A maid in the Queen's palace could not bear the torture and confessed that the assassin was from the Queen's palace. On the day the emperor was assassinated, she had told him the emperor's whereabouts on the Queen's order.
The maid said she was only following the Queen's orders and knew nothing else. After confessing, she realized she had betrayed her master and had no chance of survival, so she bit her tongue and committed suicide on the spot.
There were also servants in the East Palace who testified that the prince had complained in the palace that the emperor was ungrateful and would rather believe outsiders than trust himself. He really didn't know when he, the prince, would be able to succeed to the throne?
Thus, the Queen and the Crown Prince were convicted of conspiracy to assassinate the emperor, and both were demoted to commoners. The Queen was given a white silk scarf, and the Crown Prince was exiled three thousand miles away, never to return to the capital.
Li Chengrui, the eighth son born to the queen, was implicated by his mother and brother and should have been deposed. However, the queen mother, considering his young age, only stripped him of his princely title and ordered him to move out of the palace immediately.
The power of the Queen's family crumbled instantly. Members of the family were exiled or sent into exile. The century-old family was wiped out.
Xie Wanyun couldn't help but sigh at the changing fortunes. The once-powerful Xie family, the Duke of Zhenguo, and the now-powerful Empress's family were now mere pawns in the game of power.
The country could not remain without a ruler for a single day, so the ministers petitioned the Queen Mother to appoint a new ruler. However, the process of enthroning a new ruler proved to be extremely cumbersome.
Dezong left behind few princes, and the frail and sickly third prince was naturally unsuitable to inherit the throne.
The Fourth and Fifth Princes were leading troops abroad, and both were close to the Crown Prince. They were headstrong and self-righteous, and definitely not the right choices for a wise ruler. Not to mention the Sixth Prince, who had long been exiled for corruption.
The entire court, civil and military officials, discussed the matter over and over again, but could not find a suitable candidate. Someone suggested choosing the heir to the throne from among the royal family, but the empress dowager immediately rejected it.
The emperor was assassinated, and during the period of national mourning, Yan Suizhi and Xie Wanyun's wedding was naturally postponed.
The two actually had different opinions on the identity of the assassin. Although the Queen and the Crown Prince were dissatisfied with the Emperor, they were not so determined as to kill him.
The emperor did not express his dislike for the prince obviously. As long as the prince was careful and cautious and did not make any big mistakes, he could always wait until the time came to succeed to the throne in a legitimate way. Why should he risk his life and kill his father and the king?
The empress had even less reason to do so. Even if the emperor did not like the crown prince, he doted on his other son, the eighth prince Li Chengrui. Even if the crown prince could not inherit the throne in the future, the eighth prince would definitely succeed to the throne.
No matter which son becomes emperor, she will always be the empress dowager, so why should she resort to such a desperate measure?
However, the entire court either remained silent or deemed the Queen and the Crown Prince guilty. The two men watched with disdain, having long understood that this was just another power struggle.
Someone wants to suppress the queen's family. Since the prince is close to his maternal grandfather's family, he naturally cannot stay.
But no matter which faction's fight it was, Xie Wanyun and Yan Suizhi were unwilling to get involved in it again.
Ever since Yan Suizhi was imprisoned for no reason last time, both of them have been extremely disgusted with the intrigues in the court.
Yan Suizhi even considered retiring, wanting to resign and return to the countryside to travel with Xie Wanyun. However, because his son, Yan Jinbai, was still the Prince of Rui, he was worried that his youth would make him impatient, so he stayed in the court.
The calls for a new emperor to be enthroned as soon as possible grew louder and louder. The ministers argued fiercely in the court every day, urging the empress dowager to make a decision as soon as possible. Finally, the empress dowager issued an imperial decree, promising to give an explanation to the ministers at the court meeting the next day.
Yan Suizhi and Yan Jinbai left the court. As the three of them discussed the matter, none of them could guess what the Queen Mother was planning. Was she going to leave the frail Third Prince behind? The Fourth and Fifth Princes had already been on their way back upon hearing of the Emperor's passing. They should have arrived long ago, but there had been no news.
They didn't know if there was any hidden story behind this, nor did they want to bother finding out.
Later, Xie Wanyun simply said, "Since I can't guess it, then let's not guess. No matter who becomes the emperor, we will just be loyal ministers. Why bother ourselves with trouble?"
Yan Suizhi's eyes lit up and he sighed, "Mianmei is right! I was so short-sighted that I didn't even think of this."
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