Framing Xue Xing

The heavily built and ornate gates of the Prince's Mansion, door frame and all, exploded with a thunderous boom under an overwhelming force.

Commander Kosti, seven Soul Rings circling his body, led the murderous Knightly Order clad in gleaming silver armor into the Prince's Mansion, instantly filling the courtyard and corridors until not even a drop of water could pass through.

The sharp spears in their hands glinted with a cold sheen beneath the Soul Guide Lamps, all aimed at the two people inside the hall who had been caught completely off guard.

Immediately afterward, two figures stepped slowly through the shattered gates, walking over the wreckage strewn across the ground.

The leader was naturally Qian Renxue. Her face was icy, and her eyes held dignity and the "heartache" of betrayal.

Behind her was naturally Lin Jin. The bloodstains on his robes had already blackened, adding several more shades of murderous menace.

"Xue Qinghe, Commander Kosti, what do you mean by this?" Xue Xing raged, but then he saw Lin Jin and clearly froze.

"Lin Jin! How... how are you here?!"

Commander Odysseus beside him went deathly pale with a sudden whoosh, and the wine cup in his hand nearly slipped to the floor.

Qian Renxue took in both their reactions, sneering inwardly while her face displayed nothing but grief and majesty.

She slowly spoke. Her voice was not loud, yet it clearly reached the ears of everyone present. "Imperial Uncle, are you surprised to see Count Lin?"

"Surprised? What do I have to be surprised about?" Xue Xing recovered himself and said with a darkened expression.

"Imperial Uncle, you really refuse to shed a tear until you see the coffin." Qian Renxue took one step forward, her gaze stabbing toward Xue Xing like a sharp sword.

"Tonight, the Netherworld Assassination Squad sent by the Star Luo Empire, composed of one Soul Sage and four Soul Emperors, ambushed General Lin Jin in Heaven Dou City, intending to assassinate a pillar of our Empire!"

She paused slightly as she watched the color instantly drain from Xue Xing's face, then continued, "Fortunately, a Guest Official under my command was secretly protecting him and arrived in time, killing and capturing every one of the attackers."

"And from their leader's person, we recovered a handwritten Secret Letter from you, Imperial Uncle, stating that you had colluded with the Star Luo Empire, sold the whereabouts of an Imperial general, and promised to use the Defense Map of the border as payment..."

"Now, we have witnesses and physical evidence. The evidence is ironclad!" Qian Renxue's voice suddenly rose, carrying the Emperor's fury. "Imperial Uncle, what else do you have to say?"

"Calumny... This is blatant calumny!" Prince Xue Xing leaped up as if someone had stepped on his tail, pointing at Qian Renxue and Lin Jin as he roared with outward ferocity but inward fear,

"Xue Qinghe, it's you! You and this brat Lin Jin must have conspired to fabricate evidence and frame me. I want to see Imperial Brother! I will expose your conspiracy before His Majesty in person!"

He suddenly turned toward Kosti and shouted, "Commander Kosti! As the commander of the Royal Knights, are you really going to stand by and watch the Crown Prince frame a Prince and throw the Court Rule into chaos?!"

Commander Kosti replied with upright impartiality, "Your Highness, do you think this commander would personally bring the Knightly Order here without His Majesty's permission?"

"See Father Emperor?" Qian Renxue sneered. "Naturally, we must see him. However, not here, but in the main hall, in the presence of ironclad evidence!"

She suddenly waved her hand, her voice decisive and carrying unquestionable authority. "Commander Kosti, seize these two traitors who have betrayed the Empire! If they resist, kill them without mercy!"

"Presumptuous!" Prince Xue Xing shoved away the Royal Knight who tried to step forward and restrain him, attempting to maintain the pride of a Prince. "This King will go see Imperial Brother personally!"

"Xue Qinghe, Lin Jin... you're very good! This King would like to see how long your clumsy tricks can continue once we stand before His Majesty!"

Odysseus, meanwhile, was deathly pale. He knew that everything was over.

With the commander of the Royal Knights and the Crown Prince personally leading the operation, and with the evidence conclusive, any resistance would be futile.

"Take them away!" Commander Kosti ordered sharply, giving Xue Xing no chance to put on a performance.

The Royal Knights were no longer polite. They forcefully escorted Xue Xing, who had stopped resisting but still held his neck stiffly, and Odysseus, who was limp as mud, outside.

