Chapter 243 Accountability

Before entering the hall, all the officials' faces became tense.

Even though the eldest prince had forced the emperor to abdicate, many people present secretly suspected Prince Cheng. They were also afraid that once they entered the hall, the fifth prince would come and catch them all in one fell swoop.

Looking at the burly and murderous imperial guards, the civil officials were frightened and thought to themselves that if this guess came true, they might as well surrender to the fifth prince directly, at least they could save their lives.

However, the atmosphere in the hall was not as tense as they had imagined. After entering, the first person everyone saw was the Queen Mother sitting upright, holding the Ninth Prince in her arms.

The Queen glanced over and nodded, saying, "I'm glad you've arrived. His Majesty is unconscious, and we need you all to help manage the situation."

"The Ninth Prince is still alive?" an adult shouted in surprise.

It's no wonder he was surprised. After all, in their opinion, it would be normal for the Fifth Prince to have dealt with all his brothers.

Prince Cheng snorted coldly and said calmly, "What do you mean, Lord Li? Do you think I will harm my ninth brother?"

"I dare not." Lord Li quickly admitted his mistake.

The Queen chuckled softly and handed the Ninth Prince to Concubine Yu. "Concubine Yu, why don't you take the Ninth Prince back to rest first? It's a mess here, don't scare the child."

Concubine Yu nodded and said, "Yes, Your Majesty."

The Jade Concubine, who was rumored to be extremely favored and even directly caused the dethronement of the Crown Prince, seemed very docile in front of the Queen.

After Concubine Yu and the Ninth Prince left, the Queen stood up and said, "My Lords, please follow me in to see His Majesty."

After saying this, the Empress was the first to walk into the inner hall, followed by Prince Cheng. The civil and military officials behind her looked at each other and followed one by one. Even Minister Xu followed with a complicated expression.

The inner hall was crowded with imperial physicians. The one kneeling at the head of the bed had a solemn expression on his face and kept shaking his head.

Minister Xu couldn't help but ask, "What happened to His Majesty? When will he wake up?"

The imperial physician explained with a serious expression, "Your Majesty is suffering from a stroke due to his impatience. He also has external injuries. We dare not act rashly."

The faces of the adults at the back all changed drastically. Stroke is no small matter. Many elderly people have died from stroke. If the emperor dies now, how will this mess be cleaned up?

Many people looked at Prince Cheng, waiting for him to speak.

Prince Cheng glanced at the crowd, all of whom were thinking in different ways. "Doctor Wang, please save my father's life. Nothing must happen to him."

The Queen also spoke up, "The most urgent thing is to ask the imperial physician to wake His Majesty first."

Doctor Wang hesitated for a moment, then explained, "The golden needle method might be worth a try, but I cannot guarantee your Majesty's recovery after waking up."

The Empress said, "Life and death are determined by fate, success and failure are determined by heaven. Please ask Doctor Wang to take action."

After she finished speaking, she looked at everyone present and said, "Please all of you watch this together, so that no one will say that I didn't do my best in the future."

"I dare not." All the gentlemen said.

But no one knew what she was thinking. What surprised them most was that the Queen and Prince Cheng seemed very compatible. Could it be that the two had been colluding with each other for a long time?

After about a quarter of an hour of acupuncture treatment by Imperial Doctor Wang, the emperor finally woke up.

The queen sat down in front of the bed and held the emperor's hand: "Your Majesty, you are finally awake."

The emperor's dim eyes swept over the people present and asked with difficulty, "Where is the Ninth Prince?"

The Queen hurriedly said, "The Ninth Prince is tired. I asked Concubine Yu to take him to the next room to rest. The child is still young and can't stand it for too long."

The emperor knew that the ninth prince was safe, so he nodded and closed his eyes.

Minister Xu could no longer bear it and fell to his knees, shouting, "Your Majesty, the Fourth Prince died tragically in the palace, and he died with his eyes open. Your Majesty, you must make a decision for him!"

Before he could finish his words, the emperor suddenly opened his eyes and shouted, "Come here, drag this fellow away who is spreading rumors and misleading the people and behaving inappropriately in front of the emperor!"

Minister Xu's cry was still in his throat as he looked at the emperor in disbelief.

But the next moment, the guards came in and dragged him out, stuffing his mouth to prevent him from making any sound.

All the civil and military officials immediately knelt on the ground, shouting to His Majesty to calm down.

The emperor's anger had not yet subsided. He glanced sharply at the people present and said, "I am not dead yet. There is no need for you to come and mourn me!"

The Queen patted his chest and said, "Your Majesty, please calm down. You are the one who is in charge of the situation. If anything happens to you, what will I do?"

The emperor finally calmed down when he thought of the ninth prince next door.

His eyes fell on Prince Cheng, and there was a storm brewing in his eyes.

"Except the Queen and Old Five, everyone else get out!"

"Your Majesty!" The ministers hesitated.

"Go!" the emperor shouted again, frightening Doctor Wang so much that he knelt and cried, "Your Majesty, please do not get angry, or your condition will worsen."

"You get out too!" the emperor said coldly.

