novelhk Chapter 201 Demoted to Common People
Chapter 201 Demoted to Common People
"I agree with what the Third Prince said."
***'s angry voice came, and she glanced down at Zhao Zhen condescendingly: "The people have long been complaining about what the Third Prince has done in recent years. As for Xu Feng, he is both civil and military, and is a good seedling. What's wrong with me cherishing talents and promoting them?"
As for Concubine Xu, *** did not mention it.
It also gave the Emperor of Northern Qi some face.
When Princess Changling took Concubine Xu to appreciate flowers in the palace, the Emperor of Northern Qi who was passing by took a liking to them and forced them to stay in the palace.
The Xu family was extremely reluctant.
I couldn't disobey the emperor's order, so I had to accept it.
The Northern Qi Emperor also knew about this. He cleared his throat awkwardly and said to Zhao Zhen with a stern face, "You bastard, don't be rude!"
Zhao Zhen had no choice but to apologize to the aunt: "Aunt, I, I didn't mean that, it's just that Xu Feng is really not worthy of cousin Chang Ling, I was just standing up for my cousin, I'm too blunt to talk, and I offended you."
*** has always looked down on Zhao Zhen. A while ago, I thought Zhao Zhen's personality had changed drastically after he fell off a cliff and survived, but I didn't expect he was still like this.
Mud can't hold up the wall!
*** raised her eyes and looked at the Northern Qi Emperor: "Brother, you promised me that you would leave Xu Feng to me. It's rare for me to open my mouth to you, so please don't kill him."
The Emperor of Northern Qi and *** were brothers from the same mother. *** made an indispensable contribution to the Emperor of Northern Qi's ascension to the throne. After more than ten years, *** finally spoke once, and the Emperor of Northern Qi had no reason to refute.
Moreover, Xu Feng had no merits or faults.
"You evil creature, why don't you release Lord Xu right now!" the Northern Qi Emperor said angrily.
How could Zhao Zhen dare to refute? He nodded repeatedly: "Your son obeys your order."
*** did not intend to let Zhao Zhen off easily, and said to the Northern Qi Emperor: "Brother, although Zhen'er is a prince, he is immature and unpopular."
Zhao Zhen's expression changed instantly when he heard this, and a hint of hatred flashed across his eyes.
After seeing what Zhao Zhen had done, the Northern Qi Emperor had already eliminated Zhao Zhen as a candidate for successor. He said in a deep voice: "I know my limits."
This attitude was obviously approval, and Zhao Zhen's heart sank.
The eunuch outside the door came hurriedly to pass on the message. The anger that the Northern Qi emperor had just suppressed was instantly provoked. He slammed the table angrily: "Evil creature! Drag him out and beat him with thirty sticks!"
Zhao Zhen was confused.
"Royal brother, has something happened to Xu Feng?" *** asked anxiously.
The Emperor of Northern Qi opened his mouth but could not say anything. He could only glare at Zhao Zhen. Zhao Zhen swallowed guiltily and was dragged out and quickly tortured.
"Brother?" *** asked relentlessly.
The Northern Qi emperor gritted his teeth and said, "The man was beaten to death."
"What?" ***'s eyes went dark, and then the anger on his face became more and more fierce: "Royal brother, no matter what, Xu Feng was promoted by you personally to be the Minister of the Ministry of Justice, a dignified second-rank official. How could he be locked up at home and beaten to death by Zhao Zhen?"
Listening to Zhao Zhen's screams outside, the emperor looked straight at the Northern Qi Emperor: "Brother, you don't really think that thirty boards can save Xu Feng's life, right?"
The Emperor of Northern Qi felt a little guilty when being stared at.
In these years, *** has been very low-key. He did not cause any trouble but instead handled matters for the Emperor of Northern Qi from time to time. He finally found a son-in-law, but he was beaten to death by Zhao Zhen.
The Northern Qi emperor made up his mind: "I will hand my son over to you today, you can do whatever you want with him."
Not only did these words fail to calm ***'s anger, but they made her even angrier. If she really killed Zhao Zhen in exchange for her own life, the Emperor of Northern Qi would definitely be unhappy and would even harbor resentment against her.
But he was let off like this, and he felt very upset.
"Then demote the Third Prince's line to commoners, confiscate all their possessions, and never allow them to enter the palace again in their lifetime." *** said.
For someone who is as greedy for power as Zhao Zhen, being without power is even more painful than killing him.
Moreover, Zhao Zhen had offended too many people, and once he was disliked by the emperor, he would definitely face a lot of revenge.
The Northern Qi emperor thought for a moment and agreed. He drafted the imperial edict in front of the emperor. After the emperor took it, glanced at it and confirmed that it was correct, he went to announce the edict in person.
Zhao Zhen had already received all the thirty strokes of the board. He lay on the bench, his back bleeding, his face pale, beads of sweat oozing from his forehead. He gritted his teeth stubbornly and looked at the approaching police officer, his eyes full of resentment.
*** sneered: "How dare you be so arrogant to take human life lightly? You deserve to die under the cliff."
"Aunt, calm down. When I have recovered, I will definitely prepare a few men who are better than Xu Feng for cousin Chang Ling to choose from. Why bother with just one Xu Feng?" Zhao Zhen disagreed.
Seeing that he was still stubborn, the *** raised the imperial edict: "The Emperor of Heaven and the Mandate of Heaven decrees that from today on, the emperor Zhao Zhen will be deposed as a commoner. The descendants of Zhao Zhen will never be employed in the palace, and all their property and rights will be confiscated. This is the order!"
After hearing the imperial edict, Zhao Zhen was dumbfounded, and panic finally appeared in his eyes: "No, it's impossible, my father will never do this to me, father, father!"
"Shut my mouth!" At the order of the queen, the guards blocked Zhao Zhen's mouth. Zhao Zhen struggled and touched the wound. He fainted due to the anger.
Looking at Zhao Zhen who was like a puddle of mud, ***'s eyes were filled with murderous intent. He clenched his fists tightly and forced himself to retract the murderous intent.
"Strip the Third Prince of his uniform and throw him out of the palace. If he dares to cause trouble, he will be slapped fifty times!"
Under the order of the queen, Zhao Zhen was quickly stripped of his clothes and thrown to the palace gate in his underwear. When he woke up, he was already on the street, and many people were surrounding him and looking at him.
Zhao Zhen was furious: "Get out of here, are you looking for death?"
The common people sneered: "How dare a commoner have such a bad temper? No wonder he was driven out."
No one present showed any sympathy except for laughter and ridicule.
Zhao Zhen was so angry that he stood up with difficulty despite his injuries. It took him a full hour to return to the former Third Prince's residence, just in time to see the Jingzhao Yin and his men ransacking the house.
He was angry: "What are you doing! Stop it!"
When everyone saw it was him, they glanced at him calmly and then retracted their expressions, continuing to do what they were doing. Zhao Zhen wanted to step forward several times, but thinking that the other party had more people and more power, he endured it.
At this time, he saw the Liu family's carriage parked in front of him, and Mrs. Liu got off the carriage.
"Mother-in-law!" Zhao Zhen shouted.
Madam Liu glanced at Zhao Zhen, then walked up the stairs without looking away. A moment later, the maid carried Liu Xiangling out, got on the carriage and drove back.
Zhao Zhen quickly stepped forward to stop her: "Mother-in-law, please stay!"
"Mother-in-law?" Madam Liu lifted the curtain and said sarcastically, "I dare not pursue this marriage. Mr. Zhao San should not come to the Liu family to cause trouble. Otherwise, don't blame the Liu family for being rude."