429: Chapter 439 The Golden Palace (Part 2)

"Hehe..."

A very soft sneer broke the deathly silence in the Golden Throne Hall.

The evidence was as solid as a mountain!

At this moment, even the die-hard officials of Marquis Yongchang's faction could not utter a single word of rebuttal. Embezzling military pay could still be excused as "poor management" or "accounting oversights." But how could this massive amount of gold from an enemy nation, arriving at such a coincidental time, be explained?!

Everyone's eyes were focused on Marquis Yongchang.

However, to everyone's surprise...

The ashen look on Marquis Yongchang's face actually began to fade slowly. He even... let out another cold laugh.

In that laughter was a hint of disdain, a hint of mockery, and a hint of... bone-chilling desolation.

He didn't look at Xu Qing, nor did he look at those civil officials glaring at him. Instead, he turned around to face the Dragon Throne again. That back, which had always been held straight, seemed to stoop slightly and imperceptibly at this moment.

"Your Majesty."

His voice was no longer aggressive as before; instead, it became exceptionally calm—terrifyingly calm.

"Merchants seeking profit is something that has existed since ancient times. A Northern Mang caravan came to our Daxing to do business. They valued the reputation of the bank under my son's name and were willing to deposit their wealth there. Is that also a crime? For Lord Xu to slap the label of 'colluding with the enemy' on this Marquis based solely on a single commercial transaction... isn't that a bit too far-fetched?"

He paused, then his tone shifted, suddenly taking on a heart-palpitating meaningfulness.

"If judged by this crime, then anyone who has had contact with Northern Mang merchants is a traitor. Is Lord Xu intending to implicate nine generations of their families?"

He slowly raised his head, looking intently at the Emperor on the Dragon Throne. His gaze was incredibly complex. There was grievance, unwillingness, and anger, but more than anything, there was a desolation of being betrayed.

"Your Majesty."

He suddenly lifted the hem of his court robes and knelt on both knees on the cold, hard tiles of the Golden Throne Hall, performing a formal bow of a subject to his sovereign that was as standard as could be.

"I, Chen 愓, joined the army at seventeen and have donned armor and wielded weapons for Daxing for thirty-four years now. In my life, I have fought in seventy-three battles, large and small, and sustained eighteen wounds from blades and arrows. I have guarded the northern border for Your Majesty, holding the Northern Mang barbarians firmly outside the Heavenly Chasm Pass for twenty years, making them not dare to take a single step south!"

"I ask myself, in these thirty years, I have given my all for Your Majesty and for Daxing, never harboring the slightest disloyalty!"

His voice echoed in the vast hall, every word sounding like the clanging of metal and stone, carrying the weight of blood and fire.

"Now that I am old, I never expected to be framed by a petty person and end up with the fate of 'colluding with the enemy and betraying the country'."

"So be it!"

He suddenly took out a Tiger Tally from his robes, forged entirely of black iron and carved with a tiger totem, holding it high with both hands.

"This is the Tiger Tally that mobilizes the three hundred thousand troops of the Northern Border! Today, I return it to Your Majesty!"

"If Your Majesty does not trust me, I... am willing to hand over all military power right now, retire to my fields, and return to my hometown! From now on, I will not involve myself in court affairs and will simply be a wealthy old man!"

"I only beg Your Majesty, for the sake of my thirty years of service—even if there is no merit, there is hard work—to leave a way out for Marquis Yongchangs Estate!"

As his words fell, he heavily kowtowed three times toward the Dragon Throne.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The entire Golden Throne Hall was deathly silent.

Everyone was stunned by this sudden move from Marquis Yongchang.

Retreating to advance!

This was no confession; it was clearly... the most blatant threat!

With the Tiger Tally in hand, half of the military was composed of his people. If he retired, who could keep the three hundred thousand troops of the Northern Border in check? Who could command them? With the Northern Mang army pressing at the borders, changing generals on the eve of battle is a cardinal sin in military strategy!

He was gambling with the safety of the entire Northern Border and the fate of Daxing, betting that the Emperor would not dare to move against him!

In an instant, everyone's hearts leaped into their throats.

Everyone's eyes turned to the silent monarch on the Dragon Throne.

In the Golden Throne Hall, the atmosphere froze to the breaking point.

Marquis Yongchang's Tiger Tally was like a red-hot branding iron placed before the Emperor and the assembled officials, scorching everyone into silence.

This was a high-stakes gamble.

Marquis Yongchang was betting on the prestige accumulated from thirty years of military merit, the loyalty of the three hundred thousand troops of the Northern Border, and the fact that the Emperor would not dare to cut off his own arm while the Northern Mang army was at the gates.

On the Dragon Throne, no expression could be seen on the face of the Son of Heaven of Great Xing. He just quietly watched the kneeling Marquis Yongchang, his deep eyes as calm as a dark abyss, making it impossible to see what he was thinking.

Time seemed to stretch infinitely at this moment.

Within the great hall, only the heavy and suppressed breathing of the officials remained.

At an angle no one noticed, the corner of Marquis Yongchang's mouth curled up slightly. He knew he had won the gamble.

However, at that very moment...

Xu Qing, who had stood as still as a statue from beginning to end, moved again.

He took a deep breath, as if using all his strength.

Then, under the astonished, confused, and even pitying gazes of everyone, he took out the third and final dossier from the deepest part of his wide sleeves.

This dossier was very thin, just a folded piece of paper made of a special material.

But the moment Xu Qing unfolded it, the smile that had just appeared on Marquis Yongchang's lips instantly froze. In those eyes, once full of confidence and control, a trace of true, heartfelt... terror appeared for the first time!

"Your Majesty!"

Xu Qing's voice was no longer as cold as before, but instead carried a sense of relief and the determination of a long-awaited revenge about to be fulfilled.

"I impeach Marquis Yongchang for his third crime: colluding with evil cultivators to refine corpse puppets, intending to overthrow the state and poison the world!"

Colluding with evil cultivators?!

These four words were heavier and more taboo than all the previous charges combined!

"Nonsense!" Marquis Yongchang roared almost instinctively. "Xu Qing, you're spouting slander!"

Xu Qing ignored him and simply held the piece of paper in his hand high.

"This is a copy of a secret letter from the External Affairs Department of the Yunyin Sect, delivered to me through special channels! The letter clearly records all the details of the transactions between Marquis Yongchang and an unidentified Black-Robed Man!"

"This includes you, Marquis, providing the remains of fallen soldiers of the Daxing Kingdom to the Black-Robed Man as Materials for refining 'corpse puppets'! It also includes the Black-Robed Man's promise to help your 'Blood Riders' crush Northern Mang and even... replace Daxing!"