Chapter 1140: Complaint
Gu Zhong immediately knelt down, lowering his head tightly, and said, "Your Majesty, it's the newly promoted attendant, Young Master Bai, who's crying."
The emperor frowned slightly, turned around and said, "Bai Shan, today is the Queen Mother's birthday, why are you crying?"
Bai Shan stood up from the seat, wiped his tears, walked to the main hall and knelt down. The smile on the Queen Mother's face also fell, and she was looking at him with some displeasure.
Bai Shan knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, when I saw the Queen Mother's filial children and grandchildren, surrounded by her, and the Queen Mother's kindness and compassion, I couldn't help but think of my late father. Thinking of my father's early passing, I was unable to enjoy his presence, and my grandmother, who is getting older and still has to work hard for me, I was overwhelmed with sadness and couldn't help myself."
The Queen Mother's expression brightened slightly, and she smiled, "It's wonderful that you have such filial piety. Your father sacrificed his life for his country and died without regrets. In the future, you should show more filial respect to your grandmother. Good child, stop crying."
Bai Shan cried even louder, and fell to the ground. His sobs were suppressed and sad, and instantly spread throughout the silent hall.
Old Lord Tang and Wei Zhi looked at each other, both having a bad feeling.
The Queen Mother was somewhat displeased and asked, "Why are you crying so much more sadly, child?"
Bai Shan raised his head and looked directly at the Queen Mother and the Emperor sitting above with tears on his face. He glanced at the Emperor and saw that he had no expression on his face and had no intention of stopping him, so he understood something.
Bai Shan's lips trembled slightly, and his hands shook with anger and fear. He suppressed his worry for his two friends, reached out and wiped away his tears, saying, "Because I am not a filial person, my father's death was unjust, but I was afraid of the powerful and kept it secret until now. Now seeing how filial Your Majesty and the other princes, sons, and grandsons are to the Queen Mother, I feel guilty and wish I could commit suicide to thank my father. I couldn't hold back my tears. Please punish me, Queen Mother."
The Queen Mother pursed her lips and said, "What grievances have you suffered..." Then go to the Dali Temple and tell them...
Before she could finish her words, the emperor continued, "Your father died suppressing bandits. He died for his country. What injustice did he suffer?"
The King of Yizhou clenched his wine glass and was about to speak when Bai Shan quickly replied, "Your Majesty, my late father died for his country, not while suppressing bandits. He was murdered by the King of Yizhou!"
Everyone in the hall was shocked.
The King of Yizhou threw the wine glass in his hand fiercely, "Where did this little brat come from to slander me like this at my mother's birthday banquet, my royal brother!"
The Queen Mother glanced at the King of Yizhou, then turned and said, "Emperor, I don't understand what's going on in the court, but today is my birthday. If there's anything, why not have the child taken away and ask him tomorrow?"
Bai Shan prostrated himself and said, "Your Majesty, twelve years ago, the King of Yizhou embezzled the money from the riverbank at Xiajianwei Weir to support his own army. For the past twelve years, he has been exploiting the people of Yizhou to recruit talented individuals and raise his own army. His private army is as elite as the Imperial Guard, and their numbers even exceed its own. And you're not even going to do anything about it?"
The ministers were horrified.
The King of Yizhou widened his eyes and subconsciously looked at the emperor.
The emperor was also surprised. Before he could react, the emperor had already scolded him, "How dare you say this! Do you have any evidence? If you are talking nonsense, you are slandering the emperor's relatives, which is a serious crime punishable by death of the entire family!"
The ministers had already started discussing, and the hall suddenly became noisy.
Old Master Tang and Wei Zhi exchanged a glance, then stood up and stepped out of the group, saying, "Your Majesty, raising a private army is a serious matter. Since this young man's words are so certain, why not take him away first and then send someone to investigate further?"
Today's events had reached this point, and the emperor turned his head to look at the queen mother. Seeing her unhappy expression, he nodded quickly and said, "Okay, come, take Bai Shan away."
"Wait a moment," the Queen Mother pulled up her sleeve to cover her slightly trembling hands, staring at Bai Shan and said, "Since he speaks so confidently and obviously has evidence, let him produce the evidence now. Otherwise, who knows if he is just slandering the King of Yizhou with empty words?"
The Queen Mother said, "If this kind of thing isn't severely punished, then today at my birthday party someone will say the Prince of Yizhou is raising a private army, and tomorrow at the Emperor's birthday party someone will say another prince is rebelling. Is the entire nation going to have to rely on the lies of just one or two people?"
The princes who had already been enfeoffed knelt down one after another, feeling that they had suffered an unprovoked disaster.
The emperor frowned slightly and looked down at Bai Shan condescendingly.
Seeing Bai Shan kneeling, the Queen Mother became furious and asked, "What? Did you come to the palace to file a complaint empty-handed? Or do you have no evidence and are only taking this opportunity to slander the King of Yizhou because of a personal grudge against him?"
"The evidence is here." A voice came from outside the hall.
Everyone turned their heads and saw Manbao running in breathlessly. She ran all the way into the hall before she slowed down, brushed the messy hair on her face back, and walked forward step by step with a bloodstain on her face.
When Manbao entered the palace today, she had her hair combed into two buns, with only a few pearl flowers on top to embellish it. Now her hair was disheveled, and the bloodstains on her face were particularly obvious.
Because she had been sitting with Princess Mingda before, most of the people in the hall had noticed her before. Seeing her in such a mess, they couldn't help but look behind her.
The Fifth Prince, Ji Hao, and Princess Changyu ran in after her. They had obviously not heard what the Empress Dowager had said, nor did they know what had happened in the hall. Seeing the silence inside and Zhou Man still walking forward with his head held high, he was startled and hurried forward to grab Zhou Man, kneeling down and saying, "Grandmother, Father, Cousin Yunfeng and Doctor Zhou had a conflict. Cousin Yunfeng was impulsive and accidentally hit Doctor Zhou with a whip. I will take her out now."
The fifth prince knelt down, but Manbao did not. She broke free from the fifth prince's hand and walked towards Bai Shan who was kneeling on the ground.
Bai Shan had already turned around to look at her. Seeing that she looked disheveled and had injuries on her face, his whole face tensed. He watched her walk towards him step by step.
In the hall, the Fifth Prince couldn't drag Zhou Man with him, so he could only get up and follow him. He lowered his voice and said, "Zhou Man, you're going to die. You went crazy just now, why are you still... The Empress Dowager loves Yunfeng very much. She won't do anything for you..."
Manbao quickened his pace, and the Fifth Prince couldn't follow him, so he had to grit his teeth and stop.
Just now in the garden, Zhou Man didn't know what happened. He had clearly stopped Li Yunfeng, and she and Mingda could have just left.
But she suddenly rushed up and pushed him away, then pushed Li Yunfeng to the ground.
At that time, not only he and Li Yunfeng, but everyone else was stunned. Then Li Yunfeng got up and whipped her hard.
Who knew that she would not avoid or give way, but just stood there and let her be whipped in the face.
Everyone was stunned at that time. Ji Hao rushed forward to see her face, but was waved away by Manbao. Then she pulled her hair out in front of them and ran towards the hall.
(End of this chapter)
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