The abbot is a monk, and Lingyin Temple is renowned. Everyone who comes to worship Buddha and burn incense is sincere and eager to learn.

Because the royal family frequently visited Lingyin Temple to worship Buddha, many officials and wealthy merchants also frequented it.

No matter what their status or position is outside, these people will put away their airs when they come to the temple.

Therefore, the abbot hasn't encountered someone like Shang Changge in a long time.

Unwilling to talk to such a distorted and unreasonable person any longer, I put my hands together, silently recited Amitabha Buddha, and looked up at the emperor on the high throne.

"Your Majesty, if you have indeed done those things, please repent and reveal the truth to the world!"

After speaking, the abbot knelt down and kowtowed.

"We implore Your Majesty to reveal the truth to the world!"

The other monks followed suit and knelt down to kowtow, filling the hall with kneeling figures.

Shang Changze took the teacup that his personal eunuch respectfully handed him, bent down, lifted the lid, took a sip, and didn't intend to speak.

He already has a plan to deal with this matter and has instructed people to carry it out. All he needs now is to buy time. If these people want to kneel, let them kneel.

Yes,

There are already countermeasures in place and they are being implemented.

Shang Changze had someone tell Shang Changge about this, just so that his sister, who was so sharp-tongued she could kill someone, would come to the palace to sing with him. What kind of opera?

Any play is fine; feel free to improvise around this topic, as long as it can stall the abbot and the others.

He could have done it himself without troubling his elder sister, but his mother came over as soon as she heard that someone from Lingyin Temple had arrived.

The Empress Dowager was a devout Buddhist and frequently visited Lingyin Temple to worship. Although she did not agree with the abbot's insistence that he confess to the crimes of forcing the emperor to abdicate, plotting rebellion, and murdering his father, she did not agree with this.

However, Ai would occasionally try to smooth things over, which put him in a difficult position. Yet, he couldn't completely disregard his mother, so he had no choice but to ask his elder sister to enter the palace.

Shang Changze's decision was correct, because Shang Changge would never give his stepmother any face or care whether she lived or died.

For example, right now—

The Empress Dowager was already frowning because of Shang Changge's overly harsh words, and as soon as the abbot and the others knelt down, she immediately looked at Shang Changge and reprimanded him with displeasure:

"Song!"

As if waiting for the Empress Dowager to speak, Shang Changge turned to look at her almost immediately and replied, "What is it, Mother?"

His words were respectful and he smiled, but his smile was full of blatant threats and warnings.

The Empress Dowager felt a chill run down her spine, remembering her daughter's last words: "Father Emperor is still my father Empress."

She felt a chill whenever she saw her daughter, so she made an excuse not to see this unfilial daughter.

But she couldn't bring herself to yield to her child in front of so many people, so she could only grit her teeth and say:

"You must not be so rude to the abbot."

Just then, a guard with a sword came to Shang Changze's side. He didn't say anything, but looked at the emperor and Shang Changge in turn and nodded.

The siblings understood. Shang Changge looked down at the abbot and the others still kneeling on the ground, and continued the drama:

"The truth is that my fifth sister missed her father, mother, and two brothers so much that she fell ill and, in a moment of despair, took her own life."

By the time the monks from Lingyin Temple discovered the damage, it was too late. The abbot, fearing the Emperor's wrath and retribution, personally led the monks to the palace to plead guilty.

Shang Changze put down his teacup and agreed, "Sister is right."

Thus, the stance is quite clear.

The abbot and the others suddenly looked up, unable to believe that even an emperor could be such a person who distorts the truth, and then looked at the Empress Dowager.

Seeing that the Empress Dowager had no intention of correcting the two children, he felt utterly disappointed and, after muttering to himself, said with heartache:

"Since His Majesty insists on this, then don't blame this old monk for using his own methods to bring the truth to light."

Shang Changge: "Does the abbot mean that the monks in the temple who did not come with you should spread your so-called truth and so-called witnesses and evidence?"

Seeing the abbot's sudden change in expression, Shang Changge took the tea, drank a sip, and then slowly said:

"I'm afraid the abbot won't have that chance. What's spreading among the people now is the fact that His Majesty and I just concluded."

The abbot was horrified and belatedly realized the emperor's intention in keeping them in the hall, but it was too late.