ebookland Chapter 116 The Prince's Methods
Chapter 116 The Prince's Methods
Zhang Ji kept shouting his injustice when he was imprisoned in the Dali Temple! He did not admit that he had whipped the Eighth Princess! He just said that after the wedding, the Eighth Princess had not consummated the marriage with him, and he was angry and ignored the Eighth Princess!
Later, the virtuous king caught a servant in the virtuous king's mansion. According to the servant's confession, he was bribed by Zhang Ji with silver. On that day, he knocked the Eighth Princess unconscious in the backyard of the virtuous king's mansion, fed her with Hehuan powder, and lit a love incense in the house. Then he notified Zhang Ji to come and destroy the Eighth Princess's innocence, forcing the Eighth Princess to marry Zhang Ji!
Zhang Ji was horrified by this person's identification. He kept shouting, "I am being wronged! I don't recognize this person at all! That day, I was knocked unconscious in the bamboo forest of the Xianwang Mansion, and later I don't know who threw me on the Eighth Princess's bed!"
At this time, a tall man wearing a bamboo hat entered the Dali Temple. He stood outside the cell where Zhang Ji was imprisoned and said coldly to Dali Temple Minister Lu Zheng: "Is this how you investigate cases in the Dali Temple? Since there are witnesses, if Zhang Ji refuses to confess, he will be severely punished! Or do you think that his cousin is the third prince, so you dare not torture him?"
Zhang Ji cursed in the cell: "Chu Chengli! I know it's you! You are a hypocrite! You framed me! You will not live a good life!"
Crown Prince Chu Chengli took off his hat with his hands, his dark eyes full of coldness: "Zhang Ji! You have ruined the happiness of my sister's life! Do you think I will let you off easily?"
Zhang Ji's eyes widened with anger: "You idiot! We have all fallen into someone else's trap! Think about it, I have always admired the Eighth Princess, how could I do such a despicable thing to her?"
The prince said to Lu Zheng in a humble manner: "Lord Lu! This prince wants to talk to Zhang Ji alone!"
Lu Zheng pulled the corner of his mouth: "Your Highness, I'm waiting for you outside! If you need anything, just call me!"
The prince waited for Lu Zheng to walk out of the cell, and he smiled coldly: "Zhang Ji! This prince doesn't care who is behind this! This prince only knows that this is an opportunity, an opportunity to overthrow your Zhang family! Zhang Liu has stayed in the position of Minister of Justice for too long! He can retire and return to his hometown to enjoy his old age!"
Zhang Ji's eyes were red with anger: "You despicable villain! His Majesty will not let you wrongly accuse my father like this!"
The prince sneered, "Even if the emperor wants to keep your Zhang family, the officials in the court will not agree! The position of Minister of Justice is a popular position! Alas! Zhang Liu is an honest official! It's a pity that he gave birth to a rebellious son like you, and your Zhang family is ruined in your hands!"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Ji fell to the ground with a look of regret on his face!
The prince said to his attendant guards: "Go and feed the servant of the virtuous prince's mansion some good food!"
The guards opened the cell next to Zhang Ji and force-fed the servant of Prince Xian’s mansion the pill.
Zhang Ji was shocked and asked, "Why did you poison him?"
The prince had a smile on his face, but his eyes were icy cold: "This prince did not intend to poison him! It was Concubine De who wanted him dead! Because... it was the Third Prince who ordered him to give the Eighth Princess an aphrodisiac! Haha! Zhang Ji, your Zhang Mansion is worthless in the eyes of this prince!"
Zhang Ji shouted: "Master Lu! Master Lu! The prince is poisoning the witness!" But no matter how loudly he shouted, Lu Zheng did not come in.
The prince looked at him coldly, put on his hat and left the Dali Temple!
The Dali Temple was silent at night. After a maid from the palace came to visit Zhang Ji, the servant of the Xianwang Mansion who was imprisoned in the prison was poisoned to death! The Dali Temple conducted a thorough investigation and found that the maid who visited the Dali Temple prison cell at night was the maid from the Defei Palace...
