Mei Zhixuan angrily retorted, "Shut up! What right does a wicked son born to a woman who has offended the Emperor and been confined to her quarters, as if banished to the cold palace, have to participate in the selection of the throne?"
Just then, a stern voice came from outside the hall: "How dare you! Who gave you the audacity? I am still the Empress Dowager, yet you dare to speak ill of the late Emperor's bloodline here. What about the Second Prince? How dare you question his identity? Or do you want to question me as well?"
Upon hearing the sound, everyone turned around and looked in the direction from which the sound came from outside the hall. They saw that it was the Empress Dowager, who was now the Empress Dowager Wen, who made a grand entrance in a magnificent robe, arriving late.
The crowd hurriedly bowed and knelt before her, saying, "Your Majesty, we pay our respects! Long live the Empress Dowager!"
Empress Dowager Wen, with her head held high and supported by her son Mei Zhihao, walked to the officials in front of the palace.
Turning around, she glanced at the crowd in front of the hall, then suddenly turned to Yi Shangyun and Mei Zhixuan, who stood beside her, seemingly at a loss for what to do and could only follow Yi Shangyun's lead. She shouted angrily, "How dare you! You two unfilial sons, why don't you kneel before me?"
Even now, just thinking about how this woman had personally poisoned her father to death filled Yi Shangyun with a burning hatred. However, to save face for the royal family, she gritted her teeth, slowly knelt down before her, and said in a deep voice, "Your subject greets Your Majesty!"
Upon seeing this, Mei Zhixuan hurriedly knelt down as well, and said, "Your subject greets Your Majesty!"
Empress Dowager Wen glared at the two of them fiercely, then addressed the assembled officials, saying, "The late Emperor has just passed away, his body is barely cold, and you dare to disregard the existence of me and my widowed son, as if we were already dead? How dare you presume to discuss the new emperor's throne? I have no idea what your intentions are."
Upon hearing this, the official who had personally examined the handwriting of the will spoke up and reported: "Your Majesty, the late Emperor left a handwritten will before his death, stipulating that the throne should be inherited by the legitimate princess, Princess Yongning. A country cannot be without a ruler for a day. We are acting on imperial orders today, not making any unauthorized remarks. We beg Your Majesty to investigate thoroughly!"
Empress Dowager Wen was clearly unaware of the imperial edict, so she paused for a moment, frowned, and asked in confusion, "The late emperor's imperial edict?"
Upon seeing this, the guards quickly brought the edict left by the King of Dongning to him and held it high with both hands.
Empress Dowager Wen glanced at the guard, then snatched the document from his hand, slowly opened it, and was immediately stunned. She thought to herself, "This is indeed his handwriting. He has really been bewitched and passed the throne to that woman's wretched daughter, completely disregarding my Hao'er."
As she pondered, she suddenly twisted the truth, slamming the imperial edict onto the floor before her and roaring angrily, "How dare you! I have been by the late emperor's side since I came of age. I know more about his affairs than you do. Open your dog eyes and look! This doesn't look like the late emperor's handwriting at all! In my opinion, this is clearly the work of some treacherous individuals who want to seize power!"
The old minister, trembling with astonishment, exclaimed, "This...this is indeed the late emperor's handwriting!"
Seeing that this person was truly stubborn and incorrigible, Empress Dowager Wen glared at him with her eyes, which instantly turned cold and sharp, and said, "Tell me, did that slut conspire with you to support her ascension to the throne? What benefits did she give you?"
The old minister repeatedly kowtowed to her, crying out, "Your Majesty, please understand! This old minister has never conspired with the legitimate princess. This is indeed the late emperor's decree, the late emperor's decree! This old minister has not uttered a single falsehood!"
As if that wasn't enough to vent her anger, or perhaps she didn't want to see this person hindering her important affairs any longer, Empress Dowager Wen immediately ordered the guards in front of the palace: "Guards, drag this old, blind fool away, give him fifty strokes of the cane, and immediately execute his entire family. Let all officials take this as a warning, and see who dares to act recklessly again!"
In an instant, the old minister was carried away by two guards like an ant. His emaciated figure still refused to give up and shouted loudly to the sky: "If the late emperor has a spirit in heaven, please open your eyes and see! Dongning is about to fall into chaos! Dongning is about to fall into chaos!"
Just as the old minister was about to be dragged out of the hall, and the remaining officials kneeling inside were all sweating profusely, trembling as if they dared not breathe, a very loud voice suddenly rang out in the hall: "Stop!"
In an instant, the magnificent hall fell silent.
Empress Dowager Wen followed the sound and found that Yi Shangyun had somehow gotten up on her own. She glared at her fiercely and scolded her, "I didn't tell you to get up. Who gave you permission to get up? What do you think you are? Do you have the right to speak in this hall?"
Although it is said that "tolerance is a double-edged sword," Yi Shangyun had endured this much and no longer wanted to endure it. So, she stood up without showing any weakness, quickly stepped forward to the Empress and spoke to her in a firm and resounding manner.
