Chapter 245: The Crown Prince Was Grounded

The news that tens of thousands of people in Jiangnan had singed a bloodletter to sue the Governor of Jiangnan instantly made the people of the capital furious.

Probably inspired by the people of Jiangnan, a series of news came out that many officials were corrupt and people were suffering. Everyone was inquiring about the news in the Palace, waiting to see how the Emperor would deal with the issue and give an explanation to the people.

However, just as everyone was anxiously waiting, the few commoners who came to the capital to complain suddenly died in a strange manner.

Baili Qingcang was discussing the matter of salt administration in Jiangnan with the civil and military officials. Upon hearing this news, his eyes went black and he almost fainted.

Fortunately, he was supported by the chief eunuch beside him. After he restored his senses, he pointed at Baili Jinyi with trembling fingers. After a long pause, he suddenly shouted coldly, “Monster!”

Baili Jinyi hurriedly knelt on the ground. “Father Emperor, please calm down and take care of your health.”

“Now you want me to take care of my health. When you foolishly embezzled money, why didn’t you think that I would get angry and hurt my body?”

Baili Jinyi raised his head, and his heart was filled with shock. Previously, they were only discussing what was going on. Why did Father Emperor suddenly relate him to the matter of salt administration in Jiangnan?

“Father Emperor, I’m wronged.”

Baili Qingcang’s face was filled with rage. He ignored his rebuttal and shouted, “Crown Prince, you are the heir apparent to the throne of Da’an. Did I make you short of food or clothing? Why do you need to embezzle money in Jiangnan? You are really bold now. You even dared to kill people and silence them under my nose!”

Baili Jinyi raised his head with a fearful expression on his face that was somewhat similar to Baili Qingcang. “Father Emperor, I don’t know anything about this matter. I didn’t do anything to silence anyone. Father Emperor, please scrutinize.”

Baili Qingcang sat on the throne, and his sharp eyes were full of scrutiny. “Since you don’t know anything, does that mean I’m slandering you?”

“I don’t dare. But even if other people don’t understand me, Father Emperor should know me. I help you deal with palace affairs every day and never dare to have the slightest slack, because I know that the people’s life is hard. So how can I embezzle their money? Furthermore, you have always been personally in charge of Jiangnan’s salt administration. Even if I have the guts, I don’t have the means to do so. Father Emperor, please scrutinize.”

The look in Baili Qingcang’s eyes kept changing, and the thoughts in his heart were exceptionally complicated. The Crown Prince was excellent in all aspects, and he was indeed a great help to him. Especially now that he was in poor health and had planned to hand over the government affairs to the Crown Prince bit by bit. Otherwise, he would not have purposely suppressed the Zhao Clan to pave the way for the Crown Prince. Just as the anger in his eyes subsided slightly, an announcement sounded from outside.

“Your Majesty, Her Majesty wishes to see you.”

“Empress?” Baili Qingcang frowned. “Let her in.”

Zhao Huiying did not wear the Empress’ palace attire. Instead, she was wearing a plain peony-patterned dress, which made her beautiful face a little colder, more haggard but much prettier. “Greetings, Your Majesty.”

“Empress, what are you doing here?”

“Your Majesty, I heard that you are going to punish the Crown Prince, so I came here specifically to say a few words.”

Baili Qingcang suddenly narrowed his eyes and his anger surged. “The women in the harem are not allowed to interfere in politics. Do you remember?”

Zhao Huiying’s heart skipped a beat. But her face remained calm. “Yes, I remember and I don’t dare to interfere in politics. It’s just that I received a piece of evidence. If I don’t report it to you, I’m afraid that the Crown Prince will be wronged.”

“Evidence?”

After Zhao Huiying saluted, the Emperor did not ask her to stand up. At this time, she could only take out the evidence and ask the chief eunuch to present it. “Yes, this evidence was sent over overnight by the Governor of Jiangnan. Written on it were the crimes committed by the people who came to sue him.”

Baili Qingcang carefully read the contents. He even examined the final signature carefully. After a while, he said, “Empress, since this evidence was sent by the Governor of Jiangnan, how did it get into your hands?”

He had been hesitating about whether the Crown Prince was really guilty, and now this hesitation had intensified. The moment something happened to the complainers, the Empress came over with the evidence. This was a bit too coincidental.

The Crown Prince knelt on the ground and clenched his fists fiercely. Did Mother Empress think that his crime was not big enough? She actually added fuel to the fire?

Zhao Huiying was dumbfounded. She didn’t know how to answer. “I…I also have no idea how this evidence was sent to me. I didn’t believe that the Crown Prince would do such a horrible thing, so after seeing the evidence, I hurriedly sent it over.”

The other officials stood on both sides of the hall and looked at the Empress’ frightened appearance. They all had doubts in their hearts. The Empress had always been the calmest, why did she suddenly panic today?

Chu Junyi laughed coldly in his heart, and a strange expression flashed in his eyes. The Empress was prepared to retreat temporarily for the sake of advancing and she tried her best to mislead the Emperor into believing that someone had secretly set up the Crown Prince. After all, it was too coincidental that one incident after another was directed at the Crown Prince. Once the Emperor was suspicious, the Crown Prince would have a chance to turn the table.

You are reading story Phoenix Reborn: the Prime Minister's Scheming Daughter at novel35.com

Baili Qingcang looked at the written complaint in his hand. His brows sometimes stretched out and sometimes furrowed tightly. It took him a while to calm down before he finally said, “Crown Prince, go back to your palace and reflect on it.”

