novelhk Chapter 173 Emperor Wen's Wrath
Chapter 173 Emperor Wen's Wrath
"What a great connection! Her nephew actually dared to poison An Junyuan! Tell me, wasn't it Li Mingfu who ordered him to do this?" Emperor Wen was furious and roared at the top of his lungs, as if he was going to shake the entire palace down.
When the queen heard this, her face turned pale as paper, and her body began to tremble uncontrollably. She fell to her knees with a plop, tears streaming down her face: "Your Majesty, this is an unfounded slander! My brother would never do such a thing! I hope Your Majesty can see clearly!"
Madam Liu also knelt down quickly, kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty! I was sold to the Li Mansion by my parents when I was ten years old. I have been serving you faithfully for so many years and have never had any contact with your family! I beg your Majesty to understand! I really don't know who else is in my family!"
Her forehead hit the ground with a crisp sound, and soon blood came out, but she had no intention of stopping.
The queen's eyes flashed, and she suddenly rushed over like a gust of wind, tightly grasping Aunt Liu's hand. Her dark eyes stared at Emperor Wen with anger, and she shouted sharply: "If Your Majesty really has irrefutable evidence to prove that all this was instigated by the Prime Minister! Then I will naturally have nothing to say! However, if Your Majesty wrongly accuses my family without any basis, then I will never accept it!"
The corners of Emperor Wen's eyes twitched slightly, and his eyes became gloomy and cold. He said coldly: "Queen, don't think that I dare not depose the prince!"
The queen was not afraid at all. She stood up straight and responded without flinching, "The royal family's ancestral etiquette is there! The subjects of the world are watching! If Your Majesty wants to depose the crown prince, you have to see if the civil and military officials of the court agree!"
When Emperor Wen heard this, his face instantly turned livid. He snorted coldly, waved his sleeves vigorously, turned around and strode away...
When Emperor Wen reached the entrance of the hall, he stopped, turned back and said viciously: "The Queen and the Prime Minister had better not have any evil ideas! Otherwise, if the prince is implicated, don't blame me for disregarding the relationship between father and son!" After that, he left without looking back, leaving the Queen and everyone there, the atmosphere was extremely tense.
After Emperor Wen and the imperial guards left, the empress fell to the ground as if she had lost her support. Madam Liu quickly waved her hand to let the surrounding maids and eunuchs retreat, then quickly stepped forward and gently helped the empress up. Her face was filled with sorrow, tears kept flowing, and she choked and said, "Empress, why do you have to embarrass yourself like this! If I, an old slave, take the blame, maybe it would be better than having a falling out with Your Majesty like this!"
The queen seemed to be extremely exhausted. She was weakly supported by Aunt Liu and sat on the chair. Sighing deeply, the queen slowly said: "If you plead guilty, everything will be irreversible! Not only the prime minister, but also I will be in a desperate situation! Fortunately, Liu Lin is dead, and all the evidence will disappear with him!"
Madam Liu nodded repeatedly, respectfully indicating that she understood: "I understand! Your Majesty, please rest assured! Leave everything to me!"
The queen gently rubbed her aching temple and continued to warn in a serious tone: "Regarding the people of the Liu family, the prime minister has made proper arrangements. But you must be extra careful when walking around the palace during this period! Don't take it lightly!"
Madam Liu frowned and lowered her voice and said, "Your Majesty really dotes on that vixen! He even stood up for her family! This is really unfair!"
A cold light flashed in the queen's eyes, and she responded coldly: "Your Majesty just thinks that the prince has taken away his military power! He doesn't really care about that woman and her family. Your Majesty only has Xiao Jinghan's short-lived mother in his heart, and the bitch An Guifei is just a substitute!" At this point, the queen's tone was full of disdain and resentment.
Madam Liu looked at the queen solemnly, her hands trembling slightly, and her voice was slightly panicked: "Queen, now that His Majesty intends to replace the Crown Prince, how should we deal with it? Do we need to discuss this with the Prime Minister?"
The queen frowned slightly, with a determined light flashing in her eyes, but her tone was unusually calm: "Hold still for now, and do not act rashly in the near future. Follow me to the Buddhist temple."
Upon hearing this, Aunt Liu's face suddenly changed, and she shouted in astonishment: "Empress, the place of the Buddhist temple is very ominous..."
However, the queen raised the corner of her mouth slightly, revealing a disdainful sneer: "Hmph! When she was alive, I was not afraid of her at all. Could it be that I am afraid of her ghost now? No need to say more, just follow me quickly!" After that, the queen resolutely turned around and walked towards the direction of the Buddhist hall.
The next morning, the sun shone on the court, reflecting a solemn atmosphere. A sharp voice sounded: "If you have something to say, please report it! If not, please leave the court!" The court suddenly became quiet.
At this time, Song Zhen, the Junior Official of the Dali Temple, stepped out and said loudly, "Your Majesty! I have something important to report!" His voice echoed in the court, and everyone was shocked. The Prime Minister and the Crown Prince bowed their heads and said nothing, only the Third Prince frowned slightly and stared at Song Zhen.
Emperor Wen slowly raised his head and looked at Song Zhen calmly, his face expressionless. Time seemed to have frozen. After a long time, Emperor Wen finally asked, "My dear Song Zhen, what is your story?"
Song Zhen respectfully handed over a case file, and Eunuch Gao hurriedly stepped forward to take it and presented it to Emperor Wen. Emperor Wen flipped through the file and suddenly snorted: "Missing girl case? Such a small case can be investigated by the Dali Temple itself, why bring it to the palace!"
However, Song Zhen was not afraid at all. He straightened his body and answered neither humbly nor arrogantly: "Your Majesty! This case involves a lot of people. After some investigation, we found that it was actually done by Qian Wei, a retainer of the third prince. According to Qian Wei's confession, these missing girls from Luoxia Town were secretly trained as dancers by the third prince in order to win over important officials in the court!" His words exploded in the court like thunder, and everyone was shocked.
Emperor Wen's face turned gloomy, but soon he regained his composure. He slammed the file heavily on the dragon throne, looked coldly at the third prince below, and asked, "Is this true?"
The Third Prince's face turned pale instantly. He knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "I am innocent! Father, I know nothing about this matter. Someone must have deliberately framed me. Please investigate!"
Emperor Wen's voice was a little cold: "You are totally unaware of this matter? I ask you again, has Qian Wei ever been your retainer?"
The Third Prince slowly raised his head, looked firmly at Emperor Wen, and said sincerely: "Your Majesty, Qian Wei was indeed a retainer of mine, but that was two years ago. At that time, I discovered that he frequently interacted with the managers of various brothels in the capital, and his behavior was unusually suspicious. I was worried that he would bring adverse effects to the royal family, so I decisively expelled him..."
At this moment, the Minister of Rites Wen Yanghao suddenly stood up and said loudly: "Your Majesty! I have something important to report!"
Emperor Wen narrowed his eyes slightly, glanced at Wen Yanghao, and said in a deep voice: "My dear Wen, what do you want to report?"
Wen Yanghao replied respectfully: "Your Majesty, my hometown is in the south of the Yangtze River. Recently, a major event happened in the An family army..."
However, before he could finish his words, he heard a hurried shout from outside the hall: "Report! Urgent news from Jiangnan!"