Seeing his elder brother's furious expression, Tantai Yueming became even more certain that his brother was unaware of the matter.
They also had more confidence in their bet against Lin Jiujiu.
After thinking for a moment, he advised, "Brother, let's leave this matter to the Prefect of the Capital. The most important thing now is to find out who hid these people here."
The emperor glanced at him and ordered his sedan chair to be taken back to the palace.
Before leaving, he reminded the Prefect of the Capital to immediately report any new discoveries.
The imperial carriage returned to the palace even faster than it had come, entering the capital in less than half an hour.
Unexpectedly, as soon as they arrived at Chang'an Street, before they even reached the palace gates, a group of people rushed out.
The accompanying guards immediately went on alert.
"Guards! Protect the Emperor! There's an assassin!"
Before the man could finish speaking, the newcomer knelt down with a thud before the ceremonial guard.
"Your Majesty, we have been wronged. We beg Your Majesty to do us justice!"
As soon as the man shouted, a series of cries for justice followed.
It completely overwhelmed the accompanying guards.
Their spears were already at the man's neck, but these men showed no intention of assassinating him.
So, should they protect this vehicle or not?
Just as everyone was in a dilemma, Tantai Yueming, who was sitting next to the emperor, spoke up.
"Your Majesty, since these people have come to you to plead their cases, why don't we listen to what they have to say?"
The Chu Emperor's face was now as black as the bottom of a pot.
He always thought that under his rule, even if things weren't exactly peaceful and prosperous, they wouldn't be too bad either.
But today's events were a slap in the face for him.
Previously, someone had been raising a private army right under his nose with unclear intentions; now, someone has even blocked the imperial carriage to lodge a complaint with the emperor.
If he hadn't left the palace today, who knows how long he would have been kept in the dark.
Despite his anger, the Chu Emperor remained rational and did not send anyone to dismiss the complainant.
As if he had made up his mind, he spoke to the eunuch beside him.
"Fu Lai, bring him here. I want to ask him personally what grievance he has that the government cannot handle."
"yes."
Fu Lai stepped forward in response, and the guards, having heard the Emperor Chu's words, quickly stepped back to make way for him.
Fu Lai looked at the very thin man kneeling on the ground in front of him, his head bowed low.
"Come with me. Speak your mind. His Majesty will make decisions for you, but you must not offend His Majesty."
Fu Lai's voice wasn't loud; it was a well-intentioned reminder.
The person kneeling on the ground quickly kowtowed.
"Thank you for the reminder, Father-in-law."
As he spoke, he stood up, then turned and took the little girl beside him in his hand, lowered his head and followed behind Fu Lai, walking slowly forward.
Tantai Yueming looked at the father and daughter, and her eyes twitched.
He wouldn't have spoken up if he hadn't seen who it was.
He couldn't understand how this woman could cause so much trouble. Wasn't it agreed that he would be in charge of this matter?
He seems to dislike meddling in other people's business, yet he can't help but take action.
Thinking of this, Tantai Yueming couldn't help but slightly curl the corners of her lips.
The Chu Emperor beside him had already spoken.
Tell me what grievance you have been wronged by?
Upon hearing this, Yang Li quickly crawled two steps on his knees, kowtowed again, and then spoke loudly.
"Your Majesty, I am here to accuse the Crown Prince and his wife. They tricked me into coming to the capital under the pretense of cooperation, then imprisoned me and forced me to hand over all my businesses. To prevent the matter from being exposed, they also killed all 150 members of my family, leaving only my daughter and me."
Yang Li's words exploded like a bomb in the crowd.
The emperor, concerned for the crown prince, felt the veins on his forehead throbbing even more violently.
The Crown Prince was already on his list of prime suspects regarding the incident in the outskirts of Beijing. Is he now delivering evidence to him?
The Crown Prince was not short of money at all. He had long heard that the Crown Princess was very good at managing the Crown Prince's residence and that the Crown Prince's residence was very wealthy. With the Crown Prince's residence receiving a constant stream of gifts every year, what did he need so much money for?
They've even given up their reputation; there's no need to overthink what's going on here.
The emperor's face was ashen, but he did not refute Yang Li.
Instead, he winked at Fu Lai, signaling him to have someone summon the Crown Prince.
Since the accusation concerns the Crown Prince, the defendant should naturally be present for the trial to proceed.
The Crown Prince, who was already on Chang'an Street not far from the palace gate, quickly arrived upon hearing the news.
As soon as the Crown Prince arrived, the Chu Emperor had Yang Li repeat what he had just said.
The moment Yang Li saw the Crown Prince, hatred surged in his eyes. If it weren't for the fact that he was in a certain place and had his master's instructions, he probably would have already gotten up and fought him to the death.
After hearing Yang Li's words, the Crown Prince gritted his teeth, but soon looked at the Chu Emperor with a wronged expression and defended himself.
"I'm innocent, Father. How could I, as the Crown Prince and the only heir apparent, do such a thing?"
Although the Crown Prince's estates are managed by his son and the Crown Princess, he trusts her and believes she would never do anything to harm the people.
The Crown Prince was so eager to clear himself that he didn't realize he was subconsciously pushing all the blame onto the Crown Princess.
The Chu emperor knew his son all too well.
He immediately brought up the idea of the only crown prince, and he knew exactly what he was trying to say.
He wanted to clear himself of not only the current matter, but also to dispel any suspicions about the incident in the outskirts of Beijing.
After all, he is the crown prince, and the throne will be his sooner or later. Even if others may have rebellious thoughts, he cannot.
But it was precisely this sentence that made the Chu Emperor even more certain that these things were related to him.
After all, he had lived for too long. Not only had all the princes come of age and become capable of competing with him, but even the grandsons of the emperor were growing up. It was understandable that the emperor would be anxious.
But he never expected that he would directly target ordinary people.
The Emperor of Chu grew increasingly disappointed in the Crown Prince. In truth, if the Crown Prince were truly capable of shouldering this responsibility, wouldn't he also have wanted to hand over the throne to him sooner?
Why not go to the immortal realm with my brother and become a carefree immortal, pursuing the path to immortality? Wouldn't that be better than being an emperor in the mortal world?
As early as when his younger brother was born, he had an immortal test his aptitude, and it was found that he was capable of cultivating immortality.
Although he is not as talented as his younger brother, it's not entirely impossible for him.
However, at that time, the Great Chu was in a precarious situation, and as the emperor, he could not disregard the plight of millions of people for his own selfish desires.
Ever since Tantai Yueming had those spiritual herbs sent back to him from the cultivation world, his longing for the cultivation world has only intensified. If there hadn't been a suitable successor, he wouldn't have waited until now.
Although he had established a crown prince early on and raised him by his side, the Chu emperor sadly discovered that his legitimate son did not seem to possess the talent to be an emperor.
Moreover, he was too easily swayed and could not even be a good ruler who could defend a city.
After having a crown prince, he then established another imperial grandson, partly to keep the crown prince in check and partly to cultivate another qualified successor.
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