sbdcsierra Chapter 362 Fabrication
Chapter 362 Fabrication
Li Shunquan nodded and looked towards the emperor. Seeing the emperor nod, he shouted loudly: "Princess Pingning is here to see you—"
As Li Shunquan finished speaking, Shen Qionghua and Luo Xiyao came over together.
"Your Majesty, long live the Emperor, long live the Emperor!"
Prince An, who was standing in the hall, saw Shen Qionghua and his eyes flashed slightly.
"Stand up." Xie Rong said in a deep voice.
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
The two of them stood up together. Xie Rong ignored Shen Qionghua and looked at Luo Xiyao. He said, "Princess Pingning, I summoned you today because someone accused you of treason and collusion with the enemy in the Zhenguo Mansion."
Luo Xiyao's face showed a look of horror. He knelt down with a thud and said loudly, "Your Majesty, the Zhenguogong Mansion is loyal to Your Majesty and has no second thoughts. The person who filed the complaint must have bad intentions. Please judge for yourself."
Upon hearing this, a square-faced man with large ears said, "Hmph, ill-intentioned. Princess Pingning, take a look at the guard uniform this man is wearing. He's a guard from your Zhenguo Mansion."
"It was the guards of the Zhenguo Mansion who personally filed the complaint. What else can you say?"
Looking in the direction the man pointed, a man dressed in the uniform of a guard from the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion was kneeling in the corner on the other side.
Shen Qionghua narrowed her eyes slightly.
She had been thinking about how to plan the situation since Xiyao had not married Gao Lei in this life and Prince An wanted to frame the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion.
But I didn't expect it to be such a simple method.
It seems that Prince An is anxious. Is it because the fifth prince was poisoned?
Luo Xiyao also saw the man wearing the guard uniform of the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion and recognized him as the guard who hid the frame-up letter in the study.
The guard kneeling on the ground saw Luo Xiyao looking at him and immediately looked away feeling guilty.
Luo Xiyao sneered inwardly, her eyebrows raised as she said, "Your Excellency, I'm surprised by what you said. He's a guard at the Zhenguo Mansion, so what? He might have been bribed."
"How could a mere guard have the guts to come to this palace and speak nonsense in front of the emperor?"
The Minister of Revenue immediately shouted angrily, "Princess Pingning, what do you mean by this? The guard stopped my carriage, and it was I who brought the person into the palace."
"Are you saying that I bribed this guard to frame the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion?"
Luo Xiyao shook her head repeatedly and said, "This princess did not say that. It was you, the Minister, who said that. But seeing you, the Minister, reminded me of an old story."
"Back in the day, during Princess Anle's lotus viewing banquet, this princess was tricked and fell into the pond. Coincidentally, Gao Lei, the son of the Minister, was also nearby. If it weren't for Miss Shen, then Princess Jialin, who saved this princess and injured Gao Lei with a stone, I'm afraid... Ha!"
"This guard Yao sued the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion, but instead of going to the government office or stopping the Dali Temple's carriage, he went to the Minister of Revenue, haha!"
"However, since we have already made enemies, I am not surprised by the Shangshu's current actions."
In Luo Xiyao's words, she emphasized the words "being plotted against", "coincidentally", and "injured". Coupled with her weird expression, many ministers looked a little strange.
The incident at the lotus viewing banquet was not a big deal. After all, Luo Xiyao had not really lost her innocence. Most people just talked about it in private, lamenting that Shen Qionghua was lucky enough to climb up the high branch of the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion.
Many ministers were fully focused on the court and paid little attention to matters in the inner chambers. Some of them were even unaware of this matter.
However, Xie Nanyuan was eager to protect his sister, and he frequently attacked the Minister of Revenue during that period. If it weren't for Prince An's backing and helping him, the Minister of Revenue would probably have lost his official position.
It was precisely because of Xie Nanyuan's unusual behavior that many ministers began to investigate the cause, and they found out what happened at the lotus viewing banquet.
Everyone in the court is a shrewd person, and no one knows what the Minister of Revenue is planning.
During that time, everyone understood it tacitly.
It had been more than a year since this incident happened, and everyone had almost forgotten about it.
But now that it was suddenly brought up by Princess Pingning, and her words implied that the Minister of Revenue was deliberately taking revenge and framing them, everyone remembered the matter again, and their eyes when looking at the Minister of Revenue suddenly changed.
Xie Rong, sitting on the dragon throne, listened to Luo Xiyao's words with a gloomy expression. He said lightly, "Oh, has such a thing happened? I have never heard of such a thing in the palace."
