mtl008 Chapter 177 Thank you
Chapter 177 Thank you
The once quiet square was suddenly filled with piercing screams.
Those monks who were once kind-hearted and dignified, claiming to have seen through the world and had no worldly desires, were terrified by the skeletons and lost all semblance of their dignity.
The prince stared at the boxes of grim skeletons, his fingers clenching tightly on the armrest of his wheelchair, the blue veins on the back of his hand revealing his suppressed rage.
The eldest princess lagged a few steps behind, only glancing at it from afar before turning her face away, unable to bear it any longer.
The eunuch Qi crawled over, trembling, and hugged her leg tightly, pleading in a low voice, "Your Highness, please think of a way, please think of a way! If this matter is made public, how will we explain it to the palace!"
Seeing this, Princess Liduan, pale-faced and already vomiting several times, was furious and yanked him away, kicking him in the face. "You still have the nerve to plead for mercy? Those scumbags have committed crimes that are enough to send them to the eighteenth level of hell!"
"What do you mean? What do you mean Grandmother can't know? Are you saying Grandmother is unreasonable? If Grandmother knew that these sinners were deceiving and using her like this, she would definitely order them to be severely punished! Let me tell you, if you dare to slander Grandmother again, I will go and complain to her!"
Before he could dodge, Eunuch Qi was kicked in the face. He knelt on the ground, clutching his cheek, apologizing and pleading with the Princess: "This servant wouldn't dare, this servant wouldn't dare! Your Highness, please reconsider, please reconsider! Please persuade His Highness the Crown Prince..."
“Eunuch Qi, this matter is far more complicated than I can control. I know you are thinking of the Empress Dowager, but the Empress Dowager is always reasonable and will not tolerate such heinous acts. Don’t you agree?” the Princess asked him.
Eunuch Qi lowered his head, his face ashen, and all his strength vanished in an instant.
There was only one thought in my mind: It's over.
The eldest princess withdrew her gaze, looked at the crown prince's retreating figure, and sighed almost imperceptibly.
Princess Liduan glared fiercely at Eunuch Qi, then turned and walked toward Lu Yangyang with high spirits, showing no trace of her previous fear.
The eldest princess stood in the shadow of the main hall, the sunlight drawing a line across the threshold in front of her.
How could she not understand what Eunuch Qi meant?
If this matter were made public and announced to the world, the consequences might be something the Crown Prince could not afford.
The Empress Dowager was merely a facade used by these people; the real source of evil lay with the powerful and wealthy in the capital who profited from this. How could a mere Daoist nun dare to take such a risk? How could she dare to commit such a cruel act? Wasn't it because she had a need?
Under the guise of supplying the Empress Dowager exclusively, the goods were sold to powerful and influential figures in the capital. These powerful individuals were the true consumers, the very reason for such ruthless risk-taking. But how many of these powerful individuals would actually consume them themselves? They were merely tools for profit. Scarcity drives up value; when the value of an item is inflated several times its intrinsic worth, it becomes a means of wielding power.
The Fairy of Supreme Virtue was able to secretly manipulate people to do such dirty things for her. The case was so big, lasting nearly three years, with hundreds of victims. Did no one really notice anything amiss? Even if they did, when they learned that it was related to the Qinglian Temple, no one would investigate further. That was the biggest protective shield.
What kind of place is Qinglian Temple? It's a royal Taoist temple, a gathering place for high-ranking officials and nobles. Who would dare to investigate it?
If the Crown Prince were to make this matter public, the interests of the powerful and influential in the capital would be negatively impacted, and they would certainly not be willing to accept it. For the current Crown Prince, this would be a catastrophic disaster, that's the first point. Secondly, the Empress Dowager would be the one most deeply involved. In the future, when people talk about this matter, they will inevitably criticize the Empress Dowager, and she would probably hate the Crown Prince to the bone.
Moreover, the Empress Dowager's actions involve the royal family's reputation, as well as His Majesty's reputation. Even His Majesty would probably not allow this matter to be made public.
The eldest princess curled her lips into a mocking smile. Sometimes, even the heavens aren't always impartial.
The Crown Prince acted too quickly and too decisively; the consequences are unpredictable.
Outside the main hall, the Crown Prince looked at the panicked crowd in the square and raised his hand.
The Imperial Guards surrounding the square immediately separated everyone, and within moments, silence was restored.
Pei Ji stepped forward and shouted to the crowd, "Listen up, everyone at Qinglian Temple! Today, His Highness the Crown Prince is handling a case here and has discovered that the Immortal Maiden Shangshan of Qinglian Temple secretly had hundreds of children trafficked. She colluded with Abbess Qinglian to use the children's brains to make medicine, specifically the 'Heart-Nourishing Pill,' for huge profits. Her crimes are heinous and she deserves to be executed. This case will be made public and investigated by the Dali Temple. All personnel of Qinglian Temple who are involved in this case will be punished according to their crimes. From today until this case is closed, Qinglian Temple will be sealed off."
"Take them all away and interrogate them one by one."
As soon as he finished speaking, Pei Ji retreated behind the Crown Prince, and the Imperial Guards pulled everyone from Qinglian Temple out one by one. In an instant, cries of injustice shook the heavens.
Lu Yangyang turned to look at the Crown Prince, her eyes shining brightly, her voice trembling with excitement: "Your Highness, thank you!"
The prince looked up and met her bright gaze: "Thank me for what?"
Lu Yangyang hurriedly said, "Thank you for speaking up for them. If it weren't for you, they might have died without knowing why, and their families would never know where they went. Many more people would have died because of this in the future."
Lu Yangyang couldn't think of anything more for the time being, but she knew that the Qinglian Temple's Nourishing Heart Pills were to be offered as tribute to the Empress Dowager. That was why the Immortal Shangshan dared to act so lawlessly. If the Crown Prince investigated this case as an ordinary human trafficking case, it would end when he reached Uncle Cheng, and it wouldn't cause any great uproar.
But if they find out about Shangshan Fairy, things might not end well, since Shangshan Fairy's backer is the Empress Dowager!
Lu Yangyang immediately became a little worried about the Crown Prince, but she knew she couldn't persuade him not to get involved. It would be too tragic if no one in the world stood up for these innocent people.
But the crown prince will certainly have to bear enormous pressure because of this.
He knew perfectly well that he had thought more and understood things more thoroughly than she had, but he still did it anyway.
Lu Yangyang rarely admired anyone. She used to think that the Crown Prince was a good person, but now she understood what it felt like when the people around her praised the Crown Prince. In her opinion, Magistrate Ling was already a very good local official, but he was a fanatical admirer of the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince's eyes warmed slightly. "Then I should thank you. If you hadn't discovered their secret room, this case wouldn't have been solved so quickly. Thank you for being so clever and astute, which prevented the truth from being buried."
Lu Yangyang was a little embarrassed: "Even without me, Your Highness would have been able to find it by sending people to search the mountain. The corpses of those wild cats at the foot of the mountain might not have attracted attention before, but if you search carefully, you will definitely find something unusual. I just stumbled upon it by accident. I thought that since they wouldn't come openly, they would definitely choose the least likely route, so I thought I'd give it a try."
"The longer it drags on, the more unpredictable things will become. So, we really owe you a lot," the Crown Prince said gently.
"Second cousin, why do you only praise Yangyang and not me? I also helped out, I was so scared!"