Chapter 419: You Fight, I Fight, and I Get Cuckolded
Emperor An clenched his fists. It wasn't that he didn't want to wipe out the Lu family, but he still had some reservations in his heart.
Lu Chongyuan knew too many of his secrets, and not all members of the Lu family were in Beijing. Given Lu Chongyuan's character, it was hard to guarantee that he had not left a backup plan for the Lu family.
Now that the evidence is conclusive, even if Lu Chongyuan knew all this, he should understand that he cannot escape death. If only he and his son were convicted, the other members of the Lu family could survive. Lu Chongyuan would definitely not tear his face off and fight to the death.
But if the entire Lu family is really punished, even the nine clans of the Lu family will be exterminated as these people in the court said.
There is no guarantee that Lu Chongyuan will not do something desperate.
Emperor An was satisfied as long as he dealt with the Lu family. He did not want to force Lu Chongyuan into a desperate situation. In his opinion, as long as Lu Chongyuan was gone from the Lu family, it would be useless for the others to be alive.
What's more, who can guarantee that no one will die if they are exiled?
Wouldn't it be better to secretly kill the Lu family members in the future than to take the risk of forcing Lu Chongyuan to die together with him?
Emperor An knew that the Qingliu faction would not let the Lu family escape. He had no choice but to look at the officials from the aristocratic families, and his gaze fell on Grand Tutor Liang: "Grand Tutor, what do you think should be done about the Lu family?"
Grand Tutor Liang held his tablet and said, "The Lu family has acted recklessly. The court has its own laws and regulations. How to deal with them is entirely up to your majesty."
Emperor An looked at him in disbelief: "Grand Master, do you think the entire Lu family should be executed?"
Grand Tutor Liang: "This old minister will obey your Majesty's wishes."
Emperor An: “…”
His breath was stuck in his throat and he had to look at the other court officials from the noble families, but he found that everyone was silent wherever his eyes went.
Finally, they forced out two people who were close to Lu Chongyuan, but they found out that both of them were obedient, just like Grand Tutor Liang.
"I am not an official from the Ministry of Justice, so I don't know how to determine the sentence."
"Everything the Lu family has done is deceiving the emperor. Your Majesty is free to deal with them in any way you wish."
Emperor An: “…”
He almost spat in their faces.
Why didn't these people obey his will in the past? Whenever he had a policy, these people would argue with him until they were red in the face.
He'd always retort to everything he said, perhaps forgetting the power of the aristocratic families. But now, they were obediently following the emperor's orders. Were these aristocratic officials crazy? Hadn't they always considered themselves one and the same, sharing honor and disgrace?!
Emperor An had no choice but to look at Xiao Yan, hoping that he would be as considerate as before.
But before Xiao Yan could speak, the second prince suddenly stepped forward.
"Father, I have something to report."
"Your Majesty, I have something to report."
Almost at the same time, Cui Lin also stood up.
Neither of them seemed to have expected the other to stand up, and both chose this time. After looking at each other, the Second Prince and Cui Lin suddenly had a feeling.
Cui Lin (the second prince) also knew the secret that he knew, and Cui Lin (the second prince) wanted to snatch the profit from him!
There was dissatisfaction in the eyes of both of them. They had almost the same thought that the other party dared to hide it from them. When they realized that the thing they thought was a secret was actually known by others, they felt a sense of urgency in their hearts and did not want to let others get in front of them.
"Father!"
The Second Prince spoke first, "I have something important to report. I want to sue Queen Lu and Prince Cheng for colluding and having an affair!"
Cui Lin was a step slower and was overtaken by someone else. He couldn't help but glare at the Second Prince fiercely, thinking that the Second Prince was indeed an ungrateful person who dared to compete with his Cui family.
After the Second Prince finished speaking, Cui Lin, unwilling to be left behind, shouted, "This old minister also wants to report that the Lu family knew all along that Prince Cheng and the Queen had been having an affair for years, yet after the incident at Prince Cheng's mansion, they forced Lu Zhao's wife, Guan, to death to cover up for Queen Lu, deceiving the emperor and deceiving the emperor."
