The sound was like gold and jade hitting the ground, striking Duke Maoguo's face.
This completely stunned the Duke of Maoguo.
He never expected that when the Empress Dowager questioned whether the pardon was fake, Prince Ling would turn the tables and pin the blame on him.
The Duke of Maoguo trembled with rage and looked at the Emperor, saying, "Your Majesty, Prince Ling forged the pardon token, which is an unforgivable crime. He even turned around and accused me. Please, Your Majesty, do justice for me."
The emperor had always known that his son was bold, but he never expected him to be so bold as to say that the dead were alive.
What's worse, he was meticulous in his actions, pinning the blame on Duke Mao so firmly that no one could shake it off. Xie Jingyan glanced at Duke Mao and said, "You say I'm turning the tables on you? Then Duke Mao, explain where the gold powder on your court robes came from."
Hearing Xie Jingyan's words, everyone in the hall, including Shen Wan, looked at Duke Mao. Sure enough, there was some gold dust on Duke Mao's court robes.
Duke Maoguo, "...!!!"
How could he have gold dust on him?!
Duke Maoguo suddenly remembered and hurriedly argued, "On my way to Shou Kang Palace, I was bumped by a young eunuch. It must have been that young eunuch who sprinkled gold powder on me. If we arrest that young eunuch and interrogate him, we can clear my name."
Xie Jingyan sneered, "Instead of finding a eunuch, why not send someone to search the sedan chair that the Duke of Mao used to enter the palace, and see if we can find evidence of damaging the pardon token?"
Shen Wan stood beside Xie Jingyan, her eyes wide open, barely managing to suppress a smile from her lips.
No wonder her cousin was a little worried when the Duke of Mao took away the pardon. But Xie Jingyan didn't stop him. He had already prepared for the possibility that the goldsmith might not be able to make the pardon perfectly in his haste. In order to cover up this flaw, he simply found a scapegoat for the fake pardon, and the Duke of Mao was the best candidate.
He said at the execution ground that the pardon was fake, and he was clearly on the side of Princess Huyang. He did not want the Prince of Yanping to be saved, and had a motive to damage the pardon.
If the Duke of Maoguo had gold powder on his body, and if the sedan chair contained gold powder and tools for polishing the gold amulet granting him immunity from death, the Duke of Maoguo would be unable to defend himself.
Xie Jingyan sent people to search, so they were bound to find it.
The focus now is no longer on the Empress Dowager's investigation into the authenticity of the pardon, but on the fact that the Duke of Maoguo damaged an imperial gift. If this crime is investigated, it will be enough to give the Duke of Maoguo a hard time.
Unless the Empress Dowager produces the stolen pardon, there is no way to expose Xie Jingyan's crime of forging the pardon. But would the Empress Dowager dare to produce a real pardon?
The Empress Dowager dared not.
Even if the Empress Dowager had a few times the courage, she wouldn't dare.
The Empress Dowager sat on the phoenix throne, so angry that she could barely breathe. The Emperor sat beside her, worried that she might be driven to the brink of madness.
Eunuch Yuan stood to the side, wanting to laugh but unable to, feeling incredibly uncomfortable.
He had always known that Prince Ling was intelligent, and that all the other princes combined were no match for him. This time, Prince Ling was forced into this situation to save the heir of Prince Yanping. If he wanted to scheme against someone, even the eldest prince and Prince Jin combined wouldn't be a match for Prince Ling.
Eunuch Yuan praised Prince Ling in his heart. The Emperor looked at him and said, "Send someone to investigate."
Eunuch Yuan came to his senses and quickly did as instructed.
Soon, the eunuch returned and said, "There is indeed gold powder in the sedan chair of the Duke of Maoguo."
Duke Maoguo turned to Xie Jingyan, "Prince Ling! You framed me!"
Xie Jingyan said casually, "I don't have the ability to predict the future. I know that your Maoguo Guild's claim of the Yun family's immunity from death is fake. Framed, it won't do me any good."
If Duke Maoguo hadn't insisted that the Yun family's pardon was fake, Xie Jingyan wouldn't have questioned whether he had damaged it. Normally, even if Duke Maoguo smeared gold powder on his face, Prince Ling wouldn't have given him a second glance or said a word.
Xie Jingyan looked at the Emperor and said, "Everyone in the capital knows that the Yun family has an imperial pardon bestowed by the Emperor. Today, the eldest young master of the Yun family publicly held up the pardon to save the life of the Prince of Yanping. However, the Duke of Maoguo repeatedly questioned the Yun family's pardon. If this gets out, people will think that the Emperor is biased and indulgent, and that the Prince of Yanping must pay for his own nephew's life."
"Weakening the usefulness of the pardon will damage the Emperor's prestige. In the future, if civil and military officials make meritorious contributions, no one will care about the pardon if the Emperor grants it again."
Empress Song sat to the side, watching the spectacle with great interest.
Although Prince Ling had no chance of seizing the throne, and had been no match for her son since the day Consort Chen's incident, she was happy to see Prince Ling annoy the Empress Dowager. If it weren't for the Empress Dowager protecting the eldest prince, the position of crown prince would have been her son's long ago. Prince Ling had helped her vent her anger.
For the sake of the Crown Prince of Yanping, Prince Ling has offended the Empress Dowager in such a way—no, it's not just offending her, it's infuriating her to the point of death. The Empress Dowager will surely see him as a thorn in her side.
The Emperor's gaze swept over the Duke of Mao's face and then turned to the Empress Dowager. "The fact that the Yun family possesses an immunity token is known throughout the court and the country. If the Yun family wants to use the immunity token to save the Prince of Yanping's heir, according to the laws of the Great Chu, the Prince of Yanping's heir should be pardoned."
The Empress Dowager's face was long. "Even if he is spared the death penalty, he cannot escape punishment! Exile him and never let him set foot in the capital again!"
Xie Jingyan frowned and said, "Exiling the Prince of Yanping's heir again is equivalent to him committing a crime once and being sentenced twice."
Instead of stopping there, the Emperor glared at Xie Jingyan and said, "This matter will be handled by the Ministry of Justice. It has nothing to do with you. You may leave."
His tone was unpleasant, enough to make most people tremble with fear, but to Xie Jingyan it was perfectly normal.
Xie Jingyan took Shen Wan's hand, bowed, and then turned and left with her.
As Shen Wan emerged from Shou Kang Palace, she was still in a daze, as if she were dreaming. She never imagined that she could actually use a fake pardon to save the life of the Prince of Yanping. Thinking of how the Empress Dowager could only suppress her anger, Shen Wan felt incredibly relieved.
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
