
Everyone in the First Prince’s Mansion was put under the control of the Imperial Guards.
Emperor Kangze had already gotten out of his chamber to attend morning court. He had just arrived at the main hall, but before he could get the kneeling officials to rise, he heard the eunuch report that Prince Qi was seeking an audience.
Emperor Kangze recalled the Imperial edict Xiao Jue had requested last night and could only allow Prince Qi to enter the palace. Xiao Jin entered the palace with Xiao Jue, who was being escorted by the Imperial Guards.
The central court minister, Grand Mentor Zhang’s face clouded over slightly when he saw Xiao Jue.
“Your Majesty, Xiao Jue is plotting a rebellion. Please pass your judgment.” The moment Xiao Jin opened his mouth, he dropped a heavy bombshell that caused the main hall to explode in an uproar.
Xiao Jue struggled and twisted his body to fight free from the restraints. “Your Majesty, 1 was wronged. Someone wronged me.”
Emperor Kangze’s face had already turned ominous. He would never tolerate anyone who attempted to rebel, even if it was his own son!
“Where’s the evidence?”
Xiao Jin handed the dragon robe and the letters that Xiao Jue and Lin Jin wrote to each other directly to the eunuch, who then brought them to Emperor Kangze.
“These were all found in Xiao Jue’s study.”
Xiao Jue’s expression had turned extremely unpleasant.
“Your Majesty, 1 was genuinely wronged! I beg Your Majesty to investigate. I was genuinely wronged!”
Emperor Kangze’s face had already turned as black as thunder when he saw the dragon robe. After reading the letters, he was so furious that he pointed at Xiao Jue with a trembling finger and said, “Good, good, very good! You have even prepared the dragon robe. You have been eagerly waiting for me to die! Come, put the robe on him. Put this dragon robe on him. 1 will grant him his wish. Before he dies, I will fulfill his dream of wearing the dragon robe!”
Grand Mentor Zhang stepped forward when he heard that. “Your Majesty, please calm down. The First Prince has always been loyal to Your Majesty, and his filial piety is witnessed by the heavens and earth. Someone must have done this on purpose to sow discord between Your Majesty and the First Prince. Your Majesty, please reconsider.”
Emperor Kangze gave a scornful sneer and looked at the dragon robe that Xiao Jue had been forced to put on. He was furious. “Reconsider? Someone framed him? Look at his dragon robe. It suits him so well. He must have secretly tried it on many times! Such a scourge is now standing right before my eyes, yet you are asking me to reconsider!”
Emperor Kangze practically shouted out his words in rage.
The ministers were so frightened that they trembled all over.
However, the Grand Mentor’s faction still stood out to plead for Xiao Jue. They begged Emperor Kangze to investigate and find out the truth and clear Xiao Jue’s name!
Emperor Kangze simply threw the letters Xiao Jue wrote to Lin Jin at Grand Mentor Zhang’s face.
“Take a good look for yourselves. What a good son 1 raised. Not only did he hope for me to die early, but he also colluded with my good and important ministers to embezzle the funds of the national treasury! And you guys still say that he’s innocent?” The last sentence was almost yelled out by Emperor Kangze.
Grand Mentor Zhang and the others looked at the letters on the ground and were so angry that they almost fainted.
Idiot! What an idiot! How could he still keep such critical things!
Wasn’t this equivalent to courting death?