Chapter Forty-Six: A New Game of Cards

"If Your Majesty grants permission, this humble official, Chief Censor Geng Sheng, will certainly investigate this case to the very bottom and bring the truth to light!"

"I second the motion!"

"I second it as well!"

Watching the court officials who defied death to stand up and speak on behalf of Sun Ye, the Prince of Western Pacification, Emperor Baoqing felt no pang of guilt, yet his internal fury had reached its absolute breaking point.

"The treason of the Prince of Western Pacification is already an established fact! Were it not for the Prince of Northern Pacification and the Prince of Baiyue, I fear he would have already marched upon the capital and seated himself upon my dragon throne!"

Imperial power has always been thus.

To declare someone a traitor requires merely an excuse, not actual evidence.

"Your Majesty, the Prince of Western Pacification..."

"Enough, enough! The Prince of Western Pacification is already dead; what is left to investigate?"

"Even if you were to investigate until blossoms bloom from barren ground, could he possibly be resurrected? The Estate of the Prince of Western Pacification has always been arrogant and overbearing, to the point that even their household slaves possess boundless wealth. Do not assume I am ignorant of these matters!"

The resentment in Emperor Baoqing's eyes was profound, and the temples of his hair had already turned a stark, pale grey.

He had endured the Estate of the Prince of Western Pacification for far too long.

Now, having finally achieved his heart's desire and reduced the estate to ashes, he felt nothing but boundless exhilaration!

As the saying goes, "Who would allow another to snore peacefully beside their couch?" The more powerful the estate grew, the more uneasy he, the emperor, became.

At last, he would be able to sleep soundly tonight!

"My beloved ministers need say no more! I know that there may be hidden circumstances behind the affair of the Prince of Western Pacification. Yet I have not imposed any punishment upon his estate; instead, I shall permit his heir to inherit the title of the Prince of Western Pacification!"

Rebellion and the succession of a peerage have never occurred simultaneously.

Emperor Baoqing's meaning was crystal clear: the Prince of Western Pacification was dead, but the more than one hundred members of his household were still alive.

Should the officials continue to press him aggressively, not even the rest of the estate's residents would be spared!

The imperial court fell into a pin-drop silence, the ministers struck dumb with awe.

Never had any of them imagined that solely due to a fabricated charge of "treason," this century-old Estate of the Prince of Western Pacification would be erased from existence in such a manner.

Especially regarding the heir, Sun Feng.

His conduct in the capital over the past three years was known to all, and no one was ignorant of his true character.

Most importantly, allowing such a profligate wastrel, unskilled in the traditional six arts, to ascend to the position of the Prince of Western Pacification was tantamount to fundamentally severing any possibility of the century-old military lineage ever rising again.

"Men, transmit my decree to the Estate ofয়ন the Prince of Western Pacification: let the heir, Sun Feng, inherit the title! Inform them further that the prince was deceived by villains into committing such wicked acts, and that my sparing the rest of the household is already an act of supreme benevolence. From this day forth, aside from the direct bloodline, all other members of the estate shall be relocated back to their ancestral homes!"

***

These people could no longer be permitted to remain in the imperial capital.

After all, among them were quite a few who felt deep gratitude toward Sun Ye, not to mention many righteous and chivalrous souls.

Deprived of military power and placed under the rigorous surveillance of the Capital Imperial City Directorate, every single move of the Prince of Western Pacification would undoubtedly be reported to the emperor at all times.

When the imperial decree reached the estate, the entire household could hardly conceal their grief.

Yet there was one person who knelt to receive the decree with a crooked, trembling smile of absolute excitement!

That person was none other than Sun Feng!

"I say, Prince of Western Pacification, rise to your feet. His Majesty has not held your entire household accountable, and permitting these collateral branches to leave is merely to ensure you are no longer misled by villains. Why don't you kowtow and thank His Majesty for his sacred grace?"

