Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui exchanged a glance, both seeing deep confusion and unease in the other's eyes.
Zhu Gaoxu bent down and picked up the bloodstained confession with trembling hands.
After just one glance, his face instantly turned as pale as paper.
"This... This is slander! Imperial Father! This is nothing but slander!"
Zhu Gaoxu abruptly leaped to his feet and pointed at the confession, loudly defending himself.
"Your son has always been utterly loyal to Imperial Father and to the Great Ming. How could I possibly commit such a treasonous act as colluding with foreign enemies?"
"That's right, Imperial Father!"
Zhu Gaosui also dropped to his knees with a thump and wailed as though the sky had collapsed.
"This must be a frame-up! Someone is trying to set the two of us brothers up!"
"Ever since Jingnan, my brother and I have followed you, Imperial Father, through countless campaigns. When have we ever not led the charge and shed blood and sweat for the Great Ming?"
"The scars on our bodies are proof of our loyalty!"
"Imperial Father, you mustn't believe the one-sided words of these Oirat barbarians and chill your sons' hearts!"
The two brothers sang in harmony, acting as though tears and sobs were pouring from them.
Zhu Di watched their performance coldly, his gaze utterly unmoved.
He had spent his whole life on horseback and had seen every kind of person there was.
He understood the schemes these two sons were harboring better than anyone.
"So you're saying you refuse to admit it?"
Zhu Di's voice revealed neither anger nor joy.
"Your son refuses to admit it! I won't admit it even if you beat me to death!"
Zhu Gaoxu craned his neck, looking as though he would rather die than submit.
"Good."
Zhu Di nodded.
"Since you refuse to admit it, then I'll have you confront the witness face-to-face."
"Guards! Bring Yesen in!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the tent flap was thrown open, and two members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard dragged in a man covered in blood and shackled in iron chains.
Although the man's hair hung loose and he was in a wretched state, the air of a great warlord between his brows remained impossible to conceal.
It was none other than Yesen, the Oirat grand preceptor who had just been captured alive!
The instant Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui saw Yesen, their pupils contracted sharply, and the last sliver of hope in their hearts was utterly crushed.
They had never imagined that Zhu Zhanjun, that good-for-nothing, had not only survived but had actually captured Yesen alive!
Yesen was dragged to the center of the main tent. He raised his head and immediately saw Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui kneeling on the ground.
A bone-deep hatred and venom flashed through his eyes.
If not for these two fools, how could he have ended up in such a state?
"Yesen, I have a question for you."
Zhu Di looked down at him from on high.
"Who leaked the movements of my Great Ming army to you?"
"Who colluded with you, allowing you to set an ambush at Gourd Pass in an attempt to murder my Imperial Grandson?"
Yesen's gaze swept back and forth between Zhu Di, Zhu Gaozhan, and Zhu Gaosui. He knew this was his only chance to stay alive.
He suddenly bared his teeth in a ferocious grin.
"It was them!"
He abruptly raised his shackled hands and pointed at Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui, who were kneeling on the ground.
"It was the two of them!"
"They sent someone to find me and said that as long as I killed your grandson, Zhu Zhanjun, they would split Mobei with me and even honor me as the 'King of the Northern Border'!"
"You... You're slandering me!"
Zhu Gaoxu trembled with rage and pointed at Yesen as he cursed him viciously.
"When did I ever send anyone to find you?"
"What? Prince Han, do you dare do it but not dare own up to it?"
Yesen sneered.
"The Messenger you sent wore a chi-dragon jade pendant at his waist—the unique token of Prince Han's Manor."
"He also told me that your father was already at death's door. As long as Zhu Zhanjun, your greatest obstacle, was eliminated, you would soon be able to ascend the Imperial Throne!"
Yesen's words exploded through the main tent.
He had not only accused Prince Han and Prince Zhao, but had also laid bare their coveting of the Imperial Throne.
He wanted to muddy these waters, turning Zhu Di's family affairs into an irredeemable scandal. That way, he might still have a thread of hope for survival.
"Imperial Father! Don't believe him! He's sowing discord! He's taking revenge on us!"
Zhu Gaosui completely panicked. He clung to Zhu Di's leg and cried out.
"Even if your son had the courage to reach the heavens, I would never dare curse you, Imperial Father!"
The main tent descended into complete chaos.
Zhu Di looked at his son kneeling on the ground and weeping bitterly, then glanced at Yesen's venomous face. A wave of utter exhaustion washed over him.
He had spent his entire life striving to be strong, yet in his old age, he had to face such an unbearable spectacle of brothers turning against each other.
Just then, a lazy voice rang out at the most inopportune moment.
"Oh my, isn't this lively?"
Everyone turned toward the voice, only to see that Zhu Zhanjun had somehow already arrived outside the tent. He brushed the dust from his clothes and walked in with an utterly relaxed expression.
"Second Uncle, Third Uncle, what sort of show are you putting on?"
"You're crying so bitterly that anyone who didn't know better would think I was dead."
Zhu Zhanjun said this with a cheeky grin.
"Zhanjun!"
The instant Zhu Gaoxu saw him, his emotions became impossibly complicated.
When Yesen saw Zhu Zhanjun, an even more intense hatred erupted in his eyes.
He knew that the true instigator behind everything that had happened today was this seemingly harmless young man standing before him.
His eyes shifted, and he came up with another scheme.
"Emperor of the Great Ming!"
Yesen suddenly shouted toward Zhu Di.
Before you continue