Many officials rushed over upon hearing the news. Seeing the state of the imperial prison, they turned pale and were filled with rage.
At this moment, Lü An continued, "Your Majesty, when the Crown Prince was deposed, Prince Jing had already fled once. He has been to the battlefield, and the loyal men under him are very capable. I'm afraid that if he escapes again this time, he will rebel."
Although he was just a palace attendant, everyone who heard him thought his words made perfect sense.
Therefore, we do not blame him for his overstepping of authority.
After the officials stepped forward and paid their respects to the Emperor, Yan Shizheng, the Minister of Personnel, immediately echoed:
"Your Majesty, Prince Jing dared to escape from prison, which is a heinous crime. Those imprisoned in the Imperial Prison are all death row inmates, yet he released them all."
"What if these criminals kill innocent people and cause chaos outside? It's clear that Prince Jing's rebellious intentions are obvious!"
Prime Minister Ning Hongxi also stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I believe that what Lord Yan said is reasonable."
The other officials looked at each other, remaining silent for a moment.
Yan Shizheng said, "Without the assistance of Princess Jing, His Highness Prince Jing would not have been able to escape. I urge Your Majesty to seize Princess Jing immediately and execute her on the spot as a warning to others!"
"The death of Princess Jing will certainly be a severe blow to His Highness Prince Jing. Moreover, once people outside hear the news, they will not dare to easily follow His Highness Prince Jing in rebellion! Your Majesty, I implore you to execute Princess Jing!"
Yan Shizheng knelt down.
Ning Hongxi knelt down.
Lu An knelt down.
Seeing this, other officials also stepped forward and knelt down to plead.
With red eyes, Consort Cui stepped forward and cried, “Your Majesty, Eunuch Lü was right earlier. Although our son was poisoned before he died, the poison did not kill him. What killed him was Yun Zhuo’s two swords!”
"Even if it is found that our son was poisoned, it cannot absolve Yun Zhuo of the crime of murdering his own brother! Now that Ye Qingxue has assisted Yun Zhuo in escaping from prison, she should be executed. Your Majesty, I beg you to execute Ye Qingxue and hunt down Yun Zhuo, so that our son can rest in peace in the afterlife!"
Cui Cairen also knelt down.
Many people knelt down.
They had only one request: execute Ye Qingxue now, immediately!
The emperor's gaze swept over the crowd and landed on Ye Qingxue. His eyes were as cold as swords, seemingly more scorching than the surrounding light.
Everyone followed the emperor's gaze, waiting for him to make the final decision.
A gentle night breeze dispersed much of the thick smoke and heat.
The air is getting a bit chilly.
The emperor resolved to kill him.
Ye Qingxue suddenly sneered: "The prison was flooded and many people died inside. After you arrived here, your first priority was not to search for Prince Jing's whereabouts, but to have Father Emperor execute me."
"Do you have enough evidence to prove that it was Prince Jing's men who broke into the prison?"
"Or do you have enough evidence to prove that Prince Jing has escaped from prison?"
"Just because the Crown Prince escaped punishment when something happened in the Eastern Palace, do you assume that he escaped from prison?"
"Father and all of you, please remember that Prince Jing fled because he was framed!"
Ye Qingxue's tone was cold and sarcastic, leaving everyone speechless for a moment.
Her gaze swept across the faces of the ministers, finally settling on the Emperor: "Father, please allow your daughter-in-law to personally enter the Imperial Prison to search for Prince Jing's whereabouts! Even if Father and the other officials intend to execute your daughter-in-law, there is no need to rush!"
"Otherwise, if word gets out, outsiders will only think that everything that happened tonight was a deliberate act by someone with the aim of killing my daughter-in-law and Prince Jing."
After bowing to the emperor, Ye Qingxue ignored his icy gaze and turned to leave, her back straight and her posture proud.
Yan Shizheng was furious: "Your Majesty, Princess Jing's actions clearly show that she doesn't respect you!"
Lü An said, "Your Majesty, Lord Yan is absolutely right."
Yan Shizheng: "Your Majesty, we should arrest Princess Jing as soon as possible. She has entered the prison now, claiming to be looking for Prince Jing's whereabouts, but she may be buying time for him."
"Those heinous criminals escaped with Prince Jing, and who knows what harm they will cause to ordinary people. I urge Your Majesty to send people to capture them immediately."
Qiu Shen pursed her lips, then boldly stepped forward and knelt down: "Your Majesty, Princess Consort Jing meant no disrespect. She was simply overly worried about Prince Jing's safety. As Prince Jing's father, Your Majesty must also be worried, right?"
"If it is confirmed that Prince Jing is not inside, it will not be too late for Your Majesty to punish Princess Jing. If you punish her before it is confirmed, it will be difficult to convince the public and it will not be good for Your Majesty's reputation."
The emperor withdrew his gaze from Ye Qingxue's retreating figure and looked at the little maid in front of him, a cold smile spreading across his eyes.
As expected of Ye Qingxue's maid, she had a whole repertoire of threatening words, which made the emperor laugh in exasperation.
He said, "Very well, I'll wait and see whether Prince Jing, Yun Zhuo, is imprisoned in the imperial prison or has escaped. Cui Shao, take men in to help Princess Jing search!"
Ye Qingxue had already entered the Heavenly Prison.
There were signs of burning everywhere.
The wooden fence was charred and broken into pieces. The tables and chairs where the guards had sat were also burned beyond recognition and were lying askew.
The temperature inside is much higher than outside.
Although she had called Zhuang Xin over in advance to prepare, she was still worried when she didn't see Yun Zhuo alive. After all, the fire was so big, there was no exit from the prison, and even the window was so small that it would be too difficult to escape.
Moreover, she only guessed that someone would take action against Yun Zhuo, and did not guess that the other party would set fire to the Heavenly Prison.
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