After Wei Mingxiu got out of the carriage, he found the atmosphere among the procession unusually tense and grave. In the distance, he saw the attendants from the inner palace kneeling in droves.
"Sixth brother, what's the show?" Wei Zeyu followed behind Wei Mingxiu, holding on to the hem of his robe. Beside them, Xiao Wu used his body to shield them from the Imperial Guards walking back and forth.
Wei Mingxiu gestured to him. "Shh, second brother, don't talk. Just watch."
Wei Zeyu had gotten along very well with Wei Mingxiu lately, so he was quite willing to listen to him.
He hurriedly made a shushing gesture too, then obediently covered his mouth.
By the time Wei Mingxiu arrived, Feng Chenyi had already dragged Zhao Hai out of the chest.
He knelt on the ground, trembling as he looked at the people around him with tear-filled eyes.
Only at that moment did he truly feel afraid.
He was even too frightened to say a word.
And standing beside him was Bai Yanting.
The father, who had just suffered the pain of losing his son, had thought the murderer would be brought to justice before long. Now, however, he saw that the murderer had been hiding in the procession and had almost escaped.
His face was filled with rage.
He could not help looking at the people around him and shouting, "I only want justice. Is that so hard?!"
With that, he dropped to his knees before Wei Zhao. "Your Majesty, the Zhao Family secretly substituted a condemned prisoner and deceived the throne. Such conduct cannot be tolerated under the laws of Great Wei! I beg Your Majesty to punish them for their crimes!!"
The civil and military officials accompanying the procession saw it all.
Grand Preceptor Feng, Feng Minghe, who rarely spoke much at court, finally stepped forward at that moment, placing himself before Bai Yanting and facing Wei Zhao. In a clear voice, he said, "Your Majesty, I believe Official Bai's words accord with law and justice, so I second his request."
His words left Zhao Guofeng frozen in place, his eyes full of disbelief.
After all, ever since the Zhang Family's downfall and the serious illness Feng Minghe had suffered afterward, he had scarcely concerned himself with court affairs, practically leaving the Zhao Family free to do as they pleased, openly and in secret.
Yet today, he had stepped forward and said such a thing the moment he opened his mouth!
Was he really going to turn against the Zhao Family?!
But to turn against them at a time like this was practically a death sentence for the Zhao Family!
No!
Zhao Guofeng suddenly realized: could all of this have been a trap set by the Feng Family?!
Had the Feng Family been waiting for this very moment?!
At that thought, he looked at Zhao Junze. Their eyes met, and they had already reached a conclusion.
Damn it!!!
How could we have made such a mistake!
But no matter how much Zhao Guofeng regretted it now, the officials were all shaken by Feng Minghe's words.
Some officials who placed their trust in the Feng Family stepped forward one after another and said to Wei Zhao, "I second the request."
"I second the request."
"I second the request!"
Wei Zhao sat in his carriage and looked at the civil and military officials, his vision darkening in waves.
By now, he had calmed down a little from his fury, and bits and pieces of evidence surfaced in his mind, weaving themselves into a net.
He realized that he seemed to have fallen into a scheme someone had laid long ago!
It had started with the incident involving Zhao Hai: Feng Chenyi had been the one to arrest him. Noble Consort Shu held the phoenix seal and was in charge of the sacrificial ceremony, so she had planted him in the procession, yet Feng Chengbai, the Minister of Rites, meticulous as he was, had failed to notice anything amiss beforehand.
And although Feng Minghe had not spoken up for Bai Yanting at court that day, he had stepped forward today, seizing the moment this calamity occurred to help Bai Yanting seek justice.
Before the common people, he had rallied the officials to demand that the Zhao Family be punished.
The Feng Family!
What a Feng Family!
They've exploited my nature and the Zhao Family's to the fullest!
And this Zhao Family has grown far too bold and foolish from my favor. When others set a snare, they crawl right into it. A whole family of idiots, from top to bottom!
