Chapter 703 - 704: Relationship
Chapter 703: Chapter 704: Relationship
Tears and snot streamed down Zhao Zhe’s face. The moment he caught sight of Xie Anjun in his periphery, he seemed to throw all caution to the wind and pointed at him abruptly!
"It’s—it’s the Marquis Zhongyong! He forced me to do it all!"
A sharp pain shot through Xie Anjun’s head, and a nerve seemed to throb uncontrollably. Blood rushed to his face as he spun around, his expression savage. "Mr. Zhao! You and I have no quarrel! Why would you frame me like this?! What are you truly after?!"
When he saw Zhao Zhe had been captured, he’d considered the possibility that his plan was exposed. But he never imagined that Zhao Zhe wouldn’t even wait for a proper interrogation before spilling the beans!
’Is the man trying to get himself killed even faster?!’
But Zhao Zhe was past the point of caring about any of that.
He had started as nothing more than a low-ranking little eunuch, clawing his way up through sheer sycophancy. After hitching his wagon to Xie Anjun, he had smoothly ascended to the position of Chief Eunuch, basking in unprecedented glory.
But the man had no real talent. The moment he faced a real crisis, his incompetence was laid bare.
After his arrest, a single night in confinement was all it took for him to break. That was why he had confessed and implicated Xie Anjun the moment he was brought in.
’Anyone with half a brain could see that yesterday’s events were a setup!’
’It meant that everything he—everything *they* had done was already within His Majesty’s calculations!’
’In a situation like this, what choice was there but to confess early and plead for leniency?’
Zhao Zhe kowtowed again and again. Amid the dull thuds, his forehead quickly grew red and swollen.
"Your Majesty, I implore you to see the truth! Every word this slave has spoken is true! The day before yesterday, the Marquis Zhongyong promised a hefty reward if this slave would secretly poison Lord Zheng Baosu and ensure he never saw Your Majesty alive! I—I didn’t dare at first, but he... he said that Zheng Baosu had committed a capital crime and was doomed to die no matter the outcome of the interrogation. But if—if this slave helped him, he would... reward me handsomely! This slave’s judgment was clouded by greed, and so—and so..."
Zhao Zhe wept as he spoke, the very picture of earnest and unending regret.
"This slave knows my crime is worthy of death. I only ask that Your Majesty, for the sake of my many years of service—"
"Bullshit!"
Xie Anjun could no longer restrain himself and suddenly roared.
He was clearly incandescent with rage. His face was livid, veins bulging on his forehead. If Emperor Muwu hadn’t been present, he looked ready to charge over and kill Zhao Zhe with his bare hands.
"Why on earth would I poison Zheng Baosu out of the blue!" Xie Anjun’s voice was hoarse with fury and fear. "I’d never even met the man before today! With nothing but your baseless claims, you’re trying to drag my name through the mud! Who put you up to this? Who ordered you to frame me?!"
As he spoke, his gaze swept over to Xie Anbai, who was standing nearby.
The implication could not have been clearer.
He stopped just short of outright accusing Xie Anbai of setting this entire trap.
Naturally, Xie Anbai felt the intense hostility in that accusation.
He had been observing impassively from the sidelines, seemingly lost in his own world. But at this moment, he finally broke his silence with a soft chuckle.
The sound was quiet, yet it was jarring and abrupt.
A dead silence fell over the main hall for a moment.
Baffled and humiliated, Xie Anjun couldn’t stop his voice from rising as he demanded, "What are you laughing at?!"
Xie Anbai lifted his gaze.
The last traces of a smile still played on his lips, casual and mocking.
Xie Anjun’s heart suddenly dropped, and a powerful sense of unease washed over him.
Xie Anbai began to speak, his words slow and deliberate.
"I’m laughing because, wasn’t the letter of recommendation for Zheng Baosu to join the army penned by you? How is it that you now claim to have never even met the man?"
Xie Anjun’s heart sank!