When only the Queen and Prince Cheng were left in the hall, the Emperor cast his cold eyes upon them.

“Kneel down!”

There was another loud shout, but the two people in front of him did not move at all.

The Queen sneered and asked, "Your Majesty, why do you have to show off in front of me for what the eldest prince did?"

The emperor became even more furious and angrily asked, "Is it you..."

The Queen asked, "Your Majesty, what do you mean by this? I lived in fear in Kunning Palace, and now I am guilty?"

The emperor stared at her coldly, then looked at Prince Cheng: "Old Fifth, you speak!"

Prince Cheng's face was expressionless. He glanced at the emperor and said, "Since your Majesty has already condemned me, what does it matter what I say?"

The emperor said angrily, "I want to hear the truth from you."

Prince Cheng suddenly half-knelt, facing the Emperor's gaze without yielding, and asked word by word, "Your Majesty, what does your Majesty want to hear? How did your son and the Empress team up to frame the Crown Prince, or how did you leave the Imperial Guards free so that my brother could abdicate?"

"It's you!" the emperor said angrily, "What do you want to do?"

Prince Cheng laughed and asked, "Your Majesty, I should be the one asking you this. Your Majesty, since the Crown Prince has been deposed, why did you release him? If you were not satisfied with Fourth Brother, why did you support the Xu family in the first place?"

"Isn't this situation caused by you, the Emperor?"

"You are resenting me. When the Li family rebelled, I had no choice but to banish your mother to the cold palace." said the emperor.

Prince Cheng shook his head and said, "Father, I am a descendant of the Qin family. How could I resent you for the Li family's affairs?"

"Then why is that? I have treated you well over the years, and now I have entrusted you with an important task. What on earth are you not satisfied with?" the emperor shouted.

Prince Cheng sneered, "You treat me well? Father, ask yourself, don't you feel guilty for saying these four words?"

The Queen beside him laughed and said, "Prince Cheng, you are embarrassing His Majesty with this. His Majesty has always been like this. There is nothing he feels guilty about."

"It was the same with Consort De back then, and it was the same with the sisters in the harem. It is still the same with me and the princes."

"As long as he's comfortable, he doesn't care about others."

"You..." The emperor's eyes were bloodshot. "It was you, you bitch, who bewitched Old Five and made him do such a ridiculous thing."

The Queen laughed heartily and said bluntly, "Your Majesty is right this time. It was indeed me who persuaded Prince Cheng to cooperate with me, and we have come to this day."

"What are you doing this for?" The emperor suddenly thought of someone. "Why would the Yun family agree to this?"

The queen looked at the emperor in disbelief. Until now, he still didn't understand what she was doing.

The Queen walked to the bedside, grabbed the Emperor's hand and pressed it against her abdomen. Her voice was icy cold: "Your Majesty, do you remember our child? He was already full-term when he died. It took me a whole day and night to give birth to him. Before I even heard him cry, he was gone."

The emperor's hand twitched: "It's been so many years, why can't you let it go?"

The Queen sneered, "Your Majesty has so many children, the death of one or two is certainly nothing, but as for me, I only have this one child in my life. It is because of my incompetence that I failed to protect him, and he was born to suffer."

"I……"

"Later, I realized that it would be better for the child to die early. That way, he wouldn't have to look after his cold-blooded father, the Emperor. Instead, he would have a clean life."

"You..." the emperor said, "I knew it. You've always been jealous of Empress Yuan, and therefore dislike the Crown Prince. But the Fourth Prince has never offended you. He has always been respectful to you!"

The Queen sneered, "Your Majesty is wrong. I am his legitimate mother, and he should be respectful to me. Should I be grateful? Besides, it was not I who ruined the Fourth Prince's life, but you, the Crown Prince, and the Empress."

"Your Majesty, do you know where the Crown Prince's troops came from? Those people were left behind by my good sister, your good queen. They are truly loyal and even helped the Crown Prince eliminate many princes during her time."

"Your Majesty only protected the Fourth Prince and was indifferent to the other princes who died young. Who can be blamed for the situation today? If anyone is to blame, it's only because they were not born into a good family."

The emperor was breathing rapidly. The queen's few words tore open his bloody wounds, forcing him to face up to the absurd things he had done over the years. His selfishness, his sheltering, and his indulgence had resulted in the evil consequences today.

The emperor's eyes flickered between them, and he finally said, "Where's Ah Le? Where's Yun Qian? Do they know about this?"

The queen smiled without saying anything, and the emperor understood everything at once.

No wonder it was so easy for the eldest prince to abdicate. No wonder... no wonder... it turns out that several people he trusted had already rebelled.

He closed his eyes and spoke after a long moment, "I cannot stop you from doing anything you want to do now, but please don't embarrass the Ninth Prince and Concubine Yu. They are innocent."

The Queen looked at the Emperor with a strange expression in her eyes and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, the Jade Concubine and I are like sisters. We will naturally raise the Ninth Prince together until he grows up. Your Majesty need not worry."

"Okay, you are all good. I was wrong. I have always been wrong!" The emperor finally collapsed on the bed dejectedly, unable to utter a word. Even if he could speak, it would be of no use.

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