In the eyes of the crown prince, Mark might not be strong enough to defeat the entire imperial army, but his weapons could definitely kill him. Shang Zexi loves his life, and he wants to be safe than sorry.
Mark was also quite surprised by how convincing the crown prince's story was, but he had something up his sleeve to counter that.
Turning toward the crown prince, he then replied, "Suppose you are sleeping on your bed. Suddenly, someone tries to kill you but you escape and catch the culprit. The culprit turns out to be Allen. When you confront Allen, he says that he was ordered by me. Then, you come to me and I say that I was given money by someone to put a bounty on top of you. Even if that someone gets caught, will you leave me and Allen if we simply apologize and say it wasn't on purpose? Or you will put us under trial?"
"That's…" The crown prince fell into a dilemma, whether he should abandon Nie Rougang or not.
It is a fact that Nie Rougang did this behind his back and he was angry at him for this but they are in cahoots with each other in every crime they committed.
If Nie Rougang opens his mouth, forget about succeeding his father, the crown prince should worry about his own life.
As a result, he felt like he had two options to choose. One, burn the bridges and kill Nie Rougang. Two, continue to stick with him by trying to cool down the weapon seller while putting aside his ego once again.
Shang Zexi had chosen the second path and he cupped his fists once again and bowed, "Minister Nie has made a mistake. But, in these times of chaos, he is necessary for the Empire. I hope you forgive him as long we compensate you with material wealth."
If Mark takes that offer, he would lose the excuse of acting against the Imperial Palace.
But, he cannot just show a stuck-up attitude when one is in a high position such as the crown prince bowing before him in front of everyone.
Hence, he waved his hand and continued to be stern, "As I have told you guys earlier, I'm not here to seek compensation or answers. Since you have already accepted my accusation, let me continue."
"There's more to listen?" The third prince and the Emperor felt a headache, not knowing how to deal with this troublesome fellow.
The crown prince sat down and Mark continued by returning his gaze to his biological father, "Thirdly, I want to tell you the reason behind my settlement in the Imperial City. It wasn't because of the business."
"Then?" Everyone curiously stared at him, wondering what it might be.
Mark then revealed half of the truth, "When I was 15 years old, a burglar intruded into our house, ransacked our money, and killed my parents. The authorities kept their mum and the nobles disregard the incident as it is something common in their eyes and the lives of commoners aren't a big deal in the eyes of people like you.
Back then, I'm powerless. But, today, I'm not. I went against my fate and attained the power I desired. I came here to find out the killers of my family.
But, later on, I discovered that the killers are none other than the assassins of the Soul organization and the one who gave them the mission is the Grand Secretariat, Li Zheng Kang."
This time, the shock was so great that every single official stood on their feet. Even the Emperor is no exception either.
And obviously, Shang Fu didn't believe those accusations just like the rest of them.
This time, he defended his late minister, "there's no way Grand Secretariat Li was involved in…"
As he was speaking, he suddenly remembered the word traitor on the forehead of Li Zheng Kang.
Shang Fu then changed his words to a question, "Are you the one behind his death?"
Prepared for such a question beforehand, Mark shook his head, "No, I'm not. I only found this out today. I always had suspicions that someone from the imperial family is involved but I didn't expect it to be the grand secretariat of all the people."
Feeling odd about Mark's explanation, Shang Wei then asked a series of questions, "Who told you that? What evidence do you have against Grand Secretariat Li? And most importantly, why do you suspect that someone from the imperial family is involved in the death of your parents? They were just normal people and even lived far away from us. How were they related to our family?"
Mark pointed his finger at the Emperor, "The man sitting on the throne is the one they had a relationship with. As for the one who told me the truth, it was the contracted demon of Feng Wu.
He claimed that when he killed the Grand Secretariat and saw his memories to find out any useful Intel about the experts supporting the throne, he found out that Grand Secretariat was following the orders of the late Dowager Empress in killing all the women who this noble emperor had violated so that his dignity remains intact in the eyes of the public.
Even their children aren't spared. If I tell you that the number of such women is more than 100, would you believe it? If I tell you that more than 40 children born with the blood of Shang were killed, would you believe it?
And one of those pitiful women was my late mother, who served in this imperial palace as a maid. She left the city and married my father, later on. Their happiness became complete when I was born to them and we were living a peaceful life until your grand secretariat found out her existence and sent the assassins.
Had I not been rescued by an expert that day, I would have died that day with my parents too.
The moment I learned of the truth, I want to massacre every single person from your family but those who are directly responsible passed away, and attacking you people will just make me a traitor of my motherland.
However, I'm too disgusted with the actions of His Majesty that I cannot sit by and ignore them as if nothing happened.
Hence, today, I'm here to spill the truth in front of everyone before leaving this place for good. I received a marriage proposal from the Western Moon kingdom a while ago and soon, I will be engaged to Princess Shen Ling.
It'll be my new home. But, despite my feelings, I will keep my word and fulfill the conditions of every agreement I made with the imperial palace. If your army requires my firearms, your representative may visit the store and purchase them as a customer. I won't mistreat my customers no matter who they are.
Now that I have said everything I want to, it is time for me to leave. Goodbye, Your Majesty. This might be the last time I will be addressing you as such. From tomorrow onwards, you are no longer my emperor and I'm no longer your citizen."
Leaving everyone in a daze, Mark turned around and started walking away. His footsteps are probably the only sounds that the officials could hear at the moment.
And surprisingly, the Emperor was the first to come out of his stupor and called him out, "Wait, Shang… Lu Zhen. Stop."
Mark continued to walk away, not noticing the slip-up from the Emperor. On the other hand, Shang Wei fell into deep thought, analyzing the known truths and the ones Mark spouted earlier.
