Chapter 353: Prince Ning's First Merit
Seeing King Kang's angry look, Song Yunchu raised his eyebrows slightly.
"Your Highness must be wondering why Prime Minister Liu and Minister Huo stabbed you in the back."
When King Kang heard this, he was angry but also curious.
Song Yunchu crossed his arms over his chest and said leisurely, "The reason behind this..."
King Kang stared at her face, waiting for her to explain himself.
But Song Yunchu smiled and said, "I won't tell you. Just think about it yourself."
King Kang was furious, his face was ferocious with anger, "You dog..."
Before he could finish his words, Honglian behind Song Yunchu stepped forward and slapped him in the face, forcing him to swallow the remaining word "thief".
A burning pain came from his cheeks. As his hands were tied behind his back, King Kang could not struggle free. He could only glare back at the two people in front of him with fierce eyes.
Seeing Honglian shaking her hand, Song Yunchu asked her, "Did you hurt your palm? His Royal Highness Prince Kang is thick-skinned. You shouldn't have done that. It's not worth it to hurt yourself."
"I just can't stand hearing the traitor speak ill of Your Highness."
"Let him talk. I won't lose a piece of meat. If I run into such an incompetent and angry loser next time, there's no need to get angry with him."
Song Yunchu patted Honglian on the shoulder and said, "Your Highness, I have made another contribution this time. His Majesty will definitely reward you. You all have a share. Be happy and don't take the traitor's words to heart."
Honglian smiled when she heard that, "Yes."
"Take the traitor inside, and your majesty will interrogate him in public."
Song Yunchu said this and turned and walked into the cabin.
The cabin was still filled with a bloody smell. The Yulin Army had not yet dealt with the corpses, leaving only an empty space in the middle of the cabin.
King Kang and Zhou Ji were thrown on top, with large pools of undried blood where they were kneeling.
Some civil servants felt nauseous and some even fainted.
Song Yunchu chose a relatively clean corner and had his female guards stand in a row. The concubines sat behind them so that their sight would be blocked from the horrific situation in the cabin.
"There may be some fish that have escaped the net outside the Imperial Boat. For your safety, we cannot transfer you at the moment."
Concubine Shu comforted the two people in front of her, "Just wait for the ship to dock, and you can take a clean ship tomorrow."
As she was talking, she saw Concubine Zhen staring at the blood on her clothes. Then she remembered that she hadn't cleaned up yet and might scare the two of them, so she quickly said, "I'll go change into clean clothes."
"No need." Zhen Fei held her wrist, "The ship smells so bad anyway...it doesn't matter how many clean clothes you change into."
"That's right. I've already suffered enough shock. This little bit of blood... isn't that scary anymore."
Concubine Li echoed the words, then took out a clean handkerchief from her sleeve pocket and wiped the blood off Concubine Shu's right cheek.
Although the two were still somewhat frightened, they felt quite relieved facing Concubine Shu.
They are also people who have seen big scenes.
"Uncle, you really disappoint me."
Sitting on the first seat, Jun Li Luo looked at the tied-up King Kang in front of him and said expressionlessly, "Why are you like Uncle Yi Wang? You gave up the title of Prince Xiaoyao and betrayed me? Did I give you less salary or threaten your life?"
"Your Majesty, why are you pretending to be kind now?"
Seeing that his plan had failed, King Kang knew that the emperor would never let him go. Since begging for mercy was useless, he no longer needed to be humble to the emperor.
"You call me uncle, but do you really regard us as your elders? If you have any affection for us uncles, you will not allow a minister to step on us and bully us! She is also a woman!"
Even though he had already fled and died, he tried to use his clamor to remind the ministers present that Song Yunchu must not be tolerated in the court.
If he fails miserably, the emperor and Song Yunchu won't be able to live happily anymore!
"Is Yun Chu bullying you?"
Jun Liluo smiled coldly, "Before you say this, do you want to take a look at what good things you have done?"
"Your prince has always been lazy and indulged in alcohol and sex, and even molested decent women in the street. Yun Chu only punished him with house arrest, but you still hold a grudge against him. I think her punishment was too light. If she hadn't come to report it, I wouldn't have known that this cousin had brought shame to the Jun family."
"What Yunchu did was reasonable, but you are narrow-minded and rebellious. Now you dare to make excuses! You keep saying that she is a woman, but never mention her achievements. I want to ask you uncles, why are you so greedy?"
"According to the etiquette of the country, the monarch and his subjects come first, followed by family ties. You are disloyal and disrespectful to me, yet you still want me to treat you as my elders? This is truly a joke."
