When Madam Yuluan arrived at the Changsheng Palace, she did not dare to act rashly, for fear that she would fail to do any detail well and arouse the emperor's disgust.
Qu Wenhe was actually arrested and taken to the Dali Temple. I think this is not a small offense.
Seeing her like this at the door, Eunuch Yang felt sympathy for her. "Madam, the Emperor is currently discussing important matters with the Imperial Preceptor. You cannot enter. How about going to the side hall and waiting?"
"It's okay. I'll wait for them here. I'll go in when they're done talking."
What followed was a long and frightening wait.
She had never imagined that her father, while rising rapidly in the world, would be framed and thrown into prison overnight.
She also didn't know whether her position in the harem and Xuanhui's position could be preserved once this matter was confirmed.
If Xie Yanci really decided to go to Yonghua Palace and save his mother, then what competitiveness would the prince who lost his mother in Yonghua Palace, or the princes whose mother's family were all criminals, have?
The more she thought about it, the more scared she became.
Qian Wei supported her and asked softly, "Madam, are you okay? I feel your hands are very cold..."
"When the Emperor doesn't see me for a moment, my heart can't be at peace. I don't know what the Imperial Master said to him! This Yu Huai is truly a man who will burn bridges after crossing them! Back then, when he sought benefits from me, he wasn't acting like this. Could something bad have happened now, and he wants the entire Qu family to be his scapegoat?!"
At this moment, the door of the Hall of Eternal Life was opened from the inside.
Yu Huai straightened his clothes and stretched his wrists before looking down at Madam Yuluan.
He saw her embarrassment clearly.
"Madam, why are you standing in the corridor?" Yu Huai waved at her. "Come here quickly. The emperor wants you to come in now. If you have anything to say, go ahead and say it!"
"You thief! What on earth did you say in front of the Emperor? Did you frame my father?!" Madam Yuluan stepped closer, lowering her voice as much as possible. "Do you know that from the very beginning, you, me, and our Qu family were tied to the same boat!"
"Yes, I understand this matter. Therefore, I will accept the emperor's interrogation together with you, my lady."
Xie Yanci's expression was not very good, and his tone was particularly stiff: "Today is your birthday banquet. Why don't you treat them well in Chengqian Palace? Why did you come to me?"
"Your Majesty! I've heard everything! You've sentenced my father and mother to death, and even ordered the Dali Temple to conduct a thorough investigation! I don't understand what they've done wrong! I'm so uneasy, how can I have the mood to attend a birthday party?"
"That's a good question! I also want to know, Qu Wenhe has already achieved the supreme position, why is he so greedy and wants to go against me?!"
She didn't understand: "May I ask Your Majesty, what did my father do to make you so angry?"
"He's secretly stockpiling weapons and extorting money from the people in the capital and local officials! I've sent people to remind him more than once, but he's never taken it to heart. Yao'er, do you know... why he's stockpiling weapons at this critical moment?"
Madam Yuluan lowered her head and said, "I don't know."
"Because he's reached an agreement with the new leader of the Barbarian Tribe! He secretly transported his country's weapons there, then turned against them and attacked our Great Zhou Kingdom! Do you think this makes sense?!"
"That's absolutely impossible! My father is an honest official, and it's impossible for him to do such a treasonous thing! Someone must have wronged him!"
Xie Yanci seemed to have guessed this statement long ago: "I suspect that the truth may not be so. Shouldn't we send someone to take Qu Wenhe to the Dali Temple for interrogation? The officials there have more interrogation experience than I do. I'm sure they'll be able to come up with a conclusion quickly!"
The words that were originally prepared were stopped by the emperor in an instant.
She knelt there, not knowing what to add to continue to exonerate Qu Wenhe.
"Alright, the ground is cold, don't kneel here! I'm not a tyrant. If, after the interrogation, it turns out that everything was framed, I can not only save his life, but also promote him to a higher rank to make up for this mistake."
Only after receiving the emperor's personal assurance did she dare to stand up tremblingly.
At the same time, he developed deeper doubts about his father.
It was interests that bound the father and daughter together. She couldn't guarantee what kind of person Qu Wenhe was.
So, for the next few days, Madam Yuluan rarely asked the wet nurse to take care of the Second Prince Xuanhui. She herself knelt before the Buddha statue and prayed day and night. If the Qu family collapsed, the impact on her would be far more harmful than beneficial.
However, bad news still came one after another——
"Madam, this is bad! The Dali Temple has received preliminary results. The master will be escorted back to the capital to be interrogated by the emperor himself!"
"Madam, the Emperor sent a large number of imperial guards to search the Qu family mansion. We don't know exactly what they found, but the palace servants in the Changsheng Palace said that the Emperor was furious and smashed a lot of antiques!"
"Madam, the imperial decree has been issued! The master has committed a crime punishable by the extermination of all nine generations of his family, but the emperor, considering that we are married and have children together, has not included you and Wen Wanyi in the count..."
Upon hearing this news, Madam Yuluan lost her strength and fell directly onto the cushion, her face as pale as death.
"You heard it right, didn't you?! Were those palace maids gossiping? Did they pass on the wrong information?!"
Seeing her like this, Qian Wei frowned and shook her head: "There is no mistake, the emperor personally issued the imperial edict, Xiao Zhuozi and the others followed Eunuch Yang and heard him read it out with their own ears, everyone knows it!"
"I must find the Emperor!"
Madam Yuluan rushed into the Hall of Longevity regardless of everything. Xie Yanci sat leisurely on the dragon throne, as if he had been waiting for a long time.
"Yao'er, if you came here today to plead for the Qu family, then you can leave directly."
"Your Majesty, can you please tell me the truth? Is everything about my father true? Is there no room for redemption? Executing all nine generations of my family... This is simply stabbing me in the heart! Now that I have lost my family, how will I survive in the palace?!"
The emperor asked in an ambiguous tone, "Yao'er, what you're saying is... your position in the palace depends entirely on Qu Wenhe? The grace and rewards I've granted you are merely external goods, and won't be recognized by others at all, is that right?"
She realized that she had said the wrong thing in her haste and quickly tried to correct herself.
The emperor's attitude towards her was no different from usual, but the words he spoke were icy cold.
"I have one last piece of advice for Yao'er. If you don't want Xuanhui to lose his mother, stop interfering in the Qu family's affairs!"
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