Chapter 405

In just a few days, more and more officials pleaded for Baili Junyi. In the end, even some famous scholars submitted an appeal. At this moment, many students came from all over the country to the capital to participate in the imperial examination that was approaching. They began to write articles as soon as they arrived in the capital, crying out injustice for Baili Junyi.

Inside Chengqian Hall, Baili Qingcang flipped through the articles in his hands, his anger surging. “Wonderful! I have no idea that a prince will have such prestige in the country! Look at the articles of these students. Their words are so eloquent and sharp. They almost pointed out that I am an imbecile and a foolish leader! How dare they! How dare they!”

The officials, kneeling on the floor, quickly advised, “Your Majesty, please calm down. All the information those students get is just hearsay. You can’t take them seriously.”

“Hearsay? Are you saying that there are people talking about how I handled Junyi wrongly?”

“Your Majesty, please calm down.”

Baili Qingcang was burning with anger. Looking at the paper in his hand, he suddenly rolled it into a ball, threw it on the ground, and ruthlessly stepped on it. “Nonsense! It’s simply a bunch of nonsense. I want to see how bold these people are to publicly discuss the private affairs of the royal family!”

“Your Majesty, please think twice. Many of those students have real talent and knowledge. They were bewitched, so they wrote articles to condemn injustice against the Fifth Prince. If you publicly punish the students, I’m afraid the scholars in the country will be disappointed.”

Although Baili Qingcang was angry, he had not lost his mind. He couldn’t punish these students, or his prestige among the people would be greatly affected. However, he felt extremely aggrieved as the rage surged inside him. Previously, he had been wondering if his treatment of Baili Junyi was too severe, especially after Baili Junyi presented the list of his forces in the palace. However, after the officials pleaded for mercy and the students cried out injustice, his concern turned into wrath! He was jittery as the rage irritated him.

“Guards, summon the Fifth Prince to the palace!”

The officials below were silent, but the emotions in their eyes were particularly excited. Baili Junyi punished them in the past. Although they survived the ordeal, they were demoted, and their assets were confiscated. Later, they were afraid of the evidence in the hands of the Emperor, so they became diligent in their work and slowly gained the trust of the Emperor again. This time, it was their turn to take revenge. They would not miss the chance.

After receiving the edict, Baili Junyi changed his clothes and followed the eunuch into the palace.

Hong Ling stood beside Shen Ninghua and could not help but ask worriedly, “Miss, will His Highness be fine after he enters the palace this time?”

Shen Ninghua smiled. “Don’t worry, nothing will happen. He knows that the students wrote articles for him. He even added fuel to the fire behind the scenes. Don’t worry, everything will be just fine.” Not only would everything be fine, but if everything went well, someone would be in trouble.

“Greetings, Father Emperor.” Baili Junyi walked into the hall and bowed to Baili Qingcang.

Baili Qingcang looked at him, his heart surging with anger. He kicked the ball of paper under his feet to Baili Junyi. “Look! Take a good look at it!”

Baili Junyi picked up the paper and opened it. He quickly glanced at the article on paper.

Baili Qingcang coldly rebuked, “Junyi, you are really something. Look at what those students wrote. They said that punishing you will harm the nation, deter the people’s trust in me, and disappoint the people. Wow, I didn’t know that you have such prestige among the people.”

Baili Junyi frowned and said, ” Father Emperor, these people are just talking nonsense. Why didn’t you send people to arrest these students?”

The official at the side interrupted, “Fifth Prince, these students may be the pillars of the country in the future. How can we arrest them just like that? All the scholars in the country will feel disappointed.”

Baili Junyi sneered, “Father Emperor has absolute authority over everyone in the country. We, as his subjects, must obey his order wholeheartedly even if he wants our lives. This is the most basic requirement for loyalty. These students claim that they are studying hard, but they do not even understand the most basic principles of loyalty. No matter how learned they are, we can’t utilize them as officials even if they are top scholars! You speak for the students. Do you think that the students are right?”

The official who interrupted quickly explained, “No, Your Majesty, that is not what I meant.”

Baili Qingcang’s expression calmed down slightly. “Junyi, so you are suggesting that I should punish those students?”

“Yes, I think they should be punished severely. Their purpose in studying and participating in the imperial examination should be to serve you and do a job for the people. However, after these students came to the capital, they began to write articles and secretly discuss the matters of the royal family. They were just trying to gain a good reputation. They even used this matter to attract the attention of Father Emperor. It seems that the focus of their attention is not the imperial examination. What is the use of keeping such ostentatious and hypocritical people who are fishing for fame?”

Baili Qingcang revealed a pondering expression. Previously, he had been angered, but now that he calmed down and thought about it carefully, he felt that it was rather strange. These students came from all over the country. As the Emperor, he must know it if Baili Junyi’s reputation was spread so widely. Apparently, there was something fishy about this.

“Junyi, are you frustrated when I stripped off your title?”

