My father, during the Jiajing era, ensured that every household was clean and tidy.

"I presume Your Highness has already asked all the questions you need to ask. As for the ones that cannot be answered, I can also provide answers. When I entered the Imperial Academy, Grand Secretary Xu was the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy, and he can be considered my mentor."

"To make a wild guess, Master Xu would be happy to see me impeach Yan Song, but I really don't need anyone to instigate me to do this."

The firelight flickered, and their eyes met.

Despite the throbbing pain in his legs, Yang Jisheng, pale-faced, said, "In my impeachment memorial, I requested that Your Majesty and the two princes jointly examine Yan Song's wickedness. However, Yan's faction falsely accused me of trying to implicate the two princes. Your Majesty was furious and punished me severely. But I had absolutely no such intention!"

He became emotional, "Seeing how earnestly Your Highness asked the question, I knew I was not wrong. Prince Jing was unaware of the wickedness of the Yan faction. Prince Jing is indeed capable of discerning evil!"

"Your Highness possesses a benevolent character, Your Majesty..."

I am so grateful.

At this point, the excitement on Yang Jisheng's face quietly turned into pity and pain. "But, Your Highness, you shouldn't have come to see me, and now you shouldn't be helping me."

He discerned King Jing's intentions from the changes in his emotions. Perhaps out of benevolent pity, King Jing actually wanted to pull him up—a miracle that was clearly a lifeline for him. Yet, Yang Jisheng still insisted on speaking:

"I impeached Yan Song, leading to his imprisonment. The Yan family has close ties with Your Highness. On one side is justice, and on the other is reason. Your Highness is caught in the middle, which will only put you in a difficult position!"

"Anyone can come today, Grand Secretary Xu is allowed, Prince Yu is allowed, but Prince Jing, you are not allowed to come... If Your Highness helps me, where will that leave the Yan family?"

Where does this place me?

After finishing speaking in one breath, Yang Jisheng bowed tremblingly and made a respectful bow to express his deep gratitude.

Wu Yingfeng turned his face away. He had wanted to dissuade the prince, but now that outsiders had said it, what could he do? He could only feel ashamed.

Zhu Zaizhen was no different. His initial ambition for fame and fortune, and his hypocritical rhetoric, were all swallowed back before they could even get started.

At this point, it would be an exaggeration to say that he was unmoved.

That's fake.

"After Yang Jisheng was imprisoned, Xu Jie only mentioned it once to Grand Secretary Yan, and then did nothing else. He was even more secretive about it at the Prince Yu's residence, and didn't utter a single word." Wu Yingfeng, as the teacher, finally spoke up.

"This kind of thing is too sensitive. One wrong move and you'll be in deep trouble. Everyone else will avoid you like the plague. Your Highness, you really shouldn't have come!"

"But I'm already here."

Zhu Zaizhen remained calm, his tone completely even, which only intensified Wu Yingfeng's bitterness and Yang Jisheng's anguish. In an instant, he seemed oblivious to the pain of his festering body, staggering to his knees and prostrating himself in deep worship.

"Your Majesty, I am but a reckless and arrogant man, yet I have the honor of seeing the wise king on my deathbed. I have no regrets in this life and would never dare to put King Jing in such a dilemma of being unrighteous and immoral. I hope that Your Majesty will not let me be branded as disloyal and unjust."

"King Jing, please return!"

Wu Yingfeng should have joined in the remonstrance, but his mouth was so dry that he couldn't utter a word. It was the jailer who had been listening for a long time who stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, let's go. This person is registered with the Junior Grand Secretary and has been specifically instructed to do so. It's fine to meet him, but if he does too much, it might be difficult to explain to the Junior Grand Secretary."

Zhu Zaizhen slowly turned his head and looked at him, his eyes seeming to ask: Who do I need to explain to?

The jailer was taken aback at first, then realized what was happening, his face changed drastically, and he hurriedly bowed his head.

Zhu Zaizhen withdrew his gaze.

His gaze returned to the kneeling official of the Ministry of War in front of him.

Looking at Yang Jisheng, who was paying homage with great ceremony, Prince Jing, who was not used to others kneeling before him, felt a tightness in his chest, though he couldn't explain why.

like.

There's no need to insist on explaining it clearly.

After a long silence, Zhu Zaizhen stood still and said to the person kneeling before him, "I accept your bow; I have saved your life."

