Chương 528: Tell me, aren't you angry?

One of the Imperial Guards kicked open Sima Fang's study door, which slammed against the wall with a loud bang and bounced back.

He pushed the bookshelf over, and the bamboo slips, silk books, and wooden tablets on it fell to the ground with a clatter, which he stepped on as if they were garbage.

He picked up a book at random, flipped through it, and cursed, "Pah! What a piece of junk! It's all classical Chinese, I can't understand a single word. This thing is too hard to even wipe my butt with."

Another Imperial Guard pried open the wardrobe, which was filled with silks and satins, including Shu brocade, Yun brocade, and Suzhou embroidery, all in various colors and very luxurious. There were also many gold and silver jewelry, such as pearl necklaces, jade bracelets, and gold hairpins, which jingled and glittered on the floor under the candlelight.

He whistled, "Wow! The Sima family is really rich! This fox fur coat must be worth ten thousand coins, right? And this bracelet alone could feed an ordinary person for several years!"

"That's nothing! Look at this!" The Imperial Guard pointed to a box made of sandalwood, carved with intricate patterns, clearly very valuable.

"It's full of gold bars! Several hundred pounds! That's how much of the people's wealth they plundered!"

The maids were so frightened that they squatted on the ground with their heads in their hands, huddled in a corner and trembled, some of them already crying.

Several servants tried to resist, but were easily beaten down by the Imperial Guards and chained up like prisoners.

Wang Defu followed behind, his heart aching at the sight of the mess on the ground, but he dared not say a word and could only silently wipe his sweat.

Sima Yi stood in the main hall, his face growing paler and paler.

He watched as the Imperial Guards methodically searched every corner, skillfully ransacking boxes, prying open floors, and digging into walls, and his heart grew increasingly panicked.

He had clearly destroyed all the evidence; Lu Bing couldn't possibly find anything about treason.

He had calculated everything clearly: the letters were burned, the weapons were hidden, and all the necessary arrangements had been made; Lu Bing would have no way of finding a loophole.

But what he didn't know was that Lu Bing had no intention of finding evidence against them at all.

Half an hour later, a commander of the Imperial Guard rushed in, carrying a heavy wooden box in his arms, sweat beading on his forehead, and shouted:

"My lord! We've found it! In the cellar of the Sima family's backyard, we found quite a few ring-pommel swords, black iron armor, and several letters colluding with the Runan aristocratic families! They were hidden very well, buried three feet underground and covered with a stone slab!"

As he spoke, he dumped the wooden crate on the ground. With a "crash," gleaming machetes and armor fell to the ground, the sound of metal clashing crisp and piercing.

There was also a letter with writing on it, stamped with Sima Fang's personal seal, bright red and particularly glaring.

Sima Fang nearly fainted upon seeing this. He pointed at the commander, his voice cracking as if someone were choking him:

"You're lying! These aren't ours! There are no such things in our cellar! You're framing me! You put them there! I'm sue you!"

"A frame-up?" Lu Bing picked up the letter, shook it, and unfolded it under the candlelight.

"Your signature and personal seal are on it, dare you say it's not yours? The ink is still fresh, you say you didn't write it? Sima Fang, even now, you still dare to deny it? The evidence is overwhelming, what else do you have to say?"

"This isn't my handwriting! This seal is fake too!" Sima Fang jumped up and down in a panic, his face turning bright red.

"Our Sima family's private seal has a tiny chip on the corner, which was accidentally chipped when the seal was carved. Look at the seal on this letter, the corner is intact!"

"Fake! Absolutely fake! You forged it! Lu Bing! You can't make false accusations! I'm going to Luoyang to see His Majesty! I'm going to file a complaint with the Emperor! I want to confront you face to face!"

Just then, Sima Yi suddenly stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "Lord Lu, I have something to say."

He took a deep breath, his eyes sharp, staring at Lu Bing, and spoke slowly but clearly, each word distinct:

"First, the key to our family's cellar has always been kept by my father himself, and no one else can get in. The key has been hanging on his waist for many years."

Secondly, although the handwriting in this letter is very similar to the original, my father had a habit of writing the character "之" with a hook at the end, which is not present here; it is flat.

Third, these armors are standard issue from the Imperial Guards, and they even bear the inscription "Imperial Guard Armory." How could our Sima family possibly possess anything from the Imperial Guards? Imperial Guard armor is impossible to obtain without special channels.

He paused, then spoke each word clearly, as if delivering a definitive conclusion:

"So, these things were definitely planted by you beforehand to frame our Sima family! This is a frame-up, a deliberate attempt to frame us! Your Embroidered Uniform Guard has abused your power and disregarded human life; this is an outrage against humanity!"

After saying that, he looked at Lu Bing triumphantly, the corners of his mouth slightly upturned, thinking that he had exposed the other party's conspiracy and that Lu Bing would be speechless.

The lobby fell silent instantly, so quiet that the crackling of the candlelight could be heard.

Sima Fang and his other sons breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that Sima Yi was absolutely right, every point was valid and reasonable, and Lu Bing would definitely have nothing to say now and would leave in a sorry state.

Sima Fu even secretly wiped away his sweat.

Wang Defu also secretly raised his head, thinking: This Sima Yi is indeed clever, worthy of being the famous child prodigy of Wen County. Let's see how Lord Lu will handle this. He can even tell the authenticity of the private seal... This brain of his is truly extraordinary.

But Lu Bing laughed.

That smile wasn't an angry smile, nor an embarrassed smile, but a smile that said, "You're right, but so what?"

He slowly stood up, walked up to Sima Yi, looked him up and down, and a mocking smile appeared on his lips.

"Sima Yi, is that right? I've heard you're quite clever, with a belly full of cunning at such a young age. Of your father's eight sons, you were the most scheming. Meeting you today, I can see that your reputation is well-deserved."

He leaned closer to Sima Yi and lowered his voice:

"You're absolutely right. Every point you make is valid and reasonable. I did put these things in there. I carved the seal, I wrote the letters, and I brought the armor from the Imperial Guard's armory. So what? What can you do to me?"

Sima Yi's smile froze on his face instantly, as if he had been struck by a pressure point.

Lu Bing continued, his voice not loud, but like a hammer, pounding hard on his heart, one blow after another, leaving him breathless:

"To tell you the truth, His Majesty doesn't care whether you've rebelled or not. He's too lazy to even come up with a decent reason. All that talk about hoarding weapons, colluding with bandits, or rebelling is just empty rhetoric."

He paused, then leaned even closer, close enough to see the fear in Sima Yi's pupils:

"His Majesty simply dislikes your Sima family and wants you dead."

"Tell me, aren't you angry?"

"boom--!"

Sima Yi was stunned, as if struck by lightning.

His eyes widened, his mouth opened, but he couldn't make a sound.

He never imagined that his painstakingly crafted defense, his pride in his intelligence, and all his meticulous calculations would be so utterly vulnerable in the face of absolute power.