Chapter 263 Delay, Shen Chu's Counterattack
Shen Chu gave a half-smile.
"Your Highness, I did not mention Li Ming. How do you know that it is Li Ming who is raising a private army?"
The crown prince's pupils contracted slightly, and a hint of tension flashed in his eyes.
The Longqing Emperor gave a cold snort, causing the Crown Prince to tremble instinctively and quickly say:
"I was reporting to the Emperor about Li Ming when you came in at this time. You must be talking about something related to Li Ming, right? Am I wrong?"
Shen Chu lowered her eyes and did not answer the Crown Prince's question directly, but instead continued to report to Emperor Longqing.
“Last night, I followed Li Ming and discovered that he was raising more than 10,000 soldiers in Leigong Mountain.”
Not only that, I also heard Li Ming say that he was acting on the Crown Prince's orders to burn me to death in the Li family.
Even the raising of a private army, Li Ming himself said, was done on the orders of His Highness the Crown Prince.
"I do not know where I have offended the Crown Prince, and I implore Your Majesty to uphold justice for me."
The Crown Prince's expression changed drastically. "Nonsense! You're spouting nonsense! I never ordered him to burn you alive, nor did I ever order him to keep a private army."
It is clearly Li Ming who is utterly rebellious, deliberately using someone else's name to frame me.
Just as Shen Chu had predicted.
As expected, the Crown Prince pinned all the blame on Li Ming.
Anyway, Li Ming is dead, so there's no way to verify the truth.
The crown prince knelt on the ground, sobbing and lamenting his grievances.
“Father, I had previously seen that Li Ming was diligent in his work, so I treated him with some kindness. Who would have thought that he would be such a wolf in sheep's clothing?”
Not only did he set fire to and harm the sixth prince and Lord Shen, but he also dared to raise a private army and push all the blame onto me.
"Your Majesty, I am innocent! If Lord Shen had truly offended me, as the Crown Prince, I could have punished him directly. Why would I have gone to such lengths to have Li Ming burn him alive?"
Prime Minister Feng sighed, knelt down, and pleaded:
"During His Majesty's absence from the capital, His Highness the Crown Prince has worked tirelessly day and night, fearing that any detail might be mishandled and cause His Majesty worry upon his return."
In my opinion, this incident was clearly orchestrated by Li Ming to sow discord between Your Majesty and the Crown Prince.
Your Majesty must not be deceived by such petty tricks.
Emperor Longqing sat at the head of the table, his gaze shifting from Chief Minister Feng to the Crown Prince.
After a long pause, he asked calmly:
"So, all of this was done by Li Ming? And has nothing to do with the Crown Prince?"
The Crown Prince prostrated himself on the ground and wept bitterly, "Father, please understand, I am truly wronged! I am loyal to you, and Heaven is my witness!"
However, this incident occurred during my time acting as regent, and it not only nearly resulted in the deaths of my sixth brother and Lord Shen, but also disturbed my father's peace.
"It was my fault for misjudging people and for not acting decisively enough. I beg Your Majesty to punish me."
Emperor Longqing twirled the jade thumb ring on his hand without saying a word.
The hall fell silent once again.
After a long while, Emperor Longqing raised his hand and said in a calm voice, "Your Highness, you have worked hard overseeing the country. Please stand up and speak."
The crown prince breathed a sigh of relief and stood up after expressing his gratitude.
The moment he stood up, he gave Chen Chu a victorious smile.
As Chen Chu gripped the drill, he feigned indignation and shouted:
"Your Majesty, I believe there are still many suspicious aspects to this matter. I urge Your Majesty to issue an order for a thorough investigation."
The Crown Prince spoke first: "If you, Lord Shen, find anything suspicious, please speak up. I will cooperate with you to investigate thoroughly."
"I have no grudge against Li Ming, so why would he suddenly burn me to death with kerosene?"
The Crown Prince snorted, "I'm afraid only Li Ming knows this. However, I heard that Lord Shen had a dispute with General Li's beloved daughter before. Perhaps General Li wants to avenge his daughter."
