Chapter 311: "The Crown Prince's Scandal, Exposed!"
"What... what is this all about?" The king looked horrified. It's common knowledge that the phoenix was a bird of auspicious means. For it to attack Lady Yao out of the blue, it can only mean her supposed goddess possession was a blatant lie.
"My king, Lady Yao posed as a representative of the heavens, that's why she drew the ire of the deities. In my view, the reason why the phoenix is unwilling to leave still must be because there are other hidden meanings behind its action waiting to be unravelled." Ling Yue didn't even so much as flinch when she said this. In fact, she was extremely pleased over Hong Fang's dead man's face.
Only this much and you can't take it already? Just you wait Hong Fang, I will return everything that you inflicted on me and my mother one bit at a time.
This translation is only hosted on bcatranslation
Seemingly in accordance with Ling Yue's thought, the rainbow colored phoenix stopped lingering above the Lan estate and flew towards a certain direction of the city, pulling the king and his men along as well.
"Oh Royal Tutor, this time it seems I have to disappoint you. It appears the real monster is someone else other than me." Fully geared in his armor now, Lan Ying Wu only left this mocking comment before giving chase himself.
Not to be left behind in the dust, Hong Fang only spent a brief second of indecision before also running off for the main group. The entire time, he never once as so much as glanced at the already dead Lady Yao still lying there on the ground. Not because he didn't want to check for the reason why his plan failed, nay, it's mainly due to the unease circulating in his heart. For some reason, he got the aching suspicion that he's fallen into the girl's trap somehow. Unfortunately for him, it's too late to reverse the situation even if he wanted to at this stage.
Following the guidance of the phoenix, the king and his men quickly passed through more than half the city before finally stopping in front of a luxurious villa.
Seeing the massive force coming their way, the two guards standing post outside the doorway were both shocked and stunned. "Who dares! This is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's place, unauthorized people are to leave immediately."
"Why didn't I know my son had such a luxurious villa?" Separating into two isles, the royal guards consciously made room for the king to step forward.
This building was extremely luxurious, yet the king himself had never once heard a word about such an estate from his son. Even so, this wasn't the main issue, it's the fact that the boy didn't remain inside the palace to care for his mother after the miscarriage. This sort of poor behavior left the king very dissatisfied.
This translation is only hosted on bcatranslation
When realizing who the man was, the two guards knew things were serious nowIn their urgency, one of the men winked at the other in an attempt to signal they must send a warning to the inside. However, just as the clever one wanted to announce the king's arrival with a shout, Lan Ying Wu had rushed over to catch them in a strangle hold.
With the obstacle out of the way, plus the lingering phoenix in the sky constantly hammering away at everyone's mind, the king finally waved his hand to signal the soldiers' advancement. In one rush, the royal guards plowed through the closed doorway and into the estate.
Before long, the pained cries of various children had caught the king's ear once he reached the outer courtyard. The further he went inside, the more ominous and disturbing it became for the man and his people.
"Impudent, didn't I say no one is allowed to come bother me?!" When hearing his door being forced open, Prince Hou Hong immediately roared out his outrage. But upon seeing who it was and how many soldiers were barging into the hall, all shades of color had left his face.
The reasoning, he was hardly dressed while the poor child, the object of his lust, was still riding his lower half in a very disgusting position. Naturally, the crying kid too was stripped of all his clothes. But more than that, there are obvious signs of drip marks made from candle wax and whip lashes all over the skin.
Though everything was disgusting and worthy of outrage, the king's attention was more into the child's face than anything else. The little boy looked exactly like his sixth son Xia Hou Qi when he was young!
Regarding Xia Hou Hong's special interest, the king did have some knowledge from his many ears, just that he didn't have the courage to look deeper or even believe it for that matter. Therefore, it's not hard to image how passionate his blood was boiling right now.
In his fury, he rushed up and directly sent a deadly kick right into his son's chest, forcing the young man right out of the chair.
"Beast!"
"Father, please listen to my explanation," scrambling up from the ground, Xia Hou Hong attempts to twist the story in his favor.
"Your Majesty, we've located dozens of other children currently detained inside the other rooms with their hands and legs chained to the cages. Furthermore.... we've also found several bodies of some small children currently floating inside the fish pond. They too are stripped of their clothes with clear signs of torture." Bringing with him another attachment of the royal guards, Lan Ying Wu also rushes in from behind at this moment.
The general truly didn't know this place had belonged to the crown prince prior to today, nor did he expect to find so many children under the age of ten confined against their will.
Truth was, there had been many victims forcibly imprisoned inside this villa for many years. But due to the influence and power of the prince, none of the families involved ever dared to come make things public.
"Someone come, take this animal and lock him inside the prison!" Literally shaking from the intense rage flowing through his veins, the king never felt so foolish in his life: "General Lan, go summon every official of the court, I'm going to abolish this beast in front of everyone!"
"Your Majesty, please quell anger, this matter is flawed no matter how you looked at it." Arriving just in the nick of time, Hong Fang hurries to petition the order after taking to his knees.
"Flawed? Oh Royal Tutor, as the teacher of the prince, you not only ignored his indecent act of forcible confinement, lusting after the same sex, and even murder. Now you are also trying to defend him? Or is it that you believe these children no older than ten at most deserves to be treated like so? Flawed? Humph!" General Lan sarcastically reprimands his enemy without holding back.
Outside in the yard, the cries of the various children were getting even louder.
"Hong Fang, you've failed in your discipline and allowed my son to become lawless. Even then, you still don't know your wrong. For that, your position as the Royal Tutor is hereby stripped and half a year of your salary will act as your punishment." In front of the truth, the hard truth of all these poor victims and the decaying carcasses floating in the fish pond, the king didn't hesitate to punish Hong Fang too after how poor of a job he's done.
Monster, isn't this what they call a monster?
The great nation of Da Xia would actually establish a monster like Xia Hou Hong as its supporting pillar, how laughable!
There's no mistaking it, the king was convinced on disposing the boy even if he was his son.
Finally, the whole incident had come to a close with the sun rising over this land and brightening up the lives of those involved. It may be too late for the ones lost already, but it's not too late yet for the living.
As Hong Fang came out of the yard and saw the girl of his misfortune, he was surprised to find the boy that was being molested earlier snuggling up to Ling Yue's body like it's a safe haven.
"I knew it, so it is you who frame the prince! Lan Ling Yue, you have quite the vicious heart there!" Hong Fang was practically gnashing his teeth as he said this.
He devoted so many years through painstaking effort just to push Xia Hou Hong into the shining throne that's known as the Crown Prince, but in just one night, ten years of his effort was destroyed in a blink of an eye.
Sure, the king may have had given the gag order regarding this incident, but its unavoidable that the news will leak eventually.
"Ho~ Royal Tutor.... Oh wait, that's not right, it should be 'former' Royal Tutor. When it comes to being vicious, I'm nowhere close to you. Colluding together with your people to jointly slander an innocent young lady, how can I compete with your ability? But then again, the heavens have eyes, they can see your foul deeds." Ling Yue made no effort in hiding her contempt as she sneered at the man.