When Prime Minister Yan and the Third Prince stood there, everyone immediately understood.
Taking advantage of the funeral for Lady Yan, Empress Yan used the pretext of filial piety to send Lady Yan off on her final journey, accompanied by the other princes and imperial physicians.
After all, Madam Yan was the tutor wife of several princes.
With the palace at a lull, the Third Prince and Prime Minister Yan's men took the opportunity to release the Southern Frontier Emperor.
The Emperor of Southern Xinjiang was still the emperor.
The seventh prince had no reason to usurp the throne.
The reason why the Seventh Prince was supported to ascend the throne was because very few people knew the truth, and everyone thought that the Southern Emperor was really critically ill.
The seventh prince's brows furrowed into a deep frown.
"Her Majesty the Empress has awakened!"
The door to the room opened, and Empress Yan, supported by a palace maid, slowly walked out. She had changed out of her white dress and into her usual clothes. She said to Prime Minister Yan, "Father, your daughter is unfilial and cannot continue to keep vigil for Mother. There are too many things to do in the inner palace, and I need to take care of them."
Prime Minister Yan quickly said, "Your Majesty is filial, and the Lady in the afterlife will surely protect you. Your Majesty's affairs are of utmost importance."
Empress Yan nodded, her gaze falling on the Seventh Prince.
The Seventh Prince's face was tense.
"Seventh Prince, don't worry about my health. I can still manage for now." With that, Empress Yan turned and left.
The seventh prince tried to step forward, but found that Empress Yan was already surrounded by palace maids.
He simply couldn't get forward.
"Seventh Prince, it's been a long time since we've seen Father Emperor. Aren't you going to go and see him?" the Third Prince said with a smile.
The seventh prince frowned.
"Seventh Brother, there are quite a few people who came to pay homage to Father Emperor today, including Vice General Zhou and Vice General Chen."
The Seventh Prince's gaze suddenly darkened. Deputy General Zhou and Deputy General Chen were his subordinates, far away in the border city. Why would they come to Jincheng?
They left Prime Minister Yan's residence.
But what came towards them was a long and impressive procession.
A group of soldiers, holding long whips, lashed out at the handcuffed prisoners, striking them mercilessly until their skin was torn and flesh was exposed to the bone.
"Your Highness!"
One of the prisoners spoke up.
The Seventh Prince immediately looked toward the source of the sound, his pupils suddenly contracting as he saw Xu Zhongcheng!
Unlike his usual appearance, Xu Zhongcheng now wore heavy shackles on his neck and wrists, and even his ankles were shackled.
"Shut up!"
The guard behind him lashed Xu Zhongcheng across the face with a whip.
The red markings were strikingly prominent.
Xu Zhongcheng grunted, his gaze fixed intently on the Seventh Prince: "Your Highness, when will you finally wake up! This old minister is not worth dying for, but I cannot bear to see the Southern Frontier fall into the hands of a tyrant. Your Highness, you have failed the countless ministers and subordinates who support you!"
"You old codger, still dare to talk back!"
The guard drew his knife and stabbed Xu Zhongcheng in the arm, the knife going deep into the bone.
Xu Zhongcheng threw his head back and laughed loudly, still cursing under his breath: "What a pity for my Xu family, a family of loyal martyrs! Heaven is unjust!"
No matter how hard the guards whipped him, Xu Zhongcheng never uttered a sound of pain, only cursing the tyrannical emperor.
"Stop!" the Seventh Prince roared.
The guard glanced at the Seventh Prince, but didn't stop what he was doing. Enraged, the Seventh Prince stepped forward and slapped the guard hard across the face: "You bastard, who gave you the audacity to hurt Prime Minister Xu!"
The guard, after being struck, touched his cheek but showed little fear. Instead, he stubbornly said, "The traitor Xu insulted the Emperor in public and has already been ordered by the Emperor to have his entire family executed. Your Highness, this is not the Prime Minister. You have called the wrong person."
The seventh prince's eyes widened suddenly.
"Seventh Prince!" The Third Prince mounted his horse, gripped the reins, and glanced down at the Seventh Prince with a mocking smile: "That old scoundrel Xu thinks he's so proud and upright, but in reality, he's been embezzling money for a long time. A large amount of silver was found in his mansion, including embezzled military funds! This is a capital offense punishable by the extermination of nine generations of his family. Father Emperor, considering that he has served as an official for decades and has worked hard even if he hasn't made any great contributions, has already shown mercy by only confiscating his family's property."
"Nonsense!" Xu Zhongcheng roared, "I have lived an honest and upright life for decades and have never embezzled a single grain of rice!"
The Third Prince lashed out and lashed Xu Zhongcheng's back with his whip: "You still dare to be stubborn even when you're about to die!"
Xu Zhongcheng scoffed: "If you want to find fault, you can always find a pretext."
The Third Prince was somewhat annoyed upon hearing this: "Guards, beat him! Beat him hard!"
Upon hearing this, the guards rushed forward and beat Xu Zhongcheng severely. The Seventh Prince was furious and drew his sword, kicking several guards away.
Instead of being grateful to the Seventh Prince, Xu Zhongcheng sneered: "Your Highness is foolishly filial, foolishly loyal, and foolishly righteous, plunging the people into misery. You are utterly foolish!"
"You!" The Seventh Prince was speechless, too angry to speak because of Xu Zhongcheng.
The Third Prince laughed: "Seventh Prince, this old scoundrel deserves to die!"
"Your Highness knows perfectly well that the Emperor is cruel, disregards human life, and is fond of killing and warfare, yet you still aid and abet him. You know perfectly well that the Yan family and others are rotten to the core, yet you deceive yourself and keep yielding and backing down, leading to the situation we see today. I only regret that I was blind!"
Xu Zhongcheng stared at the Seventh Prince with bloodshot eyes.
The seventh prince staggered backward, his mind going blank for a moment, unsure how to react. He hadn't expected things to turn out this way.
"Lord Xu." The Seventh Prince cleaved the shackles with a single sword stroke.
"Your Highness! This is the Emperor's order. Are you going to disobey the Emperor's command?" the guard shouted.
The Seventh Prince caught Xu Zhongcheng and, with a backhand stroke, killed the guard who had just roared.
Blood splattered three feet deep.
Everyone was surprised.
The Third Prince laughed: "Seventh Prince, you'd better think this through. This is a serious criminal of the court. Do you want to go against Father Emperor?"
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