Leap Forward Comics: Watch How I Become a Villainess

Chapter 133 Counterattack

With the emperor missing, the crown prince attends court in his place. In the court, civil and military officials anxiously discuss what to do next.

"Now that His Majesty is missing, the country cannot be without a ruler for even a day. Your Highness the Crown Prince..." Grand Tutor Gao began quietly.

"His Majesty's fate is currently unknown, so does Lord Gao have time to plot for power here?" The Prime Minister refused to back down.

"What are you saying? Right now, it's just that His Highness the Crown Prince needs to make a decision..." Another of the Crown Prince's supporters stepped forward to speak.

"The Crown Prince? He's not clean!" The Prime Minister sneered, then turned to face the ministers: "I heard from the spies that some of the assassins had the mark of a servant of the Crown Prince on their bodies!"

Upon hearing this, all the ministers were astonished.

If the assassins were sent by the Crown Prince, then it must be a treasonous plot.

"You are spouting nonsense!" Grand Tutor Gao rebuked, "The secret spies have always only reported to the royal family. Now that His Majesty has disappeared, His Highness the Crown Prince has not yet received any report from the secret spies. How do you know this?"

"Hmph, it's precisely because this matter involves a prince that the sentry reported it to Her Highness the Princess. Why don't we invite Her Highness the Princess to the palace and ask her directly?" The Prime Minister was equally unyielding.

"Isn't it inappropriate to invite a woman to the imperial court?" Li Guangqi said to the prime minister with a smile upon hearing this.

"Oh, is it because you're afraid your conspiracy will be exposed that you're so eager to ascend the throne?" The Third Prince, Li Yun, was naturally unwilling to let go of this opportunity to bring down the Crown Prince.

"Your words, Third Brother, are too kind to me," Li Guangqi said, feigning sadness as if he were the one who had been wronged.

"Summon the Emperor's eldest sister to the palace!" Li Yun shouted at the messenger outside, ignoring everything else.

With things having come to this point, the court naturally split into two factions, and for a time, it was filled with noisy arguments.

Since the Crown Prince was suspected of assassinating the Emperor, we could not rely solely on his side of the story. Many court officials, while observing the situation, supported the Third Prince.

Without waiting for the order, Li Cen led Lu He and three sentries into the court.

"Quiet down, all of you! What kind of order is this in the court!" Li Cen entered and immediately displayed the authority of a princess, suppressing everyone in an instant.

Even Li Yun, who had been arguing the loudest, dared not cause any more trouble. He quickly walked up to Li Cen and said, "Elder sister, please take out the messenger's message and the evidence. Let everyone see them."

Li Cen didn't say much, and gestured to the sentry beside him to hand the letter to the Third Prince.

After Li Yun took it and examined it carefully, he circulated it among the ministers before finally handing it over to Grand Tutor Gao and Li Guangqi.

"Go and bring the body up," Li Cen ordered in a low voice.

Two sentries carried the body, which had been waiting for a long time, into the palace. They lifted the white cloth and found a dead assassin lying inside. His trousers were pulled up, and there was a mark of a servant from the Crown Prince's residence on his calf.

The moment the mark appeared, an uproar erupted in the hall.

"Your Highness, please give us an explanation!" the Prime Minister demanded aggressively.

“This is clearly a frame-up!” Li Guangqi was about to refute this foolish trick when Li Cen interrupted him.

“Not bad, it’s just a mark. It only means you’re a suspect. After all, the person who tried to assassinate me had the Third Prince’s servant token on him.” Li Cen said, waving his hand, and the sentries brought in another corpse.

“There are two groups of people in the hunting grounds. These are the people who tried to assassinate me.” As Li Cen spoke, the sentry unbuckled his belt, revealing the token of Li Yun’s servant.

"This! I didn't do it! How could this be!" Li Yun couldn't believe it. Someone was trying to frame him. He suddenly looked up at Li Guangqi. Even if he was stupid, he guessed that Li Guangqi wanted to kill Li Cen and then frame him.

"Li Guangqi!" Li Yun roared, pointing at him, "You're a real scoundrel! You wanted to kill my elder sister and frame me? You even wanted to kill my father! I think you're plotting treason!"

"That's a joke. Why couldn't it be a scheme orchestrated by you? You assassinated the Emperor, framed me, and then killed my elder sister. Your succession would be guaranteed." Li Guangqi didn't miss the chance to implicate Li Yun.

Whoever did it, they had sufficient motive.

Unlike Li Yun, Li Guangqi wasn't as straightforward and couldn't see through these intricate details. He knew that Li Cen had assassinated the emperor, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't come up with a suitable reason to implicate Li Cen.

Even if it were said that Li Cen killed the emperor and framed Li Guangqi, this motive would not hold water, because if the crown prince was gone, there was still the third prince, and it would never be Li Cen's turn.

This is where Li Guangqi was in a difficult position. He couldn't very well admit to assassinating his elder sister and framing his elder brother. If he didn't admit it, Li Yun would also be a suspect. In that case, both of them would be sent to the Court of Imperial Sacrifices for trial, and the eldest princess would naturally assume the throne.

No matter how much they argue, it will be in vain, because they cannot clear the Crown Prince and the Third Prince of suspicion, and they will certainly not escape being imprisoned.

“The Crown Prince and the Third Prince are probably vying for power. These two are now suspected of patricide, regicide, and plotting against the Empress. I’m afraid this will not end well.” Li Cen finally spoke up amidst the arguing and discussion: “The two princes should not be convicted arbitrarily, but the suspicion of such serious crimes cannot be cleared yet. According to the laws of our dynasty, they should be detained in the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and handed over to the Court of Imperial Sacrifices for trial.”

The ministers remained silent, as the current situation in the hall was unfavorable to both princes.

As the emperor's personal guard, known to be loyal only to him, the reports of the sentries are all considered valid.

“But the sentries… are your princess’s men!” Li Guangqi finally made up his mind to fight to the death.