Ci Jinzhi

"My son has met his father." King Qing suppressed his excitement and anxiety and saluted. When he found that several important officials in the palace were there, looking at him with strange eyes, he immediately felt nervous.

 Could it be a bad thing?

 Then, King Qing noticed Minister Pei kneeling on the ground.

 Pei Shilang put his forehead to the ground, trembling all over, and did not look up because of the arrival of King Qing.

Such an embarrassing posture made Prince Qing's heart sink quickly to the bottom.

You must know that Minister Pei is a third-rank official. How could he be like this if he hadn't offended his father?

As to what big mistake Pei Shilang would make, King Qing almost couldn't help but think of Dingbei, and his face turned pale because of this.

Emperor Xingyuan didn't speak since King Qing came in. His sharp eyes fell on King Qing's face. When he noticed the change in his expression, Wu Bo's expression darkened.

“Prince Qing, do you know Taiping Town?”

When King Qing heard Emperor Xingyuan calling him his title, his heart skipped a beat and he hurriedly said, "I don't know."

 “I don’t know?”

The emperor's calm and somewhat dull voice came from above. Prince Qing's heart was raised and he nervously changed his words: "It sounds familiar, but I can't remember it for a moment. What town is it from?"

Emperor Xingyuan glanced at the **** Sun Yan and said, "Show that piece of paper to King Qing."

Sun Yan came to King Qing holding the paper.

Prince Qing read it carefully and knelt down: "Father, this paper is full of nonsense and is pure slander! As a prince, how could my son massacre a whole town of people for a little money? My son is unjust..."

Emperor Xingyuan did not soften his expression because of King Qing's cry of injustice: "A little girl from a small town went to the capital to stop the sedan chair and cry out for injustice, just to wrong you?"

King Qing raised his head and was so anxious that tears came out: "My son is really unjust. Father, maybe some people saw something happened to Gu Changbo and wanted to use this to drag his son down and cause this farce-"

"Shut up!" It was okay that King Qing didn't mention Gu Changbo, but when he mentioned Gu Changbo, Emperor Xingyuan got angry.

 These days, he has been awake at night and suffering day by day, waiting for news from Mr. Songling and the possibility that he and the Queen will have a living son. For this reason, even if he wanted to destroy Gu Changbo's family, he could only endure it and not have an attack.

 He has several sons, each of whom has a large family behind him. He also has many ministers, outstanding, mediocre, noble, and aggressive. Each minister has his own position and ideas. Once the existence of the legitimate prince is revealed, who knows what kind of disturbance will be caused?

 He couldn't take any chances until he found the child.

 "It is reported that the envoy of Jinlin Guard Town, He Qingxiao, has entered the palace."

Not long after Emperor Xingyuan spoke, He Qingxiao hurried over.

 “I have seen your majesty.”

“Go to Shuntian Mansion and bring a woman named Zhu into the palace. Sun Yan—”

 “The slave is here.”

　　"You will also go together and send word that Shuntian Prefecture Yin will enter the palace."

 The two of them agreed in unison and rushed to Shuntian Mansion without any delay.

At this time, Yin of Shuntian Prefecture was pacing back and forth in the room anxiously.

How is the situation with Yushi He going to the palace to report? Why haven’t the people sent to Prince Qing’s Mansion returned yet?

 As for Zhu Xiaoyue, he arranged him in a side room and was watched by others.

“Your Excellency, Mr. Sun from the palace and Mr. He from Jinlinwei Town are here.”

As soon as he heard the report from his subordinates, Shuntian Prefecture Yin quickly walked out and raised his hands to He Qingxiao and Sun Yan: "Master He, Eunuch Sun."

Sun Yan cleared his throat and said, "I am hereby sending an oral order to Mr. Tian to come to the palace for an audience."

He Qingxiao asked: "Is Miss Zhu here? Today it is said that she has entered the palace to meet the saint."

