When was the bribery conducted? Recently, or a long time ago?

Yi De didn't consider Consort De a match at all. She just snorted coldly, "Guards, Consort De has offended the Emperor. She is hereby demoted to the rank of Beauty and banished to the Cold Palace, effective immediately."

"What right do you have to demote me! Why have you banished me to the Cold Palace? What did I do wrong!" Consort De blurted out in her panic, because she saw Zhao Shu, Xie Yun and others standing obediently to the side, while Emperor Mingde had his eyes closed, as if he were asleep.

The world is about to belong to Yide and her son.

She painstakingly planned and finally gained Yang Zhong's help, but in the end, she still failed? She was unwilling to accept it!

After she finished speaking, she turned to look at Yang Zhong, but Yang Zhong had his head down, seemingly lost in thought, and did not meet her gaze.

"Lord Yang, Lord Xie..." Before Consort De could finish speaking, Zhao Bi, impatient to listen any longer, reached out and grabbed a matchlock gun, firing a shot at Consort De's face. With a loud "bang," Consort De was immediately terrified, falling to the ground and staring blankly at the hole in front of her, her body trembling uncontrollably.

Another shot rang out, and everyone froze, including Emperor Mingde, who suddenly opened his eyes and looked abruptly at Zhao Bi.

"Why aren't you taking them away? Leaving them here is just causing Mother Consort distress," Zhao Bi said coldly.

Consort De was dragged away like a dead dog, but she was unwilling, extremely unwilling, and she didn't know where the courage came from. She suddenly struggled, "Zhao Bi, you will die a horrible death, you are disloyal and unjust..."

"Bang!" Another shot.

Immediately after the gunshot, Zhao Xiu screamed in pain, clutching his knees and rolling on the ground in agony.

All eyes were on Zhao Xiu, whose knees were soaked in blood.

Consort De saw it and cried out in horror, "Xiu'er!"

"Take him away!" Zhao Bi ordered again.

This time, the Imperial Guards did not hesitate. They dragged Consort De and Zhao Xiu away, disappearing from the Taihe Palace amidst Zhao Xiu's cries of pain and Consort De's angry curses.

Shooting Zhao Xiu in the leg was undoubtedly a way to make an example of him and establish authority. Zhao Bi glanced at Zhao Shu and the others, and seeing that they were all behaving themselves, he felt relieved.

Having crippled Zhao Xiu, Zhao Bi grew bolder. Before Emperor Yide could speak, he said to Emperor Mingde, "Father, please write it down. None of my brothers can succeed you; only I have the ability to do so."

Emperor Mingde didn't look at him, but simply said indifferently, "You crippled your imperial brother's leg."

"Father, my elder brother's legs are crippled. Da Yong cannot have a disabled emperor. You have no other choice. If you are truly dissatisfied with me, I will depose my other brothers as well. At that time, even if you do not issue an edict to make me the crown prince, I will still be able to inherit the throne." He said such heart-wrenching words without changing his expression. His calm demeanor was chilling.

Emperor Mingde was furious and began coughing violently again. Liang Yunsi tried to help him catch his breath, but Zhao Bi forced him back with his matchlock gun. He could only watch helplessly as Emperor Mingde coughed like a small boat adrift in a giant wave, about to be capsized at any moment.

After coughing for a while, Liang Yunsi couldn't bear to watch any longer and wanted to come and help. Several Imperial Guards immediately pointed their guns at him, and he didn't dare to move an inch.

After finally finishing coughing, Emperor Mingde's mouth was full of blood. He wiped the blood away with his sleeve, looked at Zhao Bi, and his cloudy eyes were full of pain. "Just now, Ajun asked if you killed the Tenth Prince? And what about Consort Ning? Did you also arrange this? Speak!"

Zhao Bi could tell that Emperor Mingde had completely given up on him; the affection he once had in his eyes was gone, replaced by murderous intent.

His father wanted to kill him!

He used to think he was special in his father's eyes, and he was very proud of it. But now his father, who loved him, wants to kill him!

The slight reluctance in his heart immediately vanished. "I killed the tenth prince, so what? Nobody wants to associate with him. I've treated him well since he was a child. What does it matter if he dies for me once?"

"Hahaha, what does it matter if he dies once? Do you know that the dead cannot be brought back to life? He can only die once in his life!" Emperor Mingde was heartbroken, devastated, and his liver and intestines were torn apart. He had actually raised such a son and doted on such a venomous beauty.

Heavens, retribution has finally come! It's retribution!

He started coughing again when he got excited.

However, Yi De had no patience to wait. She snatched the imperial edict and handed it to Xie Yun, saying, "Lord Xie, write it down!"

As soon as he finished speaking, five or six matchlock guns were pointed at Xie Yun's head at the same time. Xie Yun's expression changed drastically, but he dared not speak out. He silently accepted the imperial edict, picked up a brush, and began to write the edict establishing the heir apparent.

Zhao Bi did not quite agree with Yi De's actions, but since it had already been done, he could not turn back time.

Xie Yun was very quick and finished writing it in no time. Yi De took the completed imperial edict and said to Emperor Ming De, "Your Majesty, use the imperial seal."

Emperor Mingde turned his head away, refusing to look at Yide, and said in a very soft but resolute voice, "I will never let the empire fall into your hands!"

Yi De smiled smugly, but Zhao Bi was a little anxious. He began to search everywhere he could in the Taihe Hall, but he could not find the imperial seal no matter what he did.

Now he panicked. Without the imperial seal, the imperial edict was useless.

"Hand over the Imperial Seal! If you don't, I'll kill everyone here!" Yi De suddenly shouted. She knew that the Imperial Seal was hidden in the hands of one of the people in the palace. Emperor Mingde was suspicious by nature and would never entrust it to someone he couldn't trust.

Most of the people he trusted were in the palace, except for Wei Tingsi, but Wei Tingsi was not in the capital.

Indeed, the imperial seal was in Qin Ji's hands.

Yi De scanned them one by one, and finally his gaze stopped on Qin Ji.

Emperor Mingde could not hand over the imperial seal to Xie Yun because the Xie family was too powerful and Emperor Mingde was not at ease with them.

This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!