Why did he always have such bad luck when it came to that brat? The Fifth Prince instinctively looked towards Yu Jin.
Yu Jin turned and smiled slightly at him.
The Fifth Prince’s mind went blank.
It was over. There was no way to clear his name now.
Seeing his fifth son incriminate himself, Emperor Jingming grew even angrier: “I was only asking why you were there!”
If he wanted to get to the bottom of this, why would he have the Brocade Scale Guard take over the investigation? This brainless Fifth Prince!
“Your son—” The Fifth Prince opened and closed his mouth, unable to find a suitable excuse.
He certainly couldn’t admit to the huge crime of attempting to assassinate the Seventh Prince—he truly hadn’t done it! Who knew which good samaritan had acted on heaven’s behalf? However, he also couldn’t honestly say he had been eyeing the Earl’s noble daughter.
“Your son… was just bored and went to see the mourning at the Marquis of Yongchang’s residence.”
Seeing Emperor Jingming’s tense expression, the Fifth Prince hurriedly explained, “I don’t know if Father Emperor has heard, but the Marquis and Marchioness of Yongchang died on the same day. Your son thought it was quite strange, so—”
“Enough!” Emperor Jingming, unable to bear it any longer, interrupted the Fifth Prince. “From today onwards, you are confined to the King of Lu’s residence for three months, and your salary for a year is forfeit!”
“Father Emperor, your son is wronged! Your son can swear to heaven that I did not send anyone to assassinate Seventh Brother!”
Emperor Jingming suppressed the urge to kick the Fifth Prince flying and scolded, “Fool! If you dared to harm your brother, do you think this would be your only punishment?”
The other princes secretly shook their heads.
Thanks to the Fifth Brother’s stupidity, they would receive less scolding.
“Remember this well, this is punishment for your lack of virtue! When others suffer an untimely death, not only do you not show sympathy, but you go gawk at it. Is this how a prince should behave?”
“Your son was wrong.” The Fifth Prince hung his head dejectedly, feeling as if a disaster had fallen from the sky.
“And the rest of you!” Emperor Jingming’s gaze slowly swept across the faces of his sons, his expression dark as water. “Be mindful of your words and actions, be kind and frugal, and show brotherly affection. Don’t forget these virtues!”
“Your sons will heed Father Emperor’s teachings.”
The princes finally understood. All that talk about being mindful of words and actions, being kind and frugal, was just a front. Brotherly affection was the real reason they had been summoned and made to kneel today.
Father Emperor suspected that one of them had tried to harm the Seventh Prince, and was warning them to behave in the future.
This was truly an undeserved calamity!
All the princes couldn’t help but think this, but when they saw the Fifth Prince’s dejected face, they felt a bit better.
Comparisons were indeed enlightening. Compared to them, the Fifth Prince was Father Emperor’s primary suspect.
“You may all leave. Crown Prince, stay behind!”
At this moment, the princes’ moods oddly improved a bit.
Well, as long as the Crown Prince was in trouble, they could rest easy.
The Crown Prince: “…” What an unlucky year. He needed to go offer some incense one of these days!