The Eldest Daughter Is Beautiful and Saucy
Chapter 148: decisive
Chapter 148 Clear Judgment
“It’s just… the matter of falsely accusing King Zheng of the state.” King Liang knelt down on his feet with a look of dejection, and looked at the emperor with wet and red eyes, “Father, I really just want to save my brother. I know that my brother is the one that you value most. I can’t bear to see my brother suffer, and I don’t want to see you sad!”
It’s really a pure and filial piety, Bai Qingyan lowered his eyes.
“Your Highness is wrong!” The eldest princess stood up with the help of a tiger-headed cane, stared at King Liang, and said solemnly, “The foundation of aristocratic families is reputation! King Xin is not in danger of his life now, but Your Highness intends to ruin the reputation of the Bai family and preserve the glory of King Xin. This is the first mistake! The people of the Bai family sacrificed their lives to protect the Great Jin Dynasty, but Your Highness, as a prince, is not grateful and repays kindness with hatred, wanting to shame the loyal and brave and leave a stigma in the history books. This is the second mistake! The prince is the son of His Majesty and may inherit the throne. If you make these two mistakes… How will the world view our Great Jin royal family?! Who will dare to sacrifice their lives for the Great Jin Dynasty and who will dare to support the Lin family’s imperial power?!”
Prince Liang looked like he had just woken up from a dream. Tears streamed down his face and he kowtowed to the emperor: “Father… I was ignorant! I know I was wrong! I really know I was wrong! Father knows that I have always been timid and cowardly. I didn’t think so much. I just wanted to save my brother! Who would have thought that I would cause such a big disaster for you!”
The eldest princess turned and looked at the emperor. “Your Majesty, I have seen that the words in your letter are sharp and decisive, and full of murderous intent. You don’t seem like… an ignorant, cowardly, and naive person! Or… was this letter dictated by someone else and written by your Highness himself? My loyal servant said that they chased the suspicious person to the Liang Wang Mansion and found out in half an incense stick of time! I think Lord Lu Jin sent someone to ask the servants of the Liang Wang Mansion where the Liang Wang was at the time and whether he was alone, so that he could know whether the meaning of the letter came from the Liang Wang or someone else.”
King Liang’s heart trembled, and he lowered his head and trembled continuously, not daring to look up. He closed his eyes and thought of the letter he had written himself. It was indeed a failure written in a panic!
But King Liang was unwilling to admit defeat. He was calculating rapidly in his mind. He had just called the Prince Xin’s palace as his assistant, and after killing Qin Dezhao, he left…
“If it is the case that Prince Liang was so eager to save his brother but was ignorant enough to be taken advantage of, then that’s fine! But if he has other intentions… his mind is so deep, Your Majesty should consider it carefully!” The eldest princess spoke slowly.
Bai Qingyan, who had been protected by the Grand Princess, remained silent. She knew that her grandmother was trying to plant a seed of suspicion towards Prince Liang in the Emperor’s heart. Once people have doubts in their hearts, the tiny and weak clues in the past will be inadvertently magnified.
Grandmother knew the emperor better than she did. As long as the emperor found out that Prince Liang was not as cowardly and incompetent as he usually acted, but was hiding his incompetence, then the emperor would think about how Prince Liang had been close to the second prince in the past, and how Prince Liang was plotting to frame the Bai family for treason and pretending to be cowardly… and how he had subtly linked Qin Dezhao’s death, the Southern Xinjiang grain bill and Prince Xin together. What would the emperor think? !
He must have felt that his son was really capable! So capable that he was beyond his understanding and control.
Can he still keep a prince who is qualified to inherit the throne, has deep scheming and superb acting skills, and is out of his control? !
Isn’t the emperor afraid that… Prince Liang will tear off his sheepskin when he is completely unprepared, revealing his true ferocious face, and raise an army to seize his life and power like the Second Prince? !
“Grandma Aunt! I have always treated you with great courtesy. Even though I cannot be called filial… I always think about you. Why did you want to hurt me?!” King Liang raised his head, like a frightened little animal who was at a loss what to do, his eyes full of pain of being betrayed by his closest relative.
The Grand Princess straightened her back, looked at King Liang, and said righteously: “Your Highness, I am your great-aunt, but also the Grand Princess of the Great Jin! I put the country first… then my family! This is true for the Bai family… and for everyone!”
The elderly princess’ voice was filled with sorrow, and she choked up as she spoke, “Your Majesty, I am old… I will go to the Royal Qing Temple to pray for the country on the 15th. I am afraid that I will not be able to protect the children of the Bai family in the future! But they are the widows of loyal and brave men after all, so let them return to their hometown in Shuoyang after the New Year and the beginning of spring! The Bai family has a clear and bright family tradition, and has been loyal for generations. There has never been a corpse, a vegetarian, or a meal. Now that all the men of the Bai family are dead and there is no one to inherit the title, I will ask for the title on behalf of the Bai family. I only hope that Your Majesty can protect the widow of the Bai family and ensure her a safe and smooth life!”
Dali Temple Minister Lu Jin looked up at the Grand Princess and the eldest daughter of the Bai family who had a calm expression. He had heard that the Bai family had found a bastard, so why… were they going to ask for the title? !
Bai Qingyan stepped forward to support the eldest princess and lowered her voice to say to her, “Grandma, that guard looks very familiar to me. He looks like a guard who once served under the Second Prince…”
Her voice was not loud, as if she was whispering to her grandmother, and the volume was just loud enough for the emperor to hear.
Second Prince, these three words have always been a pain in the emperor’s heart. He raised his head suddenly and asked, “Which guard are you talking about?”
Although the emperor was asking Bai Qingyan, his eyes were already looking straight in the direction of Gaosheng. As if he thought of someone, the emperor stood up in surprise.
The emperor’s heart was pounding. No wonder he felt that the guard looked familiar. When the second prince rebelled… Gao Yuan, the most capable general beside the second prince, almost chopped off the emperor’s head with a single blow. He still remembered the feeling of the slightly curled bloody blade rubbing against his scalp, and he still could not forget Gao Yuan’s cold and sinister facial features.
“What is your relationship with the traitor Gao Yuan?!” the emperor asked loudly.
“My brother, the second prince’s guard is Gao Yuan.” Gao Sheng was not afraid at all, and looked directly at the emperor, as if he wanted to die. “In the seventh year of Xuanjia, he was shot and killed at Wude Gate. All nine clans were wiped out, and only one person was left.”
The emperor turned to Prince Liang in shock, only to see Prince Liang also looking at Gao Sheng in astonishment.
King Liang’s surprise was not pretended. He really did not expect Gao Sheng to admit his identity himself.
Now that things have come to this, Gaosheng is bound to die.
In an instant, his mind was in a thousand twists and turns, and he kowtowed to the emperor decisively: “Father! Your son…your son does not know Gao Sheng’s identity!”
The emperor clenched his fists tightly, calmed down, and slowly sat down, silently grasping the armrest of the dragon throne.
The Grand Princess looked at the emperor’s expression, saluted him slowly and said, “Your Majesty, this matter has become so serious that everyone in the capital knows about it. At this moment, the people outside Wude Gate are shouting that Your Majesty is a wise and virtuous ruler. We believe that Your Majesty can restore justice to the Bai family. You must live up to your reputation to win the hearts of the people! How to deal with King Liang depends on Your Majesty’s wise decision!”