"Commander Kosti, Count Lin, search the entire Prince's Mansion and see whether you can uncover more ironclad evidence!" Qian Renxue ordered.

"Yes, Your Highness!" Kosti and Lin Jin answered at the same time.

Qian Renxue passed Lin Jin and gave him an obscure look.

Lin Jin immediately understood Qian Renxue's signal.

After Qian Renxue left, he followed the plan and "discovered" the fabricated evidence hidden in a secret compartment in the study of the Prince's Mansion.

Commander Kosti was the witness who had "discovered" the evidence.

The Imperial Palace, main hall.

Xue Ye sat high upon the Dragon Throne, his expression so dark it seemed water might drip from it.

Below, Prince Xue Xing had been stripped of his crown and sash and knelt in the hall, loudly proclaiming his innocence. Fourth Imperial Prince Xue Beng had also been summoned and stood to one side with an expression of "confusion" and "fear."

When Qian Renxue, Lin Jin, and Commander Kosti entered the hall together, they presented a series of "ironclad evidence."

This included the Secret Letter proving collusion with the Star Luo Empire, the "Imperial Prince Poisoning Order" and "the antidote formula for the poison His Majesty had been given," which had been recovered from the study's secret compartment to seize the Position of Crown Prince, and more.

After presenting everything one by one and revealing the deduction that Xue Beng's wastrel behavior had been "a disguise to preserve his own life," the entire main hall erupted in an uproar.

As Xue Ye looked at that "evidence," especially the parts concerning his own life and his deceased beloved son, he trembled with rage. His body, which had already been somewhat unwell, swayed as if he might collapse at any moment.

"Beast!!" Xue Ye's roar reverberated through the main hall.

He pointed at Xue Xing, grief and fury twisting his face. "You, you all..."

As he spoke, Xue Ye's rage attacked his heart, and he suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood streaked with a thread of black.

Xue Ye stared at the glaring black blood on the floor, shocked and furious. His body shook violently, and he nearly toppled from the Dragon Throne

. The Eunuch beside him hurried forward to support him, and the hall instantly descended into chaos.

"Father Emperor!" Qian Renxue rushed forward in a single stride, her face filled with "concern" and "anger." She supported Xue Ye, then turned and shouted sharply, "Physician! Summon the physicians at once!"

The Chief Imperial Physician, who had been prepared long ago, immediately stepped forward and carefully examined Xue Ye's condition as well as the bloodstain threaded with black.

His expression grew increasingly grave. At last, he knelt prostrate on the ground and reported in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty... Your Majesty has indeed been afflicted with a strange poison! This poison is sinister beyond compare and lies deeply dormant. It will slowly erode the Heart Vein. If Your Majesty's rage today had not caused the poison to manifest, then given enough time... there would have been no hope of saving him! The symptoms of this poison are extremely similar to... to those of the chronic mixed poison mentioned in this evidence!"

"I am terrified, but I cannot cure this mixed poison."

"You... what else do you have to say!!" Xue Ye forced out the last of his strength and pointed at Xue Xing, his eyes filled with the pain of being betrayed by his dearest and boundless Killing Intent. "Not only did you plot against my Imperial Son, you now intend to murder your Imperial Brother and usurp the throne! Xue Xing, you deserve ten thousand deaths!!!"

"No... it wasn't me... Imperial Brother, believe me... It was Xue Qinghe!" Prince Xue Xing collapsed to the ground and desperately defended himself.

"Yes, it was Xue Qinghe! I discovered long ago that he was suspicious. Xue Qinghe killed the two Imperial Princes, so I had Xue Beng disguise himself as a wastrel."

"Shut your mouth! At a time like this, you still want to make excuses? You, you... Kosti, take them to the Heavenly Prison." Xue Ye had already been enraged to the point of incoherence.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Kosti immediately had his men haul away Xue Xing and Xue Beng.

"Father Emperor, don't get too agitated. Since Imperial Uncle used the poison of Dugu Bo, the Poison Douluo, he must know how to cure it." Qian Renxue comforted Xue Ye appropriately.

"This subordinate, Lin Jin, volunteers to capture Dugu Bo and his Granddaughter, Dugu Yan!" Lin Jin also appropriately requested permission.