It Was My Duty

The ministers in the inner study all drew in sharp breaths. The Crown Prince had some nerve, sentencing the entire Prince Jiujiang's Estate to prison.

Truly, those favored by Heaven had courage beyond the ordinary. Was he not afraid Prince Jiujiang's Estate would raise troops and rebel?

Emperor Yongchang's complexion darkened further. "Enough! This was the Heir's Consort of Prince Jiujiang's doing alone. What does Prince Jiujiang have to do with it? Why drag them into this?"

Xiao Qianyu's eyes dimmed slightly, but he spoke with utter disdain. "Father Emperor, don't try to fool me. If the Heir's Consort of Prince Jiujiang really were guilty, would you believe Prince Jiujiang and his son knew nothing about it? I certainly don't. Fortunately, this was only a wrongful case, and even the Heir's Consort had suffered an undeserved calamity. There's no need to implicate Prince Jiujiang and his son, either."

Emperor Yongchang's heart clenched. Why did Xiao Qianyu's words sound so reasonable, and yet leave him feeling so displeased?

So what had all his efforts amounted to? Nothing but damage to his own reputation, the loss of two ministers of state, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, and other high officials. Oh, and the lives of a Princess and an Imperial Prince besides.

His face darkened.

"Father Emperor, issue an edict to release the Heir's Consort." Xiao Qianyu urged him. Seeing that he still made no move, he furrowed his brows in puzzlement. "Could it be that Father Emperor still suspects my parentage? Then I shall go kneel in the Ancestral Hall and ask our ancestors to decide." As he spoke, he made to leave.

"Wait...!" Emperor Yongchang called out, grinding his teeth. "The Crown Prince makes a fair point. How do we know some scoundrel didn't fabricate evidence to frame an innocent person? Let the Heir's Consort of Prince Jiujiang be released without charge. Prince Gong, go take care of it once you leave the palace."

Prince Gong had no objections and accepted the order at once.

Now that Xiao Qianyu was truly of the Royal Bloodline, there was no point in keeping a woman like the Heir's Consort of Prince Jiujiang locked up. Better to release her.

Duke Chengen and the other ministers likewise had no objections. She was only a woman, and compared with the other pressing matters, the Heir's Consort of Prince Jiujiang wasn't all that important.

Duke Kang, however, was unwilling to let it go. He turned to Xiao Qianyu. "Your Highness is so concerned about an outsider, yet so cold toward your own siblings. Forgive me, but I cannot agree."

Xiao Qianyu gave him a cool sidelong glance. "Who do you think you are, accusing me of being cold at the drop of a hat? I have my reasons for what I do. Why should I need your agreement?"

His words were truly cutting.

Duke Kang's face flushed instantly. He had never before been asked to his face what sort of thing he was. Yet the person standing before him was the Crown Prince, whose status outranked his own; he couldn't open his mouth and curse back.

"Your Highness, your words are rather crude. I was only concerned about your virtue," Duke Kang said, choking back his anger.

Xiao Qianyu clicked his tongue. "My virtue has already earned Heaven's favor. Do I need you to worry over nothing? Where do you get the nerve?"

Duke Kang had been knocked out with a single blow.

The others in the study wore all kinds of expressions. They had known the Crown Prince had changed, but experiencing that change firsthand left each of them with feelings only they could understand.

"Does the Crown Prince think it was right to disregard the bonds of kinship and force His Majesty to order the deaths of the Grand Princess and the Third Prince?" Duke Kang demanded loudly. "The Grand Princess had only just come of age, and the Third Prince wasn't even twenty. They were young and innocent, with their whole lives ahead of them. Is ordering them to die what the Crown Prince calls virtue?"

Emperor Yongchang's eyes flickered, but he said nothing. If he could have, he would not have wanted to order the deaths of his own children.

So what if they were cruel and vicious and had killed a few palace attendants? As an emperor who ruled an empire and wielded supreme power, if he couldn't even protect his children after they had killed a few people, what was the point of being emperor? Even street thugs would be more free to do as they pleased than he was.

Xiao Qianyu gazed at him steadily and spoke. "Yes. Executing them stood up for the wronged and paid the souls of the innocent for their lives. Those were merits I earned and virtues I put into practice. I truly wonder what there is to pity in people like them, rejected by both humans and beasts and despised by the Heavenly Dao. Those who deserve pity are struggling and sinking in hell, wishing they could tear their flesh from their bones and drink their blood."

"You never spoke up for the innocent, yet now you're crying injustice on behalf of the perpetrators. What kind of ministers are you? What kind of officials? You hold neither the words of the sages, the National Law and family rules, nor the laws governing the imperial clan in any regard. Have you all had your consciences eaten by dogs?"

His words left several ministers red-faced and utterly aghast. They nearly dropped to their knees before the Crown Prince.

"Your Highness, we wouldn't dare!"

"Good. If I find out you've committed unlawful acts, rest assured: today I showed no mercy to the Grand Princess and the Third Prince for the sake of justice. If you break the law one day, I won't spare you, either." His cold, sharp eyes swept over the ministers one by one, and they all lowered their heads.

Prince Gong, however, was unmoved. They had only killed a few lowly commoners. They could have properly taught the Grand Princess and the Third Prince to mend their ways and admit their mistakes. Why go so far as to execute them?

The Crown Prince had always been softhearted, with a weakness for protecting the vulnerable. After returning from the Execution Platform, that weakness seemed even worse. He was absurdly generous to servants and commoners, yet raised the blade against his own brothers and sisters.

But Xiao Qianyu had Heaven's protection behind him, and even the emperor had backed down. Prince Gong swallowed his displeasure; at least it wasn't his own descendants who had died.