bayedsolid Chapter 175 Dog bites dog 1 mouth hair
Chapter 175 Dog bites dog 1 mouth hair
Prime Minister Li Mingfu said solemnly, "Your Majesty! That Liu Lin is definitely an imposter! Do you know that Madam Liu is now alone and helpless, with no relatives to turn to? When the terrible plague raged, no one in the entire Liujia Village was spared, not even Madam Liu's brother's family was spared! If Your Majesty does not believe this, you can send someone to verify it. What I said is absolutely true!"
After hearing this, Emperor Wen's face changed slightly, and he secretly sighed in his heart: What a cunning Li Mingfu! It only took him one night to come up with such a countermeasure.
At this time, Li Mingfu turned his gaze to the Third Prince and said righteously: "Your Majesty, the charges of robbing women, forcing women of good character into prostitution, and luring important officials in the court are really unbelievable! I think it is very likely that someone deliberately framed the Third Prince! In my opinion, Qian Wei should be strictly interrogated to find out whether he was instructed by someone to try to ruin the reputation of the Third Prince!"
Emperor Wen's face was as cold as a pond. He thought to himself: This third brother usually looks honest and simple, but now he is trying to collude with important officials of the court through the dancers, forming cliques and factions, and engaging in party-building for personal gain! It seems that he really needs to be warned!
Emperor Wen's voice sounded deep and powerful: "Pass on my order, order Song Zhen, the Left Junior Secretary of the Dali Temple, and Luo Cheng, the Minister of Justice, to thoroughly investigate the Qian Wei case!"
As soon as the words fell, the two of them immediately responded respectfully: "We accept your order and thank you!"
At this moment, He Dewang, the Right Junior Minister of the Dali Temple, suddenly stood up, and the corners of Dali Temple Minister Lu Zheng's eyes twitched. He cursed in his heart: What's wrong with these guys? Don't you think this fire is not strong enough?
He Dewang bowed and reported to Emperor Wen: "Your Majesty, I have just received a secret report that Li Mingjie, the governor of Yuqing Prefecture, is secretly selling private salt, and Huang Zhirui, the governor of Jiangning, is secretly hoarding troops!"
The third prince raised his mouth slightly, revealing a disdainful smile, and snorted coldly: "You haven't even dealt with your own trivial matters, and you have the courage to meddle in his affairs. I want to see how you are going to get out of this time, Your Highness the Crown Prince!"
As soon as He Dewang finished speaking, there was an uproar in the court! Everyone was talking and discussing. At this moment, a panicked imperial guard ran into the hall and knelt down to report: "Your Majesty! Something bad has happened! Qian Wei was murdered in the Dali Temple, and the murderer was the third prince's... bodyguard Lu Yu!"
As soon as these words came out, the noisy voices in the court suddenly stopped. The officials looked at each other and secretly exclaimed: This third prince is really cruel and ruthless!
At this moment, the entire court fell into a dead silence, and the atmosphere was extremely solemn. The emperor frowned, and his eyes sternly scanned the people below. The third prince, on the other hand, looked calm, as if he had expected all this.
He shouted excitedly, "Your Majesty! Lu Yu has actually always been a spy arranged by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to be beside me. Here is the indisputable evidence!" After saying that, he handed the thick stack of papers to Eunuch Gao who was standing beside him without hesitation!
Emperor Wen thought to himself, it seems that the crown prince and the third son are determined to fight to the death today! If they continue to argue endlessly in the court, how can the dignity of the royal family be maintained?
Thinking of this, Emperor Wen could not help but get angry. He roared, "Dismiss the court! Crown Prince and Third Prince, both of you follow me to the Imperial Study! In addition, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Justice Lu Zheng, and the Minister of Justice Luo Cheng should also come over!"
Several people followed Emperor Wen to the imperial study. Emperor Wen sat on the dragon throne, staring fiercely at the crown prince and the third prince in front of him, and shouted loudly: "Rebellious sons! Kneel down for me!"
The prince responded unconvincedly, "Father, please look carefully! The charges against my third brother are completely fabricated! I have never planted any spies around my third brother!"
After hearing this, Emperor Wen was furious. He raised his hand, picked up the inkstone on the table, and smashed it towards the prince's head without hesitation. There was a dull "bang" sound, and blood instantly flowed from the prince's forehead!
Emperor Wen raised his head and turned his gaze to Lu Zheng who was standing beside him. He asked in a cold voice, "Lord Lu, should I continue to investigate these matters?"
Lu Zheng was sweating profusely at this moment, and he secretly complained in his heart. He thought, why am I so unlucky? Who brought up this matter? Why did he have to bear this blame?
Facing Emperor Wen's questioning, Lu Zheng was so nervous that he stuttered and answered hesitantly: "Everything... is entirely up to your majesty..."
When Emperor Wen saw this, he became even more furious. He shouted again, "What's the point of me keeping a bunch of useless people like you? Get out of here!"
Luo Cheng, the Minister of Justice, lowered his voice carefully and asked, "Your Majesty! Regarding Qian Wei's case and the case of Li Mingjie and Huang Zhirui, should we continue to investigate? I beg Your Majesty to give clear instructions!"
Emperor Wen's face suddenly turned gloomy, his facial muscles twitched slightly, and he was obviously filled with anger. He widened his eyes, glared at Luo Cheng, and shouted in a harsh tone: "Luo Cheng! Don't you even understand what I say? Get out of here! All of you, get out!"
Seeing this, Lu Zheng hurried forward to grab Luo Cheng and drag him out the door. On the other side, Li Mingfu quickly stood up, walked to the prince, gently helped the prince, whose forehead was still bleeding, and followed them out of the imperial study. The whole scene was extremely tense, as if a storm was about to come.
The Third Prince was about to turn around and leave when Emperor Wen suddenly called out to him, "Want to see dancers? There are plenty of them in the palace! Why bother keeping your own dancers?"
When the Third Prince heard this, he fell to his knees with a plop and said in horror: "Father, please spare my life! I just want to get closer to the ministers so that we can work together for you! I have always been loyal to you and I absolutely do not have any intention of rebellion!"
Then, the third prince changed his tone and said indignantly: "But His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is different. He actually sold private salt and extorted the people's money to raise private soldiers and assassins. Such behavior is really a heinous crime and he deserves death!"
After hearing what the Third Prince said, the Emperor Wen's mouth twitched slightly, but he did not speak. Seeing this, the Third Prince knew that the Emperor Wen did not believe what he said, so he knelt down and moved forward to the Emperor Wen, took out an account book from his sleeve, handed it to the Emperor Wen, and said, "Father, this is the account book of Li Mingjie's private salt trafficking that I accidentally obtained, please take a look!"
Emperor Wen took the account book, flipped through a few pages, and his expression gradually became solemn. His brows were tightly furrowed, his lips were slightly pursed, and his eyes revealed a hint of doubt and shock. After a moment of silence, he slowly raised his head, stared at the third prince in front of him, and asked in a low voice: "Where did you get this account book?"
The third prince's heart tightened, and he could not help but hesitate. He secretly pondered how to answer this question. After all, the origin of this account book was not glorious. However, facing the stern gaze of Emperor Wen, he knew that he could not hide the truth. So, he gritted his teeth and decided to answer honestly: "I don't know who put this account book on the table in my study. At first, I knew nothing about it, but when I read it, I found that the things recorded in it were related to the prince and the prime minister. If this matter is exposed in front of the civil and military officials, it may make the royal family lose face and damage the reputation of the royal family. Therefore, I did not take it out in the hall. All matters are decided by my father!"