Chapter 274 The End of the Li Mansion

The next morning.

Xie Chen went to court and ordered Liang Yao to announce the decree.

The whole government was shocked.

No one could have imagined that the Duke of Li's Mansion would be so bold as to pass a woman of humble origin off as a daughter of the Li family and send her into the palace in the hope of wealth and glory.

Now that this matter has been discovered, it means it is an ironclad fact.

Deceiving the emperor is a crime punishable by the death of nine generations of the family. The emperor's decree is already a great favor.

Therefore, no one dared to plead for the Duke of Li's Mansion, not even the nobles who were on good terms with him.

After hearing the imperial edict, Duke Li fainted on the spot in the court.

Originally, the emperor ordered someone to announce the decree, and he was secretly happy, thinking that it was a reprimand for King Xuan, but he didn't expect it to be a death warrant from the Duke of Li's Mansion.

He was horrified. He never imagined that the deepest secret of the Duke's Mansion would be known by the emperor.

After hearing the word "exile", he could no longer hold on, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted.

Xie Chen had no mercy and had him carried out.

Since the Duke of Li's mansion had been stripped of its title and met this end, the incident of King Xuan beating someone up was naturally forgotten.

The court officials were all shrewd and did not mention the matter again. Instead, they started talking about state affairs.

*

Kyoto.

Li family.

Duke Li was carried back unconscious, which surprised everyone in the mansion.

After hearing the news, the Duke's wife waited at the second gate.

Unexpectedly, the housekeeper came hurriedly and said: "The imperial guards have surrounded our house. Liang Da, the chief steward in the imperial court, has come and said he has an imperial decree to announce."

The Duke's wife was puzzled: "If the decree was announced, why would there be guards surrounding the mansion?"

She couldn't figure it out, but time was pressing, so she simply gave up thinking about it and asked someone to tell the old Duke to come out and receive the imperial edict.

Within a quarter of an hour, all the direct descendants of the Li family knelt in front of the gate.

Seeing that everyone was gathered, Liang Yao slowly opened the decree.

"The Emperor, by the Mandate of Heaven, proclaims: The Li family…has deeply betrayed my grace. Remembering our past friendship, I exile them to the northwest. This is my decree!"

After reading the decree.

Everyone in the mansion was crying and wailing. The wife of the Duke had lost her spirit and was slumped on the ground.

Only the old Duke at the front did not show such an embarrassing attitude.

He took the bright yellow imperial edict with trembling hands and lamented, "This is all retribution!"

After Liang Yao left, the guards took everyone from Duke Li's mansion down and put them in handcuffs.

This glorious and prosperous generation of descendants came to an end in the capital.

*

Imperial Palace.

After the court session, Xie Chen returned to Chengming Palace.

He entered the inner chamber in his court robes and saw Pei Tingyue still asleep. He tucked in the quilt for her and ordered someone to prepare a meal.

After doing all this, he changed into moon-white casual clothes, set up a desk in the bedroom and handled state affairs.

When Pei Tingyue woke up, the sky was bright and the light was dazzling.

She was dazed for a moment, and then she spoke after she calmed down, "Your Majesty..."

Xie Chen listened to the noise, put down his pen and sat down beside the couch, "Tingyue is awake."

Pei Tingyue stretched her waist and felt sore. She complained, "It hurts."

Xie Chen's face was filled with tenderness: "Where does it hurt? I'll apply medicine for you."

Pei Tingyue could tell by trying that the medicine was applied on her body, but she just felt a little uncomfortable and she didn't want to get up.

Xie Chen looked at her coquettish look and laughed, "If you don't want to get up, then don't get up. I'll have them set up a small table. Can we have lunch here?"

Pei Tingyue squinted her eyes and didn't want to talk, so she put her head on his lap and slowly woke up.

In the end, she got up through willpower.

There are a lot of things waiting for me. There are palace affairs to attend to. I have to ask how Li is doing in the cold palace and go to the Cining Palace.

After she got up and washed up, the two of them had lunch.

After a short rest, the two of them got on the dragon chariot and headed towards Chengning Palace.

As soon as he returned to the palace, Xiao Si rushed over to him, "Mother, what took you so long to come back?"

Before Pei Tingyue could say anything, Xie Chen pinched his fair and tender face and said solemnly, "You're a boy, why are you so attached to your mother? Besides, isn't Ah Xun here?"

Xiao Si pouted: "It's different."

Xie Chen pinched him again and asked, "We all have someone to accompany us, so what's the difference?"

Pei Tingyue couldn't bear it any longer, so she patted Xie Chen's hand and whispered, "Why are you teasing him? He'll be red in the face."

Xie Chen raised his eyebrows and let go of his hand.

Pei Tingyue smiled and half-knelt down in front of Xiao Si, "Okay, mother promised our Yuzhou that she would accompany you tonight, okay?"

Xiao Si's big eyes, like black grapes, sparkled with joy. "Then will Mother sleep with me?"

"Yes." Pei Tingyue agreed, and then said softly, "But today my mother has a task for Yuzhou."

Xiao Si patted his chest and said, "My mother said I will do it."

Pei Tingyue said, "Your third brother's mother did something wrong and was punished to be sent to a very remote place. She won't be seen for a very long time. When your third brother finds out, he will be very sad. Can Yuzhou put aside the previous incident and comfort your third brother?"

Xiao Si asked, "How long have we not seen each other? Is it as long as one night?"

He and his mother would not see each other for one night at most, but just one night made him miss her very much.

Pei Tingyue sighed: "At least, a few hundred days and nights."

Xiao Si's eyes widened: "So long!"

Pei Tingyue said "hmm".

Xiao Si immediately said, "Third brother loves his mother very much. He will definitely be sad when he finds out. I will comfort him well."

Pei Tingyue patted his head: "So good."

After giving the instructions, the emperor and his concubine took the two of them to the Cining Palace.

When he entered the hall, Queen Mother Qin was resting with her eyes closed, while the Third Prince and Qin Baolin were sitting behind the desk learning to read.

Queen Mother Qin opened her eyes upon hearing the announcement. Seeing the group, she was quite surprised. "It's rare for the Emperor and the Imperial Concubine to come together today."

Xiao Si said, "Grandmother, and Yu Zhou."

Xie Xun echoed: "And Ah Xun."

"Ouch." Queen Mother Qin felt distressed when she saw the scar on Xie Xun's head. "Our Ah Xun has suffered so much."

Xie Xun nodded seriously.

Queen Mother Qin held him for a while, teased Xiao Si for a while, and when she saw that the Emperor and his wife seemed to have something to say, she asked Nanny Meng to take the children and Qin Baolin out to see the flowers.

After the palace was cleared, Queen Mother Qin asked, "Does the Emperor have anything to say to me?"

Xie Chen lowered his eyes and told the story of the Duke of Li’s mansion deceiving the emperor.

Queen Mother Qin was furious after hearing this and slammed her Buddhist beads onto the sandalwood table. "How can this be! How dare you be so audacious!"

This is considered to be confusing the royal bloodline.

If there is no severe punishment, if someone with ulterior motives follows suit, the consequences will be serious.

Xie Chen repeated the decree from the morning.

After hearing this, Queen Mother Qin sighed deeply, "I care about the Li family even more than the Qin family, but the Li family is even less capable than the Qin family, committing such a shameful act. The Emperor's handling of the matter was appropriate. He showed no mercy to the Li family, yet he also showed extra favor. This will serve as a warning to others."

Xie Chen pressed his brows and said, "Yes, the former and harem concubines have been dealt with. However, Yu Shi cannot let others tell him that his mother has been sent to the cold palace, so I came here in person."