Empress Jinghua: The eunuch is nine thousand years old

Chapter 21
Three days later, a war of words and guns broke out in the Golden Luan Hall, headed by the prince and the eldest son of the emperor.

According to the report of Master Wu, Minister of Dali Temple sent by the eldest son of the emperor, it was discovered that Prince Lin, the former water control envoy, was suspected of embezzling disaster relief money, and he was the chief culprit that caused the dam to collapse.

As soon as these words came out, the government and the public were shocked. Everyone could not have imagined that Prince Lin's appetite was so great that he swallowed so much money, while the faces of the prince's faction were extremely ugly, especially the prince and Lin Runyu.

The two of them met each other at first glance, and their hearts were full of sadness. Not many people knew about the corruption that the crown prince instructed Lin Runyu to embezzle, only a few of the crown prince's confidant ministers knew. Where did the Minister of Dali find out about it?
"Your Majesty, the evidence of Lin Shizi's embezzlement of disaster relief funds is conclusive. I have sent people to the south of the Yangtze River to collect evidence of the crime, and even asked people to bring back the shopkeeper Lin Shizi bought the building materials to. Here, the emperor will know at the first trial!" Dali Temple Qing's full voice echoed in the hall.

The eldest son of the emperor folded his hands in his sleeves and cast a satisfied look at him. Fortunately, Mr. Qi, the hidden stake he planted in the neutral faction, reported such shocking good news this time, otherwise it would be too cheap to say goodbye. So much silver.

Ming Shengdi's face was as black and ugly as ink, he was so angry that he trembled all over his body, his eyes swept fiercely at the corner of the hall, Lin Runyu and the prince, whose face turned blue and white, and shouted: "Come on!"

The guards led the order and immediately brought the witnesses to the hall.

The shopkeeper of the building materials king had never seen such a scene where all the officials stood aside and the emperor personally interrogated him. His legs were a little weak, and he was mixed into the middle of the hall by the guards, and he knelt down with a plop.

"The grassroots see the emperor! Long live the emperor, long live, long live!"

Ming Shengdi looked at him vigorously, and asked in a deep voice, "Are you the shopkeeper who sells building materials for the collapsed dam in the south of the Yangtze River?"

"Back to the emperor, it was Caomin...but the collapse of the Jiangnan Dam had nothing to do with the villain! Those building materials were insisted on by Lin Shizi, and Caomin recommended him better materials, but he thought they were too expensive and insisted on buying them." The cheap one even said that if the grassroots people shake off the fact that he bought inferior goods, they will kill the grassroots people, and the grassroots people are so soft-spoken, I really can’t persuade them!" Let Ming Shengdi count the responsibility as his own.

"You are talking nonsense! Since when did this son threaten you? It is obvious that your own things are not strong, but you come to frame this son!"

Lin Runyu pointed at shopkeeper Wang's nose and cursed, and couldn't help but stepped forward and wanted to push shopkeeper Wang down, but was stopped by the guards before giving up in embarrassment.The wound on his forehead that was smashed by Ming Shengdi has completely healed, and now his neck is stuck, looking like he has been wronged.

"My son, don't lose your composure in front of the imperial court!" The eldest son of the emperor said imposingly, and cast a look at Dali Siqing, signaling him to cut through the mess quickly and throw out Lin Runyu's guilt.

"This son just can't bear the sight of some people using unreasonable words to falsely frame loyal ministers. Heaven has eyes, and this son has a clear conscience!" Lin Runyu swore pointing to the sky, but she didn't feel the slightest bit of shame.

Shopkeeper Wang bowed his head and kowtowed, his body was already trembling with fright. He glanced timidly at Lin Runyu, who was as imposing as a rainbow, and became a little scared, and said to Ming Shengdi with his hands: "Your Majesty! Caomin has worked diligently in this building material industry for more than 20 years. Well, the quality of Caomin’s house is also well-known, this matter is indeed what the prince insisted on, Caomin knows that he is humble, so he dare not slander the prince!”

The Minister of Dali Temple knelt down, holding the account book of the building materials shop and the records of Lin Runyu's use in the disaster relief bank, and said loudly: "Your Majesty, these two records are the items that the shopkeeper Wang recorded the purchase of building materials by the prince and the records recorded by the prince himself. Clearly comparing the difference, millions of taels of silver disappeared, if it wasn't for the embezzlement of the prince, wouldn't the silver have grown by itself?"

Xiao Xiazi took the two pieces of evidence from Dali Siqing and presented them to Ming Shengdi. Ming Shengdi compared them carefully, and it turned out that several million taels were lost out of thin air.

"Bold! Bold!" Ming Shengdi was furious, and threw the two pieces of evidence heavily on Lin Runyu's face, wanting to tear him to pieces.

But Lin Runyu was pale and speechless. He looked down at the evidence with a guilty conscience, but he couldn't even make up a sophistry.

"Look for yourself! Now that there are witnesses and material evidence, how dare you tell me that you have a clear conscience?" Ming Shengdi gritted his teeth and turned to look at King Lin, angrily angrily said, "This is the good son that King Lin taught? !"

King Lin knew that there was no room for turning around this matter. He glared at his useless son. At this time, Ming Shengdi had already confirmed Lin Runyu's crime. suspicious.

He clenched his fists, knelt on the ground with a plop, and said, "Your Majesty! It's all my disciples who can't teach their sons! It's the fault of the son not teaching his father. If the emperor wants to punish him severely, let the ministers bear it!"