Jun Li Luo's face was gloomy, and his tone was even colder. "What's more, the mistake you made was more than just treason. You were blinded by greed and joined forces with merchants from all over the country to make a fortune by selling Worry-Free Pills, and you ignored the safety of the people! If you, a person worse than a beast, usurped the throne, wouldn't I be ashamed of my Jun family's ancestors?"
When Jun Li Luo said this, the ministers were shocked.
The Worry-Free Pill incident that has been making headlines recently was actually the work of Prince Kang?
"Yun Chu, tell everyone what you found out earlier."
After Jun Liluo finished speaking, Song Yunchu took over the conversation, "My colleagues, you may not know that King Kang has many wealthy businessmen who run the Worry-Free Pill business for him. One of them is the wealthy businessman surnamed Wang from Youzhou. This family is now in the Dali Temple prison. According to their account, the Wang family alone has paid more than 50,000 taels of silver to King Kang in the past year. There are more than ten merchants like them. With this calculation, King Kang's annual harvest is really shocking."
When these words were spoken, not only the ministers were surprised, but King Kang himself was also stunned.
The Wang family had clearly been killed by his people. Where did the Wang family that Song Yunchu mentioned come from?
"Your Highness, don't be surprised. The people you silenced were members of the Wang family disguised as death row prisoners. The real members of the Wang family were secretly escorted back to the Imperial City by my secret guards the night before you took action. When they learned that you wanted to kill them, they were very distressed."
King Kang almost bit his back teeth to pieces.
No wonder he lost so badly.
As he guessed, the emperor ordered a southern tour in order to catch him and purge his followers.
"These merchants under King Kang are scattered in remote cities. In order to keep their business longer, they start by bribing the county magistrates and ask them to help conceal the truth. If the news accidentally reaches the state magistrates, they will continue to bribe the state magistrates."
"Of course, some of them are unwilling to cooperate. When this happens, King Kang will send people to come forward and use stronger threats and inducements. Some people can resist the inducement but not the coercion. For the safety of their families, they have no choice but to obey. If the truth is revealed and they are held accountable by their superiors, they will only say that it is their own negligence or push the lower-level officials to be scapegoats."
"Because these cities are far from the imperial city, and local officials deliberately concealed the truth, King Kang and the unscrupulous merchants were able to make long-term profits. Seeing that the matter had become serious, King Kang wanted to quit, but he did not expect that Your Majesty would personally investigate the matter during the southern tour. He was worried that those officials would show their weakness in front of Your Majesty and report his evil deeds. So he decided to go all out and unite with his cronies in the court and foreign enemies to rebel, attempting to replace Your Majesty."
Song Yunchu said, looking at the person kneeling in front of him, "Your Highness Prince Kang, is what I said true or false?"
King Kang said nothing and just looked at Song Yunchu coldly.
The civil servants were indignant when they heard this and could not help but shout out angry accusations.
"As a prince of the royal family, he enjoys the blessing of heaven, but he does such evil things. It is unheard of!"
"You have collaborated with the enemy and committed treason, and have brought disaster to the people. You deserve to be cut into pieces!"
"Your Majesty, I think that King Kang should be deposed from his title of prince, demoted to a commoner, and then paraded through the streets to be executed! To serve as a warning to others."
Listening to the condemnation and advice of the ministers, Jun Liluo thought for a moment and said, "First, take the traitor away and keep him under guard. You can interrogate him severely. I want King Kang to give a clear account of all the merchants involved in the Worry-Free Pill business. Submit the list to me before tomorrow night."
The Yulin soldiers escorted the two people on the ground out of the cabin.
"Today's events have frightened all the nobles. Now that the rebellion has been quelled, it is time to reward them for their merits."
Jun Liluo said calmly, "King Kang's previous crimes were investigated by Yunchu. She anticipated that King Kang would take action during this southern tour, so she made a defense plan in advance. Otherwise, we would not have won so smoothly. Moreover, she killed many enemies today, and is undoubtedly the first hero of this battle. Do you have any objections?"
Naturally, the ministers had no way of refutation of Jun Li Luo's words.
If King Ning had not found out about the Worry-Free Pill and made arrangements in advance, it is hard to say what would have happened in today's battle.
It is indeed a great skill to exchange smaller casualties for the greatest victory and eliminate a group of traitors.
Moreover, she did kill the most, and in terms of skills, no one present could match her.
"Your Majesty is absolutely right." Zheng Xueshi was the first to respond, "Prince Ning has worked hard and made great contributions, so he should be awarded the first place."
