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Within the crowd, Li Qitian’s forehead was knit tightly as he looked suspiciously at Zuo Jinwei.
Zuo Jinwei was the Minister of Military Affairs and the commander of a hundred thousand Valiant Tigers. It was understandable if his ambitions had grown to wanting sole authority after wielding great power. But would he be so bold as to frame Pang Zhixi and deceive his liege, all for his own profit?
Li Qitian actually didn’t know who he should believe.
Meanwhile, Qin Yining was still effortlessly slinging everything onto Zuo Jinwei.
“Master Zuo, you said you wanted to introduced to my father and then to Prince Yan. Looking at what you’ve done today however, let’s forget about all that. My father is an upright and righteous man. He won’t want to run with petty criminals!”
If Zuo Jinwei still didn’t understand that he was being framed, then he’d really be a fool. Literally hopping mad, he stabbed a finger in the vicinity of Qin Yining’s nose. “Slander! Where did a wild chit like you come from? How dare you pretend to be from Great Yan? How dare you wag your tongue like this?! When have I ever done anything like that? I didn’t save you at all!”
A frown crossed Qin Yining’s forehead and she turned back to look at the other rescued Yan citizens. She didn’t say anything, but her unruffled composure told everyone that Zuo Jinwei was lying!
Having watched the show for quite a while, Qi Rugang fully understood now that Zuo Jinwei had set up a plot that had made designs on even the emperor. He stalked forward furiously to inspect the carriage.
Upon finding no sign of Pang Xiao, he called out loudly, “Have you all made a thorough search? The Faithful Prince of the First Rank really isn’t among the men?”
“Sir, no sir!”
Some of the young Valiant Tigers, the ones closer to Pang Xiao and tapped to possibly join the Elite Tigers, had completely grasped the situation at this point. One of them murmured in a tone pitched perfectly to travel o the crowd outside, “That’s strange. The prince has turned over the command token and I hear he’s sick. Shouldn’t he be resting at home? Why would he be with the troops?”
“Yeah, has Master Zuo gotten confused about something?”
Master Zuo was indeed confused. He had no idea how a living, breathing person could disappear. They’d entered the carriage as a man, but exited as a dainty little girl!
All of his hairs were raised on end as cold sweat dropped down his forehead. He was really in a bind. There were two main conclusions to his secret report—the first that Pang Zhixi had illicitly sent out troops, and the second that the prince had created fake official orders.
And now there were twenty thousand Valiant Tigers being held off by the Firearms Division, Five Armies, Three Thousand, and another ten thousand Dragon Riders. The Bureau of Punishments had also announced that only exit from the city was allowed. Such an enormous affair could’ve only been commanded by the emperor.
And the emperor had done all this because he’d believed Zuo Jinwei’s reports and wanted to publicly arrest Pang Zhixi.
But reality had somehow progressed in a completely different way! Would the emperor eat him alive if this matter failed?!