Chapter 252 Green-haired Turtle
Prince Cheng lowered his eyes for a long moment before suddenly speaking sarcastically, "Your Majesty is willing to sacrifice even your own brother, so how could you spare A-Yin?"
"Uncle Cheng..."
"You don't have to say anything more. I will never tell you."
He raised his eyes with a ferocious look: "Xiao Yan, that eunuch thief, is the emperor's lackey. It's fine if he wants to deal with the aristocratic families and step on them to get to the top, but Xie Guangzheng, you have the blood of the Lu family flowing in your body, and now you are helping others to deal with the Lu family. I wonder if Lu Chongyuan will regret supporting you, an ungrateful person, for all these years."
Prince Cheng suddenly turned hostile and started cursing, which made the Fourth Prince look ugly.
Cheng Ping said sternly: "How dare you!"
"How dare a slave who relies on his master's power to speak to this king about his impertinence?"
Prince Cheng leaned against the wall, his graying hair tangled, his eyes filled with sarcasm. "I heard long ago that Empress Lu was ungrateful and abandoned the Lu family. How could I not remember how she knelt in gratitude and was adopted into the Lu family? If it weren't for the Lu family, would she, a concubine's daughter from a side branch, have married into the royal family and become empress?"
"She was so humble and pitiful when she knelt three times and nine times to beg the Lu family to cover up her background. Now she has forgotten that the Lu family helped her and even raised a little ungrateful person like you."
"You mother and son still dare to say that the Lu family is shameless. In my opinion, you are the most shameless..."
"Shut up!"
The Fourth Prince's face turned cold as he listened to Prince Cheng's abuse of the Queen. After the warmth on his face faded, he was so angry that he kicked Prince Cheng: "Don't refuse a toast and then drink a penalty. I tried to persuade him with kind words, and you dare to insult my mother?!"
King Cheng was already seriously injured, and he was just hanging on by a thread during this period. He was kicked and hit the wall.
His face was filled with pain, but he still gasped and sneered, "Insults? Haha, it seems you don't know. Your good mother looks noble and graceful, but in fact she is the daughter of a lowly servant."
Seeing the Fourth Prince's eyes redden, he glanced at Xiao Yan standing in front of the prison door and said sarcastically, "Lu Qinghong really thought that by being adopted into the Lu family's direct branch and changing her name to Qingfeng, she could cover up her humble origins."
"Her mother was just a foot-washing maid. She climbed into the bed of a man from the Lu family's side branch and only then became a daughter of the Lu family. If she hadn't already won your father's favor at the time and her mother had some tricks up her sleeve, it would have been too late for the main branch of the Lu family to discover her unusual background. How could she have been adopted by Lu Chongyuan and become the queen..."
Bang!
As the Fourth Prince listened to Prince Cheng's increasingly eloquent remarks, his face turned livid. He grabbed Prince Cheng's neck tightly, pushing him against the wall and angrily shouted, "Shut up!!"
His expression was extremely grim. He pinched King Cheng and said coldly, "Tell me, who is the one who is having an affair with you?!"
King Cheng felt a choking sensation in his throat. He looked at the furious face so close to him and hissed, "If you want to know, go check it out yourself... Let me tell you, you're dreaming!"
"Xie Tianyu!"
The Fourth Prince wished he could strangle the man in front of him to death. He thought he was just here to ask about the Lu family, but he didn't expect that he would actually involve his mother's life experience.
He didn't know how his mother was adopted by Lu Chongyuan, and he rarely heard his mother and the Lu family talk about the past. But Prince Cheng's words were very certain, and he had secretly met his real grandmother, who was a very shrewd woman.
Even though the Fourth Prince was unwilling to believe it, he subconsciously felt that what King Cheng said might be true. However, it was because of this thought that he became even more angry with King Cheng.
If he had known that these things would be involved and embarrass his mother, he would rather not have come today.
The Fourth Prince tightened his fingers, and for a moment murderous intent flashed in his eyes.
Xiao Yan said calmly: "Fourth Prince."
The Fourth Prince regained consciousness and looked at Prince Cheng who was almost suffocating. He remembered that this was the imperial prison and Xiao Yan and the others were still watching from behind. His face turned grim as he let go of his hand and threw the man against the wall.
There was a fishy and sweet taste in King Cheng's throat, and he bent over and gasped for breath.
