Chapter 391: Forged Will
The two prime ministers looked at each other and stood up.
Indeed, the will is more important now.
"Where is your Majesty's last will?" Prime Minister Peng asked Zhu Zhengchun.
Who made Zhu Zhengchun serve Daizong personally? Cao Zhengxing didn’t even get such treatment.
Zhu Zhengchun turned his gaze towards Lily in the corner, looking at the package she was holding tightly in her arms and said, "The will is with you..."
"The will is in the hands of the Za family."
Cao Zhengxing took a step forward holding a long wooden box. Before he could open it, Ji Sheng suddenly said, "The imperial concubine also has a will in her hand. Let's take a look at it together."
When Lily heard Ji Sheng's voice, she lowered her head. This didn't look like she had a will.
Cao Zhengxing looked at Ji Sheng, who had interrupted him, with a half-smile, and said, "I personally received my will from your Majesty."
"It should be the Imperial Concubine's too. You adults can verify whether it is real or not."
Ji Sheng didn't know what the content of Cao Zhengxing's will was, but seeing how happy he was, it was probably not something he liked.
"This is better."
Cao Zhengxing seemed certain that the imperial edict in his hand was authentic. After Ji Sheng finished speaking, he calmly handed the imperial edict in his hand to Prime Minister Peng, who was closest to him.
Although Lily was unwilling, she had been forced to this point, so she had no choice but to let go of the package in her arms.
Xixi wrinkled her nose, and when she turned her head while holding Ji Sheng, she saw the rotten corpse exposed from the package.
Or it can't be called a corpse, it's just a piece of meat with an unclear shape.
"Daddy."
Xixi shouted in Jisheng's ear.
Ji Sheng held Xixi and stepped back a few steps, but the smell was still not much better.
Lily murmured something softly as she opened the package, and then took out the imperial edict wrapped in layers of silk from the interlayer of the package.
She closed the package and placed it gently on the ground, then came to Prime Minister Lin with the imperial edict in both hands.
"This is the will His Majesty left to me before his death."
Minister Lin frowned and looked at Lily, but took the will with both hands.
In fact, no one in the court took Lily, the so-called saintly imperial concubine, seriously, even though she gave birth to the so-called natural-born dragon son.
Given Daizong's physical condition, it is still unclear whether this dragon son is his.
And they would definitely not allow a child of unknown origin to become the next emperor.
Therefore, the content of this will must first be true for them; secondly, even if it is true, the content must convince them, otherwise the will may become false.
The scene was very ironic. Daizong's body was still lying on the dragon couch in the back, and the two prime ministers in the front were verifying the authenticity of the two edicts in front of the table brought by the young eunuch.
The edicts in the hands of both prime ministers contained only half of the contents. The one in the hands of Prime Minister Lin read: "The Emperor, by the Mandate of Heaven, proclaims that I, with my virtuous character, shall inherit the throne of the great ancestor… The Imperial Noble Consort's son, Rongcheng, is my most beloved. However, Rongcheng is young and ignorant, so I appoint Prince Ji Sheng of Wei as regent…"
When Prime Minister Lin saw the imperial edict to enthrone the dead youngest son as emperor, he tacitly agreed that this will was an invalid edict.
In particular, when it comes to the announcement of who will inherit the throne, although the handwriting is similar to Daizong's notes, there are still some differences when you look closely.
So, Lin Xianghe handed over the imperial edict and looked coldly at Baihe, who was holding the package with a nervous look on her face. He sternly rebuked her, "What is the crime for the Imperial Concubine to forge the imperial edict?"
Lily straightened her back suddenly, "I didn't!"
"This imperial edict was given to me personally by His Majesty! I am the mother of His Majesty's son and the mother of the new emperor. Even if the new emperor dies, I should be the empress dowager!"
Before she could finish her words, the young eunuch standing behind Cao Zhengxing covered her mouth, grabbed her arms and pulled her out.
The package fell off Lily's body and she struggled frantically with bloodshot eyes.
But Lily, who had been kneeling for many days, was no match for the two eunuchs behind her. In the end, she could only watch the package fall and was dragged out by the eunuchs.
Minister Peng and Minister Lin looked at the ruthless Cao Zhengxing. Although they felt very unhappy, they did not say anything.
After all, no matter how Lily argued, forging or tampering with the will was a capital crime.
Cao Zhengxing looked at Prime Minister Peng, who was frowning and staring at the will he had given out, and slowly raised the corners of his mouth.
In fact, the edict in Lily's hand was the last edict written by Daizong. Unfortunately, the emperor died before it wrote down who would inherit the throne.
Lily has been in the palace for so long that she has long forgotten her original intention of just wanting to survive.
Once you have tasted power, it is difficult to let it go, including Lily, who was often bullied in the past.
Perhaps it was because she was used to being bullied, so after gaining power, she saw those who used to boss her around now bowing and scraping to her, and she suddenly understood why people are addicted to power.
Because it feels so good to be in control of everything.
But her child had died long ago, and the child that Daizong saw at that time was just a substitute she had managed to find, and that substitute also disappeared inexplicably when Daizong died.
She had clearly sent so many people to keep an eye on him, but he still disappeared.
She just wanted to use that child to be the queen mother, even if it was a puppet queen mother it didn't matter, but why, why couldn't she be satisfied!
If Cao Zhengxing had not intervened, she would have already negotiated the terms with Ji Sheng using this edict. She only wanted to be the queen mother and live a peaceful and prosperous life.
The will in Lily's hand was invalidated, but the will given by Cao Zhengxing was still there.
The will Cao Zhengxing gave was also half, but at least it had more words than what Lily had in her hand before.
Prime Minister Peng didn't say anything. Prime Minister Lin came up to Prime Minister Peng and looked at the edict.
Even if the content of the will was to let Ji Sheng inherit the throne, he had made preparations, so why was Peng Xiang hesitating while holding the will?
However, when Prime Minister Lin saw the contents of the will, his brows furrowed as tightly as Prime Minister Peng's.
Cao Zhengxing observed the two men's actions and said, "My Lords, this handwriting is undoubtedly your Majesty's, right?"
Peng Xiang took a deep breath. This was the strangest thing.
The handwriting is almost exactly the same as that of His Majesty in the cabinet. Even if Daizong were to be resurrected, he probably would not say that the handwriting was not his.
The handwriting is indeed his, but the content of the will is a bit too outrageous.
Cao Zhengxing didn't give the two prime ministers much opportunity to study it. After Prime Minister Peng and Prime Minister Lin nodded in agreement that it was Daizong's handwriting, he spoke again, "Since you are also certain that this is His Majesty's will, how about we read it out now?"
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