Chapter 20 — The Heir to the Throne with the Wicked Face

Real Face Behind the Mask

The ghost-faced mask fell on the stone floor of Kim Loan Palace, emitting a dry, small sound that echoed in the ears of everyone present like a thunderclap.

The face revealed under the golden candlelight of the hall was not that of a ferocious bandit like people had been rumored to do for the past three years, but the delicate face of a nineteen-year-old girl, sharp eyes with a surprisingly familiar look.

"No way..." An old man standing near the dragon pedestal stammered, his hand shaking as he pointed towards her. "This is... Princess..."

"Khương Nhược Hi," she announced her name, her voice echoed clearly throughout the hall, without any fear. "The only daughter of Đại Hạ, daughter of Immortal Emperor Khương Bạt Uyên and Immortal Empress Thư Nguyệt Khanh. Three years ago, I was falsely accused of killing my father and mother, and was exiled to Tịnh Nghiệp Am. But in truth, the ones who killed my parents were the two people standing there."

She pointed straight at Khưu Bá Trạch and Uất Nguyệt Hàn, her eyes cold as ice.

The entire Kim Loan Palace shook violently. The whispers turned into uncontrollable noise. Some mandarins knelt down, not knowing who to turn to show their loyalty at this time.

Nghê Bá Ninh, the old general who had just spoken out to stop the forbidden army, took another step forward, carefully observing Nhược Hi's face under the candlelight. "These eyes... this stance..." he muttered, then suddenly knelt down. "This old minister has served under the Immortal Emperor for many years, and once carried Her Highness when she was a child. This is truly the Princess, unmistakable!"

The confirmation of a reputable veteran general in the forbidden army was like a drop of water, causing the wave of skepticism in the palace to begin to lean towards Nhược Hi. Many old mandarins, once loyal to the First Emperor but had to hold back for the past three years, began to kneel down, their eyes filled with emotion.

"Insolent!" Khưu Bá Trạch shouted, but his voice had lost its familiar calmness. "You're just an impostor, taking advantage of your dead Queen's identity to cause chaos!"

"Impersonation?" Nhược Hi stepped forward, her gait steady without any hesitation. "So how does he explain this notebook?"

She pulled an old notebook from her sleeve and held it before the official. "This is a disbursement book from Khưu Bá Trạch's personal treasury, recording large sums transferred to unknown people just weeks before the incident. It was recorded by Khấu Đình Ân, the former chief steward of internal affairs, who was tortured and disabled for hiding me. He is still alive and can testify at any time."

"Just fake documents!" Khưu Bá Trạch shouted, but his voice began to tremble.

"Fake?" Ứng Diệu Trân took a step forward, her voice sharp. "Then why did I hear the conversation between you and the Queen Mother that night, discussing the use of assassins to kill the First Emperor and blame the Ghost-Faced Witch? I lived on the run for three years because I was afraid of what I learned that night."

"And god." The army captain knelt down, his voice choked but decisive. "I am the one who led the assassins into the palace under the direct orders of Mr. Khưu Bá Trạch! I apologize to the court, but please exonerate the Princess, who is completely innocent in this matter!"

The three testimonies, along with the payment book, fell like consecutive hammer blows, smashing pieces of the cover that Khưu Bá Trạch had painstakingly built for twenty years. He took a step back, feeling the feeling of complete helplessness for the first time in his life.

"Why?" Nhược Hi moved closer, her voice trembling from suppressing years of pent-up emotions. "How did my parents treat you, why are you so heartless and cruel? You took away my parents, took away my childhood, took away all the years I could have lived peacefully like everyone else!"

Khưu Bá Trạch looked at her, something complicated flashed through his eyes, between bitterness and a distorted belief that had been ingrained in his heart for decades.

"Do you think I did it out of personal hatred?" He laughed, a dry, bitter laugh. "I have been an official for thirty years, and have witnessed countless incompetent people sitting in positions that should belong to talented people just because they were born with noble blood. Your father, the Immortal Emperor, was just an ordinary person born at the right time and place. I have devoted my whole life to this court, yet all my advancement was blocked just because I did not have royal blood!"

