Chapter 131 Awakening from a Dream: It was Emperor Qing himself who sought to condemn the Chen family…

Emperor Qing slowly rose to his feet, and Xu Fangtong stepped forward to help him, but was pushed away. He only looked at Li Yang as he walked down the steps one by one.

Emperor Qing accidentally stepped on the wrong step and fell to the ground, his court hat falling off and the pearl on top shattering and rolling to the side.

Upon seeing this, Xu Fangtong called out "Your Majesty, Your Majesty" as he ran to Emperor Qing's side and helped him up.

Emperor Qing, supporting himself on Xu Fangtong's arms, shakily rose to his feet. As his court hat fell off, a few strands of gray hair fell behind his head. He didn't bother to tidy them up and continued walking step by step toward Liyang.

Seeing this, Zhuang Rong took two steps forward and stood to the side and in front of Li Yang, kneeling between Emperor Qing and Li Yang, "Your Majesty, I humbly request that Your Majesty re-examine this case."

Emperor Qing looked at Zhuang Rong and asked, "If I don't agree, are you going to force me to abdicate?"

Zhuang Ziyang: "Your Majesty, I have followed the late Emperor since childhood and assisted Your Majesty. I only hope that the world will be stable forever. What I would not do in the past, my son will not do now."

Emperor Qing: "You wouldn't do that, but what about her!" Emperor Qing pointed at Li Yang, "If it weren't for her instigation, this scene wouldn't exist today. What a tea lady you are, what a savior of suffering Guanyin! What exactly are you trying to do!"

Li Yang raised her eyes to meet Emperor Qing's gaze. "Your Majesty, all I have ever wanted is a judgment of right and wrong. In the eighth year of the Daqing era, Chen Junbai was appointed as the chief merchant of Lianghuai. He followed his maternal grandfather, Zhang Maolin, to receive Your Majesty on your southern tour and made friends with the emperor as a commoner."

In the same year, the imperial court faced shortages of grain and funds in its efforts to govern Xinjiang. The Chen family donated one million taels of silver and borrowed another one million taels from the court, with an interest rate of 11%, to be repaid in five years.

In the tenth year of the Daqing era, Yaqub Beg invaded Xinjiang, and the Chen family, along with salt merchants from Jiangnan, donated 1.8 million taels of silver.

In all these respects, whether as a friend of the Emperor from humble beginnings or as one of His Majesty's subjects, the Chen family has never failed you.

Now, all I'm doing is presenting evidence of the various malfeasance and embezzlement committed by the two presiding judges in the salt certificate case. My only request is to reveal the truth of this case—a perfectly reasonable request. Why won't you grant it?

No one had taught her these words. She had simply written them down herself while looking through the accounts kept by Bi Fang, and at the time she just felt that the Chen family had made a lot of donations to the imperial court over the years.

Now, facing Emperor Qing's coercion, she couldn't help but speak her mind.

Seeing Emperor Qing's expression change drastically, Li Yang felt his resentment turn into unwillingness, mixed with great disappointment and dissatisfaction with the monarch.

The emperor was not deceived.

The emperor was aware of the situation.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have questioned himself, his uncle, and his maternal grandfather in this way after he had presented evidence against Zhang Youdao and Zhong Zhengyuan.

All of this is because Emperor Qing doesn't want to overturn the verdict.

He didn't want to overturn the case; he wanted to convict Chen Junbo and seize the Chen family's property, and even the Zhang family's.

He did this because he wanted the wealth of the Chen and Zhang families!

Li Yang was as if waking from a dream; it was Emperor Qing himself who wanted to convict the Chen family!

Having figured this out, Li Yang looked at the emperor in shock, his eyes filled with disappointment, surprise, and anger.

Emperor Qing looked at the little girl in front of him, his vision blurred, and he suddenly felt as if a fire had ignited in her eyes.

Then, Emperor Qing looked at the court officials beside him.

Everyone stared intently at him.

He glanced at his two sons. Li Zhen's face was calm, his eyes like still water, reflecting back at him. Li Zhao, on the other hand, looked at the assembled officials with the same bewilderment, seemingly never expecting such a scene to unfold.

Looking at the court officials scattered on the ground, Emperor Qing knew that the events of the day were already out of his control.

His prime minister, his son, along with other court officials, coerced him into reopening the salt permit case. And the instigator looked at him with such disrespect that it was as if he were being pierced through.

"Heh, traitors, a bunch of traitors." Emperor Qing suddenly turned to Li Zhen, "Second Prince, are you going to force me like them? Don't think I won't move you. Even if you're not the Crown Prince, someone else will be!"

Li Zhen's eyes flashed. "Father, I did not force you. You may remove me from the position of Crown Prince, dismiss all the officials, and order the arrest and killing of the people outside."

But when you slaughter the people of the world, are you still the emperor who is high above all others?

"From a young age, I have been instructed by my mother, who taught me to be a prince who can distinguish right from wrong, because my father is such a ruler, and I wish to emulate him."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Qing chuckled softly, muttering "distinguish right from wrong," "traitors and rebels," "distinguish right from wrong," before slowly walking out of the main hall.

Xu Fangtong: "Your Majesty, please depart."

Emperor Qing stepped out of the main hall, muttering "distinguish right from wrong" repeatedly, interspersed with a few weak, bitter laughs.

Xu Fangtong held the imperial crown and followed the emperor step by step.

The two walked into the imperial study. Emperor Qing looked at the 'account books' presented by Zhang Youdao and others on the desk, and angrily overturned the desk. Still feeling indignant, he kicked over the candlesticks, vases and other items on both sides.

