Mu Tao stared at the corpses of his guards, shocked, shocked, and shocked still. How could his guards, whom he had meticulously trained, not even survive a single round against someone else? Could it be because those black-clad secret guards suddenly appeared, catching his guards completely off guard? That must be it, absolutely.
Mu Tao tried to comfort himself, not even having time to wipe the sweat from his forehead. He glared at Dongfang Heng again and shouted angrily, "Kill him! Kill him now!" His eyes flickered, and his voice trembled slightly.
Without a word, the guards' eyes turned cold, and their sharp swords swiftly attacked Dongfang Heng. Dongfang Heng's five bodyguards swung their swords to meet them, and the two sides clashed.
Mu Tao looked at the chaotic battle and the guards falling one after another. His eyes were deep. There were many guards, but their martial arts skills were not as good as Dongfang Heng's secret guards.
The guards were orderly and coordinated perfectly. With each swing of their swords, one guard was seriously injured or wounded. In less than two cups of tea's time, all of his guards would be dead. At that point, Dongfang Heng would definitely focus his attention on dealing with him, and he did not want to die a miserable death at the hands of the enemy.
Mu Tao gritted his teeth, steeled his heart, and prepared to abandon the guards and flee for his life. Suddenly, he turned around and saw that elegant figure in white standing close at hand, looking at him with deep eyes: "I never thought that General Mu the Second of the Mu State Duke's Mansion in Xiliang would actually desert in the face of battle. He has truly disgraced the people of Xiliang."
His indifferent voice was filled with disdain and mockery.
Enraged, Mu Tao unleashed his full power, gritting his teeth as he struck Dongfang Heng with his palm: "You crippled me, so I'm burning you alive as retribution. What's wrong with that?" Only by roaring like this, bolstering his confidence, did Mu Tao dare to attack Dongfang Heng.
Dongfang Heng turned around lightly, dodging Mu Tao's powerful palm strike. With a flick of his wrist, he struck Mu Tao's chest heavily. Mu Tao's tall body was sent flying four or five meters away, crashing heavily to the ground. He was in pain all over, his chest heaving, and with a 'poof', he spat out a shower of blood droplets.
Dongfang Heng's indifferent voice rang out on the street: "You embezzled the border soldiers' pay yourself, yet you made your own father take the blame. General Mu's character is utterly despicable, and everyone should condemn you..."
Mu Tao was shocked. Apart from his aunt, no one in the Ministry of Justice or the Jingzhao Prefecture knew about the secret things he had done. How did Dongfang Heng know?
Was he making wild guesses and trying to test me? I must not fall for his trick: "Dongfang Heng, if you want to frame me, please come up with a suitable reason. I am a man of filial piety. Even if I need someone to take the blame, I would never ask my own father to do it!"
When he embezzled the salary, he only thought about using the name of Duke Mu to make things easier. He also secretly used many tricks, thinking that he had done it flawlessly and that the Ministry of War could not find him. He never thought that it would implicate his father. Otherwise, he would definitely have found another scapegoat and completely severed ties with the Duke Mu's mansion.
Dongfang Hengmo raised an eyebrow: "So, those salaries were really embezzled by Duke Mu?"
"With witnesses and physical evidence, what is there to doubt?" Mu Tao endured the sharp pain in his chest and glared fiercely at Dongfang Heng: "You are the Prince of Qingyan, meddling in the affairs of our Xiliang is too much of a fuss!"
"I have heard that the signature on the embezzled silver does not match the handwriting of Duke Mu. The Jingzhao Prefecture and the Ministry of Justice have both become suspicious. Is it really not the work of General Mu the Second?" Dongfang Heng frowned as he looked at Mu Tao.
Mu Tao scoffed disdainfully. Dongfang Heng had a grudge against the Duke of Mu's mansion and was hoping for trouble to come to it. He would never speak up for his father or seek justice. On the surface, his words seemed to be for the Duke of Mu's benefit, but in reality, he wanted to use another method to plunge the Duke of Mu's mansion into another abyss, never to recover.
"Dongfang Heng, don't you know that handwriting can be altered? Clever people who embezzle money will write in a completely different handwriting than usual."
Dongfang Heng lowered his eyelids slightly, nodded knowingly, and murmured, "I see!"
Seeing that Dongfang Heng was distracted, Mu Tao was overjoyed. What a great opportunity!
With a cold glint in his eyes, he picked up the scattered longsword from the ground and, with lightning speed, thrust it straight at Dongfang Heng. "Azure Flame War God, die!"
Dongfang Heng looked up at Mu Tao, who was flying towards him in a rage. A faint smile appeared on his lips, extremely faint, yet with an indescribable eeriness. With a light kick of his toe, a sharp longsword lying on the ground flew up and pierced straight into Mu Tao's chest.
His speed abruptly halted, and he was then sent flying backward by the immense force of the longsword, crashing heavily into the wall. Blood stained his clothes, his eyes were bloodshot, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. Waves of pain, like needles pricking him, spread rapidly throughout his body.
Dongfang Heng did not press closer, but turned around gently: "You all heard what General Mu said just now, right?" His calm voice carried the domineering tone unique to those in a superior position, making everyone's heart tremble.
After watching the show, the constables and guards of the Jingzhao Prefecture answered in unison, "We heard it all clearly!" They couldn't intervene when Dongfang Heng and Mu Tao were fighting so fiercely, but now that Mu Tao was pinned to the wall and the fight was over, it was time for them to get down to business.
