Looking at his sons kneeling in a circle, Emperor Jingming frowned and said nothing for a long time.

Always give them some time to reflect!

Several princes were even more confused.

Why did the emperor call them all here for no reason? Judging from the situation, it is definitely not a reward.

But they didn't do anything bad. At most, they heard that Lao Qi went to Shuntian Mansion to complain, and they looked down on him and laughed at him behind his back.

When the princes were all nervous, Emperor Jingming finally spoke: "What did you do today?"

The princes looked at each other in bewilderment.

My father's question is so general, it's a bit scary.

Emperor Jingming's gaze fell on the eldest prince.

The eldest prince smiled bitterly in his heart and said quickly, "I have been in the palace. After breakfast, I took a walk in the garden and read a book for a while."

Emperor Jingming looked at the prince.

"I have been in the East Palace. After breakfast, I took a walk in the garden and read a book for a while—"

Emperor Jingming interrupted the prince and said, "Besides these, have you done anything special?"

A drop of sweat trickled down the prince's forehead.

Not really. He just met a pretty palace maid in the garden early in the morning and took her to sleep among the flowers. Would your father really make a big fuss about this?

"Hmm?" Seeing that the prince took a long time to answer, Emperor Jingming frowned.

The prince thought of Jinlinwei and gave up the idea of ​​fooling around. He said vaguely, "I...had a talk with a palace maid..."

"Puchi." Someone couldn't help laughing, and the princes lowered their heads even more.

Emperor Jingming was so angry, but he really didn't think that the assassination of the seventh prince was caused by the crown prince. After all, the crown prince was the crown prince and had no involvement in the gang fight, so there was no need for him to attack the seventh prince.

I never expected that the prince was so absurd and lustful!

Holding back the urge, Emperor Jingming looked at the Third Prince: "Third Prince, what about you?"

The Third Prince's mother was of humble status, so she was cautious and prudent. Upon hearing this, she replied, "I took Brother Fu for a few laps at the martial arts arena in the palace."

Emperor Jingming was interested when he heard this: "Uh, can Brother Fu ride a horse already?"

The other princes secretly curled their lips.

The third son knows how to please others, but unfortunately his mother is a palace maid and she can't be tough no matter what she does.

“Just started learning.”

Emperor Jingming nodded.

Finally there is someone reliable. Apart from the crown prince, he doesn't have high expectations for his other sons, just ask them not to do anything wrong.

Next, Emperor Jingming asked the Fourth Prince. The Fifth Prince had already prepared his answer, but Emperor Jingming skipped him and asked the Sixth Prince and the Eighth Prince.

The fifth prince's heart suddenly began to beat fast.

Why did his father choose to bypass him? Based on his understanding of his father, it was unlikely that he trusted him. It was most likely that he saved it for last.

As expected, after Emperor Jingming had questioned the other princes, his expression suddenly darkened when he looked at the fifth prince: "Tell me what you did today!"

When the others heard this, they looked at the Fifth Prince with a strange look in their eyes.

After all the commotion, it turned out that the culprit was Lao Wu.

"Your son, your son did nothing." The fifth prince was nervous, his mind went blank.

Yu Jin knelt in the corner, a sneer on his face.

He has said that since he cannot kill the person who is obsessed with Ah Si for the time being, it would be nice to collect some interest first.

"Nothing? Then why are you near Quezi Hutong on Qingtong Street?"

The fifth prince was stunned for a moment.

What Qingtong Street and Quezi Hutong? He had clearly been wandering around the Dongping Marquis's residence.

"say!"

Emperor Jingming shouted coldly, and the Fifth Prince blurted out, "No, I don't have any."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Jingming became even angrier, and his original suspicion increased to five points: "Are you still playing dumb at this point? Do you think the Jinlin Guards are just for show?"

The fifth prince felt extremely wronged: "I really didn't go to Qingtong Street or Quezi Hutong..."

Wait, Quezi Hutong sounds familiar.

The Fifth Prince's eyes moved subconsciously and inadvertently saw Yu Jin not far away. He was suddenly stunned and then his face changed.

He remembered that Lao Qi's whereabouts were right there. After leaving the clan house, he had sent people to inquire about it, hoping to find an opportunity to give that guy a good beating.

Emperor Jingming looked at the Fifth Prince with disappointment and said calmly, "The Seventh Prince was assassinated near his home today. Have you heard about it?"

"I heard about it," the princes said one after another, looking at the Fifth Prince with more subtle eyes.

The fifth prince realized it belatedly and responded, "Father, my seventh brother's assassination has nothing to do with me!"

Why do I get unlucky when I meet that guy? The fifth prince subconsciously looked at Yu Jin.

Yu Jin turned her head and smiled at him.

The fifth prince's head buzzed.

It’s over, it’s over. He can’t wash himself clean even if he jumps into the Yellow River.

Seeing his fifth son confessing, Emperor Jingming was furious: "I just asked why you were there!"

If he really wanted to get to the bottom of the matter, why would he let Jin Linwei take over the matter? Lao Wu is such a fool!

"Your son--" The Fifth Prince opened his mouth, but couldn't find a suitable excuse.

Of course he couldn't admit to such a serious crime as the assassination of the Seventh Brother. It wasn't him who did it in the first place. Who knows which good man would take the blame? However, he couldn't tell the truth because he was thinking about the noble lady from the Bo's Mansion.

"I, your son, was just free, so I went to see the funeral procession at the Yongchang Marquis's residence."

Seeing that Emperor Jingming looked tense, the fifth prince explained: "I don't know if your Majesty has heard that the Yongchang Earl and his wife died on the same day. I find it very strange, so -"

"Enough!" Emperor Jingming couldn't stand it anymore and interrupted the Fifth Prince, "From today on, you will be confined to Prince Lu's mansion for three months and fined one year's salary!"

"Father, I am innocent. I swear to heaven that I never sent anyone to assassinate my seventh brother!"

Emperor Jingming resisted the urge to kick the Fifth Prince away and said, "Fool, if you dare to kill your brother, do you think this is the only punishment you will receive?"

The other princes shook their heads secretly.

Thanks to Lao Wu for being so stupid, they get scolded less.

"Remember this, I'm punishing you for your bad morals! Someone was killed in another family, but you didn't show any sympathy and even looked on in amazement. Is this what a prince should do?"

"I was wrong." The fifth prince hung his head in despair, feeling as if a disaster had struck him from the sky.

"And you!" Emperor Jingming's eyes slowly swept over the faces of his sons, his face as gloomy as water, "Be careful in what you say and do, be gentle, kind, respectful and frugal, be friendly to your brothers and respectful to your younger brothers, don't forget these qualities!"

"I will follow your father's instructions."

The princes finally understood that all the talk of being careful in words and deeds, gentle, kind, respectful and frugal was nonsense, and being friendly and respectful to each other was the reason why they were called here today and punished to kneel.

The emperor is suspecting that someone among them has plotted to harm the seventh brother, and he is implicitly warning them to behave themselves in the future.

It was truly an unprovoked disaster!

The same thought occurred to all the princes, but when they saw the tearful face of the Fifth Prince, they felt relieved.

We still need to make a comparison. Compared with them, the fifth child is obviously the main suspect of the emperor.

"Everyone go down, the prince stay!"

At this moment, the princes' moods surprisingly improved.

Well, as long as the prince is in trouble, they will feel relieved.

Prince: “…” This year is not going well for him. He will go to burn incense one day!