After finishing breakfast, Azi had Qinghe bring Chu'er over. She felt like she hadn't seen her precious son in ages, and as soon as she saw him, she hugged and kissed him. Chu'er was also very attached to his mother, clinging tightly to her sleeve and smiling happily at her. Di Jingcheng and Azi played with Chu'er for a while before going to deal with the dirty work from earlier.
Emperor Jingcheng and Zheng He'er arrived at the prison. Cheng'er was already interrogating the Li family members. Old Madam Li was old and was not tortured, but the two maids could not withstand Cheng'er's torture and had confessed everything.
Cheng Er recounted in a low voice the matter of the Empress being poisoned. The Li family did not have the guts to deliberately harm the Empress, but Madam Li's personal maid was incompetent. In her haste to add medicine to Miss Zhang's food, she accidentally sprinkled the powder into the Empress's food, causing the Empress to be poisoned.
Di Jingcheng felt as if he had swallowed a fly. When he heard Cheng Er explain why he had been drugged, he was even more furious. They were all family, yet they couldn't tolerate Li Yannian. It was lucky that Li Yannian was so fortunate; otherwise, Jinghan would have been heartbroken.
"Where is she?" Di Jingcheng wanted to see these two vicious women with his own eyes. How dare they scheme against his sister and make his beloved suffer such torment? They deserved to die.
"Your Majesty, Madam Li is quite honest. She explained the plot in detail and said that it was instigated by that old Madam Li, which is almost identical to what the two maids said. However, this old Madam Li insists that she knew nothing about it and is innocent."
"The evidence is irrefutable, leaving no room for her to deny it." Di Jingcheng's calm words carried an underlying anger.
Once inside the cell, Madam Li sat in a corner, eyes closed, resting. Her hair was slightly disheveled and dusty. But she appeared completely calm, as if she had truly distanced herself from the matter.
Emperor Jingcheng remained silent, standing at the door and observing her for a while. Old Madam Li was unaware that the Emperor had personally arrived, assuming it was just a jailer delivering food. However, after a long while without hearing anyone leave, she slowly opened her eyes and was startled to see the Emperor in a bright yellow brocade robe before her.
She hurriedly staggered to her feet and knelt down on the ground: "Greetings, Your Majesty! Long live the Emperor! This humble woman was unaware of Your Majesty's arrival. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
Di Jingcheng looked at the woman with gray hair and a hunched figure crawling on the ground. She was already quite old, yet she was still causing trouble. Didn't she know how to accumulate some good karma for her next life and her descendants?
He remained expressionless and did not allow anyone to stand up: "At your age, you still don't know how to behave yourself. Madam Li has truly brought shame to General Li Yan."
Madam Li's face was already quite pale. She hadn't expected the Emperor to be so merciless and humiliate her on the spot. She closed her eyes and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I truly did not know about the plot to harm the Empress. I was blinded by my daughter-in-law. I beg Your Majesty to show leniency for the sake of the Protector General."
"Li Yan is far away from home, and his mother and wife at home are causing him so much worry. How can he serve the country with peace of mind? In my opinion, it is the best course of action to deal with these troubles for him."
"Your Majesty, please forgive me!" Upon hearing this, Madam Li was filled with fear. The Emperor truly had no intention of showing any consideration for her son. It was all that foolish daughter-in-law's fault for drugging Miss Zhang and daring to plot against the Empress. It was absolutely outrageous, leaving Madam Li with no way to exonerate herself.
"Forgive me? You should know what crime it is to murder the Empress, not to mention to frame your own grandson and the daughter of an official. Which one of these is not a capital offense? I came here today only because of the General Protector of the Nation, but it seems that you still do not repent." Emperor Jingcheng finished speaking indifferently and then turned and left, leaving only Old Madam Li prostrate on the ground. It took her a long time to get up, her body trembling.
It's all over, it's all over!
The following day, Emperor Jingcheng publicly revealed that the two ladies of the Li family had deliberately plotted to harm the Empress and frame innocent people. The evidence was irrefutable, causing an uproar in the court and among the people. Of course, they quickly accepted the matter, after all, they had heard some things from their female relatives the day before. They felt that the two ladies of the Li family were extremely vicious and petitioned for a severe sentence.
However, due to the meritorious service of the two generals of the Li family, their crimes, which should have resulted in the execution of nine generations of their families, were leniently pardoned. After some discussion, Emperor Jingcheng issued an edict to execute Old Madam Li and Madam Li, and to execute the two maids by slow slicing. As for the rest of the Li family, they only received verbal warnings and were not implicated.
Li Yan, far away in Beixiang, received a secret letter from the emperor. His face was full of disbelief. He couldn't believe that his usually gentle and virtuous wife and mother would dare to openly plot against the empress and frame innocent people, all because they didn't want their own family to have an easy time. He found it utterly absurd.
Despite his grief and sorrow, he accepted the situation. The Emperor had been incredibly kind to the Li family, sparing no one else and ensuring that his son's marriage to Princess Changning proceeded as planned. He was deeply grateful and wrote to the Emperor requesting permission to return to the capital. He wanted to personally instruct everyone in his household, as he had neglected his family due to his long absences from home.
Di Jingcheng readily agreed, after all, Li Yannian and Di Jinghan were about to get married, and it would be a good thing for him, as their father, to come back and watch his son get married.
Li Yannian was also somewhat puzzled by the behavior of his two elders, but he immediately understood. After all, he had been neglected and harassed by his family since childhood. Now that he had made something of himself, he was in their way, so it was only natural that they wanted to get rid of him.
However, he was incredibly relieved that he hadn't been successfully outmaneuvered; otherwise, how could he face his beloved? The Empress, on the other hand, felt deeply guilty for being unjustly implicated.
He had already started his duties at the palace and could move around freely. Today, he brought some gifts, nothing more than pastries that the girls in the capital loved to eat. When he arrived at the gate of Di Jinghan's palace, the little eunuch hurriedly came forward: "This servant greets General Li."
"Please trouble you to go in and inform them, sir," Li Yannian said politely.
"General Li, please wait here for a moment."
The young eunuch nimbly ran inside, and soon Ning Hui came to escort him in: "General Li, please follow me. The princess is waiting for you inside."
Li Yannian, carrying a delicately packaged pastries, nodded slightly and followed Ning Hui inside. Di Jinghan was having breakfast when he saw Li Yannian enter and quickly put down his chopsticks to greet him.
"A-Nian, you're here! Come and sit down." Di Jinghan smiled and pointed to the stool next to her.
Li Yannian smiled gently and sat down with her.
Ning Hui dismissed the palace servants and stood aside to serve them herself.
"Jinghan, did you sleep well last night?" Li Yannian first asked with concern, which Di Jinghan clearly appreciated, and he nodded happily.
"Very good, the matters in the palace have been mostly resolved. Ah Nian, last time was truly a close call!" Di Jinghan still felt a lingering fear when he recalled that incident.
Li Yannian placed the pastries on the table, tenderly held her small hand, and gently comforted her. It was also his fault for making his beloved worry.
When Di Jinghan saw the pastries on the table, he assumed Li Yannian had brought them for him and reached out to open them. However, Li Yannian, contrary to his usual behavior, protected the pastries and pushed them aside.
Di Jinghan was quite puzzled and a little unhappy. She pouted and said with dissatisfaction, "What do you mean by this? Wasn't it for me? You want to give it to that little girl too?!"
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