Even if their elder niece came back, they couldn’t be blamed for this letter disappearing.

For many days afterwards, the couple was on tenterhooks, but unexpectedly, their elder niece seemed to have really died in that fire and disappeared without a trace.

—

Recently, a strange thing happened in Jinling City.

The tombstone of the Taizu Emperor’s Mausoleum was split open by lightning, and eight large characters appeared on the cross-section: “Men disguised as women, disrupting the dynasty”.

Some said this was heavenly punishment, an ominous sign.

There must be men disguised as women in the imperial court, holding high positions.

However, looking at all the officials in the court, there were not many young female monarchs. Among those in high positions who were not yet married, there was only one, the King of Zhennang, Jing Huan.

In the capital, there was no shortage of gossipmongers and troublemakers. So in recent days, rumors began to spread widely that the King of Zhennang, Jing Huan, might be a man disguised as a woman, the one prophesied by the broken stele to disrupt the dynasty.

This spread from one to ten, ten to a hundred, and soon everyone in Jinling City knew about it.

The storytellers in the teahouses were still talking about the emperor consort’s misconduct at the peony flower party the day before.

The next day, they all changed their content, excitedly talking about the famous King Chen Jian of a different surname in history. Back then, he went to war in place of his father as a man, disguised as a woman, and eventually seduced the Chaoyang Empress, disrupting the dynasty and throwing the harem into chaos. This was used to allude to the King of Zhennang, Jing Huan, who also rose to power with a different surname.

The storyteller struck the惊堂木 and concluded: “Bending the bow for battle as a daughter, once dreamed of painting eyebrows.”

—

Zijing City, Taihe Hall.

Morning court

The entire court was in chaos, arguing endlessly.

Because of the broken stele incident, the court officials were divided into two major factions.

The pure stream faction led by the Marquis of Xuanping insisted on advising to take back the military tally in the hands of the missing King of Zhennang, Jing Huan, but was strongly opposed by the cabinet officials.

Most of the cabinet officials were old ministers from the time of the previous empress, and now they were protecting the King of Zhennang, relying on their seniority.

Even though the pure stream faction had reason and evidence, they were not in the upper hand.

The young empress sat at the head, rubbing her forehead. Her clear and childish voice suddenly rang out: “Enough, you’re arguing all day long, do you take the Xuanping Hall for a civilian market?”

The officials who were arguing until their ears were red and necks were thick finally stopped talking.

The empress raised her eyes and swept a glance at everyone, gave a look to the Marquis of Xuanping, and said slowly: “The Grand Tutor is ill and unable to attend the morning court. I am still young, and after careful consideration, I have made a decision. A few days ago, the King of Zhennang led 50,000 troops and went missing. At that time, some court officials advised to take back her military power. I thought of the King of Zhennang’s numerous military achievements and put it aside for a while. But now… with the incident of the tombstone prophecy, we have no choice but to…”

“No choice but to what?” Before Empress Mingxing could finish her words, she was interrupted by a woman walking slowly from outside the hall.

The newcomer wore a crimson official robe with a qilin patch, embroidered with a large five-inch diameter独科 flower. The flower was complex, and this type of court dress could only be worn by one person in the entire Golden Phoenix Dynasty, which was the super first-rank King of a different surname, Jing Huan, personally granted by the previous empress.

The newcomer walked slowly between the bowing officials to the front of the hall.

She bowed to Empress Mingxing. Because of the previous empress’s personal decree, the King of Zhennang, Jing Huan, was exempt from kneeling. So she only bent slightly and then straightened up.

She raised her head and seemingly casually met the eyes of the young empress on the dragon throne, smiling slightly: “Your Majesty should think thrice. This subject is wholeheartedly loyal to the monarch. Serving the court with utmost devotion, I was ambushed by enemies a few days ago and narrowly escaped death. I rushed back to Jinling City as fast as I could, only to find rumors and slander in the capital, not only questioning this subject’s female identity but also accusing me of disrupting the dynasty.”

“Your Majesty must not listen to only the King of Zhennang’s side of the story. Although the rumors in the market are just rumors, they don’t come from nowhere. The King of Zhennang has been of age for many years but is still unmarried, which has already caused controversy. In the past, she also didn’t show interest in men…” The Marquis of Xuanping stepped out and argued with his head lowered.

Jing Huan turned her head, her fierce eyes falling on the old face of the Marquis of Xuanping, Wei Donglai. She said slowly with a smile: “The Marquis of Xuanping should be careful with his words! If you wrongly accuse me today, I believe Your Majesty will do me justice.”

After saying this, she turned to Empress Mingxing and smiled: “Officials gossiping and believing rumors should be dismissed according to the law. But considering that the Marquis of Xuanping is from a military family, this title should be demoted by one rank. Your Majesty, do you agree with what I said?”

Empress Mingxing nodded, stroking the pigeon mail in her arms.

Big brother had written to her yesterday, informing her in advance about the King of Zhennang’s return to court today. She only needed to watch the show today.

“The King of Zhennang is right. But the Marquis is not a person who makes groundless accusations. You keep saying you’ve been wrongly accused, do you have any evidence to present?”

Jing Huan’s full lips parted slightly, calm and composed: “I do.”

She rummaged in her bosom and handed a stack of letters and a book to the attendant beside Empress Mingxing. Her fierce blue eyes swept over the officials in the court with varying expressions.

She explained slowly: “This subject sent people to investigate the broken stele incident overnight, but unexpectedly obtained such a record book of entries and exits from the imperial mausoleum. Three years ago, when the Prefecture Chief of Jingzhao was in charge of the imperial mausoleum, she used the excuse of the mausoleum being old and in need of repairs to rest the tombstone several times. This subject found it suspicious and sent people to follow the Prefecture Chief, and unexpectedly found such a stack of letters of treason and selling out the country in her study.”