As soon as Shen Xihe finished speaking, everyone was shocked.
The sharpness and hidden anger in his words were barely concealed.
It is so bold to tear off His Majesty's face so directly and without leaving any room for mercy and then throw it on the ground and trample it!
"Crown Princess!" An Jingnan's face trembled, and he looked forbearing yet furious. "It's fine if you slandered me, but you actually dared to slander His Majesty. This is a capital crime!"
Tao Zhuanxian refused and accused his granddaughter of crimes in front of him. Did he treat him as a dead person
"Protector An, the Crown Princess has always been tactful and never speaks nonsense. This is about His Majesty, and in front of the Queen Mother. How could she speak rashly without evidence?" Tao Zhuanxian stepped forward, staring at An Jingnan with his calm and wise eyes, "Also, what the Crown Princess said was that Madam An was restless and climbed onto the dragon bed, but she didn't mean to slander His Majesty at all.
It is natural for Protector An to be eager to protect his daughter, but without knowing the truth, without a thorough investigation, and without asking Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess why she came to such a conclusion, he kept accusing Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess of slandering the Emperor. To put it simply, Protector An tried to distort the facts, cover up the possible mistakes made by Madam An, and discredit Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess. He is guilty of insubordination and disrespect!
To put it in a bigger way, it is intended to stir up discord between Your Majesty and the Eastern Palace, destabilize the country, and disrupt the government!"
Although An Jingnan was cunning, he was a military officer after all. He was not in Kyoto for most of the year and was still a local tyrant in Anbei. The local civil servants all lived by his will and dared not argue with him.
Suddenly he was confronted with Tao Zhuanxian, who used to be the Imperial Censor. How could he find a man of steel and iron teeth among the civil servants who could stand up to him
Seeing this, the imperial attendant Wei Song stepped out to mediate, "Don't be upset, Lord Tao, and don't be anxious, Protector An. The Crown Princess is prudent and is someone your Majesty has entrusted with the power of the palace. She would not do anything without a purpose. Why don't you ask the Crown Princess why she has concluded that Madam An is like this..."
"The palace has been searched, but Madam An is nowhere to be found. I have just ordered the ladies of the Eastern Palace to verify whether the maids and women of the palaces are anywhere to be found." Shen Xihe raised her hand, and Zhenzhu bowed and handed over the book, "All the women in the palace are there, but Madam An is missing. Your Majesty has been ambushed by villains, and now... There can't be a woman in the palace out of thin air?"
Shen Xihe held the booklet and handed it directly to Shangshu Ling Cui Zheng. Cui Zheng took it and flipped through it. This was when Shen Xihe sent the Jinwu Guards to search for An Zhengyi. At the same time, he counted the female relatives in each palace, including the wives of the ministers, and verified one by one with the seals of the eunuchs in each palace to prove that all the personnel were complete.
The reason Shen Xihe did this was that he heard that Madam An was missing and was afraid that other girls would be harmed, so he verified the personnel. Naturally, Wuyi refused to cooperate. Even if he was dissatisfied in his heart, it was because of the trouble caused by An Zhengyi's disappearance. So he got the desired result smoothly.
All the registered female members of the family were there, except An Zhengyi. It was impossible that there was a girl in the palace who had sex with His Majesty for no reason. Therefore, it was reasonable to conclude that the person in Concubine Shu's bedroom was Madam An.
When Cui Zheng and others were looking at the roster, someone whispered to An Jingnan about what happened in Concubine Shu's palace. An Jingnan's face turned pale and blue, and he stared at Shen Xihe with his bright eyes. At this moment, he knew very well that his daughter was in trouble.