"Your Majesty, the Prince Zhi, the Third Prince, the Fourth Prince, and the Eighth Prince request an audience!" Liang Jiugong announced from the outer gate.
"What are they doing here?" Kangxi thought for a moment, then said impatiently, "Let them in!"
"Greetings to Father Emperor!" The eldest prince, accompanied by the third prince and others, entered and greeted Emperor Kangxi.
"Get up!" Kangxi said, waving his hand dismissively.
"Father, you won't punish the Second Prince because of the rumors outside, will you?" the First Prince asked, looking at the kneeling Crown Prince.
"Shouldn't he be punished? He had an affair with a palace maid and committed adultery in the harem. Don't you think he should be punished?"
"Father, you're making a mountain out of a molehill. Do you really believe the Second Prince would be that kind of person?" The First Prince didn't believe the Crown Prince was the kind of person who would act recklessly.
"Father, your son doesn't believe that Second Brother is such a person either!" The Third and Fourth Princes also pleaded for the Crown Prince.
The Eighth Prince felt it would be inappropriate not to say something, but he didn't want to plead for the Crown Prince, so he said, "Father, why don't you let Second Brother reveal the identity of that palace maid? Maybe that will solve the problem!"
The Crown Prince looked at the Eighth Prince with a chill in his eyes. The Eighth Prince was certain that the Crown Prince would not reveal anything about He Xue, which was why he said those words.
"Father, I don't know which palace that person belongs to!" the Crown Prince said, bowing his head.
"It seems Second Brother is determined to protect that palace maid. I never expected Second Brother to be such a deeply affectionate person!" Eighth Prince said with a hint of schadenfreude.
"Hey, Eighth Prince, what's wrong with you? Do you have to remember what every palace maid looks like?" The First Prince looked at the Eighth Prince. Wasn't he supposed to be pleading for the Crown Prince? Why did the Eighth Prince seem like he was kicking someone when they were down?
"Brother, maybe this isn't an ordinary palace maid! Didn't they say that Second Brother and that palace maid were chatting and laughing together?"
"If you can't speak properly, then don't talk nonsense! Did you see that?" The eldest prince was so angry that he wanted to hit the eighth prince, which was just adding fuel to the fire.
"Enough! Shut up, both of you!" Kangxi said angrily, looking at the eldest and eighth princes who were arguing incessantly.
The eldest prince and the eighth prince immediately shut their mouths and stood aside with their heads down.
"Your Majesty, Zhao Chang requests an audience!" Liang Jiugong rushed in and said in a panic.
"What's all this fuss about! Let Zhao Chang in!" Kangxi could tell from Liang Jiugong's expression that something was amiss; otherwise, Liang Jiugong wouldn't have acted so recklessly.
After Zhao Chang entered, he said, "Your Majesty, this is what you wanted." This was the result of the investigation that Kangxi had ordered him to conduct.
Then he continued, "Just now, we found a palace maid who had hanged herself in an abandoned palace. There was also a letter next to her. The letter said that she had implicated His Highness the Crown Prince and could only atone for her sins with her death!"
"You scoundrel!" Kangxi was so angry that he threw a teacup in front of the Crown Prince. A shard of the teacup splashed onto the Crown Prince's face, leaving a gash that bled profusely.
The Eighth Prince was shocked when he heard this. Where did this palace maid come from? Wasn't it He Xue? How come there's another palace maid? It seems that the Crown Prince really has no way to defend himself this time. He has no choice but to admit to the crime of having an affair with a palace maid!
The eldest prince, the third prince, and the fourth prince looked at the crown prince in disbelief. Could it be that the second prince (the second brother) really had a secret rendezvous with a palace maid?
The eldest prince felt that it was all Emperor Kangxi's fault. He thought that if he had arranged a marriage for his second son earlier, the second son would not have been so desperate as to choose a palace maid!
It's true that a well-fed man doesn't know the hunger of a wicked man. He himself has women on his left and right, and three thousand beauties in his harem, yet he doesn't arrange a single one for his second son! Although his other brothers haven't gotten married, they all have wives to choose from. It's just that the second son is pitiful; he doesn't even have a wife.
The Crown Prince glanced at the Eighth Prince and, seeing the Eighth Prince's expression, knew that this matter had nothing to do with the Eighth Prince. Who was behind this framing him?
"What does Your Highness have to say this time?" Kangxi asked.
The Crown Prince felt he was truly in a predicament he couldn't clear his name even if he jumped into the Yellow River. "Father..."
"You have truly disappointed me!" Kangxi looked at the Crown Prince with a sinister gaze. "As the heir apparent, how could you do such a thing? Is this the kind of example you are setting for your younger brothers?"
Liang Jiugong, take the Crown Prince away and give him ten strokes of the cane as a warning to others!
"Father, have mercy!" The eldest, third, and fourth princes all knelt before Emperor Kangxi to plead for the Crown Prince.
The Eighth Prince also knelt down reluctantly.
"Father, Second Brother wouldn't do such a thing!" Fourth Prince said to Kangxi.
"Yes, Father Emperor, perhaps someone is deliberately framing the Second Prince!" the First Prince said anxiously to Kangxi.
"Father, Second Brother is usually the most well-behaved and polite. How could he do such a thing?" the Third Prince pleaded for the Crown Prince.
"Father, Second Brother is innocent!" The Eighth Prince did speak the truth, but unfortunately, Emperor Kangxi wouldn't believe him at this point!
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