King An felt stiff being stared at like that by him, but he still bowed respectfully and spoke eloquently. “Please calm your anger, Your Highness. Do not fall under that evildoer’s trap!”
Jin Sheng scoffed. But because of the pain, his face still became stiff.
“Evildoer? He looked at King An with an unsightly gaze. “The one who wants us to cooperate with Louye is you! You are also the one who told us to give our son away to them. Now, tell us, who is the evildoer here?”
King An was shocked into a cold sweat by his words! He fell to his knees in an instant. “Your Highness, this subject is innocent! No matter how great my courage, this subject would never dare to make a move against you!”
Hatred flashed past his eyes. He suddenly said, “From what this subject can see, this matter must be the second prince’s trickery. Otherwise, how could it have switched from him to…you, Your Majesty?”
Jin Sheng narrowed his eyes. “So you mean to say that the little bastard has harmed us?”
With that thought, he was furious! “Guards! Go and catch that bastard. Death by a thousand cuts!!”
“Please wait a moment, Your Highness.” With joy, King An quickly clambered up and stepped closer. “Now that Lu Cha is so heavily injured…there…if we do not give Louye an explanation, it will be a disaster. What if…we use him as a scapegoat? We can push the matter to Jin Yun and tell them what Lu Cha wanted to take advantage of his beauty when he saw him and was hurt by Jin Yun instead. How does that sound?”
Before Jin Sheng could respond, a loud clamor could be heard at the door.
Jin Yun pushed the guards away and strode in by himself. He looked at Jin Sheng and said, “Father Emperor, do you still wish to continue to be blinded by him? How could you not have thought of it? He is the true culprit who plots against you!”
“Slander!” King An glared at him. “Guards! How have you been watching the door? Capture him!”
But this time, Jin Sheng did not listen to him. Instead, he looked coldly at King An and indicated for Jin Yun to continue.
“Father Emperor, I will not say anything else, but taking into account the influences within this palace alone…Who else could twist both you and Louye’s duke around their finger?” He smiled bitterly, but his eyes were still looking coldly at King An. “If I had the ability, last night, I would not have been…”
When he spoke of this, he was grief-stricken and unable to continue.
Only then was Jin Sheng reminded that his son had no power in the palace. The only ones who could achieve this were only King An and Jin Zhou whom he trusted the most.
And both of them had always been in good relations. Jin Zhou even brought his own men to crash into the scene!
When he thought of this, he could not help but grit his teeth in anger! He glared at King An.
King An quickly said, “Your Highness! He is speaking nonsense!”
Jin Yu then said, “I did not say that it was you, so what are you so anxious about?”
Then, he looked deeply at Jin Sheng again. He scoffed. “Right now, I am already at the end of the road. I fear nothing. I wish only that Father Emperor…does not continue to be manipulated. Have you not thought about why King An is so enthusiastic about lending a path to Louye? And to be so afraid of offending Louye’s duke! I am only worried that it would be nothing but a mere pretense, and he is in truth colluding with outsiders to rebel! Father Emperor, I will leave you to take care of yourself!”
Then, with a great laugh, he left!
King An fell to his knees once more and cold sweat covered his forehead. For the first time, he experienced what it meant that blades could be hidden beneath words…and those blades could kill!
Jin Sheng had just suffered such a great blow. When he was so filled with anger and suspicion, he would never let go of one person even if it meant killing a hundred.
Compared to Jin Yun who had no threat at all and could easily be squashed at any moment, King An whom he had always trusted clearly ground his nerves even more.
“Sometimes, as long as the emperor suspects a person, there is no need for evidence. Because all of your reasons will just be turned into their excuses.
“But by using one’s heart…Speak the right words at the right time, and words…may just be able to kill.”
In the cold palace, this was what Gong Yimo told Yun Jin as she drank her wine.