Min lowered her eyes and said, "The Queen Mother promised me that if I succeeded in this matter, she would issue an order to release me back to my parents' home after the mourning period was over, and would find a good marriage for me in the future. Moreover, she would promote my father and brother, so that the Min family would prosper and grow."
When everyone heard this, they all understood.
Although the Min family is considered a family of officials, the highest-ranking official in the family is only of the fourth rank, and it is a nominal position.
Moreover, there is no one with outstanding talents among the younger generations of the Min family, and it would be difficult for them to make a name for themselves by relying on the imperial examinations.
If things continue like this, the Min family will gradually decline.
It would be different if I could get promotion from the Queen Mother.
Then, Yue Haoyun took out a small cloth bag from his sleeve and opened it for everyone to see. "Please look, everyone, this is the poison I found in Min's room."
"It was also the poison found in this king's pillow."
With both witnesses and evidence present, everyone was convinced and no longer had any doubts.
"Empress Dowager Zhu, you are so cruel that you have repeatedly poisoned the prince. You vicious woman!" Meng Yong, who was standing in the front row, said angrily.
He pulled the handkerchief out of Zhu Ling's mouth and said, "Ms. Zhu, do you admit your guilt?"
Zhu Ling glared at Yue Haoyun and the ministers fiercely, and then let out a sinister laugh.
Then, she said sternly, "Yue Haoyun, stop trying to gain sympathy! I want to kill you!"
"But I had no choice but to kill you!"
"You are older than the emperor and have always been ambitious for the throne. In order for my son to secure his throne, I have no choice but to kill you!"
"And your actions today clearly show that you have harbored rebellious intentions for a long time. You want to rebel and sit on the throne!"
Xia Miaoyuan got goosebumps after hearing Zhu Ling's words. [Oh my god, this Zhu Ling is really good at sophistry. What the hell is she saying!?]
At this time, King Shen shouted, "Zhu Ling, you are sophistry!"
"Throughout the dynasties, if a monarch discovered that a minister had the intention of treason, and if he could find evidence, he would legitimately convict him of treason and punish him according to the law."
"The great prince has no evidence of treason. You are simply speculating that he has rebellious intentions and want to harm him. Isn't that unreasonable?"
"Let me ask you, if a citizen suspects that his neighbor is trying to seize his property, and he kills his neighbor, is this justified and legal?"
As soon as Prince Shen said this, everyone couldn't help but agree with him.
"Yes, Zhu is making sophistry!"
"According to what she said, if she kills any prince or minister who appears to have disloyal intentions, wouldn't the country be in chaos?"
"Yes, in history, only tyrants would act like this."
Meng Yong glared at Zhu Ling and said, "Zhu, you are so cruel and shameless. According to the laws of Dai Viet, you deserve to be killed!"
Han Lie, who was standing next to Lin Xiang, also said in a trembling voice: "The Zhu family deserves death for their crimes!"
Zhu Ling glared at Han Lie angrily, "Master Han, how dare you say such words to me?!"
Han Lie looked away feeling a little guilty.
The two palace maids who were escorting Zhu Ling saw that she was not obedient, so they twisted her arms with their hands and exerted force, and she immediately became speechless due to the pain.
At this time, Yue Haoyun continued: "Everyone, please be patient. I haven't finished what I want to say yet."
As he spoke, he took out a jade ring from his bosom and held it in his hand to show it to everyone.
"Everyone, please look, do you recognize this jade ring?"
Everyone present stood on tiptoe and looked at the jade ring.
Han Lie looked at the jade ring in surprise, and looked at it again and again in disbelief, as if he couldn't believe his eyes. He rubbed his eyes and continued to look at it.
Immediately afterwards, his lips trembled, and he looked at Yue Haoyun in surprise, but he couldn't say a word.
Lin Xiang was the first to say, "Is this the late emperor's jade ring?!"
Soon after, several old ministers also confirmed: "This is exactly the ring of the late emperor."
An old imperial censor said, "This is a jade ring passed down from our ancestors in the Dai Viet royal family. Whenever the old emperor was seriously ill and about to pass away, he would pass this jade ring to the new emperor before his death."
"It can be said that this ring represents the dignity of the emperor. May I ask, Your Majesty, why is such an important ring in your hands?"
When everyone heard this, they all looked at Yue Haoyun in disbelief.
Zhu Ling raised her head with difficulty and saw the ring clearly. Despair filled her eyes.
She shouted unconvincedly, "That ring is fake! The late emperor's ring was buried with him!"
Zhu Ling's words seemed pale and powerless.
Why would an ancestral token representing the throne of the emperor suddenly stop being passed down and even used as a burial object? Isn't this very unreasonable?
After the death of the previous emperor, Zhu Ling searched for the ring but could not find it. In desperation, she could only tell others that the young emperor was too young to wear the ring, so she kept it as a treasure.
The little emperor can wear it after he grows up.
In fact, what Zhu Ling wanted was to wait ten or twenty years, find a piece of jade with similar color, and then ask a craftsman to carve a ring.
By then, because of the long time, everyone would have long forgotten what the ancestral ring looked like.
Prime Minister Lin said sternly, "Empress Dowager Zhu, you clearly said at the beginning that the ring was too big for His Majesty, who was too young to wear it, so you kept it for later. Why are you saying today that the ring was buried with the late emperor? How could such an heirloom, something passed down from generation to generation, be buried with the deceased emperor?"
"You're lying!"
Zhu Ling was suddenly speechless.
Yue Haoyun continued, "Everyone, this king wants you to meet someone. Once you meet him, you will understand the origin of this ring."
After saying this, he gave Xifeng a wink, and Xifeng immediately brought a eunuch over from behind.
"Everyone, please take a good look at this eunuch." Yue Haoyun said.
Han Lie forced himself to look at the eunuch. The moment he saw the eunuch's face clearly, his legs went weak and he almost fell to the ground.
Fortunately, Minister Lin supported him.
Zhu Ling stared at the eunuch's face, her whole body froze, and then she became like a deflated ball, lifeless.
"Why does this eunuch look so familiar?" Meng Yong spoke first.
"You are... the person who served the late emperor back then?!" Prime Minister Lin said in surprise.
At this time, the eunuch bowed to everyone and said respectfully: "My Lords and Gentlemen, my humble name is Zhou Dagan. In the past, I was a young eunuch serving the late emperor."
At this time, someone in the crowd said, "It's Zhou Dagan. I was wondering why he looked so familiar!"
Someone else asked, "When the late emperor passed away, didn't he say that the young eunuchs around him volunteered to be buried with him? Eunuch Zhou, why are you still..."
Zhou Dagan said with a serious face, "My Lords, please listen to my story."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
