Huai Liu and Ning Xihua finished their bowls of ice leisurely amid everyone's anxious gazes.

During this time, some people couldn't help but want them to finish talking before eating, but when they thought of Ning Xihua's cruel look when he said "kill them on the spot", they silently shut their mouths.

After finishing the ice bowl, Huailiu reported everything in detail in a leisurely manner.

When they heard that Prince Rui was rebelling and forcing the emperor to abdicate, all the ladies were shocked and turned their eyes to Qin Songya.

Qin Songya still sat there with no change in expression.

Ning Xihua made the final decision, "When Prince Rui rebelled, Princess Rui was with everyone. Princess Rui had no idea about this matter. I believe His Majesty will make a wise decision."

Qin Songya knelt down and bowed to her, "Thank you, Crown Princess, for your trust."

With Su Xu's fall, her shackles have been half loosened. How can she not thank Ning Xihua?

Ning Xihua helped her up with her own hands, her eyes were warm, and she whispered in a voice that only the two of them could hear,

"This is the destiny you earned for yourself. No need to thank me."

Qin Songya looked at her and smiled gratefully, as if relieved of a heavy burden.

People around saw that the two of them were still in a friendly mood and seemed to be thinking about something.

There was also an anxious lady who glanced at Ning Xihua's expression and asked cautiously, "Since the people at the gate have been taken away, can we go back home now?"

Ning Xihua looked at Huailiu, and he shook his head slightly at her, and she immediately understood.

"Don't panic, everyone. The rebels outside have not been completely eliminated. If you return home now, there may be accidents. Since there are no people surrounding the palace outside, you may as well wait for a while and return home after the capital has restored order."

Although Su Xu was thrown into the Heavenly Prison, judging from Huai Liu's expression, the situation in the palace was still uncertain. If we let these people go at this time, wouldn't it be a waste of holding this Beginning of Autumn Banquet?

Everyone understood that the Crown Princess was not going to release the prisoners, and they did not dare to refute her.

Now, there are thousands of soldiers inside and outside the Linhua Palace, all of them are the Crown Princess's men, and they can only obey orders.

…

Outside Qian'an Hall.

All the ministers had been urgently summoned to the palace and were waiting for news outside the hall.

After entering the palace, they were told that something had happened in the palace, the emperor was in a coma, and His Highness was accompanying the emperor in the palace.

But the eunuch who delivered the message did not say which prince this was.

When Minister Sun saw that the palace was surrounded by guards of the Yulin Army and Qin Songfeng was waiting outside the palace, but the Crown Prince and Su Xu were missing, he naturally thought that everything was going smoothly according to Su Xu's plan.

"The prince actually wanted to kill his father and seize the throne. This is simply treason!"

Minister Sun was the first to take action, with a look of deep sorrow on his face, and he wanted to take the credit for enthroning the new emperor.

The Minister of War also echoed, "I didn't realize that the Crown Prince was so ambitious, forcing the palace to rebel and disregarding human ethics!"

When Su Xu's followers heard their leader speak, although they did not know the situation, they all condemned Su Bi, intending to sentence Su Bi to death for treason.

As they were talking, Minister Sun noticed that the eunuch's expression became more and more strange, and Prince Ning was also unusually silent.

A strange sense of disharmony rose up in his heart.

Oh, where's Bai Luoqiu? With such a big incident, it's ok that the Duke of Zhenguo isn't here, but why is Bai Luoqiu nowhere to be seen?

"Minister Sun, are you looking for me?"

Upon hearing this, Minister Sun turned around and found that Bai Luoqiu, dressed in military uniform, had led a dense group of soldiers to surround them from behind!

Before he could ask, the door of Qian'an Hall opened.

Su Bi walked out of the palace gate, and the hot afternoon sun shone directly on his handsome face, giving him a layer of noble and dazzling gold. Coupled with his majestic aura, for a moment people dared not look directly at him.

Before anyone could react, Su Bi spoke, her voice filled with grief.

"Your Majesty, the car has crashed."

The eunuchs then sang, "The emperor has passed away!"

The eunuchs' loud singing spread throughout the imperial city.

The singing awakened the ministers who were still in shock. They threw off their robes, knelt down, kowtowed and cried bitterly.

Minister Sun knelt down subconsciously, and then woke up as if from a dream. He stood up and pointed at Su Bi and said,

"Why are you here?!"

Su Bi looked at him coldly, "Who does Minister Sun think is here? Prince Rui?"

He glanced at the officials who had just agreed one by one. Those who were swept by his eyes lowered their heads inexplicably, feeling a strong pressure, which they had never felt from the prince before.

