Chapter 693 Accompany Me in a Play
"The King of Qi was mediocre, the King of Chu was muddleheaded, and Huaiyang was too ruthless."
Before Qiao Qinghe could answer, Emperor Xiaozhao gave his evaluation of the three.
"None of them meet my expectations!"
"I will not hand over the throne of Dayan to any of them!"
Qiao Qinghe didn't know what Emperor Xiaozhao meant by suddenly telling her all this.
But at this moment, she was already trembling almost imperceptibly.
She was certain that Emperor Xiaozhao must already know what Li Sanqi had done, and even if not everything, he probably knew quite a bit.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have bluntly said that Li Sanqi was too ruthless.
"Your Majesty, why are you suddenly telling me all this?"
Qiao Qinghe forced herself to remain calm, and said in a trembling voice, "I am but a useless person who needs an imperial decree. I have no official position, no power, and no right to interfere in important matters of state!"
Emperor Xiaozhao looked coldly at Qiao Qinghe and scoffed, "Old Madam Qiao, do you really think I'm blind and ignorant?"
"Of the three—the King of Qi, the King of Chu, and Huaiyang—didn't you choose Huaiyang quite early on?"
Qiao Qinghe's pupils suddenly contracted, and she heard Emperor Xiaozhao say mockingly, "Perhaps even earlier!"
"If I'm not mistaken, you probably chose Li Sanqi long before the deposed crown prince plotted his rebellion, didn't you?"
"This old woman..." Qiao Qinghe suddenly found herself speechless.
As expected, Emperor Xiaozhao knew everything!
He knew that Li Sanqi wanted to seize the throne and ascend to the throne as a woman.
I also know that she chose to support Li Sanqi!
But how did Emperor Xiaozhao find out?
Could it be that Zhu Xi betrayed her?
But when Li Sanqi asked her to join forces, Zhu Xi had already expressed her feelings and made it clear that she wanted to follow her!
So where exactly did the problem lie?
"You don't need to think about how I knew about your alliance with Li Sanqi. All you need to know now is that if I wanted to kill Li Sanqi or you, it would only be a matter of a single word."
Qiao Qinghe immediately prostrated herself on the ground, begging for forgiveness in a trembling voice: "This old woman knows she was wrong! Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"
Emperor Xiaozhao scoffed, "You're not wrong."
“The Crown Prince is biased and allows the Wu family to bully you. It’s not wrong for you not to submit to him.”
"King Qi allowed his concubine to kill your granddaughter, so it's no wonder you abandoned him."
"As for the King of Chu, the reason you didn't choose him is probably because of the woman who came back from Da'e with you, isn't it?"
"I heard that when you first returned to Dayan, there was a conflict in the border town because of this woman."
"Therefore, Huaiyang, with whom you already have a close personal relationship, became your best choice."
Qiao Qinghe was sweating profusely.
So Emperor Xiaozhao saw everything!
She naively thought she could get away with it without anyone noticing.
"In fact, I initially considered Huaiyang as a potential heir."
Emperor Xiaozhao said with a wistful tone, "Unfortunately, she has also disappointed me."
"Sowing discord between the King of Chu and the King of Qi, using the King of Chu, and using the Queen Consort of Chu... all of these are understandable."
"Even if they use your connections to win over the Marquis of Enping's family or the Marquis of Yongning's family, I can tolerate it."
"What I cannot tolerate is that she actually went so far as to harm the Empress Dowager!"
"That's the person who doted on her, loved her, and raised her!"
Emperor Xiaozhao's voice trembled uncontrollably as he spoke.
Perhaps because he was too emotional, he started coughing.
Just as Qiao Qinghe was beginning to worry about Emperor Xiaozhao's health, the emperor gradually recovered.
He chuckled softly, "I have health problems, and I may not live much longer."
Qiao Qinghe quickly replied, "May Your Majesty live ten thousand years! Please don't say such discouraging things."
Emperor Xiaozhao scoffed, "Long live the Emperor? Heh, do you even believe it yourself?"
Qiao Qinghe was speechless.
Emperor Xiaozhao did not want to dwell on this topic any further.
He continued, "If nothing unexpected happens, the deaths of the deposed crown prince and his wife, Lady Zhong, were also orchestrated by Li Sanqi, weren't they?"
"I didn't know!" Qiao Qinghe quickly replied.
Emperor Xiaozhao had no intention of delving deeper and continued, "Sowing discord, forming factions, eliminating dissidents, poisoning the Empress Dowager, and murdering the Crown Prince and his wife..."
"Do you really think that Da Xi's trip alone could change Li Sanqi's character to this extent?"
Qiao Qinghe suddenly looked up at Emperor Xiaozhao.
"Does Your Majesty believe that there is someone else plotting against Princess Huaiyang?"
Emperor Xiaozhao finally showed his first smile of the day. "It seems that Madam Qiao thinks so too?"
Qiao Qinghe nodded hurriedly, "Your Majesty, please allow me to report."
Emperor Xiaozhao gestured for her to continue.
Upon seeing this, Qiao Qinghe quickly voiced her suspicions and doubts from the past few days.
"I suspect that Min Ji was behind all of this."
"But we don't know where Min Ji is hiding."
Emperor Xiaozhao looked at Qiao Qinghe and said, "Speaking of which, after we returned from Da'e, Old Madam Qiao told me that she wanted to find Min Ji's whereabouts."
"Two years have passed, and now Madam Qiao is asking me where Min Ji is?"
"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?"
"I deserve to die!" Qiao Qinghe hurriedly prostrated herself to admit her mistake.
How could she possibly forget that?
She used this excuse to escape from Da Lu and the Min family's calamity, and has survived to this day.
However, Min Ji was too good at hiding and too good at enduring, and her little tricks were no match for forcing Min Ji to show himself.
Moreover, as time went by, she herself almost forgot about Min Ji.
If Li Sanqi's actions hadn't become increasingly erratic, she wouldn't have noticed Li Sanqi's abnormality and thus suspected it was related to Min Ji.
Emperor Xiaozhao waved his hand, "Forget it, things have come to this point. Let's discuss how to bring Min Ji out."
Upon hearing Emperor Xiaozhao's words, Qiao Qinghe secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Recalling the news she had received that Emperor Xiaozhao had ordered his secret guards to conduct a covert investigation of the elders of officials and ministers over sixty years old, she couldn't help but ask, "Does Your Majesty already have someone you suspect?"
Emperor Xiaozhao nodded slightly, "There are indeed several suspects, but each of them is an important minister in the court, and they cannot be easily touched."
Qiao Qinghe was terrified.
Min Ji is truly capable!
They used lies to appease Emperor Xiaozhao and temporarily preserved the Xuanping Marquis's residence.
He turned around and ran to Da'e, transforming himself into the Marquis of Pingyan of Da'e.
Now, having escaped from Da'e's faked death and returned to Dayan, he has surprisingly become a high-ranking official in the court.
This person is truly a master of deception and surviving by any means necessary!
Just as Qiao Qinghe was inwardly marveling at Min Ji's abilities, she heard Emperor Xiaozhao say leisurely, "So, come and act in a play with me!"
Qiao Qinghe looked at Emperor Xiaozhao with suspicion, "An act?"
"Yes! Acting!"
Emperor Xiaozhao looked at Qiao Qinghe with deep eyes, "Put on a grand show!"
"Stage a grand spectacle to lure Min Ji out!"
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