Chapter 279: 100 Floggings
"Have you seen His Royal Highness Prince Xuan?"
Early in the morning, people's doors were knocked on and questioned one by one.
Before long, the news that His Royal Highness Prince Xuan was missing spread throughout the capital.
When we do business, eat, visit relatives and friends, or even squat together, the first question we ask is:
"Have you seen His Royal Highness Prince Xuan?"
It's impossible for a living person to disappear without any reason.
Some people speculated that His Royal Highness Prince Xuan suddenly regretted the engagement, so he escaped from the battlefield.
Some people even speculated that Xie Zhuoning was possessed by the Yellow Fairy and became beastly and ate the person.
Those who are a little more rational are wondering whether His Royal Highness Prince Xuan has made an enemy with someone.
Finally, a rumor came from nowhere, saying that His Royal Highness Prince Xuan was actually captured by His Royal Highness Prince Yong and locked up in the Yufusi!
The common people were not happy with this and rushed to the gate of the police station, demanding that the person be released.
In the court, a group of people, led by the Minister of Personnel Cui Wen and assisted by Yang Fangwen and others, also stood up and asked Prince Yong to explain to the court officials about the capture of His Royal Highness Prince Xuan.
King Yong looked at the aggressive group of people and narrowed his eyes viciously, "What do you want to do? Do you want to rebel?"
Prime Minister Sima and his party of the prince suffered a loss at the hands of Prince Yong yesterday, so naturally they would not let go of the opportunity today.
"Your Highness Prince Yong is wrong. They just want a reasonable explanation. Instead of getting angry and embarrassed, why don't you tell me why you want to arrest His Highness Prince Xuan?"
There are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Sima, who had stood on his side and forced Xiao Jinxuan to hand over the Yufusi, now stood on Xiao Jinxuan's side and started to make trouble for him.
Prince Yong sneered, "There is a traitor in the Yufu Department. Prince Xuan, the former head of the department, is to blame. I just asked him to cooperate with the investigation. Is that not possible?"
"Since he is cooperating with the investigation, then His Royal Highness Prince Xuan is not a criminal. Why would His Royal Highness Prince Yong detain him and not return home all night, causing his relatives and friends to worry and report to the authorities? Why did His Royal Highness Prince Xuan not even attend the morning court today?"
Cui Wen was well-known for his boldness, so no matter who the opponent was, he would do what he said.
Prince Yong was speechless for a moment, then turned around and became angry again, "Who are you to dare to question me?"
Cui Wen was not afraid. "I am an official appointed by the imperial court of Daye. Even if it is His Majesty, I have the responsibility to give advice! Your Highness Prince Yong, please release Your Highness Prince Xuan immediately!"
"What if I refuse to let you go?"
"Does His Royal Highness Prince Yong want to cover the sky with one hand?"
Narrowing his eyes coldly, Prince Yong said in a rebellious tone, "So what if I cover it up!"
Emperor Zhaowen is terminally ill, and the crown prince has locked himself up in the Eastern Palace, unable to take care of himself. Now that Xiao Jinxuan is in his hands, who else can compete with him?
When the court officials heard his outrageous words, they were immediately filled with indignation.
Cui Wen was even more direct, "Your Highness Prince Yong, don't forget that you are only assisting the emperor in governing the country! Are you trying to usurp the throne by overstepping your authority like this?"
Although everyone knew each other's intentions, no one dared to point them out so clearly.
Prince Yong had been displeased with Cui Wen for a long time. If it weren't for him, how could his trusted general Ren Yuanjie be pulled down from the position of Minister of Personnel?
"Even if it is usurpation, it is not just this one or two times. Even if I am usurping the throne again today, so what? Come here, Minister of Personnel Cui Wen is committing treason, arrest him for me!"
Yu Linjun immediately rushed into the court and arrested Cui Wen.
All the civil and military officials were shocked and speechless.
A dignified second-rank official could capture him just by saying so.
Without the Crown Prince's restraint, Prince Yong acted really wildly!
Some people were about to speak, but King Yong just said, "If anyone dares to say anything again, he will suffer the same fate as you!"
In an instant, the court fell silent.
Even Prime Minister Sima and others did not dare to say a word.
King Yong raised his eyebrows and scanned the ugly faces of the people. Just as he was feeling proud, he heard an unexpected voice -
"I have only been unconscious for a few days. Has the throne of Daye been taken by someone else?"