"It's strange. I haven't told you the details of the change in the palace. How do people know that I am the one who murdered my father? Is this a prophet? Or is it..."

"Was it premeditated?"

He looked at Minister Sun with a cold expression, yet he already showed the majesty of an emperor.

Minister Sun was already sweating profusely when he saw this, but he still straightened himself and forced himself to calm down.

"I have only heard it from others, where is His Royal Highness Prince Rui?"

Su Bi waved his hand, and Qin Songfeng immediately stepped forward and replied,

"Prince Rui poisoned His Majesty and forced the emperor to abdicate. We have captured him on the spot and put him in jail."

"impossible!"

Minister Sun seemed unable to accept the reality, and trembled as he said, "How do we know that the Crown Prince is not plotting rebellion and murdering the Emperor, and taking the opportunity to imprison His Royal Highness Prince Rui!"

He knew the situation had changed, but he still risked his life. As long as Su Bi was accused of being in an improper position, Su Xu would still have a chance of survival!

The assistant minister of the Ministry of War also knew that if Su Xu was defeated, he would be doomed, so he simply joined forces with Minister Sun to accuse Su Bi of being the murderer.

"Minister Sun is right! Now that you control the palace, naturally, whatever you say goes! Poor Prince Rui, who is loyal and righteous, was framed by you villains! Colleagues, wake up! We must not let the murderer who murdered the emperor steal the government!"

Su Bi did not stop them, but just watched them coldly as they made a fuss, allowing them to incite the ministers who were kneeling below.

From the moment he saw Bai Luoqiu, the smart minister had already recognized the reality. He bowed his head on the ground without saying a word, and ignored the instigation of Minister Sun and the Vice Minister of War.

However, many of Su Xu's followers and fence-sitters were wavering and in a dilemma.

He wanted to uphold justice and find out the truth, but he was also afraid of being convicted by Su Bi in court.

Seeing this scene, Bai Luoqiu just started to ridicule.

"My Lords, please think carefully about this. After all, your mothers, wives, and daughters are waiting for you to take them back to your residence in Linhua Palace."

This is already equivalent to a naked threat. The family members are all in the hands of the prince, and no matter what decision they make, they have to weigh it carefully.

However, there are still some of Su Xu's diehards who are loyal to him and want to die for their master in exchange for this glimmer of hope.

I saw a minister shouting, "You scoundrels, please do not use force to force us to submit. Justice is clear, and the truth will eventually come to light! I am willing to die to prove my will!"

In the end, it crashed into the pillar in front of the hall.

But no one in front of the palace tried to stop him, and the minister was hit hard and his head was bleeding.

Seeing this, Su Bi simply asked, "Is he dead?"

A eunuch rushed to check on the patient and replied, "He's still breathing."

Since ancient times, those who died to give advice were often respected and recorded by historians, often becoming famous through the ages. And those who failed to give advice at the cost of death would usually be forgiven by those in power.

Unexpectedly, Su Bi said, "How can I fail to live up to his wish? I should lend him a helping hand."

In the end, he drew out the sword of the guard beside him and killed the minister with one strike.

"The historians don't need to record his death as a remonstrance. Just record that he was a member of the Rui Wang party and was stubborn and unrepentant. He should be executed in front of the Qianyuan Palace."

Even Minister Sun and the Vice Minister of War did not expect that the usually gentle prince would kill someone in court, and they stood there in a daze for a while.

The ministers watched the blood slowly flow across the blue bricks in front of the palace and gather into a small stream. The atmosphere suddenly became eerily quiet.

He acts decisively and uses ruthless methods. This is not the gentle and elegant Crown Prince, but an emperor who is about to ascend the throne.

At this time, Su Bi took out a scroll and said, "This is the imperial edict written by my father himself. You can check its authenticity."

The eunuchs obeyed the order and handed the imperial edict to all the ministers. The scholars of the Hanlin Academy and the Zhongshu Sheren, who were in charge of drafting the imperial edict and serving the emperor, passed it around to read it one after another, and nodded in agreement that it was written by Emperor Shao Yuan himself, and it clearly stated that the throne would be passed to Crown Prince Su Bi.

At this moment, those ministers who had been hesitant just now were very glad that they did not express their opinions immediately.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince clearly had the decree of succession in his hand, but he took it out at the last minute, which clearly showed that he wanted to catch all of Prince Rui's accomplices in one fell swoop.

"Do you have any questions?"

Now, except for Minister Sun and his party, all the officials had no more doubts and all bowed their heads and shouted,

"The country cannot be without a ruler for a day, we respectfully invite the new emperor to ascend the throne!"

"Long live the emperor!"