Song Hongshen sneered inwardly, raised his head and said, "Your Majesty, this is all Lord Liu's words. Can you convict me and Su Zhilan based solely on his words?"
Emperor Xuande thought Song Hongshen was trying to protect Su Zhilan, and said unhappily, "He is an official appointed by the court. Can't what he saw with his own eyes be used as evidence?"
Song Hongshen laughed sarcastically, "Are all officials appointed by the imperial court honest and upright and never tell a lie?"
"I am a prince personally appointed by the Emperor. I personally saw Lord Liu setting the fire. Please punish Lord Liu."
Emperor Xuande was so angry that he laughed out loud. He didn't scold Song Hongshen, but looked at Song Zan.
"Lord of Loyalty, oh Lord of Loyalty, like father like son. Look at him for yourself, how can he even look like a subject?"
In this spirit, he is exactly like Song Zan. No, he is even more hateful than Song Zan.
Song Zan didn't argue, but bowed and said, "Your Majesty is right. If a son is not well educated, it is the fault of his father. The child is like this now, it is all his father's fault."
After saying this, Song Zan gave Emperor Xuande a meaningful look. A hint of mockery flashed across his eyes.
Seeing the emperor angry, the prince was delighted.
The father and son of the Song family always have the ability to make their father angry, which saves him a lot of energy.
"Father, the warship issue concerns the safety of the people in several provinces along the southeastern coast."
"The King of Loyalty and Bravery secretly brought unrelated people to the Ministry of Works. This shows that he does not take the safety of the Southeast seriously at all."
"I beg your Majesty to punish Song Hongshen severely for his dereliction of duty and to replace the commander of the Southeast Navy."
"Also, the fifth young lady of the Su family must be severely punished as well, as a warning to the young ladies of other families in the capital. The government office is not a place they can go."
Emperor Xuande looked at Chen Zheng thoughtfully, "What do you think, Minister Chen?"
Chen Zheng actually disagreed with the Crown Prince's words, saying he was too impatient. At least in his opinion, such evidence was not enough to convict the King of Loyalty and Bravery.
But he was the prince's teacher, so he could only teach in private and could not offend the prince in public.
So Chen Zheng thought for a moment and said, "If those drawings were really burned by the Fifth Miss Su, then what His Royal Highness said is not without reason."
"Of course, regardless of whether the fifth daughter of the Su family burned the blueprints or not, it would be inappropriate for the King of Loyalty and Bravery to bring his female relatives to the Ministry of Works."
Emperor Xuande asked Shen Zhixiu again, "What did Mr. Shen say?"
The fifth young lady of the Su family is Shen Zhixiu's cousin, and he also wants to hear what his brother-in-law has to say.
Shen Zhixiu said, "Your Majesty, Lord Liu's words alone are not enough to convict him."
"Why not listen to what they both have to say? If necessary, we can ask the Ministry of Justice to investigate."
Although Emperor Xuande was angry, he finally listened to Shen Zhixiu's words.
He looked at Su Zhilan with a sullen face, "Were you the one who burned those blueprints? If you tell the truth, I can still forgive you. If you lie, the Su family, the Song family, and the Shen family will not be able to protect you."
Song Hongshen frowned. What was the emperor doing? Picking on the weak?
Do you think that Su Zhilan is a little girl and she will tell the truth if you scare her?
Emperor Xuande really thought so. He thought this was the best method, so there was a hint of threat in his tone.
After saying that, he looked at Su Zhilan, waiting for her to panic and then tell the truth.
Emperor Xuande still tended to believe Liu Chen's words. He guessed that Su Zhilan, young and finding everything interesting, had accidentally set the drawings on fire while playing.
If it were someone else, even if they didn't do it, they would probably be scared and cry out for justice.
But Su Zhilan was overjoyed. The emperor finally let her speak. She had been wanting to speak for a long time, but had been holding back because of the many palace rules.
So when Su Zhilan heard the emperor's question, she immediately raised her head.
"Your Majesty, I did not do such a thing."
Su Zhilan's eyes were clear and her expression was open.
Emperor Xuande had seen countless people and could tell at a glance that this girl was not lying.
At her age, it's impossible for her to lie and cover it up so well.
Su Zhilan then continued, "How could I possibly burn the blueprints I spent so much effort drawing?"
"It's all burned up, and I have to burn the midnight oil to repaint it myself."
"Your Majesty, please understand. I was drugged and thrown in."
At this point, Su Zhilan looked at Liu Chen again, "Master Liu said he saw me walk into the style room. How is that possible? I know for sure that I was drugged."
"Could it be that the person who knocked me out is this Lord Liu?"
Her thinking was very simple. If Liu Chen lied, he was a bad guy. Even if he was not the one who knocked her out, they were most likely in the same group.
After Su Zhilan finished speaking, she looked at Emperor Xuande calmly again, as if waiting for him to make the decision for her.
But Emperor Xuande was so shocked that he couldn't speak. Did he hear correctly? What did this girl say? Did she draw those drawings?
If you scan the entire side hall, you will find that people's expressions can be divided into two categories.
Song Zan, Song Hongshen, Shen Zhixiu, Su Chengxun and others who knew the inside story were not surprised at all, and there was even a hint of pride in their eyes.
The faces of the people on the prince's side changed, all of them were shocked and couldn't believe it.
The prince said, "How shameless! Those drawings were completed by the various officials in the Ministry of Works. How can they be attributed to you?"
It is simply a fantasy for a teenage girl to say that she can draw shipbuilding blueprints for the Ministry of Industry.
The prince's tone was slightly sarcastic, thinking to himself, "Doesn't this young lady from the Su family think before she speaks? Is this something she can get away with?"
He then looked at the Minister of Works, Rong Hai, and said, "Sir Rong, tell me, is the fifth young lady of the Su family lying?"
The one with the most subtle expression was Rong Hai.
All the talented people in the Ministry of Works were no match for a teenage girl in combining weapons and warships.
He felt ashamed if he told others about it.
But since the prince asked him, he naturally couldn't lie.
Then he said, "Your Majesty, Your Highness, I can prove that what the fifth young lady of the Su family said is true."
"Among the burned drawings, 30% were drawn by the fifth young lady of the Su family."
"I don't think she would do something like this, which would only end up hurting herself."
What Su Zhilan said might be false, but as the Minister of Works, Rong Hai could not lie about such a thing.
After saying this, Emperor Xuande, the Crown Prince and others looked at Su Zhilan in disbelief.
Song Hongshen took the opportunity to speak loudly, "If Your Majesty doesn't believe it, the ministers of the Ministry of Works can also testify."
"Master Liu is lying when he says he saw the fifth young lady of the Su family enter the style room and then saw her light the oil lamp."
"Your Majesty, please order the Ministry of Justice to investigate the matter of the fifth young lady of the Su family being drugged and thrown into the style room."
"As for why Lord Liu lied, we must also conduct a thorough interrogation. We also need to investigate if there was anyone behind this who was behind it."
As he said this, Song Hongshen looked at the prince with cold eyes, his gaze gleaming with coldness.
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