Rising Phoenix

Helian Zheng paused for a moment, not expecting such a bold figure in the group of Civilian Ministers, but the moment passed and the prince snorted, turning back to the throne.

"Your Imperial Majesty!" The man continued in fluent, accented Chinese. "This is Daerza's liver! Poisoned! Black!"

As he spoke, he gestured for an eunuch to approach and present the liver to the Emperor, but the eunuch did not dare move, turning pale faced to the Emperor.

The Emperor furrowed his brows, but his words were still courteous as he replied: "Prince, if you are reporting a case of murder, you should go to the Ministry of Punishments. The Three Judicial Departments will give you the justice you demand. Ripping open a corpse and brining this liver to the palace is not the way."

"The Three Judicial Departments will cover up this travesty!" Helian Zheng immediately shot back, even uttering a mistaken word. His meaning was clear, however, and the directors of the Judicial Departments went pale.

Kong Chengshu, the Minister of Punishment, called out coldly: "Prince, you have not even appealed to the Ministry of Punishment, how can you saw that our judicial system would pervert the law and judge unfairly."

"You all work for the perpetrator!" Helian Zheng smirked, waving his hand and scattering black liver blood. "Of course you will pervert the law!"

Every face transformed. The Three Judicial Departments were managed by Prince Chu, and Helian Zhang's words were a direct accusation against Ning Yi.

"All accusations require proof." The Second Prince immediately replied. "Prince, if you dare to slander a Tian Sheng Dynasty Prince here in the Imperial Court, no one will be able to protect you!"

"Slander?" Helian Zhang lifted his head and laughed, throwing the liver down at the Second Prince's feet. "Look! I took it out of Dazaer right before your eyes! Even the dumbest steppe eagle knows that this blackened liver is poisonous, death to the flesh!"

The Second Prince furrowed his brows, nudging the thing by his foot, covering his nose as he replied: "Perhaps he ate something poisonous by mistake…" the prince did not continue speaking, turning to smile at the falling expression of the Minister of Punishment.

"Yesterday at noon, I went to see Dazaer." Helian Zheng explained. "He was fine! But that night, our people saw a black shadow flying out of the Ministry of Punishment's prison, and when we hurried in to check, Dazaer was dead!"

"Did you catch the killer?" The Fifth Prince asked, his eyes fiery.

"No." Helian Zheng snorted angrily. "But we injured him!"

Finally, he turned to face the silent Ning Yi. "Your highness, Dazaer unintentionally injured someone and caused his death; even if he had to pay with his life, the decision was to be made by the Ministry of Punishment and the Dali Court. Why did you send your people to kill him?"

"Oh?" Ning Yi cocked a brow, smiling thinly. "You're right, why would I send my people to kill him?"

"Copying my words is useless." Helian Zheng laughed coldly. "You know why you sent your man to kill him. Our Hu Zhuo Tribe wanted him alive, and your Imperial Court's sour scholars wanted him dead, so you killed him and made it look like a suicide. If Dazaer committed suicide because he was afraid of the punishment, we couldn't blame you and the case would have been perfectly resolved, but you didn't know that our steppe heroes worship the glorious Tengri and would never cowardly kill themselves!"

"Oh?" Ning Yi replied, his small smile never changing. "Very reasonable, quite brilliant, I didn't know it before but the Prince really is quite eloquent."

"Don't patronize me." Helian Zheng proudly replied. "I understand your mockery! Our steppe men are straight shooters, we don't have your central plain's winding ways. If you want proof, I have it!"

The prince turned and bowed to the Tian Sheng Emperor: "Your Majesty, please allow me to summon the witnesses."

The Emperor nodded assent and the prince clapped his hands, summing a group of men. One of the Hu Zhuo guards, a petty official from the Ministry of Punishment, and a small group of civilians came forward, trembling as they knelt far from the stairs."

"I fought with the killer, he used swords in both hands!"

"Your Majesty… this minor minister did not see the killer's face, but that afternoon, the honored Sixth Rank Guard Ning Deng came to the prison and looked around the place."

"This commoner was knocked down by a masked man, and when he helped me up he used his left hand…"

As the witnesses made their testimonies, the watching crowd wore many different expressions, some worried, some excited. Feng Zhiwei did not understand at first why they kept mentioning the left hand, but when she thought back to how Ning Deng has smashed the vase, she understood.

Ning Deng had used his left hand to hold the vase, and his left hand to wield his sword.

From the onlookers' expressions, everyone knew about this bodyguard's habit, and she had only missed out on this fact because she kept avoiding Ning Yi.

If the witnesses pointed at Ning Deng, that meant they were pointing at Ning Yi. Ning Yi listened quietly, impassive, the faint smile unchanging on his face, and only those familiar with him would see the cold edge.

"Father Emperor." Ning Yi turned to the throne and bowed, speaking sincerely: "This minister's bodyguard Ning Deng was with me all of yesterday, there was no way he could have snuck out to commit this murder. Father Emperor, please give your judgement."

"The Prince is concerned for his subordinate and will always defend him." Xu Boqing, the Minister of Personnel, said. "We should allow Bodyguard Ning to give his side of the story. Should we summon him and have him brought to court?"

"Are this prince's words unreliable?" Ning Yi glanced at Xu Boqing, causing him to stiffen.

The Minister swallowed, but continued insisting: "This Minor Minister is only taking Prince Chu's reputation into consideration."

"Minister Xu spoke wrongly." Grand Secretariat Yao Ying spoke up. "Everyone knows that Prince Chu is very strict with his followers; are you suggesting with your words that Prince Chu is lying?"

"I do not dare." Xu Boqing bowed to Ning Yi, but right away Ge Hongying, the Vice Minister of Public Works, spoke up, smiling:

"Even under the brilliant sun live shadows. Prince Chu attends to thousands of matters every day and does not have time to watch every single one of his followers. Even if there are one or two shameless cretins by his highness's side, it would not detract from Prince Chu's great virtue."

"The matter cannot be explained like this…"Hu Shengshan began, stroking his beard.

"Elder Hu, I have to disagree.." A powerful young minister from a hostile faction began.

As things began descending into a verbal competition, the Tian Sheng Emperor's brows furrowed more and more. Finally, he called out angrily: "Enough!"

Silence filled the court as the Tian Sheng Emperor paused for a moment. Slowly, he spoke: "Go, bring Ning Deng here."

Ning Yi's eyes darkened while the other prince's hid excitement.

"Even if it was Ning Deng, that does not mean Prince Chu ordered it." The Seventh Prince spoke up, smiling. "Perhaps it was a private grudge."

"Seventh Prince speaks reason." Helian Zheng replied, his smile stiff like iron. "Even though Bodyguard Ning and Dazaer are ten thousand miles apart and have no contact, I am not the kind of person to randomly frame people. I have more evidence."