Emperor Xia had thought to reveal his identity and scold the Ministry of Punishments officer, but when it came to it, the words just wouldn't come out.

It was the first time he had heard of an imperial son's rebellion leading to the execution of his entire family, no wonder people from the Ministry of Punishments were so eager to send Lu Yang away—it was completely justified.

The Fourth Prince stared intently at Lu Yang, trying to detect any hint of jest in his words.

However, Fairy Eternity showed no reaction; what she had said was indeed her genuine thought.

The Fourth Prince burst into laughter out of anger, "Lu Yang, let me tell you, don't try to act clever. Back in the courtyard, it was you who brought up the idea of rebellion first. If you report me, you won't be able to get away either!"

Fairy Eternity found it odd and couldn't understand the thought process of the Fourth Prince, "How was it me who first mentioned the rebellion? Wasn't it you who gathered all those who planned to rebel? This shows that you were the one preparing to revolt. I just went along with your train of thought."

The Fourth Prince recollected what had transpired in the courtyard and suddenly realized that from the beginning to the end, Lu Yang had not substantially participated in the rebellion plans!

This was neither complicity nor instigation—it was innocence!

No, there was still a possibility for things to change.

"These are just your words, there is no evidence!"

Indeed, for a matter of such gravity as rebellion, mere verbal testimony was not enough to convict someone, especially given that all along, only Lu Yang himself had mentioned his intention to rebel.

The brothers who had plotted in the courtyard all shared a life-and-death bond with the Fourth Prince and understood the gravity of the situation; they would never betray their own!

"Ah, don't you have a Recording Orb? I saw you recording from the moment I entered your house—isn't it for using it as evidence now?"

In the eyes of Fairy Eternity, the Fourth Prince's thoughts were the same as hers; in order to kill his three elder brothers and instigate a rebellion to exterminate the entire family, leading to mutual destruction.

Perhaps the Fourth Prince himself was not resolute enough to report his own actions, so he sought her help, inviting her to his home as a guest and discussing the rebellion in front of her, saving the evidence in the Recording Orb.

And just as the Fourth Prince wished, she went to the Ministry of Punishments to report the matter.

The only two problems were that the Ministry of Punishments seemed reluctant to intervene in this affair, and the Fourth Prince was looking to back out at the last moment.

What a dilemma.

The look in the Fourth Prince's eyes changed again as he saw Lu Yang; it turned into one of fear, dread, and shivering.

In just a visit, Lu Yang had calculated everything meticulously, putting on an act from the moment he walked in, pretending to confide his true intentions for cooperation, allowing the Fourth Prince to reveal his hand, and even predicting that the Fourth Prince would use the Recording Orb as a threat, turning it back on him and making the orb meant to be a threat into evidence of rebellion!

His cunning surpassed even what he had shown at the Second Prince's residence!

How laughable that he had thought to bind Lu Yang to his ship. He wasn't qualified to plot against Lu Yang; he'd have to first survive the immediate crisis!

Seeing things go awry, the Fourth Prince turned tail to flee, but Fairy Eternity would not let him escape.

With Cultivation Level at the Divinity Transformation Stage, the Fourth Prince was no different from a mortal in front of Fairy Eternity. She, controlling Lu Yang's body, grabbed the Fourth Prince's wrist and threw him to the ground, causing him to see stars and the earth below to cave into a large pit.

Fairy Eternity also took the opportunity to steal the Storage Ring from the Fourth Prince, which contained the Recording Orb.

The one-sided exchange between Fairy Eternity and the Fourth Prince caused a great commotion, catching the attention of the Minister of Justice, who hurried over to see what had happened.

Who would dare to cause trouble at the entrance of the Ministry of Punishments? Did they think the Ministry was easy to bully?

"Ah, has the person in charge arrived?"

Lu Yang told her that based on the clothes of the approaching person, it was the Minister of Justice, a senior Fourth Grade official.

A Fourth Grade was indeed a high-ranking official, even the Chief of Staff from the Ministry of Punishments was just a Third Grade.

"The timing is perfect. I've just caught someone plotting a rebellion. I've come to report it. The Recording Orb is inside his Storage Ring, and your people here refused to file the case."

The officer did not recognize the Fourth Prince, but could the Minister of Justice not recognize him? Seeing the Fourth Prince being held down by Lu Yang, he trembled with fear.

