Chapter 1313 - Everything Is Ready (3)
The Eldest Prince and the Second Princess worked together seamlessly so that although they seemed to be speaking up for Ling Yan, they hinted that the Eternal Emperor should finish listening to Lord Hu.
The Eternal Emperor’s expression grew sterner. He finally spoke in front of the full court of civil and military officials.
“If you dare to malign the Crown Prince today, I will make sure you are quartered.”
The Eternal Emperor’s eyes were sharp. His words clearly showed that he was protecting Ling Yan.
“I hear and obey…” Lord Hu replied. Then, he continued. “I wish to impeach the Crown Prince on two major counts. Firstly, the Crown Prince condoned his subordinates when they broke the law and committed crimes in the capital. They have harmed people and caused good and loyal citizens to suffer.”
As he spoke, Lord Hu presented the memorial he had prepared earlier to the Eternal Emperor.
The Eternal Emperor glanced at it, and his expression suddenly grew stern.
“The Crown Prince’s adherents, Mo You, Wu Liang, Chang Kai… and others have abused their position in the capital and killed the citizens of our dynasty…” Lord Hu carefully read out the numerous crimes on the memorial to the entire court of civil and military officials.
Everyone knew that all those mentioned by Lord Hu were Ling Yan’s trusted subordinates. All the crimes were clearly detailed, and many of them were committed after Ling Yan had become the Crown Prince. Many of the officials in the capital had heard of these incidents in the past few days.
All the officials were instantly abuzz.
Ling Yan’s reputation within the court was fairly good, and many ministers thought well of him. Ling Yan had always performed his duties flawlessly in the past and gave the ministers no occasion to be displeased with him.
However…
After Ling Yan became the Crown Prince, many of his trusted subordinates had caused trouble, and most of these incidents had cost lives.
The Eternal Emperor’s expression grew stern. The memorial was presented together with a record from the Board of Punishments, which clearly recorded the details of the crimes that Ling Yan’s subordinates had committed.
“Where is the Minister of Punishments?” The Eternal Emperor asked coldly.
The Minister of Punishments immediately advanced.
“Here I am.”
The Eternal Emperor asked coldly, “Where are Wu Liang and the others?”
The Minister of Punishments grew pale and fell to his knees.
“Your Majesty… Wu Liang and the others… have already… already left the Board of Punishments.”
“How dare you! Who ordered you to release them?” The Eternal Emperor shouted. He flung the records straight at the Minister’s face.
“I deserve to die, I deserve to die… I had them locked up, but… but General Mo’s daughter, Mo Yunxian, said they were all the Crown Prince’s people and asked me to… release them…” The Minister of Punishments was ashen.
In reality, Wu Liang and the others were Ling Yan’s trusted bodyguards and were close to Mo You. Because of that, they extended their friendship to Mo You’s loved ones and were somewhat familiar with Mo Yunxian. Also, Mo Yunxian was now Ling Yan’s fiancée. Wu Liang and the others naturally treated her as the future Crown Princess and were very respectful towards her.
When Mo Yunxian and Mo You were locked up in the Board of Punishments, they saw Wu Liang and the others.
Mo Yunxian was a pampered young lady and could not stand a place like the Board of Punishments. She naturally used her position as the future Crown Princess and her status as General Mo’s daughter to order the Board of Punishments to release them all.
It was actually a small matter, and to Mo Yunxian, those who died were unimportant as they were only ordinary citizens.
The Board of Punishments naturally did not dare to make things too difficult for her. After all, they knew that the Eternal Emperor favored the Crown Prince, Ling Yan, and Mo Yunxian’s father was also one of the Eternal Emperor’s trusted subordinates and wielded much military power. Thus, they had no choice but to let them go.