"Your Majesty?" Eunuch Jiao called out softly.
Emperor Ye Yao frowned. "What is it?"
Eunuch Jiao entered the inner chamber and bowed. "Your Majesty, the little princess has arrived and says she has important matters to discuss with Your Majesty."
"Can't you see I'm busy? Tell her to leave!" Emperor Ye Yao said coldly.
Eunuch Jiao wiped a bead of cold sweat and repeatedly said "Yes," then quickly bowed and left.
Emperor Ye Yao looked at Ye Jingcheng. "Continue."
Ye Jingcheng cupped his hands. "Although there are letters as proof, these only mention Duke Yingguo in passing and do not specify anything more concretely."
"Your son believes that while these pieces of evidence are sufficient to vindicate Minister Feng, it is somewhat inappropriate to use them to prove that Duke Yingguo was also slandered."
Emperor Ye Yao lowered his gaze and pondered for a moment, then looked at Ye Jingyu. "What do you think?"
Ye Jingyu paused. "Your son previously gave Your Majesty a list."
As Ye Jingcheng had said, although Duke Yingguo's case could not be immediately overturned, the冤案 (yuān'àn - wrongful cases) of other slandered ministers were proven.
Now that the one-month period had arrived and the evidence was laid bare, it was not so easy for Ye Jingcheng to gloss over it.
Emperor Ye Yao's expression darkened. "Has Prince Lian seen the list?"
A glint flashed in Ye Jingcheng's eyes. He lowered his head. "Reporting to Father, Your Son has not yet seen it."
"If you haven't seen it, then take a good look!" Emperor Ye Yao threw the list from the table.
The list struck Ye Jingcheng directly on the head, knocking his ceremonial crown askew.
Ye Jingcheng immediately knelt on the ground. "I beg Your Majesty to quell your anger."
"Quell my anger? Over twenty ministers, hundreds of families! How many wrongdoings have you committed over the years, and I was kept in the dark!" Emperor Ye Yao slammed the table.
He had originally placed great hope in his eldest son, the legitimate heir, but he never expected him to be so driven by profit and benefit, completely disregarding matters of state!
Emperor Ye Yao exuded a powerful, oppressive aura.
The atmosphere in the room grew increasingly tense.
Ye Jingcheng picked up the list from the ground and clutched it in his hand. He looked up at the person on the throne. "Father blames Your Son for not daring to defend himself, but even if someone framed ministers, how do you know it was Your Son who orchestrated it?"
"When the Zhao mansion was searched, Zhao Xun and his brother were both convicted. Your Son also reported them and did not show any favoritism. Why is it now assumed that Your Son is the mastermind simply because he is associated with those people?"
Emperor Ye Yao looked at him coldly. "Are you implying you have nothing to do with this matter?"
Ye Jingcheng straightened his kneeling posture and argued logically. "When Father saw the list back then, he was furious and ordered Your Son confined to his residence, with Third Brother to fully investigate the matter."
"Now that the evidence is all here, it can be determined that those people are innocent, but does Third Brother dare to say Your Son is unforgivable and the mastermind?"
"They are all ministers of the court. What benefit would Your Son gain from framing them?"
"Father, please do not forget that it has been several years since the first minister was framed. At that time, Your Son had just entered the court to hear political affairs. How could he have possessed such great power to wrongly accuse court officials?"
Emperor Ye Yao's brows were stern and cold, and he remained silent.
Ye Jingcheng knelt perfectly straight, his face filled with indignant outrage at being wronged.
Ye Jingyu glanced at him, a strange look flashing in his eyes.
Wrongfully accusing ministers was certainly not a minor matter, and Ye Jingcheng's words were not incorrect.
He had indeed not possessed such great power when he first entered the court. However, while he might not have had the ability to do so, it did not mean the people behind him did not.
Eunuch Chang's gaze kept shifting between the father and his two sons, and he couldn't help but wipe the cold sweat from his brow.
In truth, everyone knew how and why those ministers on the list were framed.
But since the parties involved were already dead, there was no one to corroborate their stories.
