I was chased by my sickly junior brother who had two lives

The atmosphere in the court was as heavy as the dense clouds before a storm. The emperor sat high on the dragon throne, looking dignified, but unable to hide the worry in his eyes. The ministers stood on both sides, the crown prince and Chen Jue looked solemn, while the King of Jin stood on one side, looking a little embarrassed, but there was still a hint of cunning in his eyes.

The emperor said, "Today we are re-examining the case of the Prince of Jin. Does the Prince of Jin have anything to say about the evidence presented previously?"

Prince Jin stepped forward, bowed respectfully and said, "Your Majesty, I have been wronged. The evidence I mentioned before was actually a scam carefully designed by someone with ulterior motives."

Chen Jue frowned and immediately retorted, "Prince Jin, don't try to quibble. The account book of the Lin family's underground bank has a special mark of your palace. This is irrefutable evidence. The account book records many huge financial transactions related to you. How do you explain it?"

King Jin smiled and said calmly, "Chen Shaoqing, there is something fishy about the account book. The mark might have been deliberately imitated by someone to frame me. The Lin family is a treacherous group. They will do anything to protect themselves. And the so-called account book might have been forged by them, and then they added the mark to drag me into the water."

Chen Jue snorted coldly: "Prince Jin, do you think you can get away with this excuse? What about the letters you exchanged with me? After being identified by many handwriting experts, they were indeed written by you. The contents of the letters involve many conspiracies between you and the Lin family. Do you still want to deny it?"

The King of Jin was not in a hurry: "Chen Shaoqing, this is exactly the conspiracy. Nowadays, there are many people in the martial arts world who are good at imitating handwriting, and they can make the fake look real. Maybe someone bribed these people and forged letters to slander me. Your Majesty, you are wise and you should know that there are people in the court who covet my position and will do anything to get it."

Seeing the King of Jin making such a sophistry, the Crown Prince stepped forward and said, "King of Jin, please stop making such a fuss. You have formed a clique in the court and placed your cronies there. You are behind the appointment and dismissal of many officials. These officials have exploited the people in the local area and squeezed their wealth, causing public resentment. Could it be that someone is framing you as well?"

A trace of panic flashed across the eyes of the King of Jin, but he quickly regained his composure: "Your Highness, the appointment and dismissal of court officials is complicated. I just recommended some talented people, how could I know that they would do such evil things after taking office? If this is also to be blamed on me, then if the people recommended by the ministers in the court make mistakes, should the recommenders be held accountable? Wouldn't this disrupt the order of the court?"

Chen Jue glared at the Prince of Jin: "Prince of Jin, please don't confuse the public. The people you recommended are all people who have interests in collusion with you. After they took office, they extorted money and expanded your power. Do you dare to say this is a coincidence? We have witnesses to prove that these officials frequently went in and out of your Prince of Jin's mansion before taking office and had secret talks with you. How do you explain this?"

King Jin sneered, "Humph, Chen Shaoqing, there are so many people visiting me. Could it be that they all have something to hide with me? Those witnesses might have been bribed to deliberately slander me. Your Majesty, I have always been loyal to the court, but I am slandered like this. It is really chilling."

The emperor frowned and looked at the King of Jin with a hint of doubt in his eyes. Seeing this, the King of Jin was secretly delighted and continued, "Your Majesty, let's talk about the Lin family. The Lin family has been operating in the capital for many years and has dealings with various parties. It is unfair to conclude that I am colluding with them based on some vague evidence. Perhaps the Lin family has offended some forces, and those forces took advantage of this matter and involved me in it, hoping to suppress me through the court. Your Majesty must pay attention to this."

Chen Jue said loudly: "Prince Jin, you keep saying that you were framed, but how do you explain the fact that the Lin family secretly funded you to expand your private army? We found a lot of evidence used to forge weapons in a secret manor of the Lin family, as well as letters related to you, which mentioned the plan for private army training. Is this a simple frame-up?"

The King of Jin's face changed, but he quickly calmed down: "Chen Shaoqing, the manor was not originally owned by me, and the letter might be a forgery. Maybe the Lin family and other forces were secretly plotting, but they deliberately left clues related to me to mislead the court. Your Majesty, think about it, if I really wanted to expand my private army, how could I be so careless and leave a handle? This is obviously a trap set by someone."

