Chapter 219 Acting
From beginning to end, Prince Ning never dodged.
Instead, he waited until the memorial landed before raising his head and looking at Emperor Yongping with a face full of grievance.
"Why are you looking at me? Tell me what you are thinking. Why would you do such a ridiculous thing?"
Emperor Yongping looked directly at Prince Ning, his eyes full of regret that they could not become one.
"Father, I am terrified. I don't know what I have done wrong. You know that I have always been law-abiding and never do anything beyond the rules."
Prince Ning had a bewildered look on his face, and with his silly appearance, if someone who didn't know the situation saw him, they would unconsciously think that Emperor Yongping had wronged him.
"Don't know what you did wrong? Then take a look at this."
As Emperor Yongping spoke, he signaled Lin Fu to take the confessions of the two eunuchs to Prince Ning.
After Prince Ning took it, he still looked confused, but also eager to find out the truth.
But when he was reading the confession, the expression on his face and the thoughts in his mind were extremely different.
'How could these dogs and slaves give in so easily?'
"It would be fine if you betrayed Matthew Li, but why did you also betray me?"
"Hmph, you don't even have any evidence, and you want to implicate me based on just a few confessions? Is this all you can do, Old Eleven?"
Chu Chengyi is the eleventh child. In the eyes of Prince Ning, apart from being loved by the late emperor and having a good family background, he is not much better than himself.
"Damn it, they still have a trick up their sleeve? People who don't even care about the lives of their own children can never achieve anything great."
......
After a full half a minute, Prince Ning finally finished reading both confessions.
When he returned the confession to Lin Fu and looked up at Emperor Yongping again, his eyes were red and he was even holding back tears.
When Emperor Yongping saw him like this, he slapped the hand that was flipping through the memorials.
Even Xiao Hulu and Chu Qinshu were somewhat impressed by Prince Ning's acting skills.
How can a 35-year-old man cry so easily?
If Prince Ning were to become a concubine, the Empress would probably not be able to ascend to the throne.
At this moment, Yu's study is extremely quiet.
Prince Ning looked at Emperor Yongping with red eyes, aggrieved and pitiful, and was stubborn and didn't say a word.
Emperor Yongping was dazed by his gaze, and his thoughts were in a mess.
'Not him? He really didn't intend to mess up the sacrifice?'
"But, there is no reason for Matthew to do such a thing. Could it be that this old man Matthew wants to do something for Wen Yun against Fu Zihuan? And Wen Yun is not aware of it?"
"If that's the case, why would the two servants be associated with Wen Yun?"
......
The barrage of comments flew for a long time, most of them suspected Matthew Li and the two eunuchs, and a few suspected Prince Ning, but not a single one was related to Chu Chengyi.
This made Chu Qinshu have a deeper understanding of Emperor Yongping's determination.
In the eyes of Emperor Yongping, Chu Chengyi is always different from his other sons.
"Why do you have to act like this in front of me, man? There are witnesses and evidence. How can I wrongly accuse you?"
Emperor Yongping gathered his thoughts, and seeing that Prince Ning still did not speak, he spoke himself.
Prince Ning has been like this since he was young. Even if he was really wronged, he never defended himself.
Even under Concubine Xian's instruction, she took the blame for Prince Huai on many occasions.
It was precisely because of this impression that Emperor Yongping suspected that Prince Ning was taking the blame for someone else again.
But he also knew that Chu Chengyi would not frame Prince Ning without reason, so he pushed all the blame on Matthew Li.
"Father, I was born in the royal family, how could I not know the importance of sacrifice? If something goes wrong during the sacrifice, it will bring shame to the entire royal family. How can I stay out of it?"
Prince Ning did not directly deny what Emperor Yongping said, but held back his tears and calmly gave reasons why he would not do such a thing.
"I have been honest and simple since I was young, how could I have such thoughts? Father, why don't you investigate this matter carefully? If someone deliberately used this matter to destroy the royal brotherhood, wouldn't it be unfair for me and my younger brother, the Crown Prince, to be wronged?"
After saying this, Prince Ning raised his sleeves to wipe his tears without any manner, and then looked at Emperor Yongping eagerly.
It is obvious to all that Prince Ning has been honest and simple since childhood, and he has never made any mistakes since he was a child.
If there is any, it is the things he did to take the blame for King Huai.
After he was imprisoned in the Dali Temple, all the crimes that Prince Huai had committed since he was a child were thoroughly investigated.
In the eyes of Emperor Yongping, Prince Ning had long been known as a clean and innocent person who never made mistakes.
Therefore, as long as he denied it, Emperor Yongping had no reason to force him to admit it.
Even if there were witnesses and physical evidence, he would subconsciously put the blame on Matthew Li.
Matthew Li is an old official. How can someone who can become a minister have a simple mind?
Could it be that he planned this matter deliberately just to help his son-in-law take the position?
"This matter really has nothing to do with you?"
Emperor Yongping couldn't bear to see Prince Ning behave like this, and he couldn't help but make excuses for him in his heart.
He said that the second son was honest and would not deny it if he had done it.
Now that he denies it, it is likely that he really didn't do it.
"Father, I am simple-minded, but I am not stupid. How could I do such a thing as fratricide and smearing the royal family? Besides, even if I wanted to do it, I don't have the brain to plan it."
When Prince Ning saw that Emperor Yongping had given in, he immediately made his position clear and belittled himself.
He is very familiar with this routine.
When Prince Huai was under investigation by the Dali Temple, he wanted to take the opportunity to take the concubine's daughter to the Fu Mansion as his concubine. Emperor Yongping reprimanded him for this afterwards.
At that time, he put all the blame on Matthew.
The Prince Consort Ning is in charge of the rear quarters of the palace, and she has the final say on who to take as a concubine.
Over the years, the concubines in his harem were ostensibly given to him by Princess Ning.
He didn't take a liking to any of them.
Moreover, each of his concubines had a son. Without the permission of Princess Ning, this would be impossible in any noble family.
Emperor Yongping had his own harem, so he certainly knew that the survival of his concubines' children was closely related to the mistress.
Princess Ning listened to Matthew Li and knew that this matter was no secret between Prince Ning and him.
"Since you don't admit it, then tell me who did this?"
Emperor Yongping already believed Prince Ning to a point, and he asked him this question only to find a way out for himself.
He summoned the person into the palace with great fanfare, but he didn't expect that he had wrongly accused him, and he felt a little embarrassed.
"Father, I don't know how I can think through all these things."
Prince Ning felt that he had escaped successfully and was very happy.
But he knew that the more foolish he acted, the more Emperor Yongping would believe him.
"Master, should we show your grandfather the video of Prince Ning? You can't trust Prince Ning's words."
Seeing that Prince Ning was about to escape, Xiao Hulu became anxious.
Even a little gourd knew that Prince Ning was playing dumb, but Emperor Yongping actually believed him.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
