Chapter 848: Terrifying Calculation

The Divine Tree Pavilion

Originally, the Emperor of Xia had intended to declare his identity and berate the bailiffs of the Ministry of Justice, yet the words seemed to wither upon his lips, remaining completely unutterable.

It was the first time he had ever heard of exterminating nine generations of a family over a prince's rebellion; no wonder the bailiffs had been so eager to chase Lu Yang away—the boy was not wronged in the slightest.

The Fourth Prince stared fixedly at Lu Yang, desperately searching for any hint of a jest in his expression.

Yet the Immortal Fairy offered no reaction whatsoever; what she had just uttered was indeed her true and genuine thought.

The Fourth Prince was moved to a cold, mocking laughter. "Lu Yang, let me tell you this: do not play your petty tricks on me. When we were discussing this in the courtyard just now, you were the very first to suggest rebellion! If you report me, you won't escape either!"

The Immortal Fairy found this exceedingly strange, quite unable to comprehend the inner workings of the Fourth Prince's mind. "How was I the first to suggest rebellion? Did you not gather all those would-be rebels together yourself? That clearly proves you were the one planning to revolt; I was merely following your line of thought."

The Fourth Prince carefully recalled the events that had transpired in the courtyard, and a sudden, chilling realization struck him: from beginning to end, Lu Yang had never actually participated in the substance of the rebellion plot!

This constituted neither complicity nor instigation; this was absolute innocence!

No, there was still a chance to turn the tide.

"This is nothing but your own one-sided claim; you have no evidence!"

Indeed, for an affair as monumental as high treason, a conviction could never be secured upon mere verbal testimony, let alone when Lu Yang was the sole person asserting his rebellion from start to finish.

The brothers who had conspired in the courtyard shared a bond forged in life and death with the Fourth Prince, and they were men of profound principle; it was absolutely impossible for them to betray him!

"Ah, don't you have a projection orb? I saw you recording the moment I stepped into your manor. Wasn't that meant to be used as evidence right now?"

In the eyes of the Immortal Fairy, the Fourth Prince's intentions aligned perfectly with her own: in order to eliminate his three elder brothers, the Fourth Prince intended to revolt and thus bring about the execution of his nine generations, so that everyone might perish together.

Presumably, because the Fourth Prince could not summon the resolve to report himself, he had sought her assistance by inviting her to his home, discussing the rebellion right before her, and preserving the evidence within the projection orb.

And she, fulfilling the Fourth Prince's unspoken wish, had come to the Ministry of Justice to lodge the report.

The only two problems were that the Ministry of Justice seemed rather reluctant to meddle in the matter, and the Fourth Prince was attempting to back out at the final hour.

It was truly vexing.

The gaze with which the Fourth Prince regarded Lu Yang shifted once more, morphing into an expression of sheer terror, dread, and trembling awe.

In the brief span of a casual visit, Lu Yang had calculated his ruin down to the absolute last detail. From the moment he crossed the threshold, he had been acting—feigning a confession of his innermost thoughts to secure cooperation, prompting the prince to reveal his hidden trump cards, and even anticipating that the prince would utilize a projection orb as a threat, only to turn the tables completely and transform that very threat into irrefutable proof of high treason!

Such terrifying shrewdness far surpassed what the boy had displayed in the Second Prince's estate!

How utterly farcical that he had once thought to bind Lu Yang to his own ship; he was scarcely worthy of plotting against Lu Yang. He would be fortunate to survive the immediate calamity before him!

Sensing that the situation had turned utterly disastrous, the Fourth Prince spun on his heel to flee, yet how could the Immortal Fairy possibly allow his escape?

Before the Immortal Fairy, the Fourth Prince's cultivation at the Deity Transformation Stage was no different from that of a mere mortal. Controlling Lu Yang's body, she seized the prince's wrist and slammed him violently into the ground, sending stars spinning across his vision and leaving him completely disoriented as the earth caved into a massive crater.

Taking advantage of the chaos, the Immortal Fairy snatched away the Fourth Prince's storage ring, wherein the projection orb was kept.

The commotion from the Immortal Fairy's unilateral thrashing of the Fourth Prince was so immense that it caught the attention of the Vice Minister of Justice, who hurried over in great haste to investigate what had occurred.

Who possessed the sheer audacity to strike someone at the very gates of the Ministry of Justice? Did they take the Ministry for a helpless victim to be bullied at will?

"Oh, has the person in charge finally arrived?"

Lu Yang informed her that, judging by the garments worn by the newcomer, this was the Vice Minister of Justice, an official of the Fourth Rank.

An official of the Fourth Rank was considered a high dignitary indeed, given that even the Minister of Justice was only of the Third Rank.

"You've come at just the right time. I have just apprehended a fellow who intends to stage a rebellion and have come to report the crime. The projection orb is right inside his storage ring, yet the men on your side refused to file the case."

