Transmigrated into a Grandpa, Embracing the Laid-Back Life

Chapter 429: Hall of Golden Chimes

“Heh heh...”

A faint, cold sneer shattered the deathly silence that had settled over the Hall of Golden Chimes.

Ironclad evidence!

At this very moment, even the most loyal officials of the Yongchang Marquis’ faction couldn’t utter a single word of defense. Embezzling military funds could still be glossed over with excuses like “poor management” or “accounting errors.” But how could this massive fortune in gold from an enemy nation, arriving at such a suspiciously opportune time, possibly be explained?!

The eyes of everyone present converged on the Yongchang Marquis.

Yet, contrary to all expectations.

The livid expression on the Yongchang Marquis’ face slowly began to fade. He even... let out another cold laugh.

That laughter carried a hint of disdain, a trace of mockery, and a touch of... bone-deep sorrow.

He didn’t look at Xu Qing, nor at the civil officials glaring at him with righteous fury. Instead, he turned back around to face the dragon throne. That back of his, always held so ramrod straight, now seemed to bear an almost imperceptible stoop.

“Your Majesty.”His voice no longer carried its previous aggression. Instead, it had become eerily calm, a calmness that was terrifying in its intensity.

“Merchants chase profit—this has been the way since ancient times. A Northern Barbarian merchant caravan came to do business in Great Xing and saw the reputation of my son’s money house as trustworthy. They chose to deposit their wealth here—is that also a crime? Based solely on a business transaction, is His Excellency Xu trying to brand me as a ‘traitor’... isn’t that... a bit too far-fetched?”

He paused, then shifted his tone abruptly, injecting a bone-chilling weight into his words.

“If this is the standard for conviction, then anyone who has ever dealt with Northern Barbarian merchants is guilty of treason. Is His Excellency Xu trying to implicate an entire nine generations of families?”

He slowly raised his head, his gaze burning as he looked at the Emperor on the dragon throne. That look was a complex storm—there was grievance, resentment, fury, but most of all, a profound sense of being betrayed.

“Your Majesty.”

his court robes aside and dropped to both knees on the cold, unyielding stone floor of the Hall of Golden Chimes, performing a bow of a minister to his

and wielding blades for Great Xing. It has been thirty-four years now. In this life, your servant has fought in seventy-three battles, large and small, and bears eighteen sword wounds and arrow scars on his body. Your servant

servant asks himself—for thirty years, toward Your Majesty and toward Great Xing, he has given his all, never harboring a

voice echoed through the empty hall, each word ringing like metal striking stone, carrying

advanced years, I never thought I’d be framed by petty men, reduced to the charge

“So be it!”

Mystic Iron and

hundred thousand troops of the Northern Frontier! Today, your servant returns

no longer trusts your servant, I... I am willing to surrender all military command, lay down my armor, return to my fields, and retire to my hometown! From this day

tireless service—even if without great merit, at least

against the floor, three times, kowtowing

“Thump! Thump! Thump!”

Golden Chimes was dead

stunned by the

in order

at all—it was... the most naked threat

three hundred thousand northern troops? Who could move them? With the Northern Barbarian army pressing on the border, replacing a general on the eve of

fate of Great Xing itself, on the gamble that the Emperor wouldn’t

an instant, everyone’s heart leaped into their

toward the silent sovereign on the

Golden Chimes, the atmosphere froze to its lowest

a red-hot branding iron before the Emperor and all his civil and military officials, too searing for anyone

a high-stakes

on the loyalty of the three hundred thousand northern troops, on the Emperor’s

revealed no expression. He only gazed silently at the marquis kneeling below. Those deep, dark eyes were as calm

stretch

heavy,