Chapter 583 The Fate of the Princess
Despite the emperor's rage, the eldest princess remained calm and fearless.
She no longer deliberately restrained her ambition and temperament, and turned back into the graceful and arrogant eldest princess. Even though she was wearing plain clothes, her imposing aura remained undiminished.
She sighed softly, "Emperor, I didn't want to go this far. I wanted to wait until you were gone before ascending to the throne of supreme power and becoming the first empress in the history of the Great Zhou. But why did you send people to investigate Wangxian County? And why did you investigate the private soldiers?"
"Let's be good siblings, okay?"
The emperor pointed at the eldest princess and his breathing became heavier and heavier, as if he was about to suffocate.
The other palace people were all shocked. Deshun was the first to react. He quickly took out a pill and fed it to the emperor, and the emperor finally recovered.
During this period, the eldest princess watched coldly and did not stop De Shun's actions.
The emperor cannot die yet; he is still useful to him.
"Emperor, please write an edict." said the eldest princess.
The emperor looked at her coldly: "Do you really think that with just an imperial edict and these few people, you can take the throne?"
"Emperor, do you really think these are all I have? I've worked hard over the years and placed quite a few people in the palace." The eldest princess suddenly laughed. "I have to thank the emperor for giving me this power and trust."
"So what if we have people planted in the palace? We still have 10,000 guards." said the emperor.
"Calculating the time, the 10,000 cavalry I have in Wangxian County should have arrived outside the city. Does the emperor really think I only have 30,000 private soldiers? A cunning rabbit has three burrows, and I have private soldiers in other places."
The princess had been waiting for so long just for the arrival of ten thousand cavalrymen.
It only takes five days to travel from Wangxian County to the capital, but because they had to come quietly, it took several times longer than five days.
"The court officials have been purged, all your people have been dealt with, and no one in the court will support you." The emperor continued.
The princess paused and chuckled, "Those civil officials are the most timid. Killing a chicken to scare the monkeys, just a threat will do."
"The generals will not submit to you!"
"Their families are all in the capital, and they are all in my hands..."
The eldest princess looked at the emperor as if she was sure of victory.
"Emperor, please write an edict." said the eldest princess.
The emperor suddenly laughed. "Zhao Yulan, do you really think I'm so stupid that you can fool me? You committed treason, and you want to see me? You asked me to come to Changye Palace, and I came? Don't you think this is going too smoothly?"
The eldest princess's expression changed slightly and she looked around.
I saw that among the dozen or so people dressed as guards, half of them suddenly pointed their swords at each other and started fighting with them.
The eldest princess clenched her hands into fists.
The emperor was actually well prepared.
So, were those words just now meant to trick her?
The eldest princess drew her dagger and stabbed the emperor.
Now, if we can capture the emperor and use him as a threat, we might still have a chance of winning!
At this moment, the door of the hall was suddenly kicked open.
The leader was Wei Qing.
Seeing that the princess was about to stab the emperor, Wei Qing quickly flashed in front of the emperor, kicked the dagger out of the princess's hand, and then protected the emperor.
"Your Majesty, I have something to report, so I came to see you. Please forgive me for being late in protecting you!"
His wife had a dream and told him that the eldest princess would force him to abdicate.
Wei Qing thought about the pros and cons. He felt that the probability of the eldest princess forcing the emperor to abdicate was very low. Moreover, the eldest princess imposed heavy taxes for her own ambitions and completely disregarded the lives of the people. Therefore, such a person must not be allowed to gain power.
The eldest princess's forcing the emperor to abdicate was a huge blow to the emperor.
After weighing the pros and cons, Wei Qing decided to enter the palace to protect the emperor. His excuse was that he had an important matter to report, and he hurried over after hearing that the emperor had arrived at Changye Palace.
When he just broke open the door, he had already analyzed the situation and found that the emperor had the upper hand.
Even if he didn't kick the eldest princess away, the emperor could still avoid it. At worst, the emperor still had De Shun by his side, and De Shun would definitely fight to the death to protect his master.
Therefore, his kick did not significantly change the situation, but it earned him the emperor's trust...
With Wei Qing's joining, the eldest princess's men were quickly defeated and all killed.
The game is over.
The eldest princess was barely standing against a pillar, her body limp and her face pale.
The emperor stood there, looking down at the eldest princess coldly.
The eldest princess chuckled and said, "Winners are kings and losers are bandits. There's nothing much to say."
"Am I not good enough to you?" asked the emperor.
He couldn't understand why she wanted to rebel!
"Okay? The Queen, the Crown Prince, and the Queen Mother were once people close to you, so what happened to them?"
The emperor said nothing.
"You think they're up to no good, but you have no evidence at all. You just suspect them! Because of your suspicion, you've killed so many people! You can do this to them today, and you can do this to me tomorrow!"
"I'm not as stupid as them, waiting for you like a lamb to be slaughtered!"
"Xiao family, isn't the Xiao family loyal enough to you? Kill them if you want!"
The emperor finally spoke: "Stop talking nonsense. The evidence of the Xiao family's rebellion is irrefutable, and it's not because of my suspicion. These are just excuses you made for what you did."
