I walk sideways in the game world

Chapter 159 Ren Xiaoyao's Tragic Struggle

Ren Xiaoyao led the others in a desperate attempt to break through the encirclement and headed straight for the palace. He felt a sense of unease in his heart. The Black Demon Cult's target was no accident. There must be something they wanted in the palace, or in other words, someone they wanted to protect.

He rushed into the palace, but found the atmosphere extremely solemn. The emperor sat on the dragon throne with a sullen face, and the left prime minister was holding a memorial in his hand, accusing something in a stern voice.

"Your Majesty! I have a report to make! General Ren Xiaoyao, the Protector of the Nation, has colluded with the enemy and attempted rebellion. He deserves death!"

Ren Xiaoyao was shocked. He understood that the Black Demon Cult's goal was to protect Prime Minister Zuo, and Prime Minister Zuo actually pinned this false accusation on himself.

"Left Prime Minister, you are slandering me!" Ren Xiaoyao roared. "I have fought for the empire through thick and thin. When have I ever done anything to let it down?"

"Hmph, the evidence is irrefutable, and you still want to deny it?" The Left Prime Minister sneered and threw the memorial in front of Ren Xiaoyao, "Take a look for yourself!"

Ren Xiaoyao unfolded the memorial, which was written in neat handwriting. It was the correspondence between him and Xia Lin, but the content had been tampered with and turned into a conspiracy letter colluding with the enemy country.

"This is clearly a forgery!" Ren Xiaoyao was furious. He knew that this was a frame-up by the Left Prime Minister, but he was unable to defend himself for a moment.

The emperor looked at everything in front of him with a frown. He knew Ren Xiaoyao very well, but this evidence made him doubt.

"General Xiaoyao, do you have any explanation?" The emperor's voice was low, and it was impossible to tell whether he was happy or angry.

Ren Xiaoyao took a deep breath. He knew he had to remain calm at this moment. He raised his head and looked at the emperor with a firm gaze. "Your Majesty, I am loyal to the empire, as the sun and the moon can attest. There must be a misunderstanding here. Please investigate!"

Seeing this, the Left Prime Minister smiled grimly. He had anticipated what Ren Xiaoyao would say, so he pulled a piece of paper from his sleeve and held it high above his head. "Your Majesty, I have something else to present. I intercepted it myself. It's a handwritten letter between Ren Xiaoyao and the enemy's marshal, sufficient to prove his treasonous ambitions!"

The emperor took the letter, unfolded it, and his expression suddenly turned even uglier. The letter revealed that Ren Xiaoyao was discussing a plan with the enemy marshal to cooperate internally and externally to divide the empire.

"This..." The emperor's hand holding the letter trembled slightly. He looked at Ren Xiaoyao with complicated eyes, and the last bit of trust in his heart began to waver.

"Your Majesty, this is all a trick of the Left Prime Minister. Please don't believe him!" Ren Xiaoyao explained anxiously. He knew that he had fallen into a huge conspiracy and if he was not careful, he would be doomed.

However, the Left Prime Minister pressed on. He pointed at Ren Xiaoyao's nose and said sternly, "Ren Xiaoyao, what else do you have to say? Now that you've caught him red-handed, what else do you have to say?"

Ren Xiaoyao's heart sank. He looked around and found that his former colleagues who had fought side by side with him were now looking at him with suspicion and disgust, as if he had really become an unforgivable traitor.

"I..." Ren Xiaoyao opened his mouth, but found that he could not say anything. He never thought that his passion would end up like this.

At this moment, the emperor, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke. His voice was low and majestic, yet with a hint of imperceptible fatigue. "Ren Xiaoyao, do you admit your guilt?"

Hearing this, Ren Xiaoyao's heart sank completely...

Ren Xiaoyao smiled bitterly, knowing that no amount of explanation would be effective at this point. "Your Majesty... I have nothing to say." His voice was low and hoarse, but it couldn't mask the deep grief and helplessness within. The emperor sighed, a flicker of disappointment and regret in his eyes. Finally, he waved his sleeves and said, "Come, take Ren Xiaoyao to the Heavenly Prison and await your punishment!"

