Rebirth of a Lost Nation: Princess, Please Respect Yourself

Chapter 126: Death without evidence?

"Your Majesty, Zhaohua believes that there must be something fishy going on with the Crown Prince. I beg Your Majesty to investigate thoroughly!" Jiang Lige said.

Emperor Shengwu said "Oh" and waved his hand. The attendants brought up a chair and a wooden table, and waited for Emperor Shengwu to sit down and drink a cup of tea. Then he waved his hand lazily.

"Well, everyone, please stand up. Let me hear what Princess Zhaohua thinks is so strange about this matter."

"Reporting to Your Majesty. According to regulations, the Five Cities Military Commission has temporarily arranged patrol personnel and routes to prevent soldiers from leaking patrol routes. Therefore, prior to departure, they must verify the documents issued by the higher authorities and sign their names before departure. If this were the case, how could the soldiers obey the Crown Prince's orders without the written confirmation?"

"Princess Zhaohua is right." Emperor Shengwu said, then looked at Wang Zhuangke, who was trembling in the crowd. "My dear Wang, what do you say?"

"Your Majesty..." Wang Zhuangke carefully wiped the sweat from his forehead, "It was because I didn't manage my subordinates well that Ning Sili took advantage of the situation."

"Oh? Lord Wang, are you saying that the soldiers didn't check the documents?"

When Jiang Lige asked this, Wang Zhuangke didn't dare to nod. If he pushed the soldiers out, how could he control so many mouths?

Therefore, Wang Zhuangke could only put the blame on Ning Yunxiao. "No, I have already investigated the matter. It was Ning Sili who forged the documents out of his eagerness to save the people."

"Forged documents?" Jiang Lige asked again, "So, Lord Wang was completely unaware of this matter and never signed the troop deployment document?"

"Exactly."

Jiang Lige bowed again and said, "Your Majesty, if that's the case, we just need to go to the military archives and retrieve the troop deployment documents from when Ning Sili was patrolling the streets a few days ago. We can then quickly compare them and determine who is right and who is wrong."

Emperor Shengwu nodded upon hearing this and said, "Princess Zhaohua, your words make sense. Then I will open the military archives and retrieve the documents."

"Your Majesty, the troop mobilization documents from that day have disappeared. Originally, Lieutenant Ning's rescue was a good deed, and I was planning to turn a blind eye and let it go, but..." Wang Zhuangke showed no fear at all, even a hint of smugness flashed in his eyes. He then spoke passionately, "The military archives are a vital military facility. I cannot allow the Crown Prince to disregard military discipline for his own selfish desires! Therefore, I have learned my lesson and fined him twenty military sticks."

"How ridiculous!" Emperor Shengwu was furious. "What Wang Aiqing means is that there is no evidence left, and now there is no way to prove it!"

"Your Majesty, please forgive me. I was not strict enough in governing my subordinates." Wang Zhuangke kowtowed repeatedly to apologize, wishing he could bury his face in the ground.

Emperor Shengwu was about to attack when he heard Jiang Lige sneer and called out "Songyue". He then saw Songyue kneeling forward, holding high in both hands a memorial with half a corner missing.

Then, Jiang Lige slowly stepped forward and said with a smile, "Unfortunately, Zhaohua accidentally picked up a troop mobilization document from the day of the incident and presented it to His Majesty for review."

"Send it over."

At Emperor Shengwu's command, an attendant took the memorial and presented it to him. The moment Wang Zhuangke saw the memorial, his legs went weak and he fell to the ground.

Seeing this, what was there for everyone to not understand?

Originally, Wang Zhuangke just wanted to find a reason to beat Ning Yunxiao, teach him a lesson, and curry favor with Princess Jingyu.

He never expected that this matter would be revealed to the emperor, so he naturally did not personally watch the destruction of evidence. But he did not expect that such a big handle would be left behind now.

After reading the signature on the troop mobilization document, Emperor Shengwu slammed the document in front of Wang Zhuangke and said, "My dear Lord Wang, why don't you take a look at this? This handwriting is somewhat similar to yours!"

At this point, Wang Zhuangke no longer dared to argue. He quickly knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly, "I was confused for a moment. Your Majesty, please spare my life!"

Emperor Shengwu watched coldly as Wang Zhuangke knelt on the ground and begged for mercy. It was not until Wang Zhuangke's forehead was broken and blood flowed down his forehead that Emperor Shengwu spoke lightly.

"I remember that you have served in the court for many years. Today, I will punish you according to military law with forty military sticks. As for your official rank, as you said, I dare not entrust you with such a high position if you disregard military discipline for your own selfish desires. After you recover from your injuries, you will guard the camp gate."

At Wang Zhuangke's current age, it can be said that he can't even survive forty military sticks. Even if he managed to survive, he would be demoted from a city commander to an ordinary soldier guarding the camp gate. No one could accept this, right?

No one dared to say a word when Emperor Shengwu made such a decision. However, Princess Jingyu was quick-witted. Seeing this, she immediately knelt on the ground and apologized, saying that she had been kept in the dark and that she had made such a mistake because she thought that Princess Zhao was a kind mother.

Wang Zhuangke had already lost the emperor's favor, so naturally he didn't dare to get involved with Princess Jingyu anymore. He just silently took it on.

After all, Princess Jingyu was one of the heroes who helped Emperor Shengwu ascend the throne. Since Wang Zhuangke admitted all the faults, Emperor Shengwu naturally would not pursue Princess Jingyu's responsibility for "negligence".

As for Jiang Lige, although he should not have trespassed into the military camp, considering that he was young and had made contributions, his merits and demerits offset each other and he will not be held accountable.

The storm ended here, and the sound of military sticks started again in the training ground. However, Jiang Lige had no intention of paying attention to Wang Zhuangke's excitement. After getting the approval of Emperor Shengwu, he immediately ran towards Ning Yunxiao who had fainted.

After receiving twenty blows from the military sticks, Ning Yunxiao was covered in blood and looked extremely miserable. He looked lifeless and his face was as pale as a thin white jade plate that would dissipate with the wind if touched.

Jiang Lige felt his heart tighten, and he hurriedly called Gufan Songyue and others to help the patient and to call the imperial physician.

Ning Yunxiao was seriously injured. Jiang Lige was worried that he could not withstand the hardships of the carriage, so he had to settle him in a farmhouse.

The imperial physician arrived quickly, but it was a pity that his old bones were carried by Gu Fan on the horse and brought here. After a short rest, he was dragged to Ning Yunxiao's bed by Jiang Lige, and then he was stared at by a group of people...

See a doctor.

"Don't worry, everyone. The prince's injuries were treated promptly. He is still in his prime, so even though he has suffered some physical pain, as long as he takes good care of himself, he will be fine in the future."

After hearing what the imperial physician said, Jiang Lige carefully confirmed it several times. He was relieved when he learned that Ning Yunxiao was not seriously injured. He asked the imperial physician to write down a prescription and then had someone escort the imperial physician out.

Meanwhile, on the carriage back to the capital, Princess Jingyu was still furious. She shouted at Jiang Chuchu sitting across from her, "Is this what you call foolproof?"

Jiang Chuchu lowered her head, seemingly humble, but actually a little angry.

"According to our original agreement, the princess should play the good guy and pretend to plead for the prince once the military sticks are halfway through, so as to win him a favor, instead of overturning the plan we agreed on earlier just to win a momentary battle with Jiang Lige!"

"Are you questioning me?"