Chapter 312: Accusing Me of Treasonous Loyalty, Deserving of Death!
“Imperial Uncle, do you have any evidence?” the Empress asked.
She couldn’t help but feel a bit worried. Could it be that the Prince of Southern Jiang truly managed to catch a hold of evidence against her?
How should she help Lin Beifan bluff his way through this?
The Prince of Southern Jiang removed his dragon robe and took out two crumpled pieces of paper from a hidden sleeve. With a fierce glare at Lin Beifan, he spoke with a triumphant tone, “Your Majesty, please take a look. These are the methods for crafting two major divine artifacts that Lin Beifan, this treacherous thief, sold to me! It’s undoubtedly written by Lin Beifan himself. Just one look and it’s clear whether it’s true or false!”
“Present them,” the Empress commanded.
After a moment, she opened the two pieces of paper presented by the eunuch and carefully examined them.
What was once a concern had completely dissipated!
With a cheerful smile, she passed the papers down through the eunuch. “Esteemed ministers, here is the evidence from Imperial Uncle. Take a look! And Lin Beifan, you as well!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
The officials took turns reading, glancing at Lin Beifan and then at the Prince of Southern Jiang, shaking their heads one after another.
A sense of foreboding arose within the Prince of Southern Jiang. “What is the meaning of this?”
Soon, the papers returned to the Empress’s hands. She smiled and asked, “Regarding Imperial Uncle’s evidence, what do you esteemed ministers think?”
First came the Minister of Works, Wang Rushui, stepping forward respectfully. “Reporting to Your Majesty, these two methods of creation are indeed for the Great Air Balloon and Air Cushion Ship. There are some minor differences, however. If we are to determine Lord Lin’s guilt based solely on these pieces of evidence, I, as an official, cannot agree!”
“Why is that?” the Empress asked with a smile.
“Because the handwriting on these two pieces of evidence is completely different from Lord Lin’s!” Wang Rushui said solemnly. “Lord Lin’s writing is not only neat and dignified, it carries a righteous aura that is pleasant and delightful. I quite admire it!”
“But the handwriting on these two methods appears delicate and slender. While they still look good, they are simply not written by Lord Lin!”
“Therefore, using this evidence, it’s impossible to determine Lord Lin’s guilt!”
The officials nodded in agreement.
“Yes, the handwriting is completely different!”
“It’s clearly not Lord Lin’s writing. How can we pin Lord Lin’s guilt on this?”
“It’s possibly forged, and there’s simply not enough reason to believe it!”
…
The Prince of Southern Jiang was losing his composure. “This can’t be!”
The Empress smiled, her eyes shining. “Imperial Uncle, nothing is impossible! I, along with the entire court of civil and military officials, have seen Lord Lin’s writing. We can recognize it at a glance! Yes means yes, no means no. How could we possibly mistake it? Imperial Uncle, you’ve gone too far, deliberately producing false evidence to frame my beloved Lord Lin?”
Lin Beifan immediately stepped forward and bowed. “Your wisdom, Your Majesty, and the insight of esteemed ministers!”
Watching Lin Beifan’s smug expression, the Prince of Southern Jiang was boiling with rage. “I still have evidence!”
“Imperial Uncle, do you have more evidence?” the Empress inquired.
Once again, the Prince of Southern Jiang carefully extracted a small pouch from his dragon robe.
When the pouch was opened, it revealed white powder inside.
“What is this?” the Empress asked curiously.
Holding the pouch with great care, the Prince of Southern Jiang said, “This is dragon bone! This is what I acquired from Lin Beifan at a great price! I had more, but I exchanged the rest for food, leaving only this small amount!”
As soon as the words “dragon bone” were uttered, the entire court, civil and military, became agitated.
This was a divine item, something priceless and invaluable. Many people dreamed of possessing it; it could even grant eternal life!
“Present it,” the Empress ordered.
Looking at the seemingly ordinary white powder before her, the Empress blinked slightly and asked, “Imperial Uncle, this dragon bone looks just like flour. How do you prove that it’s really dragon bone?”
“This…” the Prince of Southern Jiang faltered.
How could he prove the authenticity of such a divine item?
The best way would be for it to exhibit miraculous properties, but he had no idea how to do that!
With a clever idea, he said, “I once took the same dragon bone to exchange for food with the Great Yan Kingdom! If it wasn’t real dragon bone, would they have accepted the trade? Would they have been willing to trade?”
The Empress chuckled softly, shaking her head. “Imperial Uncle, this argument of yours is simply not credible! How did the Great Yan Kingdom authenticate this as true dragon bone? They don’t possess dragon bone! Moreover, they are an enemy state, their words cannot be trusted!”
“Oh, well…” the Prince of Southern Jiang stammered.
“Fine, even if this is genuine dragon bone, how do you prove that Lord Lin gave it to you?” the Empress continued.
The Prince of Southern Jiang anxiously said, “At that time, the only person who had access to the dragon bone was Lin Beifan! If this is genuine dragon bone and didn’t come from him, who else could it come from?”
The Empress shook her head. “Imperial Uncle, your argument is nothing more than reckless accusation! While it’s true that Lin Beifan had the best opportunity to get close to the dragon bone, aside from him, there were tens of thousands guarding it, all of whom had the chance to obtain it! Just consider the court officials. Many of them have some…”
Court officials coughed awkwardly.
“So, Imperial Uncle, with this unverified white powder, which might not even be dragon bone, you want to falsely accuse my beloved Lord Lin. It’s simply a baseless claim!”
