Chapter 1610 - 1612: I Have Evidence
"Father Emperor, I have evidence, I have brought it all, please take a look..."
That day, Prince Le and the Emperor talked for a long time inside.
It was almost dark when Prince Le finally emerged from the Imperial Study, and the eunuchs noticed that Prince Le’s eyes were swollen like peaches.
After Prince Le departed, the Emperor summoned two imperial physicians, and soon angered voices could be heard coming from the Imperial Study.
A quarter-hour after the physicians left, another decree was issued, dethroning the Eldest Imperial Prince, Prince Ning, and ordering him to be immediately detained at the House of the Imperial Clan.
The public was in an uproar; people from the Eldest Imperial Prince’s faction rushed into the palace overnight but didn’t even get to see the Emperor.
Reluctantly, they had to wait until the next day’s court session.
In the court, people from the Eldest Imperial Prince’s faction knelt in a row, each pleading for leniency, yet they randomly begged for mercy without knowing what had happened.
The Emperor grew angry again, immediately reprimanding two ministers.
As the leader of the Eldest Imperial Prince’s faction, the Prime Minister watched as things went awry on his side while the Third Prince’s side remained unscathed, thinking that if things were bad, they should be bad for everyone.
Thus he petitioned!
"Emperor, I have something to report!"
The Emperor, assuming he was here to plead for the Eldest Imperial Prince, directly retorted, "He poisoned me, should I spare him?" It was a deadly poison from Shandong, living death sort, if it weren’t for the physicians detecting anomalies in his pulse, how could he not be furious?
Luckily, Second, timid and fearful of death, came to expose him; otherwise, wouldn’t he be waiting for death?
The Emperor’s words left the court in a stunned silence, and Baili Yan knew this matter was related to Prince Le.
Indeed, the next words the Emperor said were, "Back then, the Fancy Red Pavilion incident was masterminded by him! Such a vicious person is unworthy to be a member of the imperial family."
Upon hearing this, Lord Prime Minister was shocked and, recalling Prince Le kneeling outside the hall the previous day, immediately understood what was going on.
But now was not the time to discuss this yet, and given the Emperor’s current fury, it was not appropriate to bring it up.
Composing himself, he continued, "Emperor, I am not here to plead for Prince Ning, I am here to denounce someone."
"Oh? You’re here to denounce someone too?" The Emperor, with a hint of a smile, looked at him, yet only his close eunuch knew that smile bore extreme coldness, as the monkey scattered when the tree fell, it seemed the people close to the Eldest were not loyal either.
"Yes, but the one I am denouncing is not Prince Ning, but the Prefect of Shandong, Ye Zi’an."
"Him again? What has he done now?" Upon hearing his name, the Emperor’s anger slightly subsided.
"Ye Zi’an instructed his wife to have half of Shandong’s cemeteries dug up, especially ancient tombs, and not only in Shandong, but in other places as well. This has already incited public outrage in Shandong, and in the Capital City there are also widespread denunciations. Such immoral and heinous acts are intolerable."
"Emperor, I have heard of this matter as well. Now it is widely spread all over the Capital City," the Minister of Ministry of Personnel also spoke up, "Emperor, a punishment must be made, otherwise it’s hard to quell the public’s anger."
"Nonsense!" Old Mu grew anxious, "Are you people just full and bored every day? If you’re really so bored, go home and embrace your women. Why do you keep picking on my nephew? Do you think it’s easy for my nephew to become an official? What’s wrong with you people?"
"Father Emperor!" Baili Yan also stepped forward, "There is a reason for this, during the mass poisoning incident in Shandong, one of the antidote’s required herbs is the corpse flower, which grows on human bones. Digging graves was forced under those circumstances, human lives are more important than the dead."
"However, despite that, the public still cannot understand."