ebookland Chapter 141: Teahouse Encounter
Chapter 141: Teahouse Encounter
East Palace.
The prince was walking back and forth in the study. Suddenly, he picked up the paperweight on the table and threw it at the person kneeling on the ground.
With a "bang", the person's head on the ground was smashed, leaving a pool of blood.
The prince was furious: "Asshole! You actually did such a thing!"
Prince Rui covered his head with his hands and dared not resist.
The prince continued, "Uncle Rui's fiefdom is so large that it has long been given to you. Isn't all that much money enough for you to spend? Why do you want to occupy the mine privately?
Besides, you occupied it, so why did you massacre the village? And build a canal? Now, Yuzhou was hit by a disaster, and the goddess came to the world, shocking the government and the people!
You have finally made it! When you go back to pay tribute to Uncle Rui, you can say that you accidentally made your name known in history!"
Prince Rui finally spoke in a low voice: "Your Highness, I really didn't expect the people below to massacre the village. Besides, it wasn't a very large mine. It was mined out in just a few years. As for the canal, it only diverted a small part of the water flow at the beginning. Who knows..."
"Who knew that the people below were disobedient, the water flow became more and more divided, and coupled with the fact that Yuzhou had not seen rain for a long time, it caused a drought? Is that what you want to say? Humph! It's all because the people below were disobedient, then what do you want these rubbish for? You still have the nerve to say it's just a small mine? No matter how small it is, it's not yours!"
Prince Rui wanted to refute but didn't dare, so he had to obey and said, "Yes, Your Highness, I know I was wrong. Please save me! My mother is in poor health. If she knew I did this, she would beat me to death!"
The prince sneered, "You know now that your mother is not in good health? What did you do earlier? Just now, Wang Jinnian came directly to the East Palace to test me!
What kind of person is he? He is a cunning vixen! If there is no evidence, would he dare to offend me?
What about you? If I don’t ask you now, will you still be lucky enough to pretend to be innocent? "
Prince Rui was silent. He himself had not expected that Wang Jinnian would actually dare to come to the Eastern Palace to test him. It was as if he had already grasped some evidence. This was not right! Forget it, let's take it one step at a time.
Seeing his cousin like this, the prince finally softened his heart. This cousin had been with him since he was a child, and he knew his personality very well. But there was one thing he had to ask: "Tell me the truth, what did you do with all that money?"
Prince Rui seemed to be hesitant to speak.
The prince shouted sternly, “Speak!”
Prince Rui whispered, "Private soldiers."
Prince:! ! !
"What? How dare you...you...are so presumptuous!"
Prince Rui did not know where he got the courage from, and said firmly: "Your Highness, I was presumptuous, but I did it all for you! Think about it, the late emperor was not the crown prince, and the emperor was not the crown prince either. Throughout history, how many people have truly ascended to the throne from the position of crown prince?
Not to mention whether the major forces in the court will support us, just the fact that Concubine Xu and the Third Prince are deeply favored. Not only do they have power in the court, they also have money and mines. Has Your Highness never been afraid of them?
The most important thing is, if the Third Prince competes with you in the future, if you win, the throne will be yours, and maybe the ministers will let you be generous and let him go, but what if you lose? Will he let you go? Do you still have a way to survive?
I am only doing this to prepare a way out for Your Highness. As long as Your Highness can get what he wants, I am not afraid of death!"
After saying this, Prince Rui bowed deeply to the ground, while the Crown Prince was extremely shocked.
After a long while, he waved his hand and said, "You can go back first! Talk to your mother about this matter and ask her to talk to my mother."
Prince Rui was overjoyed: "Thank you, Your Highness!"
The next day.
Princess Rui entered the palace and cried to the Queen for half a day, then returned to the palace feeling satisfied.
Later in the imperial study, just as Wang Jinnian finished reporting the outcome of the matter to Emperor Yongkang, the Empress sent someone to invite the Emperor over.
Emperor Yongkang looked at Wang Jinnian helplessly and said, "It seems that you have guessed right again this time. At the beginning, Prince Rui... Alas, he only has one legitimate son. I cannot ignore him. My dear prince, please do not make this matter public."
Wang Jinnian: "Yes, Your Majesty!"
Then, the Rui Palace received an imperial edict that the Crown Prince of Rui was indecent in front of the emperor and was punished to reflect on his mistakes in seclusion for three months, and the Crown Prince failed to discipline his children properly and was punished to serve him for one month.
In the evening, when Wang Jinnian told Bai Zhaozhao the result, her face was full of disbelief: "Impossible! How could it really be the prince? It's obviously the Xu family..."
"Zhao Zhao!" Wang Jinnian interrupted her, "I have checked all the people in the account book, and the evidence is solid! Facts are facts! You can't act on impulse! Hundreds of lives were lost in Lu County by the prince of Rui. Even if we can't redress their injustice, we should let them know who the real murderer is! We must never put the blame on others at will!"
Bai Zhaozhao paused: "Yes, Uncle Master!"
It’s not that she didn’t believe Wang Jinnian, but her suspicion of Cheng Jiayu was deep-rooted!
But Wang Jinnian is a well-known expert in investigating cases, and it is unlikely that he would make a mistake. So what went wrong?
Could it be that Cheng Jiayu used some magical props again?
Hard to say.
But then, Bai Zhaozhao looked bewildered and asked, "Uncle Master, are you saying that the Emperor only asked him to reflect on his mistakes behind closed doors after making such a big mistake?"
Wang Jinnian also knew that this result was regrettable, but he still explained: "You don't know that Prince Rui sacrificed himself for His Majesty...so..."
Bai Zhaozhao nodded. In fact, she understood that the drought in the original novel also made Prince An reflect on his mistakes. But Prince An was wrongly accused, and Prince Rui was the real mastermind.
Therefore, she was in a bad mood and left Wang Jinnian's house after muttering just a few words.
On the way back to Prince An's Mansion, Bai Zhaozhao saw a teahouse on the side of the road with the lights on, so he thought of going in to buy a cup of tea to clear his mind. However, as soon as he entered the door, he saw an acquaintance sitting there drinking tea.
Li Rongyue.
The waiter next to him had fallen asleep on the counter. He was the only customer in the entire teahouse.
Bai Zhaozhao was slightly embarrassed, turned around and said, "Sorry to bother you!"
Just as he was about to leave, he heard Li Rongyue's voice: "Miss Bai, come over and have a cup of tea!"
Bai Zhaozhao paused and refused, "No, Mr. Li, please do as you please. I'm leaving first."
"Hehe, why is Miss Bai afraid of me?" Li Rongyue suddenly said this, making Bai Zhaozhao angry.
"Mr. Li, there is no need to do this. I just don't want to have tea with a stranger... ahem, man." Bai Zhaozhao said calmly.
"Oh? Wang Jinnian is not a man?"
Bai Zhaozhao’s eyes widened:!!!
It is said that she had indeed been to a teahouse with Wang Jinnian, but how did Li Rongyue know about that?
Li Rongyue saw through her thoughts and said with a half-smile, "As long as Miss Bai comes over for a cup of tea, I'll tell you how I know. How about that?"