"Get away from me! This princess needs to see her imperial brother now! Imperial Brother! Imperial Brother!"
Ye Yunshuang's voice echoed from outside the door.
Emperor Ye Yao was displeased. "What is all the commotion?"
"Imperial Brother!" Ye Yunshuang pushed past Eunuch Jiao and burst in, kneeling on the ground. "Imperial Brother, you must seek justice for your sister."
"Your Majesty, please forgive me. Your servant truly could not stop the Princess," Eunuch Jiao knelt on the ground to confess his fault.
"Useless!" Emperor Ye Yao cursed angrily, then frowned and looked at Ye Yunshuang. "I am currently handling state affairs. Tell me whatever it is later."
Eunuch Jiao stepped forward to pull her away. "Your Highness Princess, you should return first."
Ye Yunshuang flung him off. "I won't! If Imperial Brother doesn't seek justice for me, I won't leave!"
Emperor Ye Yao had a terrible headache and waved his hand.
The two brothers below stepped aside respectively.
Emperor Ye Yao said, "What do you have to say?"
Ye Yunshuang's voice was choked with tears as she spoke. She prostrated herself on the ground. "Imperial Brother, this subject's sister has been bullied. Su Yunmo, the daughter of Su Qingtian, not only ordered people to beat this subject's servants but also maliciously threw dirt on this subject."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's gaze fell upon her.
Emperor Ye Yao almost hurled his teacup.
How old was that girl from the Su mansion? She was bringing such childish squabbles to him for judgment. Did she think he was just anyone?
Emperor Ye Yao suppressed his anger. "Enough, I understand. You may withdraw first, and I will have that girl apologize to you later."
Ye Yunshuang's eyes widened, and her voice immediately rose. "An apology is not enough! Imperial Brother must have her brought here and severely punished!"
Otherwise, how could she vent her anger?
Emperor Ye Yao was annoyed. "Don't forget that you are already married and an adult! How can you still act like a child and bicker with a young girl!"
To have such a young child brought here for punishment over a trivial matter, what kind of reputation would that bring!
"Imperial Brother!" Ye Yunshuang knelt up and cried loudly. "Su Yunmo dares to bully this subject's daughter at such a young age, she clearly does not have the imperial family in her eyes."
"If Imperial Brother does not seek justice for this subject, this subject will absolutely not yield. This subject will... will crash to death in this study!"
"Nonsense!" Emperor Ye Yao slammed the table heavily. "Get out immediately!"
Ye Yunshuang was startled by him and froze. After a moment, she began to cry loudly, refusing to give up.
"Imperial Brother doesn't love this subject anymore. I'm going to tell Mother, and Mother will definitely stand by me."
Emperor Ye Yao's face turned dark.
Why was such a trivial matter being escalated to the Empress Dowager?
"Guards, guards! Go and summon that girl from the Su family. I will question her myself!" Emperor Ye Yao's head was about to explode from her crying, so he had to agree to her request.
Eunuch Jiao said "Yes" and immediately got up to leave. Before leaving, he cast a glance at Ye Yunshuang.
This one was truly quite capable.
Seeing that someone was going to fetch Su Yunmo, a hint of triumph flashed in Ye Yunshuang's eyes, and she stopped crying.
After a while, a little dumpling walked in from outside, rubbing her belly.
There were still un-wiped oil stains around her mouth, indicating she had just finished a hearty meal.
After entering the room, the little dumpling knelt on the ground as instructed by Eunuch Jiao and paid her respects. Before she could speak, she let out a burp.
Ye Jingyu looked at her appearance, a hint of helplessness flashing in his eyes.
Emperor Ye Yao's helplessness was even more pronounced.
The little dumpling kneeling below was not even as tall as an adult's thigh. Anyone could easily lift her with one hand and throw her onto the roof beams.
How could he interrogate such a tiny thing as a criminal? It was already quite good that she could understand and follow instructions to kneel and pay respects.
"Little girl, I heard you disrespected the princess and beat her servants without reason?"
Even if she couldn't be interrogated, it had to be done. Since she was already here, at least a perfunctory proceeding was necessary.