Chapter 169: Something's Not Right! I'm Done For!

Jin Buyi, kneeling in front, did not look at his own father at all.

Instead, he looked straight at Li Hao and said, "Lord Li says this Prince killed the Goryeo envoy, but why not mention that the Goryeo envoy attempted to ambush this Prince first?"

"For this matter, one may well go and ask the Goryeo envoy Wang Ren."

What Zhu Gaoxu fears least right now is having any entanglements with foreign envoys.

With such large orders clutched in his own hands, which of those foreign envoys would dare to offend him?

Wouldn't it be that whatever he says goes?

Li Hao clearly also guessed Zhu Gaoxu's intentions.

He immediately retorted, "You hold the orders for the other party to buy Daming Guns, so how would they dare to offend you?"

After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu sneered and said, "Lord Li's words are laughable."

"Just now, Lord Li said that I killed the Goryeo envoy, causing our two countries' friendship to break; now that Goryeo doesn't even take this matter to heart, why are you holding onto it?"

"Furthermore, you were present at the time; whether that Goryeo envoy wanted to ambush me, you saw it clearly. If it really won't do, call Wang Ren here for a face-to-face confrontation!"

Hearing Zhu Gaoxu say this, Li Hao opened his mouth, not knowing how to speak.

The officials saw that Zhu Gaoxu advocated for a confrontation, while Li Hao was speechless.

They immediately understood that there might be something fishy about it.

And Zhu Yuanzhang, sitting on the Dragon Throne, also spoke at the right moment: "Lord Li, what do you say now?"

Hearing these words, cold sweat had already fallen from Li Hao's forehead.

He also had not expected Zhu Gaoxu to be so difficult to deal with.

But fortunately, he had already thought of a countermeasure.

"Your Majesty, no matter what, it is a fact that Zhu Gaoxu killed the Goryeo envoy; it is just that in order to cover up his crime, he specifically sold our Great Ming's divine artifacts at a low price!"

Before Zhu Yuanzhang could reply, Zhu Gaoxu was the first to be angered into laughter.

"Let alone that this Prince killed one Goryeo envoy, even if I killed them all, so what?"

Having said this, Zhu Gaoxu took the opportunity to stand up directly.

He then walked in front of Li Hao, pointed at him, and said, "Our Great Ming is a vast and mighty nation; to think there are people who dare to attack a Great Ming Prince. For such a person, what of it if I killed them?"

As he spoke, Zhu Gaoxu flicked his sleeves, not waiting for Li Hao to speak at all, and continued, "As for saying this Prince covered up a crime, that is even more extremely ridiculous. What crime does this Prince have?"

"In front of the entire court of civil and military officials, this Prince tells you: this Prince did kill them, one palm to end their lives!"

"A small country like Goryeo needs this Prince to cover up a crime? Is it even worthy?"

Hearing these words from Zhu Gaoxu, the civil officials were still alright.

A group of military generals, however, could not help but nod one after another.

For one, Zhu Gaoxu dares to act and take responsibility; having such mettle at a young age made many people feel fond of him.

Secondly, what Zhu Gaoxu said hit the mark in their hearts.

It was merely an envoy from a vassal state; to dare to attack a Great Ming Prince, so what if he was killed?

At this moment, Li Hao was a little panicked.

However, he was not an ordinary person either.

He knew that on this issue, he could not stump Zhu Gaoxu.

Li Hao directly shifted the question.

"Since that is the case, how do you explain the matter of forcing the envoys to offer bribes, and how do you explain the matter of trafficking our Great Ming's divine artifact, the Daming Gun!"

As Li Hao spoke, he seemed to have found his confidence, and his voice grew louder.

But Zhu Gaoxu was, on the contrary, very calm.

"Whether this Prince accepted bribes is not decided by you just opening your mouth; you must produce evidence."

"People gave this Prince some local specialties; does this Prince have to reject their good intentions?"

"If you put it that way, then you should ask the envoys of various countries, ask this entire court of civil and military officials, ask which officials received local specialties, and then ask which of us ministers accepted them."

Hearing Zhu Gaoxu's words, Li Hao's face turned pale.

There was no need to ask others; he himself had accepted quite a few.

Now that Zhu Gaoxu had turned the conflict toward the court officials in a few words, this was definitely not allowed.

Thinking this, Li Hao immediately said, "Your Highness, please do not dodge the question; what is bribery?"

"Bribery is accepting benefits from others to provide them with convenience!"

"Accepting specialties is not doing favors, but the Prince accepted others' specialties yet sold our Great Ming's divine artifact, the Daming Gun, so cheaply to others; if this is not bribery, what is it?"

After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu had to admit that this Li Hao indeed had some tricks up his sleeve.

He was not so easily dealt with.

But to say that he could be brought down with just these few words was pure dreaming.

"Lord Li's words make this Prince feel somewhat laughable."

"If this Prince said to bring the envoys up for a confrontation, Lord Li would definitely say those people are biased toward this Prince because of my selling of the Daming Guns."

"Then this Prince will do as you wish and not go to confront the envoys."

"This Prince just wants to ask you one thing: if this Prince proves there is another reason for selling the Daming Guns, are all your so-called charges invalidated?"

Hearing Zhu Gaoxu say this, Li Hao was startled in his heart.

If it were truly as Zhu Gaoxu said, that selling the Daming Guns was not his original intention, or that it was directed by someone else, then these so-called charges of his would certainly not hold.

Thinking this, Li Hao suddenly looked at Zhu Yuanzhang on the Dragon Throne.

If one were to say who Zhu Gaoxu was truly directed by, it could only be one person.

That is the Zhu Yuanzhang on the Dragon Throne before his eyes.

Realizing this point, Li Hao was immediately shocked into a cold sweat.

Something is wrong!

I'm done for!

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