inspire-indiana Chapter 173 The veteran officials apologize to Qin Wanying
Chapter 173 The veteran officials apologize to Qin Wanying
“Back then, Princess Ye approached you, wanting to stage this drama with you. She said that once it succeeded, the Crown Prince would definitely look at her with new eyes, and she would become the Crown Princess in no time, and eventually the Empress.”
"Once she becomes empress, she will definitely promote and protect you."
"You agreed at the time, and this grand drama was staged. Princess Ye successfully blocked the knife and saved the Crown Prince's life, making the Crown Prince extremely grateful to her."
Han Zhiheng stared at Qin Wanying, his face pale and his eyes sinister.
That was indeed the case at the time, but unexpectedly, Ye Zhihui was a disappointment and failed to win over the Crown Prince after so long.
However, their conversation was kept very secret, so how did Qin Wanying find out?
Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he was quite surprised.
Unlike the others who were skeptical, he knew that what Qin Wanying said must be true.
It turns out the two of them had plotted this before.
This Han Zhiheng is the son of General Han. He is not particularly good at leading troops, but he is quite meticulous in his actions.
I never expected someone so audacious to have such a conspiracy.
Did Qin Wanying only discover the truth after seeing Han Zhiheng?
The veteran generals were skeptical, as the young lady Qin's words seemed to be well-reasoned and supported by evidence.
But would General Han's son really do such a thing?
Let's see if this girl can produce any evidence.
"Later, you sent assassins to kill the Crown Prince, and Ye Zhihui took the blows, just like what you conspired to do."
"All the assassins were killed in action, except for one who survived: your bodyguard, Shi Wei."
As soon as he uttered the name "Shi Wei," Han Zhiheng's lips trembled uncontrollably.
This person was indeed the only survivor at the time, because he had grown up with him since childhood and couldn't bear to kill him.
General Han felt a chill run down his spine.
He glanced at his son, and seeing his son's expression, his heart skipped a beat.
It seems that Miss Qin was right.
Shi Wei was a servant who had been with his son since childhood.
Could it be that his son really did such a thing? General Han's face also turned pale.
If that's true, the son is incredibly foolish! This is a crime punishable by the execution of the entire family!
Qin Wanying turned to the Crown Prince: "Your Highness, Shi Wei has a scar on his right shoulder, inflicted by Yu Feng years ago. Yu Feng's sword is different in shape from other swords, and the scars from his wounds are distinctive. Bring this man here, and the truth will be revealed."
Upon hearing this, the crown prince's eyes lit up slightly.
What Qin Wanying saw did indeed coincide with what Yu Feng had investigated.
They immediately sent people to the Han residence to arrest the person.
Yu Feng looked at Qin Wanying with a strange light in his eyes.
After investigating for so long without any results, Qin Wanying actually figured it out immediately and even found the witness from that time.
No wonder both the Emperor and the Crown Prince value Miss Qin so much.
A short while later, two guards returned, escorting a tall, thin man, who was none other than Shi Wei.
Shi Wei and Han Zhiheng exchanged a glance. Shi Wei's eyes were still a little confused. He couldn't understand why he had been arrested. Shouldn't there have been evidence of what happened back then?
Han Zhiheng's face turned deathly pale.
The crown prince ordered his men to strip Shi Wei of his shirt, and sure enough, there was a knife scar on his right shoulder.
Yu Feng stepped forward to examine it, then turned back and said, "Your Highness, it was indeed I who made this cut back then! My sword was crafted by a special artisan; only my sword could have made such a mark!"
Han Zhiheng's face was completely drained of color.
If I had known, I would have dealt with Shi Wei secretly! Now he has left behind such great evidence!
General Han's face was ashen.
All the generals looked at Han Zhiheng with a strange expression.
As soldiers of Emperor Yao, they found this behavior utterly despicable.
The way they looked at General Han was also somewhat different.
They could tell that this matter had nothing to do with General Han; it was Han Zhiheng who did it himself.
However, General Han was unworthy of being blamed for failing to properly educate his son, and such a serious incident occurred in his household.
"Take Han Zhiheng, Shi Wei, and Ye Zhihui to the Dali Temple for interrogation." The Crown Prince's words carried an air of authority despite his lack of anger.
Ye Zhihui knew that she was completely finished now.
Not only did he lose the life-saving grace, but he also became the murderer who harmed the crown prince. Assassinating the crown prince was a serious crime!
Qin Wanying also breathed a sigh of relief.
Great, Ye Zhihui has finally been caught.
This can be considered as putting one of my worries to rest.
If this matter hadn't been uncovered, who knows what other trouble she might have caused in the future? She's like a ticking time bomb.
After the person was taken away, the reception hall was silent for a moment, and no one spoke.
Their trip to the Crown Prince's residence to "demand justice" backfired spectacularly, as they never expected that Ye Zhihui, whom they had backed up, would turn out to be a daring murderer, while Qin Wanying, whom they wanted to keep away from the Crown Prince, was completely innocent.
Not only is he innocent, but he is also very capable.
They couldn't understand how Qin Wanying had found out about that incident from so many years ago.
The most embarrassed person was General Han, who had spearheaded the whole affair, only to find that his own son was the one who attempted to assassinate the Crown Prince.
The crown prince finally spoke.
"Generals, you have all rendered great service to my Great Yao. I do not wish to punish you. However, what happened today is simply too much. You have come to my residence to demand an explanation without any evidence."
The crown prince didn't say anything excessive, but when he spoke, he naturally exuded an air of authority that made people dare not refute him or look him in the eye.
"I can forgive your offense. However, Miss Qin is a distinguished guest of my residence, yet you have accused her without any evidence. I request that you all apologize to Miss Qin."
Qin Wanying was stunned for a moment after hearing this.
Instead of holding the senior officials accountable for their disrespect, the Crown Prince stood up for her, demanding that they be held responsible for wronging him and even making them apologize to him.
Most of those present today were veteran officials. The Crown Prince was young, and they hadn't taken him seriously before, but today's events clearly showed that they were in the wrong.
They had indeed wronged Miss Qin.
They thought they could help the Crown Prince get away from the troublemakers around him, but they never expected that the troublemaker would be Ye Zhihui, whom they trusted.
The veteran officials looked rather embarrassed and bowed to Qin Wanying.
"Miss Qin, I'm sorry, you've been wronged." General Han spoke first.
The other soldiers also said in unison, "Miss Qin, we are sorry that you have been wronged."
Qin Wanying was also a little embarrassed at this moment.
She had no official rank, yet a group of veteran officials bowed and apologized to her; many of them were veterans of two dynasties.
Many of these veteran officials have made great contributions to Emperor Yao, and even His Majesty respects them. If I were to speak too harshly, I would be overestimating myself.
Besides, these people were indeed instigated and were not intentionally targeting her, so Qin Wanying did not hold a grudge against them.
"Generals, please rise. Today's events were caused by someone stirring up trouble and it was all a misunderstanding. You were only thinking of the Great Yao Kingdom, so there's no need to take it to heart," Qin Wanying replied.
After Qin Wanying finished speaking, the soldiers straightened up.
General Han knelt before the Crown Prince, bowing his head and saying, "Your Highness, my son has committed a grave crime, and I am also partly to blame. Please send me to the Dali Temple as well!"