Chapter 596: Chapter-596
The ministers frantically looked around. She was missing. Ever since the old Marquis had officially presented her as his heir, Heena had attended every single morning assembly. But because she rarely spoke unless absolutely necessary, remaining a silent, intimidating shadow by her grandfather’s side, most of them hadn’t even noticed her absence today. Those who had noticed simply assumed she was attending to her duties as the Royal Tutor or was perhaps resting, given the harsh demands placed on a female heir. They hadn’t dared to make a fuss over it.
To arrive now, in the middle of a treason charge?
The Emperor leaned forward, his eyes glinting. "Let her in."
When Heena stepped over the heavy wooden threshold, the temperature in the Great Hall seemed to plummet.
She walked gracefully, her posture impeccable, but her eyes... damn, her eyes made even the most battle-hardened military men in the room instinctively lower their gaze in fear.
Normally, the Vanguard Madam’s eyes carried a clear warning: If you cross me, I will beat you half to death. But today, her stare was entirely different. It was cold, calculated, and devoid of any human empathy. Her eyes were screaming one absolute truth: A murder is going to happen in this room today.
She was dressed in a striking navy blue outer robe layered over a pristine white inner robe. Hanging from her waist, where a traditional, elegant jade pendant should be, was a piece of jade so incredibly black and opaque that it seemed to absorb the light around it, radiating a thick, suffocating aura of death.
Her dark hair was pulled back into her usual severe ponytail, but today, she wore a heavy brass metal coronet—the exact style worn by male heirs, completely inappropriate for a noblewoman, yet proudly bearing the fierce insignia of the Vanguard House.
And strapped securely to her waist, glinting in the morning light, was her longsword.
She walked down the center aisle, passing the kneeling Prime Minister without so much as a glance. Reaching the center of the hall, she dropped gracefully onto one knee, placing her right hand firmly over her chest.
"I greet the Son of Heaven," Heena’s voice rang out, clear and freezing.
The Emperor looked down at her, a faint, amused smile playing on his lips. He nodded. "Lady Sera. I thought you were busy consulting with the Ninth Minister today."
Heena stood up, her dark eyes locking onto the Emperor’s. "I was, Your Majesty. But then I heard that there was something incredibly interesting happening here."
She turned her head slightly, shooting a brief, chilling side-glance at the Prime Minister before turning back to the throne. "Your Majesty, I just heard that a petition has been filed against our Vanguard family. Am I right, if I am not overstepping?"
The Emperor’s smile widened. He was completely in the mood for a theatrical court drama.
"Yes, you are right," the Emperor declared smoothly, deliberately exaggerating the charges. "The Prime Minister is accusing the Vanguard family of harboring secrets and hiding armies within the imperial walls."
Heena’s perfectly sculpted eyebrow twitched.
’Are you crazy?’ she thought to herself, looking at the Emperor. ’He didn’t even say an army. He said shadow guards. But whatever, if the old man wants drama, I’ll give him a masterpiece.’
"I see," Heena said aloud, her voice calm. "In that case, Your Majesty, there is something I must also petition for. I know it will be incredibly hard to hear, but I must do it for the sake of the Empire."
Without a second of hesitation, Heena dropped squarely back onto both knees. Reaching into her heavy sleeve, she pulled out a triangular wooden plank—the exact same high-priority petition board the Prime Minister was holding.
She raised the wooden board high above her head and bowed deeply.
"Your Majesty! I hereby sign an urgent petition against the Prime Minister himself!"
A collective gasp echoed through the hall. The officials stared in absolute awe. A petition fight? The Vanguard Heiress was directly challenging the highest civil official in the land to a political duel to the death right on the jade floor!
But her next words completely derailed everyone’s expectations. Anyone waiting for a brilliant military defense nearly choked on their own spit.
"I accuse the Prime Minister of gross deception!" Heena’s voice thundered with righteous indignation. "He has deceived the Crown! He has deceived every civilian and nobleman in this empire! And most horrifying of all, he has deeply deceived his own parents!"
The court was completely bewildered.
The Crown? Okay, standard political charge. Civilians? Sure, corruption. But his parents? What on earth did that have to do with state treason?
Heena lowered her head, acting as if the words physically pained her to say. "Your Majesty, the Prime Minister has committed a felony of the flesh so shocking to my heart that I, as a woman, feel deeply ashamed to even speak of it. It may sound incredibly vulgar to the divine ears of this court."
The Emperor leaned so far forward on his throne he nearly slid off the gold cushions.
"Come on, General Heiress!" the Emperor urged, waving his hand impatiently, completely abandoning his regal decorum. "Just say it! Why are you stalling? We all want to hear what this great deception is!"
Heena slowly lowered the wooden board. She turned her head, looking directly at the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister was kneeling mere feet away. He had maintained a mask of absolute, stoic calm, completely prepared to counter whatever military or political alibi she tried to present.
He was absolutely, entirely unprepared for what came out of her mouth next.
Heena looked back to the Emperor, her face deadly serious.
"I petition for the immediate investigation of the Prime Minister," Heena declared, her voice echoing perfectly through the dead-silent hall. "Because he has been hiding the fact that he is a homosexual. He prefers the romantic and physical partnership of men."
Silence.
It was not a stunned silence. It was a complete, catastrophic flatline of the entire imperial court’s collective brain.
What?!
The absolute shock was so profound that several elderly ministers visibly swayed on their feet. Even the old Vanguard Marquis, who had stood like an immovable mountain against the threat of a nine-generation execution, blinked rapidly, his jaw dropping open in sheer, unadulterated shock.
He likes men?!
The Prime Minister’s perfectly crafted, stoic mask violently shattered into a million pieces. His eyes bulged out of his head, his face turning an alarming shade of purple as he stared at the Vanguard Madam in absolute, mind-breaking horror.
He had prepared for a war of military strategy and treason. He had absolutely not prepared to be publicly dragged out of a non-existent closet in front of the Emperor.
For three long, agonizing seconds, the Great Hall of Supreme Harmony was as silent as a graveyard.
Then, the Prime Minister completely and utterly lost his mind.
"SLANDER!" the Prime Minister roared, his voice cracking so violently it echoed off the vaulted ceilings. He completely abandoned his perfect, dignified posture, scrambling to his feet and pointing a wildly trembling finger at Heena. "Absolute, venomous slander! You insane, malicious woman! How dare you speak such filthy lies in front of the Son of Heaven?!"
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