Sitting upon the golden throne of the stage, Rupanjan understood everything crystal clear. He knew exceptionally well that this was nothing but another filthy, cheap act staged by Snigdha! Thus, he did not budge an inch from his throne. With supreme gravity and calm composure, he sat watching Snigdha's pathetic act unravel.
Even before the guards could arrive with water, Snigdha realized that Rupanjan was not perturbed in the slightest by her drama! So, before water could touch her lips, she snapped upright in an instant! Flames of raw envy and fury erupted from her eyes!
Without a second thought, she lunged toward the stage like a woman possessed, forcefully grabbing the lapels of Rupanjan's expensive silk robes with both hands!
Shaking him frantically, she shrieked, "Hey, you son of Rupanjan! Where do you get off being so arrogant? Tell me, are you truly Rupanjan or some burnt-faced monkey? I can't understand a single thing! How does an ordinary farmer's son like you have the audacity to come sit on this golden throne? You must have taken the real Prime Minister of this realm into hiding and murdered him! Then you put on his likeness to sit here and play the fraud! There is not a single grain of trust in a devilish, low-born creature like you! I merely asked you to find an ordinary job, and you suddenly became the Prime Minister of this kingdom in the blink of an eye? Ha ha ha! As if a useless fool like you could ever get the position of Prime Minister!"—Snigdha burst into a hideous, unhinged cackle.
Witnessing Snigdha's extreme insolence, foul behavior, and the heinous crime of laying hands on the Prime Minister himself, the Emperor flushed deep red with rage!
Slamming his royal scepter violently against the floor, he roared, "Snigdha! Unhand the Prime Minister this instant! Do you even comprehend what you are doing? Lest you forget, he is the supreme, revered Prime Minister of this holy realm of Rupnagar! You cannot treat him like low-born trash! Aditya! Arohi! Take this mentally unstable, senseless daughter of yours away from here! Did I invite you to my auspicious court merely to witness such appalling disrespect and vulgarity? Truth be told, seeing your daughter's vile conduct is tarnishing the sanctity of my royal court!"
King Aditya and Empress Arohi felt completely crushed under the weight of utter humiliation and shame. Bowing their heads in deep embarrassment, they folded their hands and whimpered, "Your Majesty! Forgive us... we have committed a grave mistake! Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine that a child of our own blood would grow into such a vile, disgusting creature! Had we known Snigdha would come here and cause such filth, we would have never attended this ceremony to save our own faces! Please forgive us, Your Majesty..."—saying this, Arohi tried to leave the court with tears streaming down her eyes.
The Emperor immediately raised his hand and said, "No, no, Empress Arohi! You and Aditya must not take this to heart. Since you have arrived, you shall depart only after partaking in royal hospitality as my honored guests. I harbor not a single grain of anger or resentment toward you. All my wrath and condemnation are directed solely at that cursed, senseless daughter of yours!"
Meanwhile, Prafulla rushed forward to pull Snigdha off Rupanjan. Seeing this, the cunning landlord's son Jishnu stepped in to block Prafulla's path. Jishnu boasted arrogance, saying, "Prafulla! Don't you dare lay a finger on my bride-to-be! Whatever decision needs to be taken regarding my wife, I shall take it! I am going to pull her back myself!"
Stepping up, Jishnu grabbed Snigdha's hand, trying to pull her away, and pleaded, "Snigdha, come on! Let go of his collar! Let us leave this place!"
However, Snigdha dealt a violent shove, sending Jishnu stumbling backward! Glaring at Jishnu, she barked, "Jishnu! Do not come in between! Go mind your own business and do not cross me right now! I am standing face-to-face with Rupanjan after so many days! I will give him a proper thrashing today, and only then will my mind find peace!"
Shoving Jishnu aside, Snigdha brought her face right up to Rupanjan's, snarling, "What happened, Rupanjan? Has your tongue gone numb? How did a mere farmer's son manage to secure the post of Prime Minister? You've definitely committed some theft, robbery, or fraud!"
Having remained calm all this time, Rupanjan now forcefully brushed Snigdha's hands off his collar with supreme gravity. His eyes burned with a hard, resolute dignity!