Wow——
The entire hall was in chaos in an instant. Grand Tutor Liang suddenly turned his head and looked at Cui Lin in shock. When he looked at Feng Qiuli again, he saw him staring at the front of the hall in amazement.
Cao Dejiang had known about this and remained calm, only secretly cursing Xiao Yan for his cunning. However, Cui Lin and the Second Prince were completely mad, arguing so fiercely about such a misfortune.
Qian Baokun's eyes sparkled, as if he had heard a huge piece of gossip. The other court officials all looked up at Emperor An, who was suddenly cuckolded. He was sitting on the throne, holding the handle of the dragon chair tightly with a dark face.
Cui Lin glared at the Second Prince angrily and stepped forward and said:
"Your Majesty is merciful and lenient towards the Lu family. Even if Lu Chongyuan committed a heinous crime, he was willing to spare the rest of the Lu family. However, the Lu family has long been disrespectful to Your Majesty. Queen Lu had already known Prince Cheng before discussing marriage with Your Majesty, and the two had even had physical contact long before."
"Empress Lu never severed her relationship with Prince Cheng after marrying Your Majesty. She was even found to be pregnant shortly after their marriage, but the fetus died unexpectedly. Your Majesty and the late Emperor felt extremely sorry for her because of this. However, according to my humble investigation, the fetus was already conceived before Empress Lu married into Your Majesty's household."
"I have already found the person who treated Empress Lu in the past, and also the old servant who was expelled from Prince Cheng's palace in the early years. They can all testify. Your Majesty, please investigate!"
The Second Prince knew that he had offended Cui Lin today, so he had to contribute to the Lu family affairs, at least to let his father know that he was also doing his best in this matter.
Moreover, my father is too tolerant of the Lu family. Even after such a situation, he still wants to spare the lives of other members of the Lu family, and does not even mention Queen Lu and the Fourth Prince.
The second prince only thought that Emperor An still had a father-son relationship with the fourth prince. He had to kill the fourth prince completely, make his father completely disgusted with him, and kick away this biggest stumbling block.
"Your Majesty, I have also found out that the Empress helped Prince Cheng after she married into your household. Even after you ascended the throne, she has never stopped interacting with Prince Cheng."
"Back then, the people from the Ministry of War and the Arsenal were all orchestrated by the Queen, using the Lu family's influence to get them to work for Prince Cheng. Even the Lu family's ships in the Southland secretly transporting iron ore for Prince Cheng were all orchestrated by the Queen. The Lu family knew about this long ago, but they covered it up for the Queen."
"Besides, the Fourth Prince might not be of my father's bloodline..."
"How dare you!" Emperor An was furious.
The Second Prince knelt on the ground with a thud: "Your Highness, I dare not deceive you, Father."
"If the Fourth Prince wasn't of our father's bloodline, why would Prince Cheng have claimed all these years that he was in love with Madam Rongguo and had no children? If Empress Lu hadn't given him a son, Prince Cheng would never have ignored the life and death of his legitimate son and allowed Empress Lu to replace him."
"Prince Cheng never revealed a word about Empress Lu until his death. Besides being deeply in love with her, he also wanted to protect his fourth brother's only bloodline."
"Lu Yin is not a direct descendant of the Lu family. He was a child found by Empress Lu's biological parents before she adopted him. He stayed in Prince Cheng's mansion so that he could assist the Fourth Prince when he grew up."
Emperor An's face was blue with purple and purple with white. He gritted his teeth and looked at the Second Prince who was talking incessantly with sinister eyes. He wished he could kill this "filial son" of his.
He seemed to hear the sound of slaps landing on his face, and the shock of the court officials in the hall made him want to faint.
After today, how many people would laugh at him, the dignified emperor, for marrying a slut as his empress? How would the world view him, the emperor, for raising a bastard for his adulterer for twenty years?!
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