The Emperor waited for the people below to bring the accused forward, naturally turning his gaze to Song Yanjiao, who had been trembling all along.
He let out a sneer, showing no courtesy towards Song Yanjiao at this moment. "Since the Ning King's Consort dared to do such a thing, she must have considered the consequences. Why are you afraid now? You and the Ning King… what capable people you are!"
Song Yanjiao's mind raced, but she didn't know how to answer the Emperor's question.
She shrank her neck, and as she hesitated, a eunuch's voice suddenly called from outside: "His Highness the Ning King arrives—"
All eyes turned outwards as Mu Hansu strode in hastily.
When the eunuch was sent to the Ning King's manor to summon him, he had naturally bribed the eunuch with silver.
Although he didn't know what had happened in the palace, he learned from the eunuch that the Emperor was furious. Upon entering the hall and seeing Song Yanjiao kneeling on the ground and sobbing uncontrollably, Mu Hansu naturally assumed that this was trouble caused by Song Yanjiao.
Without a word, he walked to Song Yanjiao's side, frowned, and sternly said to her, "What have you done? How can you cause our father, the Emperor, to be so angry? Why do you always bring trouble to the Ning King's manor?!"
"Kneel!"
The Emperor was increasingly finding Mu Hansu repulsive.
He also sternly said to Mu Hansu, "Do you not know what your Ning King's manor has done?! Now you dare to shift the blame entirely onto the Ning King's Consort. How could I have a son like you?!"
Caught off guard by such a scolding, Mu Hansu was somewhat stunned.
He raised his eyes and met the Emperor's furious gaze, which finally made Mu Hansu kneel. "Father… what is wrong?"
"Hmph!"
The Emperor snorted coldly, his gaze growing even colder as he stared at Mu Hansu. "Tell me, whose child is your precious son?"
"Wh—what?!"
Mu Hansu was completely dumbfounded by this question. "What does Father mean?"
The Emperor now looked at Mu Hansu and felt that he had a deceitful face.
He became even more displeased. "You're still pretending with me? What, do you plan to keep playing dumb like this forever? Or do you think I'm a fool who can be easily manipulated by you? That is a royal descendant, a bloodline of the imperial family! You actually did such a thing. Are you not afraid of divine retribution?!"
"Ah?"
Mu Hansu was even more confused. His heart pounding, he lowered his head and looked at Song Yanjiao, who was kneeling on the ground. "What does Father mean? The child you gave birth to… is it not mine?"
However, Mu Hansu was not unaware that while Song Yanjiao might be cold-hearted towards others, she had always been sincere towards him.
If Song Yanjiao had found someone else outside, he could not believe it no matter what.
"Bang—"
In the Emperor's eyes, Mu Hansu was clearly feigning ignorance.
So, the Emperor, once again, unhesitatingly reached out and hurled another cup forcefully at Mu Hansu's feet. "You're still pretending to be ignorant with me?! That child is not yours and the Ning King's Consort's child at all!"
He turned to the chief eunuch. "I told you to bring Liu Siniang here. Haven't you brought her yet?!"
The chief eunuch wiped the sweat from his brow and hurried off to find Liu Siniang.
Mu Hansu felt a sense of foreboding. He lowered his head and stared intently at Song Yanjiao. "Who is Liu Siniang? What exactly did you do? What's going on with the child?"
However, before anyone could explain to Mu Hansu, the eunuch's voice sounded again: "Liu Siniang arrives—"
Upon hearing this name, Song Yanjiao's spine suddenly tensed.
She turned to look outside the hall and saw Liu Siniang, still looking somewhat pale, being helped into the hall by a eunuch.
The moment she saw Liu Siniang, Song Yanjiao's pupils constricted, and her lips trembled uncontrollably. "You… why are you here?"
"Heh—"
Liu Siniang let out a cold laugh. "I'm afraid the Ning King's Consort would never wish to see me again in this lifetime, wouldn't you? You certainly hoped I would die in some gutter, so you could rest easy!"
Song Yanjiao dared not say anything. She only trembled, unable to utter a single word.
Liu Siniang had only been recuperating for a few days and had come here today, forcing herself.
She knelt before the Emperor, her benefactor, and told him everything about Song Yanjiao and all the transactions she had made.
As if afraid the Emperor wouldn't believe her, after speaking, she even tore open her clothes in front of everyone, revealing the wound on her abdomen that had just been bandaged and had not yet begun to heal, showing it to the Emperor. "Your Majesty, this humble one knows that for doing such things, I deserve to die! I am willing to accept punishment, but I cannot accept that the Ning King's Consort would forcibly extract the child she carried for seven months and then leave me to die! Is my life not a life?"
Hearing Liu Siniang's words, even Mu Hansu looked at Song Yanjiao with shock in his eyes. "Impossible! What she's saying isn't true, is it? How could you… how could you have given birth to a daughter?!"
Song Yanjiao lowered her head. She knew that at this point, there was no need for any explanation.
It was this lowering of her head that made Mu Hansu's heart grow cold.
He truly didn't know, and wouldn't dare to imagine, that Song Yanjiao was so audacious!
But the most troublesome thing now was that the Emperor did not believe Mu Hansu.
After hearing Liu Siniang's words, the Emperor waved his hand at Liu Siniang, signaling that her issue did not need to be attended to at the moment.
Instead, the Emperor turned to Mu Hansu. "What? With things having come to this, you still want to tell me you know nothing? Ning King, you have disappointed me too much! I always knew you wanted to give me an imperial grandson. So, when the Ning King's Consort first became pregnant, you two spread word everywhere that you had conceived an imperial grandson for me, that it was a son. From that moment on, you had already planned this grand scheme, hadn't you?"
He then pointed at Song Chaoyu. "The Chang King's Consort is due to give birth in a month, and she still doesn't know if the child in her womb is a boy or a girl. To deceive me, you prematurely released the news. You are simply too detestable!"
The Emperor grew more and more angry as he spoke, and he slammed the table again. "If I had known you harbored such wolfish ambitions, I would never have indulged you so much! Now that the truth is out, you still pretend to know nothing. When will you finally tell me the truth?!"
The Emperor's gaze towards Mu Hansu was not just disappointment, but also a hint of disgust.
Mu Hansu finally understood how uncontrollable things had become!
He was clearly innocent!
He looked at Song Yanjiao, wishing he could skin her alive and drink her blood!
He stepped forward, grabbed Song Yanjiao by her collar, his eyes red as if they would bulge out of their sockets. "What exactly did you do?! Why has it come to this?! Song Yanjiao, are you trying to get me killed, to get the entire Ning King's manor killed?! I only regret not divorcing you sooner!"
The more he said this, the more determined Song Yanjiao became not to let him off.
Song Yanjiao let out a cold laugh and adopted a nonchalant demeanor. "What, Your Highness? Didn't you tell me back then that if we had a son, Father would surely be pleased? Now that the truth is out, you want to push me out? No wonder… you were so eager to divorce me!"