Who? The Fourth Prince rebelling?

He had served in the Ministry of Punishments for hundreds of years and this was the first time he had heard of someone reporting a prince for rebellion to the Ministry.

Was this something their Ministry could handle?

"Ah, you're not going to take care of a rebellion?" Fairy Eternity asked, causing the Minister of Justice to break out in a cold sweat.

"Don't talk nonsense, what do you mean by saying that the Ministry of Punishments doesn't deal with rebellion? If this gets out, those who don't know any better might think that the Ministry of Punishments is planning to rebel itself."

"Since you can't make a decision, then let someone who can make a decision come forward." Seeing the Minister of Justice still hesitating, Emperor Xia reminded from the side.

He knew his own son's character better than anyone; his good son probably really did intend to rebel. This matter must have a resolution!

As the Minister of Justice was hesitating, he had a moment of clarity upon hearing Emperor Xia's reminder. Right, what am I worrying about? It's not like there's no one above me.

With that thought, he immediately went in to find Minister of Justice Xu Xin.

At that moment, Xu Xin had just finished a short period of seclusion and had come out to refresh his spirits.

Before he could even relax, he heard his subordinates reporting to him.

"Lu Yang is here to report that the Fourth Prince is rebelling?!"

He wouldn't dare imagine such nonsensical things even when he faced his Inner Demon trial.

But the problem was this was not an Inner Demon trial, it was happening right before his eyes!

Xu Xin painfully clutched his head, had Daoist Buyu tired of tormenting him, and now it was his apprentice's turn?

This little apprentice's troublemaking skills were much stronger than Daoist Buyu's had ever been.

"Accept it, they've come all the way here to complain, it wouldn't be right not to accept it."

Based on his understanding of Lu Yang, although the kid could stir up trouble, he seemed not to tell lies.

The Ministry of Punishments, unusually, prepared to hold court to handle the case.

The Minister of Justice came to the entrance of the Ministry and respectfully invited Fairy Eternity inside, fearing that this little ancestor might cause some other trouble, like reporting that the Second Prince was also rebelling or something.

"You come in too. You heard the entire conversation I had with the youngest of the Jiang Family just now, didn't you? You're a witness." Fairy Eternity pulled Emperor Xia in as well.

"Right, what was your name again?"

Emperor Xia had already thought of a name before leaving the Imperial Palace; the Jiang Family liked to use fake names, and they traditionally liked to use "Xia" as a surname, and as the Emperor himself, the choice of name was obvious.

"Xia Tian."

He had prepared a whole set of false identities, not afraid of any identity check by the Ministry of Punishments.

The Ministry of Punishments held court.

Trusting Lu Yang, Xu Xin personally broke the seal on the Fourth Prince's Storage Ring and took out the Recording Orb inside.

In the Recording Orb, the Fourth Prince was vividly describing how exceptional his brothers were, explaining how he planned to take down his three elder brothers one by one, which made the witnessing Emperor Xia, standing beside him, turn ashen with rage.

The evidence was conclusive.

Xu Xin let out a breath. Just as Lu Yang had described, the Fourth Prince intended to rebel—this was a capital offense.

"Guards, throw the Fourth Prince into the dungeon!"

"Xu Xin, you dare!" The Fourth Prince became desperate. If he was thrown into the dungeon, then all hope was lost!

Xu Xin was indifferent to the Fourth Prince's bluster. "I was an officer before your father was even born, you are nothing," he thought impatiently, gesturing to have the Fourth Prince taken away.

"Lu Yang, rest assured, a prince committing a crime will be judged just as any commoner. This matter will certainly receive a fair trial," Xu Xin said agreeably to Lu Yang, hinting that Lu Yang should stop causing trouble since their Ministry's facilities were small and couldn't withstand much turmoil.

"Could the punishment extend to exterminating his nine clans?" Fairy Eternity was most concerned about this.

Xu Xin: "..."

Seeing Xu Xin not answering, Fairy Eternity turned to ask Emperor Xia:

"What do you think, can we exterminate his nine clans? If not, eradicating three clans works too."

Emperor Xia: "..."

Back in the Imperial Palace, you tried and failed to hit me, now you want to kill me outright, huh?