78 Decisive Battle

Being a father-in-law is difficult.

Madam Guo glared at the Empress with venomous eyes. "If you want to find fault, you can always find a reason. Empress, you are truly wicked. You actually want to frame my brother with a fabricated crime!"

It seems a little too late to realize this now. The Empress said, "Your Majesty, today was supposed to be a joyous day to celebrate my brother and Prince Yi's triumphant return. But since Consort Guo is involved, I shouldn't make a fuss. Who knew that this audacious servant would attempt to harm Your Majesty like this? How can I let this go unpunished?"

"I didn't! Zhong Ao was just familiar with pharmacology and was helping me to improve my health. How could she possibly plot against His Majesty?" Madam Guo continued to argue, but her momentum was clearly waning.

She understood that the Empress's goal today wasn't to deal with her; her target from the beginning was the Guo family behind her! Zhang Ling, what a vicious woman!

The Empress coldly watched as Lady Guo became anxious and flustered, thinking that gaining the Emperor's favor was something to be proud of. Well then, let me show you how fragile the Emperor's favor was, just like it was before.

“Your Majesty, Zhong Ao is an expert in pharmacology and poison-making. Your doting on Sister Guo is understandable, but if it harms the Emperor’s health, it is no small matter. It concerns the stability of the country and the dynasty! Today, Zhong Ao tested her skills and poisoned several princesses. If she succeeds, who can say for sure that she will use the same method to harm the Emperor’s health in the future?”

Chu Pei then realized that he was sweating profusely. The Empress's words were not just reasonable, they were absolutely reasonable!

The chair he sits on is too important. For this position, the world has been in chaos for so many years. It's not surprising that anyone would do anything for this position.

The Empress said that Zhong Ao might use her poison-making skills to harm him in the future. So what about before? Did the Guo family use the same method on him before in order to curry favor with the emperor? Chu Pei's eyes were as dark as ink.

Once doubts arise about something, it's like vines that have been nourished and begin to grow wildly, entwining people's hearts and spreading endlessly.

"Your Majesty, do you think you can convict me and my brother based on just a few words? Your Majesty, if my brother and I... if... may we be struck by lightning and die a horrible death!" Madam Guo raised her hands and swore a poisonous oath.

But how could the emperor, whose heart was filled with doubts, believe her lightly made oath? No matter how much he loved this woman, it was not as important as his own life and the power of the emperor.

The emperor's face was already very displeased. The empress glanced at the obviously flustered Consort Guo and her suspicious husband, and felt a sense of satisfaction. But this was not the end of it.

"Your Majesty, I also have something to report," Sima Hong stepped forward and said.

Chu Pei's eyes were cold. "Xiu Yuan, what do you want to say?"

"Guo Lang, son of Marquis Huicheng Guo Yun, entered the city defense camp through imperial favor and was promoted to Right Commander of the city defense camp in just two months. On the day the eldest princess went missing, I happened to rescue her. I felt that something was amiss, so I investigated carefully and found that in addition to Song Shi, the person who kidnapped the princess was also a member of the city defense camp, Shen Wei. Shen Wei's sister was Guo Lang's concubine. In addition, according to Song Shi's confession, Guo Lang was very lax in his guard. He spent 50 taels of gold to enter the capital and was able to move freely in the capital without any talisman. I found the fake talisman at Song Shi's hiding place."

"Outrageous! Guards, bring Marquis Huicheng and Guo Lang to me!" The Emperor was clearly enraged by these successive incidents.

The palace servants understood that today, they thought Lady Guo had the upper hand, but now, the Empress has been scheming step by step, and even Marquis Huicheng cannot escape her grasp. The Empress is still the Empress.

The Emperor is furious, and this is directed at the Guo family. The Guo family will not get away with this today! Soon, the guards arrested the Guo father and son.

As soon as the father and son entered, everyone in the hall smelled the strong stench of alcohol. Looking at Marquis Huicheng and Guo Lang, Marquis Huicheng was sweating profusely, cold sweat streaming down his forehead. He was already on his way out of the palace when he was suddenly stopped by the guards.

On the way, they encountered their son, who had been brought in from outside the palace. They already knew his whereabouts; something must have happened to their sister.

No matter how he asked, he couldn't get a word out of the guards, and could only follow his son into the palace with trepidation.

Guo Lang was in a drunken stupor the whole time, with obvious flushes on his face from the alcohol and a dazed look in his eyes.

"Lord Huicheng, do you recognize this person?" The Empress did not explain, but directly pointed to Zhong Ao and asked Guo Yun.

