"Oh?" Ling Ruiying's heart skipped a beat, but he remained calm on the surface.
Someone had filed a complaint with the emperor, but he had not received any news. The only explanation was that the incident happened so hastily that the spies he had arranged did not have time to react.
"I wonder who is slandering my son?" Ling Ruiying looked at Zheng Binghong calmly, "Prince Consort, can you please give me a favor and let me go to the palace to meet the emperor and explain to him in person?"
Ling Ruiying has great influence in the court. If someone else led the search team, he would not dare to refuse them face.
However, Zheng Binghong didn't buy it.
"Lord Ling, the emperor has issued an imperial decree for me to lead a search, and I must complete this mission. If nothing is found after the search, I will naturally let Lord Ling go to see the emperor."
Zheng Binghong said calmly and without hesitation, "Come here, search."
At the command, the imperial guards rushed into the inner hall and the garden.
Ling Ruiying was so angry that his face turned blue, but he could do nothing about it.
Seeing this, Zheng Binghong just snorted and walked towards the side room.
The imperial guards searched Ling's mansion for a whole hour but found nothing.
Ling Ruiying looked at Zheng Binghong coldly and silently noted the account.
"My Lord, no."
"My Lord, I didn't find anything."
The imperial guards reported back one after another, and the smug look on Ling Ruiying's face became more and more obvious.
"Have you searched every room?" Zheng Binghong asked casually.
The imperial guards looked at each other, hesitated for a while, and replied: "And... Lord Ling and Master Ling's rooms have not been searched, and the subordinates and others..."
“Why not search?”
Zheng Binghong's face darkened and he looked at Ling Ruiying. "Lord Ling, do you mind if you let them go in and take a look?"
"Bang!"
Ling Ruiying smashed the teacup in his hand heavily to the ground, fragments flew everywhere, and the hall fell silent.
"How ridiculous! The best tea leaves are being wasted by you filthy people." Ling Ruiying angrily scolded the servants beside him, "You eat well and dress well after entering the Ling Mansion, so you think you are superior people? Aren't you still dependent on others like dogs?"
Ling Ruiying's words were obviously a veiled attack on someone else. Zheng Binghong's men wanted to step forward to argue with him, but were stopped by Zheng Binghong calmly.
If he took up the conversation at this time, he would be asking for insult.
"Since Lord Ling doesn't answer, it means he has tacitly agreed." Zheng Binghong gave the imperial guards a wink, and they immediately rushed into Ling Ruiying's room.
Ling Ruiying clenched his hands into fists in his sleeves.
"father."
At this time, Ling Yuwen came back from outside and felt a little guilty when he saw this scene.
"Dad, what happened?"
"It's none of your business, get out." Ling Ruiying's sudden scolding made Ling Yuwen a little at a loss.
"father……"
"My Lord, I found it."
Two imperial guards rushed in, holding a package full of bellybands.
Ling Yuwen's face suddenly changed and he looked at his father in panic.
"My Lord, all these things were found in Master Ling's room."
"What's your explanation, Master Ling?"
Zheng Binghong had met Qin Liu in private before coming here, and knew that there was a secret compartment under the bed in the room where Ling Yuwen lived when he was in Southeast Prefecture.
It is difficult for a person to change his or her living habits.
"I……"
"What do you want to explain?" Ling Ruiying interrupted Ling Yuwen and said, "My Lord, my son is not very good. He has some strange hobbies. Although they are not elegant, they are not illegal."
Ling Ruiying walked up to Zheng Binghong and said in a low voice, "Please be lenient and don't let this matter out. In fact, we are a family. If something happens to Yuwen, the princess will feel bad, don't you think?"
"This... I'm afraid I can't make the decision."
"My Lord, with your ability and talent, you can definitely stand on your own and make great achievements. Wait for me to find a chance to talk to the Queen Mother and let you go back to the battlefield to defend your country. By then, I will avoid those villains gossiping behind your back, saying that you only rely on women..."
Zheng Binghong laughed a few times, then suddenly stopped smiling. "Come here, arrest Ling Yuwen and bring him to see His Majesty."
"Wait."
Seeing that Zheng Binghong refused to budge and refused to respond to any persuasion, Ling Ruiying became so angry that his face turned red, and his piercing eyes were filled with murderous intent.
"Zheng Binghong, what are you doing to arrest people? What can these bellybands tell us?"
"Whether the problem can be explained or not, the emperor will judge it. Don't think that everything is over just because the person is dead. Those girls are family members, they will recognize these clothes. Killing someone means paying with one's life, Ling Yuwen deserves it. ---Take him away."
"Dad, save me... It's none of my business... Dad, save me quickly..."
The imperial guards rushed towards Ling Yuwen. Ling Yuwen did not want to surrender, so he pushed the imperial guards away and started fighting immediately.
Those imperial guards did not dare to kill him, but Zheng Binghong was not afraid. He condensed his true energy in his palm and struck Ling Yuwen with it.
Ling Ruiying knew very well that his son could not avoid Zheng Binghong's palm power, so he stood in the middle in a hurry and faced Zheng Binghong with another palm.
"Zheng Binghong, don't go too far."
Zheng Binghong sneered and ordered: "Ling Yuwen refused to be arrested and disobeyed the order, he must be killed without mercy. --- Archer!"
As Zheng Binghong shouted, the archers guarding outside the mansion immediately drew their bows and stood ready outside the door, on the roof and on the beams.
Ling Ruiying frowned, thinking to himself that something was not good.
"stop."
Ling Ruiying suppressed his anger and said in a slow tone, "My Lord, we are all family, there is no need to be so extreme, right?"
"It is also difficult for me to do what the Holy Will says."
Ling Ruiying knew that it was impossible to get any advantage from Zheng Binghong.
He took a deep breath and slapped Ling Yuwen.
Ling Yuwen was caught off guard and suddenly spat out a large mouthful of blood. "Dad..."
"I know very well that my son is innocent. Since the Prince Consort insists on wrongly accusing a good man, then you can just take him away. But I have to say in advance, if someone deliberately makes things difficult for you, don't blame me for being rude."
Zheng Binghong didn't take Ling Ruiying's threat seriously at all.
Ling Ruiying was very smart. He injured his own son to show his loyalty to the emperor. And Ling Yuwen was injured, so he could not be tortured for the time being.
As long as Ling Yuwen doesn't talk nonsense, there is nothing we can do to him for the time being.
"Someone, take him away."
Zheng Binghong looked gloomy and he withdrew his troops back to the palace to report to the emperor.
As the case was serious, the emperor immediately summoned important officials in the court, headed by Shangguan Yue, to supervise the trial of the three courts.
The victims' families recognized that the bellybands found in Ling Yuwen's room were the girls' underwear.
With both witnesses and evidence available, Ling Yuwen was sentenced to death by Shangguan Yue in court and was taken to the death row to await execution.
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