At this moment, Xia Lin, who had been standing in the corner, suddenly stood up. She knelt in front of the emperor, holding up a jade pendant, "Your Majesty, wait a minute! I have something to say!" This jade pendant was a gift from the emperor. Seeing it was like seeing the emperor. Xia Lin's move immediately attracted everyone's attention.

"Xia Lin? What do you want?" The emperor looked at the woman he had always admired, a glimmer of hope rising in his heart. Perhaps she could solve this mystery. Xia Lin took a deep breath. "Your Majesty, I have been secretly investigating the Left Prime Minister recently and discovered that he has close ties with the enemy country. I have irrefutable evidence of his treason!"

The Left Prime Minister's face darkened, and he shouted harshly, "What nonsense! What evidence do you have to defame me?" Xia Lin remained undaunted. "Don't worry, Left Prime Minister! The evidence is irrefutable and cannot be denied!" She turned to the Emperor and said, "Your Majesty, I have a secret letter here. It's proof of a private transaction between the Left Prime Minister and the enemy's marshal. Please review it!"

As she spoke, Xia Lin pulled a letter from her bosom and presented it to the emperor. The emperor took it, perused it, his expression growing increasingly grim. The letter detailed the Left Prime Minister's collusion with the enemy, his betrayal of intelligence, and even his conspiracy to carve up the empire through internal and external forces. The handwriting on the letter was identical to the Left Prime Minister's, and it also bore his personal seal, providing irrefutable evidence.

The Left Prime Minister panicked. He pointed at Xia Lin and said, "You...you're framing me! You forged this letter!" Xia Lin sneered, "Forged? Prime Minister Zuo, do you think I'd resort to such crude tactics like you?" She pulled out another account book from her sleeve. "This book records the evidence of Prime Minister Zuo's corruption and bribery over the years. Every single entry is clearly shown. Prime Minister Zuo, do you still want to deny it?"

The left prime minister's face suddenly turned pale. He never thought that even though he hid so deeply, Xia Lin still found out some clues. He never thought that she would show up at the critical moment and trick him.

Ren Xiaoyao was under house arrest in the mansion, feeling extremely anxious. He knew that the Left Prime Minister would not let this go, and he had to find a way to clear his name quickly, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous. He closed his eyes, trying to calm himself, and his mind kept recalling every moment he had spent with the Left Prime Minister, trying to find a way out.

"General, are you alright?" The guard's voice brought Ren Xiaoyao back to reality. He opened his eyes and shook his head. "I'm fine. Go get me some writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone." He wanted to write down everything he knew about the Left Prime Minister's crimes, not missing a single detail.

In the dead of night, Ren Xiaoyao's study remained brightly lit. He wrote furiously, writing down all the evidence he knew about the Left Prime Minister's crimes. He also secretly contacted the generals loyal to the emperor and the empire, hoping they would trust him and join him in exposing the Left Prime Minister's true face and restoring order to the empire.

Suddenly, a faint sound of footsteps echoed from outside the window, and Ren Xiaoyao's heart trembled. Someone had infiltrated his residence... A gust of night wind blew, and the candlelight in the study flickered slightly, illuminating Ren Xiaoyao's stern face. He set down his pen, his sharp eyes swept out the window, and a sneer crept onto his lips. He knew that the Left Prime Minister would not sit still and wait for death. Tonight was destined to be a restless night.

With a soft "whoosh," a sharp arrow pierced the air, shooting straight towards Ren Xiaoyao's desk. Ren Xiaoyao, already on guard, dodged, and the arrow lodged itself against the wall behind him, its tail still trembling slightly. The study door slammed open, and several masked men in black, blades in hand, pounced in like wolves and tigers.

"Hmph, you've walked right into a trap!" Ren Xiaoyao snorted coldly, drawing the longsword from his waist. With a flash of cold light, the sword's energy surged, instantly slaying the two assassins in the forefront. Blood splattered, staining the study floor red. However, the remaining assassins showed no fear, instead attacking Ren Xiaoyao with even greater frenzy.

"You're overestimating yourself!" A glint of contempt flashed in Ren Xiaoyao's eyes. Although these assassins were well-trained, they were nothing more than clowns in front of him, a seasoned warrior. His movements were as swift as lightning, his swordsmanship sharp and deadly. In a matter of moments, he had slain all the assassins one by one.

