However, Song Zhen was not afraid at all. He straightened his body and answered neither humbly nor arrogantly: "Your Majesty! This case involves a wide range of people. After some investigation, we found that it was actually done by Qian Wei, a retainer of the Third Prince. According to Qian Wei's confession, these missing girls from Luoxia Town were secretly trained as dancers by the Third Prince in order to win over important officials in the court!" His words exploded in the court like thunder, and everyone was shocked.
Emperor Wen's expression darkened, but he quickly regained his composure. He slammed the file heavily onto the throne, looked coldly at the Third Prince below, and demanded, "Is this true?"
The Third Prince's face turned pale instantly. He quickly knelt and kowtowed, defending himself, "Your Majesty, I am innocent! Father, I knew nothing about this matter. Someone must have deliberately framed me. Please investigate!"
Emperor Wen's voice was tinged with coldness. "You are completely unaware of this matter? I ask you again, was Qian Wei ever one of your retainers?"
The Third Prince slowly raised his head, looking firmly at Emperor Wen, and said in a sincere tone, "Your Majesty, Qian Wei was indeed once a retainer of mine, but that was two years ago. At that time, I discovered that he frequently interacted with the managers of various brothels in the capital, and his behavior was unusually suspicious. I was worried that he would bring negative influence to the royal family, so I decisively expelled him..."
At this moment, the Minister of Rites, Wen Yanghao, suddenly stood up and said loudly, "Your Majesty! I have an important matter to report!"
Emperor Wen narrowed his eyes slightly, glanced at Wen Yanghao, and said in a deep voice: "My dear Wen, what do you want to report?"
Wen Yanghao replied respectfully, "Your Majesty, my hometown is in the south of the Yangtze River. Recently, a major event occurred in the An family army..."
However, before he could finish his words, he heard a burst of urgent shouting outside the hall: "Report! Urgent news from Jiangnan!"
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