It had only been an hour since this morning, how did Master Lin know about this? Hearing that his grandson was also involved, his brows furrowed deeply.
"I am a humble woman and I have seen His Majesty. Long live the emperor."
Shen Qingqiu and the others were brought to the main hall, and they first bowed to the emperor. The emperor snorted coldly, and did not ask them to stand up. Instead, he summoned the officials from the Jingji Prefecture government office and Lin Xuanfeng into the hall.
"The Gyeonggi Prefecture reported that the clan of Yang Zhengwen, the top scholar, had stolen things from the Imperial Palace. Do you have solid evidence?"
The official from the Jingji Prefecture Yamen was already sweating profusely. Logically speaking, he was not allowed to come to the palace. Thanks to the gentleman from the Yamen who handled the case, he was put in jail once, but this was not a good thing. He could not afford to offend anyone in the palace.
Therefore, he could only take a trembling look at the master of their Jingji Prefecture Yamen.
He was the one who caused the trouble, how would he know what happened?
Lin Xuanfeng stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, yesterday morning, when I and my colleagues were patrolling the streets, we found Liu's servant Cui carrying treasures that were not suitable for her status on the streets. We wanted to ask her briefly, but Cui looked unusual. I realized something was wrong and immediately led everyone to arrest Cui. After checking, we found that the jewelry she was wearing was all from the palace!"
The emperor's face was filled with rage, and he only said, "Go on."
Lin Xuanfeng said, "I have interrogated Cui, and Cui quickly confessed that she got the stolen goods from the Liu family's storehouse. She pointed to someone with her eyes. After the Qionglin Banquet that day, the top scholar returned to the Liu family in a panic, and he and his cousin Liu repeatedly went to the streets. Cui thought that the treasures were stolen by the Liu family, and she also had the intention of stealing. She thought that even if she stole a few, they would not dare to make it public."
Although Lin Xuanfeng came from the Lin family, a prominent family, he was not good at writing. Instead, he entered the government office in the capital, and was considered a rare gem among the noble sons of the capital.
But he was a genius when it came to solving cases, and he could explain everything clearly in just a few sentences.
After hearing this, the emperor looked at Yang Zhengwen coldly and said, "My number one scholar, do you have anything to refute?"
Yang Zhengwen said, "If you want to accuse someone, you can always find a pretext." Then he kowtowed to the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, please look carefully. Although I am qualified to enter the harem for the Qionglin Night Banquet, the palace is guarded by a forest. How could I have the opportunity to enter and steal treasures? Moreover, I am a civil servant and do not know martial arts. How could I have hidden it from the imperial guards and escaped unscathed?"
"You don't know martial arts, but your niece knows a lot about it!!" A clear yet majestic female voice came from the side.
Everyone looked over and saw the Queen walking quickly towards the store in her court dress, with Princess Qingping and the Crown Prince on her left and right.
"Queen, what are you doing here?" The emperor seemed displeased.
The queen bowed her head and apologized in a low voice, "The harem is not allowed to interfere in government affairs. According to the rules of our ancestors, I should not appear in the palace as the queen." After a moment, the queen looked up again, "But I came here as a victim. Your Majesty, do you still remember this piece of jade?"
Princess Changping next to her lifted up the tray, on which was a piece of blood jade. Under the light of the hall, blood was flowing, and it seemed to be alive, which showed how precious it was.
The emperor took a closer look and said, "This is a treasure handed down from the Pei family. I remember that you, the queen, wore one when you entered the palace."
Empress Pei said, "It is my treasure, but the emperor remembered it wrongly. When I entered the palace, I brought not only one piece, but a pair of jades. In my opinion, this jade is not only precious, but also has the function of praying for blessings. My father gave it to me in the hope that I and the emperor and empress would get along well and the country would be peaceful and prosperous. But now, half of the jade is missing."
Empress Pei glanced down and said, "I also heard that there was a piece of jade among the stolen goods brought back by the government office in Jingji Prefecture, so I came here to ask for clarification."
Lin Xuanfeng stepped forward and said, "There is a piece of blood jade with the word Pei engraved on it. It is the same as the one your majesty has. After understanding the case, I will definitely bring it back to your majesty's palace."
"This blood jade is a treasure, and he dared to steal it into the inner palace and put it on the head of the Empress. This thief has evil ambitions. Your Majesty, he must be severely punished!" Princess Changping said, "How can the champion say no? Although you don't know martial arts, there are many people around you who do!"
"Your Majesty, do you still remember that this little girl once broke into my Changping Princess's Mansion at night, and not only did she enter without anyone around, she also humiliated me several times among the hundreds of guards in my mansion!" Changping pointed at Shen Qingqiu angrily.
Shen Qingqiu also raised his head slightly, looking at her with a mocking look.
Seeing her expression, Changping became even more angry, "You don't even know you're about to die! Do you think this palace is my princess's residence and I'll let you barge in?! Where's the chief guard? Capture this witch!"
Shen Qingqiu sneered but didn't say anything. Gu Yong above him said indifferently, "How could this Marquis not know that the emperor is not in charge of the palace now, but the princess, and whatever you say is the final say?"
