Chapter 15: The Turnaround Point.

A public lie in court!
This time it was ironclad—he couldn’t run from it.

Was this a pig teammate?
And Bai Shuxi’s way of questioning was way too cunning, wasn’t it?
Feeling a wave of dizziness, Qian Junyou’s jaw dropped on the spot.

Might as well surrender!
How was he supposed to keep playing?
Being a villain was too hard.
There was no way to explain it at all.
Was he supposed to say he had already died eight times?
Who would believe that?

Restart then!
No—before that, he had to strangle these two to death!

The Eastern Pavilion Grand Academician was also stunned.
How did Qian Junyou know the fire would happen?

“Young Prince, what is the meaning of this?”

“This…”

Qian Junyou was rendered speechless.
The Second Prince also showed an anxious expression.
The assembled ministers glanced at each other, their minds spinning with wild thoughts.

Uncle Bai Zhongxiang, wearing a confident smile, turned to Qian Junyou and said:

“Young Prince, evil people will eventually receive their retribution!
This humble official knows what you want to do, but unfortunately it probably won’t go as you wish.
If I have offended you, I hope the Young Prince will be magnanimous.”

“Hmph… I’m actually quite curious—what exactly do you think I want to do?”

Qian Junyou replied with a sullen face.

“What do you want to do? Why don’t you look in the mirror…”

“Enough, Uncle!”

Bai Shuxi suddenly interrupted her uncle.
With a grave expression, she looked at Qian Junyou and said through gritted teeth:

“Young Prince, you… please explain first!”

Qian Junyou cupped his hands toward the Eastern Pavilion Grand Academician and said:

“…In reply to Your Excellency, on the Hero Soul Festival I had a dream after drinking.
I dreamed that a fire broke out there, so I half-believed and half-doubted it and sent Old He to take a look.
But it was truly too absurd, so I didn’t dare inform Your Excellency.”

With no other choice, he could only give this far-fetched explanation.
Right now, a lot of the evidence was unfavorable to him.

Bai Zhongxiang, however, rebuked him indignantly from the side:

“A dream? Young Prince, isn’t this excuse a bit too forced?
Could it be that you dreamed in advance of the vengeful spirits of the dead coming to trouble you?!”

“Is it your turn to speak?
If I really wanted to set the fire, why would I send Old He to put it out?
If there really were vengeful spirits, they would probably only trouble your Bai family!”

“You…”

Bai Zhongxiang was rendered speechless by the retort.
Although he was a fourth-rank official, facing the heir of a same-surname prince of the imperial bloodline, his status was still somewhat humble.

After hearing Qian Junyou’s defense, Bai Shuxi let out a self-mocking laugh.
“A dream”? What kind of excuse was that?

If he stubbornly insisted he didn’t know and that Old He was deliberately framing him, perhaps… it could still be possible.
Conversely, if Old He had truly been sent by him, naturally he wouldn’t admit he went to commit arson!
Just the fact that he had known about the fire in advance was already enough to prove something.

Bai Shuxi sighed.
She felt a deep disgust and nausea toward the rich young master in front of her.

This person was rotten to the core!
He could actually sacrifice so many people for his own selfish interests?

“Young Prince, Shuxi truly did not expect you to be this kind of person.
What exactly do you take human lives for?
Are the lives of those refugees not lives?”

“This was never done by me in the first place.
Why are you asking me?
Instead, is your Bai family trying to clear yourselves by framing me?
Aren’t you ashamed?”

The ministers also chimed in from the side, though they could not influence the verdict.

“Such boldness!
It seems the Bai family has set their sights on Prince Rui’s mansion.”

“Desperate and grasping at straws?
The Little Prince is probably in real trouble this time.”

“Linking coincidences together and deliberately framing someone—this tactic is too common.”

But no matter what was said, it was very difficult to clear Qian Junyou of suspicion.

The location had been chosen by him.
Yesterday he had gone to tamper with the scene.
And now he had been caught red-handed lying in court, confirming that he had known about the fire in advance.

The Censorate was still searching the mansion right now.
If there really was physical evidence hidden in Prince Rui’s mansion, once the Censorate people returned, he could basically be convicted!

Qian Junyou was also thinking—maybe when the Censorate brought the evidence, he should just commit suicide and restart.

But the problem was—could he really revive after dying?

Besides that, there were the samples he had collected at the scene.
Even if he wanted to restart, it would be best to wait until the sample composition analysis was complete…

No, he couldn’t just admit defeat like this.
He had to find an opportunity and find a way to turn things around!

The current evidence was still not enough to convict him.
He needed to push forward, look for opportunities, and gather more information…

The ministers present all understood clearly: if it was Qian Junyou’s mistake, given Prince Rui’s status, only Qian Junyou himself would be punished.
It was still a good time to curry favor with Prince Rui’s mansion!

