Chapter 203: Chapter 203: The Truth Comes to Light
He was the Grand Steward of the Imperial Guard, the highest-ranking commander of the entire Iron Blood Guard. Yet when he gave a command, not a single member of the Iron Blood Guard responded.
This put him in an extremely awkward position before His Majesty, and a furious rage burned within him.
’It seems I’ve been making too few appearances. This lot from the Iron Blood Guard no longer respects me. They’ve forgotten my authority.’
A cold glint flashed in Chu Yunfei’s eyes as he shot the First Prince a meaningful look.
These men were all the First Prince’s subordinates. Ever since the First Prince had taken command of the Iron Blood Guard’s Southern Guard, they had stopped recognizing him, the Grand Steward. They answered only to the First Prince.
Seeing this, the First Prince barked, "You there! Grand Steward Chu of the Imperial Guard is asking you a question. Answer him at once!"
"Yes, yes!" The Iron Blood Guards kowtowed repeatedly. THUMP. THUMP. "Your Highness, we did not abuse our power for personal gain! This man broke the laws of the kingdom, committed murder in the streets, and conspired against the son of a marquis. This must be part of a grand conspiracy! He might even be colluding with an enemy nation. We brought him to the Iron Blood Guard to investigate thoroughly and restore justice to the kingdom!"
"What a fine way to ’restore justice to the kingdom,’" Zhao Jing said, his expression furious and his tone dripping with sarcasm. "Marquis Tianqi, Marquis Zhenjun, you two seem quite relaxed. Since when were you two marquises permitted to come and go from Our Iron Blood Guard as you please? We don’t seem to recall appointing either of you as a commander of the Iron Blood Guard."
"Your Majesty, this... this..."
Marquis Tianqi and Marquis Zhenjun trembled, drenched in cold sweat, at a complete loss for words.
"And you two," he continued, "what gives you the right to waltz in and out of the Iron Blood Guard’s headquarters? Is Our Iron Blood Guard a place where any riffraff can just come and go as they please?"
Zhao Jing sneered at Chen Ming and Qin Tian, then turned his gaze, now tinged with anger, to the First Prince, Zhao Feng. "Feng’er, We believe We entrusted the Iron Blood Guard’s Southern Guard to you. Is this how you manage Our forces?"
The Iron Blood Guard was a unit under the Imperial Guard responsible for enforcing law and order in the Royal City. Its role was of utmost importance. The Imperial Guard, in turn, answered directly to the royal family, serving as the personal army of Zhao Jing, the Monarch.
Thus, seeing the chaos within the Iron Blood Guard, Zhao Jing’s heart surged with an indescribable fury.
The First Prince hastily dropped to one knee. "Father King, please quell your anger. It is my failure to properly supervise my men that has caused you this worry. Please rest assured, Father King, that after this incident, I will manage the Iron Blood Guard with an iron fist and never allow such a thing to happen again. However, Father King, I was not aware of this particular matter. But I believe the Iron Blood Guard has always been rigorous in its duties. They likely brought Ye Xuan here simply to ascertain the facts, not necessarily to abuse their power."
At this moment, Zhao Feng could only plead ignorance and try to deflect blame from the Iron Blood Guard.
"Is that so?" Hearing the First Prince’s words, a flicker of disappointment showed in Zhao Jing’s eyes.
To think that Zhao Feng was still making excuses and shirking responsibility at a time like this. Zhao Jing’s opinion of him plummeted.
Just then, a subordinate came to report, "Your Majesty, the City Guard officers who first handled the case on the street have been brought here."
"Good. Let them in," Zhao Jing said in a frosty tone.
On his way over, he had already dispatched someone to the City Guard’s public security division, ordering them to bring over the officers who first handled the case.
"Your humble servant, Xuu Shang, pays his respects to Your Majesty, the First Prince, the Eighth Prince, and Grand Steward Chu."
The City Guard officers who had taken Ye Xuan from the street to the public security division walked in, trembling, led by Commander Xuu. They followed Xuu Shang’s lead and knelt.
"You are the City Guard officers who first handled this case?" Zhao Jing asked lightly, his voice carrying an indescribable authority that echoed through the dungeon.
"Replying to Your Majesty, yes... yes!"
This was the first time these City Guard officers had ever come face-to-face with the Monarch and so many other powerful figures of the kingdom. It was an unprecedented experience. They were so terrified their limbs turned to jelly, and they could barely remain kneeling.
"Do not be afraid. All of you, rise," Zhao Jing said calmly. "We have some questions for you. We want you to recount the initial events of this case, exactly as they happened."
"Your Majesty, everything we witnessed is in the official testimony. It’s all true. We... we..."
The City Guard officers stammered, their eyes darting about in terror. One of them couldn’t help but steal a glance at Commander Xuu.
Zhao Jing’s gaze turned frigid. He suddenly spoke in an icy voice, "Guards! Take Xuu Shang away. This man showed disrespect to an attendant of the Soul Master Tower, undermining the relationship between our kingdom and the Tower. Effective immediately, he is stripped of his position as commander of the public security division. Throw him in the dungeons to await sentencing!"
"Your Majesty, I’ve been wronged! I’m innocent!" Xuu Shang’s face went pale, and he collapsed to the floor. Before he could say another word, several Imperial Guards surrounded him and dragged him away.
