Chapter 305: The Culprit
The Emperor was more confused than anything. “What am I supposed to know?” he asked.
“You know what I mean,” Ning scowled. “About what you did to the Gassain. You already ruined their family and name. At least let them be in peace while they are dead.”
The Emperor thought for a bit. “Hmm, maybe you are right. Although they did try to go for the throne, they were good people beforehand. Maybe executing their family for treason is enough punishment.”
“Yes, let’s not make a mockery out of their existence. Sigh, why did they ever lose their head and think they could take the throne,” the Emperor lamented.
Ning gave the Emperor a scrutinizing look and asked, “I’m sure most people already know it, so why are you trying to hide it?”
“Hide what?” the Emperor asked while making a confused face.
“About the truth? Regarding the Gassain family,” Ning said.
“When have I spoken anything but the truth?” the Emperor said with a proud but sad face.
Ning started getting confused now. ‘Either the Emperor is really good at acting… or something fishy is going on here,’ he thought.
“Are you trying to say that there was no other reason behind Gassain family’s attack on the throne other than just wanting the throne?” Ning asked.
The Emperor look confused too. “What other reason could there be?” the Emperor asked.
“How about making laws that always hurt the Gassain? How about attacking their business? Or maybe… I don’t know… killing their firstborn who was coming to ask for peace?” Ning asked. “That’s probably enough reasons to start an all out war, right?”
The noble family started whispering amongst themselves when they heard Ning. The Emperor started to get slightly angry now.
“Mister Ning, please don’t think that I won’t have you punished for spreading unfounded lies. The Gassain Family’s firstborn son was killed next to my bedroom. He was coming to assassinate me at night.”
“If not for my guards, I would’ve been dead that day. At first I thought it was something the son did on his own, so I didn’t even try to do anything. But before I knew it, they were charging for us.”
“If we weren’t fast enough to gather allies to fight back, we might’ve been the one to lose that day. I lost trusted friends and subordinates that day. Please do not insult them by saying it was something we made happen,” the Emperor said.
“What?” Ning was confused. He wanted to check the Emperor’s history but that would take a lot of time to read.
“So you are saying you never made laws or took actions that hampered the Gassain’s trade?” Ning asked.
“Never! I only did what the court suggests. Most of the time, the idea for the change doesn’t even lie on my hand. My job is to mostly interfere is I feel the change to be for the bad.”
“If it’s not, I just approve it. As for something that was hampering Gassain’s trade, I never did anything to make that happen. If it did, then it was just an unfortunate coincidence,” the Emperor said.
Ning looked to the side and saw the people nodding their head. From what he could see, the Emperor didn’t seem to be saying anything wrong.
“I did what I had to that day,” the Emperor said. “The only thing I regret doing is killing off the Gassain family that did not take a part in the war. I was blinded by anger and ended up giving orders that I should not have,” The Emperor said while shaking his head.
Ning didn’t know what to say anymore. Everything the Emperor was saying seemed correct at least from what he could see. If he wanted to really know the answer then he would have to use the system.
Ning closed his eyes and thought of a single question to ask.
“Then… who was the culprit behind Gassain Family’s destruction?”
The Emperor looked confused and said, “Of course, it was the family itself. Maybe the first son, maybe the father.”
Ning heard the Emperor’s answer but could care less about it. The question he had asked wasn’t for the Emperor after all.
He looked at the blue screen floating in front of him that gave him the answer for a fraction of the price.
He clicked Buy.
A single piece of information floated into his mind and he got the answer. But simply knowing the answer wasn’t enough, he needed to prove it too.
“Is the palace’s security so bad that a single assassin can nearly reach the Emperor’s quarters?” Ning asked.
“Umm… not really, but we assume the son had some abilities in concealment,” the emperor said.
“Then, what about the allies that came to your aid? Would they have made it to your door before the Gassain came when they were rushing for war?” Ning asked.
“Uhh… no, but that was thanks to my son’s foresight,” the Emperor said. “My son realized that the Gassain’s would go to war for their son and started gathering allies before they even attacked.”
“And you think the great family would send their army on the words of a young prince alone? How was it that you did not know that your son was gathering an army of his own? Do you not have subordinates that let you know about what is going on in the palace?” Ning asked.
“That…” the Emperor started thinking.
“Are you trying to say something?” Badel Wyan stood up from his seat and walked up to Ning while constantly huffing in anger.
“I know you were the one behind the Gassain’s fall, Badel. I just want to know why. Why did Price Badel Wyan seek to destroy the Gassain family?” Ning asked.
“Stop defaming me, you bastard,” Badel said as he ran up and punched Ning in the face. However, Ning’s face didn’t move.
The only thing that moved was his eyes lids as he closed them to look through the information he had just gotten.
“Hah! So you decided to kill Roid just because he was having an affair with the daughter of the Blevin’s family, huh?” Ning asked.
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