"If it truly wasn't you, why did he die before our very eyes?" the Heavenly Emperor said coldly, "To do something like this yet not dare to admit it, truly a disgrace to my royal lineage!"
"I already said, I had nothing to do with this!"
Bai Long spoke again, appearing quite helpless. It seemed no matter what he said, the Heavenly Emperor wouldn't believe him.
"Arrest Prince Bai Long! Colluding with the Hell Dynasty is a capital offense!"
The Heavenly Emperor's voice was chilling, carrying immense authority. At this point, he was furious, but as the Heavenly Emperor, there was little he could do.
"Your Majesty, please calm your wrath. There might still be room for negotiation in this matter!" the old eunuch said, "Isn't the death penalty too severe?"
"A word spoken is a word that must be kept!"
The Heavenly Emperor stated coldly, "If he has done such a thing, how can I possibly let him off easily!"
"If you won't let me off, then don't bother with all this nonsense!"
Bai Long said coldly, "Since you don't believe me and intend to kill me, I have nothing more to say. But you will regret it. I already said, I am not the mastermind behind this. The mastermind is still at large, and I am merely a scapegoat!"
Facing these words, the Heavenly Emperor remained unconvinced, his expression growing even colder, "Do you think a few words from you will make me believe?"
"If you don't believe, why bother asking?"
Bai Long let out a cold laugh, "This is truly laughable!"
"You scoundrel, how dare you speak to me like this!"
The Heavenly Emperor's expression was indifferent, laced with killing intent. He had always held Bai Long in high regard, but he never imagined Bai Long would do something like this, something that endangered the entire Heavenly Dynasty and could even lead to its downfall.
After Bai Long was taken away, Lu Fan looked towards the Heavenly Emperor, "Your Majesty, there's no need for such distress. Perhaps Prince Bai Long is telling the truth, and this matter has nothing to do with him."
Frowning at Lu Fan's words, the Heavenly Emperor asked, "What do you mean by that? I don't quite understand. The evidence was clear, and by all normal accounts, he must be the culprit!"
"Nothing is absolute, Your Majesty should know this better!"
Lu Fan stated directly, "What Prince Bai Long said might be true!"
"If that's the case, then who is the mastermind behind this?" the Heavenly Emperor asked coldly, looking towards Lu Fan.
"It seems we are all in a scheme, and this person is extremely cunning, calculating everyone's moves!"
Lu Fan smiled slightly, "And he is sitting back, watching the tigers fight!"
The Heavenly Emperor's expression was solemn. He didn't know whether to heed Lu Fan's words or not, as the matter remained unresolved, and whether Prince Bai Long was wrongly accused was impossible to verify.
"This person is deeply hidden, and it won't be easy to find him. More importantly, he began his plan many years ago, and the Ghost Elder we see now is merely his pawn!" Lu Fan said seriously, "Everything he intends to do seems to be directed at the princes. This means that one of the princes must be the real culprit!"
"Your speculation has some merit!" the Heavenly Emperor said, "However, this is just your conjecture. Without concrete evidence, I will not believe it!"
"Give me some time, and I will prove my hypothesis!" Lu Fan's eyes were serious, showing no hint of avoidance.
The Heavenly Emperor nodded slightly, not saying anything further. At this point, everything that needed to be said had been said. As for whether Bai Long was the mastermind, even he himself was somewhat uncertain.
After leaving the imperial palace, Lu Fan did not return to the Northwest King's manor but instead went to the Heavenly Prison, his gaze falling upon Bai Long.
"What, are you here to mock me?" Bai Long looked at Lu Fan, his expression growing colder, "I truly didn't expect this! To fall into your hands!"
"Upon my first arrival in the imperial capital, I was subjected to an assassination attempt. All of this was orchestrated by Prince Bai Long!" Lu Fan smiled slightly, "Prince Bai Long is truly not simple, now entangled in the Hell Dynasty case as well!"
"So you knew all along that I was behind that assassination attempt?" Bai Long frowned, "And that's why you're deliberately retaliating against me!"
"I am not that kind of person!" Lu Fan shook his head, "I came here today to tell you that I believe you did not commit this act. However, you must give me some clues so I can thoroughly investigate!"
"You believe me?" Bai Long was stunned, finding it even more unbelievable. After all, in his eyes, even his own father didn't believe him, so how could Lu Fan?
"That's right, this is what I should be doing!" Lu Fan nodded, "After all, the mistake today was mine!"
"Why should I believe you? If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be in this Heavenly Prison!" Bai Long said coldly, with a hint of displeasure.
Facing these words, Lu Fan remained unfazed, "You can choose to believe or not believe, but the outcome will be the same regardless."
"As long as you can get me out, I will naturally believe you!" Bai Long clutched at the last straw of hope, his gaze fixed on Lu Fan.
"It's not an easy task to get you out, as you've heard, this is the Heavenly Emperor's order!" Lu Fan stated directly, "As long as I can find the real culprit, this matter will be resolved, and you won't have to suffer like this in the Heavenly Prison!"
"Tell me what you want to know directly!" Bai Long said, "Now that it's come to this, I will tell you whatever I know!"
Facing these words, Lu Fan smiled slightly, "All the information about Ghost Elder, and I also want to know about Prince Bai Long's character and why he offended that person!"
"You seem to have something to say!" Prince Bai Long said coldly, "It seems you're still dwelling on that incident!"
"It's all in the past, let's not bring it up!"
Lu Fan shrugged and chuckled, "I just want to know, how did you get acquainted with Ghost Elder?"
"During an excursion, I was ambushed, and Ghost Elder saved me!"
Prince Bai Long stated, "Seeing his skill at the time, and that he saved me, I took him into my service. From then on, he became one of my White Dragon King's men!"
"It seems that assassination attempt was aimed at you, but the purpose wasn't to kill you, but to get close to you!" Lu Fan said with a wry smile, "The person behind this is truly audacious."
Bai Long recalled these events, his expression softening slightly. Even he hadn't expected things to turn out this way, catching him so off guard.