Madam Guo was anxious to remind her brother, but she dared not speak rashly because of the warning looks from the Emperor and Empress.

She could only shake her head slightly at Marquis Huicheng. The situation in the palace was kept completely secret, to the point that even Marquis Huicheng didn't know what had happened. He secretly watched his sister's expression and knew that the situation was not good for them.

He lowered his head and said, "This person is the one I sent to the palace to serve Lady Guo."

"So, you knew that Zhong Ao intended to murder His Majesty!" the Empress questioned sharply. Her words were like waves rising from a clear sky, startling Guo Yun into repeatedly denying, "No, no, no! No, absolutely not!" He had thought it was just the Empress deliberately picking on his sister, but now it had escalated to murdering the Emperor. Such a serious crime was enough for the Emperor to have his whole family executed. How could he admit it!

"So you're saying you knew absolutely nothing about Zhong Ao's skill with poisons? Choosing her to enter the palace was a complete accident?"

Guo Hou knew that everyone was watching him, and if he answered incorrectly, the Guo family would face annihilation. He was sweating profusely, and his back and chest were soaked with sweat.

While it would be reasonable to go along with the Empress's words, would the Empress be so kind as to exonerate the Guo family? Absolutely not.

Marquis Huicheng, true to his Guo family lineage, immediately made the same decision as Madam Guo: "Your Majesty, this Granny Zhong is a master of acting. I was deceived by her. My original intention was to allow my sister to better serve Your Majesty, but who knew that Granny Zhong would be so audacious? The Guo family has absolutely no intention of disloyalty. Please, Your Majesty, investigate thoroughly!"

"To better serve His Majesty?" the Empress asked, her words enigmatic. But then, as if struck by a thought, she glanced at the Emperor and angrily rebuked him: "How dare you, Marquis Guo! How dare you slander His Majesty like this!"

"Enough!" Chu Pei interrupted the Empress in a fit of rage. He looked at Guo Yun and said, "Guo Yun, you're really something. How dare you do such a thing. This time, I won't let you off the hook."

Chu Pei then looked at Guo Lang, who was now somewhat conscious and kneeling to the side, trembling with fear. It was one thing that the Zhong Ao whom Guo Yun had brought was problematic, but fortunately, she was discovered before causing a major disaster.

However, Guo Lang arbitrarily forged talismans, accepted bribes, and allowed assassins to roam freely in the capital, treating the important matter of the capital's defense as a joke!

This touched a nerve with him. Chu Pei couldn't help but wonder, if these things were discovered through investigation, what about those that weren't? The Guo family, relying on his favor, had done so many foolish things over the years, and he had always turned a blind eye. Now, however, they had become so audacious.

Guo Lang, as the Right Commander of the City Defense Battalion, was in charge of the city defense of the entire capital. In such a crucial position, he neglected his duties.

Chu Pei closed his eyes, exhaled, opened them, and roared, "Guo Lang, as the Right Commander of the City Defense Battalion, you should be on duty at the yamen today. Why didn't you go to the yamen, or did you treat it as your own home, indulging in pleasure and neglecting your duties? If the enemy invades one day, will you, as the Right Commander of the City Defense Battalion, simply open the gates and let the enemy drive straight in and kill Changyang Palace!"

Guo Lang was completely sober now; otherwise, he would probably have lost his life here today.

"Your Majesty, no, no, I, I, what happened today..." Although he had sobered up, the events of today were so sudden that he never expected the emperor to make trouble, and he couldn't even come up with a reason.

He lived a life of debauchery, and everyone flattered and fawned over him. He didn't bother with official duties; his subordinates would handle everything perfectly for him. After all, he had a favored elder sister who had given birth to a second prince who pleased the emperor.

He had been riding high in the capital for the past few months. His father had originally wanted him to join the Southern Camp, but somehow ended up putting him in the City Defense Camp instead.

He loved the city defense camp so much. Anyone who went to the military camp would find it tough and tiring, not to mention they couldn't go out and have fun as they pleased. How boring!

This city defense camp is filled with so many people flattering him every day, and so many people inviting him to drink. He can easily earn hundreds of taels of gold with just a little effort. This position was tailor-made for him.

But to his surprise, he was having a drink at a restaurant that night when he was suddenly arrested by palace staff without any explanation, and he even caused a scene.

"How dare you treat me like this? My sister is Lady Guo, and my father is Marquis Huicheng! Believe me or not, I'll kill you all right now!"

The stern-faced guard said, "I advise Guo Youling to come with us. Otherwise, if you delay His Majesty's affairs, not only the Guo family, but even your sister, Madam Guo, cannot bear the consequences."

