Even the crown prince is getting a marriage of convenience? Why are you in such a hurry to stop bein

Before long, the Minister of Justice, the Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review, and others arrived one after another and knelt down in unison.

The emperor ordered them to thoroughly investigate the matter.

When the King of Kang received the news at home, he was overjoyed. However, two hours later, he was suddenly summoned to the palace by imperial decree.

Jiang Heng hesitated for a moment, then felt somewhat reassured.

Perhaps now that the "truth" has been revealed and his words have come true, his father has summoned him to the palace, wanting to reward him.

He smiled and nodded. "Please wait a moment, Your Excellency. I'll go change my clothes first."

The old eunuch who delivered the decree had a somewhat stiff smile as he forced himself to speak.

"Your Highness, in this urgent situation, there's no need to change your clothes. Please come to the palace with me quickly, otherwise it will be bad if His Majesty and the ministers have to wait too long."

"Gentlemen?"

Jiang Heng sneered inwardly, becoming increasingly certain that this matter was quite significant, and felt a sense of satisfaction.

Xiao Lie, oh Xiao Lie, now that it's been discovered that he's smuggling military equipment, even with his silver tongue, he can't escape His Majesty's suspicion.

Since he was there to see a joke, he didn't hesitate any longer and hurriedly followed the eunuch into the palace.

Inside the Imperial Study, on a small table were several gleaming black weapons, some of the evidence seized by the Three Departments during the recent search.

Jiang Heng vaguely felt that these weapons were different from military standard equipment, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong, so he could only kneel down and pay his respects.

"Your subject pays respects to Your Majesty, may Your Majesty live ten thousand years!"

"Alright, let's skip the formalities."

"Prince Kang, I summoned you to the palace today to show you these things. Do you recognize them?"

Jiang Heng understood immediately; Xiao Lie must have been desperate and had no choice but to cling to him.

But he wasn't that kind of fool, so why would he do as Xiao Lie wished?

He pretended to step forward and examine them, feigning doubt, and asked, "Father, aren't these commonly used military equipment? Did Father summon me here because of a problem?"

Standing to the side, Xiao Lie slightly curled his lips and slowly spoke.

"Your Highness, do you truly not recognize it? Why not take a closer look?"

Jiang Heng frowned and glared angrily, coldly retorting, "I said I don't recognize them, and that's final. What does it mean that Prince Xiao insists on linking these things to me?"

"Have you done something wicked that you want to smear my reputation?"

Prince Kang stood tall and imposing, his face cold and stern, each word piercing to the heart. If Xiao Liezhen were a criminal at this moment, he would probably be driven to despair by Prince Kang's deliberately provocative words. But now, with their positions reversed, it was a different story altogether.

Xiao Lie suppressed his smile and shook his head regretfully.

"Your Highness, within the palace walls and before His Majesty, even if you wish to conceal something, you shouldn't speak such nonsense."

Jiang Heng was annoyed and wanted to retort a couple more times, but he suddenly realized that the ministers standing on his left and right were all looking at him with strange eyes. He stiffened and felt a sense of unease.

The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review couldn't stand it any longer and spoke out on the spot.

"Your Highness, although these weapons were found in the merchant caravan of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, they were forged from Xiawen ore, a specialty of Yun County. Back then, Your Highness was appointed as the Mining Supervisor of Qixia Mountain in Yun County and spent three months with it day and night. How could you not even recognize this?"

"Does Your Highness fail to recognize him, or does he not want to recognize him, or perhaps he knows the details of the matter and is simply too afraid to acknowledge him?"

The Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review spoke clearly, yet his words were like the gavel in the King of Hell's palace, chilling his soul.

Jiang Heng was stunned for a long time before he came to his senses and spoke in astonishment.

"Lord Chen, are you implying that I am involved in this matter?"

The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review snorted and replied, "Your Highness has a past relationship with the officials of Yun County, everyone knows that. Although Your Highness is now in the capital and has no more dealings with Yun County, it is not difficult to obtain some Xiawen ore to forge swords based on past connections."

"Apart from the vassal states, all the iron mines within the Great Xia territory are guarded by special personnel and are strictly inspected. If we were to start from those places, it would be difficult to guarantee that the news would not leak out. Therefore, Your Highness chose to start from the Xiawen Mine, which is similar to iron mines but is much more lax in management."

"Unfortunately, although they look similar, they are completely different in quality. Although they may deceive others for a while, a closer look will reveal the difference."

The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review stepped forward and tapped a long sword with his finger. The sound was clear and resonant, like a jade chime, quite different from the crisp and clear sound of iron ore.

Jiang Heng's face turned pale. He walked forward in disbelief, picked up one of the knives and slashed at it fiercely. But as soon as it hit the corner of the table, it shattered due to the violent impact.

The biggest difference between Xiawen ore and other iron ores is that it is hard and brittle, making it unsuitable for use as a weapon. Therefore, the people of Daxia mostly mined it to use as material for smelting ritual objects, rather than for weapons.

"This...this is impossible! I clearly told someone to..."

Before he could finish speaking, King Kang suddenly bit his tongue, stopping himself from speaking, his face turning deathly pale.

He suddenly looked up and met Xiao Lie's ambiguous smile. That smile clenched his heart and turned into a raging fury.

"It was you! You framed me!"

Xiao Lie's expression turned cold, and he calmly reminded him, "Your Highness, you must have evidence to back up your decisions."

"Evidence? You have absolutely no evidence, yet you suspect me based on a broken rock? That's absurd!"

Prince Kang then bowed to His Majesty, saying, "Your Majesty, even if this Xiawen ore has some connection to me for various reasons, these things were found in the Xiao family's caravan. The Xiao family should be the most suspicious!"

Upon hearing this, the ministers were shocked, and the Prefect of the Capital Prefecture wiped away a cold sweat, secretly relieved.

He knew about the secret letter accusing the Xiao family of allegedly transporting military equipment, and now, upon closer inspection, it was indeed true…

The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review narrowed his eyes and stepped forward. "Your Highness, since you entered the palace, no one has mentioned that these items were found on the Xiao family's merchant caravan. How did you find out?"

"Could it be that you already knew about this?"

King Kang's face turned pale, and he opened his mouth in a daze, unable to explain himself. "This...this...I was just guessing."

"Besides a few ministers, Prince Xiao is also standing here, which is naturally related to him."

Having said that, King Kang seemed to have found his backbone again and straightened his back.

"Lord Chen, do you doubt me just because I made a few guesses?"

"Whether it's speculation or not, His Highness Prince Kang knows the answer!"

The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review stopped talking to him and instead bowed to His Majesty.

"Your Majesty, this matter is currently shrouded in mystery, with no concrete evidence, making it extremely difficult to determine the truth. I request that the residences of Prince Kang and the Duke of Zhenguo be searched."

King Kang looked frightened and was about to stop it when he heard the emperor at the head of the table slowly agree.

"Your Majesty's permission is granted!"

King Kang staggered, as if he had lost his soul. He could only barely maintain his dignity by clenching his palms tightly.

Unbeknownst to him, Xiao Lie's gaze fell upon him.

King Kang, how does it feel to reap what you sow?