In a grave, icy voice, Rupanjan declared, "Snigdha! Know your boundaries. Unhand my collar and mind your language when speaking to me! Your repulsive and insolent conduct holds no weight before me. First build a respectable identity for yourself in society, and only then dare to lay a hand on my collar! And listen—you are no longer my wedded wife to lay hands on me or claim rights over me! If you are so eager to lay your hands on someone, lay them on Jishnu over there—he is your future groom!"
Hearing Rupanjan's calm yet whip-like, sharp retort, Snigdha flared up even further! Screeching, she yelled, "What are you spouting? What are you saying about my groom? Jishnu is indeed my husband-to-be, but I had planned to make you my husband! But look at the sheer shamelessness in you... you pulled off such a fraudulent trick to become Prime Minister and didn't even inform me? Had you told me earlier, would I have ever decided to marry this ugly-faced Jishnu? Or put a ring on his finger? He has now become half my husband! Never mind that, listen to one thing..."
As she spoke, Snigdha suddenly tugged Rupanjan's collar back toward her face, leaning in with extreme slyness to whisper into Rupanjan's ear, "Rupanjan... are you willing to become my husband now? Believe me, I love only you deeply! Seeing this majestic form and vigor of yours after so long has completely captivated me! Please forget all the bad things that happened between us in the past! I truly love you! I will go tell Jishnu right now that I love only you. Actually... it was out of anger at you that I thought of marrying Jishnu, and I even slipped a ring on his finger! I couldn't bear waiting for you anymore; I had gone mad waiting for you, Rupanjan!"
Hearing Snigdha's shameless, chameleon-like shift in character and her vile, whispered marriage proposal, extreme disgust washed over Rupanjan's face!
Without waiting another second, Rupanjan dealt a powerful shove, casting Snigdha far away from him! Standing tall upon his golden throne, he proclaimed in a thunderous voice before the entire court, "Snigdha! You seem to be forgetting one thing—I am neither your lover nor your groom-to-be anymore! Whatever existed reached its end in the distant past. My sole true identity today is that I am the supreme Prime Minister entrusted with the governance of this kingdom of Rupnagar! Therefore, do not dare attempt to offer me such an immoral, vile, and shameless marriage proposal asking me to marry you!"
The moment Rupanjan's thunderous words rang out, a bolt of lightning seemed to strike the devilish Jishnu's head! Jishnu's face turned crimson with raw humiliation and rage.
Charging forward, he yelled at Rupanjan, "What did you say, Rupanjan? Snigdha gave you a secret marriage proposal? What a wretched liar you are! Just because you became the Prime Minister, will you fabricate whatever pops into your mind?"
Looking at Jishnu with a serene yet commanding gaze, Rupanjan replied in a grave tone, "Not a single word of what I said is false! I have presented the absolute truth before this entire court. Just a moment ago, Snigdha leaned into my ear and whispered a secret proposal asking me to abandon Jishnu and marry her instead! Therefore, Jishnu, think for yourself—what kind of girl are you about to marry, who doesn't even know whom to make her husband and whom to discard!"
With Rupanjan's fitting retort and the full exposure of Snigdha's utterly unprincipled character, King Aditya and Empress Arohi buried their faces in their hands in crushing embarrassment.
On the other hand, the Emperor smiled a deeply satisfied smile, looking at Rupanjan. The Emperor thought to himself, "Bravo, Rupanjan! I have appointed the absolute right man as the Prime Minister of Rupnagar! The very Snigdha whose insolence and arrogance no one could tame—you have stripped her bare of dignity and thoroughly disgraced her before the entire royal court in a single breath!"
Prince Prafulla also felt a profound sense of peace inside. The way Rupanjan threw mud right back into the face of this devilish girl—his sister in name only—soothed much of the burning rage bottled up inside Prafulla's chest!
And Princess Prabhasa? Prabhasa's heart overflowed with pure joy and admiration! She thought to herself, "My Rupanjan gave the exact, deserving response! Such is the fiery power of a person who walks the path of truth and righteousness!" Prabhasa's pure face shone with an ethereal, divine radiance.
Meanwhile, driven completely wild by intense humiliation and rage, Jishnu seized both of Snigdha's arms, shaking her violently!
Jishnu roared, "Snigdha! You gave a secret marriage proposal to Rupanjan? Just a few minutes ago, you exchanged rings with me before everyone to make me half your husband, and now you offer a marriage proposal to this man? What is the meaning of all this, Snigdha? Answer me!"