The ordinary bailiffs might not recognize the Fourth Prince, but how could the Vice Minister of Justice fail to do so? The moment his eyes fell upon the Fourth Prince pinned to the ground by Lu Yang, his entire body gave a violent shudder of fright.

Who? The Fourth Prince was rebelling?

He had served in the Ministry of Justice for several centuries, yet this was the first time he had ever heard of someone coming to report a prince for high treason.

Was this an affair that their Ministry of Justice could even hope to manage?

"Ah, do you people not manage rebellions?" the Immortal Fairy inquired, sending a cold sweat washing over the Vice Minister of Justice.

"Do not speak so recklessly! What do you mean by saying our Ministry of Justice does not manage rebellions? If word of this gets out, those who don't know any better will think our Ministry is planning to revolt as well!"

"Since you cannot make the decision, then let someone who can come out," the Emperor of Xia prompted from the side, seeing the Vice Minister still mired in hesitation.

He knew his own son's temperament better than anyone; his dear son truly did seem to harbor intentions of rebellion, and this matter absolutely required a definitive resolution!

The Vice Minister of Justice, locked in a painful dilemma, felt a sudden wave of enlightenment upon hearing the Emperor's reminder. Indeed, why should he vex himself over this matter when there was someone higher above him?

With this thought, he immediately rushed inside to find Xu Xin, the Minister of Justice.

At that moment, Xu Xin had just concluded a brief period of secluded cultivation and had stepped out to refresh his spirits.

Before he could even begin to unwind, he heard his subordinate delivering the report.

"Lu Yang has come to our gates to report the Fourth Prince for rebellion?!"

Even when he was undergoing the Tribulation of the Inner Demons, his mind would never dare to conjure such an utterly absurd scenario.

Yet the problem lay in the fact that this was no inner demon tribulation, but a stark reality unfolding right before his eyes!

Xu Xin clutched his head in sheer agony. Had the cycle of torment simply passed from the Daoist of No Words to his young disciple?

This young disciple's capacity for creating havoc was vastly greater than that of his master in the old days.

"Accept the case. They have already brought the accusation to our very doors; it would be improper not to accept it."

Based on his understanding of Lu Yang, although the boy was a magnet for trouble, he rarely, if ever, spoke falsehoods.

In a rare turn of events, the Ministry of Justice prepared to open court to try the case.

The Vice Minister of Justice returned to the gates and, with utmost deference, invited the Immortal Fairy inside, deeply fearful that this little ancestor might stir up further trouble—such as reporting the Second Prince for rebellion as well.

"And you, come in as well. You heard everything I said to the fourth child of the Jiang family just now, so you count as a witness." The Immortal Fairy dragged the Emperor of Xia into the hall along with them.

"By the way, what was your name again?"

The Emperor of Xia had already devised his alias before leaving the palace. When fabricating names for the outside world, the Jiang family had always preferred to use "Xia" as their surname, and since he was the Son of Heaven, his given name was naturally self-evident.

"Xia Tian."

He had constructed an entire set of false credentials, completely unafraid of any identity verification the Ministry of Justice might perform.

The court of the Ministry of Justice convened.

Bound by his trust in Lu Yang, Xu Xin personally broke the restriction upon the Fourth Prince's storage ring and extracted the projection orb contained within.

Inside the projection orb, the Fourth Prince could be seen in high spirits, proudly introducing how exceptionally skilled his brothers were and recounting exactly how he intended to eliminate his three elder brothers one by one. The sight caused the Emperor of Xia, who stood watching as a witness, to turn completely livid with rage.

The evidence was ironclad.

Xu Xin let out a long breath. It was exactly as Lu Yang had described; the Fourth Prince intended to revolt, which was an immense capital crime.

"Men, take the Fourth Prince and cast him into the great dungeon!"

"Xu Xin, how dare you!" The Fourth Prince's eyes turned wild with desperation. If he were thrown into the dungeon, every chance of reversing his fortune would be utterly shattered!

Why would Xu Xin care about the clamor of a prince? When he had first entered officialdom, the prince's own father had not even been born yet; what did this boy amount to? With an impatient wave of his hand, he commanded his men to drag the Fourth Prince away.

"Lu Yang, rest assured. If a prince breaks the law, he shall be treated the same as a commoner. This matter will certainly receive a just trial," Xu Xin said to Lu Yang with a warm, gentle countenance, subtly implying that the boy should refrain from causing any further disturbance, as their Ministry of Justice was but a small place that could not withstand such upheaval.

"Then, can his nine generations be exterminated?" The Immortal Fairy was most concerned with this particular point.

Xu Xin: "..."

Seeing that Xu Xin offered no reply, the Immortal Fairy turned her head to ask the Emperor of Xia.

"Do you suppose they could execute the entire nine generations of my kin? If not, wiping out three generations would suffice."

The Xia Emperor remained utterly speechless.

Back then, you tried to strike me in the imperial palace and failed, and now you intend to straight-up murder me, is that it?