Chapter 825: Daring to Deceive the Emperor

Back then, everyone in the Capital City had seen the child’s corpse. The body had even rested in the General’s estate for two days before being snatched right out in the open streets! It was said that the Zhan family, the Gu family, and the Qian family had been searching for years, seemingly to no avail.

And now, ten years later, word had it that she was still alive? How could that be possible!

The Beili Emperor reached out and handed the letter to Mr. Li. "Show it to them."

Mr. Li took the letter, his gaze quietly landing on the writing, his heart filled with shock. Was Ye Qianning still alive? Gu Shuo, Elder Chen, and the rest were all in Dayu City?

Prime Minister Gao took the letter and examined it carefully. The more he read, the more astounded he became. The other three officials leaned in to take a look as well. Initially skeptical, they couldn’t help but believe it a little more upon seeing how many people had appeared in Dayu City.

After a long silence, Prime Minister Gao said furiously, "Your Majesty, these people dare to deceive their sovereign. Such a crime is unforgivable. I beseech you to punish them severely."

The Beili Emperor tightened his fingers inside his sleeves. Deceiving the sovereign... what a masterful disappearing act. It seemed their painstaking search over all these years had merely been a smokescreen. They had known all along that the child wasn’t dead.

"What a grand scheme! How incredibly bold of them!" The Beili Emperor slammed his large hand heavily onto the table.

"Your Majesty, the Zhan family and the Gu family are undoubtedly involved in this. Please apprehend them immediately and subject them to severe interrogation." Thinking back to the suffering he had endured ten years ago, a fire flared in Prime Minister Gao’s heart.

The Beili Emperor looked up. "Someone, summon Zhan Yi to the palace."

"Yes, Your Majesty." A guard accepted the order and quickly departed.

"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince requests an audience."

"Send him in."

In the blink of an eye, a tall, slender figure walked through the door. Sang Qi was clad in milky white brocade, the cuffs and collar edged with embroidered gold thread. Wearing a gold crown and a jade belt, he exuded an overwhelming aura of nobility.

"I pay my respects to you, Imperial Father."

"Rise," the Beili Emperor replied, his anger undiminished.

Sang Qi stood up and took a seat. "Are you worrying over the drought in the north again, Imperial Father?"

Filled with rage, the Beili Emperor merely gave a cold snort and remained silent. A hint of confusion flashed across Sang Qi’s brow.

"Crown Prince, please take a look at this," Prime Minister Gao said, offering him the letter.

Sang Qi took it, his questioning gaze landing on the document. A few seconds later, his pupils dilated, and the fingers gripping the paper began to tremble.

She was still alive? A massive wave of shock washed over him. Was she truly still alive?

"Could this... perhaps be someone with the same name?" Sang Qi looked up, still unable to believe it.

"Impossible. Xiang Minghou, Qian Fanji, Chen Rentian, and even the Eighth Prince are all in Dayu City. How could it be fake? Their gathering clearly indicates they knew Ye Qianning wasn’t dead a long time ago. They pulled the wool over our eyes and orchestrated a massive scheme, deceiving every single one of us," Prime Minister Gao said indignantly.

Sang Qi clutched the letter tightly. She was still alive... No wonder back then, Chen Rentian and the Qian family preferred to renounce their citizenship and take her out of Beili rather than allow her to be buried in the imperial mausoleum. Now it all made sense. They had known all along that there was a chance she could survive!

"No one has ever dared to deceive me like this," the Beili Emperor gritted his teeth, his eyes clouded with gloom.

Snapping back to reality, Sang Qi hurriedly said, "Please quell your anger, Imperial Father. Perhaps there is some hidden truth to this. When Ye Qianning was taken away in the streets back then, the subsequent reactions of Xiang Minghou and the others did not seem faked at all."

Their massive search effort had been borderline crazed for a year or two. Almost all the major organizations had received commissions to look for her, and they had practically turned the four nations upside down. The imperial family had also dispatched their most capable men at the time, yet several years of investigation had yielded absolutely no results.