1319: Plead Guilty (3)

Plead Guilty (3)

The Eldest Prince was just about to open his mouth and continue his duet with the Second Princess when Ling Yan suddenly spoke.1

"My Second Royal Sister is right. Appropriating the disaster relief funds is unforgivable. I have let my Royal Father and the people down.

The Second Princess had already formulated a rebuke, but now that Ling Yan had reproached himself, she choked back her words in shock. Her icy facade seemed to crack.

What was going on?

Was Ling Yan intending to die today?

Ling Yan had snatched the words right out of the Eldest Prince's and Second Princess's mouths. For a moment, they did not know what to do.

They could only turn and look at the Eternal Emperor, who was frowning.

This…

Ling Yan had admitted his guilt. Their Royal Father would at least strip him of his position as Crown Prince.

After the Eternal Emperor finished flipping through all the dossiers, he suddenly took a deep breath.

"I did not realize I had such wicked people around me…" The Eternal Emperor looked extremely grim as his gaze swept across everyone in the court.

The Eldest Prince and Second Princess were delighted to hear the Eternal Emperor's words.

"Where is Jiang Shu!" The Eternal Emperor barked.

The commander of the imperial bodyguards, Jiang Shu, immediately advanced.

"Here I am!"

"Go…" The Eternal Emperor took a deep breath. "And bring General Mo's lieutenant generals, Meng Yi, and the others, here!"

Everyone was stunned by the Eternal Emperor's words.

What was going on?

Wasn't he interrogating Ling Yan?

Why had the Eternal Emperor suddenly ordered the capture of General Mo's lieutenant generals?

Everyone was puzzled, but no one dared to ask questions in the presence of the Eternal Emperor, so they had to suppress their curiosity.

After a while, Jiang Shu brought Meng Yi and the other lieutenant generals to the hall. Before everyone in the hall could recover their wits, the Eternal Emperor threw the dossiers that Ling Yan had presented earlier at Meng Yi and the others.

"How dare you! I asked you to accompany the Crown Prince to perform disaster relief, but you dared to appropriate the disaster relief funds!" The Eternal Emperor barked coldly as he looked at them.

Meng Yi and the others were shocked to see what was recorded in the dossiers before them.

"Have mercy, Your Majesty! Have mercy!"

At that moment, the Eldest Prince and the others saw what was written in those dossiers.

The Eldest Prince and the others were shocked by what they saw.

The dossiers clearly recorded the details of the disaster relief funds that had been embezzled. Every sum was clearly recorded, but the final sum had not gone to Ling Yan. It had gone to these people, who had been brought to the hall.

Everyone was shocked. They did not understand what was going on.

When Ling Yan saw that the men had been captured, he said, "Royal Father, when you sent me to the border to perform disaster relief, Meng Yi and the others were sent to accompany me. Along the way, I fell ill and was unable to continue. I had no choice but to order Meng Yi and the others to bring the funds there first. However, they were corrupt and appropriated most of the funds.

"By the time I found out about it, they had appropriated the funds. The border citizens were in a desperate plight. Since I was there as my Royal Father's representative, I did not dare to delay the work. Thus, I sold my own property to make up the sum."

As Ling Yan spoke, he nodded to an old minister present in the court.

The old minister immediately advanced and kneeled before the Eternal Emperor.

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