The Prime Minister Chu sneered, straightening the somewhat disheveled official cap on his head, which had become so during his hasty escape. "The Marquis of Dingyuan's Mansion was informed days ago about His Majesty's intention to attend the ceremony.
Since the wolf was raised by the marquis himself, he must be most familiar with its habits. He should know perfectly well whether it would harm people and under what circumstances.
But today, when His Majesty, the Queen, and all the princes and princesses came to the marquis's mansion, this wolf managed to get out and attack people when there were the most guests around.
General Bai, don't you think this is a bit too much of a coincidence?"
"What does the Prime Minister mean by this?" Feng Linyuan asked coldly.
The Prime Minister Chu half - narrowed his shrewd eyes and said meaningfully, "The marquis should know very well what I mean. After all, it's the marquis who has raised this wolf too well!"
"But the wolf didn't really hurt anyone. Just now, we all saw with our own eyes that it was running straight towards Miss Bai!" It was the Duke of Qing who spoke. He had once been on good terms with the old marquis, Feng Zhen.
The Prime Minister Chu immediately raised his voice angrily. "Your Grace, what kind of words are those? Do we really have to wait until the wolf hurts His Majesty to prove that it's the fault of the Marquis of Dingyuan's Mansion?"
The Duke of Qing was taken aback and quickly explained, "Of course not! But I've heard that this wolf is usually gentle - tempered and won't hurt people casually."
"Your Grace has only heard about it!
None of us here knows the wolf's true nature better than the Marquis of Dingyuan.
He knew very well that this wolf could be dangerous, but he didn't lock it up properly. Instead, he let it out to hurt people. What's his excuse?
Today's incident, on a small scale, is just disturbing His Majesty's presence. On a large scale, it's a deliberate attempt to assassinate His Majesty!"
The Prime Minister Chu stood up excitedly, and every word in his last sentence was spoken forcefully.
The sudden accusation of "deliberately attempting to assassinate His Majesty" on the most loyal Marquis of Dingyuan in the Great Zhou Dynasty caused an uproar among those present.
Immediately, everyone's face changed, and they looked at Feng Linyuan suspiciously.
The Crown Prince, Feng Jingye, who was among them, pointed at Feng Linyuan and shouted angrily, "The Prime Minister is right. Feng Linyuan, what crime do you plead?"
Feng Linyuan remained calm, his expression unchanged. "I wonder what crime Your Highness wants me to admit?"
"Of course, it's the crime of insubordination and attempting to assassinate His Majesty!" Feng Jingye answered without hesitation.
"Attempting to assassinate His Majesty?" Feng Linyuan frowned and shook his head. "For other crimes, for Your Highness's sake, I might admit them.
But the crime of attempting to assassinate His Majesty is too serious. It would implicate the whole family. Not to mention that it's completely unjust. For the sake of my newly - wedded wife, I can't let her be involved in this false accusation."
Hearing this, the Prince of Yi, Feng Linhuai, couldn't help but burst into laughter.
After laughing until his eyes were bent, he straightened his face and scolded Feng Jingye.
"Ye'er, is this how you try to frame someone in public? People who don't know might think that you, the Crown Prince, are extremely overbearing. The Marquis of Dingyuan must have a hard time living under your thumb."
"What do you mean by admitting a crime just for the sake of giving me face?"
Feng Jingye was extremely angry with Feng Linyuan. His finger pointing at the other man was trembling. "Feng Linyuan! Even if you're glib and refuse to admit your crime, with both witnesses and evidence, you can't get away with it!"
Feng Linhuai glanced at him and replied with a smile, "What witnesses and evidence? I, myself, saw A Yuan lock Liufeng in the room before going out to welcome his bride today.
I just don't know how it managed to get out.
There are so many people in this hall, but Liufeng didn't target anyone else. Instead, it clearly went after the new wife. In any case, this has nothing to do with A Yuan attempting to assassinate His Majesty, right?"
"Uncle Yi! How do you know that after hurting the new wife, this wolf wouldn't go after Father next?"
Feng Jingye's voice was sharp and angry.
The Prime Minister Chu nodded in agreement. "Moreover, after the wolf got out, our first reaction was to protect His Majesty. Even the Queen, a weak woman, stepped forward to stand in front of His Majesty.
But what about the Marquis of Dingyuan?
Instead of protecting His Majesty, he rushed over to protect his new wife!
If General Bai hadn't stepped forward to injure the wolf and prevent it from attacking again, who do you think the wolf would have attacked next after sparing Miss Bai for the sake of its master?"
These words were really heart - rending. Even Bai Zheng couldn't help but retort, "Since everyone else was protecting His Majesty, the marquis trusted your abilities and was able to spare himself to protect me. What's wrong with that?"
"The Queen standing in front of His Majesty is truly a heroic woman. But I remember, Prime Minister, that you were hiding behind His Majesty's guards just now.
Even if we're going to criticize the Marquis of Dingyuan for not protecting His Majesty, among all the people here, it's definitely not your turn, Prime Minister!"
Song Yiqing waved his fan and said coldly.
The Prime Minister Chu was exposed for his act of self - preservation. His old face turned bright red. "I'm a civil official. I don't know how to subdue that wolf. Naturally, I'm not capable of protecting His Majesty..."
The more he spoke, the more guilty he felt.
In this feudal dynasty where the emperor was supreme, all officials should spare no effort to protect the emperor.
Therefore, Feng Linyuan's choice to protect his wife in this situation was wrong, and the Prime Minister Chu's choice to hide behind Feng Linche's guards due to his inability to protect himself was also wrong.
Just as Song Yiqing said, even if Feng Linyuan was wrong, it wasn't the Prime Minister Chu's place to impose such a serious charge on him righteously.
"What about me?" The Queen Chu said with a half - smile. Her eyes were as cold as ice. "Do I have the right to impose a charge on the marquis?"
Bai Zheng was taken aback and thought to herself that things were going to get bad.
This was the drawback of the feudal society - there was no human rights. Once you failed to sacrifice yourself to protect the master, even if it was to protect your own wife, it was unforgivable.
Although, in the end, no one was injured in this incident. If it were a magnanimous and wise emperor, since he himself was unharmed, he would probably just scold a few words and not really blame Feng Linyuan.
But Feng Linche was different.
He was eager for Feng Linyuan's death. Now that he finally had this opportunity, if he didn't nail the charge of attempting to assassinate His Majesty on Feng Linyuan, he would never let it go.
Thinking of this, Bai Zheng's eyebrows furrowed into a crescent shape.
This incident happened so suddenly. If it were anyone else, she was confident that she could turn the situation around.
But unfortunately, this incident involved a wolf...
Looking at the listless Liufeng lying on the ground, Bai Zheng became extremely suspicious.
Liufeng was always very intelligent and usually listened to Feng Linyuan the most. Why would it suddenly get out and attack people today?
Moreover, after the last incident, Liufeng should have known what Bai Zheng meant to its master. And during this period, Bai Zheng had already established a deep friendship with it.
The last time it attacked her was just a misunderstanding. Why would it come to cause trouble for her for no reason this time...