Princess Changping's heart suddenly stopped. She was so eager to kill the Liu family that she forgot the most important rules. She looked up and saw that the emperor was indeed looking at her gloomily. She quickly bowed her head and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I have overstepped the boundaries."
The emperor's grace cannot be challenged. In the past, the emperor would have punished him severely. But today, he had no time to deal with these trivial matters. He just glanced at Changping coldly and then looked away. "Marquis Gu said that the princess has no rules. Did Marquis Gu put my rules in appreciation?"
The people kneeling in the hall are all relatives of Marquis Gu! Even if he jumps into the Yellow River, he can't wash himself clean! "As everyone knows, my fiancée is a weak woman who can't even tie a chicken, and my daughter is not even ten years old this year. Isn't it ridiculous for you to say this, Princess?"
"My Lord, isn't what you said ridiculous? How many people in my Princess's Mansion saw her break into my Princess's Mansion that day? How did I get this scar on my nose?" Princess Changping sneered, "Why, now that there are witnesses and evidence, my Lord, you still want to protect them?"
Gu Yong was about to laugh, "Evidence, Princess, where is the evidence?"
Changping felt that Gu Yong was at his wit's end and was still pretending to be mysterious. "The blood jade has been found, and the witness was a servant in your house. What else can you say?"
"Why not bring the witness up for interrogation?" Gu Yong said.
Changping felt something was wrong, but looking at Gu Yong's arrogant face, he felt that he was doing it on purpose. "That's great. I think a pillar of the country like Lord Gu will not be biased after the case is investigated!"
Gu Yong smiled, and Shen Qingqiu, who was kneeling with his head down, also curled his lips slightly.
To say that this princess has a vicious mind is vicious, but she is also arrogant, and being too arrogant is stupid.
Soon, Aunt Cui was called in. She had been in the prison cell of the Jingji Prefecture Office not long ago. In addition, Lin Xuanfeng's rule was relatively clean and fair, so she did not suffer much bullying. Therefore, she looked a little more embarrassed than usual. She knelt on the ground with a plop, paid homage to the emperor, and then stood up tremblingly.
"Ms. Cui, please confess the truth about this case!" said Princess Changping.
Aunt Cui glanced at the princess who was looking at her confidently, and her teeth clenched, hatred coming over her for no reason, "It's you! It's you!" She pointed her finger at Princess Changping, "You are the one who caused all this! It was you who asked me to frame the number one scholar, and you also asked me to put all these things into the warehouse! Your Majesty, Your Majesty, it was the princess who asked me to do everything, I beg Your Majesty to have mercy and spare my life!"
Changping's eyes suddenly widened, "Cui, what nonsense are you talking about!!"
Cui prostrated herself on the ground, "I still have some silver given by the princess at home. They are all from the princess's mansion, and they all have inscriptions on them!"
The emperor's brows were tightly knitted together. Shen Qingqiu raised his head and looked at Princess Changping mockingly, and then silently lip-synced, "Seeking death."
This instantly angered Princess Changping again, "Your Majesty, it must be her, she must have framed me! As a servant in her mansion, naturally what she says is what counts!"
The emperor was already very annoyed. He never thought of using this incident to trip up Gu Yong. He just wanted to give him a warning. But now there are so many eyes watching in the court and the hall... Don't you think he doesn't know what Changping did? He did it and couldn't even stop it! "Your Majesty, I have led people to the Princess's Mansion..." Gu Yong clapped his hands, and a group of people came in and threw a bundle to Lin Xuanfeng, "Mr. Lin, please check whether the things in the Princess's Mansion are the same as those found in Cui's house."
"Your Majesty, they framed me. This little witch is vicious—"
Shen Qingqiu started to cry, rubbing his red eyes and crying in Liu's arms, unable to straighten up, "Mom, she scolded me, I was so scared..."
Everyone: ...
Look at the tall and strong princess with a vicious face, and then look at the pitiful child who is less than ten years old and crying? ? "Is the princess angry because I accidentally scratched her face when I was looking for you... Wuwuwu, who told her to lock you up..."
"You!!!" Changping was furious and rushed over to hit her, but was suddenly pulled down by Gu Yong and staggered.
"Gu Yong! How dare you attack this county lord!"
"Shut up!" Seeing that the hall was about to fall into chaos, the emperor said with a headache, "Come on, the princess is suffering from a serious illness, take her away!" Although Changping was unwilling, he was still dragged away.
There was no expression on Gu Yong's face, but he was sneering in his heart.
The same goes for Shen Qingqiu. If they had stolen, they would have been interrogated. Even if the charges did not match, they would have been beheaded. But what if it was the princess who was suffering from a serious illness?
Is such a king and such a court still worth defending? "Your Majesty, this case has not been investigated thoroughly yet—" Lin Xuanfeng stepped out, "There are still many twists and turns in this case that have not been investigated clearly, and if the princess is really framed..."
"I said, the princess is suffering from a serious illness, Lin Xuanfeng, don't you understand?!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
