The Emperor frowned and looked at the Prime Minister, asking, "You say you're innocent, then tell me, what did the Third Prince do to wrong you?"
The prime minister suddenly stretched out his hand and pointed at Huang Yingying, who was already terrified and pale, and said, "It's her! It's this woman. This woman is a spy trained by the Third Prince, planted by my side to frame me!"
Upon hearing this, Huang Yingying was so frightened that she collapsed to the ground, covered her mouth, and began to sob.
"Oh? Is that so?" The Emperor felt there was something wrong with what the Prime Minister said, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
Upon hearing the Prime Minister's words, He Shunsu laughed so hard he almost cried. He pointed at Huang Yingying in Xiao Hai's hand and said, "Prime Minister, do you dare repeat what you just said?"
It's understandable that the prime minister would abandon Huang Yingying to protect himself, since she was just one of his concubines and he had had enough of her and wanted to get rid of her.
The prime minister cleared his throat and repeated what he had just said.
He Shunsu pointed at the prime minister and said, "Wang Mingzhi, you were indeed wise all your life but foolish for a moment!"
“If I arrange for a woman to be your concubine, and his brother Huang Pian is so arrogant, wouldn’t I be digging my own grave?” He Shunsu revealed his last trump card.
"Huang Pian?" The prime minister looked at He Shunsu's expression and secretly thought something was wrong.
He glared at Huang Yingying and silently cursed her ancestors for eighteen generations.
"What exactly happened? Wang Mingzhi! Third brother! You two explain yourselves to me! Otherwise, you'll both be dragged out and severely punished!" The Emperor was completely enraged and shouted at the two of them.
"Your Majesty, please calm down! Your Majesty, please calm down!" The civil and military officials beside him, fearing that they would be implicated, hurriedly knelt on the ground and trembled as they spoke.
The Emperor glanced at the civil and military officials beside him and said irritably, "What's it to you! All of you shut up!"
Its intimidating presence caused everyone around to gasp in shock, and all the civil and military officials immediately shut their mouths.
“Your Majesty, I think this is the best thing for Lady Jiang to do!” He Shunsu said, winking at Jiang Ling.
At this moment, the emperor's mind was completely blank. He just wanted someone to explain the whole thing to him, and he didn't care who that person was.
Since He Shunsu said so, he glanced at Jiang Ling kneeling on the ground and said, "Alright, then you speak!"
Jiang Ling nodded, kowtowed to the Emperor again, then turned to the Prime Minister beside her and said, "Prime Minister, I know I was wrong! I apologize to you now in front of His Majesty and kowtow to atone for my sins!"
Jiang Ling kowtowed heavily to the ground with a loud thud.
The prime minister glared at Jiang Ling, wanting to curse her, but with the emperor present, he couldn't say anything. He flicked his sleeves, snorted coldly, and didn't reply.
"Your Excellency, I have made two mistakes. First, I should not have allowed my daughter to stop Huang Pian from forcibly taking my daughter. Second, when Huang Pian retaliated against my daughter, I should not have let Constable Ye of the Six Doors handle the matter." Jiang Ling's words immediately brought everything to a climax.
Upon hearing this, all the civil and military officials began to discuss it animatedly.
"You! You're talking nonsense!" Wang Mingzhi retorted angrily and without restraint.
The Emperor was even more confused upon hearing this. He frowned and looked at Lady Jiang: "What exactly is going on?"
Jiang Ling glanced at He Shunsu, who nodded slightly. Jiang Ling, having made up her mind, said, "Your Majesty, this matter begins when I came to Shengjing. I have a daughter named Jiang Wenxi, who is an apprentice of Constable Ye of the Six Doors. This child is probably used to helping those in need. One day, when Wenxi and I were out, we accidentally witnessed Huang Pian forcibly abducting my daughter. Wenxi stepped in to stop him, but afterwards, Huang Pian held a grudge, tied Wenxi up, locked her in a secret room, and tortured her. Wenxi almost lost her life!"
"After Officer Ye intervened and risked his life to rescue Wenxi from the den of demons, Huang Pian began to retaliate against Officer Ye. Fortunately, the Third Prince happened to pass by and temporarily calmed the matter down!"
"Oh? Is that so?" The Emperor narrowed his eyes as he looked at Wang Mingzhi.
Just as Wang Mingzhi was about to speak, Jiang Ling continued, "Your Majesty, Huang Pian has committed numerous evil deeds, forcibly abducting women and committing all sorts of atrocities. The people are suffering terribly, but because of Huang Pian's status, they dare not speak out against him!"
"What? Because of Huang Pian's status? What status? I want to hear it. Does this mean that Shengjing is already under the control of the Huang family?" The Emperor's anger was evident by the end of his sentence.
Jiang Ling pressed her advantage, saying, "It's all because he has a younger sister named Huang Yingying, who is the current prime minister's concubine!" After saying this, Jiang Ling's eyes turned cold as she pointed at Huang Yingying, who was almost scared to death.
Just then, a commotion broke out outside the hall, and a eunuch ran in anxiously.
He stumbled and ran to the Emperor, immediately kneeling on the ground: "Your Majesty, a large number of people have suddenly gathered outside the gate. They have all come to denounce Huang Pian!"
The Emperor frowned and looked at Jiang Ling, asking, "Jiang, are you here to put pressure on me?"
Jiang Ling shook her head. "Your Majesty, please enlighten us. These people all have grievances and hardships!"
The Emperor squinted and scrutinized Jiang Ling. Jiang Ling felt as if a mountain was pressing down on her, and she tried her best to maintain her composure and not appear flustered.
“Your Majesty, you are a wise ruler. Why not let these people in and hear what they lost?” At the critical moment, the Third Prince He Shunsu suddenly spoke up.
The emperor was now in a bind; it seemed he had no other option but to agree.
"Alright, then I'll listen to the third brother. I want to see what kind of mess you've made!"
Upon hearing this, the little eunuch hurriedly got up and stumbled towards the door.
Before long, a large group of people entered. Judging from their clothes, they probably weren't living very well.
These people were probably seeing the Emperor for the first time, and they all knelt on the ground with their heads down, trembling.
Seeing this, the Emperor coughed lightly and said, "You were so confident outside the door, but now that you've seen me, why is no one saying a word?"
The leader of the villagers, trembling with fear, knelt on the ground and mustered his courage to say, "Your Majesty, please do justice for us! Our daughters have been defiled by that man named Huang Pian!"
"Yes, yes! Long live the Emperor! My daughter was violated by Huang Pian and jumped into the river several times. Now she is mentally unstable and insane!"
"That's right! Your Majesty, please see the truth. We had our only daughter late in life, but one day she was kidnapped by Huang Pian on the street and her whereabouts are still unknown!"
"..."
One bloody incident after another testifies to Huang Pian's past actions.
The Emperor's head was spinning. He rubbed his aching temples and said, "Then why didn't you report it to the authorities? Since the matter is so serious, why didn't you report it to the authorities!"
“It’s not that we don’t want to report it to the authorities, it’s that we dare not! Our neighbor’s daughter also suffered at the hands of Huang Pian before. They reported it to the authorities, and within five days, a fire broke out in their house, and all six members of the family perished!” the people continued.
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