Chapter 378
With a single question, Prime Minister Su had managed to create a silence outside the Palace doors.
The eunuchs and palace maids did not even dare to raise their heads. There had been too much happening within the Palace today.
For starters, the Empress had been secretly banished to the Cold Palace by the Retired Emperor after her arrival.
And now, Prime Minister Su was here to question the Third Prince.
The entire flavor of Prime Minister Su’s words were undoubtedly directed to the idea that His Highness wanted to instigate a rebellion.
Baili Jia Jue glanced at him briefly in the same indifference that was somewhat cocky in manner. “What do you think I, the Prince am hiding?”
Despite Prime Minister Su being experienced in the nuances of the court, he still could not tell what this Prince who had kept them on their toes for so long was trying to do. Was it not obvious what the issue was now that it was laid out before them? Why was he asking himself what he was hiding?
Instinctively, Prime Minister Su felt that this matter did not seem as simple as it looked and was already thinking about saying something.
Yet, just as he was about to do so, he heard Su Yan Mo speaking beside him in a somewhat pleasant tone, “The private manufacture of weapons is in itself a great crime of rebellion. I do not know why Your Highness is so intent on covering for the instigator that Your Highness has rushed to destroy the evidence and has spared no one by arresting even the court officials. However, I merely beg that the Retired Emperor can look upon this matter justly and fairly so that the innocents are released.”
“Covering for the instigator?” Baili Jia Jue curled his lips ever so slightly as he laughed coldly.
Su Yan Mo shivered subconsciously without even knowing why.
However, she continued firmly, pinning the crime on Helian Wei Wei, “I know that Wei Wei is Your Highness’ Third Princess Consort but this child was raised by me and I have treated her well enough on a daily basis so I too hesitated on whether to come forth to seek audience with the Retired Emperor when this matter occurred. After all, she is the only remnant I have left of my elder sister. Yet, even so, the crime she has committed this time is not something that can be settled with a simple apology. No matter who it was who made her produce this batch of weapons, she cannot escape from her punishment!”
Following Su Yan Mo’s words, the look in Baili Jia Jue’s eyes had already reached the freezing point.
Eunuch Sun fully believed that if the Retired Emperor was not here, His Highness would have killed Madam Su with his two bare hands without even spilling a drop of blood.
Helian Wei Wei laughed out loud as she walked to stand before Su Yan Mo. “Let’s leave the issue of whether I am really guilty aside because I have a question for both you and Prime Minister Su now. What are we going to do about the fact that your people captured Little Seven? Hmm?”
“All of this was a misunder…” Su Yan Mo still wanted to explain.
However, Helian Wei Wei put her long sword in front of her with a loud clang!
With a tremble, Su Yan Mo held back what she intended to say abruptly.
On the other hand, Helian Wei Wei was smiling at her with waves of unmasked violence rolling in her smile. “Madam Su, please don’t tell me that it’s all a misunderstanding. Little Seven is a Prince, do you think he’s someone that you can simply arrest as you wish?”
Su Yan Mo was stunned by Helian Wei Wei’s words and got the feeling that whatever she said would be a wrong answer.
Prime Minister Su reacted quickly, “I think the Princess Consort seems to have misunderstood. The person who arrested the Seventh Prince is Li Meng, not the Su family.”
“Oh, is it?” Helian Wei Wei smiled and turned her head to meet Prime Minister Su’s eyes. “So according to what you’ve said, does that mean that the fact that Li Meng went to the siheyuan had nothing to do with you all? Am I right? But then, Prime Minister Su, how would you intend to justify the fact that Li Meng has close connections with the Su family?”
This question had put Prime Minister Su in a tight spot, making him think to himself if he had really underestimated this b*tch. Clenching his fist, he replied calmly, “Li Meng is a distant relative of our Su family, but this doesn’t prove anything.”
“So Prime Minister Su, you mean to say that you were all unaware that Li Meng went to investigate my siheyuan?” Helian Wei Wei’s voice was cold.
Su Yan Mo was struck guilty by her questioning, but at this point in time, how could she ever admit that she knew everything?
Still, Prime Minister Su was not foolish, he saw past the coincidences and knew for sure that Li Meng had investigated that siheyuan on the orders of his daughter.
“Now that the matter has progressed thus far, are the animosity-filled questions posed by the Third Princess Consort to us only because we are kneeling before the Retired Emperor, seeking for His Majesty to charge you for your guilt?” Prime Minister Su replied indifferently with his own question and without waiting for Helian Wei Wei to answer him, he turned confidently toward the Retired Emperor and asked in his deep voice, “There is no need to say anymore, the matter is entirely up to the discretion of His Majesty.”
Hearing this, Helian Wei Wei laughed, “I’ve always admired Prime Minister Su’s ability to bullshit since I was a little girl. Since the start, you’ve been saying that Li Meng didn’t know that the siheyuan he entered into was mine, but what a shame that Li Meng has already confessed everything.” Taking out the written confession, she continued, “On here, it’s written in detail of how Li Meng found out about the siheyuan outside the city and how he entered the siheyuan despite knowing it belonged to me to arrest my people and seize the property!”
As soon as Su Yan Mo saw the written confession, her face paled and she almost fainted as she scolded Li Meng internally for not being able to hold out longer since it had only been around four to six hours.
At this point, the self-assured Prime Minister Su had also panicked. It seemed as though the matter had spiraled out of his control. Most interrogations undertaken by the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs would have taken up to one or two days to come up with results.
How could it be so fast this time?
“Eunuch Sun.” The Retire Emperor who had been quiet all this while finally spoke, but his voice echoed with dangerous undertones of a coming storm, “Let Prime Minister Su see for himself what’s written on the confession!”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Eunuch Sun responded obediently and brought the written confession before Prime Minister Su.
Prime Minister Su felt as though he had been slapped in public and without a single look at the written confession, he kowtowed against the floor with a loud bang, “Your Majesty, no matter what the Su family has done or seen, we did it all for the greater peace of the city! That siheyuan was right outside the city; if nobody had investigated it, the large amounts of weapons there would have one day been a threat to Your Majesty’s safety! I, your humble official, ask nothing but this question. What is the purpose of the Third Princess Consort mass-producing weapons privately?”
Prime Minister was calculative and sly, he had left it to the end of his statement to pin the guilt onto Helian Wei Wei. After all, they were all outside the doors of the Palace, hence, she would not be able to just brush past this matter under the noses of the public.
However, it came as a surprise when the person who answered him was the Retired Emperor. With a voice that was devoid of all warmth, he said, “The weapons that Wei Wei developed this time were for the purpose of defending against foreign enemies. She did so under my command.”
Hearing this, Prime Minister Su’s legs had already failed him and were trembling violently. All his previous guesses and calculations were proved wrong with just this answer and nothing would help him now.
This was the first time since his many years as a court official that he learned the taste of regret where his body was so stiff that he could not even move his fingers.
On the other hand, the color drained from Su Yan Mo’s face completely. Her first reaction was that she was doomed. Everything was over…