Those knights were not ready to listen to anything and just grabbed Yue's hands by force, taking him with them.
They brought him into the main hall where the meeting was ongoing, all the ministers were present, and Hao was filled with rage.
The knights threw Yue on the ground in front of Hao. Yue glanced around and got on his knees without saying anything, just looking up at Hao.
"Why did you poison my empress?" Hao asked.
Yue scoffed upon hearing that.
"Your Majesty, don't tell me you've been ruling the kingdom like this all these years. If so, I really pity the people of this kingdom."
Yue's words and his eyes were sharp, piercing through Hao, making his anger boil like lava.
"How dare you question my rule? You know I can count this as treason and kill you right now."
"Your Majesty, is this how you do justice? You just heard a few words of truth, and here you are planning to kill me. I wonder what would happen if I showered you with truth—would you torture me even after my death then?"
Hao rested his back on the seat while his eyes scanned Yue. The accusation was that he poisoned the empress, but Yue seemed far too calm, as if he truly had done nothing.
"For a mere concubine, you sure have a lot of attitude. Your arrogance is going to ruin you."
["Bunny, can I kill this emperor?"
"Boss, you know that if you kill him, your mission is going to fail."]
Yue closed his eyes for a second to calm himself down, then opened them again and looked at Hao.
"Care to tell me, Your Majesty, why you summoned me here?"
"Pretending like you don't know... Why did you poison Empress Ming? The dumplings given by you were poisoned."
Yue slowly stood up, and there was a different level of confidence on his face, like he was the only clever person in the whole damn hall.
"Did I give her those dumplings willingly? Your Majesty, why don't you accept that those dumplings were originally for me, and I wanted to eat them, but—"
Yue glanced at the ministers while talking, watching their reactions. All the ministers were listening carefully to Yue because they also wanted to know what he was going to say next.
"Since your empress wanted to eat those dumplings, which were mine, you forced me to give them to her. And now that the dumplings turned out to be poisonous, you've called me here to make me the guilty one. But the real guilty person is you, Your Majesty."
["Boss, are you out of your mind? What are you even saying to the emperor? What if he gets angry and kills you?"]
Hearing it hit Hao—that yes, those dumplings were originally for Yue, and he was going to eat them. That's why he even refused to give them to Ming.
But then Hao himself forced Yue to hand them over. So it wasn't Yue's fault. If Yue had eaten those dumplings, he'd be the one poisoned right now, not Ming.
But still, Hao didn't like the way Yue was speaking to him. His tone was far from respectful.
It was clear Yue was speaking rudely, and if he let it slide now, the other concubines might follow.
That would only ruin Hao's reputation if word got out beyond the palace.
Yet, since Yue was a beastman and more beautiful than any other omega, Hao's heart stopped him from punishing Yue—while his mind told him otherwise.
"Even if you didn't poison Empress Ming, you are still the number one suspect. And I don't like the way you're speaking to me."
All the ministers also began murmuring after hearing that. They, too, wanted to get rid of Yue.
They knew something had changed—Hao no longer favored Yue, otherwise he would've protected him like before.
And the ministers wanted their daughters and sons to marry into the palace. To do that, they'd have to remove concubines one by one. This was a golden opportunity.
"Your Majesty, you can't let a subject go like this. Concubine Yue questioned your rule and spoke rudely to you in the main hall!"
"Yes, Your Majesty, he doesn't respect you!"
"Kill him already!"
Yue rolled his eyes hearing their words, because to him, all those ministers were just flies buzzing around him.
"I don't understand why these ministers are sticking their noses into our matter, Your Majesty. And if you're going to behave like this with me, then divorce me, because I don't like you anymore."
Hao's eyes widened hearing that, and his heart ached.
["Boss, something big and bad is going to happen."
"What do you mean?"
"I can't explain."]
"You are my concubine, and you're saying you don't love me anymore? Then who do you love? Don't tell me you already found yourself an alpha."
"No, Your Majesty, I didn't find any alpha. But it's Empress Ming—she said she's also not happy with you. So we both are going to divorce you and leave from here."
Hao couldn't believe what he had just heard—that both Yue and Ming were going to divorce him and leave together.
That meant Yue didn't find an alpha... he had found an omega. That's what Hao was thinking.
And Yue knew that Ming poisoned herself just to get rid of him. That's why Yue made a move that would send Ming falling into a deep hole.
"No, I will not divorce you," Hao said.
"Your Majesty, can we talk alone?"
All the ministers exchanged glances, knowing Hao would never allow it—Yue was the prime suspect who poisoned the Empress.
"Okay, everyone leave at once."
Everyone was shocked that Hao was willing to listen to Yue and was ready to send everyone out.
But they had no choice but to leave, even though they murmured and stared at Yue on their way out.
In seconds, the main hall was empty without the ministers.
"Say, what did you want to talk about alone?"