Today, early court in the Eastlyn Empire was especially lively—a true display of twists and turns, with one wave barely settled before the next surged up.
Prince Samuel Zhai, long absent from morning court, suddenly appeared and raised the matter of the wolf attack at the Hundred-Herb Garden, pointing out many suspicious details. He requested His Majesty to reinvestigate the case and, until the evidence was conclusive, to release Ninth Royal Uncle Nolan Dongling.
Just as the Emperor was about to agree, Left Chancellor Julius Zhu suddenly submitted a memorial accusing General Warren Yu of colluding with the Southern Lyn Kingdom and plotting rebellion.
He further pointed out that General Warren Yu's great victory over the Southern Lyn Kingdom was actually orchestrated by Southern Lyn to boost Warren's military reputation, and produced letters showing correspondence between Warren and the Southern Lyn royal family.
General Warren Yu knelt in the grand hall, crying out his innocence. The Emperor was furious and immediately dispatched troops to Warren's manor to search and confiscate the General's estate. There, they found a dragon robe and several letters that hadn't been destroyed in time.
When the Imperial Guards presented the "evidence," the Emperor trembled with rage and demanded to know what Warren Yu could possibly say for himself.
Warren Yu continued to plead his innocence, insisting he was being framed. Yet the evidence was overwhelming—even Left Chancellor Julius Zhu brought in several of Warren’s close aides, who righteously testified that Warren had colluded with Southern Lyn and threatened to kill their families if they refused. Forced to cooperate, they claimed they had waited for an opportunity to expose Warren’s true face.
Everything happened so suddenly that Warren Yu had no way to fight back, and could only let the Left Chancellor present both witnesses and physical evidence.
Left Chancellor Julius Zhu was the Emperor’s most trusted minister. Anyone with a bit of sense could see that whether Warren Yu was truly a traitor didn’t matter—the mountain of ironclad evidence meant the Emperor would never let Warren go.
The military power in Warren Yu’s hands had always been the Emperor’s greatest concern. He’d been plotting against Warren for ages, just waiting for the right moment. But taking down only Warren Yu wasn’t enough to satisfy him.
The earlier grain-cutting incident was just the beginning—the Emperor was pressuring Warren Yu to choose a new master. Warren didn’t disappoint; he chose to side with Ninth Royal Uncle.
Pulling up the radish brings out the mud—taking down Warren Yu was only a matter of time. But if the Emperor could use this to drag down Ninth Royal Uncle as well, wouldn’t that be even better?
Taking advantage of Ninth Royal Uncle's imprisonment, the Emperor swiftly moved against Warren Yu, turning the case into an ironclad conviction.
Everyone knew—though no one said it aloud—that Warren Yu’s allegiance to Ninth Royal Uncle was common knowledge. If Warren was executed for treason, could Ninth Royal Uncle possibly escape unscathed?
If Ninth Royal Uncle hadn’t been imprisoned, maybe things might have turned out differently. But with him locked up and the evidence against Warren Yu so complete, unless Warren could prove his innocence on the spot, he was doomed.
This trap—the Emperor had prepared it long ago, waiting for the perfect opportunity. The joint memorial from the great clans accusing Ninth Royal Uncle was just that chance.
But...
Just as the Emperor, in grief and righteous fury, thought victory was in his grasp and prepared to order Warren Yu and all the uncompromised officers dragged out for execution, Warren Yu, "terrified" and "trembling," suddenly scrambled to his feet and "accidentally" revealed something hidden in his robe—landing it right at Prince Samuel Zhai’s feet.
This was no accident—it was premeditated. The Emperor’s face changed as he was about to signal the eunuch to pick it up, but Prince Samuel snatched it first: “What’s this?”
As soon as he opened it, Prince Samuel’s expression darkened. He picked up several more letters from the floor, and under the Emperor’s gaze, tore them open one by one. The more he read, the uglier his face became. Then he strode forward and delivered a heavy kick to Left Chancellor Julius Zhu: “You wretched traitor.”
Everything happened so fast that before anyone could react, Prince Samuel Zhai strode up to the Emperor, radiating killing intent, and slammed the letters into the Emperor’s arms: “Your Majesty, what fine ministers you’ve raised!”