Baili Jinyi respectfully nodded. He looked at Baili Qingcang with trust in his eyes, not showing the slightest bit of panic. “Yes, I will follow the decree.”

Zhao Huiying gradually felt a little relaxed. Her fingernails that were dyed red pinched into her palm tightly. Blood oozed out as she thought: They actually plotted against the Crown Prince. How dared them!

When Chu Junyi returned home, Shen Ninghua was eating fruit. Seeing him slowly walking in, she immediately picked up a grape and threw it over. “What’s wrong? Something happened in the court?”

Chu Junyi raised his hand to catch the grape, peeled off the skin, and fed it to Shen Ninghua’s mouth. “Yes, as we expected, His Majesty did not intend to punish the Crown Prince. He would probably put an end to this case without making a fuss.”

“This is not strange. After all, among all the princes, this Crown Prince is most suited to be the next Emperor.”

“You are right. The Empress intended to take retreat as a means of advancing, but she made His Majesty suspicious. His Majesty wondered if someone had deliberately framed the Crown Prince. Now, he only asked the Crown Prince to stay in his mansion and reflect on his misdeeds. In a few days, he might let him out.”

Shen Ninghua’s jade-like fingertips gently played with a string of grapes. “Maybe not.”

“What?”

“There are still quite a few princes below the Crown Prince. Do you think they will miss such a good opportunity? Didn’t we find a lot of things against the Crown Prince? We can disclose them to the scouts of the various princes. Little ants together can kill an elephant. These people are always spying on the Crown Prince. Although one bit each person can’t hurt the Crown Prince much, many a little makes a mickle. In the end, who can be sure what would happen?”

Chu Junyi smiled and said, “Well, that’s a good idea. It can save us a lot of trouble.”

Shen Ninghua paused for a moment before suddenly saying, “Junyi, you said that you wanted to fight for the throne, so what is your plan?”

Chu Junyi’s eyes narrowed slightly as he looked up at Shen Ninghua’s calm expression. After a moment of pause, he sighed and said, “If you hadn’t reminded me, I almost forgot.”

Originally, revenge had always been the most important thing in his life, but after marrying his beloved person, he actually indulged himself in the daily trifles.

Shen Ninghua raised her eyes and said, “The Xiao Clan was a hidden danger, the Empress was a strong enemy, and there were also the Zhao Clan, the Lin Clan, and a few princes…We can’t be at ease.”

Chu Junyi held Shen Ninghua in his arms and gently placed his palm on her slightly bump belly. His eyes flashed. “Ninghua, don’t worry. I understand what you mean. Even if people don’t want to hurt the tiger, the tiger is still a serious threat to their lives. Many times, if people want to control their own destiny, they have to have enough power. I must fight for the throne.”

Shen Ninghua nodded and softly said yes. Although revenge was no longer the most important thing, it did not mean that she would stop the revenge. Since the matter of Jiangnan salt administration had erupted, there was no harm in implicating a few more people. As far as she knew, the Fifth Prince Baili Jinze was not clean-handed.

After the Crown Prince was grounded, the officials in the court became restless. The Crown Prince had made mistakes in the past, but it was the first time he had been reprimanded as a monster and grounded. The Third Prince and the Fourth Prince all filed reports saying that the Crown Prince had committed an extremely heinous crime and deserved to be punished severely. Even though the reports were suppressed by Baili Qingcang, they did not give up and instigated officials in the court to protest actively. It was said that an imperial censor got so excited that he even broke his own head.

For a moment, the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince’s prestige among the people rose. After all, they were doing real things for the people.

What Shen Ninghua didn’t expect was that the Second Prince did not move at all. He had been quietly staying in his mansion. Officials who went to visit him were all blocked out. He was almost isolated from the rest of the world.

The situation in the court became more and more complicated, and the arrival of a piece of news was like a ladle of cold water poured into a hot oil pot.

Bu Jinglan once again came as an envoy to Da’an to offer condolences to his late grandmother, Old Lady Xiao!

Hearing the news from Hong Ling, Shen Ninghua laughed out loud. “Bu Jinglan came to offer condolences to Grandmother? This is very strange. I heard that Sister Linghan can’t get out of bed now and needs someone to wait on her every day. The Sixth Prince used her body conditions as an excuse to postpone their marriage. How did Old Lady Xiao become his grandmother when they didn’t even get married? ”

Hong Ling placed the envelope in front of Shen Ninghua and said, “Yes, I’m also very curious and asked specifically. It was said that before the Sixth Prince left, he held a simple ceremony to make the Second Miss his side concubine.”

Shen Ninghua smiled mockingly and skipped the topic. “Who else are following Bu Jinglan?”

“The entourage is about the same as last time. There’s not much difference.”

“Alright, pay close attention to the issue. I always feel that Bu Jinglan will not come here for nothing. He definitely has a purpose.”

Da’an and the Great Yue Kingdom had some minor frictions on the border, but the relations were generally friendly. Bu Jinglan’s second visit should have some deeper meaning.

You can find story with these keywords: Phoenix Reborn: the Prime Minister's Scheming Daughter, Read Phoenix Reborn: the Prime Minister's Scheming Daughter, Phoenix Reborn: the Prime Minister's Scheming Daughter novel, Phoenix Reborn: the Prime Minister's Scheming Daughter book, Phoenix Reborn: the Prime Minister's Scheming Daughter story, Phoenix Reborn: the Prime Minister's Scheming Daughter full, Phoenix Reborn: the Prime Minister's Scheming Daughter Latest Chapter