PDLP Chapter 178: Captured on the Scene
Chapter 178: Captured on the Scene
The counselor was right, the real reason was caused by that guy Lao Liu.
The Second Prince now hated Old Six immensely, gritting his teeth as he said, "Old Six, you forced me to do this. I'll let you know that if you want to seize the throne, you're not worthy at all."
Having decided to take revenge on the Sixth Prince, the Second Prince immediately took action: "Call the Prime Minister, I have something important to discuss with him."
Tan Donglin, Fang Wanhua, and Jiang Bingwen, all younger brothers of the Sixth Prince, would often gather together to discuss issues.
Sitting in a private room at the restaurant, Jiang Bingwen, who was more direct in his speech, took the lead and said, "Two brothers, how are your daily lives in the ministry?"
"Haha." Fang Wanhua put down his wine glass and said with a smile, "It's all fine now. Those troublemakers won't bother me anymore."
Jiang Bingwen also nodded: "Jiang's side has calmed down. From now on, I can indeed work hard for His Highness."
Tan Donglin sighed and smiled bitterly, "Your Highness is truly amazing. He easily made everyone stop making things difficult for us."
"And we haven't been able to do anything great for His Highness, but instead we are often taken care of by His Highness."
Since the three of them started following Ning Yi, apart from contributing to disaster relief at the beginning, that was all within the scope of their authority and what they could do.
Instead, they themselves always had problems and often needed the Sixth Prince's help to clear the obstacles.
Although the real reason was that they followed the Sixth Prince and were targeted by others, no matter what, they were just incompetent.
"Brother Tan, there's no need to say that." Fang Wanhua persuaded him, "His Highness also said that as long as we can do our best, it's good enough."
"We are also powerless to do other things."
The three of them expressed their feelings to each other for a while and then talked about the affairs of the court.
Jiang Bingwen was also the first to say, "Humph, look at the Second Prince, how arrogant and high-spirited he is in the court."
"You like to meddle in everything. Do you really think he's the emperor? The emperor is still on the throne."
Speaking of the Second Prince, they were all dissatisfied. Everyone knew that it was the Second Prince who had given the order to make things difficult for them a while ago.
Naturally, now in the court, he was very unhappy watching the second prince giving orders.
At this moment, the door of the room was suddenly pushed open.
The shopkeeper led a group of people in, bowing and saying, "Sir, this is Room 3."
Tan Donglin and the other two were puzzled. They looked at the leader, who turned out to be a third-rank official. Fang Wanhua immediately recognized him and asked, "Minister Xu, what are you doing here with so many people?"
Minister Xu, the leader, looked at the three people in front of him with a glint of contempt in his eyes. "I have received a report that you have formed a clique again for personal gain. Naturally, I must conduct a thorough investigation."
"Minister Xu, please stop slandering me." Jiang Bingwen, the first to get angry, slammed the table and stood up, shouting, "The three of us are good friends. We just had a few drinks together when we weren't on duty. Does that count as forming a clique for personal gain?"
The accusation of forming a clique for personal gain is usually made by officials to each other.
Of course, it depends on what the person handling the case thinks. If they often get together or something, they can say that they just had a drinking party.
It can also be said that success is forming a clique for personal gain.
However, the crime of forming a clique for personal gain is extremely serious, and the punishment may be imprisonment at the very least, and death at the worst.
Of course, this kind of thing would only happen if the people at the party really did something bad.
It is also unacceptable to forcefully put labels on others at other times. Otherwise, will other officials stop talking about it in private in the future?
Minister Xu chuckled and said, "I'll know if there's any clique involved if I investigate."
"Search for me."
At his command, more than ten yamen runners around him searched everywhere in the private room.
As a result, under everyone's incredible gaze, a box was turned out from under the table.
Look at this small box on the table.
Minister Xu asked someone to open it.
There were actually some contraband inside.
The three of them couldn't believe it was true. They just came to have a meal, and there was a box under the table.
Besides, the tablecloth is so low, who could come in and sit down and then lift it up to look under the table?
Minister Xu looked at the three of them and said, "You three, you said you didn't form a clique for personal gain, but now that we have all the evidence, you still don't confess."
"What the hell is going on?" Jiang Bingwen was the first to get angry. "How on earth did they get a box of stuff? And they hid it under our table. How would we know about it?"
"That's right." Fang Wanhua also said immediately: "Minister Xu, please don't jump to conclusions. When the three of us first entered the sect, we had nothing. The shopkeeper here can testify to this."
Minister Xu looked at the shopkeeper and said, "Shopkeeper, tell me, did you see it with your own eyes?"
Under everyone's gaze, the innkeeper smiled bitterly and bowed, "My lords, I am only the innkeeper of this inn. I have always been behind the counter. How could I have seen these things? I am truly unaware of them."
"You bastard." Jiang Bingwen immediately became angry and wanted to beat him up.
But he was soon stopped by the yamen runners.
Minister Xu smiled and said, "Master Jiang, don't be so angry. You should explain yourself now. I can still give you a lighter sentence. Otherwise..."
"Alright..." Tan Donglin, the leader, interrupted him and said calmly, "If you want to accuse someone, you can always find a pretext."
"We were framed. No matter how much we say, it's useless. Minister Xu, just report to His Majesty at the court tomorrow morning. We have a clear conscience."
Don’t do bad things, don’t be afraid of ghosts knocking on your door.
Tan Donglin knew that no matter how much he explained to Minister Xu, it would be useless.
It was obvious that someone instructed him to do this, otherwise they would have come to eat for no reason and there would have been contraband under the table.
It just so happened that Minister Xu and his men broke in and caught him red-handed. How could all these coincidences come together?
Minister Xu sneered and said, "Master Tan, it seems you are overconfident."
"There's no need to go to the court. The three of you should return to the Ministry of Justice with me for interrogation. Take them away."
"Dare to resist, it will be considered as rebellion."
A group of yamen runners came forward and took the three of them away, and they couldn't even resist.
The Ministry of Justice now has solid evidence, leaving them speechless.
Ning Yi was having dinner with A Luo and Yang Ziqin in the mansion.
It’s a rare opportunity to have lunch with my two wives, what a wonderful thing.
But the two of them disliked each other.
As the daughter of a wealthy family, Yang Ziqin has naturally been spoiled since childhood, so she feels that A Luo, a barbarian woman, has stolen her man.
How could I stand this kind of humiliation? The more I looked at A Luo, the more she looked like a very shameless woman.
I couldn't help but mutter: "What a wild woman who can only wave her hands and pose."
Ning Yi frowned a little: "Qin'er, don't talk nonsense."
But Yang Ziqin was still about to talk nonsense, looking at him with dissatisfaction in her beautiful eyes: "What's wrong, are you hurt by my words?"
"Look at you, you've been seduced by her now. Sooner or later, you'll be drained and unable to get out of bed. You'll regret it when you're bedridden."