"Father."
When he arrived at the hall, he found that the ministers all looked at him with strange expressions, and the prince felt a little uneasy.
"Prince, General Ding is suing you for making military mistakes in Tanhua City, which cost 50,000 soldiers, and for allowing your subordinates to withhold the soldiers' pay..."
With every word An Jingzhi spoke, the prince's face turned paler.
"Father! It's unfair, I did nothing!" He knelt on the ground and begged.
"Take a look!"
At first, he thought that if he cried a few words, his father would treat him with respect as before, but he didn't expect that the other party would directly throw a pile of things on his head.
He picked up the things that fell on the ground and read them one by one. The words on them were like sharp swords, piercing his whole body.
"Father!" He suddenly threw away the evidence in his hand, knelt down and took a few steps forward: "Your Majesty, I have no knowledge of this. I didn't do this. It must have been someone under my command who did it without my knowledge! Your Majesty, spare my life!"
"Father!" He burst into tears, his face full of grief. "Father, I lost my mother when I was young, and I have always been by your side, taught by you. You know what kind of person I am. You know it best. I really don't have it!"
"The matter of Epiphyllum City was not ordered by me."
"I have never heard of the matter of withholding the soldiers' wages."
An Jingzhi watched his performance indifferently, "Is the order to close Lucheng and not let soldiers enter the city also a misunderstanding?"
At that time, he was on the city wall yelling at the soldiers guarding the gate not to open the door. There was no way he could avoid this matter, nor could he put the blame on his advisers.
"This was indeed done by my son, but the situation was urgent at the time. The enemy troops were mixed in with our army. Tanhua City has been lost, and if Lu City is in danger again."
"Then your Majesty's trust will be threatened. I, your son, cannot do this."
An Jingzhi let him quibble and suddenly laughed, "So I should thank you?"
The prince raised his head slightly to peek at An Jingzhi's expression. He found that he was smiling but showed no emotion. He suppressed his fear and said, "I did my best."
Ding Shangbiao's face was full of anger and he wanted to stand up and say something, but Zheng Hongtao stopped him in time and shook his head at him silently.
Just when he was filled with anger.
"ah!"
The paperweight on the table hit the prince directly on the head and rolled to the side.
He screamed and subconsciously cupped his hand to his forehead, only to find it wet. He brought his hand closer to his eyes and saw a bright red patch.
"Father..." He looked up at the man sitting high on the dragon throne and found that his face was ashen.
The blood dripping from his forehead blocked his right eye's vision. He kept kneeling and crawling forward, "Father, spare my life..."
An Jingzhi stood up from the dragon throne and walked steadily to the prince. The prince desperately hugged his thighs and cried:
"Father, please spare me...I didn't mean it. I was thinking about you for your own good."
An Jingyi kicked the other person away and said, "Don't make excuses for your incompetence, Prince. I am so disappointed in you."
The fear of being hit on the forehead with a paperweight by An Jingzhi just now was not as great as this disappointment. A chill ran up from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Listening to the violently trembling heart, he was calmer than ever before.
"Father, what do you mean?"
"I have given you chances time and time again. What about you? How have you repaid me?"
"Before we dispatched the troops, you signed a military order to me, promising to defend Tanhua City. Yet, within three days, you lost Tanhua City and 50,000 soldiers."
"The evidence is right in front of you, and you're still spouting nonsense."
"Don't I know what those counselors under your command are? How dare they act beyond your command?"
"Prince, I am truly disappointed in you. If you had shown a little responsibility today and had the courage to take ownership of the matter, I wouldn't be so disappointed in you."
An Jingzhi's words, one by one, shattered the last glimmer of hope in the prince's heart, and also ignited the flames of hope in the hearts of the civil and military generals on both sides.
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is finished.
Ding Shangbiao was even more excited and thought to himself: Brothers who were harmed, today Old Ding has avenged you!
Zheng Hongtao also felt relieved. Ding Shangbiao and he had been brothers since childhood, and of course His Majesty was also a brother. However, now there was a difference between the monarch and his subjects, and Ding Shangbiao was the only best brother around him.
Now Ding Shangbiao is bitterly complaining about the prince's crimes in the court. If the prince remains safe and sound, Ding Shangbiao will be in big trouble.
Seeing that there was no turning back, the prince fell directly to the ground. The wound on his forehead stuck to his hair. He looked miserable, like a dog that had lost its home.
"Are you planning to depose me, Your Majesty?" He laughed bitterly.
An Jingzhi stared at him with scrutiny, "Do you think you can be the crown prince?"
The Crown Prince suddenly stood up like a madman, "Hahahaha, I'm not worthy? Then who is worthy? Is it my second brother? Why am I not worthy? I'm the eldest son of my father, and the eldest son should be the heir!"
He pointed at the officials in the court and said frantically, "I know that you all look down on me and think I'm not as good as my second brother!"
He pointed at Wei Wenhua and said, "After all, you are the subject and I am the king. I sent people gifts but you refused to accept them. I personally showed you my goodwill but you ignored me."
"And you!" He accused Zheng Hongtao and Ding Shangbiao angrily, "I'm the crown prince, why are you trying to curry favor with An Shaolin?"
He listed them one by one, as if he wanted to pour out all the grievances in his heart.
"You guys are the ones who made me become like this! It's all your fault!"
In the eyes of everyone, he looked like a madman and in a miserable state.
An Jingzhi shook his head and sat back on the dragon throne. "Pass on my decree to depose the crown prince!"
"The matter of deposing the Crown Prince will be handed over to the Dali Temple for review and punishment according to the law!"
Standing among the ministers, the prince, who was still talking to himself, was stunned and stood there as if he had lost his mind.
Everyone originally thought that deposing the crown prince was already a pleasant surprise, but they didn't expect that His Majesty would actually hand the crown prince over to the Dali Temple for investigation.
The Dali Temple reviews the common people and officials, while royal figures like the crown prince are generally handled by the emperor himself.
If it is handed over to the Dali Temple, the life of the deposed prince may be in danger.
As soon as An Jingzhi issued the order, no one in the court pleaded for him.
When An Shaolin finished arranging things in Epiphyllum City and returned to Wujiang, he found that the good brother who had always been above him had fallen and was now waiting for punishment in the Dali Temple.
He took off his armor and put on his ordinary clothes. His wife Yang said, "You just got back. Why don't you go see your elder brother first? Otherwise, His Majesty will think that you two are heartless brothers."
An Shaolin sneered. How could there be any brotherhood between them?
He was clearly retreating step by step, but his elder brother kept pressing him, forcing him to stop fighting the grassland people and stay away from the center.
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