The next morning, Zhang Ji confessed his guilt in despair! Now that things had come to this, he couldn't let De Fei and the Third Prince get involved!
The final details of the case were as follows: After a thorough investigation by the Dali Temple, the truth about the Eighth Princess was finally revealed; those shocking whip marks were actually caused by Zhang Ji, the son of Zhang Liu!
Not only that, Zhang Ji was also responsible for injecting the two strong aphrodisiacs, Burning Love Fragrance and Hehuan Powder, into the body of the Eighth Princess at the birthday banquet of the Xianwang Mansion. This person must have been in love with the Eighth Princess and wanted nothing better than to have her, so he resorted to such despicable means to destroy the Eighth Princess's pure and innocent body! The poor Eighth Princess suffered this unprovoked disaster for no reason, not only was her reputation damaged, but her body and mind were also tortured...
When Emperor Wen learned of this, he was furious. He immediately issued an imperial decree: "Zhang Ji's marriage to the Eighth Princess is dissolved, and he is exiled to the frontier as a warning to others! As a father, Zhang Liu failed to teach his son well, causing him to make such a big mistake. Therefore, he is dismissed from his post as Minister of Justice and ordered to resign and return home to retire."
Afterwards, all the servants in the Zhang Mansion who had participated in the imprisonment of the Eighth Princess were sentenced to the death penalty of beheading!
As for what Zhang Ji had done, the Third Prince and Empress Defei knew nothing about it! Emperor Wen soon lifted the ban on the Third Prince.
At this point, the Eighth Princess finally regained her freedom, and her reputation was restored! The haze that once shrouded her has dissipated, and now she is reborn like a phoenix from the ashes.
The sun shone on her beautiful face, reflecting her eyes full of joy and hope. At this moment, the Eighth Princess felt unprecedented ease and joy, and she knew that a bright future was waiting for her.
The secret guards presented the files they had investigated to Emperor Wen's desk. After reading them, Emperor Wen frowned, wondering why he still couldn't find out the truth of that day?
Emperor Wen said to Eunuch Gao: "The Crown Prince and I have similar personalities. We are both willing to do whatever it takes to achieve our goals!"
Eunuch Gao comforted him: "Your Majesty! The prince is also doing this for the eighth princess..."
Emperor Wen sneered, "How could he do this for Cai Wei? He wants to overthrow the Zhang family! The Zhang family is ruined! I need to think carefully about who will take the position of Minister of Justice! Go and call the Prime Minister!"
Eunuch Gao summoned Prime Minister Li Mingfu to the imperial study. Li Mingfu entered the imperial study and saluted the emperor respectfully: "Long live your majesty!"
A flash of coldness flashed across Emperor Wen's eyes, and he smiled: "My dear Li! Tomorrow is the day of the Crown Prince's wedding! As his father-in-law, you must support the Crown Prince as much as possible!"
Li Mingfu's heart skipped a beat. He replied solemnly, "Your Majesty! I am your subject! Of course I will obey Your Majesty!"
Emperor Wen laughed loudly: "My dear Li! I recruited you for the vacant position of Minister of Justice. Do you think there is a suitable candidate?"
Li Mingfu pondered for a while before saying, "Your Majesty! What kind of person do you want to replace Zhang Liu?"
Emperor Wen was silent for a long time before he said, "I want someone who has no connection with a noble family! It would be best if he is a local official who is familiar with the criminal law of Dazhao and is not afraid of power!"
Li Mingfu took out a stack of files and presented them to Eunuch Gao. He said cautiously: "Your Majesty! These are all local officials who meet the requirements. Please make your decision!"
Emperor Wen took the file and glanced through it briefly, then nodded with some satisfaction: "Lord Li, you are thoughtful! The prince is waiting for you at the queen's place, go and discuss the arrangements for the prince's wedding tomorrow!"
Li Mingfu bowed and left the imperial study. Emperor Wen snorted coldly at the air: "Go and find out the backgrounds of the people in the files! Li Mingfu is an old fox! I will never allow his people to sit in the position of Minister of Justice!"