Or perhaps, young Master Shen, your reckless actions may have offended someone unknowingly.
That's utter nonsense.
Shen Chu said, "Li Ming also said that there was a treasure underground in the Ning'an Marquis's mansion back then, and he transported those treasures out and presented them to His Highness the Crown Prince."
The Crown Prince sneered, "Everyone in the Ning'an Marquis's mansion is dead. Does he think there's a treasure just because he says there is one?"
Even if there were truly treasures, I have never accepted any wealth from Li Ming.
Perhaps Li Ming used the treasure to support his private army, and a considerable amount of gold and silver jewelry was found in his home; it might just be the remaining treasure.
At this point, the prince gave a forced smile and turned the tables on the prince.
"I know that Lord Shen was frightened, but this matter has nothing to do with me."
Lord Shen is so persistent in dragging this matter into my hands. I'm really curious, what exactly are you trying to do to seek justice for yourself?
Or is it because of some prince, trying to frame me with a fabricated crime and bring me down from my horse?
"I did not." Shen Chu's expression changed slightly.
The crown prince sneered, "Nothing is best."
After saying that, seeing that Chen Chu's face was stiff and her expression was ugly, the Crown Prince's eyes flashed with a hint of smugness, but then he felt a little regretful.
When the two bodies were carried out of the fire, he genuinely thought that Pei Yuan and Shen Chu had been burned to death.
Before they could even celebrate, his informant planted in the Li family reported that Li Xiuchun had sent two servants to deal with Li Anning.
After the fire started, Li Anning ran out of the fire, but the two servants were nowhere to be found.
They suspected that the two corpses that were carried out were two servants sent out by Li Xiuchun.
Upon hearing this news, the uncle immediately sensed something was wrong.
To transport the treasure, the Li family's underground passages were intricate and complex. If Pei Yuan and Shen Chu had fallen into one of these passages, they would have easily discovered their secret.
Li Ming cannot stay.
He immediately sent someone to inform Li Ming to leave through the secret passage and go to the private army camp, where he was instructed to personally deal with another general in the camp, Wang Liang.
Wang Liang and Li Ming were the only two who knew that the private army camp's master was his man. He killed Wang Liang, then shot Li Ming, and pinned everything on Li Ming.
The only regret is that after years of training, the soldiers were lost before they could even be put to use.
But my uncle is right, at this point we have no choice but to sacrifice a pawn to save the king.
Fortunately, they acted quickly, and even though Shen Chu destroyed the private army camp, he didn't find any evidence against them.
Although the emperor had his suspicions, he had no evidence and could not depose him as crown prince.
Thinking of this, the Crown Prince's originally gloomy mood improved a lot, and he looked at Chen Chu with a hint of smugness.
Once things have calmed down, he will definitely make Shen Chu pay the price.
At that moment, a palace attendant's voice came from outside the door, "Your Majesty, the Marquis of Changning requests an audience."
Chen Chu breathed a sigh of relief. They've finally arrived. It wasn't for nothing that she had spent so much time and effort to stall them.
To everyone's surprise, the Longqing Emperor frowned and said, "I'm busy right now, what's he doing here? I won't see him."
Chen Chu...
She advised, "It's only just dawn, and the Marquis of Changning has come to see you. It must be something urgent. Your Majesty might as well listen to his advice."
The Longqing Emperor gave him a deep look, then waved his hand, "Very well, let him in."
Marquis Changning staggered in, fell to his knees with a thud, and burst into tears.
"Your Majesty, please save me! I don't want to see anyone crying like this anymore. I was wrong, I will never do it again."
The Longqing Emperor was completely bewildered.
"What do you mean by crying with your head in your hands? Marquis of Changning, get up and answer me."
"No, no, I am not worthy to rise. I will remain kneeling."
Marquis Changning shook his head like a rattle drum, and shouted repeatedly in white:
"Your Majesty, the treasure beneath the Marquis of Anning's residence has been handed over to the Crown Prince and Chief Minister Feng. I truly haven't touched it at all."
The Crown Prince and Chief Minister Feng's expressions changed drastically.
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