Chapter 1602 -1595: Wei Mingze Reveals His Heart
Qin Muyan finally came back to his senses, but his expression was cold, his eyes devoid of joy or anticipation, only indifference as he commanded, “Let’s go.”
According to ritual, he was to hold hands with Li Yunshu and ascend the hundred-stair platform together, to receive the homage of the courtiers and then present to her the golden seal and the royal edict.
But at this moment, he was not in the mood, so he turned and planned to ascend the stairs alone.
The hand hidden beneath Li Yunshu’s long sleeves had already reached out towards Qin Muyan, yet he disdained to hold her hand and did not even glance at it once. Was he this indifferent towards her?
Hatred enveloped Li Yunshu’s heart as she clenched her teeth, thinking that if it were Rong Yun standing beside him today in the phoenix robe, would he act the same?
No!
He wouldn’t!
In his heart, there was only that useless wretch!
As Li Yunshu’s resentment surged, she failed to notice something rolling down the stairs. It rolled right down the last white step and landed at her feet.
By her side, Chun Xing was the first to react, her eyes widening as she let out a sharp scream, “Your Highness! A heart—”
“What’s all the noise!” Li Yunshu frowned impatiently, but when she looked down, her eyes suddenly widened in shock.
At her feet lay a human heart!
It had been freshly carved out, with blood still seeping and flowing, as if to proclaim that it had just recently left its owner’s body.
Wei Jue exclaimed, “Protect the emperor! Protect the empress!”
He drew his sword and rushed up the stairs first, probing towards the great hall, eager to find what villain dared wreak havoc during the coronation ceremony!
Qin Muyan watched Wei Jue lead the charge up, his brows knitting into a frown.
Wei Jue had been up there for a while, yet he had not come back down to report the situation.
Behind him, the civil and military officials were abuzz with discussion:
“What’s going on here?”
“How did a heart end up at the empress’s feet?”
“This… the empress truly remains unflustered amidst chaos! This is the dignified demeanor befitting the mother of our nation!”
Some seized the opportunity to flatter Li Yunshu, hoping to win favor from Li Bo.
However, Li Bo, who stood at the forefront of the civil officials, had stormy and unfathomable depths in his eyes.
He knew that the coronation ceremony was about to be disrupted.
This is bad!
Since Wei Jue had not come down, Qin Muyan directly picked up the hem of his robe and headed towards the great hall, saying, “I shall see for myself what the matter is!”
“Emperor! Wait for me!”
Li Yunshu, dragging her heavy phoenix robe, followed him as well.
Only, she had brushed against that heart, leaving a trail of blood as she walked, staining her phoenix robe with blood spots, soiling it.
“Yunshu!”
Li Bo, standing behind Li Bo, called out in haste.
His daughter was simply losing her composure. There were no precedents of an empress not being escorted by the emperor and running up to the great hall in such a fluster.
Li Bo kept a stern face without speaking, his carefully groomed beard remaining impeccably in place despite the wind, without a trace of disarray.
He looked up, his gaze icy as it fixed on the direction of the great hall.
Qin Muyan and Li Yunshu ascended together, but it wasn’t until Li Yunshu reached the top that she realized that someone had deliberately sabotaged her coronation ceremony, for the stairs were… covered in blood!
The bloodstains led all the way to the great hall, and atop the Phoenix Throne, a body lay sprawled out, drenched in blood, a glaring sight!
“How audacious! To actually… actually disrupt the coronation ceremony! Emperor, you must punish him severely!”
Li Yunshu was furious, her long-anticipated day was ruined by someone!
“No need.”
Next to the Phoenix Throne, Wei Jue uttered, tremblingly.
He turned around, kneeling before Qin Muyan with tears and pleading guilty, “Your Majesty, the guilty palace guard Wei Mingze… I lay bare my heart to prove to Your Majesty that Empress Rong Yun, she is innocent!”
“He…”
Qin Muyan looked at the person upon the Phoenix Throne, his mood becoming extremely heavy.
A century ago in the Great Wei Dynasty, a general was falsely accused of treason. To prove the general’s innocence, his personal palace guard cut out his own heart while still alive and placed it in front of the military tent, imploring with his genuine heart for an opportunity to reinvestigate the case.
The Imperial family, moved by his loyalty, reexamined the old case, exonerated the general, and thus began a tradition.
If a personal guard is willing to lay bare their heart, they could earn another chance.
Now…
Wei Mingze had cut out his heart to protest the injustice against Rong Yun!
“What’s the use of laying bare one’s heart in self-proving? He was bewitched by Rong Yun, nothing more than a tool being used!” Li Yunshu exclaimed angrily.
“Empress!” Wei Jue’s face burned red, his eyes trembling, “Every soldier of the Great Wei, is forged through countless trials, every palace guard, is trained through decades of perseverance, they… they are certainly not frivolous scoundrels!”
Knowing his own low status as just a subject, he could not bear Li Yunshu’s slander against the disciple he had taught for over a decade!
The people he personally trained must be loyal to the emperor and patriotic, with hearts true and faithful!
“How is it not…” Just as Li Yunshu was about to reprimand Wei Jue wielding the authority of an empress, she was coldly interrupted by Qin Muyan, “Shut up! My personal guards cannot be easily misled by others! Look at the words he wrote!”
Qin Muyan pointed to the Phoenix Throne, to the blood-written letter that Wei Mingze clutched even in death:
The empress is innocent, the prince is innocent.
He laid bare his heart, with his life, he proved their innocence!
Rong Yun was not a scheming or manipulative person; if there wasn’t some injustice involved, Wei Mingze would never have taken such a drastic measure!
How ruthless must one be to cut out his own beating heart and display it for all to see?
Wei Mingze made the ultimate sacrifice, begging for a retrial for Rong Yun!
Qin Muyan looked earnestly at Wei Mingze, “Your wish will be granted.”
All the people from that village, he would have them arrested and reinvestigate everything!
To comfort the spirit of Wei Mingze in heaven!
“Your Majesty!” Li Yunshu, seeing him turn to arrange the arrest, panicked, “Your Majesty, today is the day of my coronation ceremony, are you really going to abandon me for a palace guard?”
She whispered humbly, cautiously holding Qin Muyan’s hand, “Your Majesty, please don’t be so cruel to me, alright?”
Qin Muyan coldly withdrew his hand, his gaze at Li Yunshu feeling very unfamiliar, “Yunshu, we grew up together. You should be principled, commanding great presence. You mustn’t forget that incident from a hundred years ago, the first lesson we were taught when we joined the military.”
“What lesson?”
Li Yunshu was bewildered, not understanding what Qin Muyan was talking about, she only wanted desperately to make him stay, at least to finish the coronation ceremony with her, to formalize her status as empress!
But Qin Muyan did not stay, this coronation ceremony, it seemed like a joke!
Qin Muyan announced publicly that he would reinvestigate the Rong Yun case.
Li Yunshu, in her long, trailing phoenix robe, could not stop Qin Muyan’s actions, and she even fell in front of everyone.
Watching Qin Muyan walk away, her eyes filled with tears, “Your Majesty—!”
Why… why be so cruel to her?
“A mere palace guard… Wei Mingze is just a palace guard! What gives you the right to do this to me!”
Li Yunshu pounded the ground fiercely, her cries heart-wrenching.
Her Phoenix Throne, her position as empress!
All ruined!
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