"Here, there." Shuntian Prefecture Yin personally led the two of them to the auxiliary room. Zhu Xiaoyue was sitting in the corner. When he saw He Qingxiao and others coming in, he quickly stood up, looking nervous.

 He Qingxiao took a deep look at Zhu Xiaoyue.

 This is the Miss Zhu mentioned by Miss Kou.

 “Is it Miss Zhu?”

 Zhu Xiaoyue knelt down and said, "That's right, the daughter of the people."

 After confirming their identities, the group rushed to the imperial city. Zhu Xiaoyue was a commoner's daughter, and she was allowed to enter the palace only after undergoing strict inspections.

 In the Qianqing Palace, Emperor Xingyuan said nothing, and the atmosphere was very gloomy until Zhu Xiaoyue was brought in.

 “Public girl Zhu Xiaoyue, I have met Your Majesty.” Zhu Xiaoyue knelt down and buried her head deeply.

 “Look up.” A voice that could not be heard as happy or angry came from above.

Zhu Xiaoyue pressed her hands on the ground. The cold gold bricks reflected her pale face and made her nervous.

How could she not be nervous? She was going to see the Emperor!

But she can't be nervous, she wants to avenge her fellow villagers who died tragically!

　　The horrific corpses, the desperate screams, the difficulties and obstacles along the way... too many pictures flashed through Zhu Xiaoyue's mind, and she finally summoned the courage to raise her head.

She did not dare to look directly at the sky. Although she raised her head, her eyes were downcast.

Emperor Xingyuan saw the girl kneeling on the ground clearly.

After a brief silence, Emperor Xingyuan spoke: "Are you Miss Zhu who sued King Qing and the left minister of Hubu?"

"It's a civilian girl who filed a lawsuit against King Qing and the Minister of Household Affairs." Although Zhu Xiaoyue couldn't control her trembling voice, her speech was clear.

 “Please tell me carefully.”

 “The father of a civilian girl is a squire from Taiping Town...” Speaking of it, Zhu Xiaoyue forgot to be nervous.

From the hardship faced by the villagers who were short of food and clothing after the earthquake, we heard that Yuan Zhu went to the county to collect relief supplies, but the official who promised to report it to the superiors died inexplicably...

Zhu Xiaoyue stared at Prince Qing with a pair of bloodshot eyes: "My father suspected that the disaster relief imperial envoy colluded with local officials to embezzle relief funds, and risked his life to stop Prince Qing from driving. Prince Qing promised my father that he would send someone to investigate, and asked my father to go back to the town and wait. Who would have thought that what we were waiting for two days later was not life-saving supplies, but cold butcher knives."

A line of tears slowly trickled down and slid over the corner of her lips. Zhu Xiaoyue bit her lips hard and tasted the smell of blood.

This pain is not as bad as heartache.

"You are the prince, this summer belongs to your family, and the folks in Taiping Town are all your people. Why do you do this, why?" Zhu Xiaoyue shouted out a question that made her extremely painful.

The few days she stayed at Miss Kou's house relaxed her tight strings and she finally had time to think. But the more she thought about it, the more painful it became. She would even think that if she had not studied like the girls in the town, maybe she would not think about these things, or could read more books to make her think clearly.

The girl’s hoarse questions echoed in the hall.

Emperor Xingyuan opened his mouth, but found that his chest felt like a stone. He calmed down and said, "I will send people to Dingbei to investigate. If what you say is true, I will give you an explanation."

 “Thank you, Your Majesty, long live Your Majesty!” Zhu Xiaoyue put her forehead to the ground and cried silently.

Emperor Xingyuan glanced at everyone, and just as he was about to speak, he saw He Qingxiao standing up.

 “Your Majesty, I have something to report.”

"explain."

He Qingxiao lowered his eyes slightly: "Two days ago, Jinlin Guards arrested a young man who was acting suspiciously. After interrogation, he claimed to be the son of the chief secretary of Beiquan County..."