"If I die, you will be truly alone!" The eldest princess laughed, picked up the dagger on the ground, and stabbed it into her chest!
The emperor's pupils shrank for a moment, then quickly returned to normal. He looked indifferently at the eldest princess who fell to the ground and lost her breath.
Wei Qing lowered his eyes, his eyes filled with hostility.
He didn't expect to hear this conversation between the emperor and the eldest princess.
If it was just speculation before, this time it was really confirmed.
The Xiao family's affairs were really ordered by the emperor...
Just because of the emperor's suspicion.
It is so difficult to clear the Xiao family's grievances and to avenge them.
"Lord Wu."
Wei Qing quickly came back to his senses.
"Your Majesty." Wei Qing said respectfully.
"Lord Wu, you have done a great service in protecting the emperor. I will definitely reward you handsomely. Zhao Yulan's words, humiliated and angry..."
"I don't believe it."
The emperor nodded and said, "Go back first. I'll report to you later if you have anything to say. I'm a little tired."
"Yes." Wei Qing retreated.
Wei Qing returned to the Marquis' Mansion.
He entered the bedroom, Tang Li looked up at him and found that something was wrong with him.
Wei Qing took off his outer robe, walked up to her, and hugged her tightly in his arms, resting his face on her neck. He breathed in the familiar scent of his wife, and slowly recovered.
Tangli patted his back gently, comforting him silently.
"Wife." Wei Qing's voice was hoarse. "The eldest princess failed to force the emperor to abdicate and committed suicide."
This was actually within Tangli's expectations.
"The eldest princess said something before she died. The emperor was indeed the mastermind behind the Xiao family's affairs." Wei Qing continued.
Tangli sighed silently.
No wonder her husband feels so uncomfortable.
My own father killed my mother and my maternal grandfather's family...
Even though I had guessed it, I still felt very uncomfortable when it actually happened.
"It will be difficult to clear the Xiao family's grievances this way." Wei Qing said distressedly.
Outside, he is very strong and only shows his vulnerable side to his wife.
"Nothing is difficult in this world." Tangli said, "There is always a way."
"Yes, there must be a way."
"My husband, I will always be with you, no matter how difficult it is, I will always be here."
Wei Qing felt warm in his heart and suddenly felt strong.
He once again lamented his bad luck in marrying such a good wife.
"Wife, you are so nice." Wei Qing let her go and said while looking at her fair little face.
Tangli kissed him on the cheek: "Smile."
Wei Qing smiled, not a perfunctory smile, but a smile that came from the heart.
The eldest princess's 10,000 cavalrymen were defeated by the emperor before they even reached the imperial city.
The emperor covered up the fact that the eldest princess forced the emperor to abdicate, and the outside world only thought that the eldest princess had an acute illness and died suddenly.
But many people in the palace still knew about it.
Both Concubine Wang and Concubine Liang knew about this.
Concubine Wang knew it, and Zhao Shu and Jinse naturally knew it too.
"The eldest princess actually dared to force the emperor to abdicate. How bold!"
Zhao Shu said, if he had known this, he would not have gotten so close to the princess. He wondered if his father would harbor a grudge against him because of this incident.
Zhao Shu looked at Jinse, "Why didn't your immortal tell you this?"
Otherwise, he would have another chance to save the emperor.
If I save the emperor this time, my father will definitely not have any grudges.
Zhao Shu felt regretful and somewhat dissatisfied with Jinse and that immortal.
Jinse also felt that the gods had appeared less frequently recently and seemed to have become weaker.
This made Jinse feel very uneasy.
However, she didn't want her husband to know about this.
"Every time a god predicts something, he has to consume his energy. He can't predict things every time," said Jinse.
Zhao Shu nodded and said nothing more.
The eldest princess's downfall was not entirely a bad thing for him.
He can place some of his own people in those vacant positions.
Imperial Palace.
Buddhist temple.
After the eldest princess' death, the emperor came to the Buddhist temple more often and chatted with the empress dowager.
The empress dowager looked at him blankly and did not respond. The emperor did not seem to care either and left after he finished speaking.
As soon as the emperor left, the empress dowager's expression became clear.
Originally, the Buddhist temple was full of the eldest princess's people, and her every move was monitored.
After the eldest princess' death, those people were cleared out and the empress dowager had much more freedom.
"I don't want to see him, but he comes every day." The Queen Mother complained in a low voice.
Nanny Chu smiled and coaxed her, "Queen Dowager, please bear with it. It's not that every time you come here, you always bring delicious food, don't you?"
"I can no longer see the person I wanted to see, and the person I don't want to see keeps coming every day. It's so annoying." The Queen Mother whispered, "I dreamed of Ah Qing last night. Ah Qing had grown up, tall and handsome. When I woke up, I thought, I wish this dream were true."
Nanny Chu knew that the person the Queen Mother cared about the most was that person, and she also hoped that the Queen Mother’s dream was true.
Unfortunately, that person is no longer with us, and the Queen Mother will never see him again.
Nanny Chu sighed silently.
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