The voice spread throughout the court, carrying the majestic aura of a superior.
Everyone reacted immediately, shaking with excitement, "Your Majesty... It's Your Majesty!"
In the court, everyone fell to their knees immediately.
"This is impossible..." Prince Yong couldn't believe it was true.
He placed a lot of people in the Imperial Medical Bureau, and every imperial physician said that there was no possibility that Emperor Zhaowen would wake up again.
But now, not only is he awake, he even looks more energetic than before!
Emperor Zhaowen walked up to Prince Yong, stood on the jade steps, and looked down at him. "Why? Prince Yong doesn't seem to welcome me? Or does he not take me, the emperor, seriously at all?"
After gritting his teeth, Prince Yong knelt down and saluted, "Your humble servant, I pay my respects to Your Majesty. Your Majesty must be joking. I was just too surprised and didn't react for a moment."
When the detained Cui Wen saw Emperor Zhaowen, he immediately shouted, "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness Prince Xuan is innocent! Please order Prince Yong to release His Royal Highness Prince Xuan!"
During these days, Emperor Zhaowen had already been aware of the changes in the court situation.
His eyes swept over Cui Wen, then returned to Prince Yong, "Does Prince Yong have anything to say?"
Prince Yong immediately defended himself, "Your Majesty is wise. There was a traitor in the Yufu Department. I just wanted to clean up the mess, so I had no choice but to detain Prince Xuan."
I thought this explanation was perfect, but I saw Emperor Zhaowen's face turned cold, "The Yufusi is directly under me. Even if there is a traitor, it is not your turn to deal with it? Why, seeing that I am unconscious, you can't wait to take the Yufusi for yourself? If I don't wake up today, will you also take the throne?"
With such a serious crime pressed down upon him, Prince Yong immediately lowered his head and frowned, "I dare not do it."
Emperor Zhaowen glanced at him, raised his hand and ordered his men to release Cui Wen, and then ordered the chief eunuch beside him, "Mingying, go and bring Prince Xuan into the palace yourself. Anyone who obstructs will be killed without mercy!"
“Yeah.”
During this period, Emperor Zhaowen did not ask Prince Yong to stand up, but let him kneel like that until Li Mingying brought Prince Xuan into the palace.
When everyone looked at Xiao Jinxuan, they couldn't help but take a deep breath.
He was wearing only a moon-white undershirt, with bloody whip marks all over his chest and back.
Some of the flesh is even turned inside out, and the bones are visible!
When he saw Emperor Zhaowen sitting on the dragon throne, he smiled as if relieved.
"Your Majesty, I have failed to live up to your trust..."
As soon as he finished speaking, he fainted.
Wei Zhao, who followed, rushed forward to support his own prince, and told him the truth through gritted teeth -
"Your Majesty, our master knew that the Ministry of Protection would not be able to defend itself without you. So he transferred all the important files in advance. But I didn't expect that His Royal Highness Prince Yong would be so cruel to our master in order to get those files!"
"In order to keep his mouth shut, I had to endure round after round of torture, which led to this fate!"
"Please, Your Majesty, make the decision for our master!"
Emperor Zhaowen looked at Xiao Jinxuan's figure, his eyes moved slightly, and his heart was moved.
When he first established the Yufu Company, he let his seventeenth brother take over.
Not only did he do it, he did it well.
Even though he knew there was a high chance that he would not wake up, he still stuck to his original intention.
"Come here, take King Xuan down for treatment immediately. If you can't cure him, I will punish you!"
"yes."
Someone came in immediately and carried Xiao Jinxuan down.
Although Emperor Zhaowen did not explicitly say what kind of reward he would give Prince Xuan, anyone with a discerning eye could see that Prince Xuan had completely won the emperor's favor and would definitely receive many benefits in the future.
Then, Emperor Zhaowen's gaze fell on Prince Yong again, and it was cold and eerie, like a winter sky in the last month.
"Pass on my decree. Prince Yong has abused his power and murdered innocent people. Effective immediately, he will be stripped of his power to govern the country!"
"Also, since you don't care about the brotherhood, don't blame me for being rude to you, my Seventeenth Brother. Come, tie Prince Yong to the Xingtai and flog him 100 times to serve as a warning to others!"