Chapter 887: They forced me!

She looked down and tried to hide her emotions. When she looked up again, her eyes as clear as a black gem seemed to be washed in water.

She bent her knees and bowed as her lips moved. “Thank you… Your Majesty!”

Shangguan You’s heart tingled as he stared at the woman below. Actually, he had once heard her voice when he was pretending to be unconscious.

At that time, he felt that this girl was a smart, cunning, and decisive woman. Even though she didn’t have a high status, she could still use all sorts of conditions to force Shangguan Wan in reverse and turn the situation to her advantage.

Now that they met, he realized she looked so… For some reason, he felt like he had seen her before.

He quickly scanned through his memories, but after much thinking, he discovered that he really hadn’t seen her before.

In this close to two-year period, he was basically sick and stuck in bed at Qingfeng Palace day and night.

He rarely even saw the other people in the palace, let alone someone like Chu Liuyue from outside Heaven’s Canopy.

It’s probably because her eyes look too similar to those of Yue’er… When Shangguan You thought of this, his heart ached as he looked at Chu Liuyue even more kindly. “I should thank you for doing so much for Yue’er. If you didn’t take the initiative to reinvestigate what happened back then, I’m afraid many people can still enjoy their lives for a while.”

When he said the latter half of his sentence, Shangguan You’s tone turned completely cold. Even though he didn’t reprimand them in a harsh tone, the low and stern nature of his voice was filled with the suppression of a ruler as it suffocated the people.

Everyone collectively fell silent in Lang Kun Hall, and they were as quiet as they could be.

“Yuwen, bring that letter to me.”

Upon hearing this, Yuwen Wei immediately acknowledged the order as he respectfully presented the letter to his superior.

Shangguan You opened it and examined it closely.

Xiahou Rong stood with his hands down as cold sweat kept breaking out. His heart beat crazily, and all the blood in his body surged up as if it were about to break through his earlobes!

Not long later, his entire back was already drenched!

It had just been a short while, but he felt that a year had passed! It was very torturous!

In this almost suffocating atmosphere, Shangguan You finally spoke. “I have never written this letter before.”

His light sentence was like thunder that struck the crowd’s hearts. He never wrote it before! This means that someone fabricated this letter!

Nobody answered, and the air seemed to freeze inch by inch.

Shangguan You looked at Xiahou Rong. “The letter is dated the third of July. That day, I was in the Imperial Study with Officer Xiahou discussing important matters. But for some reason, I felt very tired and asked Officer Xiahou to leave first while I went to the side room to rest. When I woke up again… It was already today.”

Gasps could be heard from the audience. Didn’t they say that His Majesty was heartbroken over the Princess’s death and received too much agitation in a short while, so he fell ill and couldn’t get up? So what His Majesty means is that he was already unconscious since the third of July? One has to know that the Princess died on the tenth of July!

At this point, everyone could tell what was wrong. Back then, someone clearly attacked His Majesty and caused him to fall unconscious and sleep without waking up. At the same time, the person fabricated this document and tricked the Thirteen Yue Guard to be deployed out of Xi Ling before taking the chance to harm the Princess!

It was already understood without saying who did this.

Other than Xiahou Rong—who was in the perfect position back then—who else could it be?

“Officer Xiahou, it seems like you didn’t leave the Imperial Study that day and did a lot of tricks.” Shangguan You looked down at Xiahou Rong from above as he whipped his sleeves lightly and threw the letter to Xiahou Rong. “Look at this! Did you write it?”

Xiahou Rong finally couldn’t take it anymore.

Putong!

He kneeled down! “Your Majesty, please check again! I was framed! I really didn’t do anything!”

As he regretted it in his heart, Xiahou Rong kept saying that he was wronged.

The reason he always kept the letter was to use it as evidence to control Jiang Yucheng. Even though they had done quite a few things together, they still didn’t trust each other very much. Hence, he left this item just in case. However, he never expected Chu Liuyue to find this item and even get His Majesty to identify it personally!

This time, I can never wash my reputation clean! If I had known about this earlier, I would’ve directly destroyed the secret letter back then!

In front of such concrete evidence, Xiahou Rong’s cries of debate seemed weak and useless.

“I seem to have heard Officer Xiahou swear in the name of the entire Xiahou Residence just now. You seem to have said that if you really betrayed me, the entire Xiahou Residence will not have a peaceful death…”

Xiahou Rong was suddenly stunned as intense uneasiness overwhelmed his heart! “Y-Your Majesty—”

“Officer Xiahou, I didn’t expect you to be so heartless to your own family…” said Shangguan You lightly as he shook his head. “I trusted the wrong person in the end.”

“Your Majesty, I didn’t! I really didn’t do anything to betray you! It’s a trap—someone must’ve framed me! Your Majesty, please check properly!” Xiahou Rong panicked as he anxiously went forward while kneeling.

But before he could reach the nine flights of stairs, Shangguan You already spoke. “Officer Xiahou Rong, your first crime is insubordination and attempting to assassinate me! Your second crime is the fabrication of a secret edict and lying to everyone! The punishments for the two crimes will be carried out together. Xiahou Rong will be stripped of his position as Grand Preceptor, and he will then become a slave. Tomorrow, he will be executed in front of the crowd at noon! Furthermore, everyone within three relations of the Xiahou family will also be sent to the borders to become slaves, regardless of their genders! They are never to return to Xi Ling in their lives!”

Every single word and phrase reverberated very clearly throughout the hall!

Xiahou Rong suddenly paused in his actions as he collapsed onto the floor in defeat. The last hint of blood on his face instantly disappeared!

At that moment, it was as if all the energy in his body had been sucked away. Even breathing became difficult for him. Oh no… Oh no! The moment this verdict came, the entire Xiahou family was exterminated! My wife, concubines, relatives, the old and the young… Being sent to the borders and becoming slaves is even more terrifying than directly being executed! It’s better to die than live!

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty, please show mercy! I’m begging you—please take the Xiahou family being loyal for more than a hundred years into account and forgive my wife, children, and the old and young.”

If the Xiahou family is ruined in my hands, I will become the sinner of the entire family!

Shangguan You looked at him with a deep gaze. “Xiahou Rong, you also know that the Xiahou family’s hundreds-of-years-long loyalty was destroyed in your hands!”

After so much talking, he deserved it!

Xiahou Rong collapsed onto the floor, and his heart became entirely cold.

“Bring him away!” Shangguan You waved his hands.

Just as the people beside were about to go forward, Xiahou Rong suddenly pointed at Jiang Yucheng harshly. He yelled with a contorted expression, “It’s him! He and the Third Princess were the ones who forced me to do this!”