Looking at the corpses strewn across the ground, Ren Xiaoyao didn't let his guard down. He knew this was just the first wave of attacks from the Left Prime Minister, and that a more violent storm would follow. He ordered his men to dispose of the assassin's bodies, then wrote a secret letter that night and sent it to the military camp outside the city, hoping that his confidants would arrive in time to support him.

The next morning, the emperor received a secret report from the Left Prime Minister, alleging that Ren Xiaoyao had secretly stored weapons and was plotting a rebellion. He had also brutally murdered the Imperial Guards who had come to investigate in his palace. The emperor's face darkened as he read the report, and his trust in Ren Xiaoyao wavered again.

"Come here, pass on my order to bring Ren Xiaoyao to the palace. I want to interrogate him personally!"

The atmosphere in the imperial palace was solemn. Ren Xiaoyao, dressed in prisoner clothes and with his hands bound, remained upright, his gaze fixed on the emperor seated on the dragon throne.

"Ren Xiaoyao, do you know your crime?!" The emperor's voice was low and majestic, with a hint of suppressed anger.

"I am innocent!" Ren Xiaoyao answered loudly, his eyes firm and frank.

"How dare you! You secretly hid weapons in your house and killed the imperial guards. Now that there are witnesses and evidence, you still dare to quibble?!" The left prime minister stood aside and accused indignantly.

Ren Xiaoyao sneered, "Left Prime Minister, if you want to accuse me, you'll always find a pretext. The weapons in my palace were all given by the Emperor, so how can I say they were privately kept? As for those so-called Imperial Guards, they are nothing but imposters. I'm sure the Emperor knows their true identities better than I do."

The emperor frowned, "What did you say?"

Ren Xiaoyao took a deep breath and was about to speak when he suddenly heard a commotion outside the palace... The commotion outside the palace was getting closer and closer, accompanied by a burst of hurried footsteps. A guard ran in in a panic, knelt before the emperor, and reported loudly: "Your Majesty, a large number of enemy troops have been spotted outside the city... outside the city, and they are approaching the imperial city!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the hall erupted in an uproar. The emperor stood up abruptly, his face livid, and shouted, "What?! How could the enemy suddenly appear outside the city? What's the point of guarding the border?"

A subtle hint of joy flashed across the Left Prime Minister's eyes, but he pretended to be calm and said, "Your Majesty, please calm down. This happened so suddenly, there must be something fishy going on. Please investigate carefully!"

Ren Xiaoyao watched all this and sneered inwardly. It seemed like this drama was getting more and more exciting. He stepped forward and said loudly, "Your Majesty, I have something to say!"

The emperor suppressed his anger and said in a deep voice, "Speak!"

"I dare to assert that this sudden appearance of enemy forces must be related to the Left Prime Minister!" Ren Xiaoyao said in a resounding voice, "The Left Prime Minister is colluding with the enemy country, working internally and externally, and intends to usurp the throne. Your Majesty, please understand!"

"You're slandering me!" The Left Prime Minister's face changed drastically. He pointed at Ren Xiaoyao and shouted angrily, "You're deliberately stalling for time so that your accomplices can capture the Imperial City!"

"Your Majesty, every word I say is true. If I tell even a single lie, I will willingly be torn into pieces!" Ren Xiaoyao looked fearlessly at the Left Prime Minister, his eyes gleaming with determination. "Here is evidence that the Left Prime Minister is colluding with the enemy nation. Please review it, Your Majesty!"

As he spoke, Ren Xiaoyao took out a letter from his arms and held it high.

The emperor's expression changed and he was about to speak when suddenly, a big hole appeared in the roof of the hall. Several men in black fell from the sky and headed straight for Ren Xiaoyao.

"Protect the emperor!" Seeing this, the left prime minister shouted and protected the emperor behind him, but his eyes were full of viciousness.

"Trying to silence someone? That won't be easy!" Ren Xiaoyao snorted coldly. He knew the Left Prime Minister was desperate, but how could he just sit there and wait for death? He dodged the attack of the man in black and threw the letter in his hand towards the emperor.

"Your Majesty, this is..."

Before Ren Xiaoyao could finish his words, he was forced back by the swarm of men in black. He could only watch as the letter drew an arc in the air and flew towards the emperor.

"No!" The Left Prime Minister let out a desperate roar, trying to stop it, but it was too late...