"So you choose to kill to gain power?" Nhược Hi growled. "That's not talent, that's a crime!"

"True talent is knowing how to seize opportunities, not being bound by outdated rules of blood lineage!" Khưu Bá Trạch shouted, his face distorted by a mixture of anger and despair. "Great Xia needs a ruler with wisdom, not a child destined to sit on the throne just because he was lucky enough to be born into the royal family!"

"So him." She pointed towards Khương Bạt Nghi, who was standing frozen in the middle of the palace, not daring to say a word. "He is also royalty, why did you choose him as a pawn?"

Khưu Bá Trạch fell silent. That question exposed the contradiction in the argument he had just raised: he did not believe in a fair order based on talent, he simply wanted real power to be in his hands, and Bạt Nghi was just a convenient puppet to blind the people.

Uất Nguyệt Hàn, standing on a high pedestal, her face was pale, her trembling hands clutched the armrest of the chair. "Twenty years... twenty years I waited for the day my son could sit in the position that should belong to him..."

"Your son shouldn't have been sitting up there." Nhược Hi turned to her, her voice still steadfast even though her heart was filled with sadness. "The First King has decided according to her will, according to orthodoxy. If she is truly dissatisfied, she can argue before the court, without having to stain Kim Loan Palace with blood to satisfy her personal ambitions."

"You don't understand the feeling of being deprived!" Uất Nguyệt Hàn shouted, her voice full of pent-up anger for two decades.

"I understand better than anyone," Nhược Hi replied, her voice was cold but could not hide her pain. "Because I too have had everything taken away, by your own hands and Khưu Bá Trạch."

Cận Bá Tuyên, seeing that the situation had reached a dead end, suddenly drew his sword and rushed towards Nhược Hi in a last desperate attempt to silence the most important witness. But Trường Phong promptly blocked it, his swords collided harshly, decisively repelling the attack.

"It's come to this, are you still planning on risking your life?" Trường Phong shouted, his sword energy surrounding his opponent.

"I can't let all my efforts go to waste!" Cận Bá Tuyên roared and attacked fiercely.

The two fought fiercely for a few more rounds, until Trường Phong made a decisive move, knocking the sword out of Cận Bá Tuyên's hand, the tip of his sword pressed close to the opponent's throat.

"Surrender," he said, his voice cold but not out of control. "In front of the king's law, further resistance will only make the crime worse."

Cận Bá Tuyên knelt down, no longer having any strength to resist. The entire Kim Loan Palace was plunged into heavy silence, with only the heavy breathing of those who had just gone through a suffocating battle.

Ứng Bạt Nguyên stepped forward, stood next to Nhược Hi, looking straight at Khưu Bá Trạch. "The Three Kingdoms of Western Liang would like to testify before the Great Xia court: what was just presented today is the truth, confirmed by our own people. If the Great Xia court does not handle it fairly, we will consider this as evidence that this court is no longer worthy of maintaining alliance relations."

Khưu Bá Trạch stood dumbfounded in the middle of the palace, surrounded by eyes that once feared him, now filled with contempt and anger. He looked around, looking for any way out, but there was nothing left but the naked truth exposed to the light of day, no dark corner left for him to hide in anymore.

In a moment of despair, he looked towards the palace door, his feet slightly moving a step as if planning a way to escape. But Trường Phong had already stood blocking the exit, his sword still stained with blood from the fight with Cận Bá Tuyên, his cold eyes not allowing any chance of escape.

"It's a dead end, Khưu Bá Trạch," Nhược Hi said, her voice was no longer trembling like the first minute, but had become steady and strong like a person ready to shoulder the great responsibility ahead. "Three years of hiding and enduring all the humiliation, I did not seek personal revenge, but to bring true justice to this Đại Hạ country. Today, before all the civil and military officials, before the embassy of your country, you no longer have any place to deny or hide."

Khưu Bá Trạch slowly knelt down, not because of submission, but because his legs no longer had enough strength to stand firm before the truth that had just been completely revealed. Uất Nguyệt Hàn also staggered and fell down on the chair, her face was as white as if there was not a drop of blood left, the dream she had pursued for twenty years was now shattered in just a short moment in the middle of the royal court.