An unexpected twist (part 2)

With the king's permission to continue the investigation, the queen's eyes locked onto the commander's face, her voice steady "My lord, several sequence of events led me to conclude that Commander Li-Chen is the actual culprit, she has set out so diligently to capture. It began when I had requested to see Lady Jade before she was brought to you for questioning" The queen paused, her gaze steady and her voice measured.

"Commander Li-Chen never permitted me to have a private moment with Lady Jade and when I saw Lady Jade looking so depressed, I clasped her hands to give her some assurance ..... it was then that Lady Jade secretly passed me the letter, I gave you not quite long, my lord" 

The king's eyes widened as he pulled out the letter from his cloak and began to read it.

The queen continued, her voice unwavering "I read the letter immediately after Commander Li-Chen took Lady Jade away. The contents of the letter are shocking. Lady Jade claims she is innocent of the charges and that it is Commander Li-Chen who is the main culprit in cahoots with..... Courtier Lee, Lady Han-Feng and the palace gardener Su-Yang. The same 'reliable sources ' the commander claims to be her witnesses against Lady Jade"

The queen's eyes flashed with anger "According to Lady Jade, they have been planning to depose me so that Commander Li-Chen could marry you, my lord, and take my place as queen" 

The court erupted into shocked gasps, murmuring and bickering.

The king's expression turned dark with anger while the commander's face turned white with rage "Fallacies!" She shouted. 

The queen continued, her voice steady as if she didn't hear any disruption "Lady Jade claims she had been overhearing their plans but she didn't have concrete evidence and on a certain fateful day, the Commander caught her eavesdropping on them, so she decided to use Lady Jade as a scapegoat to cover her own tracks" 

The king's head snapped up from the letter and rested his gaze upon the Commander's face "Is this true, Commander Li-Chen?" He demanded with a thundering voice. 

The Commander's face turned red with pure rage "Everything the queen has said is a lie! There's no concrete proof and yet I'm being condemned without evidence!?" 

The king turned to the queen with a skeptical expression on his face "This is unbelievable. Do you have proof, my dear?" 

The queen nodded, a confident smile spreading across her face "Yes my lord. And to reveal the truth, I request permission to call in Prince Taro to assist me" 

The king's eyebrows rose in surprise "Prince Taro? What does he have to do with this case?" 

The Commander's eyes narrowed, confusion etched on her face "How does Prince Taro come into this?" She demanded. 

The king nodded "Very well, bring in Prince Taro" 

Prince Taro entered into the court bowing deeply to the king "Your Majesty" 

The king's expression was serious "Brother, what part do you have in this saga?" 

But it was the queen who replied, her voice smooth "When I finished reading the letter, I knew I had to act quickly so I approached Prince Taro and asked for his help in secretly arresting the three individuals mentioned in Lady Jade's letter" 

Prince Taro nodded, his expression grave, "I agreed to assist the queen and so we arrested Courtier Lee, Lady Han-Feng and the palace gardener, Su-Yang. We questioned them separately without revealing that their fellow conspirators had also been captured" 

The queen's eyes locked onto the commander's face "Under torture, they confessed to the same thing that Commander Li-Chen is the mastermind behind the rumors and plot to depose me and take my place as queen" 

While the court erupted once again into disarray, side talks and endless bickering over the shocking turn of events, the commander kept shaking her head insisting it wasn't true. 

The king's expression turned dark, his eyes blazing with anger as he stared at Commander Li-Chen "I vividly remember that the queen asked who your reliable sources were and you mentioned this same people who I hear have accused you of treason. What do you have to say for yourself, commander?" 

"Your Majesty, those people were tortured into admitting falsehood. Their statements can't be regarded as truth" Li-Chen countered back.

"Enough!" The king thundered "Do you think me a fool, commander? Each one of them wasn't aware that the others had been arrested so explain how their statements align even if under torture"

The commander finally realized she couldn't keep up the charade. She straightened up "Your Majesty, whatever I did, I did out of true love for you" 

Shocked gasps could be heard resonating again in the court room and this time, with shouts of traitor! Seize her! 

The king ordered for silence and turned to face the commander again "Li-Chen, do you admit you are guilty of commiting treason against the queen and the crown?" 

With reddened eyes, the commander said "If falling in love with you is treason, Your Majesty then yes, I am guilty. All these years, I have stood by your side, fought for you and the kingdom, offered you my love but over and over again, you kept rejecting me but decided to marry a total stranger who doesn't know how to love you. I don't regret my actions and I will do it again if given the opportunity" 

The fury on the king's face was palpable as he addressed the commander "You say you have stood by me, fought for me and the kingdom, right? For your information, it was your duty to do so and over the years, you have been handsomely rewarded for your services. I or my kingdom owe you nothing. You chose this evil path not putting into consideration, the lives that would have been lost due to your lust and greed for power and you claim you did all this out of love? I have rejected you before and I'm rejecting you again. I can never have anything to do with evil people like you" 

The king faced the court as he pronounced his judgement "From thoroughly reviewing all the evidence presented before me and the court regarding treachery and treason committed by a once celebrated officer, Commander Li-Chen, I hereby declare her guilty and sentence her, her cohorts and all their family members to death by hanging" 

Li-Chen couldn't believe her ears and she started bawling, begging for mercy as the guards dragged her out of the court room. Her reddened eyes unexpectedly met Lady Jade's, who smiled widely, blew her a kiss and subtly waved goodbye at her.