"Alright. Now, can you speak freely?" Zhao Jing said. "Don’t bother telling Us about the official testimony. We don’t believe it. We do not care what pressure you were under or who threatened you; that is irrelevant now. We will be your advocate. All you must do is tell Us exactly what happened, without any embellishment. We want only the facts. We can guarantee that if you tell the truth, We will not hold your previous actions against you. However, if you dare to deceive Us, and We find out, your entire clan down to the ninth degree will be executed. There will be no leniency. Whether you live or die depends on your next words."
Zhao Jing’s words were a mix of reassurance and threat, a classic carrot-and-stick approach.
"Did you hear? His Majesty wants the truth."
THUD. Unable to withstand the pressure, the City Guard officers all dropped to their knees, kowtowing and weeping. "Your Majesty, it all happened on the street outside the Celestial Cauldron Commerce Association’s auction house. At the time..."
The City Guard captain recounted the entire sequence of events. He described Commander Long’s forceful intervention, the pressure from the two marquises to tamper with the testimony and find passersby to serve as false witnesses, Commander Fan’s attempts to argue for due process, and finally, how the Iron Blood Guard had ignored standard procedure to forcibly take the suspect into custody. He told them everything, just as it had happened.
In truth, by the time the officers had arrived, the conflict between Ye Xuan, Chen Ming, and Qin Tian had already ended. However, from the reactions of the onlookers, it was easy to judge who had initiated the fight and who had murderous intent.
Under the watchful eyes of Zhao Jing and so many other powerful figures, the City Guard officers dared not lie or conceal a single detail.
As soon as the officers finished speaking, the hall fell silent. At this point, even a fool could see who was in the right and who was in the wrong.
"Excellent. What a fine City Guard, what a fine public security division, and what a fine Iron Blood Guard," Zhao Jing began, his voice laced with venom. "What a wonderfully handled case. Tsk, tsk. The testimony, the procedure... all so impeccable, it’s almost as if it were real."
Zhao Jing held the falsified testimony from the public security division, so furious that he began to laugh.
If he had initially come to rescue Ye Xuan merely at the request of Hua Luoxuan, Kuchen, and Luo Zhan, now he was genuinely consumed by a burning rage.
’This is utter corruption, simply beyond belief,’ he thought. ’I can’t believe things have become this rotten right here in the Royal City, under my very nose. If it’s this bad here, I can only imagine what the rest of the kingdom looks like.’
’This is the kingdom of my Zhao clan.’
Seeing the Monarch’s expression, the First Prince, Zhao Feng, felt his eyebrow twitch uncontrollably.
As Zhao Jing’s eldest son, Zhao Feng knew his father better than anyone.
This look meant his father was truly, incandescently furious.
"You bastards! So you mobilized the Iron Blood Guard on your own authority to carry out a personal vendetta! If not for the Father King’s perspicacity, even I would have been kept in the dark! To think that men who so flagrantly disregard the law exist under my command... I must have been blind!"
Zhao Feng suddenly strode in front of Wang Dao and kicked him viciously. With the sound of cracking bones, Wang Dao coughed up a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground.
Then, he dropped to one knee again. "Father King, although I was unaware of this matter, these men are ultimately under my command. Therefore, I cannot escape responsibility for their crimes. I beg you to punish me."
Zhao Feng gritted his teeth, his face a mask of righteous indignation, as if he truly had been deceived and was now selflessly demanding punishment upon discovering the truth.
Zhao Jing watched this display and sighed softly.
Of all his sons, he had once held the highest hopes for the First Prince, Zhao Feng. Zhao Feng was decisive and resolute, possessing the temperament of a future king.
Combined with his outstanding talent, Zhao Jing had long intended to groom Zhao Feng as his successor. That was why when news reached him that Zhao Feng had established something called the Crown Prince Alliance at Profound Spirit Academy, he had merely laughed it off. He neither approved nor disapproved.
But Zhao Feng’s performance in this matter was a profound disappointment.
Zhao Jing couldn’t believe that even now, at this late stage, Zhao Feng was still trying to shirk responsibility and feign ignorance.
’Does he truly think that I, the Monarch, am blind?’
’Would a mere captain in the Iron Blood Guard truly dare to be so lawless without the First Prince’s order? To so arrogantly ignore an attendant of the Soul Master Tower?’
For the first time, Zhao Jing’s expectations for Zhao Feng plummeted to rock bottom.
He completely ignored Zhao Feng’s plea for punishment. His gaze fell upon Ye Xuan, and his attitude became sincere. "Master Ye Xuan, the truth has now come to light, and you have been wronged. As the Monarch of the Liuyun Kingdom, I bear an undeniable responsibility in this matter. I will not offer you mere apologies, as words are cheap. I will make you one promise: I will give you a satisfactory resolution to this affair."
Ye Xuan hadn’t expected Monarch Zhao Jing to come in person, let alone apologize to him.
He had been waiting for rescue, but he’d only expected Hua Luoxuan or Elder Kuchen to arrive. He never imagined that not only would they come, but they would be accompanied by the Monarch of the Liuyun Kingdom himself. The lineup was, to say the least, incredibly formidable.
Ye Xuan was quite impressed that a monarch would go to such lengths. Besides, while his time in the dungeon had been a hassle, he hadn’t actually suffered any real hardship.
