I, the villainous eldest prince, will suppress everything!

Seven days later.

Inside the post station.

Early in the morning, the sounds of stools being thrown and tables being smashed could be heard, along with Murong Qingcang's furious roars: "How dare he? How dare he! He's infuriating me, infuriating this old man!"

It's no wonder he was so angry; for seven days, Wang Bao's cavalry surrounded the post station where they were staying.

It was surrounded by layers upon layers of barriers, and no one was allowed to enter or leave.

Murong Qingcang thought that by having caught Qin Li in the act, Qin Li would obediently submit.

But to his surprise, Qin Li completely ignored him and repeatedly sent people to deliver messages.

Ask him if he has thought it through. If he has, give him a definite answer.

Murong Qingcang was still furious. After a long while, the deputy envoy of the delegation finally mustered up the courage to enter the room, bowed, and clasped his hands in greeting:

"Your Highness, please calm down, there is news."

Murong Qingcang then threw down the broken chair, clapped his hands, and asked unhappily, "What news? The inn has been sealed off, where did you get this news?"

The deputy envoy dared not conceal the truth and said, "Your Highness, you may not know this, but although Qin Li forbids us from entering or leaving, the hawks we brought to deliver messages can still fly out. I have already sent a message back, and the eldest son has also sent a message back."

Murong Qingcang was somewhat surprised and curious: "Since Qin Li sent troops to blockade the post station, why didn't he shoot down our messenger hawk? He must be out of his mind."

However, the next moment, Murong Qingcang immediately turned to hatred.

Qin Li wasn't out of his mind; he deliberately sent him back to let his sons know that he was being held captive in the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

"Damn it! Damn it all!"

Murong Qingcang gritted his teeth in rage, clenching his fists and stamping his feet. "One day, I will personally twist his head off to vent my hatred!"

After finishing his tirade, Murong Qingcang accepted the letter handed to him by the deputy envoy.

This was sent back from the royal court by his eldest son. The letter contained only a few words, asking him what to do.

"Your Highness, should we reply?" the deputy envoy asked.

Murong Qingcang raised his hand and said, "No rush, it's not too late to reply after today's good show."

As far as he knows, the three judicial authorities will hold a joint hearing today. It's not too late to make a decision after seeing the results.

……

At this very moment, in the main hall of the imperial palace.

Logically, the joint trial by the three judicial departments should have taken place at the Ministry of Justice.

However, since it involves princes, the location for this event was set in the palace.

This was also something Emperor Xuan did intentionally, because he couldn't guarantee the safety of the sixth prince 100% outside the palace.

"Father, do we really want to make things this ugly?" Qin Li asked deliberately before the joint trial by the three judicial departments began.

Bang bang bang!

Upon hearing this, the Xuan Emperor, seated on his dragon throne, couldn't help but slam his fist on the table in anger and exclaimed:

"Is it I who want to make things ugly, or is it you, Crown Prince, who want to make things ugly!"

"Sixth Brother is your own brother, yet you want to kill him! What are you thinking?!"

Upon hearing this, the courtiers in the hall nodded in agreement.

Qin Li replied, "Sixth Brother knowingly committed a crime, cheating in the imperial examinations by bribing students to have his name written on their exam papers. His crime is heinous and must be punished to appease the public."

Emperor Xuan had no interest in hearing any of this. With a flick of his sleeve, he said:

"Shut up! Everyone's here, let's begin. Let me make this clear: if we don't get to the bottom of this, I'll make you, the Crown Prince, pay."

The sixth prince, standing to the side, nodded arrogantly.

With Emperor Xuan protecting him, he didn't believe Qin Li could do anything to him.

Soon after, the joint trial by the three judicial authorities officially began.

As Qin Li's ally, Prime Minister Xiao Yuanlu was the first to launch an attack.

He stepped forward, extended two fingers, pointed at the Sixth Prince, and said:

"Sixth Prince, do you know your crime!"

The sixth prince stepped forward and said neither servilely nor arrogantly, "This is utter nonsense. What crime have I committed?"

Xiao Yuanlu didn't waste any words and directly presented the evidence.

He first took out an exam paper.

This exam paper was written by Lu Jia, who ranked fifth in the first class of this spring imperial examination.

