CHAPTER 73: THE FALSE ACCUSER

Yue Mingxuan looked at the man beside him whose face was covered in tears and snot.

He quietly turned his head away and whispered, "Can’t you see? You are already a dead man. Whether I admit it or not, you have no path to survive. If I were you, I would go find the person who used me and ask clearly, how did climbing up to a prince, which should have brought you wealth and power, suddenly turn into a crime that will take your head?"

When the man heard Yue Mingxuan say those words, his face instantly turned pale.

The hands that had been tightly clutching Yue Mingxuan’s robe loosened and he fell back onto the floor, trembling nonstop.

Concubine Hua glanced at Rong Tieshan.

Even though she was annoyed that her son had suddenly spoken out to interfere, she did not dare show her displeasure in front of the Emperor.

"Well... Rong’er’s words do have some reason," the Emperor said calmly. "Yue Mingxuan, tell me, why are you unwilling to let them check your body?"

Yue Mingxuan did not answer the Emperor’s question.

Instead, he bowed his head and knocked it once on the floor, saying, "Mingxuan wants to ask this man a few questions."

"This is improper," Concubine Hua said at once, wanting to stop it.

But Imperial Consort Zhou cut her off before she could finish.

Playing with the nail guard on her finger, Consort Zhou looked at the man on the floor who was shaking like a leaf.

"Why is Sister Hua so nervous?" she said with a soft smile. "Your Elder sister doesn’t think there is anything improper about it."

The Emperor waved his hand, signaling that he allowed Yue Mingxuan to question the man directly.

Yue Mingxuan turned his head and looked at the man beside him who was trembling like a sieve.

In a calm voice, he asked, "You say you shared a secret affair with me, that you and I even had skin-to-skin contact. Then let me ask you, on my right arm, I have a mole I was born with. Is that mole black, or is it red?"

When the man heard Yue Mingxuan’s question, he froze for a moment and secretly glanced toward Concubine Hua.

"Answer well," Concubine Hua said while sitting properly with a look of encouragement. "If you two truly love each other, then this palace will request the Emperor to help you both. The royal family of Beirong does not break apart lovers."

Concubine Hua’s words gave the man great courage.

He turned his head and looked at Yue Mingxuan, then answered with absolute confidence, "The mole is red."

In his mind, ordinary moles were usually black.

Since the prince had brought up this mole on purpose, it must mean the mole was unusual, so it could not be black.

Even if it was ugly, that was fine.

Once he rose to wealth and rank, what kind of woman or man could he not have?

Thinking of this, he felt proud of his own cleverness.

The high rank and great riches promised by that noble person seemed to be right in front of his eyes.

Yue Mingxuan stared steadily at the man in front of him.

If the man had woken up earlier, right when he heard Yue Mingxuan’s warning, Yue Mingxuan would have tried to save his life.

He had given the man a chance, but the man did not treasure it.

Since the man chose to stand on Concubine Hua’s side, he could not blame anyone else for what would come.

"Are you sure?" Yue Mingxuan asked.

There was a sharp and sly glint in his eyes.

Seeing how calm and confident Yue Mingxuan looked, Concubine Hua suddenly felt uneasy.

But things had already gone too far; it was no longer something she could clean up.

"Mingxuan, how can you talk to me like this?" the man said in a soft, emotional voice.

"Have you already forgotten the vows we made to each other before?"

Hearing such disgusting words, Yue Mingxuan felt the food he had eaten earlier rising in his stomach.

It was sickening, how shameless a human heart could be.

For his own selfish desire, the man dared to frame another person.

And in front of so many people, he could still act as if he was deeply in love.

Yue Mingxuan did not answer him.

He felt that even speaking one more sentence to such a man was an insult to himself.

He slowly lifted his sleeve, revealing a section of pale arm beneath the thin silk.

It was white and smooth, like perfect jade.

When she saw this scene, Concubine Hua’s expression froze.

There was absolutely no red mole on Yue Mingxuan’s arm.

Consort Zhou’s eyes flashed with satisfaction.

She slammed her hand down on the small side table beside her and shouted, "Bold criminal! Who told you to frame the prince?"

The man stared blankly for a long moment as if waking from a dream of wealth and rank.

He then threw himself to the ground, not daring to breathe loudly.

"Yes... this is a crime worthy of exterminating nine generations," Concubine Hua said.

She knew she could no longer deal with Yue Mingxuan today, and her tone carried a trace of frustration.

"You’d better think carefully, for the sake of your family and your clan."

The man said nothing.

He only knelt and kept knocking his head against the floor over and over.

Before long, red blood spread across the tiles.

Yue Mingxuan felt a bit of pity but turned his face away.

He was kind, but that did not mean he was foolish.

If he had not acted quickly and used his wits just now, he might not even have had the chance to kneel and beg for his life at this moment.

"Beat him to death," the Emperor said, it’s just two words, but enough to end the incident completely.

Soon, eunuchs dragged the man out.

Because of extreme fear, the man had lost control of his bowels.