Staggering, he fell to the ground and pounded the ground with his hands.

"My good prime minister, my good son, my good minister, ha ha, they actually joined forces to coerce me."

Xu Fangtong stood by his side, saying, "Your Majesty, please take care of your health."

Consort Gao slowly entered the room, and Xu Fangtong bowed upon seeing her before leaving the study.

"Your Majesty," Consort Gao stepped forward and knelt behind Emperor Qing, calling to him.

Emperor Qing turned around and raised his head: "You dare to come here again? Heh, what a fine son you raised! He's committed treason! I'm going to depose him, depose him!"

Consort Gao: "Your Majesty, I heard that Zhen'er requested an imperial decree to re-examine the salt permit case today. Why did Your Majesty bring up treason?"

Emperor Qing: "Hmph, don't think he was completely unaware of what you did today. He actually performed magic right under my nose. He has ulterior motives. I was truly blind."

Consort Gao: "Even if my son and I had ulterior motives, Your Majesty, you must know that the salt certificate case has come to this point not only because of our intentions, but also because of an even more important reason."

Emperor Qing narrowed his eyes, sat up straight, and examined the woman who had been with him for decades, seemingly unfamiliar with her. "What's the reason?"

Consort Gao: "The truth."

Right and wrong, black and white, that's how it is. Your Majesty, as the ruler of the world, if you say the salt certificate case is like this, then it is like this. Even as the Son of Heaven, there are always things beyond your control. You cannot control the facts, you cannot control the people's hearts, and you cannot control the judgment of future generations.

Your Majesty, since the salt monopoly case began, have you seen Chen Junbo even once? Is it that you don't want to see him, or that you dare not see him?

"Shut up!" Emperor Qing snapped. "He's just a commoner. Why should I see him?"

Consort Gao: "I believe that even for a commoner like Chen Junbai, there must be one or two people who dare to speak out for him. Isn't that tea lady proof of that?"

Emperor Qing shouted, "Shut up! That tea lady first won over the people's hearts, then used the petition drum to coerce me. She had already conspired with you, your son, and the court officials..."

"Your Majesty!" Consort Gao's eyes filled with tears. "Your Majesty, you suspected the Chen family of stealing your money, so you made an account and ordered Lord Li to arrest them. These people then compiled an account book according to the figures you requested, but was that of any use?"

The tea lady merely copied down the accounts from the memories of the salt merchants of Jiangnan. All she wanted was a clear distinction between right and wrong, yet you suspected her of conspiring with court officials.

She's just a tea lady; who could she possibly conspire with?

Your suspicions have destroyed the bond between father and son, between ruler and subject, and even your relationship with the people of the world.

"Shut up! I don't want to hear what you have to say!" Emperor Qing shouted as he scrambled to his feet. "Xu Fangtong! Xu Fangtong!"

"Here—" Xu Fangtong hurriedly entered the Imperial Study.

Emperor Qing: "What is the situation in the hall?"

Xu Fangtong: "Your Majesty, Lady Tea is still kneeling in the hall awaiting your decree."

Emperor Qing: "Where are the court officials?"

Xu Fangtong: "Your Majesty, no one has left."

Emperor Qing felt dizzy and disoriented. After being emperor for decades, this was the first time he had ever felt so powerless.

Xu Fangtong: "Your Majesty?"

Emperor Qing: "Chen Junbo, go and bring Chen Junbo and that woman here together."

Xu Fangtong received the order and left.

Upon hearing this news, everyone in the hall breathed a sigh of relief. Zhuang Ziyang and Zhuang Rong walked towards Liyang, only to see the Fourth Prince, Li Zhao, rushing ahead of them.

He rushed to Li Yang and hissed, "You madwoman, do you know what you're doing? Have you forgotten how horribly your father died? His eyes were chopped off, and his tendons in his hands and feet were severed. Don't you want to know why he was caught?"

Those few words made Li Yang's eyes widen in fury. "It's you! It's you!"

She staggered, nearly fainting. The joy she had felt upon hearing the imperial decree vanished, replaced by emotions stirred up by Li Zhao's words that overwhelmed her reason like a tidal wave.

She gripped Li Zhao's collar tightly with both hands.

Seeing this, Li Zhao merely glanced at him and chuckled sinisterly, "What can you do?! Do you want to know why he was arrested? Hehehehe..."

"Why?!" Li Yang didn't know what she was feeling when she asked that question. She hadn't even seen her father's body before he was buried. Her mother was on the verge of collapse at the time, like a walking corpse, a memory that remained vivid in her mind.

Li Zhao: "I'm really curious, what will you do?"

Li Yang: "You're talking nonsense!"

Li Zhao: "Whether I'm lying or not, you can check it out, hahaha. So what are you going to do next?"

Li Yang: "You murderer! You're a murderer, I'm going to report you! I'm going to report you!"

Li Zhao: "What proof do you have? Li Yang, Tea Lady, the merciful Guanyin, hahahahahahaha."

Li Yang: "The murderer, the killer!"

His laughter, arrogant and swaggering, echoed throughout the Golden Palace.

Hearing the arrogant laughter, the others all looked towards the two of them.

A thought flashed through Li Yang's mind: something was wrong; he was provoking him.

At this moment, he is provoking himself.

We mustn't panic, we mustn't panic, panic will lead to mistakes.

We must remain calm; only by remaining calm can we save Chen Junbo. We must remain calm.

Seeing that the two had fallen silent, the eunuch stepped forward and urged, "Tea Lady, His Highness is waiting for you."