The Minister of Revenue's expression changed immediately, and he knelt down with a thud, saying excitedly, "Your Majesty, I was simply eager to save people, and it was definitely not what Princess Ping said. I beg Your Majesty to understand."
As he spoke, he looked at Luo Xiyao again, a sinister look flashed across his eyes, and he said angrily: "Princess Pingning, let's put one thing on one foot. Don't try to confuse things."
Xie Rong sat on the dragon throne. He said nothing when he heard this. His eyes fell on the Minister of Revenue, and he didn't know what he was thinking.
Being stared at by such an intimidating gaze, the Minister of Revenue, who was originally filled with indignation, gradually calmed down, and as time went by, beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
Xie Qian'an saw that the situation was not right and discovered that the Minister of Revenue had been misled by Luo Xiyao. He had to quickly bring the topic back to the judgment of the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion's treason.
He immediately stepped forward, bowed respectfully, and said, "Your Majesty, the Minister of Revenue has served the court for many years and has always kept public and private affairs separate. He will certainly not resort to public revenge for personal gain."
"The most important thing now is the matter of the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion collaborating with the enemy and treason. We need to investigate it as soon as possible."
"The Duke of Zhenguo is now in charge of the border troops and controls the National Defense Army. If this is true, I'm afraid the border is in danger."
"Since the case was brought by the guards of the Zhenguo Mansion, we should listen to his side of the story."
As he spoke, he glanced at the guard kneeling on the ground.
The guard received Xie Qian'an's gaze and immediately knelt in the center of the hall, saying with his head on the ground, "Your Majesty, please understand. Everything I said is true. I have not been bribed, and I dare not deceive Your Majesty."
"As early as several months ago, this servant discovered that something was amiss with the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion."
"Every few days, carrier pigeons fly over the Zhenguogong Mansion."
"Originally, it was nothing, and I didn't take it seriously. Until one day, when I was off duty, I found a carrier pigeon with a bamboo tube tied to its leg."
"Out of curiosity, I opened the letter, but found it was filled with words I couldn't understand. Just as I was wondering, I heard footsteps."
"I subconsciously rolled up the letter and put it back into the bamboo tube. The next moment, the Duke of Zhenguo came to me."
"When the Duke of Zhenguo saw the pigeon in my hand, he was furious. But in the blink of an eye, he softened his attitude and said the pigeon was his. He also asked if I had ever seen the letter in the bamboo tube."
"I sensed something was amiss with the Duke of Zhenguo's attitude and, fearing reprimand, I subconsciously lied, claiming I hadn't seen it."
"The Duke of Zhenguo finally softened his attitude and let me go. Before leaving, he warned me not to tell anyone about the carrier pigeon."
"Looking back on it, I think the Duke's behavior was a little strange, but I don't understand why."
"Later, the Duke of Zhenguo accompanied His Royal Highness Prince Rui on an expedition to the border to fight against the State of Chen, and I put this matter behind me."
"Until two days ago, I obtained a travelogue of the State of Chen."
"I have never liked studying since I was little. I only know a few words and learned some martial arts."
"I wanted to see how the writing of the Chen Kingdom differed from that of my Great Yue Kingdom, but I discovered that some of the characters in the travelogue were exactly the same as those on the letter paper carried by the pigeon of the Duke of Zhenguo that day."
"Why would the Duke of Zhenguo use the Chen language when exchanging letters?"
"Even if I'm stupid, I know there's something wrong here, but the Duke of Zhenguo is incredibly powerful. How can a mere guard like me contend with him?"
"If the Duke's men discovered that I knew the secret contained in the letter, I'm afraid my whole family would be beheaded."
"I hesitated for two days, but in the end I couldn't overcome the guilt in my heart."
"Now that His Royal Highness Prince Rui has disappeared, the border troops and the Duke of Zhenguo are in his control. If I know about this but don't report it, and the Duke of Zhenguo and the State of Chen join forces to stab Dai Yue in the back, wouldn't I be an accomplice?"
"I do not wish to be condemned as a criminal of Dai Viet, so I have decided to speak out against the Duke of Zhenguo's treason."
"As a servant, if I rely on myself, I will never be able to see the emperor in this lifetime. But if I want to find someone to help me see the emperor... This matter is of great importance. I don't know who I can trust, nor do I know who is the lackey of the Duke of Zhenguo."
"If I find the wrong person, and he tells the Duke of Zhenguo about this, I will surely die."
"Although I am not afraid of death, I don't want to die in vain."
"After much thought, I can only go to the Minister of Revenue, who had a conflict with the Duke of Zhenguo because of Princess Pingning."
"The Minister is devoted to the Great Viet. Upon hearing what I said, he immediately brought me to see the Emperor."
When the conversation stopped, everyone in the room fell silent.