"What slander against Ninth Royal Uncle? I never said anything against Ninth Royal Uncle!" The Minister of Justice shrank back the moment Prince Nolan was mentioned. Do you know about the Windchaser Pavilion murder case?
If you don't know, you'd better go ask—unless you want to be the next target.
Anyone with sense immediately realized: the Minister of Justice truly hadn't said anything against Ninth Royal Uncle—but...
Serena Feng was carrying Ninth Royal Uncle's Command Medallion. Even the Emperor tacitly acknowledged that as long as Serena held this genuine medallion, she represented Ninth Royal Uncle himself. The Emperor hadn't demanded Serena kneel. So if the Minister of Justice insulted Serena, and Serena insisted it was an insult to Ninth Royal Uncle, well, that wasn't unreasonable.
Soon enough, the Minister of Justice figured it out too. His eyes widened sharply: "I did not insult Ninth Royal Uncle! I am simply stating the facts."
"I didn't insult Your Excellency either. I'm just stating the facts." All this talk of slandering Ninth Royal Uncle was honestly a stretch; Serena didn't cling to it, but instead pointed at the so-called evidence and addressed the Emperor.
"Your Majesty, these two pieces of evidence aren't enough to prove that I killed Princess Yara. I beg Your Majesty to judge fairly." Serena was already being generous—she hadn't accused the Minister of Justice of fabricating evidence to frame her.
The Emperor gave the Minister of Justice a fierce glare—this guy was more trouble than he was worth.
Taking a deep breath, the Emperor said to Serena: "The Ministry of Justice's evidence is insufficient. Serena Feng is only suspected of killing the Princess Consort of Chun, but that's not enough to convict."
So, they're still harping on Serena as a murder suspect. Serena almost wanted to roll her eyes, but since it was the Emperor, she had to show respect—at least on the surface.
Serena took a deep breath and spoke again: "Your Majesty, if you're going to suspect me of murder just because I had conflicts with Princess Yara, then the Ministry of Justice is being far too arbitrary."
Serena was still being polite—she didn't blame the Emperor directly, but pinned the charge on the Ministry of Justice instead.
If the subordinates mess up, what does that have to do with the Emperor?
"Arbitrary? How am I being arbitrary? Serena, can you honestly say you never wanted to kill Princess Yara?" The Minister of Justice jumped out to accuse Serena again.
It's not that the Minister of Justice wanted to work so hard—it's just that this case was under his jurisdiction. If Serena didn't confess, he'd be the one in trouble.
"Your Excellency, wanting to kill and actually killing are two completely different things. If you're saying that just wanting to kill someone makes me a suspect, then I'm hardly the only one here.
By Your Excellency's logic, His Highness Prince Rowan is also a suspect in Princess Yara's murder. Back then, Princess Yara publicly declared she would only marry him, but in the end married someone else. It's not impossible that Prince Rowan wanted to kill her too.
His Highness Prince Chase surely wanted to kill Princess Yara as well. You yourself said that Princess Yara miscarried last year—how could Prince Chase have taken that lying down? And besides..."
"That's nonsense!" The Minister of Justice cut Serena off before she could finish, while the Lyndarian Envoys secretly cheered her on.
If she kept going, wouldn't their Lyndarian princesses be no different from prostitutes? Lyndaria already had a Princess Royal who was compared to a courtesan—if Princess Yara got dragged in too, how could any Lyndarian princess show her face again?
"Your Excellency, I'm not making things up—I'm just following your logic. You say I wanted to kill Princess Yara, so that makes me the murderer. By the same logic, Prince Rowan and Prince Chase both had motives to kill her, so they're murderers too." Serena spread her hands innocently.
"That's nonsense! Why would Prince Rowan and Prince Chase want to kill Princess Yara?" The Minister of Justice was getting dizzy from Serena's reasoning.
"Your Excellency, you never asked either of them, so how do you know they didn't want to kill Princess Yara? You never asked me, so how do you know I wanted to kill her? Princess Yara was noble—I'm just an orphan girl. How would I dare even think of killing her?"
The Minister of Justice felt like he'd shot himself in the foot. But at this point, he could only keep biting at Serena: "You had motive and you had the tools. Princess Yara died of poisoning, and as a physician, it would be easy for you to get poison."
"By that logic, Your Excellency, I could say you're a rapist. You have the motive and the tools for the crime, don't you?" Serena curled her lip, her tone mocking.
"Serena, stop making wild accusations!" The Minister of Justice's face turned black. In all his years at the Ministry, he'd never met such a difficult suspect. If this were at the Ministry, he'd just have her tortured until she confessed.
But the Lyndarian Envoys insisted the interrogation be held in open court.
"I'm not making wild accusations—I'm just stating facts. Your Excellency, when you see a stunning beauty, don't you have thoughts? If you saw her naked, wouldn't you feel something? But you... at least you're not like that one over there, who doesn't even have the tools for the crime." Serena pointed at the Chief Eunuch, whom she'd just insulted as a eunuch.
The Chief Eunuch's face turned green again. What did this have to do with him? Why did he have to be dragged into this mess?
"You... you... you..." The Minister of Justice was so furious his whole body shook, on the verge of fainting. But just as he hesitated about whether to fake it, Serena spoke up: "Your Excellency, you'd better think carefully. I'm a physician—whether you really faint or just pretend, I can wake you up instantly."