“Who will be deceived by you (plural form)! Who will you frame and pushed to death? Whose empire will descend into darkness? Who gave you such courage to do this? Who had fed and fatted your maggot-filled (a symbol of corruption) and rotten bodies? Who encouraged your greedy sinful selfish hearts? Who gave you the permission to perverse the truth, and trample underfoot the law that every citizen of this empire holds so dear?!” 

Her words came like a tidal wave with stunning momentum, robbing everyone in the hall of the ability to speak, not noticing at all that the mood outside is a bit strange and that a lot of people had gathered, standing outside of the gate, listening with sparkling eyes. 

Feng Zhi Wei walked up and down the hall brandishing the shackles as if no one else was around. With a face full of righteous anger, Feng Zhi Wei stopped in front of Second Prince’s table, leaned both of her hands on it, and demanded in a sharp voice, “Your Highness, who could it be?” 

Second Prince, who had been staring blankly at her, jerked unconsciously at her sudden question, his eyes wide open, unable to get a word out.

Sitting beside him, Ning Yi immediately grinned, “It can’t be second brother, right?”

Second Prince’s body trembled again. Feng Zhi Wei laughed, left Second Prince’s table, the shackles in her hand clanging as she walked to Peng Pei’s table and swiped down all the case scrolls onto the floor. Stamping on the bamboo scrolls until they shattered and creaked under her feet, she raised her head and laughed loudly, “You all can call me crazy or say that I am courting death, but I will risk this life of mine to tell you all– no matter who can tolerate it, be it heaven, be it earth, I will not tolerate it!” 

“YES!” 

There was an uproar of applause, the sound was majestic as if it came from a thousand people. The stunned officials in the hall belatedly realized, somehow without them noticing, there are now surrounded by countless people outside of the gate. Right in front of the dense crowd were none other than the second-generation nobleman brats from the academy. It was hard to tell from the dense crowd who else was in the crowd but because all six departments officed nearby, so the faces of various department heads could vaguely be seen with their bright excited eyes. 

The ones hollering the loudest were the academy students. They were even more riled up and arrogant than Feng Zhi Wei. The ones at the front climbed up onto the gate, rolled up their sleeves, and cursed, “@#$%&! To those who persecute the loyal heroes, @#$%&! To those who want to destroy our land! Peng Pei, die! Ministry of Punishment, die!”

“This is our nation’s best justice department? @#$%&! Just the gathering place for liars! The birthplace of perjury!” 

“This is how you treat our empire’s hero? Aren’t you afraid that the people will become disillusioned?” 

“No matter who can tolerate it, heaven and earth might, but Official Wei will not tolerate it, Qinming Academy’s three thousand students will not tolerate it!” 

“We will not tolerate it!” 

The shouts were earth-shattering, majestic like a tidal wave, coming continuously wave after wave, almost topping the entire grand hall. 

Amidst the chanting, Peng Pei was trembling, the “witnesses” had already become limp and paralyzed, the Second Prince’s expression was stony, Seventh Prince’s brows were knitted into a deep frown, Ning Yi was staring at a certain direction with a thoughtful expression, several of the senior officials were whispering to each other, Eunuch Jia who had been sitting quietly suddenly started to fidget and his eyes kept looking towards the back. 

“I will not tolerate it either!” 

There suddenly came a voice as firm as iron. The voice wasn’t loud and even carried a bit of the weakness of the elderly but that first word (the I in that sentence is different than the usual “I”. This “I” is one that is reserved for the emperor when he refers to himself), short, majestic and represented supreme authority that instantly suppressed the roaring tide!

When the sound came, shadows in the back hall flickered and several people came out from behind the screen. The first person walking out is none other than Tiansheng Emperor dressed in a casual yellow robe! (Yellow is also a color representing the emperor). 

Except for Eunuch Jia, everyone in the room was stunned, never imagining that the emperor would show up suddenly in the Ministry of Punishment. Ning Yi was the quickest to react. He pulled Tenth Prince with him, walked around the tables, and knelt down, “Hail, Your Majesty!” 

Only then did everyone snap out of their stupor, and knelt down in a chaotic unison, “Hail, Your Majesty!”

The emperor glanced at the senior officials and the princes, before letting out a “Huh, you can rise now.” 

It was difficult to discern his mood from his voice, the senior officials and the princes all glanced at him secretly, wondering why he would come, how long had he been here, and what did he come for? To personally interrogate or just to listen in? How much did he hear, and what did he mean by what he said when he first appeared? 

Only Ning Yi’s expression looked calm. With a smile, he gave up his place and went to sit with Tenth Prince. Giving Ning Yi a look of satisfaction, the Emperor sat down and waved his hand, “I am here to listen in, continue on.” 

Several people anxiously sat back in their seats before exchanging silent looks with each other. Who would dare to continue now? How are they supposed to continue? In the hall, the most powerful man of this empire is listening in personally. Outside of the hall, the officials from various departments and the students from Qingming academy are waiting with perked ears. The presiding judge had already been beaten into a pulp. The one who is supposed to be interrogated is sneering with a murderous aurora. The three-justice department has handled many big cases over the years and has had plenty of experience handling turbulent situations…but never a situation like today’s. Official Zhang and Official Ge looked at each other, neither of them willing to be the first one to speak. 

While the officials are thinking furiously, the Emperor’s gaze has landed on Feng Zhi Wei who was kneeling on the ground. 

The old emperor’s expression was calm. His gaze seemed sharp even if old age has made them slightly clouded. Feng Zhi Wei didn’t meet his gaze boldly or exude an air of a justice champion, nor did she cower and beg for mercy. Seemingly having recovered from her previous excited state, she is now calmly accepting Tian Sheng Emperor’s piercing gaze. 

After a while, the Emperor finally opened his mouth and said in a deep voice, “Wei Zhi, do you admit your crime?”

As soon as the words came out, the hall erupted in an uproar. The sentence the Emperor had said when he first appeared was obviously in agreement with Wei Zhi, so why this abrupt change of attitude?

 Peng Pei who had been in a heap of hopeless despair, raised his head in shock and joy. He would’ve thrown himself forward to cry his grievances but was barred by the imperial palace guards. Second Prince’s gaze flashed, Scholar Hu started to stroke his beard, Ning Yi frowned but when his gaze swept over the Emperor, his brows slowly relaxed. 

Surprisingly, Feng Zhi Wei was the calmest one after hearing the Emperor’s words. With her head raised, Feng Zhi Wei took a few steps forward on her knees until she is front of the Emperor. 

The imperial guards nervously stepped forward but the Emperor stopped them. 

“Your Highness!” Feng Zhi Wei executed a deep bow to the ground without any hesitation, “Wei Zhi is guilty!”

There was another uproar in the hall, a look of surprise came on everyone’s face. 

“Oh?” It was still hard to discern from the Emperor’s voice if he is happy or angry, “What crime?”

“First crime.” Feng Zhi Wei replied calmly, “I should not have, in our empire’s sacred hall of justice, wantonly trample on important case materials and shout.”

“Hmm.”

“Second crime. I should have, during the most solemn moment of trial, taken hostage of the presiding judge and assaulted an important court official, causing him injury.” 

“Hmm.”

“Third crime…” Feng Zhi Wei, flashed her teeth and grinned. As one who always seemed so mild and calm, the smile appeared a bit ghastly for some reason, causing the Emperor who had been watching her with interest to raise an eyebrow. “I should not have not beaten this worthless thing to death right in the hall!” 

“…………..” 

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