Chapter 88: Drag him out and beat him
When Emperor Wen Zhao got angry, everyone in the hall looked stern, sat upright and remained silent.
The porcelain cup he threw hit Concubine An right on the forehead, leaving a big bump on it. But Concubine An knelt on the ground, not daring to move.
In front of everyone, her past was exposed. Although the two princes were killed by Song Zhaoyi, she was also involved. In addition, as a concubine, she actually worshipped another man's tablet in the bedroom, and deliberately set fire to the palace in order to kill Song Zhaoyi, not to mention that she wanted to murder the Royal Concubine...
All these sins are enough to make her die several times.
Anpin knew that she could not escape the death penalty, but she had not lived long enough, and she did not want to die yet, so she burst into tears and begged for mercy: "Your Majesty, I know I was wrong, please have mercy..."
Anpin begged for mercy while kowtowing. In less than a moment, the skin on her forehead was broken, and it was swollen and bleeding.
Yue Guiren and Fang Guiren were frightened and they clasped their hands together, not daring to look. But they still wanted to look, so they tilted their necks and heads awkwardly.
Princess Qiba simply covered her eyes and peeked out through the gaps between her fingers.
The Empress, Imperial Concubine, and Shun Concubine sat on their chairs, expressionless and indifferent. The three of them were older, more knowledgeable, and hated the behavior of harming children, so they had no sympathy for Concubine An.
Concubine Ying and Concubine Mu were extremely relieved. If His Majesty and the Empress had not been present, they would have rushed forward, grabbed Concubine An's hair, and slammed her head to the ground.
Emperor Wen Zhao sat at the top, pointed at Concubine An, and didn't say anything for a long time. Previously, because Xiao Jiu was there, he had to suppress his anger and scolding in his heart, but now that the anger had passed, he didn't want to scold anymore, so he took his hand back and ordered: "Come here, drag her back, give her wine, and dismiss her father from office."
Hearing Emperor Wen Zhao's cold and merciless voice, Concubine An's face turned pale as paper in an instant, and she collapsed to the ground, no longer able to beg.
Liang Quan came in with two eunuchs and dragged the man out. The hall fell into deathly silence.
The Queen reminded, "Your Majesty, do you want to review the matter of Song Zhaoyi harming the two princes?"
Emperor Wen Zhao said coldly: "No need." Since Tong Tong had made it clear, there was no need to waste energy to investigate.
The Queen asked again: "Then how should we deal with Song Zhaoyi? Such a vicious person must not be allowed to stay."
Now the two imperial doctors are using ginseng to keep Song Zhaoyi alive. It would be best to deal with her before she dies. This way, the guilt of Concubine Ying and Concubine Mu will be reduced.
Concubine Ying and Concubine Mu lost their children one after another. They were so pitiful. They had always been doing their duty for so many years. The Empress could not bear to see them lose their lives or be severely punished for avenging their children.
Emperor Wen Zhao had the same idea as the Empress. He said in a deep voice with a dark face, "Drag him out and beat him to death. His father will be dismissed from office and his entire family will be expelled from the capital."
Liang Quan responded and went down to pass on the order.
The two enemies who killed the child were dead. Concubine Ying and Concubine Mu were very relieved. At the same time, they thought of the child who died in vain. They felt very sad and couldn't help crying.
The two kowtowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for helping me and avenging my child. I have committed a serious mistake, please punish me, Your Majesty."
Emperor Wen Zhao looked at the two of them, thinking of the two poor children whose faces he could hardly remember. He felt heavy-hearted, sighed, and remained silent for a long time.
The empress stood up, walked to Emperor Wen Zhao and knelt down: "Your Majesty, Concubine Ying and Concubine Mu intentionally hurt others, their crime is unforgivable, but after all, there are reasons for it, please forgive them, Your Majesty."
When the empress stood up and knelt, the imperial concubine, several other concubines, and seven or eight princesses also stood up and knelt behind the empress. At this moment, they all said in unison: "Your Majesty, please forgive us."
Emperor Wen Zhao glanced at Concubine Ying and Concubine Mu kneeling on the ground, sighed again, and after careful consideration, he spoke: "Concubine Ying is demoted to a noble lady, and Concubine Mu is demoted to a talented lady. They are fined one year's salary and confined to their homes for three months. They must reflect on their mistakes behind closed doors."
Did they save their lives? The moment Concubine Ying and Concubine Mu attacked Song Zhaoyi, they were ready to die together.
They both thought that it was their own fault that they had implicated the child, and they wanted to avenge the child and die.
But both of them still have parents and brothers, and they are not the kind of people who are free from worries. If they can live, who would want to die?
The two of them wept with gratitude and kowtowed to express their gratitude, "Thank you, Lord, for your great grace."
Emperor Wen Zhao waved his hand and said, "Alright, get up. If you encounter any problems in the future, either go to the Empress or come to me. Don't be so impulsive again."
The two of them responded respectfully.
Emperor Wen Zhao waved his hands and said, "Alright, you all go down. I am tired. The Empress and the Imperial Concubine will stay."
Everyone responded, bowed and left.
When there were only three people left in the room, Emperor Wen Zhao looked at the Empress and the Imperial Concubine and said, "Something happens every three or five days. If it continues like this, it won't last long. What do you think, Empress and Concubine?"
The Queen and the Imperial Concubine looked at each other. His Majesty had intended to gather everyone together to listen to Tong Tong's words, but they were afraid that things would get out all at once and the palace would be in turmoil, so they advised His Majesty to put it on hold for the time being.
But looking back now, escape is not a solution. Previously, Thirteen went to kill the little hostage and almost caused a loss of life. Today, Concubine Ying and Concubine Mu almost killed Song Zhaoyi. No one can guarantee whether such a situation will happen again in the future.
The Imperial Concubine was straightforward and said directly: "Your Majesty, sister, why don't we find a suitable excuse to gather everyone together, and call Xiaojiu along, and just solve the problem at once."
The Queen shook her head: "It's still a little inappropriate. If we call everyone together, what about Concubine Ru? Should we call her? She's here, and there are some things that can't be said. If we don't call her alone, what will she think? Xiaojiu will also get suspicious."
"Besides, when Xiaojiu and Tongtong chat, they just talk about whatever comes to mind without any purpose. Gathering everyone together, Xiaojiu and Tongtong will see so many people. If they can't get to the point, isn't it a waste of time?"
The Imperial Concubine thought the same and nodded repeatedly: "Sister, what you said makes sense."
Emperor Wen Zhao shook his head helplessly and said, "Xiao Jiu is a very cunning child. It's okay once or twice, but if it goes on for a long time, I'm afraid she will guess something, and that will be bad."
This method didn't work, and the three of them fell silent.
After a while, Emperor Wen Zhao gently patted the armrest of the chair and said, "How about this? From now on, I will take some time every day to let Xiaojiu come to Chongde Hall to play chess with me, and then I will summon two or three concubines to come over and see what Xiaojiu will say."
"This is a good idea." The Queen and the Royal Consort both agreed.
Seeing that the two agreed, Emperor Wen Zhao made the final decision: "Then let's start from tomorrow."