The arrogant imperial concubine arrives, the favorite of the regent

Even if the emperor racked his brains, he couldn't fathom what Ye Xiaohan was thinking, let alone realize what secret Ye Xiaohan was hiding from him.

Now that things have come to this, we can only deal with the immediate priorities first. The Emperor frowned impatiently and said coldly, "Consort Liang, this matter will be discussed later."

Consort Liang and the Third Prince felt their hearts sink instantly. Although they weren't being punished now, the consequences would come sooner or later!

The Third Prince was heartbroken. He had sent people to clean up the traces of Consort Liang's past crimes, but today the Night King and his wife exposed her crimes, and Consort Yu and the Fifth Prince also found out the truth.

After the Emperor finished reprimanding Consort Liang, he turned around and saw his confidants arguing fiercely with other ministers, especially the Night King's subordinates.

Taking the opportunity, the Emperor declared, "Those military officers who speak up for the Night King will also be considered traitors and will be dismissed and punished!"

As he spoke, ignoring the advice of some neutral senior officials, he immediately named a series of people and ordered the Night King's faction officials to be imprisoned and interrogated by the Ministry of Justice!

"Take them down!"

The official whose name was called was initially startled, but quickly calmed down and revealed a righteous expression of being ready to die for his cause.

The Night King was their master, the pioneer who led them to survival and development. Now they died for their beliefs and for the greater good of their country. They died a worthy death and did not let down the king's hard work in cultivating them!

Ye Xiaohan slowly scanned his surroundings, looking at the civil and military officials of his faction. These were all his loyal subordinates, and he would certainly protect them.

Ye Xiaohan and Yun Mujiu had been quietly watching the Emperor and his entourage gesticulate. For a while, the two hadn't exchanged words, but rather communicated through their eyes.

Immediately, Ye Xiaohan spoke coldly—"I have never committed treason, so how can I be guilty of treason?"

A new round of major counterattacks has officially begun...

The Emperor roared, "We've already found the imperial robe in your residence, what more evidence do you need!"

"Night King, you have long since recovered, yet you have yet to announce it to the world. Could it be that you harbor ambitions and are eager to usurp my position as the ruler of this nation?"

"If I wanted this position, why would I have waited until now?" Ye Xiaohan said disdainfully, too lazy to pay attention to the increasingly frantic emperor.

The crowd gasped in astonishment; the Night King was truly awe-inspiring!

The emperor's anxious face was also seen by everyone, and many people felt disheartened and disappointed. How could their great nation, Zhongyue, have such a small and narrow-minded emperor? It was truly disheartening for them time and time again.

Yun Mujiu took a few steps forward and said in surprise, "We have dragon robes in our mansion, how come I didn't know?"

As she spoke, she walked up to the junior commander of the Imperial Guards. She looked incredulous, as if she had only now truly realized that the court really had evidence of Ye Xiaohan's rebellion.

In a panic, she grabbed the wooden box from the tray in the young commander's hands.

The young commander was somewhat flustered, but then he saw Yun Mujiu quickly pick up the wooden box, open it, and widen her eyes.

She took a deep breath and reached into the box again.

The onlookers craned their necks, eager to know if there really was a dragon robe inside the box, otherwise why would the Night Princess look so shocked and terrified?

The Emperor realized what was happening and shouted, "Stop her now!"

Yun Mujiu shoved the little commander aside, looking flustered, and grabbed a brightly colored garment, waving it around.

The Emperor suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment, he had thought Yun Mujiu might be up to something. As for Yun Mujiu's act of showing off the dragon robe to everyone? Hmph! Let her do as she pleases. Anyway, he had originally planned to present Ye Xiaohan's crimes to everyone for them to see.

Yun Mujiu's phoenix eyes went from bright and sparkling to dull and lifeless.

"I don't even know when our Night King's Mansion ever had a dragon robe."

"I am also unaware."

Ye Xiaohan replied, a cold smile playing on his lips.

Yun Mujiu waved the object in her hand, letting the onlookers see that it was a genuine dragon robe. It was made of bright yellow, luxurious silk, exquisitely embroidered with nine flying dragons and auspicious five-colored clouds.

At this moment, Ye Xiaohan spoke up: "Is this the evidence?"

The junior commander said in a panic, "Reporting to the Night King's Mansion, we found this dragon robe during a search of the Night King's Mansion."

"You're saying it was found during a search of the Prince's residence, so it must have come from the Prince's residence?" The Imperial Guards are all the Emperor's men, so the veracity of that claim is low.

“This…” the junior commander continued, “This subordinate led men to search the Prince’s residence, and our men can testify to that.”

"What's your name?"

"Your Highness, this humble servant summons Zhou Jie."

"Commander Zhou, the evidence you presented is not comprehensive enough." Their search of the Night King's mansion could also have been a pre-prepared dragon robe planted during the search.

Commander Zhou was stunned, then somewhat flustered. The Emperor tried to interrupt Ye Xiaohan's questioning, wanting to seize Ye Xiaohan immediately amidst the chaos, otherwise, the longer it dragged on, the more clues would be noticed. However, he hadn't expected that even now, he still couldn't successfully capture Ye Xiaohan.

He underestimated Ye Xiaohan's importance in people's hearts, and he also underestimated the abilities of Ye Xiaohan and Yun Mujiu.

Ye Xiaohan said, "The Zhongyue Dynasty has a procedure for determining guilt. I was merely conducting a routine interrogation. Why does Your Majesty intend to obstruct this?" Are you feeling guilty?

The Emperor waved his hand and then glared at Commander Zhou: "Hurry up and report the whole story to the Night King!"

Ye Xiaohan spoke again: "Your only witnesses are your own people, while the Ye Royal Palace can confirm that they did not see the dragon robe with their own eyes."

The conflicting testimonies from both sides clearly indicate the problem. Everyone agreed; could the Imperial Guards' claim that the Night King's Mansion possessed the dragon robe be true? Perhaps the Imperial Guards had secretly hidden it from the Night King's Mansion.

"Your Highness, we are all soldiers under Zhongyue, and we would never lie."

Ye Xiaohan ignored this question and asked again, "Are there any witnesses from the public?"

“We put the dragon robe in a box and took it out of the palace. They saw us leave, but they did not see the contents of the box with their own eyes.”

"Since the common people didn't witness it themselves—how can you claim to have sufficient evidence and witness testimony?" Ye Xiaohan's sharp words pointed out the problem. From beginning to end, the so-called witnesses were just these few imperial guards; the people from the Night King's mansion and the common people outside the mansion couldn't be considered reasonable witnesses at all.

At this moment, the Emperor and the Crown Prince quickly added, "It doesn't matter if there are not enough witnesses; the dragon robe itself is evidence."

Yun Mujiu thought to herself that her chance to shine had come, and hurriedly pulled up the dragon robe that she had just put back on the tray in Commander Zhou's hands.

"The name is indeed embroidered on the inside of the collar of this dragon robe!"

The Emperor, the Crown Prince, the Third Prince, and the Emperor's confidants all smiled slightly, when a loud female voice rang out—"Hmm, something's not right!"

The Emperor and his entourage's expressions immediately changed, and Yun Mujiu looked at Ye Xiaohan with a conflicted expression.

"Your Highness, I've discovered something amiss, something very wrong!"