Tan Yongzhi's eyes widened, his withered fingers pointing at Li Zao and Zuo Mingqiu trembling with anger. A wave of uproar erupted from the surrounding officials, and even the eunuch from the palace couldn't help but stomp his foot.
No one had expected Zhou Yuan's answer to be so brief and direct, admitting frankly that the woman was Li Zao. In front of the civil and military officials, this was tantamount to confirming the crime of harboring, leaving no room for maneuver!
"Why are you in such a hurry..."
The old eunuch leaning against the courtyard wall scrunched up his face, shaking his head regretfully towards the ground. He couldn't understand why Zhou Yuan would admit it so readily.
After all, Zhou Yuan's master, the Grand Preceptor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Yuan Pu, was still in the palace. He would surely have noticed the commotion here.
If Zhou Yuan had stalled for a bit longer, perhaps something could have been obtained from the Emperor, and a dramatic comeback might have been possible. After all, Zhou Yuan was the Emperor's favorite son!
But now, with Zhou Yuan admitting it in front of all the officials, it meant there was no longer any room for recourse. Even if Emperor Zhou himself issued a decree forbidding anyone from investigating Zhou Yuan, it would be useless.
Even if Tan Yongzhi, the Minister of Rites, were not present, the other officials would not have agreed, for she was a spy from the Great Xia Dynasty!
"As the Third Prince of the Great Zhou Dynasty, how can you possibly harbor a spy from Great Xia? This is unacceptable!"
Tan Yongzhi's chest heaved violently as he pointed at Zhou Yuan and roared with utter hatred, "You have betrayed the trust of the people and the civil and military officials! Your Highness, the Third Prince!"
Zhou Yuan fell silent for a moment. A hint of seriousness finally appeared on his noble face, unlike his usual flippancy. He looked at Tan Yongzhi and asked with confusion, "May I ask, Minister Tan, how did my two friends become involved with a spy from Great Xia?"
Zhou Yuan looked at everyone with a puzzled expression. "I merely let these two stay at my residence for a few days and help me with some tasks. How did my friends inexplicably become spies of the Great Xia Dynasty, and I a traitor for harboring them?"
This question stunned everyone, including Zhou Wuji, who stood by with a smug look, believing he had already won.
"The events at Sword Pavilion are known to all," Tan Yongzhi regained his composure, his hands tucked in his sleeves, his voice as calm as a cold spring. He looked at Zhou Yuan and said, "At Sword Pavilion, those two spies from Great Xia confessed their identities. They were from the Demon Eradication Department of Great Xia and admitted they intended to seek revenge on Mei Chuan!"
"They set a trap, using the Sun-New Sword and the Sea-Sink Sword to fight a fierce battle with Valley Master Mei Chuan. They even withstood a single finger from His Majesty's divine soul avatar. But this pushed the two to their limits, and Valley Master Mei Chuan is still alive!"
"However, just as Valley Master Mei Chuan was about to kill them with his sorcery, Li Zao, the personal disciple of the Plum Blossom Valley Master, personally killed Mei Chuan and then left with the Great Xia spies via a spatial teleportation array!"
"These are all facts, are they not?"
Tan Yongzhi looked at Zhou Yuan and questioned him calmly. He understood that Zhou Yuan's intended defense was to directly dismiss Li Zao's suspicion of being a spy. But unfortunately, there were many witnesses present, including the Seventh Prince himself.
Zhou Yuan nodded calmly and looked at Tan Yongzhi. "What the minister said is correct. These are all facts."
"But how does this prove that Li Zao is a spy?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Wuji sneered. "Third Brother, I know you are betrothed to Li Zao. But in the face of major issues, I hope you will consider matters from the perspective of the people and the nation, rather than harboring her out of personal sentiment. This could plunge our Great Zhou Dynasty into danger!"
"Big Brother, you are going too far."
Zhou Yuan shook his head and asked Zhou Wuji calmly, "Since you led the troops to surround my residence, you answer me: please tell me, why is my fiancée, Li Zao, a spy from the Great Xia Dynasty?"
"You're still being stubborn even now!" Zhou Wuji, seeing Zhou Yuan's calm expression, felt an inexplicable surge of anger. He pointed at him and reprimanded, "Let me tell you why: because Li Zao killed her master, Mei Chuan, and then fled with those spies on a spatial array!"
"This proves nothing," Zhou Yuan shook his head. He calmly took out a scroll from his chest, sewn with yellow silk on the outside.
He calmly untied the clasp at the bottom, and the yellow scroll unfurled smoothly onto the ground, stretching for a full three meters before ending.
"What does this say?" Tan Yongzhi asked, frowning. His eyesight was poor, and he couldn't make out the small characters on the scroll.
