Everyone immediately understood after hearing what the constable said.
Turns out it was Crown Prince Charles Chu of Chu who drugged these men for his own amusement. Now that his scandal has been exposed, he wants to frame these burly men as assassins and have Six Gates execute them to cover things up.
If this had happened in Chu, with Charles Chu's power, he could've easily suppressed it.
But Charles Chu, used to being overbearing, forgot that this was Jin, not Chu.
Jin and Chu have been bitter enemies for generations. Diplomatic peace between nations doesn't erase the people's resentment toward Chu.
A Chu man swaggering around Jin—no Jin citizen could tolerate that. Why should innocent Jin folk be wronged just to protect this Crown Prince of Chu?
The Six Gates constable, feeling indignant, exposed the drugging on the spot, leaving Charles Chu red-faced and utterly humiliated.
The crowd burst into gasps and jeers, thinking, 'This Crown Prince of Chu really is something—drugging so many men at once! How insatiable must he be?'
Seeing the crowd pointing and whispering about him, Charles Chu left in shame and fury, glaring at the Six Gates officers before he went: "If this gets out, I'll make sure Six Gates pays for it!"
"Yes, yes, Your Highness, take care!" The Six Gates officers respectfully saw Charles Chu off, though inwardly they scoffed: 'Who do you think you are, coming to Jin and throwing your weight around? Making threats at Six Gates? Pfft!'
Charles Chu stormed downstairs, feeling everyone was pointing and whispering about him. The searing pain in his backside made him wish he were dead as he slunk back to the Chu embassy, utterly disgraced.
When he arrived, his subordinates were frantic. Only then did Charles Chu learn from them what had happened the night before.
Turns out, after Charles Chu was knocked out, all his men were taken down by the Hayes Family Shadow Guard. When they finally came to, the Crown Prince had vanished!
The Chu guards were scared half to death—losing the Crown Prince could mean their families would be wiped out!
They searched all night, but only found Charles Chu at dawn, dumped behind a brothel, stripped of his dignity.
Charles Chu sprawled across the bed, pounding the mattress in fury. "Alexander Hayes, Lily Evans, you shameless pair! How dare you make a fool of me like this! I won't let this go!"
Then he barked at his underlings, "Get out there and clean up this mess. Whatever happened in that brothel must never leak out, or my reputation is finished!"
"Yes, Your Highness!" his subordinates replied, scrambling to obey.
A swarm of men rushed out to handle the aftermath, while Charles Chu, clutching his sore backside, groaned in pain. He debated calling a doctor, but the injury was in such an embarrassing spot—and the result of those burly men’s attack—that he couldn’t bring himself to ask. So he ordered Lin Family Healing Balm, awkwardly applied it himself, and hoped he’d be back to normal in a few days.
Grumbling under his breath as he slathered on the Lin Family Healing Balm, Charles Chu hadn’t even pulled up his pants when a panicked aide burst in, tears streaming down his face: "Your Highness, disaster has struck!"
"What now? Useless fools!" Charles Chu snapped impatiently.
The aide, hands trembling, placed a thick stack of books before Charles Chu’s bed, then retreated a few steps and knelt, pale with fright.
Charles Chu glanced at the pile—every single one was a racy novel or an explicit picture book, and the titles were absolutely scandalous.
Titles like 'Eighteen Heroes vs. the Crown Prince,' 'Chrysanthemum Petals Scattered Across the Battlefield,' and other outrageous names.