"Yes! How can the person who killed my son not pay the price?"
Princess Pingyang almost squeezed out these words between her teeth. She stood up, her face showing unprecedented determination and coldness.
Holding the blood - stained robe in her arms, she gave Feng Jingyang a fierce look with her eyes, then walked solemnly into the middle of the hall and knelt down before Feng Linche who was sitting on the upper seat.
"Your Majesty, now that the Fourth Prince has admitted to killing my son, I implore Your Majesty, for the sake of our sibling relationship, to severely punish the murderer and give my son justice."
The hall was completely quiet, only the voice of Princess Pingyang echoing high.
Feng Linche's face was gloomy. The more he looked at Feng Jingyang, the more he couldn't hold back the anger that had been suppressed in his heart.
This son had always been highly expected by him. If it hadn't been for the accident during the autumn hunting when he was twelve, with his intelligence and the power of his mother's clan, he should have been the most feared opponent of the current Crown Prince Feng Jingye.
It was because the stray arrow that injured Feng Jingyang came from the assassin who had failed to assassinate Feng Linche. Feng Linche always felt guilty towards this son who had almost died because of his own misfortune.
So he was quite tolerant of his subsequent change in temperament.
Even the marriage arranged by Concubine Zhao between Feng Jingyang and Zheng Yan was approved by him.
But now, everything had been destroyed by Feng Jingyang himself.
Feng Linche looked at his elder sister who was kneeling on the ground and refused to get up. He felt the veins on his forehead twitching.
Today, if Feng Jingyang had killed anyone in the hall other than Zheng Yan, Feng Linche would not have let the matter develop to such an irreparable situation.
But unfortunately, the one who died was Zheng Yan!
She was the only beloved daughter of the Marquis of Gaochang, who held an army of three hundred thousand, and Princess Pingyang, who had once helped Feng Linche whole - heartedly to seize the throne.
Since he realized that the murderer might be Feng Jingyang, the relentless pressure from the Marquis of Gaochang and the unyielding attitude of Princess Pingyang had made Feng Linche lose the opportunity to protect Feng Jingyang.
He could only watch helplessly as Feng Linyuan forced Feng Jingyang into a corner step by step.
"Your Majesty." The Marquis of Gaochang spoke with a trembling voice.
For some reason, Bai Zheng had the illusion that since the discovery of Zheng Yan's body, the Marquis of Gaochang seemed to have aged overnight. There were many more white hairs on his head, and his originally dark beard had also started to turn white.
"Your Majesty, I have fought bravely for the Great Zhou all my life and have many great military achievements. But in the end, I couldn't even protect my only bloodline." As he said, he kowtowed heavily. The crisp sound of his forehead hitting the floor tiles seemed to strike everyone's heart.
He looked at Feng Linche with calm eyes, and that look made Feng Linche's heart skip a beat.
Then he slowly said, "Your Majesty, even a prince must be punished as a commoner if he breaks the law. I only ask to use all my military achievements from the first half of my life to seek justice for my poor daughter who died so miserably."
After saying that, like Princess Pingyang, he bowed deeply and lay prostrate on the ground, not moving.
The hall instantly fell into a deathly silence.
Feng Linche's face was ashen. Looking at the Marquis of Gaochang and his wife who were determined to seek justice from him, his hands hidden in his sleeves were clenched into fists.
The so - called "even a prince must be punished as a commoner if he breaks the law", the meaning of the Marquis of Gaochang was very clear.
In the civilian world, those who were convicted of murder would almost always end up being beheaded after autumn.
He was asking Feng Jingyang to pay with his life for Zheng Yan's death!
Pay with his life? How could that be possible!
The expression on Feng Linche's face was as cold as if it had been covered with a thick layer of ice. Even though Zheng Yan was his own niece, in the end, she was just a daughter of a mere official.
Feng Jingyang was a dignified prince. If a prince killed the daughter of an official, at most he would receive a little punishment. How could he really be made to lose his life?
Just as Feng Linche was in a stand - off with the Marquis of Gaochang and his wife, a clear female voice suddenly rang out in the hall.
"The Fourth Prince is not such a person."
Bai Zheng looked in the direction of the voice and found that it was Bai Sheng.
Bai Sheng got up as she spoke and came in front of the Marquis of Gaochang and his wife. After respectfully saluting them, she knelt down and pleaded mournfully,
"Marquis of Gaochang, Princess, the Fourth Prince has grown up under your noses. Although he sometimes acts absurdly, he is definitely not a vicious person. He and Miss Zheng were childhood sweethearts. How could he have killed Miss Zheng? There must be some hidden truth in this matter. I implore the Marquis and the Princess to investigate clearly."
Seeing Bai Sheng step forward to plead, Bai Di also quickly joined in, "Yes, Marquis. If there is someone with ulterior motives deliberately sowing discord, wouldn't you be falling into the villain's trap like this?"
Bai Zheng watched this scene coldly and couldn't help but curl her lips.
Bai Sheng's plea was not because the mastermind of this incident suddenly had a conscience.
After all, Feng Jingyang was Feng Linche's own son. Now that something had happened to him, even though Feng Jingyang had lost his mind due to the deep stimulation for the time being and Feng Linche had no intention of investigating, once Feng Jingyang regained his senses and Feng Linche came to his senses, Bai Sheng, who had also participated in this matter, would not be able to clear herself.
Feng Linyuan smiled faintly, "This marquis also thinks that Miss Zheng's death is really unjust. Your Majesty should really investigate carefully. How could there be a master of formations in the palace for no reason? And how could someone evade multiple searches and bring such a vicious weapon, leading the Fourth Prince to kill Miss Zheng?"
Bai Sheng lowered her eyes and remained silent.
Just when Bai Zheng thought she was too scared and guilty to say anything, Bai Sheng suddenly smiled and said calmly,
"It should be investigated."
Saying that, she raised her head and looked at Feng Linche firmly with her eyes, "Your Majesty, the Fourth Prince has always been kind to this humble girl. Now that the Fourth Prince has been framed, this humble girl must clear his name no matter what. Although this humble girl can't help with other things, I may be able to help investigate the matter of the formations."
Everyone in Yongding City knew that Bai Sheng had gone out to study with a teacher. Although no one knew exactly what she had learned, such things could be easily found out with a little investigation.
Moreover, Feng Linyuan had deliberately mentioned the matter of the formations before, which had planted a seed of suspicion in Feng Linche's heart. If something was really found out, as the only person in the palace who was very likely to have learned and be proficient in formations, Bai Sheng would be hard to clear herself.
Now she simply turned passive into active and participated in the investigation herself. Anyway, all the current evidence pointed to Bai Zheng and Feng Jingyang, leaving her Bai Sheng completely clean.
If she was allowed to investigate, Feng Linyuan and Bai Zheng really couldn't say no.
Moreover, Bai Zheng had a premonition that judging from Bai Sheng's performance today, this woman was very scheming. She usually didn't make a move, but once she did, she would surely leave a way out for herself.
But what about Feng Jingyang...
Bai Zheng frowned. Then she saw Feng Linyuan suddenly salute Feng Linche, who had not yet agreed to Bai Sheng's request, and said loudly, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
Feng Linche was slightly stunned, "I haven't said anything yet. Why are you thanking me?"