SFS Chapter 293 Privately Made Weapons
Chapter 293 Privately Made Weapons
Emperor Jing'an's face darkened. Prince Rui was investigating Prince Yu's case and had come to Fengxing Mountain.
That was bad enough, but they even brought along people from the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review.
Emperor Jing'an said in a cold tone, "Go and stop Prince Rui, and have him bring men to the hunting grounds to rescue Prince Yu."
The Imperial Guards accepted the order and left.
Emperor Jing'an ordered the Imperial Guards to search for Prince Yu and Princess Guangning.
Shen Qingtan watched the Imperial Guards head into the dense forest, and sighed inwardly, recalling the report they had given.
Prince Rui suffered a crushing defeat in his confrontation with Prince Yu.
She had a strong premonition that Prince Yu would make a brilliant comeback.
Just as Shen Qingtan had predicted, in the middle of the night, Prince Rui led his men to find Prince Yu.
Prince Yu was seriously injured, and his injuries did not receive timely treatment. He lost too much blood and fell into a coma. The imperial physicians accompanying him were treating him.
Princess Guangning's injuries were not serious, but she was greatly frightened, which aggravated her original cold.
Emperor Jing'an summoned Prince Rui and asked him, "What were you doing at Phoenix Mountain?"
Prince Rui truthfully replied, "Father, I have found a clue and followed it to Phoenix Mountain."
Emperor Jing'an's heart stirred: "How long have you been watching Phoenix Mountain?"
Prince Rui said, "Your subject has been keeping watch on Phoenix Mountain for three or four days."
Emperor Jing'an frowned. Three days ago, Phoenix Mountain caught fire. At this time, Prince Rui was already keeping watch. Could it be that Prince Rui started the fire?
Prior to this, he suspected that Prince Yu had set a trap to deliberately lead Prince Rui to Phoenix Mountain.
Now it seems that this matter has nothing to do with Prince Yu?
Prince Rui failed to notice the subtle change in Emperor Jing'an. Knowing that he was about to obtain evidence, he deliberately tried to impress Emperor Jing'an.
He continued, "Father, initially there weren't many people guarding Phoenix Mountain. Perhaps I alerted them, because Phoenix Mountain has increased its defenses. This shows that the clues I found are absolutely true."
The staff first discovered the anomaly at Fengxing Mountain, and arranged for someone to keep an eye on it for several days, informing him of the changes at Fengxing Mountain.
He originally planned to go to Fengxing Mountain to investigate the case immediately, but his staff stopped him.
The aide said, “Your Highness, Prince Yu is a very cautious man. If you go to investigate the case now, what if he finds out and destroys the evidence? In a day or two, when the autumn hunt is in progress, Prince Yu will not be able to focus on the matters at Fengxing Mountain. Then you can go to investigate the case.”
He felt that his advisors were right, so he waited until the day of the autumn hunt to go to Phoenix Mountain to look for evidence.
His advisors then urged him to bring along people from the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review to Phoenix Mountain, in case his father softened and covered up for Prince Yu.
Thinking of the Qingzhou incident, and how his father had shown leniency towards Prince Yu, he followed his advisors' advice and invited people from the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review to go there.
Unexpectedly, he was summoned by his father, the Emperor, to the hunting grounds to search for Prince Yu. The Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review and the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice came together to investigate the case of Prince Yu falling off the cliff, and the case of Fengxing Mountain was put on hold.
What angered him even more was that Princess Guangning was with Prince Yu.
He originally wanted to marry Princess Guangning to curry favor with his father, the emperor.
Now, Prince Yu has seized the initiative.
Prince Rui's eyes were cold and deep, eager to obtain evidence to ensure that Prince Yu could not recover: "Father, now that we have found my elder brother, I will lead men to Phoenix Mountain to investigate."
At this moment, Eunuch Cao said from outside, "Your Majesty, Imperial Physician Chen said that Prince Yu's injuries are serious and the medicine he brought is insufficient. He needs to set off for the capital immediately."
Emperor Jing'an then ordered, "Arrange for men to escort Prince Yu back to the capital."
Eunuch Cao accepted the order and left.
Emperor Jing'an pressed his temples and said to Prince Rui, "Let's put this matter aside for now and wait until Prince Yu wakes up before we investigate."
"Father..."
"Go back."
Emperor Jing'an waved his hand.
