Chapter 223 Keeping a Secret for His Highness

Since there was no witness, it was impossible to prove that Zhai Li was the mastermind of this scandal. So he simply insisted that he had no knowledge of it and put all the blame on his servants.

Masterminding and lax governance are two completely different crimes.

The prince said sullenly, "Lord Zhai, do you think I dare to summon you to question you before I have sufficient evidence? Can you guarantee that your subordinates are willing to take the blame for you for the safety of their own families? Then...what about those officials who have been to hell?"

Zhai Li's expression froze.

The prince narrowed his eyes and said, "If I agree to tell the truth to them, I will be given a lighter punishment. How many of them do you think will be willing to identify you?"

Zhai Li's expression finally began to get nervous: "Your Highness, does identification count as evidence? Then what if I say they framed me?"

The prince sneered: "Are you too confident in yourself? How do you know they don't have any evidence? Lord Zhai, they are all officials, who doesn't know how to protect themselves? Do you think you are the only smart one?"

"You!" Zhai Li was eager to stand up.

The prince scolded, "I advise you to tell the truth. You may be given a lighter punishment. But if you are stubborn and refuse to confess, when all the evidence is available, your Weiyuan Marquis's mansion will be destroyed."

Zhai Li stared at him for a few breaths, then sneered, "Your Highness, I have an old saying for you. Don't be too extreme in your work and life, especially in your official duties. Otherwise, even you will not be able to bear the consequences."

The prince sneered, "Lord Zhai is not good at threatening me, but he should think about how to defend himself after seeing the evidence. Come, take him away and keep him under strict supervision."

After Zhai Li was taken away, Tong Ya was also temporarily taken back to the classroom, leaving only Jin Cheng and the prince in the room.

After hearing such a big piece of news and witnessing the confrontation between the prince and the ministers, the little devil was still confused.

The prince stretched out his hand and waved it in front of him: "Why, are you scared?"

Zong Jincheng swallowed and said, "This is such a big case. Is this something I can listen to?"

The prince couldn't help laughing: "Then you must keep the secret until the truth comes out."

The little devil nodded heavily: "Don't worry, Your Highness, I'm very strict with my mouth."

The prince nodded, then asked, "Is there anything you didn't understand just now?"

Zong Jincheng tilted his head and thought for a while, then said, "Yes, it was the senior official who spoke first..."

"The Left Censor of the Censorate, Lu Tai." The prince introduced the other party to him.

"Ah? That's the boss of the Censorate..." Zong Jincheng thought to himself, it turns out that the second-rank official that the prince wanted him to be is the position of Lu Tai and Xu Shangshu.

The little devil continued, "It's that Lord Lu. Why did he ask Your Highness to report to the Emperor before investigating? Why didn't he report to the Emperor and investigate at the same time?"

Because he saw that His Highness did not accept Lu Tai's suggestion.

The prince chuckled, "Because he doesn't want me to continue investigating, he wants to protect himself. In this case, either he has a problem, or he is worried that his subordinates will have a problem. Because even if it is a minor crime, it will affect his career."

Zong Jincheng frowned and said, "But if we don't find out the truth, how can we explain to those girls? He is already a second-rank official, close to the top of all officials. Can a lax rule cause him to lose his job?"

The prince chuckled, "You also said that he is close to being the head of all officials, but not yet. If he really does something serious, then there is no hope of promotion."

Zong Jincheng still didn't understand: "How can a promotion be more important than so many people?"

The prince lowered his eyelashes and said calmly, "Yes, it shouldn't be."

The basement was surrounded and all the girls were rescued, including the frightened sister.

However, since there were many girls involved in the case, they were brought in batches to wait for interrogation, and soon the cell was full. The three boys were sent home that evening because they were useless and took up too much space.

The government's large-scale investigation is in full swing.

As waves of people were brought in, Xu Wanming could clearly sense that the Crown Princess was becoming increasingly depressed.

But she didn't know the reason and didn't want to ask rashly. After receiving the three children, the Crown Princess asked them to return home first, and she would wait for the Crown Prince here.

Xu Wan thanked her and said, "Thank you for today's help, Madam. If you need our cooperation, I can always bring Jin Cheng and the others here."

The Crown Princess said, "Well, go back."

On the way back in the carriage, Zong Wenxiu kept looking out reluctantly, for he was worried about Tongya.

The little devil comforted him, "Brother, don't worry, His Highness is here, Tongya will be fine."

Zong Wenxiu said anxiously: "But Tongya has been interrogated for the whole afternoon. I am worried that she will not be able to bear it."

Zong Jincheng thought for a moment and shook his head, "No, she looks very energetic and strong."

Zong Wenxiu smiled bitterly, "When she was little, she would be scared of insects and would sleep with her aunt every time there was a thunderstorm. I thought she...she must have suffered a lot in the past four years."

Xu Wan patted his shoulder and said, "Don't worry, we can bring her back once this is over."

After Zong Wenxiu returned home, he told them the truth about Tongya's identity. The old marquis and the old lady then realized that Yan Xiang still had so many relatives alive. They did not dare to make it public for fear of implicating the marquis's mansion.

The old lady was distressed: "You and your mother, too, kept such a big thing a secret. If you had told us about Tongya's disappearance earlier, maybe we would have helped you find her."

Zong Wenxiu lowered his head and dared not say a word.

At that time, they thought Tongya was just lost, but they didn't expect that she was kidnapped by these people and almost something serious happened.

Xu Wan came to his rescue: "Mother-in-law, it's not a good thing to know too early. This matter may have far-reaching implications. If the prince hadn't stepped in, I'm afraid it would have been difficult for us to rescue Tong Ya."

The old lady finally understood what was going on. She immediately asked Zong Jincheng, "Jincheng, what is going on? How could Tongya implicate so many people? I heard from your grandfather that many officials in the capital were also taken away for investigation. This shows that something big has happened."

Zong Jincheng promised the prince that he could not tell him the details, so he only picked out his perspective and said a little: "We went to the dance studio and saw Tong Ya and wanted to spend money to redeem her. I offered five thousand taels, but she kept raising the price to eight thousand taels, trying to snatch her from us."

The old lady was shocked: "Eight thousand taels for a baby girl? Who is so generous?"

Zong Jincheng nodded wildly and said angrily, "I was wondering which family in the capital is richer than our mansion. Tongya said that the person who was bidding with me would not even pay 8,000 taels to buy someone. He had reserved Tongya in advance, and even if I bid 100,000 taels, I couldn't beat him."