“Your wisdom, Your Majesty!” Lin Beifan proclaimed loudly.
Seeing Lin Beifan’s arrogant demeanor, the Prince of Southern Jiang was infuriated once again.
“I still have evidence! Over these past two years, in order to win over Lin Beifan, I’ve given him numerous rare treasures, like the Three Treasure Jade Ruyi and the Nine-Dragon True Gold Coffin…”
The Prince of Southern Jiang listed off a bunch of precious items. “There were simply too many! A search of his residence would undoubtedly yield them, providing enough evidence to incriminate him!”
The Empress fell silent for a moment and then said, “I haven’t heard of most of these treasures! However, I am familiar with the Three Treasure Jade Ruyi and the Nine-Dragon True Gold Coffin. They are definitely not in Lord Lin’s possession!”
“Ah? Why?” the Prince of Southern Jiang was dumbfounded.
“Because these two treasures are in my possession! Quickly bring out these two treasures, let Imperial Uncle take a look!” the Empress ordered.
After a moment, the eunuchs brought forward the two treasures.
One was a jade ruyi carved entirely from jade, glistening and translucent, appearing like a dream.
The other was the Nine-Dragon True Gold Coffin, a small coffin entirely crafted from gold, engraved with nine intertwining true dragons, exuding an extraordinary sense of dignity.
“Imperial Uncle, take a look. Are these the two treasures you have?”
Staring with wide eyes, the Prince of Southern Jiang couldn’t believe it. “Indeed, they are identical. How are they in your possession?”
With a smiling glance, the Empress explained, “These were brought as tribute by an envoy from a minor kingdom! They claim to have acquired them at an auction in their country and spent a fortune to obtain them. They offered them to me as a tribute!”
“Ah? How could this be?” the Prince of Southern Jiang was dumbfounded once more.
After pondering for a moment, he tried to argue, “Perhaps Lin Beifan acquired them there and intended to fence them!”
The Empress shook her head. “Imperial Uncle, you’re going too far! That minor kingdom is over 2000 miles away from the capital. The journey is extremely distant! Since Lin Beifan entered the court as an official, he has mostly stayed in the capital. The few times he left were for official missions, each time hurriedly departing and returning. He never had the chance to travel over 2000 miles to that minor kingdom!”
“He didn’t go, so he could have sent someone else…”
“Your claim is even more baseless! Lin Beifan comes from a common background, he has no influence. Since becoming an official, he has remained reclusive and stringent on himself. He hasn’t developed any factions, nor can anyone manipulate him. You say he would find others, but who could he possibly find?”
Lin Beifan declared loudly, “Your wisdom, Your Majesty!”
Amused internally, he thought, with Bai Guanyin and her backing, helping to fence these items, you won’t find any dirt on me.
“So, Imperial Uncle, all your arguments lack foundation, insufficient to convince anyone! Or rather, you are attempting to falsely accuse my loyal and righteous minister, and such intent is deserving of death!” The Empress spoke loudly, her tone laden with discontent.
Once more, she turned her gaze to Lin Beifan, her heart aching as she said, “Beloved minister, you’ve suffered grievances! I’m gifting you these two treasures as compensation on behalf of Imperial Uncle. You must accept them, don’t refuse!”
Lin Beifan was taken aback. After going through this ordeal, the treasures had now circled back to his possession, and in a perfectly legitimate manner!
What a beautiful turn of events!
With tears of gratitude, Lin Beifan said, “Thank you, Your Majesty. I shall serve wholeheartedly and give my all until my last breath!”
Meanwhile, the Prince of Southern Jiang was furious!
After all that effort, they hadn’t managed to implicate him, and now he was lawfully the owner of my two treasures? Where’s the justice in this?
“I still have evidence…” he insisted.
Impatiently, the Empress waved her hand. “Take him away. I don’t want to hear any more!”
Two palace guards stepped forward to escort the Prince of Southern Jiang away.
He struggled and shouted.
“I refuse to leave! I have something to say!”
“Lin Beifan is truly a traitorous rebel! As long as he’s around, Great Wu will never know peace, it’s doomed!”
“Your Majesty, if you still consider me your Imperial Uncle, you better apprehend him!”
“Otherwise, Great Wu will definitely perish in his hands! Perish in his hands!”
“You’ll regret not capturing him! You’ll definitely regret it!!!”
…
Once again, the Empress waved her hand. “Take him away immediately. I don’t want to see him anymore!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
The Prince of Southern Jiang was lifted up like a piglet and carried out.
As he watched the distant Hall of Golden Chimes, he mustered all his strength to shout, “Inept ruler! Great Wu will surely meet its end under your reign!”
The Prince of Southern Jiang was eventually led away, his voice fading into nothingness.
Once more, the Empress looked at Lin Beifan, a hint of apology in her tone. “Beloved minister, Imperial Uncle has no future left, so he’s hysterical and biting back at you. Don’t take his words to heart, he’s trying to sow discord between us.”
“Your Majesty speaks truly. I will definitely not take his words to heart! How could the words of a rebellious subject shake the rapport and bond between us?” Lin Beifan said with a smile.
“Well said! Let us work together, minister and sovereign, to rebuild Great Wu!” The Empress exclaimed loudly.
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Lin Beifan bowed.
Like this series? Also read My Incompetent Reign: Gifting the Kingdom at the Beginning, Becoming an Eternal Emperor by the same author.
