Chapter 281 Military Power Returns to the Emperor

Xiao Jingheng slowly unfolded the imperial edict.

He had read the contents countless times over the years and had memorized them by heart.

But this time, after Xiao Jingheng read the imperial edict word for word, he casually threw it into the incense burner and burned it.

The increasingly fierce firelight highlighted the twisted smile on his face.

And the misty look in the eyes.

"Father, I remember that after my mother passed away, Concubine Yu took all your favor. She always belittled me in public and said that I was a wild child without a mother. At that time, when I went to the Shangshufang, I was always ridiculed by Jinglian for three or five days, and he pressed me to the ground and beat me in front of my brothers."

Xiao Jingheng muttered to himself as he looked at the ashes in the incense burner that were being heated by the heat. His hands, which naturally fell to his sides, gradually clenched into fists.

"I dare not fight back, because he is loved by Concubine Yu and doted on by my father. But I have nothing. At that time, my father told me that my elder and second brothers died young, and I am your eldest son. I need to show the bearing of an eldest son, be friendly to my brothers, and don't bother with Jinglian. He also said that you would scold Jinglian. But you took Jinglian to the autumn hunt and even forgot about the seventh day of the last day of my mother's death."

"Father, I have known since I was a child that you love Jinglian, and even Jingyan, you have high hopes for him. Even though I have done my best in everything, you are still unwilling to look at me because of the discord between you and the Queen Mother."

He took a deep breath, holding back the moisture in his eyes, sighed again, smiled bitterly and shook his head:

"Although I am not your favorite candidate for the throne, now that I am on the throne, I must fulfill my father's wish. I will always remember what my father taught me, and I will be kind to Jingyan and lenient to Jinglian."

The edict was burned to ashes, and the ashes flew everywhere.

They pounced on Xiao Jingheng, blinding his eyes and bringing out his tears.

Xiao Jingheng rubbed his red and sore eyes, looked at the flickering ashes in the incense burner, picked up the teacup, and poured tea into the incense burner as a sacrifice to the sky, allowing it to burn out completely.

"But now, Jing Lian has done such a wrong thing, which is really a shame to our ancestors and also brings shame to the entire royal family. I have no choice but to deal with it impartially, to return justice to the Ning family, and to give justice to the subjects of the world. I hope that father can understand my son's difficulties in his nine springs."

After saying this, Xiao Jingheng leaned back. Although he was smiling, tears could not stop flowing out.

He closed his eyes, and the fragments of his overall plan kept replaying in his mind:

Xiao Jingheng recalled how he had used his love for Song Zhao and feared that she would be allergic to peach pollen to force the queen to deal with the peach tree planted by the late emperor for Concubine Yu at the Locust Gate.

He had calculated that the Empress and Consort Chen had been at odds for a long time, and with such a mess, the Empress would definitely use tricks to force Consort Chen to rush to do it;

After Concubine Chen cut down the peach tree, Concubine Yu was already in poor health, so Xiao Jingheng simply sent Concubine Yu on her way and ordered someone to secretly poison Concubine Yu to death, pretending that she died of anger, so that Prince Rui would hate the Ning family for this incident;

Afterwards, Xiao Jingheng did not punish the Ning family, but instead rewarded them shortly afterwards, further provoking the resentment and anger in the heart of King Rui.

Xiao Jingheng knew best that Prince Rui was impulsive and vindictive, so his next move was to make Prince Rui keep biting the Ning family;

After the Ning family returned the military power, Xiao Jingheng agreed to the request of the Ning family father and son to retire. Because he knew that King Rui would definitely not let the Ning family go easily, and would definitely investigate the mistakes of the Ning family father and son privately;

Later, the evidence that King Rui had found was presented to Xiao Jingheng. He could tell at a glance that the evidence was half true and half false. However, he chose to turn a blind eye and let King Rui call a black cat a white cat. He also brought the matter to the court, causing the whole court to put pressure on him and "force" him to deal with the Ning family.

In the end, the Ning family father and son died, and Xiao Jingheng used the reversal of the case to pull out all the evidence against the Ning family, all of which were false accusations by King Rui. Framing loyal officials, colluding with enemy countries, and threatening important officials, these crimes were enough to anger the people and uproot King Rui's foundation.

By then, the whole world will despise King Rui as a mean person.

Even if Xiao Jingheng accidentally killed a loyal minister, he was deceived and his actions were excusable.

What's more, he gave the first golden medal of immunity from death since the founding of the Qi Dynasty to the imperial concubine, asking her to go and rescue people personally.

How could she blame him since the imperial concubine herself failed to save her own father and brother?

In this round, Xiao Jingheng won a great victory.

Compared to when he framed King Rui and lost his position as Crown Prince,

Winning must be clean and neat.

He could openly take back the external military power from the Ning family and the personal guard power from Prince Rui.

This world, from beginning to end, can only belong to him, Xiao Jingheng.

Anyone who threatens his kingdom will be killed, regardless of whether they have the intention of rebellion or not.

【The mother mentioned in Xiao Jingheng's autobiography is not the empress dowager, but Xiao Jingheng's biological mother. Xiao Jingheng's mother is the late emperor's Concubine Yue. Xiao Jingheng is a concubine. His mother is vicious and has murdered concubines and heirs in the harem, so she is hated and despised by the late emperor. After Xiao Jingheng ascended the throne, he posthumously named Concubine Yue as the late emperor's Empress Zhaoding. He also deliberately moved the late emperor's mausoleum and buried her with the late emperor. The purpose was to disgust the late emperor and make him rest in peace even after his death.】