The minister of Dali Temple took advantage of the victory to pursue him, clasped his fists and said: "Your Majesty! I believe that Lin Shizi can never deceive the world with his own strength. There must be someone more powerful behind him. If he can't get rid of the harm this time, How innocent the people are, how innocent the world is!"

His eyes swept over the prince, and the meaning was already extremely obvious.

"I hope that the emperor will thoroughly investigate this matter and give justice to the common people!"

At this time, the prince's heart was already in a storm, but he still had to pretend to be calm.He took a step forward and said calmly: "Father, I don't know what Master Wu meant when he hesitated to speak like this. His Excellency Lin was certainly confused for a moment, but it shouldn't be a gentleman's way to splash dirty water like this? "

The crown prince obviously did not intend to protect Lin Runyu with his words. No matter how rare an arm is, if it threatens him, he has to give it up.He turned his head and glanced at Lin Runyu, with warning and threats in his eyes, indicating that he would take the blame himself, and he would find a way to help him in time, if he dared to bite himself out, don't blame him for being ruthless.

The eldest son of the emperor is obviously not reconciled. If such a good opportunity cannot be used to pull the prince into the water, it will be a disappointment to his plan.

"Father! My son thinks that someone is behind the son's orders. There are tens of thousands of people in the south of the Yangtze River who died unjustly. Please tell the father clearly!"

Ming Shengdi was already dizzy by such twists and turns, he rubbed his brows and asked, "Shizi Lin, who ordered you?"

Lin Runyu knelt on the ground, already a little anxious, but the prince's intentions are there. He has been with the prince for so long, and he still knows the prince's temper. If he really drags the prince into the water to get rid of the crime, I am afraid that the prince will be safe by then. But his life was lost.

"Back... back to the emperor, no one instructed the envoy, it was done by the minister alone, and has nothing to do with other people." Lin Runyu said weakly for a long time.

The crown prince breathed a sigh of relief, but the eldest son of the emperor and the others threw off their sleeves, feeling extremely depressed.

Ming Shengdi snorted coldly, and was extremely disappointed with Lin Runyu. He looked at the kneeling and standing courtiers and felt exhausted. How much time would he have to spend like this? If you don't live in this court, I'm afraid it will be replaced by others sooner or later.

"Since you have pleaded guilty, I will also seek justice for the innocent people in Jiangnan who died in vain."

Ming Shengdi sighed out of his nose, and said sharply: "My son, Lin Runyu, is corrupt and perverts the law. I am grateful for his father, King Lin's contribution to the Dalai Dynasty. I cannot bear to let him lose his son in old age, but the death penalty can be avoided. It is an indisputable fact that Lin Runyu committed a heinous crime by fleeing, and today I will take the title of Lin Runyu's eldest son and demote him to a commoner, confiscate all his family property, and never enter the court!"

The people from the emperor's eldest son faction and the emperor's eldest grandson faction were naturally gloating. It's no wonder that the prince lost such an arm and didn't feel pain for several days and nights.

Lin Runyu's whole body seemed to be struck by lightning, and his whole body was limp on the ground. He has been a man of rich clothes and rich food since he was a child, and he enjoyed all the benefits by virtue of his status as a prince. How could he not lose all hope once he was taken away?
Just when everyone thought that everything was settled, an old but majestic voice sounded from the door of the Jinluan Hall.

"slow!"

Everyone looked for the reputation, and saw that the Empress Dowager was walking into the hall with the hand of the maid, her wrinkled face was full of seriousness, and her voice suddenly rose.

"Your majesty, you can't abolish the identity of Lin Shizi!"

Emperor Ming's complexion darkened. What an emperor dislikes most is being choked up by others on such an obvious occasion, even if it is the queen mother, not to mention that the queen mother is not his biological mother.

"What does the queen mother mean by this? I am the supreme ninety-five, do you even have to report to the queen mother for disposing of a courtier with ulterior motives?"

The Empress Dowager walked to the center of the hall step by step with the hand of the palace maid, helped Lin Runyu who was kneeling on the ground in a daze, and patted him on the back lovingly.

"The Empress Dowager!" Lin Runyu seemed to be holding on to a life-saving straw, hugging the Empress Dowager's calf and crying with snot and tears.

"Your Majesty, after all, the son is young and energetic, and he was confused for a while, but if you abolish his status like this, I'm afraid it will chill the hearts of those who are dedicated to serving the emperor." The queen mother looked at the emperor, her tone of voice increased.

Hearing what the Empress Dowager said, Ming Shengdi understood what she meant and frowned deeply.

To say that Lin Runyu is lucky is that he is the son of King Lin. If he was an ordinary son, he might not be so lucky to have the Queen Mother rescue him personally.

He was more than 20 years old. At that time, Ming Shengdi was still the great general Wang Xiazhong of the former Jinlai Dynasty, and his father Xia Yimin was the son-in-law of the eldest princess of the former dynasty. Because he was a son-in-law, he could not take concubines privately.

But Xia Yimin was not willing to submit to the powerful eldest princess, so she hid her in the outer golden house and raised a lady from an official family named Bai Shi, who was the current queen mother, and the two even gave birth to a son, who was King Lin.

After the eldest princess of the previous dynasty passed away due to a sudden illness, Xia Yimin took Miss Bai's family into the mansion as a continuation. In order to avoid criticism from others, he did not recognize Lin Wang's son, but the Xia family knew it well.

(End of this chapter)