Chapter 580: Deposing the Queen and the Crown Prince
Emperor Tianyuan listened to the Empress's every word with mixed emotions. It seemed the Empress had already put herself at the center of public controversy to protect the Crown Prince. This courage filled him with both heartache and admiration.
"Empress, you know that if these charges are proven true, the consequences will be disastrous." There was a subtle tremor in Emperor Tianyuan's voice, and he tried to use majesty to cover up his inner fluctuations.
The queen looked up, her eyes clear and firm.
"Of course I know. But I also understand that as the Queen, I should set an example, admit my mistakes, and correct them. The mistakes I made not only hurt innocent people, but also betrayed the Emperor's trust and love. I am willing to exchange my own mistakes for the peace of the harem and the Emperor's forgiveness."
Emperor Tianyuan was silent for a moment. He slowly walked to the queen and reached out to help her up.
"Empress, I know exactly what you are thinking. Please get up first and let me think about it..."
But he was gently pushed away by the queen.
The queen insisted on kneeling and continued.
"I beg Your Majesty to abolish my position as empress and grant me death as a warning to others. At the same time, the Crown Prince, as the heir to the Tianyuan throne, does not know right from wrong and listens to others' instigation. He is truly unworthy of the position of heir. I beg Your Majesty to dethrone him and make him a prince of leisure. This will be considered as fulfilling the love between me and Your Majesty over the years, and the love between Your Majesty and the Crown Prince for so many years."
Upon hearing this, Emperor Tianyuan spoke with helplessness and a bit of anxiety.
"You, Queen, you... Hey, why are you doing this?"
The queen kowtowed heavily and prostrated herself at the feet of Emperor Tianyuan.
"Your Majesty, the Hua family and the Crown Prince were both implicated because of my greed. Please, Your Majesty, consider the generations of loyalty the Hua family has shown to the Tianyuan Dynasty, and the old age of my father. Confiscate the Hua family's property and demote them to commoners."
When Emperor Tianyuan heard this, a complex emotion surged in his heart. He knew that the Queen's action was not only a punishment for himself, but also to protect the Hua family and the prince. Looking at the Queen, she spoke with a bit of anger in her voice.
"So the Queen is willing to sacrifice herself to protect the Crown Prince and the Hua family. You are truly a good daughter of the Hua family and a good mother to the Crown Prince."
Upon hearing this, the queen kowtowed heavily again.
"I thank you for your grace."
Emperor Tianyuan paced a few steps anxiously, pointed at the queen, and spoke with a look of disappointment.
"Queen, Hua Lingyi, why is your Hua family so greedy? Why can't you trust me a little more? As soon as I ascended the throne, I immediately named our child the Crown Prince and promoted the Hua family. Sometimes I even suppressed the maternal families of other concubines, just to let our child be a Crown Prince peacefully and inherit the throne in the future. But what have you done? Huh?"
Perhaps because he was too angry, Emperor Tianyuan walked to the desk angrily, raised his hand and threw all the memorials on the table to the ground.
"I know you care about Xu'er. These petitions requesting the dethronement of the Crown Prince have been suppressed again and again. Why are you forcing me like this?"
Upon hearing this, the Queen looked up at Emperor Tianyuan with eyes full of anger.
"Your Majesty, I have never thought of forcing you. It's just that things have come to this point, and I'm already in a dilemma. I have no choice. We have been married for many years. I have taken care of the harem for Your Majesty, and even if I have no merit, I have worked hard. When we were young, Your Majesty and I were in love. Now I only hope that Your Majesty will see this and spare the Crown Prince and the Hua family. They all went astray because of my instigation."
Upon hearing this, Emperor Tianyuan looked at the Queen coldly.
"Really? Queen, do you take me for a fool?"
Upon hearing this, the queen kowtowed heavily again.
"I beg Your Majesty to grant my wish."
When I raised my head, I saw that my forehead was bleeding.
Emperor Tianyuan felt mixed emotions in his heart, even a hint of discomfort.
"You go back first!"
The queen spoke with determination in her eyes after hearing this.
"Your Majesty, if you do not agree today, I will die in this imperial study."
Looking at the Queen's stubborn look, Emperor Tianyuan was both angry and helpless.
He finally spoke angrily.
"Okay, okay, this is what you want. I will grant you your wish."
Then he took out the jade pendant that Concubine Shu had brought with her and threw it in front of the Queen, and the jade pendant shattered into pieces in an instant.
The queen looked at the broken jade pendant on the ground, clenched her hands tightly with her fingertips, and pinched them into her palms. She lowered her head and closed her eyes tightly, and two lines of tears rolled down her cheeks.
"I sincerely thank the Emperor for his help. I hope the Emperor will continue to enjoy good fortune and a long and healthy life."
Emperor Tianyuan looked at her.
"Come here, draft an order."
"I have recently investigated the case of the Crown Prince and the Hua family buying and selling official positions. The verdict is in. Hua Lingyi, the daughter of the Hua family, was intelligent and capable, and was deeply favored by the Emperor, who once entrusted her with the important task of assisting the harem. However, she became arrogant and indulged her selfish desires, spreading slander, forming cliques for personal gain, and abusing power within the imperial court and harem, causing the Crown Prince to commit a heinous crime. This is truly a crime that is unforgivable and inflicts the wrath of the entire nation. I hereby depose her from her position as Empress, demoted her to the rank of Consort, and exiled her to Sijing Palace."
"The Hua family, following Hua Lingyi's orders, committed the crime of selling official positions. Their property was confiscated and they were demoted to commoners. Their descendants for three generations were also prohibited from taking the imperial examinations."
"Crown Prince Jun Moxu, as the crown prince, has no independent opinion and is unworthy of his position. I am now deposing him from the crown prince position and enfeoffing him as Prince Jing. I hope he will be cautious in his words and actions and reflect on his mistakes."
Soon the eunuch finished writing and the emperor stamped it with the imperial seal.
"Queen, are you satisfied now?"
Upon hearing this, the queen kowtowed.
"I thank the Emperor very much. Long live the Emperor."
Emperor Tianyuan handed the imperial edict belonging to Empress Buhua to Zhao Ping.
"Send Hua Cairen to Jingsi Palace. To avoid being upset by looking at the things in Fengyi Palace, move them to Jingsi Palace. From now on, Jingsi Palace will be closed, and people can only enter but not leave."
Zhao Ping took the imperial edict to help Hua Cairen.
"Hua Cairen, let's go."
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