The Fourth Prince said coldly, "I was thinking of pleading with the Emperor on your behalf, giving you a chance to atone for your sins, but since you don't want it, then you can wait until the Lu family affair is fully investigated, and then you and Xie Yin will die together without a burial place."
"Cheng Ping, let's go!"
The Fourth Prince walked out of the prison full of anger. King Cheng couldn't help but look up at him. Although he quickly lowered his head and gasped softly, Xiao Yan could still clearly see the change in his eyes at that moment.
The prison door was closed again. The Fourth Prince wiped his hands with a handkerchief, looking unlucky. "Lord Xiao, what happened just now..."
"This Governor will not interfere in the Empress's private affairs."
The Fourth Prince looked at Tang Ning again, and Tang Ning said softly, "I didn't hear anything."
The Fourth Prince was relieved when he saw their statements. Although the Queen's origins were a long time ago, she was adopted by Lu Chongyuan and married into the royal family as the legitimate daughter of the Lu family. Even if those things were exposed, it would not affect her status. However, it was a scandal after all, and it would become a stain on Queen Lu to some extent.
The Fourth Prince relaxed a little before speaking grimly, "That Xie Tianyu is talking nonsense, making accusations everywhere, but he never mentioned the whore he had with."
His face looked bad, and his tone became increasingly vicious when he spoke of those who colluded with King Cheng.
Adulterers and adulterers are really disgusting!
"Xie Tianyu refuses to repent and continues to protect that whore. I'm afraid we won't be able to get anything out of him. We've come all this way for nothing."
"Not necessarily."
Xiao Yan's words startled the Fourth Prince. Seeing Xiao Yan walking out, he quickly chased after him, "What do you mean, Governor Xiao?"
Xiao Yan said calmly, "Your Highness, have you ever wondered how Prince Cheng knew the Empress's background?"
Seeing the Fourth Prince's stunned expression, clearly still not reacting, he said:
"The Empress was betrothed to Your Majesty by the late Emperor. The world only knows that she was adopted into Lu Chongyuan's family from a side branch. Has anyone ever mentioned her background?"
"Prince Cheng just said that the Lu family only discovered that the Queen and the side branch had deceived them after the adoption. However, the marriage had probably already been granted by then. The Lu family and Lu Chongyuan could not bear the crime of deceiving the emperor. They were also afraid that people would know that the Queen was a concubine's daughter and that her biological mother was of low status and was disliked by His Majesty. Therefore, the Lu family found a way to cover up this matter. That's why they concealed it so perfectly and it went unnoticed for many years."
The Fourth Prince listened to Xiao Yan's words and suddenly remembered what King Cheng had just said.
He said that the Queen Mother had to kowtow to Lu Chongyuan and others three times and nine times before they could let them cover up for her. Given Lu Chongyuan's personality, if he wanted to hide it from the world, then the Queen Mother's life experience before she was adopted into the main branch would never be known to outsiders. So how did Prince Cheng know it?
The Fourth Prince looked at Xiao Yan: "Lord Xiao, you mean the man who had an affair with Prince Cheng..."
Xiao Yan said, "Prince Cheng is colluding with Hou Rui of the Ministry of War. It was that person who pulled the strings for him. He has access to the Lu family's connections and resources, and he knows the secrets that the Lu family deliberately concealed back then and then tells Prince Cheng. Who do you think it is, Your Highness?"
The Fourth Prince checked all the women of the Lu family almost as soon as Xiao Yan finished speaking.
The person who can act as a matchmaker for Prince Cheng and stir up trouble in the capital should be living in the Lu family, otherwise he would be out of reach and unable to reach so far.
Hou Rui listened to her and acted accordingly, so her identity must be extraordinary. Moreover, since Lu Chongyuan had intentionally concealed his mother's secret, he would definitely not tell anyone else. The person who knew about it must be someone very close to Lu Chongyuan, or someone very close to the important people in the Lu family.
After the Lu family's aunts married off, they could no longer use the Lu family's connections, nor could they command the Lu family. Aside from them and the elderly Mrs. Lu, the only female relatives of high status who lived in the Lu family for a long time and had access to the Lu family's secrets were the Lu family's wives...
The Fourth Prince's expression changed. He looked up at Xiao Yan and asked, "Those aunts of the Lu family?"
Several of the Lu wives flashed through his mind. It was hard to believe that any of them would have an affair with Prince Cheng. But if it was really one of them, then which uncle of the Lu family would have been made a cuckold by Prince Cheng?!
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