King Qu was also in the hall. Seeing his son like this, he first scolded his son severely, and then admitted his own mistake.
The son's rebellion was due to the father's failure to discipline him properly. Over the years, he had been preoccupied with the people's plight and had neglected his son.
The people who had received favors from King Qu felt somewhat guilty and pleaded for him, saying that King Qu had done so much for the people and that it had nothing to do with him.
King Qu waved his hand repeatedly, saying that it was the father's fault if the son was not properly taught.
The people were all rushing to the court to kowtow, each recounting the good deeds that King Qu had done.
Lord Hu adjourned the court, but Prince Qu was also taken into custody.
...
In the imperial study, the emperor was furious.
He didn't believe that the Crown Prince of Qu had done it all!
This old scoundrel actually taught his son to say that he was the rightful heir and that his father, the emperor, was of low status.
The emperor directly issued an imperial edict: the entire Qu Prince's Mansion had rebelled and was to be executed!
When the imperial edict was posted on the bulletin board, the people were unhappy. They spread the word among themselves and secretly cursed the emperor for being heartless.
Someone suggested writing a petition with ten thousand signatures to save Prince Qu's life.
In those years, His Highness Prince Qu protected them; now, they protect His Highness Prince Qu.
Just as the people of the capital began signing a petition, news arrived that Prince Qu had fainted in prison because his grandson had died, killed by Scholar Gu.
The people were puzzled. How could Scholar Gu, a member of the Hanlin Academy, possibly commit murder in the imperial prison?
The news said that because the grandson of the King of Qu had harmed the daughter and niece of the top scholar Gu, the top scholar Gu, in a fit of rage, secretly bribed the people in the prison to sneak in and kill the grandson of the King of Qu.
It is also said that Gu Zhuangyuan's youngest daughter was ruthless and cruel, ruining Princess Linglan's appearance and stabbing her countless times.
His Highness Prince Qu was in prison, constantly weeping, and was somewhat delirious.
The common people were easily swayed because the image of Prince Qu in their hearts was far too positive. In their view, while it was wrong for Prince Qu's heir to rebel, and it was also wrong for Prince Qu's grandson and Princess Linglan to bully others, the top scholar Gu had gone too far by killing people. The top scholar's youngest daughter was too cruel; it would have been better to kill him and let the princess die a peaceful death. After all, it wasn't their grandfather and grandson who were rebelling, but Prince Qu's heir.
At this point, any talk of collective punishment or the extermination of nine generations of a family for one person's misdeed is utter nonsense to the common people. The crowd is indignant, and more than ten thousand people have gathered in front of the palace, demanding that the emperor treat everyone equally, that the emperor revoke the top scholar's qualification, and that the emperor punish the ruthless youngest daughter of the top scholar.
The palace gates were bustling with activity for a time.
In the imperial court, there were also people who were not afraid of death who stood up to speak for King Qu and then impeached Gu Shouxin.
Suppressing his anger, the emperor made a note of each of the people who had spoken out. Well, he hadn't realized before that so many of them had been bribed by the Prince of Qu.
Even his third son spoke up for King Qu.
The third prince felt a little uneasy after being glanced at by the emperor.
But when he thought about his conversation with Li Shan over the past two days, he mustered up his courage again.
The Third Prince married his princess in August of this year, and he asked his princess to invite Li Shan to stay at the Prince's residence in her name.
He couldn't wait to ask Li Shan if she was the girl from back then.
Li Shan naturally agreed. The Third Prince then asked her how she ended up traveling from Qingzhou to Tongzhou when she was so young.
Li Shan said she had a dream in which a man was trapped. She was afraid it was real and couldn't bear to see someone so desperate, so she wanted to try.
If it were true, wouldn't she be able to save someone's life?
If it's not true, and she just went on a long trip, she won't suffer any loss.
The Third Prince thought Li Shan was so kind. Just because of a dream, without even knowing if it was real or not, she had already given so much and traveled all the way here. She was only ten years old at the time!
She is both kind and courageous.
Later, Li Shan would occasionally tell him about her dreams. In the Third Prince's eyes, everything Li Shan said was true, and he treated Li Shan like a treasure.
Therefore, when Li Shan said that King Qu would not die this time, he believed her and stood up to speak for King Qu.
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