Chapter 551
~ GIVE YOU ONE LAST CHANCE ~
After Jin Wang left Imperial Concubine Zhen’s Palace, he didn’t go back to the Palace to change his clothes, but he went directly to the front hall to wait. He waited for nearly an hour, but instead of waiting for the Emperor, he saw the First Prince, Ling Wang, who came to greet him.
The whereabouts of the Emperor leaving the Palace were not considered a secret. In addition, Grand Princess Yi De and Mu Yunyao accompanied him as Bu Xian Lou did not deliberately conceal it. Therefore, Ling Wang soon learned that the Emperor and Grand Princess Yi De had gone to taste tea in Bu Xian Lou.
He asked people to guard the door of Bu Xian Lou. After realizing the Emperor wanted to leave and return to the Palace, he first went to the Palace and saw Jin Wang, who had been waiting for most of the day.
“Oh, why is the Third Imperial Brother in such a mess? Don’t you even know how to clean up your appearance when you came to see Imperial Father?”
“Greetings, Eldest Imperial Brother. I heard the father was sick on the way back, so I was perturbed. After returning to the Capital, I went straight to the Palace without changing my clothes. Did Eldest Imperial Brother come here today to pay his respects to Imperial Father?”
Ling Wang curled the corners of his lips and smiled mysteriously, “You should be more anxious. After all, it will be inconvenient for you to enter the Palace after today.”
Jin Wang’s eyes sank: “Eldest Imperial Brother, what do you mean by this?”
“After you returned to the Capital, didn’t you deliberately inquire about what happened during the recent period?” Ling Wang stretched his hand and patted his forehead lightly, “Look at me. Third Imperial Brother just said that when he heard that Imperial Father was sick, he came to the Palace in a hurry. I guess you didn’t know that the case of the beggar in the Capital had been ordered by Imperial Father to investigate.”
In a very unclear manner, Jin Wang frowned and said, “I can’t understand what Eldest Imperial Brother is saying about the beggar’s silver case.”
“Third Imperial Brother is admirable for pretending to be confused. Looking at your appearance, I almost believed you were innocent.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Anyway, this matter has already been known to Imperial Father, so I am not afraid to tell you in advance. You colluded with salt merchants in Jiangnan to embezzle the salt tax silver. After that, you forged account books and official silver, thinking that the riverbank would be blown up and the flood would sink the ships carrying official silver. Without worrying, you boldly transported the salt tax silver to the Capital. If it weren’t for Imperial Father’s scrutiny and finding clues on those beggars, you would have hidden the truth and been greedy for the money.”
Jin Wang narrowed his eyes slightly, and a dangerous light flashed: “Eldest Imperial Brother falsely framed me, and I will make justice in front of Imperial Father later. And my two uncles, to say that they occupied some land, I believe you, but they had no courage to beat people to death. Eldest Imperial Brother instructed the Li family to take action against the two of them and framed people unscrupulously. The most important point is, shouldn’t the eldest brother be the clearest where the salt tax is?”
Jin Wang was initially not sure, but when he saw Ling Wang showing off his power in front of him now, it seemed that he had made up his mind that he could not expose the plot, which made him instantly firm up his mind. The more than two million taels of salt tax silver hidden in his two uncles must have been taken away by the Li family.
“What do I know? Don’t bite at will, or I’ll ask Imperial Father to do justice.” Ling Wang snorted coldly in his heart. It was clear that he had almost reached the point of exhaustion, but Jin Wang was still hypocritical to the extreme. With a calm appearance, those who don’t know the truth think he has a lot of grievances.
Just as the two were arguing, the guards’ salutes interrupted them: “I have seen the Emperor, I have seen the Grand Princess Yi De...”
The two quickly turned their heads, saw the person walking by, and hurriedly bowed and saluted.
Mu Yunyao held Grand Princess Yi De’s arm while talking to the Emperor with a smile: “Granduncle, don’t you know, to find a way to wrap the scissors with ice silk, I don’t know how much it cost, and I don’t know who bought the scissors, but the blades are extraordinarily sharp. When I know who he is, I will punish him with half a month’s salary...”
It was something extremely trivial, but Mu Yunyao said with a smile. He had a different interest when she talked, so the Emperor listened with relish. Just as he wanted to say something about her, he saw Ling Wang and Jin Wang standing under the steps.
The Grand Princess Yi De stopped and said, “Your Majesty, the two children came to greet you. Yunyao and I will go back first.”
“Okay, Imperial Elder Sister, be careful on the way. Yunyao took care of your grandmother carefully.
“Yes.”
When Grand Princess Yi De and Mu Yunyao left, the Emperor glanced at Ling Wang and Jin Wang, and the smile on his face turned cold: “Earlier, I ordered the two of you to come back together, but you came back one after the other. Today, I did not announce you to enter the Palace, but you came together.”
The two followed the Emperor’s footsteps and walked into the hall together.
“Imperial Father, this Son heard that Bu Xian Lou has produced a very particular kind of flower fruit tea, and he specially bought some for the father to taste.”
The Emperor glanced at Ling Wang with an inexplicable look: “That’s a coincidence. I went to Bu Xian Lou to taste the flower fruit tea today, but I think the taste is ordinary, and I don’t like it very much.”
Ling Wang’s expression was slightly embarrassed for a moment, and then he smiled again: “This Son specifically asked Si Cha in Bu Xian Lou. They said this kind of flower fruit tea could calm the mind and nourish the spirit. Although the taste is not as good as those precious tea leaves in the Imperial Palace, it is also good to take a sip or two of it.”
The Emperor turned his head and gestured to Xu Li.
Xu Li walked down quickly, respectfully took the box from Ling Wang’s hand, and placed it on the edge of the imperial case.
Seeing this, Ling Wang secretly breathed a sigh of relief and turned to look at Jin Wang: “Why doesn’t Third Imperial Brother speak?”
Seeing that the Emperor’s eyes fell on him, Jin Wang stepped forward, knelt on the ground, and said respectfully: “Imperial Father, after receiving your order, this Son did not return from Linjiang City immediately. I disobeyed your order and asked Imperial Father to punish me.”
The Emperor looked at Jin Wang, and the light in his eyes was very complicated. After a while, he slowly said: “Ling Wang, you go down first.”
Ling Wang, who was going to watch the joke, was a little reluctant. After looking at Jin Wang twice, he slowly retreated.
The Emperor stood up, walked down the steps, stopped in front of Jin Wang, and then raised his foot violently, kicking Jin Wang to the ground with one kick: “Evil obstacle, do you know what you have done wrong?”
Jin Wang was kicked in his back, and with a terrified face, he knelt again and bowed at the Emperor’s feet: “Imperial Father, I don’t know what I did wrong to make you so angry. Imperial Father, please make it clear.”
The Emperor looked at him with a gloomy expression: “I will give you one last chance. If you confess everything, I will not treat you lightly. If you are stubborn, don’t blame me for not caring about the father-son relationship between you and me for many years!”