Although the Prince of Zhennan is not as good as the previous Prince of Zhennan, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse. He is the only remaining prince of a different surname in the Great Zhou Dynasty, so his status is naturally high.
In addition, although he was not very smart, he was very conservative and had never done anything to make Emperor Longqing suspicious, so he still had a say in front of Emperor Longqing. Otherwise, he would not have gone through so many twists and turns, but he could still control the suburban camp.
Jiang Zining winked at Jiang Songwen, asking him to be more restrained, and stood up to return the greeting: "Your mention of this makes us even more ashamed. We are here today just to clear up this misunderstanding."
He glanced at Jiang Songwen, his face full of shame, and bowed to the Prince of Zhennan again with a doddering look: "To be honest, it's really the fault of my useless son to raise such an arrogant servant. They relied on their power in the Prime Minister's Mansion to secretly accept bribes from others, and even dared to bribe the servants of the Prince's Mansion to murder the princess. They are really bold!"
Jiang Songwen was also very sensible. When he saw his father had already started to say that, he quickly pretended to be heartbroken and said, "Yes, it's all my fault..."
He paused, then quickly added: "Now there are rumors outside that I ordered Zou Qing..." He looked at the Prince of Zhennan, and the embarrassment on his face piled up little by little. A grown man seemed to be about to cry: "Think about it, how could I be so stupid?! Instructing my confidant to do it?! I really didn't know about this. The Ministry of Works has been very busy recently. It's almost the end of the year, and notes from all over the country have been submitted. We are so busy with the settlement of accounts with the Ministry of Revenue that we have no time to rest... Besides, I have no grudges against the princess, how could I frame the princess for no reason?! This doesn't make sense!"
Prince Zhennan just stood there quietly and watched Jiang Songwen act out all kinds of expressions. If he had not asked Wei An before and confirmed that Jiang Songwen was really related to this matter, he would almost believe what Jiang Songwen said.
As he said, one is the son of the Prime Minister, and the other is a princess of a royal palace. There is really no interest involved between the two, one is an outsider and the other is an insider. He really can't commit any crime against Wei An.
The Prince of Zhennan waited for him to finish, then sighed in distress: "Speaking of which, I am also very confused. I just came to the capital and heard the news that something happened in the palace. Originally, Prince Zheng was not here, and now I don't know what the future will be. The palace is only supported by the princess and the princess. When I heard that something happened to the princess, I was really... anxious and didn't know what to do."
He looked at Jiang Zining and Jiang Songwen, and seeing that Jiang Songwen didn't care, he said casually, "But when I heard that someone under the old Prime Minister was implicated, I was really surprised." He lowered his head and blew a breath on the tea: "After all, he is the confidant of the Shangshu. I heard that he is also very prestigious in the capital. Since he is involved, it's no wonder that there are rumors outside that it is... related to the Shangshu."
Before Jiang Songwen could refute him, he said slowly, "After all, as I told you, there is no hatred or grudge. Such a thing happened out of nowhere. An An is just a child, so it's inevitable that he feels panic. Besides, I heard that Zou Qing was sent to the imperial prison, and his teeth were clenched at first... It's inevitable that people are suspicious..."
Jiang Songwen had already started cursing in his heart.
Prince Zhennan must have known their intention, which is why he deliberately said this. He kept implying that Zou Qing's behavior was unreasonable and that there must be someone behind it. However, he didn't say it directly, leaving people at a loss as to how to refute him. If he said too much, he would even be suspected of flattery.
No wonder he has such a cunning niece, it turns out he is not an easy person to deal with himself.
All the words that Jiang Songwen had prepared before were suddenly stuck in his stomach and he couldn't continue. He looked at his father, lowered his head in annoyance and coughed for a while.
Jiang Zining sighed and shook his head sincerely at the Prince of Zhennan: "Your Highness, what you said makes me feel ashamed. My son is useless and has always been very lenient to his subordinates. Zou Qing is his confidant and can go in and out of his study. He took his name card and went out to do whatever he wanted. This is something that has never happened before, so such a big misunderstanding has occurred. This time I brought him here to seriously apologize to the princess... Although it is not what the rumors say, he did it, but Zou Qing used his reputation to do it. In any case, he is responsible."
After all, Jiang Zining is an old hand. He set the tone as soon as he spoke, and then he said: "I know that this matter cannot be resolved by a simple apology. I have discussed it with him. He can't even take care of a servant, how can he sit in the position of a minister of six ministries and be an official? We have decided that he will submit a letter of resignation."
There is some real meaning in this.
He will have to retire when he leaves here, and with Jiang Zining's status and weight in front of Emperor Longqing, he can do a lot of things.
Prince Zhennan immediately said, "That won't do. It's as if we were the ones who were harmed but we still can't sympathize with you two. If this gets out, others will think that we don't believe the emperor's ruling, the Shuntian Prefecture and the Jinyiwei's investigation, and we are determined to wrongly accuse you two. This is not good."
Jiang Zining looked at Prince Zhennan meaningfully, feeling somewhat surprised that Prince Zhennan was such an insightful and interesting person. He knew their intentions and pointed them out bluntly, which put them in a dilemma.
The outside reported that Wei Yangqing and Master Wei San and Master Wei Er had arrived. Jiang Zining glanced at Jiang Songwen and said slowly, "What you said really made me at a loss. It was indeed my son's fault. I wanted to ask him to resign, but you said that this would bring criticism to the princess. I really didn't know what to do..."
Master Wei Er and Master Wei San looked at each other and slowed down their pace at the same time.
Jiang Zining is an old fox. He came here today just to show off to Emperor Longqing. Every word he said today was also spoken to Emperor Longqing.
Therefore, when he said this, Master Wei San reacted the fastest and said hurriedly: "What are you talking about? You are too serious, too serious. We are not afraid of bringing criticism to An An. We really don't dare to let the Shangshu be implicated in this way, and we have to resign to make amends!" (To be continued)