The Bai family and the ministers argued endlessly.
The entire hall fell into chaos.

“Enough—!”

Qian Junyou gathered qi in his dantian and suddenly roared.
Only then did everyone gradually quiet down.

“I admit that I did indeed know about the fire in advance.
But as I said earlier, it was from a dream.
I can’t explain dream content clearly either.
Lying in court was indeed my fault.”

Qian Junyou openly admitted to lying.
Right now he needed to extract more information from the Bai family’s mouths to figure out what to do next.
He looked at Bai Shuxi and continued:

“But as for your Bai family—how did you know that I sent Old He to the scene?
If Miss Bai thought I was tampering with the scene yesterday, why didn’t you stop me?”

Bai Shuxi, caught in her anger, clearly fell for Qian Junyou’s provocation.
She opened her mouth and spilled everything she knew:

“Mr. He’s whereabouts were discovered by the Censorate.
Shuxi only learned about it later when the Censorate mentioned it and realized your actions were suspicious!
As for your behavior, it was also with the Censorate’s help that we caught a witness inside the Ministry of Works!”

Bai Zhongxiang’s expression showed slight unease.
Qian Junyou nodded in satisfaction.

Sure enough, the problem lay with the Censorate.
They were responsible for supervising all officials.
Since all the issues had been discovered by the Censorate, why was it the Bai family filing the complaint?

Did they not dare provoke Prince Rui’s mansion?
No—with so much evidence, they could have memorialized the throne directly and conducted the search themselves.
If they found something, they would catch both criminal and evidence.
If not, nothing would happen.
That was the Censorate’s privilege.

After pondering for a moment, Qian Junyou stepped forward and addressed the Eastern Pavilion Grand Academician:

“Lying in court was my fault.
I am willing to accept punishment.
May I ask the Grand Chancellor—what punishment should be given?”

The two Grand Academicians on the platform looked at each other and said hesitantly:

“Uh… lying in court should warrant fifty heavy strokes of the plank…”

The Second Prince suddenly stepped forward and interrupted the Grand Academician with a threatening tone.

“Junyou is a member of the imperial family.
Such punishment—do you intend to disregard the face of our imperial clan?”

The Eastern Pavilion Grand Academician pursed his lips and said no more.

Qian Junyou turned his gaze to Bai Shuxi and said:

“But if I don’t receive punishment, I’m afraid the Bai family won’t be satisfied, right?
Miss Bai, why don’t you tell us how he should be punished?”

But how could she dare to decide punishment for an imperial clansman?
Bai Shuxi lowered her head and remained silent, helplessly looking elsewhere.

She knew that accusing members of the imperial family was inherently an unfair contest.
Sure enough, this noble young master was about to play dirty…

Qian Junyou sighed and continued asking:

“Then… regarding the charges of me colluding with demonic cultivators and bribing the Ministry of Revenue and Ministry of Works, does Miss Bai have any other evidence?”

Bai Shuxi raised her head.
Her eyes seemed to belong to a different person as she stared at him viciously, as if looking at scum.

Bai Zhongxiang stepped forward and addressed the Grand Academician:

“In reply to Your Excellency, the people transporting the relief grain should have all been burned to death.
However, there was an official in our Ministry of Works who knew the inside story.
He happened to have other business that day and did not go, so he survived.”

The Eastern Pavilion Grand Academician waved his hand.

“Summon the witness!”

A moment later, a minor official from the Ministry of Works was brought into the hall.

The official trembled as he recounted to everyone how, half a month earlier, Qian Junyou had found them and arranged for them to deliver the disaster relief grain to a designated place and swap it with prepared dry grass.

The ministers burst into an uproar upon hearing this.
The Vice Minister of Justice and the Chief of the Court of Judicial Review also discussed it on the side.
The official’s testimony basically matched the details of the case.

Qian Junyou stood to the side in silence.
If this witness was real, then it was probably the original “Qian Junyou” who had done it.

Was this some immersive murder-mystery script?
He even had to guess whether he himself was the murderer?
If it really had been “himself” who killed over eight hundred people, how was this villain identity supposed to be washed clean?

Bai Zhongxiang stepped forward and added:

“This humble official was initially unwilling to believe that the Young Prince was involved in this case.
After the fire, this official fled overnight and disappeared without a trace.
We sent people to pursue and capture him, using severe interrogation before learning the truth behind it all!”

The crowd continued to defend Qian Junyou—

“Grand Chancellor, the words of such an insignificant nobody cannot be lightly trusted!”

“Yes! It should be handed over to the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review for further trial!”

Bai Shuxi walked forward, looked at Qian Junyou, and spoke with nothing but contempt and disgust in her eyes:

“Young Prince, do you have anything else to explain?”

“…”

“If not, I hope the Young Prince can act like a man and take responsibility for his own actions.
At this point, there is really nothing left to hide.
Don’t wait until the Censorate returns with the evidence—it will look too ugly!”