Xiao Yuanlu held the test papers in both hands and walked past everyone one by one.

After showing it to them, it was finally presented to Emperor Xuan's dragon desk.

Emperor Xuan reached out and rubbed his chin, taking a closer look.

The answers on this exam paper are neat and the handwriting is beautiful.

Based on his understanding of the Sixth Prince, there was absolutely no way the Sixth Prince could have written such an exam paper.

The Sixth Prince had no right to claim that he had participated in the imperial examination under the pseudonym Lu Jia.

Thinking of this, Emperor Xuan couldn't help but glare fiercely at the Sixth Prince.

After demonstrating to everyone, Xiao Yuanlu said again:

"Sixth Prince, what is your explanation for this object?"

The Sixth Prince already had an explanation, and with a flick of his sleeve, he said:

"What explanation can you offer? What does this have to do with me? I have no idea what Prime Minister Xiao is talking about."

Xiao Yuanlu laughed in anger: "The ministers in the Imperial Study heard it all that day, Sixth Prince. You said you participated in this spring examination under the pseudonym Lu Jia, and this exam paper isn't yours?"

The sixth prince said, "I was just talking nonsense back then. I didn't even go to the examination hall, so how could I have participated in any imperial examination? I didn't go."

This was a plan devised by the Zhao brothers for the sixth prince.

As long as the prince doesn't admit to participating in the imperial examination, Qin Li has no way to deal with him.

That wasn't all, the Sixth Prince added, saying:

"I am already a prince, why would I participate in the imperial examination? Wouldn't that be redundant?"

Seeing that the Sixth Prince spoke as they had instructed, the brothers Zhao Guanwen and Zhao Guanli couldn't help but exchange a glance and laugh. They wanted to see what other tricks Xiao Yuanlu, whom Qin Li had sent, had up his sleeve.

Xiao Yuanlu remained calm and asked again, "Is Your Highness, the Sixth Prince, certain that you did not participate in this year's imperial examination?"

The sixth prince replied, "Yes, I haven't participated."

Xiao Yuanlu nodded and said to everyone, "Okay, I have no more questions."

Is there no problem?

What does that mean?

Have you given up?

No one could understand it.

"Father, now that Prime Minister Xiao has no problem, I have a problem," the Sixth Prince suddenly said, bowing to Emperor Xuan.

Emperor Xuan asked cooperatively, "What's your question?"

The sixth prince pointed at Qin Li and said, "Why should I suffer such an injustice? All of this was caused by my elder brother. I dare to file a lawsuit against my elder brother with the Emperor!"

"Sixth Brother, watch your words!"

Emperor Xuan rebuked him hypocritically.

The sixth prince said, "Father, if I hadn't argued my case today and they hadn't been able to produce any more evidence, I would have been slandered to death. Why should I be careful with my words!"

"Your Majesty, I wish to accuse the Crown Prince of fabricating charges and harming his own brother. This is his first crime. He is also a thief crying 'stop thief!' and is guilty of cheating in the imperial examinations. This is his second crime. Your Majesty and the ministers may not know this, but the Crown Prince and Cao Quan, the top scholar in this year's spring examinations, have a very good personal relationship. If the Crown Prince had not leaked the exam questions in advance, how could Cao Quan have won first place?"

"How dare you!"

The Emperor Xuan was not rebuking the Sixth Prince, but Qin Li, "Crown Prince, is this true?!"

Qin Li watched their performance quietly and asked calmly, "Cao Quan is the top-ranked student in the first class?"

He really didn't know, wasn't clear about, and hadn't specifically looked into it.

"I'm asking you if you cheated in the imperial examinations!"

Emperor Xuan slammed his fist on the dragon table and roared.

Qin Li raised his eyes and said, "In Your Majesty's heart, what difference does it make whether I cheated in the imperial examinations or not? If I say I didn't, will Your Majesty believe me? If not, and I say I did, Your Majesty will surely be happier than anyone else, regardless of whether I am right or wrong."

These words were tantamount to breaking off relations with Emperor Xuan. Emperor Xuan's face was extremely ugly. Qin Li knew him too well, but he didn't need others to know his thoughts as an emperor, let alone that this person was the crown prince, his son.