Baili Junyi raised his head. His expression was exceptionally calm. “No, Father Emperor. Back then, I was the one who rejected the proposal. You are already extremely generous to me for not directly punishing me for disobeying the imperial edict. I am so grateful that I can’t even thank you enough. How can I still feel frustrated?”

“Good. Those students are indeed a little unreasonable, but the people will feel indignant and has misunderstanding if I directly punish them. Have you thought of any strategy?”

Baili Junyi thought for a moment and then said, “I think that we should first write an article to refute the students’ views and then punish the leading students. We can be lenient to those who jumped on the bandwagon. In this way, we punish the necessary few and show the magnanimity of the royal family.”

“Well, you are right. Okay, you can write the article to refute the students.”

“Yes, Father Emperor, I accept the decree.”

Hearing that he agreed so straightforwardly, Baili Qingcang was a little taken aback. The students wrote an article for him, yet he directly wrote an article to refute them and directly scolded them for meddling with his business. In this way, not only would he offend the students who spoke for him, but others would also think that he was ungrateful. As it went on, his reputation would be totally ruined.

Baili Qingcang waved his hand to dismiss everyone. He stayed alone in the main hall, feeling a headache. The chief of the stealthy guard silently appeared in the main hall. He knelt down and reported, “Master, I have finished investigating the matter.”

Baili Qingcang raised his head, got up, walked to the stealthy guard, and took the report in his hand. After reading the content, he was befuddled, and his expression became more and more absent-minded. “Are you saying that the people on Junyi’s list only helped him to barge into the palace?”

“Yes, the people on the list have connections with the Xia Family and Noble Consort Xian. However, both parties have received a strict order asking them to be loyal to Your Majesty. They were required to only appear once to save Princess Zhaohua and the Fifth Prince when their lives are in danger. After, they will never listen to their orders again.”

Baili Qingcang looked surprised. His lips moved slightly, but he did not know what to say. “Go and investigate the rumors and students in the capital. Check and see if there is anyone manipulating them behind the scenes.”

The mission of the people of the Xia Family was to protect the descendant of Jingyan. The same was true for Bu Yunqing’s people. He had originally suspected Baili Junyi and Shen Ninghua because he felt threatened. Now, the investigation showed that they were forced to use the people in the palace and wasted their only chance to survive. Could it be that he had misunderstood the two of them?

Looking at the report presented by the stealthy guard, he could not help but frown more and more. When he investigated, it showed that some of the people on it had already been bought over by others. They were secretly helping the other concubines and princes, but Baili Junyi and Shen Ninghua did not know anything about it. It was obvious that they had no control over these people. Otherwise, such a situation would not have happened.

Baili Qingcang was a very suspicious emperor. Originally, he deeply believed that Baili Junyi was plotting something, so he felt that Baili Junyi had ulterior motives no matter what he did. Now, some doubts were gone, and many details resurfaced in his mind. It was quite inexplicable for those officials to plead for him at this moment. Why didn’t they do it when he removed Baili Junyi’s title? Moreover, he remembered very clearly that Baili Junyi once punished those officials, and most of their wealth had been confiscated. Did they not hate him at all?

The students were also doing things in such a peculiar way! When he connected everything together, he suddenly realized that someone might have used him to plot against Baili Junyi and Shen Ninghua!

Baili Qingcang had doubts in his heart, but the other princes and officials did not know about it. In the next few days, when Baili Junyi’s written refutation was released, many students became silent. They did not dare to talk about the royal family. However, the rumors were very rampant. They said that Baili Junyi was ungrateful and nasty and that no wonder the Emperor punished him. Some people even guessed that he had done something even worse, so much so that the Emperor hated him and did not take him as his son.

Those officials who pleaded for Baili Junyi previously in the royal court also disappeared. Instead, many people began to criticize Baili Junyi, saying that he was arrogant, pompous, and disrespectful to his father.

Baili Qingcang had been listening quietly. The Dragon Scale Army that had been sent to watch over the Fifth Prince’s mansion had not been withdrawn either. Sometimes, he would even reward the officials who suggested that he should punish Baili Junyi severely. As a result, the officials almost scolded Baili Junyi to the point of calling him an unpardonably wicked person.

The stealthy guard, who was sent to investigate the rumors and students, quickly sent the results of the investigation. When he saw the results of the investigation, Baili Qingcang was furious and slammed the report on the ground. “Good, very good! I never knew that my sons are so great and powerful!”

Except for the younger Seventh Prince and Eighth Prince, the rest of the princes all participated in the scheme. The Third Prince instigated the officials to pretend to plead for Baili Junyi. The Crown Prince and the Second Prince secretly joined forces with the students, who came to the capital for the examination, asking them to write articles to plead for Baili Junyi. The Fourth Prince ordered his men to spread rumors about…

“They are really my good sons! They don’t leave any leeway when dealing with their own brother. What if one day they have the opportunity to attack me? Will they spare no effort and go all out too?”