Mu Tao stared at the row of officials, momentarily stunned, then realized what had happened. He glared at Dongfang Heng with fury, his eyes practically spitting fire. Dongfang Heng had tricked him into saying those things in an attempt to pin the embezzlement on Duke Mu and sentence him to a serious crime.
It was him, he was the one who harmed Father! He would rather die than let Dongfang Heng's scheme succeed. His mouth was wide open, his eyes bulging slightly, and he desperately wanted to explain: "I embezzled the salary, it has nothing to do with Duke Mu, absolutely nothing!"
However, he was pierced through the chest by a sword and was seriously injured. Whenever he opened his mouth, countless blood foam would gush out, and he could not utter a complete eulogy. To others, his urgent explanation was just the whooshing sound of blood foam rising.
"Prince An, Princess Consort, farewell!" The constables and officers politely bowed to Dongfang Heng and Shen Lixue before turning and leaving.
Mu Tao was extremely anxious. The constables had left, but Dongfang Heng would not let him go, and his father would also be implicated and thrown into prison. His eyes bulged, and he threw away his longsword with his left hand, gripping the hilt of the sword in front of his chest tightly, trying to pull it out with all his might.
With a flick of his finger, Dongfang Heng sent a powerful force striking Mu Tao's left hand. Mu Tao's left hand trembled uncontrollably, and the sharp blade pierced his heart instantly. His pupils contracted sharply, and a sound of his heart breaking echoed in his chest. His eyelids lifted, and he glared hatefully at Dongfang Heng, his angry eyes gradually turning deathly gray. His hands slowly fell to his sides, and his head slumped limply...
Shen Lixue coughed softly, looking at Mu Tao's lifeless body, and frowned: He's dead!
In the main hall of the Jingzhao Prefecture, the officials from the Jingzhao Prefecture and the Ministry of Justice, along with the onlookers, were getting a little bored. Almost an incense stick had burned out, and Mu Tao still hadn't been arrested. Could it be that he was resisting arrest and fighting with the officials?
Duke Mu's heart sank. He realized that the plan to imprison Mu Tao was devised by him and Consort Shu. They hadn't informed Mu Tao beforehand because they were afraid he would disagree. Once Mu Tao arrived at the main hall, Duke Mu would quietly explain the consequences to him and then, as his father, pressure him to confess his crimes and save the Duke Mu's mansion. He would then find a way to rescue Mu Tao later.
The people from the Jingzhao Prefecture went to arrest people because of the case of Duke Mu. Tao'er shouldn't be beating people indiscriminately without distinguishing right from wrong.
The governor of Jingzhao looked at the sun high in the sky. It was almost noon. The third trial had to be concluded today. Why hadn't Mu Tao been brought yet? He decided to send someone to urge him again.
His lips moved, and he was about to speak when the officials' voices came from the doorway: "Young Master Mu is here, please make way!"
It's good that you're here!
The Prefect of the Capital sat up straight and looked out. The crowd automatically parted to make way for him, and two officers carried in a stretcher. On the stretcher lay a man with his eyes closed, his clothes disheveled, and his body covered in blood. It was Mu Tao. He was suddenly stunned: "What happened?" Had he resisted arrest and been severely beaten?
The official clasped his hands and respectfully said, "Your Excellency, Mu Tao set fire to the restaurant and was seriously injured by Prince Qingyan. Perhaps feeling that he was inferior to others, he couldn't think straight and committed suicide!" Dongfang Heng's internal force was used very skillfully, and the constables and officials did not notice it. From their perspective, Mu Tao was holding a sword and killed himself.
"Impossible!" Duke Mu roared angrily, his eyes blazing with fury as he looked at his lifeless son. His son was indeed useless, but he was very resilient and would never commit suicide just because he was inferior to others: "He was murdered, he did not commit suicide."
The constable frowned in displeasure. Anyone would be unhappy if the facts he reported were doubted: "Duke Mu, many people witnessed the Second Young Master's suicide. I can call them to come and testify!"
Duke Mu remained silent, staring at Mu Tao's corpse. A cold glint flashed in his aged eyes, and he clenched his fists tightly. With Mu Tao dead, there was no way to testify against him. He could pin all the blame on him and successfully exonerate himself. However, he would never let the person who killed Tao'er go unpunished.
The Prefect of the Capital frowned. There was no way to interrogate a corpse. He looked up at the guards and asked seriously, "Did Young Master Mu say anything before he died?"
"Your Excellency, the Second Young Master confessed before his death that he did not embezzle any funds; those signatures were actually altered by Duke Mu..."
"Shut up!" Duke Mu interrupted the constable sharply. "Tao'er would never say that!" He knew his son very well; he would never drag him down with him before he died.
The constable's face turned cold: "Lord Mu, this humble servant has no past grievances or recent feuds with the Second Young Master, and would never wrong him. We heard the Second Young Master's words clearly, and many passersby also heard them; they can all serve as witnesses..."
The constable gave a signal, and several officers and more than ten pedestrians entered the hall, saying in unison, "This humble servant (a commoner) did indeed hear the second young master deny embezzling the salary, and even testify that the signature could be forged!"
The prefect of the capital slammed his gavel and said coldly, "Duke Mu, the evidence is overwhelming. If the second young master has embezzled the silver, what else do you have to say?"
"Hahaha!" Duke Mu looked at Mu Tao's corpse and chuckled softly.