The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the Somersault Cloud, Old Zhu was so envious he cried!

Just as Huang Zi'an was in a daze.

A lazy voice came from ahead:

Do you know me?

Huang Zian shuddered and quickly came to his senses.

He suppressed his shock and doubt, lowered his head even further, and honestly confessed:

"Your Highness, this humble subject... this humble subject has only heard some rumors about Your Highness from my subordinates."

"Oh?" Zhu Ming immediately became interested upon hearing this. "What kind of rumors are these? Tell me about them."

Huang Zi'an swallowed hard, carefully choosing his words: "I have heard that Your Highness has been a disciple of the Dao Ancestor since childhood, and has received a divine destiny, making you no ordinary person."

"I have also heard that... Your Highness possesses a supreme divine power, which allows you to transform into a hundred-foot-tall deity, manifesting your divine form across heaven and earth, and awe-inspiring in all directions."

Zhu Ming hadn't spoken yet.

Wang Defa, who was standing to the side, was the first to widen his eyes.

Transform into a giant hundreds of feet tall?

Why don't I remember Huang Zi'an being such a braggart?

Good heavens, they've even made up such a lie just to flatter His Highness?

Wang Defa quietly looked up and secretly glanced at Zhu Ming and Empress Ma's expressions.

In his view, Huang Zi'an's fabricated story was simply courting death!

The Empress and the Sixth Prince are not the kind of people who enjoy being flattered; they will definitely punish him severely!

Wang Defa sneered inwardly, but his face remained impassive. He even puffed out his chest slightly, adopting a posture of watching a good show.

We're just waiting to see how Huang Zi'an dies.

But who would have thought—

Zhu Ming nodded, his tone as calm as if he were discussing something perfectly ordinary:

"Oh, I didn't expect you to be so well-informed."

"You even know that."

Wang Defa: "!!!"

He was so shocked his jaw almost dropped to the ground.

What...what?

Your Highness... Your Highness actually admitted it?!

How is that possible?

Wang Defa suddenly turned his head to look at Empress Ma and Xu Miaoyun, wanting to see how they would react.

The Empress continued to leisurely hold her teacup, without even lifting her eyelids, and showed no surprise whatsoever.

Miss Xu simply pursed her lips, her expression unchanged.

It was as if what Huang Zi'an had just said was nothing more than an ordinary, commonplace matter.

Wang Defa's heart skipped a beat, and a thought suddenly popped into his head:

Could it be...?

Is everything Huang Zi'an said true?

"Alright, stop beating around the bush."

Zhu Ming leaned back, looked at Huang Zi'an kneeling on the ground, and slowly asked:

"Tell me, what crime have you committed?"

Huang Zi'an shuddered, no longer daring to hide anything.

He lay prostrate on the ground and poured out everything like beans spilling from a bamboo tube:

"Your Highness, this humble subject...this humble subject is guilty."

"Over the years, I, a commoner, have had to send money to Qian Youde every month."

"The amount ranged from several hundred taels to a hundred taels, and it never stopped."

"Adding it all up... it's probably worth tens of thousands of taels."

Zhu Ming raised an eyebrow and asked:

"Oh? You're giving away so much money, what are you after?"

Huang Zi'an swallowed hard and said honestly:

"Tu...Tu he's doing me a favor."

"This humble man does some medicinal herb business, and he often has to pass through the county to transport goods, handle money transactions, buy and sell shops... all such trivial matters have to go through his hands."

"If you give him money, he won't make things difficult for ordinary people, and sometimes he'll even give them the green light."

"This humble citizen...this humble citizen has no choice."

As he spoke, a hint of grievance crept into his voice:

"Your Highness, please understand. Although I did give him money, I have never oppressed the people!"

"My family's pharmacy is honest and fair to all, young and old, with clearly marked prices, and we never shortchange customers."

"Even if the price of medicine goes up, there's nothing we can do about it."

"The cost of these medicinal herbs is getting higher every year, and the farmers in the mountains are also asking for higher prices. If we don't raise our prices, we won't even be able to recoup our costs."

"This humble subject... this humble subject really hasn't done anything heinous!"

After saying this, Huang Zi'an kowtowed heavily, lay prostrate on the ground, and dared not move.

The banquet hall fell silent for a moment.

But just then, a cold laugh suddenly came from the side.

"Ha, what nonsense!"

Wang Defa, his face ashen, slowly stood up from his chair, his eyes fixed on Huang Zi'an, and said, word by word:

"Huang Zi'an, you say you've never done anything heinous?"

"Then tell me, how did my son die?"

Upon hearing this, the air in the entire hall seemed to freeze.

Wang Defa clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white, his voice filled with barely suppressed hatred:

"On the night the official grain was burned, I wrote a secret letter overnight to report to His Majesty in the capital."

"My son volunteered to deliver the message for me."

"But once he left, he never came back."

"The next morning, his head was cut off and thrown at my doorstep."

"I didn't even get to see him... one last time!"

At this point, Magistrate Wang's eyes were already red, and his voice was trembling slightly:

"Over the years, I have been secretly sending people to investigate, and finally, my efforts have paid off, and I have successfully uncovered some clues."

"This was done by your four major families working together."

"What, you now have the nerve to say you've never done anything immoral or heinous?"

Huang Zian froze, and the color drained from his face instantly.

He suddenly dropped even lower, almost crawling on the ground, and said urgently:

"Lord Wang! Your son's death has absolutely nothing to do with me!"

"That's Hu Wandong's hand!"

"It was his doing alone; I, a commoner, had absolutely no involvement whatsoever!"

"By the time I learned of this, your son was already... already dead."

He paused, then quickly added:

"And even this news was leaked to you secretly by me!"

"If it weren't for this humble citizen risking my life to deliver the message, you probably still wouldn't know who killed your son!"

Wang Defa's breath hitched.

This news was actually leaked by Huang Zi'an?

This is impossible, absolutely impossible!

How could he possibly be so kind?

Wang Defa stared intently at Huang Zi'an, his eyes filled with suspicion and struggle. After a long while, he finally managed to squeeze out a sentence through gritted teeth:

"Okay, even if you're talking about Hu Wandong's hand."

"Then how did Hu Wan... know my son's whereabouts?"

"When my son set off that night, no one but myself knew!"

Since Huang Zi'an had chosen to surrender, there was no longer any room for concealment, and he stated directly:

"It was Zhao An; he leaked your information to Hu Wan."

Wang Defa's pupils suddenly contracted.

"Zhao An? That Zhao An from the Zhao family in the west of the city?"

"How did he know my son's whereabouts?!"

Huang Zi'an raised his head, looked at Wang Defa, and said, word by word:

"Lord Wang, I'm afraid you don't know this, but your wife is actually an undercover agent planted by Zhao An in your inner circle."

"She reported to Zhao An word for word about your letter that night and your son's departure."

Wang Defa's face turned pale instantly.

He felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head; he stood there, trembling, unable to utter a single word.

But then, he suddenly snapped back to his senses, stared intently at Huang Zi'an, and hissed:

"Nonsense!"

"My son is my own flesh and blood, born after my wife carried him for ten months!"

"How could she kill her own son?!"

"Huang Zi'an, stop trying to sow discord here!"

He became more and more agitated as he spoke.

If it weren't for His Highness and the Empress's presence,

He had already rushed forward to engage Huang Zi'an in a life-or-death struggle.

"Huang Zi'an, you say she killed my son, what evidence do you have?!"

"You're just spouting empty words, trying to smear my wife. I think you're asking for trouble!"

Wang Defa immediately turned to Zhu Ming, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "Sixth Prince, I request your permission to fight him one-on-one, regardless of life or death!"