Chapter 460 Attempt to Rebel Fails

Jiang Yu was about to drag Pei Tinglan forward again. Zhao Fuquan looked at Pei Tinglan, who was over 70 years old, with messy white hair and a gorgeous robe that was dirty and disheveled from being dragged around, and couldn't help but grin.

He glanced at Jiang Yu: "Duke of Chu, should we have someone carry the Princess Dowager of Lingnan in? If you keep her like this, I'm afraid..." afraid she'll lose her life.

But then Jiang Yu said, "No need, I just gave her ginseng soup."

Zhao Fuquan: "......."

The Imperial Guards: "......."

"You've prepared everything so thoroughly." Zhao Fuquan couldn't help but laugh. He then asked, "Should we have someone else do it for you?"

Hearing his words, Jiang Yu also felt her hand getting tired, so she prepared to hand Pei Tinglan over to the imperial guards beside her. But then she saw the Prince of Lingnan and Zhu Junning rushing over, so she didn't let go. She glanced at the anxious Prince of Lingnan and dragged Pei Tinglan into the palace gate.

"Oh dear, Your Highness, what exactly happened?" Zhao Fuquan asked while bowing to the Prince of Lingnan, then added, "How did you offend the Duke of Chu?"

The King of Lingnan remained silent with a cold face. What could he possibly say?

Zhao Fuquan knew some things couldn't be said, so he bowed and invited the Prince of Lingnan into the palace. Ahead, Jiang Yu dragged Pei Tinglan forward step by step, the sound of their clothes scraping the ground stimulating the Prince of Lingnan's brain and eardrums. But at this moment, he dared not do anything, nor could he do anything.

He had figured it out: the Emperor must have known about Jiang Yu's actions beforehand, and it was even possible that it was a pretext devised by the Emperor and his minister to keep him in the capital. Therefore, no matter what he did now, the Emperor would side with Jiang Yu.

He had already experienced Jiang Yu's madness firsthand; if he did anything against Jiang Yu's wishes, his mother's life might be lost immediately.

The King of Lingnan's knuckles were clenched so tightly they turned blue, and the veins on the back of his hands throbbed. Every step he took felt like he was stepping on a smoldering fire. His feet felt heavy, thumping as if he were about to crush the bluestone slabs on the ground.

Walking beside him, Zhu Junning wished for Pei Tinglan's death. Regardless of what Pei Tinglan had done to the Duke of Chu's mansion, the fact remained that she had been tortured to death by Jiang Yu. Even if they couldn't make Jiang Yu pay with his life, perhaps they could at least erase all of Pei Tinglan's past misdeeds.

But clearly, her wish would not be fulfilled, because she had just overheard two imperial guards whispering that Jiang Yu had fed Pei Tinglan ginseng soup. And perhaps the imperial physician was already waiting in the imperial study.

Her hands were clenched tightly, and not a single muscle in her body was relaxed. She had finally witnessed the way the top female official of the Great Gan was doing things. She thought that only someone like Jiang Yu could carve out her own niche in a man's world.

At this moment, her heart was filled with complex emotions: the embarrassment of the Lingnan Prince's Mansion losing face, the resentment of being inferior to others, and the fear of the future of the Lingnan Prince's Mansion.

Each with their own thoughts, the group soon arrived at the entrance of the Imperial Study. Zhao Fuquan went in first to report, and then came out to invite them in. Jiang Yu dragged Pei Tinglan into the Imperial Study, where they saw, besides the Emperor, more than a dozen ministers, all important officials of the court. The Prime Minister was naturally among them.

Jiang Yu didn't look at them much, threw Pei Tinglan to the ground, and knelt down with a thud. "Your Majesty, you must do justice for me!"

Her voice was filled with sorrow and sobs, as if she had suffered a tremendous injustice. The assembled ministers, looking at Pei Tinglan lying there like a dead dog, couldn't maintain their composure, even the most shrewd and calculating, all wore expressions of shock. The Prime Minister, in particular, wore a face that showed not only shock but also anger and heartache.

Following behind Jiang Yu, the Prince of Lingnan and Zhu Junning also knelt on the ground. The Prince of Lingnan knelt upright, clenching his fists tightly, and said, "Your Majesty, the Duke of Chu has gone too far in bullying us. We beg Your Majesty to do justice for your subject."

The emperor frowned and looked down at the people kneeling on the ground. After a moment of silence, he said, "Duke of Chu, tell me what exactly happened? The Prince of Lingnan is a vassal king of the court. How can you treat the Princess Dowager of Lingnan like this?"

Jiang Yu raised her head, her face filled with grief and indignation. "Your Majesty, for decades, the Dowager Princess of Lingnan has repeatedly committed acts of harm against my Chu State Duke's Mansion. Although I have witnesses and physical evidence, I have tolerated her time and again out of consideration for her being the mother of the Prince of Lingnan. But today, she actually came to my grandfather's grave and disgusted him. I cannot tolerate this, and I will not tolerate it any longer."

As she spoke, she took out a memorial she had prepared beforehand and presented it with both hands. Zhao Fuquan quickly took it and handed it to the emperor. At this moment, Jiang Yu's voice rang out again: "Your Majesty, as you know, I was abducted when I was three years old and was not found and returned home by my grandfather until I was nineteen. The person who abducted me was the Dowager Princess of Lingnan."

Upon hearing this, the emperor feigned surprise. He was faking it, but the shock on the faces of the assembled ministers, except for the prime minister and Prince An, was genuine.

What's going on?

"Who knows!"

"If that's the case, then the Duke of Chu's actions are not excessive."

........

Several ministers whispered among themselves until Jiang Yu's voice rang out again, "My elder brother was switched from the legitimate son to the illegitimate son at birth and was also poisoned. He is still suffering from illness. This was also Pei Tinglan's doing."

Several ministers were once again in an uproar, and one of them couldn't help but ask, "What on earth is this grudge?"

The King of Lingnan clenched his fists, remaining silent. He knew that Jiang Yu must have made thorough preparations to have dared to do what he did today. With the Emperor backing him, he couldn't possibly deny it. Besides, they were the ones who had done it in the first place.

"besides......"

Jiang Yu then recounted several more incidents Pei Tinglan had committed against the Duke of Chu's mansion. Apart from the Prime Minister and Prince An, all the ministers present were wondering what grudge the Prince of Lingnan's mansion held against the Duke of Chu. At this moment, the Emperor voiced their question: "Minister Jiang, why did the Dowager Princess of Lingnan harm your Duke of Chu's mansion in such a way?"

Jiang Yu snorted heavily, turned to look at the Prime Minister with a stern face, and said, "I think Your Excellency can answer this question."

These words shocked everyone once again, and all eyes turned to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister silently took a deep breath, rose, and knelt on the ground, saying, "Your Majesty, I am guilty."

The emperor, seated at the head of the table, looked at him in silence, and after a while asked, "My dear minister, what crime have you committed?"

The Prime Minister kowtowed three times, then said, "The Princess Dowager of Lingnan is my...嫡妹 (elder sister)."

......

The room was silent. The emperor stared at the prime minister for a while, then leaned back in his chair, as if finally letting out a sigh of relief. His gaze fell on Jiang Yu, who understood and gave the prime minister a cold snort:

"What is the purpose of the Prime Minister concealing his identity as the direct maternal uncle of the Prince of Lingnan? One is the Prime Minister of Daqian, and the other is the only vassal king of Daqian. Are you trying to rebel by hiding your relationship?"