Chapter Six: The Bloody Truth
Sun Feng’s expression suddenly changed, his fists clenching tightly without conscious thought.
This scene caught Lin Qian’s eye, but he only responded with a cold, sneering laugh, his voice growing sharper.
“Back then, who was it that shattered the Tianxin Glaze in the Juning Hall—was it you or me?”
The moment these words left his mouth, the entire West Conquest Prince’s Mansion fell into a heavy silence.
Li Hongfang hurriedly stepped forward, crossing her arms as she spoke, “This is an old matter with a settled verdict! His Majesty has already issued an edict, and you have been a penal servant in the Imperial Horse Guard for three years. What more do you want?”
“Oh? Madam, are you so indifferent to the truth?” Lin Qian’s lips curled into a thin, icy smile.
“What if I told you that His Majesty actually knows the truth? What would you think then?”
At once, everyone was dumbfounded.
What?
His Majesty actually knows who broke the Tianxin Glaze?
The Tianxin Glaze was a national treasure, said to be a relic from the time when Bodhidharma first brought the Dharma, embodying supreme authority and symbolizing the Way of Heaven.
Such a divine artifact shattered—no wonder the emperor was so enraged.
But then Lin Qian continued in a calm tone, “Back then, I brought you into the palace to show you the grandeur and splendor, as well as the court rituals you were to learn. His Majesty also issued an edict to see you.”
“Later, I was enjoying the blossoms in the Imperial Garden with Princess Anping, but the Tianxin Glaze was broken—and you were in the Juning Hall at that time!”
As he spoke, Lin Qian suddenly spun around.
Though he made no move, the oppressive aura radiating from him forced Sun Feng to step back twice.
Inwardly, Sun Feng thought: Once I marry Princess Anping on my wedding day, I will make sure to kill you…
“You’re talking nonsense!” Li Hongfang suddenly grew agitated.
She hurried forward and slapped Lin Qian’s cheek.
“Smack!”
Then she pointed at him, “You’re slandering your brother without cause! How could the West Conquest Prince’s Mansion raise such a traitor? We have wasted our efforts on you all these years!”
As Li Hongfang spoke, the room erupted into clamorous discussion.
Lin Qian suddenly laughed aloud.
“Madam, do you remember what I just said?”
Li Hongfang froze, then her face darkened.
He had just said the emperor knew the truth!
A trace of doubt flickered across her face, though she still feigned composure.
“You dare slander His Majesty and speculate on the emperor’s heart! Sun Qian, do you know what crime this is?”
Lin Qian narrowed his eyes and smiled faintly, then glanced toward someone in the mansion.
This person was a distant branch of the West Conquest Prince’s family—a young man named Sun Yi, who had joined the Left Guard three years ago and served as a Yulin Guard.
“Sun Yi, three years ago you served under the Yulin Guards. Tell everyone how strict the palace’s inner guards are.”
Sun Yi stepped forward and respectfully cupped his fists, “Aunt! The palace has twelve inner guards. Besides the Left and Right Martial Guards, the Left and Right We Guards, and the Imperial City Division, His Majesty also commands two rarely seen units.”
“One is the Crane Control Guard, the other the Brocade-Clad Guards!”
As Sun Yi uttered these names, everyone’s faces changed.
The Crane Control Guard oversaw crimes within the imperial family, conducting interrogations and supervision under the Department of Imperial Clan Affairs.
The Brocade-Clad Guards were directly controlled by the emperor himself, empowered to inspect officials, and responsible for intelligence gathering and secret messages.
After speaking, Sun Yi bowed and returned to his place, furtively glancing at Lin Qian.
Lin Qian waved his hand lightly and added, “The Juning Hall is His Majesty’s daily residence. Even the rooftop ridge beasts have Brocade-Clad Guards perched on them. Whoever steps into the Imperial City is watched by countless eyes.”
He then walked up to Sun Feng, examining him with interest.
“Don’t you feel that?”
Sun Feng broke out in a cold sweat.
If that was true…
Then the emperor had known all along that he was the one who accidentally shattered the Tianxin Glaze!
This was a crime that could bring destruction to his entire family!
Breaking the sacred relic of the dynasty, yet escaping from the Juning Hall—had he not handed the emperor his own noose?
“You’re talking nonsense! His Majesty could never…”
At that moment, Princess Anping Ye Qingyan, who had been tightly biting her lip and silent until now, spoke softly, “What he said is true. I have seen the Brocade-Clad Guards many times since childhood in the palace.”
“The emperor’s private chambers surely have no fewer than four Brocade-Clad Guards.”
Her words stunned everyone into silence.
They could hardly believe what they had just heard.
Only now did Li Hongfang finally comprehend.
So, the emperor had known the truth all along!
Then why had…
Suddenly, Li Hongfang’s pupils constricted in disbelief.
A wave of terror swept over her.
“His Majesty… is intending to…”
Once she connected all the dots, her heart bled.
The emperor’s turning a blind eye was never for the sake of the heir of the West Conquest Prince.
It was for the West Conquest Prince’s Mansion itself!
“Nonsense! You’re talking nonsense! His Majesty would never treat us like this—it’s impossible!”
“Are you saying His Majesty allowed your crime to be forgiven and let Sun Feng become the heir just so he could control the military power in the hands of the prince? Has our West Conquest Prince’s Mansion truly become a thorn in the emperor’s side?”
At this, Li Hongfang utterly disregarded imperial decrees and dignity.
She threw all these accusations out in a rush.
But the next moment, Lin Qian raised a finger to his lips and made a shushing gesture.
“Madam, what crime is it to slander His Majesty and speculate on the emperor’s heart?”
“Don’t use these old rules to scare me!”
Speaking of the family—the vast lineage that had stood firm in the dynasty for nearly a century—Li Hongfang glanced at the many relatives of the West Conquest Prince’s Mansion, numbering more than a hundred.
From the moment Lin Qian revealed that the emperor knew the truth, she understood in an instant.
No matter how cunning this family’s schemes, they could not outmatch the emperor’s sovereign will.
If the heir of the West Conquest Prince’s Mansion—one who had never been to war and was even unfamiliar with archery and horsemanship—was simply allowed to take his place, it would effectively weaken the power of one of the four great generals’ houses.