The jailer was about to speak instinctively, but Wu Yingfeng had already come to his senses, glaring angrily and growling, "Dare to utter another word against Prince Jing, and I will kill you on the spot!"

The jailer turned pale.

There was no more speech.

At this moment, Yang Jisheng, who had been kneeling on the ground, finally stood up. When he raised his head, he was filled with astonishment and helplessness!

Zhu Zaizhen ignored everyone else and focused on his own purpose, speaking in simple words: "You don't need to blame yourself, and there's nothing to be ashamed of. Just think of it as the youthful spirit of a young boy. I'm only sixteen years old this year, so it's only right that I have some youthful spirit."

He bent down and helped the other person up, saying, "It is inconvenient for Grand Secretary Xu to help, and it is also inconvenient for my brother to help."

"It's okay, I'll save you."

"I'll save you."

Yang Jisheng, bewildered and helpless, who had spent many days in prison surrounded by corpses, seemed to have aphasia at this moment. His body was stiff and his expression was blank. He wanted to say something, but he didn't know what to say. He opened his mouth and said something.

In the end, he remained silent.

I bow down with tears streaming down my face...

The scene in the Ministry of Justice prison quickly spread, and the news seemed to have wings, flying across half of the capital and landing in a courtyard with artificial hills and pavilions, and people on the platforms.

Two people.

One man lay on a chair, the other stood. The elegantly dressed man standing was roaring, "I just don't understand why Prince Jing saved him!"

Yan Shifan was extremely angry, pacing back and forth. "If it weren't for the timely report from the Ministry of Justice, we would still be in the dark. It's understandable that Prince Jing is young and has just left the palace, so he might not know the inside story, but were Wu Ang and Wu Yingfeng both mute? Didn't they tell Prince Jing what kind of person Yang Jisheng is?"

"No!"

"Prince Jing has no idea how much trouble Yang Jisheng has caused. I'll go there myself and persuade the Prince to change his mind!" He was about to leave when the old man, who had been feigning sleep in a chair, called out:

"Come back and sit down."

"Father!" Yan Shifan was furious, but he still stopped in his tracks.

"Since the prince has spoken, the matter is settled. Do you expect him to pick it up now?" The old man glanced at his son. "How dare you be so shameless."

"Alas!" Yan Shifan knew he had spoken without thinking. "But I was just worried and confused. Besides, Prince Jing is indeed young, and I'm afraid he'll be deceived!"

"Take today's matter for example. Everyone knows about the relationship between Yang Jisheng and Xu Jie, yet Prince Jing wants to save him. Does Your Highness really think that Yang Jisheng can abandon the darkness and turn to the light, and can join us or him?"

"It's simply..."

Yan Shifan wanted to continue his chaotic rant, but before he could utter those four words, he was interrupted by an outstretched hand from the old man, "Father?"

Yan Song seemed to be deep in thought.

He waved, signaling for help to get up.

Yan Shifan quickly stepped forward to help him up, and then placed a cushion behind the chair. Once the old man was seated upright, before his son could ask any questions, Yan Song asked first, "What did you just say?"

"Was Prince Jing deceived?"

No, the next sentence.

"Everyone knows about the relationship between Yang Jisheng and Xu Jie; it's impossible for him to be of use to us."

"Who said that?" Yan Song's aged face turned to his son, Yan Shifan, who was completely bewildered and didn't understand what his father meant, so he couldn't answer. Seeing this, the old man glared at him. "Who told you that Yang Jisheng couldn't be used by me? Didn't you see that Xu Jie treated him like a pawn? When he was imprisoned and could only wait to die, who went to see him?"

Ok?

Yan Shifan's expression froze for a moment.

He wasn't stupid; quite the opposite, Yan Shifan was very clever. He quickly grasped the implication and exclaimed in surprise, "Father, are you referring to Prince Jing?!"

Yan Song, the Grand Secretary, who was over seventy years old, had eyes that were usually clouded, but at this moment they were unusually clear. He muttered to himself, "The opponent threw a knife to stab, and Prince Jing grabbed the hilt. Perhaps he really intended to take the knife for himself."

In this way, not only can we demonstrate magnanimity and boldness, but we can also make the Prince Yu's Mansion lose face and suffer a complete loss of prestige after trying to steal a chicken...

Indeed, that's a brilliant move.