"His life story. The life story of Mei Chuan, the Valley Master of Plum Blossom Valley," Zhou Yuan said calmly, looking at Tan Yongzhi and then at everyone present. He raised his voice and said calmly, "Or rather, this is evidence of Mei Chuan's crimes."
"According to my incomplete statistics, Mei Chuan killed one thousand three hundred and thirty-seven innocent people in her lifetime, more than half of whom were subjects of our Great Zhou Dynasty, powerful officials, and elders of sects in the martial world."
"She repeatedly violated Zhou law, wielded power, formed factions, and indirectly caused the deaths of countless people. The downfall of the Moon Worship Sect was her doing, the massacre at Diqiu was her doing, the sudden death of ministers in the Imperial City Prison three years ago was her doing, the annihilation of the North Sea Town Lord's family was her doing, and the eruption of Fire Spirit Mountain that caused surrounding villages to be flooded, resulting in over two hundred deaths and injuries, was also her doing..."
Zhou Yuan handed the scroll to Tan Yongzhi and looked at the Minister of Rites of the Great Zhou Dynasty, saying calmly, "What I've just said are merely some of Mei Chuan's past misdeeds. I cannot finish listing the rest, as this thing I wrote is over three meters long."
Tan Yongzhi smoothed the scroll flat on the ground, his expression wooden as he looked at the cases and misdeeds recorded on it. Especially when it mentioned that Mei Chuan had even extended her reach into the imperial court and had also been responsible for the death of a newly promoted civil official he had once greatly admired, the Minister of Rites, who even dared to argue with the Emperor, was now utterly enraged.
"These... are all true!"
Tan Yongzhi picked up the scroll, his voice trembling as he asked.
He was an old man in his twilight years, who had dedicated his life to benefiting the common people. He had even argued with His Majesty multiple times in the Imperial Study over policies that benefited the populace, angering Emperor Zhou to the point of threatening to behead him, yet he had never once been afraid.
Because all of this was for the people.
Regardless of his official title, whether he was in charge of rites or military affairs, he was an official of the court. Officials were meant to serve the people; this was his lifelong aspiration, and he had achieved it.
Therefore, seeing how Mei Chuan's misdeeds had caused the suffering and death of so many innocent people across the four kingdoms, even infants in swaddling clothes and pregnant women, Tan Yongzhi felt as if he was about to explode with rage. His eyes were terrifying, as if he wanted to flay someone alive!
Zhou Yuan nodded and replied, "Of course, they are true."
"In fact, more than half of the data contained within was investigated and obtained by me with the help of the imperial court. The other half was provided to me by my fiancée, Li Zao."
Zhou Yuan stepped forward, his expression filled with tenderness as he stroked Li Zao's head. "My poor Zao'er, from a young age, she was secretly taken as a disciple by Mei Chuan, branded with a divine soul mark. She had to obey Mei Chuan's every command, even watching her beloved fall off a cliff and her mentor of many years die tragically."
"Mei Chuan was a complete villain. She not only violated Zhou law but also violated the treaty between our Great Zhou Dynasty and Great Xia. When our two dynasties allied to explore Diqiu back then, Mei Chuan, taking advantage of the opportunity, caused the deaths of countless soldiers from Great Xia. This is why there was a revenge at Sword Pavilion some time ago."
"Minister Tan, I would like to ask, should such a person not be killed?"
Tan Yongzhi fell silent for a long time, his mind filled with the words on the scroll in his hand. The malice and deep scheming of Mei Chuan had shattered countless happy families, making him tremble with disgust.
Should such a person be killed?
"Of course, she should be killed!"
Tan Yongzhi said with anger in his eyes, clenching his fist. "If what is recorded here is true, then even if Mei Chuan were killed a thousand or ten thousand times, it would not be enough to atone for her sins!"
"Therefore, Li Zao killed her!" Zhou Yuan took a step forward, his brow furrowed, and a noble pressure like the great sun spread out, causing everyone present to tremble in their hearts.
"As far as I know, Mei Chuan's final scheme before her death was to use Li Zao to steal the national destiny of our Great Zhou Dynasty. Li Zao killing her was equivalent to protecting the Great Zhou Dynasty."
"Yet, at this moment, you call her a spy from Great Xia. Moreover, this morning, Li Zao, along with our imperial honored guest, stopped demons from the Sky-Weaving Pavilion at the city gate and was severely injured. She hasn't even recovered yet and is being accused like this. How absurd!"
"Minister of Rites, Your Highness the Crown Prince, and you soldiers who stormed into my residence to search, today, who among you can give me an explanation!"
Zhou Yuan's eyes radiated authority as he roared and questioned everyone present.
...