Chapter 996 - 996: Accused
Long Chen and Lu w.a.n.g entered the throne room, which wasn"t as empty as yesterday.
The Emperor was sitting on the Throne, talking to his Ministers when Lu w.a.n.g entered without asking for any permission.
"w.a.n.g"er? What happened?" The Emperor asked Lu w.a.n.g. "Didn"t you go to show Long Chen the city? Why are you back so soon?"
The Emperor stopped talking to his ministers and s.h.i.+fted his attention to his son, beside whom stood Long Chen. He was curious why they were back so soon. The trip shouldn"t be over so fast. Their Royal City had many places. Could it be that they faced some trouble?
"Father, there"s something I need to tell you. Apparently, Long Chen raped a worker of Flower Pavillion. I brought him here to have you serve justice," Lu w.a.n.g told his father as he glanced at Long Chen.
The Ministers started chattering amongst themselves as they heard this shocking news. The Prince Consort had forced a commoner?
The Entire Hallway was filled with the conversation of the Ministers; the Emperor, on the other hand, sat calmly, gazing at Long Chen.
After taking a brief look at Long Chen, he sighed. N
He s.h.i.+fted his gaze at Lu w.a.n.g and observed him too.
"Lu w.a.n.g, wait outside for a minute. I want to talk to Long Chen in your absence," the Emperor told his son.
Lu w.a.n.g squinted his eyes, but he nodded as he turned back.
He walked out of the hall and waited outside.
...
Inside the hall, Long Chen and the Emperor were gazing at each other. The Ministers were still talking amongst themselves. Some were saying that it was shameful, while others were saying that it was unbelievable.
"Tell me. What happened?" The Emperor asked Long Chen, frowning. "Tell the truth."
Long Chen nodded and started explaining what had happened. He talked about Lu w.a.n.g leaving and him leaving after that. He also talked about coming back only to see a crowd.
"And she accused me. I"m not sure why she did that. But someone is definitely pulling the strings to accuse me," he finished.
The Emperor nodded his head, seeing a truthful light in Long Chen"s eyes. He had a feeling that Long Chen wasn"t lying.
"Lu w.a.n.g, come inside." The Emperor used a bit of Qi in his voice to make sure that it was heard by Lu w.a.n.g, who was standing outside.
Lu w.a.n.g stepped inside the hall.
"Now, you tell us what happened today. From start to end without leaving anything out," the Emperor told Lu w.a.n.g.
Lu w.a.n.g observed the reaction of the ministers and his father. It was different than before. They didn"t seem to be ashamed of Long Chen now. He was sure that Long Chen told them about his innocence. He could only prove him wrong now.
He started explaining his own version of the truth, which was mixed with a bit of lie. Surprisingly enough, his face also seemed to be truthful.
The Emperor couldn"t believe it. It was as if the guy was truly telling the truth. But how was it possible? There were two stories, and both were true?
Obviously, one was a lie and whoever it was that lied was pretty convincing.
Lu w.a.n.g had already lied to him before, so he was tilted to believe Long Chen more this time. There was also a feeling inside him that Long Chen was innocent.
From what he had understood about Long Chen, he was finding it hard to believe that Long Chen would do something like this. That wasn"t the kind of person he was.
"Where is the woman who went through it?" he asked Lu w.a.n.g. I want to talk to her now.
"I sent a carriage to bring her here. She should be here soon," the Prince told the Emperor.
"Good. I"ll talk to her myself to know what happened. Justice will be served," the Emperor nodded his head.
The Emperor nodded his head as he watched Long Chen.
...
Half an hour had pa.s.sed. The Throne room was filled with silence throughout this half an hour as no one spoke anything. Two seats were also arranged for Long Chen and Lu w.a.n.g, where they sat, waiting.
Creak!
The creaking sound of the gate filled the room as the door opened. A woman walked inside the throne room.
"Are you fine?"
The woman was none other than Mingyu, who was looking at Long Chen.
"I"m fine, don"t worry." Long Chen smiled in response, making her not worry.
" Father, I heard there is an accusation of forcing a woman? Someone accused him? It"s a false accusation. I have known him for so long. He"s not the kind of person that can even think of doing it, let alone actually do it," Mingyu told her father as she walked towards Long Chen.
"Mingyu, I know you care for him. But as the Emperor, it"s my duty to make sure there"s no partiality. Everyone deserves justice. I"m sure he can"t do it, but if he did, then even if he is your husband, he"ll be punished," the Emperor let out calmly.
At the moment, he wasn"t a father but the Emperor. Most of the ministers were here as well, so it was an official affair now and not a family matter.
"Yes. Everyone deserves justice, and so does he. He"s falsely accused. I"m sure of it. What I don"t know is why someone would accuse him. He"s here and doesn"t have any enemies," Mingyu replied.
She placed her hands on Long Chen"s shoulders as she told him, "Don"t worry. Nothing will happen to you. I know you did nothing wrong," she said.
"I knew you"d understand. I truly did nothing. Someone is trying to frame me, and I think I have an idea who it might be," Long Chen said.
"Who?" the Emperor asked, hearing his words. "And why would someone frame you."
"I don"t think I should say now, but I think it"s Prince w.a.n.g. I had a feeling that he doesn"t like me and wants me out of here. So it"s possible that he is trying to frame me to make that happen," Long Chen told the Emperor.
"What are you saying?" Mingyu asked in disbelief. "My brother will never do something like this to you. He"s really nice."
"But only the two of us were in the room. And no one other than him could have a motive. As for the story about losing the ring, it sounds sketchy. It could be that he intentionally dropped it so he could have an alibi," Long Chen said, explaining what he was thinking.