Chapter 91 Little Knife Spits Blood

When the Second Prince's residence was extinguished, half a street of houses had already burned down.

His plot to rebel with Princess Yongle was as widely publicized in Bianjing as this great fire.

Taking advantage of the uproar caused by the fire, Xie Yushu thoroughly investigated the Second Prince's rebellion. He obtained a list of the Second Prince's henchmen from Princess Yongle and ordered Song Jie to arrest all the officials on the list and interrogate them one by one at the Dali Temple.

Overnight, the court was filled with unease and panic.

When Lord Liang was taken to the Dali Temple by Song Jie overnight, almost all of the old officials in the court remained. Those ministers who were taken to the Dali Temple for interrogation gradually succumbed to the severe torture, some confessing and others committing suicide.

The few remaining old officials in the court remonstrated with him even at the cost of their lives, listing Song Jie's evil deeds: corruption, disregard for human life, and now, under the pretext of investigating traitors, he had unjustly imprisoned and wiped out all the ministers in the court who had offended him and were unwilling to submit to him.

The memorials recommending officials were piled up on the table, and several former officials knelt outside the Daqing Hall for a long time without getting up.

That very night, Song Jie had one of the ministers arrested and brought to the Dali Temple, where he was severely tortured. He even detained the minister's two sons there as well.

This minister was none other than Lord Wang Liang, who had once controlled the floods and saved millions of people. Lord Wang was known for his love for the people, and he had accepted two "umbrellas for the people."

This fueled the fire even more, and not only did Xie Yushu's people in the court begin to speak up for Lord Wang Liang, but even the common people began to plead for him.

For a time, the people of Bianjing City deeply resented Song Jie and secretly cursed him as a treacherous minister.

Pei Heng also met Xie Yushu at this time and spoke for the first time to advise her to stop, saying that continuing to arrest her would only deepen the resentment.

Xie Yushu did not answer him directly, but asked him if he understood why he killed the Second Prince but spared Princess Yongle.

Pei Heng thought for a moment and replied, "Killing the Second Prince will leave them leaderless and disorganized. It will only take time to investigate them. As for Princess Yongle, even if she has the intention to rebel, she lacks the ability and courage to lead. Leaving her alive will not only eliminate any worries about the future, but it will also demonstrate your and His Majesty's benevolence in not killing women and children."

He looked at Xie Yushu and said, "So I don't understand why you would allow Song Jie to wantonly kill loyal ministers who have no disloyal intentions?"

He naturally knew that Xie Yushu was behind Song Jie, and that Song Jie's actions were not due to personal grudges, but were at Xie Yushu's behest.

Xie Yushu sat in the Daqing Hall, tossing aside the memorials impeaching Song Jie one by one, and said with a smile, "Since you understand the principle of using both kindness and severity, you should understand why I instructed Song Jie to arrest Lord Wang Liang and his gang."

Two days after she said that, Pei Heng fully understood what she meant.

Before long, the Dali Temple reinvestigated and found that although ministers such as Wang Liang and Liang Shou had contacted Princess Yongle and others, they had not participated in the Second Prince's rebellion.

When Wang Liang and Liang Shou were released from Dali Temple, the weather had already turned warm.

He was arrested at the beginning of spring, and when he came out, the peach blossoms on the street were in full bloom and everything was reviving.

Liang Shuhe went to pick up her father in person. Her father, who was being helped out with faltering steps, saw his daughter in official robes, standing tall and graceful among the officials who were bowing to him. He was suddenly shaken.

He couldn't quite explain the complex emotions he felt at that moment. He just felt that his daughter had embarked on a path that he thought would never lead to success, and that the person who paved this path for her was the Empress. He, as her father, not only failed to support her, but also became a stumbling block on her path.

Despite being severely tortured in prison for these days, he did not feel aggrieved, because he had indeed met with Princess Yongle and the others in secret several times. Even if he had not participated in the Second Prince's rebellion, he should have reported the matter to the Emperor in time.

He did not report this in time because he narrowly believed that the new emperor was weak and that allowing the empress to interfere in politics was a mistake that would sooner or later lead to turmoil in the court and the rise of rebellion.

He harbored such improper thoughts and deserves to be punished.

But now, seeing his daughter walk up to him with dignity, call him "Father," and tell him that the Empress has determined that he was not involved in the rebellion, he has been reinstated to his original position.

He couldn't help but cover his face and weep bitterly.

Just two days later, the case of the Second Prince's treason was quickly resolved after the Empress intervened.

Those who participated in the Second Prince's rebellion were executed, while all other innocent people were released.

The Empress even issued an additional decree: the calamity would not extend to family members, and the families of those involved in the rebellion would no longer be held accountable.

The great fire was finally met with the Queen's blessing.

Just a few days after the treason case was concluded, the Empress suggested, and the Emperor approved, the establishment of a girls' school, allowing women to enroll in a special college to study and learn to read.

Almost no one in the court objected to this groundbreaking decree, which was implemented with unusually smooth progress.

Only at this moment did Pei Heng truly see Xie Yushu's ambition and methods.

When she arrested the Second Prince's traitorous associates, she was not only eliminating dissidents, but also using Song Jie to intimidate other former officials. Only after she had established her authority did she show mercy and release those innocent former officials who had suffered.

While purging her cronies and intimidating former officials, she was also cultivating her own power.

In just one winter, through a treason case, she had already purged a faction in the court. Meng Jinyue was appointed commander of the Imperial Guards after his meritorious service, and Liang Shuhe also distinguished himself in the treason case, rising from a secretary in the Secretariat to a vice minister in the Secretariat, a formal and powerful official position.