The more Wei Zhao looked, the angrier he grew; the more he thought, the more furious he became. He hurled the teacup in his hand to the ground, where it shattered with a bang.
"You've grown more and more brazen! You no longer take me, your emperor, seriously!"
He seemed to be berating the Zhao Family, but in truth, he was berating everyone.
Noble Consort Shu hurriedly knelt, catching sight of Zhao Guofeng's and Zhao Junze's faces out of the corner of her eye.
She closed her eyes and made a decision.
She called out, "Your Majesty, my father and brother had nothing to do with any of this. I was determined to save my nephew Zhao Hai, so I bribed Official Kou and devised this plan to substitute a condemned prisoner. Every mistake was mine. I beg Your Majesty to deal leniently with my father and brother, since they knew nothing of it!"
"Mother!" Wei Chengye watched from the side, his eyes reddening.
He understood that Noble Consort Shu meant to take all the blame upon herself.
That way, she could do everything possible to protect the Zhao Family.
Zhao Guofeng and Zhao Junze also realized that what Noble Consort Shu had said was their only chance to lessen their punishment.
They hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, we truly knew nothing of it. Her Highness the Noble Consort did all of this without our knowledge. But now that it has come to light, we know we cannot escape blame and are willing to accept punishment!"
The wording was subtle, immediately drawing a distinction between the weight of their respective responsibilities.
Wei Zhao, too, looked thoughtful.
Seeing this, Empress Feng rubbed her sleeve and said, "Your Majesty, the inner palace has never been permitted to meddle in court affairs, still less to interfere with the Ministry of Justice's sentencing of criminals. Yet what younger sister says now makes it sound as though she disagreed with the Ministry of Justice's sentence and with Your Majesty's decision. That is why, even at the risk of committing the crime of deceiving the throne, she had to rescue her nephew from prison and give him a way to live."
Listening from the side, Zhou Ye felt the corners of his lips fly upward.
He looked again at Wei Zhao and the Zhao Family. Sure enough, none of their expressions looked good.
"Your Majesty, I meant no such thing!" Noble Consort Shu was so frightened that sweat beaded on her forehead. She wanted to explain further, but Wei Zhao waved his hand. "Shut your mouth!"
Wei Zhao was usually pleasant and gentle with her, but there was not a trace of consideration left in this rebuke.
Noble Consort Shu immediately fell silent, not daring to say another word.
For a moment, the scene fell quiet.
No one dared speak again.
After a long while, Wei Zhao seemed to think of something. A sharp gleam appeared in his tiger-like eyes as they fixed on Zhou Ye, who was a short distance away, silently eating melon from beginning to end.
He asked, "Zhou Ye, what do you think of this matter?"
"?"
This move caught everyone off guard.
Even Zhou Ye was momentarily at a loss, a rare occurrence for him.
But when he met Wei Zhao's gaze, he understood.
The little system had told him before that Wei Zhao was not a wholly incompetent ruler.
Though his abilities fell short of the late emperor's, and though he was arrogant and suspicious by nature and liked to play at balancing power, causing the deaths of the Zhang Family, he was not truly a fool.
Wei Zhao had seen through the twists and turns of today's events and had grown suspicious that he, too, was involved in the struggle between the Zhao and Feng Families.
But Zhou Ye was not afraid of his suspicions.
On the contrary, he was worried that Wei Zhao would not think of him.
After all, only if Wei Zhao hated him could he be killed as a natural consequence in the future.
Only then could Wei Mingxiu truly rise.
At that thought, he glanced at the worried young man not far away and spoke calmly.
"Since Your Majesty has asked, I shall venture an opinion."
"The state has its laws, and the family its rules."
"Today's affair involves many people. In my view, it is both a matter of state and a family matter. After all, as the Son of Heaven over all of Great Wei, Your Majesty is both the head of the imperial family and the head of the household for all the people under heaven."
"Therefore, I believe matters of state should be handled according to the laws of the state, and family matters according to family rules. Only then can the hearts of Your Majesty's subjects and people be soothed."