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Chapter 219: Chapter 111: Fine, Fine, Fine! So This Is How You’re Going to Play Me, Huh?

’I... basically got it for free.’

”Enough of that!”

Zhao Huan smiled. ”Take out your Emperor Pill and break through now. Today, I’ll stand guard for you! To be honest, I’m ashamed. I gave pointers to so many useless brats today, yet I’ve never once guided my most outstanding son.”

”Father!”

Zhao Yong sighed. ”Standing guard is exhausting. I can’t bear to see you tire yourself out, Father. It’s just a minor breakthrough; I can manage it myself!”

”You...”

Zhao Huan was so moved his voice choked with emotion. He slowly rose to his feet, placing a withered hand gently on Zhao Yong’s head. ”Such a good son...”

Complex emotions churned within Zhao Yong.

Zhao Huan sighed softly. ”But... why did you have to turn on your own brother?”

Zhao Yong: ”!!!”

The tension that had just begun to ease snapped taut.

He felt as if he’d been plunged into an icy abyss and quickly prostrated himself. ”Father! Why would you say such a thing?”

Zhao Huan slowly withdrew his hand, his voice turning cold. ”What? You didn’t do it?”

Zhao Yong gritted his teeth. ”I didn’t do it!”

He didn’t know what had happened.

But he knew one thing: he absolutely could not admit to it.

Because this act didn’t just violate the rules of the Imperial Clan Court; it crossed Zhao Huan’s ultimate line.

If he admitted it, he wouldn’t just lose his life.

He might even lose his father.

”Oh?”

Zhao Huan reacted as if he’d heard something utterly absurd. ”You didn’t do it? Then why are you trembling?”

Zhao Yong shot upright, gritting his teeth. ”Father! Regarding the Emperor’s Gift Pill, Lao Shi and I traveled together to display imperial grace, and we faced peril together, narrowly escaping with our lives! I don’t know what you’ve heard, but whoever spoke to you wants to sow discord within the Imperial Family. Their vicious intent is enough to make one’s blood run cold! And yet, you believed them. I am utterly disheartened. Shouldn’t I be trembling?”

Fighting back his fear, he gritted his teeth and met Zhao Huan’s gaze.

’Confess and you’ll be treated with leniency? More like confess and rot in jail.’

’Resist and you’ll be treated with severity? More like resist and go home for the holidays.’

’Other than that piece of black jade, I’ve had no contact with the Demon Sect, and I already burned that jade until not even ash remained.’

’I only hinted to a subordinate, inducing Zhang Delv to suggest the time and place for the farewell banquet. There’s practically no suspicion on me.’

’And in the days leading up to it, I had already put on an act of being perpetually drunk, so frequent trips to the latrine were to be expected.’

’I even subtly and not-so-subtly hinted that the reason for my drinking was that Kan Luotang was getting too close to Zhao Ci, while barely giving me a glance.’

’Excusing myself at any time would seem perfectly reasonable.’

’To make the whole thing more believable, I was even bare-assed when the portal sucked me away.’

’Born into the Imperial Family...’

’...which of us isn’t shameless?’

’Being willing to show my ass means I have no shame!’

’I refuse to believe anyone could find evidence of me colluding with the Demon Sect.’

”Do you think...”

Zhao Huan gave a wretched smile. ”That as long as I can’t produce evidence, this grand plot to murder your brother simply doesn’t exist? Is that right?”

Evidence.

There was none, of course.

But after a meticulous investigation, the members of the Imperial Clan Court, led by Zhao Qing, had confirmed several things.

Although the Array that had forcefully redirected the portal was mostly destroyed, by examining the Broken Array, they determined that it had taken a long time to prepare and could only be activated when the portal appeared near Qingyang County.

The mastermind behind the Demon Sect was terrifying. They had precisely calculated the time the portal would appear, and no one knew how they’d done it.

Such an intricate arrangement would not be wasted on a whim.

The fact that the portal had precisely separated the two Princes was further proof.

They had investigated matters related to Zhao Yong, but found no evidence.

But Zhao Qing had said one thing: ”Your Majesty, your unworthy servant has found no concrete evidence against the Ninth Prince. However, I am more than seventy percent certain that he is connected to the mastermind. If Your Majesty wishes, you could try to bluff him. If not, I will continue to investigate. I will drag the mastermind into the light, even if it costs me my life.”

Father and son stared at each other.

The emperor was in his twilight years, yet his gaze still carried an indescribable, oppressive weight.

Zhao Yong felt as if he were being crushed, unable to breathe, yet he still said, ”Father! Forgive me, but I cannot confess to something I have never done!”

”Heh...”

Zhao Huan let out a single laugh, then, as if all his strength had abandoned him, he collapsed into his chair, devoid of any shred of his former imperial majesty.

His breathing was ragged and feeble.

Now and then, a wretched laugh escaped him, filled with both sorrow and a sense of the absurd.

「At that moment.」

He was not an emperor.

He was an old man whose spirit had been broken by the world’s cold indifference.

Zhao Yong couldn’t bear it. ”Father! You...”

Zhao Huan cut him off, his voice faint. ”Did the Imperial Clan Court investigate you?”

”N-No!”

Zhao Yong froze for a second, then his heart lurched. ’The Imperial Clan Court’s methods are formidable,’ he thought. ’If they truly suspected me, it’s impossible that they wouldn’t have investigated me.’

But now... Zhao Huan looked up, his eyes filled with utter disappointment. ”Why don’t you venture a guess as to why they skipped the investigation and pronounced you guilty?”

Zhao Yong: ”...”

Tendrils of ice seemed to creep up from the soles of his feet and slither up his spine.

Cold sweat streamed down his back!

’Skipping the investigation and going straight to a guilty verdict...’

’That could only mean they already had more compelling evidence, so much so that they didn’t even need to investigate me.’

’But I was certain I hadn’t left a single trace of evidence.’

’Unless...’

Zhao Yong felt as if he’d been plunged into an icy abyss. ’In this world, what could possibly be more convincing than a directly extracted memory?’

’The Imperial Clan Court was not without such methods.’

’Besides the Crown Prince, I was the only one in direct contact with the Demon Sect. If that old man from the Sect had been captured...’

He panicked.

He wanted to hold out a little longer, to try and contact the old man from the Demon Sect.

But the black jade he used for communication had long ago been burned to cinders.

Zhao Huan’s gaze grew even colder. He sighed softly. ”I never imagined I would have two such... ’good’ sons.”