Chen Yue also took over the conversation, "Although Her Royal Highness Prince Ning is a woman, her strategy and courage are admirable. If she doesn't take the first-class credit, no one else deserves it."
Chen Yue tried his best to maintain a calm expression, but his heart was far from as calm as it appeared.
Your Majesty had told him this long before he set out on his southern tour.
At that time, he almost thought that His Majesty was joking with him, but His Majesty's expression was so serious that he had to believe it.
It took him a long time to accept the fact that His Majesty and Prince Ning were gay.
Even though he could accept it, he couldn't help but feel melancholy. How long could he keep this love secret? If he couldn't hide it one day, not only would His Majesty's reputation be damaged, but Prince Ning would also face countless condemnations and abuses.
The most important thing is - if Your Majesty is determined to be a homosexual to the end, you will most likely be childless. If the officials put the blame on Prince Ning, the good reputation that Prince Ning has worked so hard to improve will be gone, and he may even become more notorious than before.
The fact that Prince Ning changed from a man to a woman undoubtedly solved the biggest problem in his heart.
Your Majesty is not a homosexual! This way, you won't have to face the criticism from the officials.
Although it was the first time that a woman was crowned king in the Tianqi Kingdom, it was better for King Ning to be a woman than a man. At least the love between men and women was in line with common sense.
Since Your Majesty is determined to promote Prince Ning, as a subject, he should agree with Your Majesty's wishes.
"Lord Shen, you are too kind." Song Yunchu said to Chen Yue, "In today's battle, I am not the only one who fought desperately. Lord Shen risked his life to capture all the rebels outside, so he also made an invaluable contribution."
"Your Highness is too modest. Without your strategy, we would have suffered even greater losses. Although I have brute force, I do not think I have your wisdom. Your Highness does not need to be modest anymore."
Song Yunchu said no more.
The credit naturally belongs to her, but she still has to be humble.
It would be enough to just push and pull with Shen Yue for one round. If you continue acting, it would be a bit too much.
"Speaking of merit, there is also the Empress Shufei."
Song Yunchu looked at Jun Liluo, "At the critical moment, Concubine Shu protected Concubine Zhen and Concubine Li, and also knocked out the rebel leader. If she hadn't helped, the two ladies would have been taken hostage by the enemy. Concubine Shu also killed a lot of enemies after joining the battle."
Jun Liluo agreed, "Indeed, if you count it, Concubine Shu's contribution should be ranked second."
"Your Majesty, I have some doubts about Concubine Shu."
A minister said, "The Concubine Shu is the daughter of Zheng Xueshi. She has been raised in the boudoir since she was young. Zheng Xueshi is very knowledgeable, and his eldest son is also a civil official. Why does the Concubine Shu practice martial arts? And the Concubine is not only good at martial arts, but I have seen that the Concubine is not afraid of danger, and she kills the enemy without blinking, as if she is used to bloody scenes, not like..."
"She's not like an ordinary lady, right?" Jun Liluo interrupted casually, "You don't have to doubt her. She is my confidant. As a well-trained secret guard, she is of course fearless in the face of danger."
Upon hearing this, all the ministers were dumbfounded and shocked to the point of being speechless.
"Anyway, you have all been frightened enough today, this one more thing is not enough."
Jun Liluo saw everyone's reaction and said leisurely, "When I first ascended the throne, I was always cautious. In order to prevent the harem from having too much connection with the court, I arranged for Consort Shu to marry the daughter of Zheng Xueshi to act as my spy in the palace. Now I understand that the mothers of the concubines are all loyal to the emperor. I will not have any doubts in the future."
Everyone slowly came to their senses and felt that everything that happened today was incredible.
Prince Ning is a woman, Prince Kang is a traitor, and Concubine Shu is a secret guard...
From now on, there will probably never be another day as unforgettable as today.
"Bronze Sparrow." Jun Li Luo looked at Concubine Shu and called out her code name in front of everyone for the first time. "You have always been capable and you have made contributions today. You deserve to be rewarded. Tell me what kind of reward you want. I will try my best to satisfy you."
In the corner, Concubine Li and Concubine Zhen looked at each other.
Having spent many days together, they had some understanding of each other's personalities, and they could almost guess what Concubine Shu would mention.
They were happy for her, but at the same time they couldn't help feeling a little sad.
It seems that from now on, there will be only two of them left in this palace.
"Your Majesty, since the harem no longer needs spies, I would like to resign from my position as a concubine."
As Concubine Shu spoke, she knelt on one knee to perform the military salute, "I beg Your Majesty to grant me the rank of military commander, so that I can serve the court."
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