CH 120.1

Chapter 120.1 – Den of Tigers and Dragons

“This is indeed not Ayana! “The Rong Emperor’s angry voice was filled with certainty.

When he heard his, Xie Yuan couldn’t stop pausing as he was entering the hall – although he had guessed that there might something wrong with the body, he still had hope in his heart that he might get away by sheer luck. After all, the Third Princess’s biological mother had already passed away. How much would the Rong Emperor as a father know about his daughter?

But he didn’t expect that the body would be found out as soon as it entered the palace, and it immediately shattered most of his hope of getting lucky.

Should he not have come? But now he was already outside the hall, and there were many guards watching. It was too late to turn around and leave, so it was better to go inside and explain himself to the Rong Emperor. If he could manage to sway the other party, then he would still have a way out.

With this thought in mind, Xie Yuan’s paused footsteps moved forward again, and he entered the hall after the brief pause.

Fortunately, the Rong State was still newly established, and many of the rules were not perfect yet. There were no attendants in the palace hall, and the guard that announced arrivals did not say anything until Xie Yuan stepped inside the palace gates.

The announcement naturally alarmed the people inside the hall, but when Xie Yuan entered the hall, he could glimpse the movements of the Rong Emperor – he had just dropped the arm of the female corpse, and half of her tattoo was exposed under her rolled up sleeves. Obviously, it was where he was checking.

What was wrong with the tattoo? Xie Yuan tried to recall it again, but couldn’t come up with anything. After entering the palace hall, he saluted the Rong Emperor first. Then, without waiting for the latter to speak, he took the initiative to say, “Your Majesty, I was just outside the hall earlier. I heard you say that this body is not Ayana, what’s going on?”

The rules in Rong were not as strict as the Central Plains. Those words might be offensive, but it would not cause you to be punished. Xie Yuan’s acting was really good, and he also gave an eager look, as if he didn’t know what was happening and was very excited.

Those were meant for the Rong Emperor to see, but right now, the one who answered him was the Left General standing on the side. He sneered and asked, “What, can the Prime Minister not even recognize his wife?”

Xie Yuan was temporarily speechless and glanced at the body, saying, “The assassin is really vicious, and Ayana’s appearance has been severely damaged.”

When he heard this, the Left General just said ‘oh’ and coldly continued, “So the Prime Minister only recognizes his wife from her face? You’re really not a match for me. I know exactly how many moles my wife has from head to toe.”

This was why Xie Yuan looked down on these barbarians. They could talk about anything, even some people in high positions could talk about their bedroom affairs with their colleagues without hesitation. Just like the Left General today, who spoke about his own wife without any hesitation. As long as Xie Yuan dared to ask, he would really dare to say how many moles her wife had on her body!

Encountering such a person, no matter how eloquent Xie Yuan was, he didn’t know how to talk about against it. However, he didn’t dare to admit to what the Left General say easily. At least, he had to maintain an image of being friendly and respectful with Ayana on the outside. If it was found out at this time that the two didn’t get along, the Rong Emperor would become even more suspicious.

So in the end, Xie Yuan had no choice but to say with a cold face, “Left General, be careful with what you say. Some things cannot be spoken of lightly.”

The Left General looked away indifferently and casually forced the issue, “So, Prime Minister. Is this the Third Princess’s body?”

The Rong Emperor remained silent, watching the two of them fighting each other verbally. Several years as the Emperor had also taught him how to hide his anger and emotions. But Xie Yuan didn’t need to see his expression to know that this matter could not be avoided.

As his mind spun, Xie Yuan silently stepped forward to examine the corpse. Naturally, the face had been destroyed, so there was nothing that could be seen there. There was also no problem with the body shape. In the end, his eyes inevitably fell onto the tattoo on the corpse’s outer arm – an eagle with its wings spread out ready to take off had been vividly tattooed. It was exactly the same as the ones he had seen on the Rong Emperor and some of the princes before, and there was nothing that would give it away as a forgery.

Could the Rong Emperor be cooperating with the Left General to deceive him? Or was there really something wrong with the tattoo?

Xie Yuan’s mind spun quickly, and he calmly bent down to look at the tattoo. When he got up, he decided to take a gamble and frowned, saying righteously, “There seems to be something wrong with the body. It really doesn’t look like Ayana’s.”

The Left General looked like he didn’t expect that Xie Yuan would admit it, and the threatening words that had reached his lips suddenly stopped as he didn’t know what to say for a while. He turned his head to look at the Rong Emperor, but the latter didn’t give him any hints. He had no choice but to retract his gaze and say dryly, “This body was brought out from your prime minister’s mansion, and you’re also the one who reported the Third Princess’s death. And now you’re saying that it’s not…”

Xie Yuan sensed that the situation was turning around, so he said, “I was very sad and exhausted after Ayana died to someone’s scheme, but I didn’t stay by the coffin all the time after the incident. I don’t know if someone took the opportunity to switch the body and frame me. In any case, I beseech Your Majesty to make the judgment.”

After saying that, he remembered how the Rong Emperor looked like he had been persuaded in the morning, and suddenly gained more confidence.

Who know that the Rong Emperor only stared at the corpse, but after a while, he spoke up and said, “Since the Prime Minister said that this body is not Ayana’s, how did you recognize it?”

When he heard this, Xie Yuan’s heart skipped a bit. He instinctively looked at the tattoo – did he still ended up making a mistake!?