Chapter 212: My Dear Majesty, Please Let Go (42)
Translator: Guy Gone Bad
“Your majesty, I am wronged! I have neither plotted with other countries nor betray my own country!” Xia Yuanzheng cried with tears as if it was a real thing.“Your majesty, there must be something wrong! I do know weapons in the Jiangnan General office. But I didn"t collude with Dongfeng Kingdom. Instead, I set a trap to take advantage of them.”
“Official Li, do you have evidences to prove that official Xia"s treason? If you are spreading rumors of officials higher than you, you would be punished.” Baili Jue said heavily.
“Your majesty, I do have evidences to prove that I am right.” Li Wenchang said as he took out a report from his sleeve, holding it with both hands and said, “these are letters that Xia Yuanzheng wrote with Dongfeng Kingdom, including a summary of the whole story. Please have a look.”
The eunuch waiting aside took the report over and submitted to Baili Jue.
Baili Jue even got more furious after he read the report and toss it toward Xia Yuanzheng who was still kneeling, and said angrily,
“Xia Yuanzheng, good for you! How dare you! Have a good look at what it says there! Is there any excuses you"d like to make?”
Other officials leaned forward, trying to read what it said on the report. Judging from how furious the emperor was, it was absolutely certain that Xia Yuanzheng would be sentenced.
Chen Jingsheng frowned because he hadn"t antic.i.p.ated to see such a big issue within a few days of his return.
It was a felony to sell weapons. The entire family would be punished. Once Xia Yuanzheng failed, his daughter wouldn"t be able to become the queen. Perhaps the emperor would marry someone from Chen family as his queen.
Xia Yuanzheng read the report, holding it with his shaking hands, and cried,
“Your majesty, whatever it says is nonsense! I have never done anything of those! The signature and handprint on it are not mine! They are fabricated! And I have a report for you to read too. You will understand that I am innocent after you read it.”
Xia Yuanzheng didn"t sound nervous at all when he almost finished his talking. He took out a report from his sleeve, handed it to a eunuch to give it to the emperor.
Baili Jue, of course, knew what the report was about. But he had to pretend it was the first time he read it and he read it several times.
Juding from the emperor"s facial expression, officials sensed that he was less angry. They wondered what Xia Yuanzheng"s report said to make such a twist.
Li Wenchang missed a heartbeat and exchanged eye contact with other officials who were loyal to Baili Xi to calm them down.
Baili Xi seemed to be a prince of free spirit and he had never given his opinion in any political affairs. Therefore, he was not on the court right now. He had to entrust his confidants to deal with this matter.
When Xia Yuanzheng took out the report, Li Wenchang and other officials started to panic and their hands and heads started to sweat.
After Baili Jue finished reading, he closed the report and asked calmly, “official Xia, are you sure what you said in the report is true?”
“I a.s.sure you with my life that every single word is true.” Xia Yuanzheng said sincerely.
“Well.” Baili Jue nodded slightly and said, “all of you should have a look at these two reports and tell me which of them are telling the truth.”
After he asked the eunuch to pa.s.s down the two reports, he said to Xia Yuanzheng, “official Xia, you can stand up now.”
“Thank you, your majesty.” Xia Yuanzheng got back on feet and started to feel the pain in the knee.
He tried too hard just now. His acting was too much.
Chen Jingsheng read the Li"s report first and then Xia"s. But with one look at it, he was shocked.
Prince of Rui? Was Baili Xi behind all of these?
First of all, he colluded with General Yanpeng from Dongfeng Kingdom and then abet Xia Yuanzheng to sell defective-looking but actually qualified weapons to the Kingdom. He fabricated letters that could convict Xia Yuanzheng of treason. Then he transported those weapons from Yanpeng"s army to his own fiefdom in the northwest to raise private soldiers. In such way, he framed Xia Yuanzheng to take the blame and himself got the weapons for his own use.
Chen Jingsheng was completely shocked by what he read. Why did Baili Xi make such a mistake?
It was hard to believe that he wasn"t planning to steal the crown after he had done so many things.
After Chen Jingsheng read them, he pa.s.sed down to other officials. He looked up at the clam emperor and wondered if he had already known all of these since he was too calm right now.
Perhaps, he was a part of the entire plan.
Chen Jingsheng"s heart sunk as he thought of the possibility.
The emperor was no longer the prince he once was, nor the emperor who used to rely on him when he first was crowned. He was not as weak as he had imagined.
An emperor as powerful as him was out of his control.
Chen Jingsheng even considered if it was time to return his military power to the emperor and return to southeast. If he kept staying in the court, he might…
While Chen Jingsheng was having a wild thought, the two reports had been read by all officials.
Everyone was shocked. Li Wenchang was more upset as he read their faces.
When he finally got Xia Yuanzheng"s report, he couldn"t wait to open it. The more he read, the paler he got. His shaking hands barely held the report.
Li Wenchang took a deep breath and struggled to stand on feet, thinking of a reasonable explanation.
However, the report said every detail attached with evidence. This was over! They were over!
The emperor knew everything what the prince did. There was no way to turn the table around because the evidence was solid.