With a warehouse full of supplies, I stood alone as king in this chaotic world, gun in hand.

"Because I discovered that, judging from the color of this jade Buddha, it was definitely not freshly carved." Bei Chenyan's voice was cold, yet undeniably so.

Nangong Wu was also surprised. She didn't expect that Beichen Yan could see the problem with the jade Buddha at a glance. It seems that he is not as useless as she thought.

Nangong Chengkun's expression turned slightly unpleasant. "Crown Prince of Nanqi, are you implying that I deceived the Empress Dowager with a fake jade Buddha?"

"The jade Buddha is not a fake; on the contrary, it is a top-quality jade," Bei Chenyan said, pointing to the jade Buddha in the box. "If you don't believe me, you can have someone knowledgeable come up and examine it."

Upon hearing this, the people in the hall began to whisper among themselves.

But no one came up.

Nangong Chengkun's heart sank again, but he didn't say anything. Even if someone had doubts, no one dared to challenge him, the crown prince.

"Crown Prince of Nanqi, I am very curious, how did you figure that out? Do you perhaps have a deep knowledge of jade?" Tang Jingli asked with great interest.

He was quite knowledgeable about jade, but he couldn't tell how old this jade Buddha was.

"Judging from the luster, if mutton fat jade is freshly carved, its luster is just beginning to shine." Bei Chenyan gently stroked the jade Buddha.

"Look at this jade Buddha. Its surface has a smooth, oily luster, and it feels silky to the touch. This is 'restrained, soft luster.' A freshly carved finished product would never have such a soft, smooth luster."

"The Crown Prince of Nanqi is absolutely right," someone agreed with Bei Chenyan.

"As everyone knows, the longer the finest mutton fat jade is aged, the more warm and lustrous its luster becomes, and this jade Buddha's luster is just like that," said an envoy from the Northern Di Kingdom.

Emperor Mingde, seated on the throne, frowned. "Crown Prince of Nanqi, regardless of whether the jade Buddha is new or not, it is a token of your filial piety towards the Empress. You need not worry about it."

"Your Majesty, when I saw this jade Buddha, it reminded me of the Longhua Temple, the royal temple of my Southern Qi Kingdom. There was a jade Buddha over three feet tall enshrined there, which was stolen half a year ago by an insider in collusion with outsiders, and it has not been found since..."

Bei Chenyan paused here, looking at Nangong Chengkun, whose face had turned deathly pale.

Everyone's expression changed, including the emperor and empress seated at the head of the table.

The jade Buddha statue in the royal temple of the Southern Qi Kingdom was stolen, and Nangong Chengkun happens to have produced a jade Buddha statue today as well. What a coincidence!

Nangong Xiao leaned close to Nangong Wu's ear and said, "Sister, you can all tell that the Crown Prince of Nanqi was implying something. This jade Buddha might really have an unknown origin!"

He didn't lower his voice intentionally, and almost everyone around him heard it, their eyes becoming dark and unfathomable.

Nangong Wu remained silent, her gaze fixed on Bei Chenyan. She could tell that this man had likely come prepared.

The origin of this jade Buddha is definitely questionable.

Upon hearing Nangong Xiao's words, Nangong Chengkun became somewhat exasperated. "Bei Chenyan, you'd better not make baseless accusations without evidence."

Bei Chenyan sneered, "Whether I, the Crown Prince, have slandered anyone or not, will be known simply by examining this jade Buddha!"

Emperor Mingde now understands that the origin of this jade Buddha may indeed be unclean, and this Crown Prince of Nanqi seems to already know the origin of the jade Buddha and came here today specifically to ambush it. He is truly cunning.

He cursed inwardly for the Crown Prince's lack of rigor.

They dare to flaunt things of unknown origin in public, especially with envoys from several countries present. If the Jade Buddha and the Jade Buddha of Longhua Temple were present, things would not end well today.

But now that things have come to this, we need to resolve this matter properly, otherwise we might end up antagonizing the Southern Qi Kingdom.

"Crown Prince of Nanqi, were you implying that this jade Buddha is the one that was lost from your Longhua Temple?" Emperor Mingde made his point clear.

Now that things have come to this, we have no choice but to bring the matter into the open.

"I only have suspicions; I need to investigate to know for sure," Bei Chenyan said.

"Bei Chenyan, you only have suspicions, yet you dare to slander me like this?" Nangong Chengkun knew that Bei Chenyan was definitely targeting him.

"Your Highness, shut up!" Emperor Mingde shouted at Nangong Chengkun. If he continued, the two countries would become enemies.

He descended the imperial steps and said to Bei Chenyan, "Since the Crown Prince of Nanqi has suspicions, then investigate. Your Highness, you must also cooperate; our royal family cannot accept things of dubious origin."

Nangong Chengkun immediately understood, "Your subject obeys."

He said to Bei Chenyan, "Your Highness, the jade was found by someone I sent to have it carved by a master craftsman. It was only delivered to the Eastern Palace a few days ago."

"If this jade Buddha is indeed the one lost from your royal temple, then it must have been done by one of your subordinates; I was unaware of it."

Bei Chenyan sneered inwardly. Was Nangong Chengkun trying to extricate himself from this matter?

"Please welcome Abbot Minghai of Longhua Temple!" Bei Chenyan suddenly called out to the entrance of the main hall.

Everyone was taken aback and looked towards the entrance of the main hall.

Emperor Mingde was incredulous. He never expected that Bei Chenyan would bring the abbot of Longhua Temple into the palace, and that he, the emperor, was completely unaware of it!

"Sister, you guessed right. This Bei Chenyan came prepared. It seems he has already figured out Nangong Chengkun's background. I'm afraid Emperor Mingde won't be able to protect Nangong Chengkun this time either," Nangong Xiao said to Nangong Wu.

"Then let's just watch the show." Nangong Wu's lips curled into a mocking smile.

A white-bearded monk wearing a kasaya entered the main hall, holding a string of jade prayer beads in his hand.

Abbot Minghai glanced at the main hall, then walked towards Emperor Mingde, who was dressed in a dragon robe, and clasped his hands together, saying, "This old monk greets Your Majesty."

"Abbot, there's no need for such formalities." Emperor Mingde gestured slightly to him. "I was unaware that you had come from afar. I have failed to greet you properly; my apologies!"

Longhua Temple was the royal temple of the Southern Qi Kingdom, and the abbot of the temple held an extremely high position, so much so that even the emperor was treated with great respect.

"The theft of the jade Buddha in the temple is a matter of great importance. I apologize for my presumptuous visit, Your Majesty." Abbot Minghai chanted another Buddhist prayer. "I have learned that the jade Buddha may have been taken to the Western Yan Kingdom's palace by the thieves, so I had no choice but to come."

"Abbot, look at this jade Buddha. Isn't it the one that was lost from the temple?" Bei Chenyan asked Abbot Minghai, pointing at the jade Buddha.

Abbot Minghai's pupils constricted sharply upon seeing the jade Buddha. He walked to the box, carefully examined the jade Buddha, and then said to Beichen Yan:

"Your Highness, this jade Buddha is the jade Buddha statue that was lost from Longhua Temple."

Upon hearing this, Nangong Chengkun immediately said, "Abbot, this jade Buddha was commissioned by me at great expense. You come here claiming it belongs to your Longhua Temple. How can you prove that?"

"That's right!" Prime Minister Yu also raised a question, "The Jade Buddha was obtained by our Crown Prince, and it cost a lot of money. You can't just say that the Jade Buddha belongs to your Longhua Temple based on a single sentence!"