Chapter 377: Mastermind

　　“Rong Jiu, Don’t spout nonsense!” retorted Rong Jin instinctively. I am the Crown Prince and am also considered a strong player with my cultivation level. Why would I have to resort to such methods?

　　“All these years, I’ve been cultivating and improving based on my own abilities. I’ve never taken any shortcuts or even used such sinister methods! I can bet my life on the line!” Rong Jin swore a vicious oath. He was very clear that he would be in big trouble if he didn’t draw a line between him and his mother.

　　However, this sentence seemed very weak when placed next to the Empress’s reaction.

　　“Si Huijing, why did you do this?” Emperor Jiawen didn’t even hear Rong Jin’s words. He already confirmed that the Empress did all of this.

　　The tears on the Empress’s face had already dried, leaving behind an expression void of hope.

　　Emperor Jiawen looked at Rong Zhen and Rong Jin, and he sneered. “You’re not willing to speak? Rong Jiu and Rong Zhen, you can’t escape from this! Rong Qi as well! I was really blinded at the start to have chosen you as my Empress and Rong Jin as the Crown Prince! Chu Ning, Rong Jiu, search this entire place immediately!”

　　“Yes!” The two of them agreed in unison without any hesitation. They then split up and started searching from different places.

　　Rong Zhen was very hesitant as if she wanted to stop them, but she just dazedly stood there in the end.

　　Eunuch Min stood behind Emperor Jiawen, and his forehead broke out into a cold sweat.

　　As this implicated the Empress and the rest, this journey was completed discreetly—they didn’t even bring guards. However, they didn’t expect to discover such an earth-shattering secret!

　　Chu Liuyue looked at the mess in front of her and raised her brows slightly as she looked up at the sky. Country Yao Chen’s sky is finally changing…

　　When the Empress heard Emperor Jiawen’s words, she finally realized something. Emperor Jiawen is planning to punish my sons and me! It doesn’t matter if I’m in trouble, but Rong Jin’s position as the Crown Prince cannot be taken away!

　　A chill ran down her spine after seeing that Chu Ning and Rong Jiu had already started checking inside, and she immediately kowtowed toward Emperor Jiawen. “Your Majesty! Your Majesty, please forgive me! I know I’m wrong! You can punish me however you like, but please leave my children alone! They’re innocent; they don’t know about this at all!”

　　Si Huijing used all her strength and knocked her head against the floor, which was followed by a low sound. Very quickly, her forehead was covered in blood.

　　Her makeup had long been ruined by her tears. She looked even more distraught when accompanied by the fresh, sticky blood slowly flowing down her forehead.

　　Emperor Jiawen was unmoved; it was as though he had heard some joke. “They don’t know? Rong Zhen is right here, yet you’re telling me that she doesn’t know?”

　　The Empress was stumped. In actual fact, she also didn’t know why Rong Zhen was here. I did this thing very discreetly, and Rong Jin and the rest had no idea, including Rong Zhen! Even if I were crazy, I wouldn’t send Rong Zhen over! However, Rong Zhen is indeed standing there, and I can’t deny it!

　　Thinking of this, her hatred toward Rong Zhen grew. If it weren’t for her, why would Emperor Jiawen find this place and see everything here? He also won’t suspect Rong Jin and the rest because of her presence!

　　She looked at Rong Zhen and miserably begged. “Zhen Zhen, tell your father yourself how exactly you came here, okay? Take it as me begging you! You don’t want your two elder brothers to be punished with you, right? You can’t drag them down!”

　　Rong Zhen’s eyes widened, and she suddenly recalled many images. This scene is so familiar! Since I was young, Mother would say similar words every time something happened, right?

　　It was as if her eyes were covered by a layer of mist.

　　Then, Rong Zhen slightly lowered her head and said every word and sentence clearly. “…Father, Mother was the one who sent me here…”

　　The Empress’s voice trailed off as she looked at Rong Zhen in disbelief.

　　“… Mother said that this was the only way I could take revenge against Chu Liuyue… Besides, we can pin Elder Si Meng’s death on them…”

　　With every word that Rong Zhen said, the Empress’s eyes widened by an inch. Her entire person froze when she heard the entire sentence.

　　Immediately after, the Empress suddenly realized something and yelled at the top of her lungs, “Your Majesty, she’s lying! She’s not speaking the truth! You mustn’t believe her!”

　　Emperor Jiawen glanced at her and nonchalantly said, “You’re saying that your own biological daughter is setting you up?”

　　The Empress was very indignant, but she didn’t know what to say. She also didn’t know why Rong Zhen would say that.

　　“Rong Zhen, did you mean that Si Meng died in your mother’s hands?” asked Emperor Jiawen as he stepped forward.

　　Rong Zhen shuddered, and she raised her hands to lightly knock against the copper vat before she quickly retracted them as if she were afraid of something.

　　However, her actions were enough—She was clearly saying that Si Meng had died in the copper vat.

　　“I almost forgot. He’s a stage-five warrior… Taking away the force from such a strong warrior would help you save some effort and lead to better results.”

　　Chu Liuyue silently sized Rong Zhen up. I just left for ten days. Why did so many things happen in the Imperial City? With Rong Zhen’s previous words, I would really believe her if I didn’t clearly remember that I had killed Si Meng myself.

　　The Empress’s face flushed red and white, and she wanted to argue.

　　“Your Majesty!”

　　“Father!”

　　Chu Ning and Rong Jiu came back one after another; the two of them looked strange.

　　Emperor Jiawen’s heart sank. “What’s the matter?”

　　Chu Ning and Rong Jiu exchanged glances, and they looked rather hesitant.

　　Then, Chu Ning cupped his fists. “Your Majesty, there are many bones hidden in the backyard.”

　　Rong Jiu quickly added, “Within the many rooms in this area, there are many broken pieces of bones lying everywhere… With a rough estimate, there seem to be over 100 people.”

　　Dead silence.

　　Even Chu Liuyue couldn’t help but knit her brows.

　　When she saw the copper vat, she was certain that there were more than that number of bones here. However, she didn’t expect there to be so many.

　　“Most of those people are cultivators. There aren’t many missing people cases in the Imperial City all these years, so… These people should be from outside the Imperial City,” boomed Chu Ning.

　　Emperor Jiawen took a deep breath in and glared at the Empress. “Si Huijing, you definitely couldn’t do this on your own. Speak, who else is helping you? The Si family?”

　　The Empress immediately shook her head reflexively when she heard Emperor Jiawen mention the Si family. “No, I did all of this on my own! I was just entranced! I’m willing to use death to punish myself, but I hope you’ll let Rong Jin, Rong Qi, and the Si family off!”

　　Rong Jin couldn’t help but say, “Mother, what are you doing? You didn’t do this, right? Who exactly is setting you up? You just need to say—”

　　Pak!

　　The Empress actually gave Rong Jin a tight slap.