‘Censorate…’

Qian Junyou looked at Bai Shuxi’s disgusted gaze and gritted his teeth in fury.
Even if the original “Qian Junyou” had done it, what did it have to do with him?
Why did he have to suffer this humiliation here?

The Second Prince stood beside Qian Junyou and angrily rebuked Bai Shuxi:

“Bai Shuxi! Watch your words.
This is Taiqing Palace!
Do you have no upbringing at all?”

The others also joined in accusing her from the side.
Both sides started arguing again.
Burning with rage, Bai Shuxi continued speaking to Qian Junyou:

“Young Prince, this official was also afraid you would silence him by killing him, so he fled overnight.
In your eyes, are the lives of eight hundred and twenty-three common people worth nothing?”

Last night Bai Zhongxiang had told Bai Shuxi that Prince Rui’s heir, in order to obtain her, planned to ruin the Bai family and had killed over eight hundred people!

Bai Shuxi denounced him furiously, tears welling in the corners of her eyes.
Her gaze held despair toward human nature.

No wonder he had suddenly lost interest in her after the Hero Soul Festival.
No wonder he had said “the Bai family should pray for their own fortune” in the Hall of Ten Thousand Spirits…

So this noble young master had known long ago that the Bai family would face disaster!

Seeing Qian Junyou remain silent and unwilling to argue, the Second Prince turned to Bai Shuxi and retorted:

“Bai Shuxi, stop joking!
What value do the lowly lives of eight hundred commoners have?
What benefit would killing those eight hundred refugees bring to my brother Junyou?!
If you insist on framing him, can you at least give a reason?”

“It is not that Shuxi wants to frame the Young Prince.
Rather, the Young Prince’s goal was to frame my Bai family!”

“Hahaha, what grudge or hatred do we have?
Why would we frame your Bai family!”

“The Young Prince, he…”

Bai Shuxi’s words reached her lips but she swallowed them back.
Her uncle stepped forward and continued:

“Over the past month, the Young Prince has been relentlessly pestering my family’s Bai Shuxi.
Knowing full well that Bai Shuxi has no interest in him, he still refuses to let go.
He wants to ruin the Bai family and force Bai Shuxi to submit!”

After Bai Shuxi’s uncle finished speaking, the entire hall erupted in laughter.
The officials redoubled their efforts to mock and ridicule the Bai family.

Qian Junyou also felt rage surge within him.
So the Bai family all believed he had killed over eight hundred people just to pursue Bai Shuxi?

He clearly hadn’t done anything, yet because he had transmigrated into a villain, he was being forcibly pinned with the villain’s hat.
What was this?
The will of heaven?

Although fury burned in his heart, after the witness appeared and faced Bai Shuxi’s accusations, Qian Junyou remained completely silent…

Because he seemed to have discovered a way to turn the tables.
While everyone else was arguing chaotically, his eyes stayed fixed the entire time on the minor official from the Ministry of Works who had been called as a witness!

Because he had come to face the Emperor after being accused in an imperial petition, and because they had left in too much of a hurry, Qian Junyou had simply thrown on a plain white robe and had not worn the four-clawed dragon-embroidered robe befitting a prince’s heir.

After several confirmations, Qian Junyou quietly passed a message to his father.

Prince Rui listened to Qian Junyou’s words and let out a soft chuckle.

“Enough! Stop arguing!”

Prince Rui’s voice was low and not particularly loud, yet it pierced through the noisy hall and reached everyone’s ears.
The crowd stopped their quarreling and looked toward Prince Rui.

Then, Prince Rui walked over to the official’s side and looked him up and down.

“When my mansion’s heir gave you the instructions, you were present, correct?”

“In reply to Your Highness, this small one was present.”

Prince Rui was silent for a moment, then spoke slowly:

“Then tell me—who here… is the Young Prince Qian Junyou?!”

The moment Prince Rui asked this question, everyone was stunned.
Only Uncle Bai Zhongxiang panicked.

The official looked around hesitantly, glanced toward where Prince Rui had been standing earlier, then toward Qian Junyou’s direction.
He slowly raised his hand and pointed at Qian Junyou.

“That… that lord over there…”

“Which one? What color clothes is he wearing?”

The minor official swallowed hard.
Sweat streamed down his forehead.
After stammering and hesitating for a long time, his eyes kept darting toward Bai Shuxi’s uncle as he trembled and said:

“Uh… brocade clothes… green robe…?”

Everyone’s gazes instantly turned toward the Second Prince standing beside Qian Junyou, who was wearing a green robe embroidered with dragon patterns…

They then looked at Qian Junyou in his plain white clothes and immediately understood…

“Pfft… hahaha!”

The Second Prince couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing.

Qian Junyou secretly breathed a sigh of relief…