AUBTN -Chapter 369 The Madman Among Madmen

If they added just one more spark today, Lu Yan would be dead. Shen Jue would also be stripped of power for failing in his duties, and the Grand Secretariat would fall entirely under his control!

The sacrificial ceremony had only just reached its halfway point when He Wenyuan suddenly stepped forward. With a “thud,” he dropped to his knees, tears streaming down his face.

“Your Majesty! This minister has a memorial to present! It concerns the case of the Ministry of Rites’ diplomatic guesthouse murder—I have found conclusive new evidence!”

The young emperor frowned. “Minister He, this is the Heaven Worship Ceremony. Can this not be reported after the ritual?”

“Your Majesty! This concerns the state itself! The Japanese envoy is watching us like a tiger eyeing its prey—this minister dares not delay!” He Wenyuan shouted, then gestured behind him.

A lower-ranking official from the Ministry of Rites, pale as death, was dragged forward.

“Your Majesty, this man personally witnessed it. On the night Envoy Suido was murdered, Lu Yan’s trusted subordinates were seen behaving suspiciously outside the guesthouse! The Jinyiwei are crying thief while being the thief themselves. It was clearly Lu Yan who ordered his men to kill and silence him, in order to provoke conflict between the two nations!”

He Wenyuan spoke with heartfelt sincerity and slammed his head hard to the ground.

“This minister begs Your Majesty to issue an order to execute Lu Yan on the spot, to calm the anger of the foreign envoys and save Great Wei from catastrophe!”

As soon as these words were spoken, the court erupted in uproar.

The Japanese vice envoy Ito immediately stepped forward, pressing aggressively: “Your Majesty of Great Wei, if no explanation is given today, Japan will never let this matter rest!”

The young emperor’s face turned ashen. His gaze shifted back and forth between He Wenyuan and Ito, clearly wavering.

Just as He Wenyuan thought victory was within reach—

Shen Jue slowly stepped out from the ranks of officials.

“Minister He’s performance is truly heartfelt and moving,” Shen Jue said lazily, playing with a white jade folding fan in his hand.

“What do you mean by this, Your Highness? The evidence is conclusive—does the Eastern Depot intend to shield the Jinyiwei?” He Wenyuan forced himself to stay calm and retorted sharply.

“Conclusive evidence?” Shen Jue suddenly raised his voice and flung a piece of evidence straight onto He Wenyuan’s face.

It was a letter—burned halfway.

He Wenyuan lowered his head. His pupils contracted violently, as if all his blood had frozen in that instant.

“Bring in the teahouse waiter!” Shen Jue did not give him a chance to breathe.

A commoner dressed as a waiter was brought forward, trembling as he pointed at He Wenyuan.

“It… it was this official! A few days before the incident, he met privately with that murdered Japanese envoy in the Tianzi private room of Tingyu Tower!”

“Not only that,” Shen Jue pulled out another confession stamped with a blood seal from his sleeve, “this is the testimony of a Jinyiwei flag officer you bribed with a large sum of money. It clearly states how you ordered him to steal a colleague’s embroidered spring saber, and how you made him imitate the Jinyiwei sword technique to strike the final blow to Suido’s neck!”

The entire court fell into dead silence. Only the rustling of wind through fallen leaves could be heard.

He Wenyuan’s face was pale as paper. But as a seasoned old schemer of the court, he still forced himself to argue.

“Nonsense! Shen Jue, this is deliberate framing! I am merely a powerless civil official—how could I possibly drug a physically strong envoy like Suido, let alone kill him without anyone noticing?”

“I never said he was drugged first,” Shen Jue replied coldly.

He Wenyuan’s expression stiffened.

“So Minister He is admitting it himself?”

“Nonsense! I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“Very well. Then I will explain it to you.”

Shen Jue advanced step by step until he stood right in front of He Wenyuan, looking down at him from above.

“Because you and Suido… were old acquaintances.”

Shen Jue let out a cold laugh, every word striking like a blade to the heart:

“Lord He, don’t you understand? A stab in the back from a so-called friend is often the deepest—and most lethal.”

He Wenyuan’s legs went weak.

But he still gritted his teeth stubbornly, struggling like a cornered beast:

“Nonsense… this is all fabricated testimony by your East Bureau to eliminate political enemies! Your Majesty, Shen Jue holds too much power—he dominates the court! He wants me dead, and I have no way to defend myself!”

“Still barking at death’s door,” a flash of extreme disgust and contempt crossed Shen Jue’s eyes.

He slightly raised his long fingers and casually gestured backward.

“Bring him up!”

Zhao Zhou’s cold voice suddenly rang out beneath the sacrificial platform.

A squad of East Bureau agents in red uniforms dragged a blood-soaked man forward as if he were a dead dog and threw him heavily into the center of the altar.

The man let out a piercing, miserable scream.

The officials looked closely.

It was actually a low-ranking clerk from the Ministry of Rites responsible for receiving the foreign envoys.

“Repeat everything you confessed in the dungeon, word for word, in front of His Majesty and all civil and military officials,” Shen Jue said calmly from above, his voice not loud, but carrying a terrifying pressure.

The clerk slammed his head against the ground repeatedly.

“Your Majesty, spare me! I confess everything! On the night the envoy from Xiangduo was killed, I got up during the night and happened to see a black-clothed man climb into Lord Xiangduo’s window. I was terrified and hid behind a pillar, not daring to make a sound. I heard… I heard them arguing inside the room in the Northern Barbarian language!”

At this, the East Yan vice envoy Ito, who had just been shouting earlier, suddenly changed expression.

“Northern Barbarian language? How could Lord Xiangduo understand Northern Barbarian?”

“It’s all true! Every word!” the clerk trembled like a leaf in the wind.

“My family elder once served as an interpreter at the border. I can understand a few phrases. That black-clothed man kept forcing Lord Xiangduo to hand over some military defense map… and he even mentioned… he mentioned Lord He’s name!”

“You’re slandering me!” He Wenyuan jumped up like a cat踩ed on its tail, pointing at the clerk and roaring furiously.

“This must be torture-induced false confession from Shen Jue’s castration faction! Your Majesty, under such brutal torture, even if you made him accuse you of murder, he would do it!”

“Lord He’s words are rather insulting to the Ministry of Justice and the East Bureau of Great Wei.”

A rough cold laugh suddenly rang out from the envoy seats.

The Northern Barbarian Second Prince Tuoba Lie strode forward, his eyes as predatory as a lone wolf of the steppe:

“Shen Jue, why drag our envoy group into your internal court struggle? A lowly clerk tortured into such a state—how can his words be admissible evidence? If mere forced confessions can decide guilt, then Great Wei’s method of investigation is truly eye-opening.”

His words sounded like a defense of judicial fairness, but in reality, he was trying to exonerate He Wenyuan out of guilt.

At the same time, he shifted the blame onto the East Bureau’s alleged brutality.

Whispers spread among the ministers below. Even the young emperor on the dragon throne showed a trace of hesitation.

But Shen Jue only smiled instead of anger.

He slowly folded his white jade fan and clapped lightly.

“Prince Tuoba wants a witness who wasn’t coerced? Very well.”

A cold curve appeared on his lips.

“Then come out. Let our Northern Barbarian guest broaden his horizons.”

As his words fell, behind the massive carved white jade screen of the altar, a steady and