"His Majesty is truly a supreme sage of the millennium and a benevolent ruler. That your estate has escaped punishment today is entirely due to His Majesty's magnanimity!"

Hearing these diplomatic platitudes, Sun Feng hurriedly stuck out his backside and prostrated himself upon the ground, shouting out long life to the emperor.

"This subject, Sun Feng, thanks Your Majesty for your boundless grace!"

Just as the decree was received, a loud "clatter" echoed through the hall.

The Dowager Princess, leaning upon her dragon-headed walking staff, emerged from the inner courtyard. Though her steps were faltering, she forced herself to walk swiftly into the front hall.

Seeing the more than one hundred members of her household kneeling upon the floor, darkness clouded her vision, and she felt a wave of dizziness.

She slammed her dragon-headed staff fiercely against the floor, her voice trembling and unstable.

"You... all of you..."

"You spineless wretches, all of you, stand up!"

"Grand-grandmo..."

Sun Feng held the imperial decree in his hands, looking toward the elder who held absolute authority within the household.

At this moment, the Dowager Princess's eyes brimmed with tears, consumed by fury.

"When the emperor decided to wield the butcher's knife against our estate, had he forgotten that my late husband saved the former emperor twelve times?"

"Without those twelve brushes with death, how could there even be the present emperor today?"

"I would like to ask: what crime did my son Sun Ye actually commit? Since it is claimed he rebelled, where is the solid evidence?"

"Since the rebellion has supposedly been suppressed by the Princes of Baiyue and Northern Pacification, let the Prince of Northern Pacification be brought before me so that I may question him face-to-face regarding military strategy!"

"Could it be that they take me for a mere woman, ignorant of military campaigns and arrays!"

Her words were stirring and resounding.

Every single person in the estate lifted their heads.

Only Sun Feng kept his gaze lowered.

***

Even the eunuch was frightened by the Dowager Princess's imposing aura, his shrill voice trembling with fear.

"Elder Princess, Sun Ye was deceived by villains, a fact His Majesty perceived long ago. Had it not been so, how could His Majesty have exercised such thunderous measures?"

"Furthermore, that your entire household remains safe and sound today is something for which you should be grateful to His Majesty's sagely benevolence!"

"Bah!"

Before the eunuch could finish, the Dowager Princess spat directly into his face.

"All members of this household who hold noble titles or imperial honors, follow me into the palace!"

Only then did everyone notice that today, the Dowager Princess was arrayed in the golden phoenix robe of the Princess Consort of Western Pacification.

Without the Estate of the Prince of Western Pacification, how could this glorious realm have come to be?

"Let us go!"

The grand procession surged toward the imperial city.

Emperor Baoqing was gripped by a splitting headache, grinding his teeth within the palace. "What on earth is Sun Feng doing?! How could he let them cause such an uproar?"

"Quickly, have him stop them! I—I refuse to see them! Tell them I am ill, I will not see them!"

Even as he spoke, Sun Feng abruptly dropped to his knees outside the palace gates with a heavy thud.

"Your Majesty, this subject has sinned! I will go at once to stop my grandmother, to stop them..."

Sooner said than done, Sun Feng knelt outside the grand imperial hall in full view of everyone.

"Grandmother! Are you trying to bring about the utter destruction of the Estate of the Prince of Western Pacification?"

"If you insist on entering the palace to see the emperor, my peerage will be stripped away, and the entire estate will be implicated. By then, it will be too late for regrets!"

Tears streaming down his face, Sun Feng once again played the part of an innocent victim.

The Dowager Princess's body stiffened.

Her son's fate had already been sealed in death, and the hundred thousand elite troops under the estate's banner had been reduced to ashes.

What meaning was left for such an estate to exist?

Another day, the butcher's knife would fall again, leading the entire household inevitably to ruin.

It was only a pity that the person before her had long been blinded by titles and glory, failing to see the path ahead and remaining foolish to such an extreme degree!