“Royal Uncle, please calm yourself.” The Emperor, unsure what had happened, could only try to placate Prince Samuel.
“Calm myself? How am I supposed to calm myself? Are we to just stand by and watch these traitors open the late Emperor’s tomb and dig up his remains? Watch these traitors lead enemy troops through our gates and destroy the foundation of Eastlyn? Your Majesty… you are truly confused. If Eastlyn falls, you’ll be remembered as a criminal monarch, just like the last dynasty’s emperor.” Prince Samuel was furious with the Emperor, his eyes full of disappointment.
The Emperor panicked, hurriedly unfolded the letters and read through them. Before he’d finished, he was so enraged he spat blood and collapsed onto the dragon throne. The officials were terrified and shouted for the imperial physicians.
But at that moment, Prince Samuel drew his sword.
Prince Samuel was the only one allowed to bear arms in the throne hall. Though his sword wasn’t called the Imperial Execution Sword, it carried the same authority—to cut down corrupt officials below, or even a tyrant above.
“Enough noise. If anyone keeps shouting, I’ll cut them down myself.”
With a single, thunderous shout, no one dared make another sound. All the officials dropped to their knees, crawling on the floor.
“Royal Uncle, please calm yourself.” The Emperor’s face was pale with shock and rage.
It had seemed like a brilliant move, but now things had gone completely awry. The Emperor glared at Julius Zhu, wishing he could kill him on the spot.
Left Chancellor Julius Zhu collapsed on the floor—he knew it was all over.
Sure enough, the Emperor ordered: Left Chancellor Julius Zhu was guilty of treason and slandering loyal officials—his entire clan would be executed.
As for Warren Yu and Ninth Royal Uncle, naturally, they were safe.
Prince Samuel turned to the Emperor and said, “Your Majesty, don’t let the late Emperor down.”
With that, he personally went to the Sky Prison and brought Nolan Dongling out, then took both Nolan and Warren Yu to his own manor.
What exactly had Warren Yu dropped from his robe? Aside from the Emperor, Prince Samuel, and Warren himself, no one else knew.
Many years later, Serena Feng would finally learn that those documents revealed how the Emperor had instructed Julius Zhu to collude with the Southern Lyn royal family and frame Warren Yu and Nolan Dongling.
Julius Zhu had originally been trained by the Emperor as a pawn, ordered to pretend to collude with Southern Lyn. But after dealing with the Southern Lyn royals, Julius truly turned traitor—he sent them a letter saying the previous actions were under the Emperor’s orders and that the intelligence provided was partly true, partly false. This time, he attached Eastlyn’s military secrets, maps, and even the imperial mausoleum map to prove his loyalty.
For an emperor to instruct his minister to collude with the enemy and frame loyal officials—such things might be done, but if word got out, the Eastlyn imperial family’s reputation would be utterly ruined. No wonder Prince Samuel was so furious.
Fortunately, Nolan Dongling intercepted the letter—otherwise, the Eastlyn royal family would have been disgraced beyond repair.
It must be said, the Emperor’s scheme was ruthless—if he’d succeeded, Warren Yu and Nolan Dongling would have been condemned with no way to clear their names.
With such ironclad evidence, Warren Yu would have been doomed.
But in the end, the Emperor misjudged his people. Otherwise, this would have been a perfect two-pronged strategy—Julius Zhu would have become the Emperor’s best weapon against Southern Lyn.
By using the Southern Lyn royal family to eliminate Warren Yu, the Emperor could make Julius Zhu earn their trust—then Julius would be the perfect double agent, able to monitor Southern Lyn at all times and even feed them false information during war.
But in the end, the Emperor chose the wrong man—a brilliant move ruined by a single mistake.
After years of planning, someone else reaped the rewards. No wonder the Emperor was so furious he spat blood.
But at this moment, Serena Feng knew none of it—and she didn’t want to know. Some secrets are better left alone.
When Serena Feng heard that Ninth Royal Uncle and Warren Yu were safe, she finally relaxed. Hearing Caleb Wang mutter, “What on earth did Warren Yu have that made Prince Samuel so furious and the Emperor cough blood?” she simply smiled and strolled outside…
The clouds parted, and the gloomy sky gradually brightened.
Serena Feng smiled—she believed things would only get better from here…