Soti later;
The six ministers and other important officials were arriving one after another and found Mark standing silently at the center of the court. Shang Wen was standing beside him.
"Mr. Lu? What are you doing here? Is everything alright," asked the current patriarch of the Lin clan, Lin Wuying.
However, Mark didn't speak a word. He just folded his hands and stared at the throne in silence.
As Lin Wuying gestured for Shang Wen to ask what this is all about, the general of the south could only shake his head, indicating he has no idea.
The officials started murmuring as they were glancing at Mark every once in a while.
Soon, the crown prince and the third prince also arrived with the Emperor. Until Shang Fu sits on the throne, Mark was mute and turned a deaf ear to his surroundings.
He was in fact conversing with the Emperor in his mind, going through the series of possibilities and how he should respond to each statent. The last ti he ca, he failed. But, this ti, he won't fail.
"Greetings, Your Majesty," spoke Mark in an unpleasant tone. The disrespect is clear in his behavior.
Sighing inwardly, Shang Fu nodded and said, "I was inford that you want to speak in the presence of everyone. What is it?"
Mark finally opened his mouth, "Your Majesty, let start with sothing obvious. Two days ago, we made a deal. I lend you Wu Weibao for a day and in return, you pay 6 million gold coins and 1 high-quality semi-divine weapon (ruby grade) after the war.
Then, yesterday, you start the war and then decided to end it. You happily make a peaceful pact with the enemy after costing the life of Song Tai too.
You didn't honor your promise, Wu Weibao died for no cause, I didn't get to bury him, and the imperial family didn't even bother to send a letter."
He raised his voice as he asked, "Why I had to hear the news of the death of Wu Weibao from your enemies? Tell …"
His voice sounded like thunder as he echoed in the courtroom. The minister shuddered for a mont and the Emperor was forced to stand up in shock. He realized that he was so engrossed in the humiliation from the defeat that he forgot to inform Mark about the matter.
Seeing the Emperor looking at the floor in silence while tightly gripping the handrest, Mark pushed him further, "Do you think he is a hired rcenary? He is a supre being. Maybe, you don't care because he is not a servant of the imperial family. Or is it because you just didn't believe my words and thought that it is impossible to have two supre beings on the side of the enemies?"
"Owner Lu… the thing is…" The third prince wanted to speak on behalf of the Emperor but Mark didn't give him such an opportunity.
He raised his hand, gesturing for him to stop. As Shang Wei shut his mouth, Mark said, "Whatever reason you might give , I don't want to hear it as I'm not here to seek answers but to relieve my frustration and leave the judgnt to your subordinates. Please sit down and listen. Yesterday, I lost a servant who can even win a kingdom. So, I think I deserve at least that much."
His 9 points of charm worked very much on the third prince and the other listeners. They stayed silent and let Mark speak everything he wants.
Mark felt secretly happy that his plan is working very well. He decided to use his charm to its full extent and make sure to create an atmosphere of distrust in the courtroom by the ti he leaves.
Mark then returned his gaze toward his biological father once again and continued, "Now, coming to the second matter. Nie Rougang, please stand up."
"Yes?" Nie Rougang's heart skipped a beat for a second, wondering what this madman wants with him. As far as he can rember, there is no personal grudge between the both of them, except for the fact that he hired the Xu Sect to attack the third prince once and Song Yue almost died that day.
However, Mark went on to speak about a completely different matter.
Without looking at him, Mark spoke, "On the dawn of the day during the ti when the Western Yan is captured, a few powerful assassins of the organization nad Soul tried to assassinate a friend of mine nad Xie i. After digging around, I found out that you are the one who gave them the task. Do you accept my accusation or deny it?"
At that instant, everyone's gaze fell on Nie Rougang. anwhile, sweat beads appeared above the forehead of the crown prince. The minister of revenue looked in the direction of the nervous prince.
The crown prince quickly reacted by rising to his feet and started acting as if he was betrayed, "Minister Nie, you are still in touch with that middleman? I told you that he is a bad business. Look where it got you now."
"Prince Zexi, please explain yourself." The Emperor reacted for the first ti. He was displeased upon realizing that his son was really involved with that mysterious terrorist organization.
Previously, he thought it was sothing Shang Wei made it up and only put his son under investigation. However, he wasn't serious and was only trying to ease up the successor that he decided on. But, it looks like he had to take this seriously.
The crown prince turned toward his father and bowed, "I apologize, Your Majesty. I want to keep this under wraps but I had to reveal the truth now. The truth is that I and Minister Nie have been in touch with the Soul organization for a while.
We regularly use them to eliminate the rebellious elents to safeguard the empire from the shadows. I was afraid of getting punished by revealing it to His Majesty and it is a huge cri to lie to his majesty either. So, I could only keep it a secret.
After the arrest of Song Yun, the revenue departnt was put under heavy scanner and we couldn't use the funds to do the job anymore. Hence, we decided to stop.
But not so long after, Minister Nie t a stranger who sohow knew about our relationship with the Soul organization. He brought missions and used to give him a 25% commission.
I was against it as it is too risky, but Minister Nie thought that we can resu our operation using those funds coming from the middleman. I told him to not trust strangers who unnecessarily give too much money, but he didn't listen.
Your Majesty, I request you to forgive him for his mistake. Minister Nie is working for the welfare of the Empire even if it is sothing that didn't reward him."
As the Emperor's gaze softened, the crown prince then shifted his attention to Mark and apologized to him while putting aside his ego.
Rather than denying the facts, he thought it is better to cook up a story on the spot. More than easing up his father, he was afraid of this weapon seller who doesn't care about the background of his enemy and just go wild.
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