Chapter 62: Being Wronged
The Eighth Prince was also extremely shocked. He did not expect Pei Jinyu to be so bold as to stand up for him!
Suddenly, a warm current seemed to flow into his heart, making his heart, which had been frozen for more than ten years, feel warm again. However, while he was moved, he couldn't help but feel worried.
Pei Jinyu's behavior was undoubtedly against the Third Prince and Concubine Chun. Wouldn't she be hated by them in the future?
Originally, he knew that he was not favored by his father, and he never thought about seeking justice for himself this time. But now that Pei Jinyu has stood up for him, how can he continue to be a coward?
So, the Eighth Prince immediately opened his brocade robe, straightened his back and knelt on the ground, clasped his hands and said: "Father, although I have been without a mother since I was a child, I know that my mother definitely loves me. If she knew that I was wrongly accused today, she would be very sad. So I would like to ask you to clear my name! As a prince, although I am not favored by you, I am not someone that can be slandered by any eunuch or palace maid. I have no grudges against them in the past, but they insisted that it was me. This is really strange!"
Suddenly, Concubine Chun and the Third Prince saw the Eighth Prince and Pei Jinyu say this, and they were both so shocked that they didn’t react for a long time.
Originally, the emperor was surprised by Pei Jinyu's boldness and was moved by her words. He had doubts. Later, when he heard the words of the Eighth Prince, he thought of the Eighth Prince's mother, and his heart softened instantly. If she knew today that her son had been wronged like this, would she also feel bad?
While the emperor was still confused, the empress standing beside him took the opportunity to speak: "Your Majesty, Concubine Yun is gentle and kind. When she was pregnant, she often stroked her belly and said that she hoped her child would grow up happily without worries in the future. If she knew that her son is now living a life that everyone can bully, I'm sure she wouldn't be at peace in the underworld!"
"Did Yun'er really say that before?" The emperor was stunned by the queen's words, and his eyes couldn't help but turn slightly red.
The queen nodded calmly and said, "Yes, I have seen her like this before when I was chatting with Concubine Yun in private."
"Okay!" The emperor couldn't help but choke up when he heard this, and his heart softened completely.
Concubine Chun was so angry that she immediately started to argue, "Your Majesty, I am just telling the truth. How did the Eighth Prince and Miss Pei make such malicious speculations? The Eighth Prince disappeared for so long at the palace banquet, and now there are eunuchs and palace maids to testify against him. These are all evidence! The Eighth Prince teamed up with Miss Pei to slander me! By the way, the eunuch behind him might also be a liar. It was this eunuch who brought the Eighth Prince to the harem. How come he was replaced?"
The Third Prince also knelt down and explained, "Father, Mother is right. I saw with my own eyes that it was this eunuch who took my eighth brother away. How come it became that strange eunuch again? Nothing is right!"
When the emperor heard this, his eyes narrowed dangerously. Looking at them, they were all thinking that each of them was right, and he couldn't tell who was telling the truth and who was lying.
On the contrary, the Eighth Prince was relatively calm and explained to the Emperor in a clear and logical manner: "Father, after my clothes were stained by my third brother's wine, it was indeed this eunuch who brought me to the harem. But halfway through the journey, I was suddenly knocked unconscious. When I woke up, I was lying near a rockery, and then the eunuch found me. So, I asked him to continue to take me to change clothes, but then I met Miss Pei who fell into the water."
The Eighth Prince's explanations were all reasonable and perfectly explained the Third Prince's doubts. He also said that it was the Third Prince who soiled his clothes, which made the Emperor stunned for a moment. Looking at the Third Prince, he thought: It seems that the Third Prince had lied to him before! The reason for this is obvious!
Xu Qingyan, who was standing aside and watching the fun, couldn't help but take a second look at the Eighth Prince, praising him in her heart: "This Eighth Prince's brain is really useful! Not only does he know how to use his biological mother to win the emperor's heartache, but he can also cleverly crack the Third Prince's loophole. If the emperor is not stupid, he should have guessed all this by now. It was all deliberately designed by the Third Prince and Concubine Chun. The Eighth Prince was knocked unconscious and hid, isn't it just for the purpose of framing him later? 】
As expected, after the emperor heard what the Eighth Prince said, his face darkened instantly. He glanced at Concubine Chun and her son with a gloomy look, and said sarcastically, "This is all a coincidence. The eunuch that the Third Prince saw knocked out the Eighth Prince, and Concubine Chun reminded me that the Eighth Prince was missing. After reaching the door, you insisted that the person inside was the Eighth Prince. How could an ordinary eunuch dare to be so rampant?"
Upon hearing this, Concubine Chun was extremely nervous and explained with trembling lips: "Your Majesty, I am innocent! I don't know why this happened..."
"Your Majesty, there is a strange man there. Why don't we let someone interrogate him?" At this time, Pei Jingchuan, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke.
At this time, the emperor turned his attention to the third prince's secret guard, and immediately raised his hand to ask someone to come over and interrogate him.
The Third Prince saw that the truth was about to be revealed, and he couldn't help but feel conflicted. He immediately stepped forward and admitted, "Father, this man is my son's secret guard, but he has been missing for a long time. I don't know why he is here!"
"Your people?" The emperor looked at the third prince with some suspicion.
"Yes, this man betrayed his master some time ago. I have been looking for him for a long time, but I didn't expect that he would appear here." After the third prince said this, he quickly glanced at the secret guard.
When the secret guard met the Third Prince's gaze, he knew that he would definitely sacrifice himself. These secret guards were specially trained by the palace and assigned to each prince. Originally, he should have been an orphan without any relatives, but he had a sister who was sold to a wealthy family as a maid. The Third Prince somehow found out about it and brought his sister to the mansion. If he dared to betray her, then his sister would probably... Thinking of this, the secret guard had to make up his mind painfully and bit his tongue hard to commit suicide.
"He's dead!" a eunuch exclaimed after seeing it.
Pei Jingchuan frowned when he heard this. The Third Prince's move really hurt the enemy by a thousand and hurt himself by eight hundred. Although this put him in danger, he still saved himself in the end.
The Third Prince had acknowledged the identity of this person in advance, so he had a clear conscience in front of the Emperor, and the death of the secret guard made it all untraceable. As for the eunuch and the palace maid, they were not the Third Prince's people at all, so the Third Prince only needed to protest and say that they were slandering him.
The emperor naturally saw through the twists and turns in this, and understood that this was the Third Prince's plan. However, this was his son who he had raised for many years, and he did not want to punish him yet.
So, after the emperor struggled for a while, he just gave her a lighter sentence and said, "Since he is your man, you are more or less responsible. This man dared to frame the Eighth Prince, so first whip his corpse and then throw it into a mass grave! As for the Third Prince, he will be punished with thirty strokes of the cane and a half-year salary deduction. Concubine Chun is not virtuous, so she will be confined to her house for three months, a half-year salary deduction, and she will be ordered to write a 10,000-word letter of repentance!"
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