Chapter 538 Just who is this son-in-law?

Li Qing almost burst out laughing.

She clutched her stomach and struggled to raise her hand to cover her face.

Duan Rongshi narrowed his eyes: "You dare to laugh and see what happens?"

Li Qingluo quickly pinched her palm hard.

She pitifully raised her head, her face full of sincerity: "Husband, no matter how others try to sow discord, I believe in you!"

Duan Rongshi: "My wife, are you itching for a beating? Shall I find a chance to loosen your skin later?"

As he spoke, he reached out and grabbed her arm, about to pull her into his embrace and publicly express his affection for her, when a loud announcement came from outside the hall: "The Emperor has arrived—"

"Her Majesty the Empress has arrived!"

The crowd stood up and shouted "Long live the Emperor!"

When they sat down again, Li Qingluo's gaze easily found Jinhua and Aduo in the crowd.

Zongzheng Wuheng, who was standing to the side, was also staring at her with a deep gaze.

She lowered her eyes, and before she could regain her composure, she heard the Chu Emperor suddenly erupt in fury.

"You bastard!"

"Look what you've done!"

The Chu Emperor was an extremely arrogant and self-centered person. He would not care about anyone's feelings if you touched his sore spot.

He slapped the fourth prince across the face on the spot.

The audience fell silent instantly.

No one dared to breathe too loudly.

Li Qinglu raised an eyebrow slightly.

Duan Rongshi, as the valiant general of the Imperial Guard, quickly left when the Chu Emperor and Empress entered the hall.

He is responsible for the safety of the entire palace and its surroundings tonight.

Therefore, he could not sit with Li Qingluo at the table to watch this spectacle.

However, Li Qingluo knew that the reason why Zongzheng Wuxie was reprimanded by the Chu Emperor in front of everyone tonight was because of Duan Rongshi.

All the prisoners in the Dali Temple prison were poisoned to death overnight.

Although the case was ultimately suppressed and did not become widely known, some rumors did leak out.

At this critical juncture, the Empress's birthday banquet was still held in a grand and extravagant manner.

However, Shangguan Zhong, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, had his head chopped off!

The Shangguan family took this matter to the palace, hoping to seek justice.

After the Chu Emperor returned from hiding for a few days, he arrested all the troublemakers from the Shangguan family.

Before the Shangguan family could react, the Chu Emperor had already confiscated their property.

All the male members of the family were beheaded.

All the women in the family were forced into prostitution.

At this critical juncture, Duan Rongshi, a man with no background or status, was personally granted the position of General of the Valiant Cavalry by the Chu Emperor.

The Chu Emperor promoted him to the Imperial Guard based on his numerous merits, including personally beheading the treacherous minister Shangguan Zhong and protecting the emperor.

This matter caused a great uproar in the city.

Everyone is speculating about who this new tycoon, 'Li Wu,' really is.

However, Duan Rongshi knew in his heart that the Chu Emperor was probably fully aware that what happened in the Dali Temple prison was inseparable from his son, but he wanted to push the whole case onto Shangguan Zhong.

The Chu Emperor wanted to protect the true mastermind behind the whole affair—the Fourth Prince, Zongzheng Wuxie.

He also wants to put his new weapon in the spotlight.

If one has no power or influence and wants to gain a foothold, one must rely entirely on the emperor.

Besides being ruthless, we also need to show him our true abilities, otherwise we will also be fiercely attacked by the Fourth Prince's faction.

Shangguan Zhong was certainly no good either, but the son that the Chu Emperor wanted to protect was even worse.

Moreover, according to Li Qingluo and Duan Rongshi's speculation, he was not even a descendant of the Chu Emperor.

Duan Rongshi worked as a knife maker in Daliang for many years.

He knew how to make the sharpest knife in the hands of an emperor.

However, the Fourth Prince, Shangguan Wuxie, is now the most important piece in Duan Rongshi's chess game.

"What is this? I'm giving you a chance to explain!"

With a roar of anger, the Chu Emperor slammed the stack of things in his hand hard onto Zongzheng Wuxie's face.

Zongzheng Wuxie's face turned deathly pale.

"Father, I have not done this. This is all a frame-up! Someone is framing me..."

Emperor Chu: "Framed? Why don't you say that I framed you?"

"I hereby order you to raid the Shangguan family's property and to personally oversee this matter. You must complete everything within five days."

"And now you're pretending to be so kind?"

"They left behind two sons of the Shangguan family and hid the unmarried daughter of the Shangguan family in a temple."

Where do you place my authority?

"Where does this leave the imperial power?!"

"Fourth Prince, don't think I don't know, Shangguan Zhong is one of your men."

Upon hearing this, a hint of panic flashed across Zongzheng Wuxie's eyes.

"Father, Your Majesty, I am truly innocent..."

The King of Qin suddenly stood up, knelt down, and spoke up for Zongzheng Wuxie: "Your Majesty, there must be more to this than meets the eye. Please be able to discern the truth."

The Chu Emperor was very displeased, because whenever Zongzheng Wuxie made a mistake, the King of Qin would come out to protect him like a hen protecting her own.

He shouldn't make his support for the fourth brother too obvious.

The Chu Emperor narrowed his eyes, as if he had suddenly calmed down: "Oh? Then tell me, what's the inside story?"

"The matter in the Dali Temple prison needs to be thoroughly investigated?"

Zongzheng Wuxie: "Father, this matter must have been caused by a mistake made by my subordinates. I will definitely investigate and hold them accountable. Please do not be angry, Father!"

The Chu Emperor sneered, "Fine, I'll give you a chance first."

"Bring him up here!"

The Imperial Guards personally escorted the two young men and one beautiful young woman from the Shangguan family into the banquet hall.

The Chu Emperor ignored the fact that the Empress was still standing there, and didn't care that it was the Empress's birthday.

Clearly, they didn't care that there were still members of prominent families and even dozens of officials' families sitting in the hall.

He coldly tossed the sword to Zongzheng Wuxie's side and said fiercely, "Kill them, and I will trust you."

Zongzheng Wuxie is indeed a ruthless person.

He stood up with a cold and ruthless expression, picked up his sword, and pierced through all three of the Shangguan orphans who were lined up in a row.

A look of pain flashed across his face as he killed the legitimate daughter of the Shangguan family.

Shangguan's eldest daughter: "Your Highness..."

Her face was filled with endless resentment, but she could only lie on the ground with her eyes wide open.

Que'er, who was following behind Li Qing, whispered, "I heard from Sha San that this young lady was originally going to enter the Fourth Prince's residence next month as a concubine."

Li Qingluo: "He's telling you about things like this now?"

He didn't even tell himself. Tsk, he's hiding his true intentions.

Seeing that the girl's focus was on this, Que'er couldn't help but blush.

"Girl, look at those people."

Li Qingluo also noticed that many officials at the table were showing barely concealed anger on their faces.

These people must all be part of the Fourth Prince's faction.

Were they angry at the cruelty of the Chu Emperor, or at the ruthlessness of Zongzheng Wuxie?

Zong Zheng Wuxie had intended to secretly cultivate an image of benevolence, but his attempt backfired, and he ended up losing face in front of everyone.

When the Chu emperor saw his son kill the man so swiftly, he didn't feel particularly pleased.

"Get out!"

"Without my summons, you are not to leave your residence in the coming days!"