But Lord Hu said, “Of course, I would not dare to make casual speculations involving the Crown Prince. When I received the news, I specially sent men to the various regions to investigate. The investigations showed no discrepancies. I also ordered men to bring some of the officials and citizens from these border cities here. If His Majesty does not believe me, he can summon here for questioning.”
The Eternal Emperor immediately summoned them to the hall for a confrontation.
The officials all came from far-flung border cities and had never seen the Emperor before. Upon meeting him, they were filled with fear and trembling and fell to their knees in unison. The citizens quivered even more violently and kneeled behind them.
“Greetings, Your Majesty.”
“Look up. Let me ask you, how did the Crown Prince, Ling Yan, do when he was in your cities to perform disaster relief?” The Eternal Emperor asked sternly.
“This…”
“There is no need to hesitate when answering His Majesty. You just need to speak plainly. If you dare to deviate from the truth, you will immediately be dragged out and flogged to death!” The Second Princess said coldly.
All of them immediately became so frightened that they shivered all over and stammered.
“When the Third… Prince was at our borders, he did his very best and did not do anything inappropriate…”
“Yes, yes, yes. The Crown Prince attended to everything personally and loved his subjects as he would his own children.”
When the officials from the various cities spoke, they strenuously praised Ling Yan’s efforts.
The Eternal Emperor calmed down a little, but at that moment, the citizens kneeling behind the city officials suddenly turned pale. They raised their heads and said, “Your Majesty! Please give us justice!”
This sudden turn of events startled the ministers, who were beginning to suspect there was some mistake in Lord Hu’s investigations.
The Eternal Emperor frowned slightly.
“Your Majesty, when we were at the border, we did not see the Crown Prince at all. The Crown Prince never came to our cities. Also… we never received any disaster relief…”
“Your Majesty, my son and daughter starved to death during the natural disaster. We heard that the court had sent the Third Prince to perform disaster relief, but… we never saw any food, only… only some moldy rice…”
“Your Majesty, our lives are worthless, we must say that the Crown Prince has deceived you and everyone else…”
These citizens publicly exposed the city officials’ flagrant cover-up. They shouted themselves hoarse to denounce Ling Yan’s lies.
This immediately set the court buzzing.
When the Eldest Prince saw the situation unfold before him, a trace of amusement surfaced in his eyes. He discreetly glanced at Ye Qingtang from the corner of his eyes.
He had intended for both the officials and citizens to discredit Ling Yan’s achievements, but before they left, Ye Qingtang suddenly changed her mind and asked him to change the city officials’ statements completely.
The Eldest Prince had been rather worried about whether this was appropriate.
But now that he personally saw the effect, the Eldest Prince was filled with admiration for Ye Qingtang’s intelligence.
If everyone accused Ling Yan of doing a poor job in disaster relief, others might suspect that Ling Yan was being framed. But now, the city officials’ cover-up made it obvious that Ling Yan had secretly bribed them. This made the impoverished citizens’ testimony even more believable and further blackened Ling Yan’s character.
After all, no one would expect ordinary citizens to deliberately malign the Crown Prince for no reason.
This was really a stroke of genius.
When the citizens finished speaking, the city officials’ expressions stiffened. They shuddered even more violently. Their reactions clearly indicated their guilt without a need for more questioning.
At a glance, it was clear who was telling the truth and who was lying.