Prince Rui was unwilling, but dared not disobey Emperor Jing'an, so he left the camp.
-
The autumn hunt ended abruptly due to Prince Yu's fall from the cliff.
The next morning, they broke camp and returned to the capital.
As we descended the mountain, a deafening roar shook the earth.
When Emperor Jing'an heard such a loud noise, which sounded just like gunpowder exploding, he solemnly ordered people to investigate.
The explosion was very loud. The people sent out by Emperor Jing'an found out about it in half a day and quickly returned to the palace to report.
The Imperial Guard replied, "Your Majesty, an armory has been built two mountains away from Phoenix Mountain."
Emperor Jing'an's brow twitched. "Whose weapons workshop?"
The Imperial Guard was about to reply.
At this moment, Prince Rui's voice came from outside the palace: "Father, I have discovered that my elder brother has privately built an armory."
Emperor Jing'an clenched his fists, suppressing his surging anger, and summoned Prince Rui.
“Father, my elder brother has taken over the Ministry of War, and the whereabouts of the funds are unknown. I’m afraid he’s misappropriated them to manufacture weapons.” Prince Rui held the memorial in both hands and handed it to Emperor Jing’an. “The weapons in the Armory don’t match up. Perhaps my elder brother has moved them out and is secretly stockpiling weapons.”
This accusation is tantamount to implying that Prince Yu is plotting a rebellion.
"Cough...cough..."
Prince Yu stood at the entrance of the main hall, clutching his chest, and let out a weak cough.
"Father, I have something important to report to you."
Prince Yu did not enter the palace, but instead leaned against the palace door, seeking Emperor Jing'an's opinion.
Emperor Jing'an looked up at Prince Yu and saw that Prince Yu was too weak to stand, supporting himself on the palace door with one hand and a palace attendant with the other, trying his best to see him.
He couldn't help but recall that Prince Yu had fallen off a cliff yesterday, which had allowed him to send Prince Rui away to investigate the case at Fengxing Mountain. This had prevented the secret of Fengxing Mountain from being revealed, which was a way of extricating him from a predicament.
Originally, when Prince Rui investigated the case and came to the matter of Fengxing Mountain, he still harbored doubts about Prince Yu.
The last trace of doubt vanished when the Embroidered Uniform Guard said that the weapons workshop was two mountains away from Phoenix Mountain.
His expression softened slightly: "Come in and give me your answer."
"My son, I obey."
Prince Yu refused the eunuch's help and slowly moved into the hall. He had fallen very hard yesterday and injured his left leg. He limped toward the center of the hall.
With each step, it felt like torture; his face grew paler and cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
Emperor Jing'an frowned and gave Eunuch Cao a meaningful look.
Eunuch Cao quickly helped Prince Yu to the front of the palace.
Prince Yu knelt down with his knees bent straight down. The sound of his bones hitting the ground was painful to everyone who heard it, but he didn't even flinch.
Prince Yu opened his mouth, as if to apologize.
"Cough...cough..."
As soon as he opened his mouth, a series of coughs followed.
Prince Yu stopped coughing and said weakly, "Father, I have come to apologize to you today."
Emperor Jing'an raised an eyebrow: "What crime have you committed?"
Prince Yu's bones ached all over, especially from kneeling, which caused excruciating pain, and cold sweat poured down his face uncontrollably.
He seemed oblivious, and said clearly, "Five years ago, I applied to you for permission to develop a crossbow, but you did not approve it."
"Your subject believes that the reason why the Northern Qi has repeatedly invaded the Great Zhou is that the Great Zhou's army is not strong enough. If the army were strong and had highly lethal weapons, it would be like adding wings to a tiger for the Great Zhou, making it a truly powerful force that enemy countries would fear."
"Your subject secretly built an armory to research and develop crossbows without your knowledge. The Ministry of War's funds were diverted by your subject to manufacture crossbows."
The eunuch who had helped Yu Wangchao to the palace extended his hand.
The eunuch quickly placed two thick books in Prince Yu's hands.
Prince Yu presented the booklet to Eunuch Cao: "Father, these are the accounts of the weapons workshop for the past five years, and they all match the accounts of the Ministry of War."
"Your reasons are sufficient. The Ministry of War was found guilty, so why didn't you tell the truth? Why did you only plead guilty today when you could no longer cover it up?" Emperor Jing'an glanced at the account book: "Do you know what the crime of privately manufacturing weapons is?"