Chapter 60 It must be because His Majesty dotes on the Second Princess too much.

By all accounts, His Majesty should dislike the Fourth Prince.

Could it be because of the second princess?

It was the Second Princess who brought this up. His Majesty wasn't acting in favor of the Fourth Prince, but rather because of the Second Princess, that he dealt with the matter severely.

After much deliberation, everyone felt they had finally understood.

Yes, yes!

Last night, in addition to issuing that imperial edict, His Majesty also bestowed a reward upon the Second Princess.

It must be because His Majesty dotes on the Second Princess too much that he suddenly shows concern for the Fourth Prince, whom he has never paid much attention to before!

Duke Jingguo, Qin Zhizhong, exchanged a glance with Qin Xiang. If it was the Second Princess, then things would be much easier. They could simply apologize to her and then try to win her over.

Qin Xiang was a shrewd man. Seeing that his father showed no abnormality, he understood that the second princess had nothing to do with the little bastard in the family, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Cheng, who "said the most wrong things" yesterday, immediately began to apologize as soon as he saw Xie Yunwen.

"Fourth Prince, I was wrong. I shouldn't have bullied you. All the blame is mine. Please don't let the Li family be implicated!"

Seeing this, Qin Xiang and Ye Zhongshu also hurriedly came out to express their opinions.

Xie Yunwen sat in her wheelchair, glanced down at them, and couldn't quite describe the feeling in her eyes.

Sheng Sheng knew that his feelings must be very complicated at this moment. After thinking for a moment, she said to Xie Yuxiao, "Father, why don't you go out with Fifth Brother first?"

The fourth prince is a sensitive person; he probably doesn't want too many people present.

Unexpectedly, Xie Yunwen spoke first, laughing lightly at Sheng Sheng: "No need, Second Princess, you should be here."

Having said that, Xie Yunwen pushed his wheelchair forward a step, past the people kneeling on the ground: "Father has already demoted them to commoners and they have received the punishment they deserve. Your son does not wish to implicate others in this matter. I have heard that Minister Li and Lord Ye have submitted their resignations. Your son believes that Minister Li and Lord Ye are both loyal ministers of our dynasty and should not be dismissed from their posts."

Lord Ye's expression changed, but he did not speak. He simply observed the situation and lowered his body slightly.

Minister Li flicked his sleeves, knelt down with righteous indignation: "Your Majesty, my Li family has served the court for generations with unwavering loyalty, yet now we have produced an unfilial descendant who has insulted a prince and offended a princess. And... and my youngest daughter, who, by Your Majesty's grace, entered the palace as a concubine, yet plotted against the imperial heir! I am ashamed! I request to retire to my hometown, but I only beg Your Majesty to spare Consort Jing's life!"

By the end, Minister Li was in tears.

Only then did Sheng Sheng realize that this Minister Li was Consort Jing's father.

Everyone present was preoccupied with their own thoughts, except for Xie Yunqi, who remained completely bewildered. Upon hearing what Minister Li said, they were all stunned: "What? Consort Jing intends to plot against the imperial heir? Which imperial heir? I don't know anything about him?"

Unauthorized personnel were not allowed to enter the Imperial Study, so Xiao Quanzi was unable to go in and could only wait at the entrance. Upon hearing his prince's words, he became extremely worried: "Oh dear prince, how can you be so careless with your words in the Imperial Study!"

Sighing and rubbing his forehead, Xie Yuxiao also looked helpless: "What do you know besides eating, drinking and having fun?"

Xie Yuxiao was too lazy to explain to him. He simply found the memorials from Minister Li and Lord Ye requesting to resign from their posts and slammed them onto the table with a moderate force: "Alright, the Li family has been loyal and virtuous for generations. I will not resign Minister Li's post. However, Lord Ye..."

Lord Ye trembled and immediately knelt down: "Your subject is here!"

"I heard that the Imperial Guards recently had a batch of provisions that have gone missing."

Lord Ye's eyes widened, and beads of sweat streamed down his forehead.

Xie Yuxiao's voice was flat, but Lord Ye was overcome with panic and immediately knelt down: "Your subject, Your subject..."

Xie Yuxiao smiled: "Don't be nervous, I'm just asking you. The Imperial Guard's provisions have always been handed over by the local transport offices before finally being delivered to the capital for garrison duty. Where did these Imperial Guard provisions go?"

"My lord, my lord..."

No one expected Xie Yuxiao to suddenly say these things.

The atmosphere suddenly became even more tense.

Lord Ye was speechless, and Xie Yuxiao, being good-natured, didn't force him to speak, instead turning his gaze to another person.

"Duke Jingguo, it seems your eldest son is an official in Nanlin County."

Whether it was just my imagination or not, Xie Yuxiao, who was usually unpredictable, seemed inexplicably fierce when he spoke to Qin Zhizhong, and the smile on his face seemed to turn into a sneer.

Duke Jingguo's knees buckled, and he knelt down next to Lord Ye.

"Yes, yes, yes, my eldest son passed the imperial examination last year and was fortunate enough to receive Your Majesty's favor. He is now serving as the magistrate of Nanlin County."

The Duke of Jingguo was completely focused, waiting for him to continue.

Xie Yuxiao seemed to be speaking casually, and then changed the subject: "The fact that the three of you have been demoted to commoners will not change. There is no need to keep the Ye family any longer. The old Duke of Jingguo was indeed a hero who served the country loyally, and I respect him very much. I will not take back the plaque of the Duke of Jingguo's mansion, but the Duke of Jingguo's title will be reduced to a second-class marquis."

One word caused a great stir. Minister Li was puzzled and did not understand why His Majesty did not punish the entire Li family.

The Duke of Jingguo and Lord Ye were both shocked and frightened. One was demoted, and the other... was this going to wipe out the Ye family?

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"

"The whole family was exiled."

The two members of the Ye family were still in a daze. The fate of the Ye family was decided in these few words. Xie Yuxiao didn't want to listen to them and waved for his men to take them away.

Eunuch Hou immediately understood and summoned several imperial guards to drag Lord Ye and Ye Zhongshu out, covering their mouths to stop them from shouting.

Li Cheng and Qin Xiang looked at each other, unable to believe that their usual buddy was about to be exiled in the blink of an eye.

Li Cheng pleaded even more fervently, crawling to Xie Yunwen's side: "Xie Yunwen... no, no, no, Fourth Prince, Fourth Prince, I know I was wrong. I was ignorant before and made a mistake. Please forgive me, Your Excellency!"

Only now did Qin Xiang truly understand the cruelty of an emperor's wrath in deciding life and death. Regardless of whether he truly submitted to Xie Yunwen, he still had to seek his forgiveness.

"Your Highness! I know I was wrong. We have been demoted to commoners. I will never appear before you again, or serve you like a slave!"

The two spoke in hushed tones, completely abandoning their usual arrogant and dissolute manner.

Minister Li turned his back, feeling ashamed.

Qin Zhizhong had just been demoted and had no time to plead for his second son; he only hoped that it would not affect his eldest son's career.

Xie Yunwen watched as the two men, each holding onto one of his trouser legs, crawled toward him on their knees, a sight that always reminded him of his past self.

I was once humble and afraid to offend others, and I stubbornly endured and refused to give in.

"You've caused harm to others, and now that you're being punished, do you expect them to forgive you?"

Xie Yunwen was startled, waking up from her somewhat dark memories.