novelhk Chapter 259 Attack
Chapter 259 Attack
During this period, Zhou Chang worked tirelessly and forgot to eat and sleep because of the epidemic.
Now that the epidemic situation has been resolved, we can finally relax.
Last night, Zhou Chang rewarded himself with a bath, planning to have a good sleep the next day.
However, he did not expect that early this morning, the palace issued an order to summon the Emperor.
Zhou Chang stole a glance at Emperor Lin on the throne, then glanced at Prince Duan, Minister of the Imperial Household Yuan Chuan, Minister of Justice Pei Li and others sitting opposite him, and even at the very end there was Qin Shou, the head of the Imperial Hospital.
Originally, she thought that Emperor Lin summoned her into the palace to praise her, but now she felt something was not right.
"Prince Yi, some court officials said that you deliberately withheld the prescription in order to earn a large amount of money from the medicinal materials. Is this true?" Emperor Lin did not speak for a long time, and then he questioned him as soon as he opened his mouth.
"No." Zhou Chang denied it naturally.
Prince Duan's eyes were on the top of his head, and his chin could also smile contemptuously: "Prince Yi doesn't have to deny it so quickly. Since there are testimonies, he can't just say it without any evidence."
"What witnesses and evidence?" Zhou Chang glanced at Qin Shou.
Prince Duan raised his chin and said, "Master Qin, please repeat to His Majesty what you said to me before."
Qin Shou bowed and stepped out of the line, bowed to the Emperor Lin and said: "Your Majesty, as the head of the Imperial Hospital, I have no choice but to take responsibility for the epidemic in the capital. Your Majesty ordered His Royal Highness Prince Yi to be the chief, and I assisted him, so I dared not slack off. What I didn't expect was that His Royal Highness Prince Yi had a prescription for treating the epidemic, but he had kept it in his hands. He also detained my son and threatened me to find a way to spread the epidemic so that he could profit from it. Later, I was forced to pretend that someone was sick and had no medicine to use. I bought the prescription from His Royal Highness Prince Yi at a price of 10,000 taels per copy, and resold it to the patients at a fair price without making a profit. Fortunately, God has eyes and Your Majesty has blessed the epidemic to pass safely, so I dare to speak out about this."
These words are two parts true and eight parts false.
The one that was given to him to coerce his son and give him 10,000 taels to sell medicine was real, and the rest were fake.
As soon as Qin Shou finished speaking, Yuan Chuan, the Imperial Household Official, could not wait to speak: "Your Majesty, Prince Yi has taken so many palace objects on a daily basis. He has replaced the cups, plates and tea bowls in the Council Hall at least three times. That's fine, but isn't this a step too far?"
Zhou Chang then realized that she had "taken" things from the palace and actually offended the Taifu Temple.
"Ahem, let's not talk about anything else, let's just talk about what happened today." The Emperor didn't intend to bring up the past, "Prince Yi..."
Zhou Chang did not wait for the Emperor to finish his words, but said angrily: "Father, the court invested 30,000 taels in this epidemic. Now that the prevention and control is coming to an end, we can check the accounts. How much money has the court spent on governance over the years?"
Emperor Lin remained silent again.
Last time, Zhou Chang also used this reason to shut Emperor Lin up.
Prince Duan was not convinced. "Prince Yi, please do not confuse the public. What Court Chief Qin accused you of was that you deliberately withheld the prescription, which is tantamount to taking human life lightly. This epidemic is coming with great force. If we delay for one day, many people will lose their lives and be delayed in treatment."
"You have to ask Dean Qin. As the head of the Imperial Hospital, why didn't he come up with an effective prescription earlier?" Zhou Chang asked with a sneer.
Prince Duan had prepared an excuse in advance: "The reason why Dean Qin couldn't produce the prescription was because you kidnapped his son and threatened him. Dean Qin was in a state of panic and he himself fell seriously ill. How could he handle the imperial mission?"
"Kidnapping his son? Do you have any evidence?" Zhou Chang stood tall, tall enough to look down on Qin Shou.
"This, this..., my son was indeed forced to stay in Prince Yi's Mansion for three days, and it was not his own will." Qin Shou hunched over, and his words were not so confident.
Zhou Chang sneered, "Master Qin is confused. Your son came to Prince Yi's mansion of his own accord. I provided him with food and lodging for three days, and even sent a carriage and someone to take him back afterwards. Now you bite me back, I don't mind your ingratitude, but I have been doing disaster relief for the court recently, and I am really broke. Should I calculate the cost with you so that we can recover the loss?"
"..." Qin Shou was speechless and looked to Prince Duan for help.
Before Prince Duan could speak, Zhou Chang spoke to Emperor Lin: "Father, due to the shortage of medicinal materials during this epidemic, the prices of medicinal materials have skyrocketed. In addition, most of the refugees in the shanty towns of West City are not well fed and clothed. To cure their diseases, we must not only provide them with medicine, but also provide them with porridge and vegetables every day, as well as distribute cotton clothes and charcoal fire to keep them warm. Not to mention 30,000 taels of silver, even 300,000 taels of silver would not be enough."
"Prince Yi, since you said you didn't stop at 300,000 taels, where did you get this 300,000 taels from?" Prince Duan finally grasped the key point, "Isn't it from selling the prescription?"
"That is..." Zhou Chang was about to explain.
Prince Duan did not allow her to speak, but rushed to say to Emperor Lin: "Father, according to Dean Qin, he sold thirty prescriptions, which is 300,000 taels. This does not include the fact that other people got the news and went directly to Prince Yi to buy. In total, Prince Yi made more than 300,000 taels in profit."
"Yes, more than 300,000 taels." Zhou Chang admitted generously, "A total of 467,000 taels, the money earned from selling the prescriptions, not only did it all go into it, but it was also not enough. Thanks to the generosity of the Longyu Yuan family, who donated a large number of medicinal materials three times, the people in the epidemic area of West City can survive and should thank the Yuan family. Father, as I said, there are accounts of income and expenditure in the plague hospital, and I have the records in my hands for inspection. Father, you have checked and know that I am innocent. Can you consider compensating me?"
Emperor Lin had a gloomy face and remained silent.
Prince Duan launched another attack: "Prince Yi, there is no need to hide it. Even if part of the money you earned from selling the prescriptions was indeed spent on medicinal materials, no one can guarantee that you will not take the opportunity to enrich yourself and make money from the national crisis."
"It's nonsense. There's no basis for empty talk. We need evidence to prove it." Zhou Chang said with ease.
Prince Duan cast a sinister look on Zhou Chang's face: "The evidence is that the court has repeatedly asked you for the prescription, but you have always refused to hand it over, ignoring the emperor's will. What is your intention? It is obvious."
"Evidence." Zhou Chang stretched out a hand and asked for it.
Prince Duan pointed his chin at Qin Shou and said, "Sir Qin, words are not enough. Why don't you show us the evidence?"
Qin Shou took out a pile of papers and a small packet of medicine powder from his bosom and presented them to him: "Your Majesty, this is the prescription sold by Prince Yi through me, as well as the testimonies signed by several patients who bought the prescription. There is also the certificate for selling medicine powder in Prince Yi's mansion. This medicine powder is unique to the Four Flavors Pharmacy, and no one knows the specific ingredients in it."
"This is making money from the national crisis." Prince Duan pointed at the powder bag and said viciously.
Emperor Lin glanced at the evidence presented and said, "Pei Qing, what do you think of this matter?"