Now that Xie Yushu's people are everywhere in the two prefectures and three departments, her decrees are naturally carried out smoothly. As for those little criticisms, they are nothing to worry about.

Taking advantage of this momentum, Xie Yushu, together with the emperor, presided over the agricultural sacrifice on the Spring Equinox.

The Empress and the Emperor worshipped their ancestors and ascended the altar together on the same day, setting a precedent for the Great Xun Dynasty.

On the day of the sacrifice, spring rain fell from the sky, and a celestial bow appeared in the sky above Bianjing.

Xie Yushu had already figured out how to fabricate propaganda slogans such as "Two emperors ascend the throne, auspicious omens descend from heaven" and have Song Jie's men spread them around the streets and alleys.

But she didn't expect an accident to happen that day.

Xiao Dao coughed up blood and fainted near the end of the ritual.

She saw Xiao Dao coughing up blood and swaying precariously, and almost immediately supported him. He couldn't collapse in front of everyone, on the sacrificial altar.

But Xiao Dao's eyes began to lose focus as he looked at her, and more and more blood dripped from his lips.

She could barely support the tall knife, and instinctively glanced at Song Jie, who was closest to her.

Song Jie immediately rushed over and reached out to support Xiao Dao.

Pei Heng, who had also noticed something amiss, frowned when he saw the blood on Xiao Dao's lips.

"His Majesty has suffered from heatstroke," Song Jie said calmly. "Let's help His Majesty to rest in the inner palace for a while." Then he winked at Pei Heng.

Pei Heng practically held the knife to the ground.

Xie Yushu stayed where he was, continuing the unfinished ritual until it was completed, before hurriedly entering the inner hall to check on Xiao Dao.

Xiao Dao was still unconscious, his face was pale, but his cheeks had a sickly flush, and his lips were bluish-black. He looked like he had been poisoned.

The atmosphere in the hall was tense. Pei Heng insisted on inviting other imperial physicians to take another look, but Song Jie repeatedly stopped him and only invited his trusted imperial physician to treat Xiao Dao.

Only after seeing Xie Yushu did Song Jie lower his arm from blocking Pei Heng, wanting to speak with Xie Yushu alone.

Xie Yushu glanced at Pei Heng, ordered the others to stand guard outside the hall, and left Pei Heng behind: "You and General Pei are both people I trust, there's nothing to hide. What exactly happened to Xiao Dao?"

She sat down next to Xiaodao and took his hand; it was ice-cold. These days, his hands and body always seemed cold...

"His Majesty's illness cannot be treated by other imperial physicians, because he has been poisoned." Song Jie no longer concealed anything and, in front of Pei Heng, told Xie Yushu in detail about how the late emperor had undergone a blood transfusion and how Xiao Dao had taken cinnabar-containing pills for a period of time.

“A while ago, he came to me and told me that he suddenly started coughing, wheezing and spitting blood.” Song Jie walked to her side and said in a calm tone, “I had a trusted imperial physician examine him. It was because of residual cinnabar poison in his body.”

"When did this happen? Why didn't you tell me?" Xie Yushu looked at him, her brows furrowed with anger.

Song Jie looked down at her. "I thought he would tell you, but who knew he would intentionally keep it from you."

He neither addressed Xiao Dao as "Your Majesty" nor referred to himself as "your subject," and even at this time, he still made sarcastic remarks.

Unable to contain his anger, Xie Yushu raised his hand and slapped him across the face.

The slap was extremely hard; Song Jie felt his ears ringing and heard Xie Yushu ask, "Who are you answering?"

He knew she was angry, not only because he hadn't informed her about it, but also because he had offended her authority.

Song Jie knelt down, lifting his robe. "Your Majesty, I misspoke. It was my fault. I should have informed you of this matter immediately." He lowered his posture and apologized at her feet, saying, "Please, Your Majesty, do not be angry."

The hall was silent. Pei Heng also knelt down on one knee after hearing the slap. In addition to being shocked by the fact that Song Jie had used a knife to "poison" the late emperor, he also felt a sense of unfamiliarity with Xie Yushu.

At that moment, he realized that Xie Yushu was no longer the Xie Yushu of the past. Even though she addressed them as "you" and "me" in daily life, she was also the Empress, the Empress of the Great Xun Dynasty.

She could joke and laugh with them, but they couldn't.

Xie Yushu's anger subsided after the slap. She looked at Pei Heng, who was kneeling down, then turned her gaze to the small knife on the bed and asked Song Jie, "Is there any way to remove the poison from his body?"

Song Jie answered truthfully: "I had already consulted the imperial physician on behalf of Your Majesty some time ago, but the physician said that it could only temporarily alleviate the problem and that it would be difficult to completely eliminate it."

Xie Yushu actually knew the answer perfectly well; she wasn't even surprised that the knife had been poisoned.

Because long before the late emperor was poisoned to death, she had asked Song Jie whether the pills Xiao Dao had taken would harm him.

She knew that back then.

She just pretended not to know, and later, as she became busy with court affairs, one thing after another, she really forgot about it.

Guilt is like raindrops; once they fall, they soak everything.

Her hand holding the knife began to recall his night coughs, his cold hands and feet, and how he would occasionally go outside the inner palace in the middle of the night to catch his breath...

She hadn't paid any attention to these obvious symptoms.

"What if the toxins are difficult to remove?" she asked, already having the answer in her mind.

But she thought, if Song Jie survived for so many years despite being poisoned, could Xiao Dao also last another ten or twenty years?

If Xiao Dao were the male protagonist, could his lifespan be extended further?

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Author's note: I'm taking tomorrow off to take my dog ​​for a check-up to see if the stitches can be removed. I'll continue updating the day after tomorrow.

This is nearing its end, so I'm giving you a heads-up [hugs]