The prince shouted angrily, "Prince Jin, you are really eloquent. How dare you say that the rebellion of the local officials has nothing to do with you? Many rebellious places have people you have planted to incite behind the scenes. These evidences corroborate each other, and you still want to escape the blame?"

The King of Jin knelt down immediately and kowtowed, saying, "Your Majesty, I am innocent! Your Highness, although I have people I recommended in the local area, I was not aware of their rebellion. Perhaps they were deceived by the rebels, or were used by others to act in my name. I am loyal to the court, how could I participate in the rebellion? This is a crime punishable by the extermination of all nine generations of my clan, how dare I do it?"

The emperor pondered for a moment and asked, "Prince Jin, you said that all this was a frame-up. Do you have any evidence to prove your innocence?"

A gleam flashed in the eyes of the King of Jin, and he said, "Your Majesty, although I have no evidence to prove who framed me, I can prove my loyalty. What I have done for the court over the years is obvious to all. In years of disaster, I actively opened warehouses to release grain and provide relief to the victims. When there was a war on the border, I also wrote letters to offer suggestions and was willing to share the worries of the court. These are all manifestations of my loyalty to the court. How could I be found guilty based on some trumped-up charges?"

Chen Jue immediately said, "Prince Jin, you opened the granaries to release grain only to win people's hearts and pave the way for your future ambitions. You wrote letters to make suggestions mostly to show off yourself, but in fact you harbored evil intentions. Do you think these small favors can cover up your crimes?"

The King of Jin retorted, "Chen Shaoqing, you are making malicious speculations. I have done everything out of my sincerity. If this is misunderstood, who in the court will dare to work for the people in the future? Your Majesty, you often teach us to put the people first. I have always kept it in mind and tried my best to practice it, but I don't want to be wronged like this."

The emperor showed hesitation, and the atmosphere in the court became increasingly tense. The crown prince and Chen Jue knew that the prince of Jin was good at sophistry, but they could not give up.

Chen Jue took a deep breath and said, "Prince Jin, you said you were innocent, then why did you send people to interfere with our investigation many times in the early stages? You even tried to assassinate relevant witnesses? If you had nothing to hide, why did you act this way?"

The King of Jin argued, "Chen Shaoqing, there are many factions in the court. I am worried that someone will take advantage of this incident and harm me. I have no choice but to send someone to protect my own safety. As for the assassination of the witness, it is even more nonsense. Maybe it was done by other forces, but they put the blame on me."

The prince looked at the emperor and said sincerely: "Your Majesty, what the King of Jin said seems reasonable, but in fact it is full of loopholes. His various sophistry is just to delay time and escape responsibility. We cannot be fooled by his sweet words. We should punish the King of Jin severely based on the evidence and uphold the law of the country."

The King of Jin kowtowed again and said, "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is trying to put me to death! My loyalty to Your Majesty is clear to all. Please Your Majesty investigate and clear my name."

The emperor looked at the people arguing below and weighed the pros and cons in his mind. At this moment, the court seemed to be caught in a huge whirlpool. The truth became blurred under the sophistry of King Jin, and the contest between justice and conspiracy entered a white-hot stage.

Chen Jue was anxious. He knew that if he failed to thoroughly expose the King of Jin this time, the consequences would be disastrous. He decided to take out the last piece of heavy evidence: "Your Majesty, we recently discovered that the King of Jin had contact with spies from the enemy country. At a secret base outside the capital, we intercepted their correspondence, which clearly mentioned that the King of Jin provided them with intelligence from our dynasty in exchange for their support for the King of Jin at a critical moment. This is a crime of treason, and the evidence is irrefutable. The King of Jin can no longer quibble."

When the King of Jin heard this, his face turned pale, but he still managed to speak: "Your Majesty, this is slander, someone deliberately set up a trap. I know nothing about the secret base and communication. Someone must want to kill someone with a borrowed knife and make me a sacrifice between the court and the enemy country."

However, this time the emperor's eyes turned cold. He looked at Prince Jin and said slowly, "Prince Jin, I will send someone to investigate this matter thoroughly. If you are really guilty of treason, don't blame me for not caring about family ties."

Prince Jin collapsed to the ground. He knew that he was in an unprecedented crisis this time, and this life-and-death struggle in the court was far from over.