The Xuan Emperor's face was blank, his eyes cold.

"Spying on this emperor's movements, framing a marquis of Great Xuan with no evidence whatsoever — the man has some dark design."

"Guards!"

Nie Liang dropped to his knees. "Your subject is here!"

"This one's heart is poison and his design is dark... Take him under escort to the Inspectorate, hand him to Geng Jing, and have him questioned hard."

"Yes!"

The censor was frightened out of his wits. He had counted on the law not punishing a crowd; all he had wanted was to make a name for himself... As for saying he would speak even if it cost him his life — that had been talk and nothing more.

"Mercy, Your Majesty, mercy and grace, spare me, Your Majesty..."

Nie Liang called for the guards, and the man was dragged out by force.

There was not a sound in the whole court.

The pack of censors had gone as quiet as cicadas in the cold.

But the Xuan Emperor had no intention of letting them off.

These censors had nearly enraged him to death just now.

What angered him most was that these hidebound, useless things had swallowed a rumor whole and used it to denounce the very consort he had chosen for his own daughter.

"You are officers appointed by the court. You eat your sovereign's stipend, and instead of thinking how to ease this emperor's burdens... you stand here with no evidence at all and frame a sitting marquis. Just what is it you are after?"

The whole pack of censors dropped to their knees in terror.

"Calm your anger, Your Majesty; have mercy, Your Majesty..."

The Xuan Emperor let out a cold snort and said furiously, "Guards — drag them out for this emperor and give them thirty hard strokes, as a warning to the rest!"

"Mercy, Your Majesty, forgive us, Your Majesty..."

The pack of censors went white with fear, cold sweat beading on their foreheads, and begged piteously.

But in the end the guards dragged them out anyway.

The Xuan Emperor kept his face…