The guards' attitude was very different from usual. Those who were drinking with him advised him to go into the palace to see what was going on, and only then did he go with the guards.

At this moment, Guo Lang couldn't help but look at his elder sister. Madam Guo was too busy to take care of herself, and even if she wanted to say something, she was afraid that she would make a mistake if she said too much. She secretly blamed her good-for-nothing brother who only dragged her down.

"Guards! Guo Lang has neglected his duties. Immediately strip him of his position as Right Commander of the City Defense Battalion and never employ him again!" The Emperor's eyes almost spit fire. He then said to Guo Yun, "The Marquis of Huicheng has failed in educating his son and misjudged people. He sent Zhong Ao with the intention of plotting against me. He is demoted to Earl and fined five thousand shi of grain."

Then he looked at Madam Guo: "Madam Guo was careless in choosing people, and almost caused a great disaster. She was demoted to a concubine and confined to her quarters for half a year. The Second Princess was blindly filial and aided and abetted the tyrant. She was also confined to her quarters for half a year!"

At this moment, outside the palace gate, the Second Prince, who had just arrived after hearing the news, heard that his mother had been punished. With a thud, he knelt on the ground. "Father, Father, please calm your anger. It is all my fault. I failed to discover in time that my mother and sister had been deceived, and almost harmed my eldest sister and ninth sister. Please punish me, Father. As for Marquis Huicheng and my cousin, I failed to restrain and supervise them. It is all my fault. Father, please don't upset yourself. Otherwise, even if I die ten thousand times, I will not be able to escape my responsibility."

Qi Gu watched coldly, and the acting skills of the Guo family mother and her two sons were truly identical.

She then looked at Sima Hong beside her. It seemed that today's events were a scheme devised by Sima Hong and the Empress Dowager long ago. Could it be that he had already conspired with the Empress Dowager...?

Qi Gu thought, this is good too. This way, we can deal with Prince Yi and Madam Guo in advance and avoid a coup and a palace coup. There will be no bloodshed and so many people will die.

Then she can take her father back to their fiefdom to farm as soon as possible.

The Emperor did not intend to implicate his second son. He said, "Cheng'er, get up. These matters have nothing to do with you. Today's events were all caused by Aunt Zhong. As for Huichengbo and Guo Lang, I have already shown them leniency. From now on, you should be careful with your words and actions and try to restrain and persuade them more."

"Yes, Your Majesty understands." The Second Prince looked at Madam Guo, his eyes filled with heartache and remorse: "Mother, Father has been so kind to us, we should share his burdens, how can we cause trouble for Father and Mother?" The Second Prince spoke sincerely.

The Empress watched as her husband and another man's child put on a show of fatherly affection. Even at this point, the Emperor still tried to distance himself from the Guo family's affairs and the Second Prince. Unfortunately, the Second Prince had the Guo family's blood in his veins, and they were destined to be inseparable. Besides, did the Second Prince really want to lose his maternal uncle's help?

At this moment, the eldest prince also rushed over. The emperor looked at his frail body, fearing that even a gust of wind could blow him over, and hurriedly told him not to bow. "Why is Yan'er here too? Why is he dressed so thinly? Someone, quickly bring a seat for your eldest prince."

The servants immediately brought up chairs, and the eldest prince said, "Thank you, Father. I only found out about today's events now because I saw that the banquet had ended but did not see Father, Mother, elder sister, uncle, or other uncles."

The eldest prince coughed a few times and said, “Father, Mother has devoted herself to managing the harem and has worked hard for half her life, all for me. My elder sister just returned to the palace and has been involved in one accident after another. She was either kidnapped or framed. I am not healthy enough to protect my elder sister. I know that I always annoy Father.”

At this point, the eldest prince's eyes welled up with tears. "It's all my fault. I always make Mother worry and Father troubled. Now I can't even protect my elder sister, let alone my younger brothers and sisters..."

His words were filled with bitterness. The emperor looked at the eldest prince, his first child. Although the child was not healthy and was a bit soft-hearted, he was his and his wife's first son when they were still in humble circumstances. He was overjoyed when the child was born.

He did feel guilty about what happened back then. Later, the Empress and Yan'er were prisoners in the Prince of Yan's camp for half a year. It is conceivable how dangerous it was back then. It was not easy to survive. Perhaps his health was damaged during that time.

Looking at his two children, the eldest and second princes, and thinking of their mother, he sighed deeply. Being a father-in-law is tough.

[Author's Note]

I've fixed the bugs and edited it, hahaha~~~