King Cheng has disappeared.
Nobody knows where he went.
The Emperor ordered a search for Prince Cheng, and notices were posted in every prefecture and county of the Great Chu, so that everyone knew about it.
This was the public affair. As for whether people were sent to search privately, no one knew, but all the civil and military officials sensed that this matter was unusual.
Prince Cheng is the emperor's own brother. How could he just disappear without a trace right under the emperor's nose?
The assassins from Xiliang broke into Prince Cheng's residence but only captured his decoys. It's highly likely that Prince Cheng has left the capital, and that he left on his own.
As for what he did after leaving Beijing, that remains unknown.
But walking so furtively can't be a good thing.
The disappearance of the Prince of Cheng was the talk of the town for a day, discussed in streets, alleys, teahouses, and taverns, before being replaced by something else—
The Emperor issued an edict to execute the entire Left Prime Minister's family.
Those who were close to the Left Chancellor were all implicated without exception.
At best, they would be demoted; at worst, their property would be confiscated and they would be exiled; and at worst, they would be beheaded along with the Left Chancellor and his family.
The Emperor's punishment of the Left Chancellor was so severe that even the eldest prince was bewildered.
He and Xie Jingyin fought fiercely for the crown prince position. Xie Jingyin plotted against him, and he almost died at Xie Jingyin's hands. Not only were the Left Prime Minister and Empress Song unharmed, but Xie Jingyin's life was also saved by the Empress Dowager with a pardon.
When it came to the Emperor, Empress Song only used the gold hairpin in her hair to stab him, and she was banished to the Cold Palace, which brought disaster upon her maternal clan.
No, it wasn't just about harming the maternal clan; it was about wiping out all of the Prince of Jin's former allies, some of whom had even switched allegiance to him.
It can be said that, apart from those who had resigned and returned to their hometowns, everyone the emperor knew was the Left Chancellor was eliminated without exception.
Not only officials in the capital, but also officials recommended and promoted by the Left Chancellor and Xie Jingyin were implicated to varying degrees.
Xie Jingyin had the strength to compete with the eldest prince for the crown prince position, and even surpassed the eldest prince at one point, which shows his power in the court. With this removal, many positions in the court became vacant. However, due to the cheating in the spring examination, forty more people were selected in this autumn examination, and many people were still waiting for vacancies. Now this matter has been resolved in one go.
These days, the eldest prince has been extremely busy and overjoyed. Thinking back to the past, when an official position became vacant, he and Xie Jingyin fought tooth and nail for it. Now, no one is competing with him, and so many positions have suddenly become available. He doesn't have enough subordinates, so he's started to be picky about which ones to take.
There's also Zhou Yuanzhi, the newly appointed top scholar. He had just taken office at the Ministry of Personnel and pitifully learned the procedures for promoting officials. Then reality showed him that the procedures only worked in normal times. When many positions suddenly became vacant, the procedures were just for show.
Important positions are usually directly appointed and transferred by the emperor, without going through the Ministry of Personnel. Only officials of the fourth rank and below are subject to examination and consideration by the Ministry of Personnel, who then submit a memorial to the emperor for final approval.
The case of Empress Song's "assassination" of the emperor caused a bloodbath in the capital for half a month before it gradually subsided.
On the day of the execution of the Left Prime Minister, the Emperor summoned Xie Jingyan to the palace and asked him, "Why did you spare the Empress's life?"
Those implicated were all punished, but Empress Song, the culprit, was imprisoned in the Cold Palace. Even though he never saw her again, the Emperor still wished he could have Empress Song slowly tortured whenever he thought about it.
He needed a reason not to kill Empress Song right now.
It was Xie Jingyan who exposed the affair between Empress Song and Prince Cheng. Xie Jingyan wanted to keep Empress Song alive, which is why the Emperor tolerated her until now. The Emperor has reached his limit.
Yes, this was intolerable, and the Emperor almost chopped off Eunuch Yuan's head.
When the news of the execution of the Left Prime Minister's family reached Empress Song's ears, she was devastated. Coupled with the fact that she had been confined to the Cold Palace for so many days, unable to eat or sleep properly, and suffering both physically and mentally, she was already in a state of threatened miscarriage. Upon receiving such heartbreaking news, Empress Song lost her child.
The old woman guarding the Cold Palace was unaware that Empress Song was pregnant. Seeing so much blood, she was terrified and didn't know what to do. The Emperor had beheaded the entire Left Prime Minister's family and wouldn't give Empress Song a way out, but he hadn't killed her, only imprisoned her. He probably didn't expect her to die now. The old woman was so anxious that she was afraid Empress Song would die.
The shadow guard reported this to the Emperor, whose face turned grim. When Eunuch Yuan heard from the shadow guard that Empress Song might die, and remembering Xie Jingyan's words about sparing Empress Song's life, he cautiously suggested, "How about letting Chief Physician Zhao examine the Empress?"
Zhao, the Imperial Physician, is usually only responsible for treating the Emperor and Empress Dowager. He was qualified before the Empress was banished to the Cold Palace, but now that she has been banished and is pregnant with Prince Cheng's illegitimate child, and the child has been lost, why should they still call for imperial physicians for her?!
The Emperor's piercing gaze swept over Eunuch Yuan.
Eunuch Yuan was suffering in his heart.
He also kept in mind the instructions of Prince Ling. If he could have invited another imperial physician, he would not have let Chief Physician Zhao go. It was better to have as few people as possible who knew about it.
It's already a miracle that the Emperor didn't kill Empress Song; he even summoned a royal physician for her. The person who thought of sparing Empress Song's life was Xie Jingyan, and to this day, the Emperor still doesn't know why he kept Empress Song alive.
The emperor then summoned Xie Jingyan to the palace.
The Emperor still remembers that his son knows a lot of things, but he also remembers that what his son told him was only part of the story, and there are still things he is keeping from him.
The Emperor still remembers when Xie Jingyan was a child, he sat on the dragon throne, held him in his arms, and taught him the art of being an emperor, saying that the easiest person to deceive in the world was the Emperor.
Because the emperor could not easily leave the palace, everything he saw and heard was told to him by others. As long as it came from other people's mouths, there was a possibility of deception.
To prevent this possibility, the emperor needs to maintain checks and balances, have more informants, and let others know the consequences of deceiving him...
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