novelaction Chapter 201 Everyone is pretending
Chapter 201 Everyone is pretending
Among the guests who came to attend the birthday banquet of the old lady of Duke Dingguo's Mansion today, basically all of them have friendship with the An family, and some of them even have a very close friendship with the An family.
Either they are relatives by marriage or they are students and old friends.
Therefore, when they saw the old lady, an eighty-year-old woman with white hair, kneeling down and begging the emperor for mercy, they felt sorry for her and knelt down to beg for mercy as well:
"I believe in the character of Duke Dingguo. He would never participate in treason. I beg Your Majesty to investigate this matter!"
"The An family has always been loyal, Your Majesty, you must not be deceived by a villain!"
"I beg Your Majesty to show mercy and give the An family a chance to conduct a thorough investigation!"
……
The emperor looked at these kneeling ministers, laughed in anger, and nodded:
"Okay, if you want to investigate, then I will allow you to investigate. But if the results are unchanged, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
"Your Majesty, the An family is confident that as long as we conduct a thorough investigation, we will be able to find out the truth." The old lady of Duke Dingguo spoke loudly, her face was firm and her tone was decisive, as if she was sure that this was a frame-up.
The emperor waved his hand and the imperial guards rushed to investigate.
These large boxes were definitely not brought into the mansion secretly, so someone must have seen them. So after questioning all the servants in the mansion, they got a confession:
These boxes are birthday gifts from the fifth prince.
When the matter involved the fifth prince, Ye Minglang quickly knelt down and kowtowed, indicating that he knew nothing about it.
"Go search the Fifth Prince's mansion." the emperor ordered.
Everyone present was watching with trepidation as the imperial guards went to search the Fifth Prince's residence. At this moment, the Fifth Prince's expression suddenly changed. He lowered his head, looking extremely ugly.
He was not afraid that anything suggestive of treason would be found in his house, but the booklet given to him by the fourth brother was kept in a secret compartment in the study.
It would be fine if the imperial guards didn't find anything, but if they did, it would be enough to prove that he was the one behind the affairs of the crown prince and the second prince.
He and the prince are both grandsons of the Duke of Dingguo. If the An family knew about this, they would definitely not support him anymore.
At this moment, all kinds of thoughts flashed through Ye Minglang's mind.
Time passed by little by little. The emperor told everyone to remain in their original seats. He walked out with the help of Shi Lidie and sat back in the main seat.
Then he said:
"At present, I have sent half of the imperial guards to search the Fifth Prince's Mansion. The Duke Dingguo's Mansion is short of troops. I am sitting in the main seat in the middle. If those assassins are still nearby and see such a good opportunity to assassinate, will they come back again?"
In one word, everyone was frightened.
They were afraid that the assassin would come back again, but now they had no one to protect them. The few imperial guards must give priority to protecting the emperor.
Among this group of people, only Shi Lidie was not worried.
Because she knew that the assassins would not come back. These assassins were deliberately released as detours in order to lead everyone to find the dragon robe and jade seal in the Duke Dingguo's mansion.
Now that the goal has been achieved, there is naturally no need for the assassin to appear again.
Sure enough, she guessed right. For a period of time thereafter, the scene was very peaceful and nothing happened until the imperial guards who had searched the Fifth Prince's Mansion came back and broke the awkward atmosphere.
The imperial guards came in carrying a box, which was exactly the same as the one found in Duke Dingguo's mansion.
Inside were many bows and arrows made of black iron.
"Your Majesty, I have found these bows and arrows in the Fifth Prince's Mansion. They look similar to the swords in the Duke Dingguo's Mansion. There is also a booklet filled with the weaknesses and handles of all the civil and military officials in the court." said the leader of the imperial guards.
After hearing this, the Fifth Prince Ye Minglang suddenly lost all his strength and collapsed to the ground.
The booklet was eventually found.
The emperor took the book and saw that it said "Brothers Fight for the Crown Prince: Who Will Be the Emperor in the End?" He immediately laughed in anger:
"Very good! I'm not dead yet, but you're all thinking about this dragon throne under my buttocks, wishing me to die, right? Don't you wish that Princess Yun'an didn't appear, so that I couldn't get treatment, and die early and be reborn soon?"
When everyone heard this, they immediately knelt down and kowtowed to apologize:
"Your Majesty, calm down!"
The emperor ignored them and asked them to kneel. Then he opened the book and looked at it. His face became darker and darker. Then he threw the book at the fifth prince:
"Evil creature, what else do you have to say?"
"This booklet was searched from your house. Why did you go to such great lengths to find out the secrets of so many court officials? I guess it was to prepare for a rebellion, right?"
"Although the Dingguo Mansion is a noble family, the support it can get is limited. In order to gain the support of the court officials, you made this booklet, right?"
"And these weapons, if it is really a false accusation, then the person who set up this scheme is really thoughtful and powerful. Not only can he enter and exit the Duke Dingguo's Mansion at will, he can also enter and exit your Fifth Prince's Mansion at will!"
"Ye Minglang, what's your explanation?"
The people in Duke Dingguo's Mansion never imagined that when they requested a thorough investigation, they would find more evidence of crimes.
The Fifth Prince was not innocent to begin with, and he couldn’t prove himself just based on that booklet.
Even if the An family and the fifth prince knew that these dragon robes and weapons were not theirs, the emperor would not believe it.
The emperor looked at the desperate An family, then looked at the fifth prince, and said:
"Duke Dingguo's mansion is plotting a rebellion. All three clans will be executed and taken to prison. They will be executed on a certain day."
"The fifth prince plotted against his brother and colluded with court officials, intending to kill the king and his father. He poisoned them and left their bodies intact."
"Queen An Yao, you are not good at educating your children. You are deposed and given the white silk."
"I don't want to commit too many murders, so I'll give you a favor. The old lady is old, so she can be spared the death penalty. Girls under seven years old can be spared the death penalty. This is because I'm considering leaving a little bloodline for your An family for the sake of the late Queen An Lan."
As soon as he finished speaking, the imperial guards carried out the emperor's orders.
For a moment, the entire scene was filled with cries of weeping, screaming, and cries of injustice. The birthday banquet that was originally filled with flowers and glory was gone in the blink of an eye, and turned into a living hell.
It was not until the Fifth Prince was dragged out by the arm that he came to his senses and smiled sarcastically:
"Father, I admit that I am ambitious, but is it wrong to be ambitious? I schemed against my brother, but if Ye Zhaonan and Ye Jiayan were upright, why would they be schemed against by me?"
"Since childhood, you have always favored Ye Zhaonan? Why? I am also the legitimate son!"
"Father, let me tell you, that booklet was given to me by my fourth brother! Hahahaha! You never thought that he, a notorious wimp and punching bag, could actually get such a booklet!"
"Father! You are mistaken!"
"Your favorite prince is not a man of both virtue and talent, but cruel and merciless! You think the second prince, who is the most courageous, is not famous for his military achievements, but falsely claims military merits! You think the fourth prince, who is peaceful and aloof, has the means to produce a book of evidence against the court officials! And I, who you think is always well-behaved, am actually an opportunistic and ambitious person!"
"You haven't picked the right son for any of them! Father, they are all pretending, all for the sake of the chair under your butt! Morality, righteousness, and modesty are all illusions! You will never find a suitable successor!"
After the Fifth Prince said this, he broke free from the imperial guards, pulled out the knife from the waist of the nearest imperial guard, and slashed his throat.