Chapter 828: Drawing Fire Upon Oneself

Prime Minister Gao clutched his face, his expression freezing before he immediately retorted, "What do you mean ’six feet’? How is my son six feet tall?"

"Your son is about the same height as the Crown Prince. The facts are right before our eyes. What is there left to quibble about, Prime Minister Gao? Why don’t you tell the Emperor where Mount Penglai is instead?" Zhan Yi demanded.

"How would I know where it is?" Prime Minister Gao said, subconsciously looking up at the Emperor.

The Beili Emperor was quite sensitive about the mythical Mount Penglai. As soon as Zhan Yi finished speaking, the Emperor’s gaze fell heavily upon Prime Minister Gao.

When their eyes met, Prime Minister Gao was instantly struck with utter terror. He fell to his knees and kowtowed. "Your Majesty, Zhan Yi is purely slandering me! How would I, your humble subject, have the ability to obtain items from Mount Penglai?"

The Beili Emperor narrowed his eyes and remained silent, a reaction that nearly scared Prime Minister Gao half to death.

"Your son’s height is the proof! Since ancient times, dwarfism has been incurable. If he didn’t consume medicine from Mount Penglai, then what did he take?" Zhan Yi relentlessly pressed the issue.

Terrified out of his wits, Prime Minister Gao turned his head and argued, "Years ago, the Prime Minister’s Mansion sought out a wandering physician to treat my son—"

"What kind of wandering physician’s medical skills could rival medicine from Mount Penglai? Stop making excuses, Prime Minister Gao. Privately, who doesn’t know that years ago, you searched high and low for items from Mount Penglai to cure your son? Ten years ago, didn’t you even send assassins after my granddaughter? Wasn’t that solely for Mount Penglai’s Twin Polarities Elixir?" Zhan Yi’s voice was deceptively light and airy.

In his heart, Prime Minister Gao cursed Zhan Yi a thousand times over. Mount Penglai had always been the one thing the Emperor desired above all else, and anyone associated with it would inevitably attract his paranoid suspicion. He thought viciously, "Zhan Yi, oh Zhan Yi, I will remember this debt!"

Sang Qi’s eyes darkened profoundly.

"Prime Minister Gao, who cured your son’s dwarfism?" the Beili Emperor finally asked.

Prime Minister Gao trembled from head to toe. With a quivering voice, he answered, "It was an old wanderer we invited in years ago. This man possessed superb medical skills. He examined my son for a few days and prescribed some medicine."

"Where is this old man now?" the Beili Emperor asked.

"To reply to Your Majesty, I do not know. He only stayed at the Prime Minister’s Mansion for seven days before leaving. Afterward, I sent people to look for him, but we found absolutely nothing," Prime Minister Gao said cautiously.

"Absolutely nothing?" The Beili Emperor stared down from his throne.

Cold sweat beaded on Prime Minister Gao’s forehead. He did not even dare to breathe too loudly.

"Your Majesty, do not listen to his nonsense. Prime Minister Gao is a meticulous man. If someone could truly cure his son, how could he let them leave so easily?" Zhan Yi shot a cold glance at the kneeling man.

Furious, Prime Minister Gao shot back, "Everything I said is true!"

"True? Didn’t you just claim that there are no capable healers in the martial world? If your son’s dwarfism could be miraculously cured, then why can’t my granddaughter be saved after a single arrow to the heart?"

Rendered speechless, Prime Minister Gao glared viciously at him.

"Dwarfism is inherently rare in this world, and yet Mr. Gao suddenly grew so tall..." Zhan Yi paused for effect. "If you ask me, it’s highly likely that he is possessed by a demon."

"You... you are spouting absolute nonsense!" Prime Minister Gao seethed.

Zhan Yi sneered. "So Prime Minister Gao knows how to get anxious now? When I tried to reason with you, you insisted on dragging demons into the conversation. Now that I bring up demons, you accuse me of spouting nonsense! You are the Prime Minister of a nation, for heaven’s sake. How can you spew words as casually as breaking wind?"

"You... you..." Prime Minister Gao pointed a trembling finger at him, so infuriated he couldn’t even form a complete sentence.

The Beili Emperor furrowed his brows deeply. "Enough."

"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Gao has committed the treasonous act of deceiving his monarch. I implore you to investigate this matter thoroughly," Zhan Yi said, kowtowing deeply.

Prime Minister Gao’s mouth hung open in shock. Knocking his head against the floor, he finally managed to squeeze out a single, desperate plea. "Your Majesty, I would never dare."