Ministers Begging Me to Ascend the Throne

Chapter 1068: Chapter 117: Evidence of Prince Zheng’s Crimes

Before Prince Chu returned to the capital city, a shocking event unfolded that shook the entire royal court. The Princess of Annan accused Prince Zheng of committing heinous acts, including the wanton murder of innocent lives, forcibly seizing women and men, usurping the land of the common people, plundering their wealth, and indulging his subordinates in acts of arson, murder, and looting, leaving his fiefdom’s populace in dire straits and devastation.

The Princess of Annan presented each charge against Prince Zheng with witnesses and evidence, all of which were irrefutable. These evidences were brought from Prince Zheng’s fiefdom. At that moment, several commoners knelt in the royal court, each with their heads bruised from bowing, imploring the emperor to deliver justice for them.

Prince Zheng was so terrified that his legs went weak, and he slumped onto the ground, his face ashen with fear in his eyes. Duke Anyang and his son were also filled with dread; they could not believe that the deeds of Prince Zheng in his fiefdom had been exposed.

The Princess of Annan knelt in the royal court, accusing Prince Zheng of drugging her long ago, causing her to lose her virginity to him. She further accused Prince Zheng of mistreating her attendants and threatening her after marrying him. She stated that Prince Zheng’s relentless pursuit of her was solely for gaining access to her grandfather’s gold mine.

She also accused Prince Zheng and the Duke Anyang Mansion of recruiting soldiers and forging weapons in many places in Annan. She claimed that Prince Zheng had been colluding with Prince Han, who frequently sent gold and silver jewelry and beauties to Prince Zheng.

Prior to this, the Princess of Annan’s accusations against Prince Zheng already left the ministers astounded. Upon hearing her personal grievances now, the civil and military officials were equally horrified.

Prince Zheng wanted to cry out his innocence, but words eluded him; he was scared out of his wits. If not for knowing he was in the royal court, he might have been so frightened as to wet his pants.

Duke Anyang remained somewhat calm; he quickly knelt on the ground, shouting injustice, denying the recruitment of soldiers or the forging of weapons in Annan, and weeping his plea for the emperor’s discernment.

Regarding the paralyzed Prince Zheng on the ground, Duke Anyang had already given up on him. At this moment, Duke Anyang’s priority was to protect himself and the Duke Anyang Mansion.

Other ministers sneaked a peek at the emperor’s expression, finding him extremely calm, showing no signs of rage, which only increased their inner dread.

The calmer or more brightly the emperor smiled, the more it indicated his deep-seated anger.

The ministers inwardly lamented: It’s over! It’s over! It’s over!

One by one, they hung their heads low, their necks shrunk, imagining themselves as turtles hiding in their shells, praying that the emperor’s wrath wouldn’t touch them later.

The Princess of Annan defiantly rebuffed Duke Anyang’s words and pulled out a ledger from her bosom. She reported to the emperor that beyond Duke Anyang’s profiteering, recruiting soldiers, and weapon forging in Annan, the Duke Zhen Country Mansion and Marquis Xuanping’s Mansion were also involved.

Upon hearing this, Duke Zhen, Xie Shi, was so frightened that he dropped to his knees with a thud, tremblingly shouting his innocence.

Marquis Xuanping followed suit, crying out his innocence and beseeching the emperor for discernment.

The Princess of Annan further mentioned that several ministers had conducted shady business and activities in many places in Annan.

In an instant, one-third of the ministers were accused by the Princess of Annan.

The ministers named by the Princess of Annan turned ashen-faced, shivering and kneeling on the ground, loudly proclaiming the Princess’s slanders and pleading for the emperor’s justice.

Sun Kui received the ledger from the Princess’s hand and presented it to the emperor.

The emperor remained expressionless, flipping through the ledger page by page.

Zichen Hall became extremely quiet, so silent that the ministers could clearly hear their own and others’ breathing. Of course, they could also hear the sound of the emperor flipping through the ledger.

Many ministers had cold sweat all over their foreheads, faces, necks, and backs. The ground in front of them was soaked with sweat.

The ministers named by the Princess of Annan were now filled with horror and despair.

Prince Jing knelt anxiously on the ground, his scalp tingling. Prince Wei, however, remained composed while kneeling; his heart was unperturbed since he was not among those accused by the Princess of Annan.

The ministers loyal to Prince Chu were equally pale-faced, although their fear was not as overwhelming. They were immensely relieved for not having followed Prince Chu’s advice to send people to Annan for business, otherwise, their fate would have been...they dared not imagine.

Prime Minister He and Grandmaster Liu were astonished, pondering how the Princess of Annan managed to gather evidence against these people.

Grandmaster Liu glanced at Prime Minister He, who also looked at him. Both instinctively thought of one person—the one far away in Swamp Prefecture, close to Annan Country—Prince Han. Only Prince Han had the capability to collect the deeds of these individuals.