After saying this, Fang Zhen heard no response from Prince Dai. He glanced at Prince Dai again and saw his expression remained indifferent; clearly, he did not believe this explanation.
Fang Zhen sighed again, but said no more about it and instead stated his purpose directly. "Your Highness, I invited you here this time because of Clear Garden Temple."
"Clear Garden Temple?" Su Ziji was taken aback. He had considered many possibilities, but had not expected it to be for this matter. His gaze shifted, and his mind was already turning it over.
Fang Zhen paid no heed and continued, "After the matter of the Great Demon hiding in the Capital City, all the monks of Clear Garden Temple were thrown into prison. I hear the torture has been severe. Several monks could not endure the punishment and were beaten to death alive."
Though Su Ziji had not heard of this matter before, he was not surprised upon hearing it. The Emperor wants to diminish Prince Qi's power and prestige. Clear Garden Temple is merely the first target.
Not to mention this world—even in the world of his previous life, there had been similar cases.
When Zhu Yuanzhang was Emperor, Lan Yu had belonged to the Crown Prince's faction. Once the Crown Prince died, Lan Yu's household was confiscated and his entire clan exterminated. Now that the Emperor sought to diminish Prince Qi's power and prestige, slaughtering Clear Garden Temple was inevitable.
They said that when an emperor flew into rage, a million corpses lay strewn across the land. No one would stop such bloodshed. Sacrificing a single Clear Garden Temple was even less likely to draw anyone's concern.
This was not something he could interfere with. Fang Zhen was asking him for something he could not accomplish—how could he