Turns Out, I’m In A Villain Clan! Chapter 486 End of Wen Haoyu

This exemplified the essence of a cunning political intriguer.

Despite the stark evidence displayed openly to the whole Imperial Court, he stubbornly denied any wrongdoing.

He frantically hunted for gaps, for misrepresentations, for any element he could manipulate.

However, in front of the pristine display from the Memory Crystal Mirror, his arguments crumbled to nothing.

To begin with, it was unmistakably the Azure Sun Holy Sect.

The footage depicted Bai Zihan stepping into the Sect without concealment. The entrance gates. The followers.

The seniors. Numerous ones were prominent personalities—familiar visages from events and tournaments.

Furthermore, the senior overseeing the tests had exposed way too much in the footage.

Doubt had no place remaining.

Regardless of how Wen Haoyu attempted to reject it—

The proof was irrefutable.

Nevertheless—

Wen Haoyu didn't consider the situation utterly lost yet.

With Li Jianhong, Zhao Wutian, and the Emperor backing him, there was support.

As long as he avoided confessing guilt, as long as he held onto his resistance, a faint chance existed that influence might alter reality.

Gradually—

Wen Haoyu's eyes moved.

He glanced at Li Jianhong initially.

Next at Zhao Wutian.

At last—

Toward the imperial seat.

Yet the sight that met him chilled his veins.

They showed no assurance anymore and avoided meeting his eyes.

No more offering covert signals or steady command to protect him.

Li Jianhong's face was rigid.

Zhao Wutian's teeth were clenched.

The Emperor's features remained inscrutable—but his gaze had turned icier. Even worse—

The officials around ceased their blame toward Bai Zihan. That wave had turned entirely.

The looks directed at Wen Haoyu now brimmed with far graver peril.

Revulsion.

Wrath.

Disdain.

"You had the nerve to perpetrate such wickedness... and yet possessed the gall to protest during an invasion?"

That was the message their faces conveyed.

Certain officials appeared ready to assault him on the spot.

Certain Sect heads glared as if beholding refuse.

Even prior backers of the Azure Sun Holy Sect now distanced themselves—discreetly adjusting their postures, as though nearness could defile them.

Certainly—

Nobody could fathom Wen Haoyu's thought process,

He had gotten away.

He had endured.

Had he escaped and concealed his presence, capture would have been avoided.

Instead—

He had come back to the Imperial Court, moreover to point fingers at the Bai Clan as if he were the sufferer.

As if he were the blameless party harmed.

Now?

It wouldn't merely be the Bai Clan opposing him.

It would encompass every Clan.

Every Sect.

The whole Empire.

The mood in the vast chamber had shifted a complete one hundred and eighty degrees.

Just before, Bai Zihan had been isolated under countless accusing stares.

Now—

Wen Haoyu found himself abandoned.

And he sensed it acutely.

The faint ripples of spiritual pressure in the chamber had altered course.

They no longer targeted Bai Zihan.

They targeted him.

Should he neglect to offer a justification—

Should he fail to bend destiny at this crucial juncture—

Death awaited.

A drop of perspiration trickled down his forehead gradually.

For the initial time since the hearing started—

Wen Haoyu experienced terror.

And suddenly—

A seat dragged harshly over the stone tiles.

Chu Xing rose.

The typically polished head of the Chu Clan shed all tactful composure.

His spiritual energy burst forth, not striking—but weighing down on Wen Haoyu like an immense peak.

"Wen Haoyu!"

His tone echoed through the chamber.

"What gave you the boldness to point the finger at the Bai Clan?"

Every syllable landed like a mallet.

"You performed such despicable deeds—testing on youngsters—and you still had the effrontery to remain here acting aggrieved?"

His stare burned with anger.

"Did a dog devour your sense of right and wrong?"

A shared gasp ensued.

Such rough language seldom echoed in the Imperial Court.

Yet nobody challenged him.

Actually—

Numerous inwardly concurred.

"It ought to have been devoured," Chu Xing pressed on icily, "Just a person lacking any moral compass could perpetrate what you have."

Wen Haoyu's mouth quivered.

"I-I was unaware of-"

"Quiet!"

The roar severed him sharply.

"You presume to profess unawareness? As the Sect Leader of Azure Sun! Do you insist you were oblivious to the hidden rooms under your own Sect territory?"

His tone oozed scorn.

"Do you believe us idiots?"

Additional Clan heads, who had stayed mute earlier, chiefly from the Bai Clan's coalition, now expressed their views.

"Your Majesty, should the footage prove genuine—and it seems beyond question—this isn't a trivial violation."

"Abducting youngsters. Performing banned trials. These atrocities undermine the Empire's core."

"Permitting this with lenient penalty—what precedent does it establish?"

"We need a thorough probe and the severest penalty for the Azure Sun Holy Sect."

Whispers of consent proliferated swiftly.

The momentum was unturnable now.

"The Azure Sun Holy Sect bears complete liability. The culprits merit execution."

"Execution!"

"Capital punishment!"

The chamber, formerly united against the Bai Clan, now roared with denouncement at Azure Sun.

"Regarding Bai Zihan—"

All attention turned instinctively to the young man positioned steadily below the dragon throne.

"He deserves no penalty. He merits commendation. He unveiled a deep corruption inside the Empire."

Yet another Clan head declared resolutely, "Without him, how many additional youngsters would have vanished?"

"He accomplished what the Imperial Court overlooked."

The suggestion was perilous—

But irrefutable.

"In fact," the senior went on, "the Bai Clan provided aid to the Empire."

Affirmations followed.

Even a few former allies of the Zhao and Li Clans now adopted wary impartiality.

General opinion had reversed utterly.

Shortly before—

Bai Zihan had appeared as an offender facing judgment.

Now—

He appeared as a possible savior.

Wen Haoyu perceived the change like a knife grazing his neck.

The spiritual pressure in the chamber held no vagueness.

It was lethal.

He stumbled backward slightly.

"This constitutes defamation... perversion... you can't sentence a whole Holy Sect on a single footage—"

But his tone lacked strength now.

Lacked belief.

It came across—

Feeble.

Forlorn. Most of all— Isolated!