Yi Shangyun looked at her for a while and said, "I knelt before you just now out of respect, because you have helped my father to some extent and have also saved face for the royal family! But if you continue to be arrogant and domineering here, continue to distort the truth and harm the loyal and good, don't blame me for being impolite to you!"
The Empress was startled by the words spoken by this frail body. She stared blankly at her face, then suddenly came to her senses and said sternly, "How dare you! Who gave you the audacity to be so disrespectful to me!"
At this moment, Yi Shangyun suddenly raised an eyebrow and smiled at her disdainfully, then said mockingly, "Rude? You dare to say that?"
Upon seeing this, Empress Dowager Wen seemed to be so frightened by his majesty and courage that she could no longer stand. She staggered and was supported by Mei Zhihao beside her. Fortunately, she managed to stand up and muttered to herself, "Rebellion! Rebellion! Is everyone going to rebel?"
Seeing that the Empress had lost her composure, Mei Zhihao stepped forward to help her and said to Yi Shangyun without any politeness, "You ignorant brat, there is no place for a woman like you in the court. Get out of here right now!"
Yi Shangyun glared at him and retorted, "What did you say? You want me to get out? I think the one who should get out is you! As a prince of a nation, you don't know how to share your father's burdens or seek happiness for the people. You spend your days being ignorant, illiterate, licentious, and shameless, only knowing how to indulge in pleasure. Don't you feel ashamed of the name of a prince, ashamed of my royal ancestors?"
"You...you..." Clearly, Mei Zhihao, who was rendered speechless by Yi Shangyun's words, was so angry that he raised one hand high as if to slap Yi Shangyun across the face.
Just as Yi Shangyun was caught off guard, Yi Sanshao, who had been observing everything happening inside the side hall from a distance, was struck by something flying out. Mei Zhihao's raised hand was instantly hit, and he screamed in pain: "Who? Who is it? How dare you secretly plot against this prince?"
All the civil and military officials looked at each other, seemingly unaware of what had happened.
At this moment, Yi Shangyun slowly stepped forward, intending to walk to Empress Dowager Wen's side. When Mei Zhihao saw her coming towards him, he was so frightened that he quickly dodged away.
As Yi Shangyun passed by him, she gave him a contemptuous smile.
He leaned close to Empress Dowager Wen's ear and whispered, "Mother, I urge you to stop now! Don't you know how Father died? Do you really want me to present evidence in front of the entire court, proving that your tonic soup contained the deadly poison, the most deadly of the nine poisonous herbs? As the mother of the nation, to use such a vicious method to send Father to his death will not only disgrace our royal family, but your maternal clan will also be implicated and executed. In the end, not only will you and your son not be able to enjoy your old age in the palace, but even Princess Yongle, who has been married off to Western Qin, will likely face certain death..."
Empress Dowager Wen was stunned upon hearing all this, staring wide-eyed at Yi Shangyun: "You..."
The poison she had so carefully placed in the ointment should have been impossible for anyone to detect. Yet, Yi Shangyun clearly not only knew the ointment contained poison, but also knew what kind of poison it was. Her confidence suggested she had evidence. If this stalemate continued and she truly exposed them, as she said, the consequences would be dire.
Yi Shangyun kept her eyes fixed on her the whole time.
The civil and military officials in front of the palace stared blankly at the two women, never knowing what they were saying.
In an instant, it was as if a great building had collapsed. Betrayed by all, Empress Dowager Wen, who had meticulously planned her entire life, could not afford to gamble any longer and had no choice but to compromise and admit defeat: "I have lost! But don't be so smug. Fortune changes every thirty years. Who knows when my today will be your tomorrow! I curse you to be a short-lived ghost in this life! Just like your mother, you will die a horrible death!"
Upon hearing this, for some reason, Yi Shangyun felt her heart skip a beat.
After finishing her words, she gave her a deep look, then donned her magnificent robes again and walked out of the hall with her head held high.
As she walked away, the officials behind her rang out once more, their voices even louder: "Your Majesty, we respectfully bid farewell to Your Majesty the Empress Dowager!"
At this point, Yi Shangyun watched his receding figure and finally let out a long sigh of relief.
He thought to himself, "Thank goodness, Father Emperor, Empress Dowager Wen did not insist that I produce evidence, otherwise today I might be in trouble... But this also proves that the person who poisoned me was none other than Empress Dowager Wen herself."
After frowning and pondering for a while, Yi Shangyun suddenly came to his senses and hurriedly stepped forward to help the old minister, who was still being held by two guards, to his feet. He said apologetically, "I'm sorry to have made you suffer, sir!"
The old minister said, enunciating each word clearly, "What is a little suffering compared to the sake of my Dongning Kingdom?"
Yi Shangyun felt that Dongning was extremely fortunate to have such loyal followers of the late emperor who were willing to die for their country.
So, she turned around with great satisfaction, only to see all the civil and military officials bowing and kneeling before her with utmost respect: "Your subjects pay homage to Your Majesty, long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"
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