Chapter 421 Everyone Feels Insecure
"Your humble servant is here."
It wasn't until the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review and the Minister of Justice stepped forward that everyone slowly turned their attention to the Xuan paper scattered all over the ground.
Could it be that the Crown Prince has committed some heinous crime? Otherwise, given the Crown Prince's status, killing someone wouldn't warrant the summoning of the Minister of Justice and the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, even if he were guilty!
"The Crown Prince is incompetent and corrupt, harming his subordinates, seizing other men's wives, embezzling and accepting bribes to exploit the people, and most despicable of all, he also maintains a private army. The Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice are hereby ordered to jointly try this case."
The emperor has now completely denied the crown prince any chance to recover. If the emperor still wanted to give the crown prince another chance, he would never have exposed so many of the crown prince's crimes in front of so many people.
"Your humble servant obeys the decree."
The Minister of Justice and the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review were completely bewildered. What was going on? They had just fabricated this story.
You should know that all of these people came to participate in the baby's third-day celebration, or at least to join in the fun. But unexpectedly, before the baby's third-day celebration was over, the prince was sued.
Lu Youming sat in his seat, not at all surprised by what had happened today. He was the one who suggested that the Crown Prince keep a private army, and he was also responsible for Lu Yuanbin finding out about it. So, in the end, everything was under his control.
"Father, what should we do with the child?"
Since Lu Yuanbin stepped forward today, he never intended to give the Crown Prince any chance to turn things around. If he hadn't obtained evidence of the Crown Prince selling official positions and exploiting the people in the past two days, Lu Yuanbin really wouldn't have dared to expose these things so soon.
Upon hearing the mention of children, the emperor seemed to suddenly remember why everyone was gathered there.
He didn't want to admit he was a joke, treating a child of unknown origin like a grandson, but he couldn't do nothing under the watchful eyes of everyone.
With a quick glance, the emperor made his decision: "Blood test to determine kinship."
As soon as the emperor finished speaking, people immediately went to prepare things. Only then did the crown prince belatedly turn around and shout to the emperor, "Father, I know I was wrong. I will never dare to do it again. Please forgive me this time. I will definitely do my job well in the future and never make you angry."
The Crown Prince's words were too weak. It was one thing for a Crown Prince to be incompetent, but for him to be crying and sobbing in front of so many people made the Emperor feel that he had completely disgraced the Emperor.
How did my child, whom I raised with my own hands, turn out like this?
The emperor, his face cold, was finally greeted by the person who had prepared the blood-dropping test equipment. "Your Majesty, it's ready."
The eunuch answered, and amidst the prince's unwilling fuss, his hand was cut. Then a child cried out, and the child's hand was also cut. A drop of blood was poured into a bowl of water, and instantly the two drops of blood swirled and stopped.
"No, this is impossible, this is impossible."
The Crown Prince still refused to believe that the child was not his. Li Yingxue had clearly stated that she had never shared a room with a guard, so what was the situation with this child?
The emperor could no longer stand it. The royal family today was a laughing stock, not only for the officials but for the whole world.
A prince, not only did he force himself on another man's woman, but he was also cuckolded by her, directly tainting the royal bloodline. Even a rough, uncouth man from the mountains would find this unacceptable, let alone the royal family, whom one should never offend.
"Your Majesty, what should we do with this child?"
Seeing the emperor's grim expression and glancing at the still-crying child, the eunuch was at a loss for what to do.
"Let him go with his biological parents!"
The emperor has lost face today, partly because of the crown prince and partly because of this child who is only three days old.
Of course, the crown prince is the emperor's son, and a favored one at that. Even if he makes a serious mistake, the emperor is reluctant to punish him. So, naturally, the emperor wants to vent his anger on someone else's son.
And this child naturally became the target of the emperor's anger. Since he wanted to confuse his royal bloodline, then he might as well just kill him!
Many officials naturally disagreed with the emperor's decision. Although the emperor had lost face today, it was his own son's doing; the child was just a nursing infant, and from any perspective, he shouldn't have lost his life for it.
Sympathetic glances swept across the child's face, and under everyone's watchful eyes, the child was escorted out of the hall.
Immediately afterwards, a group of imperial guards stepped forward and escorted the crown prince directly to the imperial prison.
Although the emperor did not say he wanted to detain the crown prince, he kept his eyes down and remained indifferent. With this kind of attitude, who would dare to ask the emperor whether or not to take down the crown prince?
The emperor has already said that the case will be investigated and handled. If the crown prince is still living in the crown prince's residence, how can the two families handle the case?
"Father, I have something else to report."
The Fifth Prince wanted to deliver another blow without leaving any room for maneuver, but the Emperor simply gave him a cold glance.
"My beloved ministers, you may all return now!"
After finishing his speech, the emperor didn't even glance at the Fifth Prince, Lu Yuanbin, and left with his entourage of palace servants.
Lu Youming glanced at Lu Yuanbin, then followed him out of the palace. The emperor had already made up his mind to deal with the crown prince, yet Lu Yuanbin still wanted to kick him while he was down. This would naturally change the emperor's opinion of him.
Even so, Lu Youming dared not underestimate Lu Yuanbin. After all, even though he had been by the Crown Prince's side for many years, he had never known about those pieces of evidence. He wondered where Lu Yuanbin had gotten them from.
"Could it be her?!"
For some reason, a figure flashed through Lu Youming's mind—a figure he both loved and hated.
After a fleeting thought, Lu Youming immediately dismissed it. If it really was her, Lu Youming couldn't bear to imagine what kind of person she was.
The Crown Prince's fall from grace caused a huge uproar in the capital. Not to mention those who had sold official positions to the Crown Prince, they were all living in fear, and even those who were close to him were now feeling insecure.
This was only the situation outside the court. Inside the court, those who were loyal to the Crown Prince began to choose new positions and all leaned towards Lu Yuanbin.
Of course, some wiser individuals didn't make a decision so quickly. Although the Crown Prince had no hope of turning things around this time, who could guarantee that Lu Yuanbin wouldn't be the next Crown Prince? Thinking back to Lu Yuanbin's last words that day, some couldn't help but observe and wait.
As for the inner palace, the empress was originally happy that her son had given birth to the eldest prince, but little did she know that her happiness would last only half a day before her son was imprisoned.
No one understood the Heavenly Prison better than the Empress. During the struggle for the throne, many of His Majesty's brothers died in the Heavenly Prison.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
