Chapter 458

As soon as the storyteller finished speaking, someone in the audience echoed loudly. “Are you talking about the Prince Regent?”

“Of course! Apart from the Prince Regent, who else has such abilities!”

Just then, an old man with white hair and beard put down his teacup in the corner and slowly said, “Sir, your words are biased. It is Prince Xander’s duty to defend the country on the battlefield. How can he be praised as a god?”

“I’ve lived most of my life and seen so many loyal ministers and good generals. How can someone be praised every day before the battle is over?”

A scholar in a blue shirt next to him also nodded, “What the old man said makes sense. In my opinion, this matter is strange.

“The day before yesterday, ballads spread throughout Pidence City, and today the storyteller is promoting it so hard. Could it be that someone is doing it on purpose? You should know that the words ‘high achievement overshadows the king’ have always been a death warrant for loyal ministers.”

The teahouse suddenly became quiet, and everyone looked at each other.

The tea drinkers who had been cheering along also frowned. Someone muttered in a low voice, “It sounds a bit wrong. Prince Xander is still on the front line, so this is probably going to cause him trouble.”

“Could it be that someone wants to harm Prince Xander?”

“There have been many such cases before. This is clearly a death trap.”

The storyteller’s face turned red from being choked. He wanted to refute, but he saw several old men arranged by Nelson exchange glances.

One of them said loudly, “We common people only hope for peace and prosperity, and that Prince Regent can return safely in triumph. Such excessive praise sounds like a death trap, so it’s best to say less and not cause trouble for Prince Regent!”

As soon as these words came out, many people echoed them.

The atmosphere in the teahouse gradually changed, with less and less praise and more and more doubts and worries being discussed.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the storyteller had no choice but to end the show hastily and leave in a hurry with the reward money.

Seeing this, Nelson winked at the people nearby and followed him.

That storyteller was quite alert, looking back from time to time as he walked. He didn’t turn into an alley until he was sure there was no one around.

At the end of the alley, there was a masked man.

Seeing the storyteller appear, the other party rebuked him with dissatisfaction, “Why are you back so early?”

“Don’t even mention it,” the storyteller said, taking off his hat and then pulling off his beard.

Without the disguise, it was a young man.

He caught his breath and said in a low voice, “It’s really strange today. I had barely started when an old man began to question me, saying that I wanted to get Xander killed. So I quickly ended it.”

The masked man was shocked. “They are so alert. Does the Xander Manor suspect something?”

The storyteller chuckled and said, “So what if they suspect? Can a woman catch us? Besides, the entire Pidence City is praising Prince Regent. Even if they want to suppress it, they can’t.”

The masked man nodded. “That’s right. I don’t believe he can catch us. Even if he does, so what? We haven’t hurt Prince Regent; on the contrary, we are praising him. If we are convicted for this, how will they explain it to the world?”

“Exactly, haha,” the storyteller said, patting the man’s shoulder. “Let’s go, let’s have some fun.”

The masked man raised his chin triumphantly, “I’ve been tired for so many days, and I’m just thinking about relaxing.”

The two put their arms around each other’s shoulders and went into a brothel.

In the brothel, the music was melodious and the aroma of wine was fragrant. The two ordered a table of good wine and dishes, surrounded by beauties, and enjoyed themselves.

As they drank, the two gradually became drunk.

At this moment, Athena lifted the curtain and walked in.

“Hey, is this the new courtesan? She’s really good-looking.” One of them stood up and walked crookedly towards Athena.

Just as he was about to reach out and touch Athena’s face, he saw a flash of cold light.

Jessa looked at the two coldly. “Get your dirty hands away.”

Warm blood splattered on the man’s face. A severed finger fell to the ground.

The pain came, and the man covered his broken fingers and rolled around on the ground, screaming.

“My hand, my hand, ah…”

“It seems that the two of you are having a very pleasant day.” Athena’s voice was calm, but it instantly sobered the two drunk men.

The storyteller narrowed his eyes to see who was coming, and the alcohol immediately sobered him up, stammering, “P… Princess Consort?”

Athena understood everything when she arrived here.

The two men subconsciously wanted to run out, but they were kicked back by the guards as soon as they reached the door.

Bang, bang, bang…

The two men crashed heavily on the table, and the tables and chairs fell to the ground.

Athena calmly drank her coffee. Without her speaking, Jessa broke both of their leg bones.

“Run again, and it won’t be your legs that are broken, but your heads.”

Only then did the two realize that disaster was imminent, and they hurriedly begged for mercy.

“Princess Consort, spare me! Princess Consort, spare me!”

Athena placed the coffee cup on the table and looked at them coldly, “Tell me, who sent you?”

The two men’s eyes darted around, and neither of them was willing to tell the truth.

“Princess Consort, what, what do you mean by this?” The storyteller’s face was pale with pain, and beads of sweat dripped from his forehead.

He was still clinging to the hope of getting away with it, unwilling to tell the truth.

Athena blinked and said coldly, “Jessa, break their other leg.”

Jessa responded and was about to step forward, but the two men were so frightened that they screamed, “Spare us, spare us, we’ll talk.”

Athena raised her hand and stopped Jessa’s movements.

The storyteller said with a mournful face, “It was, it was Mr. Porter from Porter Mansion who told me to do this.”

“Do you have any evidence?” Athena asked again.

“Yes, I do.” The storyteller took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Athena. “This ballad was spread from Porter Mansion.”

Athena nodded in satisfaction, then took out the written confession and threw it in front of them. “Sign and affix your fingerprints.”

The storyteller and the masked man dared not resist any longer, and obediently signed and affixed their fingerprints.

Athena took the evidence and went straight to the palace.

After seeing the evidence, the King slammed the testimony on the table, his face furious. “How unreasonable! I have treated them well, yet they dare to engage in such secretive and treacherous activities behind my back, sowing discord and framing loyal and virtuous officials!”

“Someone, bring the Grant Tutor into the palace.”

The commander of the Imperial Guards accepted the order and turned to leave.

Before long, the Grant Tutor was escorted into the Heaven Hall.

When the Grant Tutor saw the King’s livid face, his heart skipped a beat.

But still with a glimmer of hope, he knelt down and cried out, “Your Majesty, I am innocent! I am innocent!”

With a crash, an inkstone struck the Porter’s head, and fresh blood slowly trickled down his forehead.

The King angrily said, “With both human and material evidence present, how dare you deny it? Prince Xander is dedicated to the country and the people, his hard work is commendable. The blood on the city walls is not yet dry, and Princess Consort just gave birth and hasn’t recovered yet, yet you are plotting such schemes behind our backs. What are your intentions? Do you want to ruin my great nation?”