Chapter 544 Eliminate one first
After drinking her tea, Consort Li returned to the palace with the sword tassel that Du Wanchun had given her and told the Emperor about it.
The Emperor was sending people to search for Zhou Ruiyuan's whereabouts when he saw the sword tassel. He was shocked and quickly grabbed it in his hand. "Where did this come from?" he asked Consort Li.
Consort Li replied, "It was given to me by Manager Du when I went to the Zhou residence today."
The Emperor gripped the sword tassel tightly and said, "This sword tassel belongs to the Shi family's guards. It seems that the man in black was sent by the Shi family."
"The Shi family?" Consort Li asked in confusion.
This Lord Shi was one of Lord Lu's students in his early years. Later, he entered the court as an official because he helped the Wu family expose the Lu family. Over the years, he has been favored by the emperor and has risen to the rank of third grade.
Because he was not as arrogant and domineering as other officials in the court, nor was he blinded by greed, the emperor never suspected him.
The emperor placed the sword tassel on the table and said in a cold tone, "I never imagined that my son's kidnapping was related to him."
Consort Li was taken aback. She recalled Du Wanchun's words and her expression at the time, and suddenly realized what was going on.
So that's the purpose of the sword tassel.
Consort Li was very willing to help. "Your Majesty, how dare Lord Shi even kidnap the Crown Prince? Doesn't that mean he has treasonous intentions?"
The Emperor's expression grew increasingly grim. He stood with his hands behind his back, deep in thought for a long time. "I will investigate this matter thoroughly."
Mr. Shi's original name was Shi Dongfu.
He was once the most inconspicuous disciple in Lord Lu's household.
These past few days, they've been sending assassins to the Zhou family every day, trying to harm Yi'er and Yu'er.
Although they did not know who had kidnapped Zhou Ruiyuan, they had long been prepared for the Crown Prince to be killed.
With the crown prince dead, the remaining young imperial grandsons naturally had to be eliminated as well.
He wanted to exterminate the Empress's entire lineage.
As for why this lowly official was so cruel to them.
It actually originated from a pastry more than 20 years ago.
Lord Lu had three pieces of pastry in his hand, and gave one to the Third Prince, who was still a prince at the time, and the Emperor.
The remaining piece will be given to his most outstanding student.
However, he gave it to Lord Zheng, but not to him.
Shi Dongfu always thought he was exceptionally talented and believed that Lord Lu would be his mentor. A piece of pastry made him feel that Lord Lu looked down on him.
Therefore, he harbored resentment towards Lord Lu, and taking advantage of being Lord Lu's protégé, he spoke many of Lord Lu's disdainful remarks to the Emperor.
This also made the emperor increasingly wary of Lord Lu.
Now, as a third-rank official, he had always kept himself at a distance. But now that Zhou Ruiyuan and the Empress were returning to the palace, he was restless and began to think of dealing with the younger members of the Zhou family.
Du Wanchun gave the sword tassel to the emperor.
The emperor immediately regarded the Shi family as traitors and, on some pretext, had them all arrested.
Shi Dongfu knelt down and kowtowed to the emperor, begging for mercy: "Your Majesty, it really wasn't me who kidnapped the Crown Prince, and I don't know where the Crown Prince went."
The Emperor didn't believe him, so he threw the sword tassel at him and said sternly, "Then where is this thing? Why is it in the Zhou residence?"
Shi Dongfu looked down, his face turning pale with fright. "Your Majesty, I do not know where this thing came from."
The Emperor waved his hand, and several blood-covered guards were brought over. "You must know these people, right? The Ministry of Justice tortured them severely and got all the details out of them. You sent people to the Zhou residence to take this opportunity to kill my good grandsons."
Shi Dongfu froze, looking at the blood-covered guards, speechless, and had no choice but to obediently agree.
The Emperor snorted coldly and said, "What excuses do you have now? To plot against my grandson is nothing short of treason! I'll give you a chance. Hand over the Crown Prince immediately, or your entire family of over a hundred people will be killed!"
Shi Dongfu trembled with fear and begged for mercy again in a hoarse voice: "Your Majesty, I truly did not kidnap the Crown Prince, nor did I have any intention of rebellion! Your Majesty! In consideration of my past loyalty, please spare my family."
He emphasized the words "loyal and devoted" heavily, wanting to remind the emperor that he also had merit in what happened back then.
However, the emperor was inherently suspicious; he would rather kill ten thousand innocent people than let one guilty person go free.
"Guards, take Lord Shi away and question him thoroughly until he reveals the whereabouts of the Crown Prince."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
A group of tall and imposing servants strode over and subdued Shi Dongfu.
Shi Dongfu struggled and kept shouting at the Emperor, but it was all in vain.
At this moment, the Shi family, like the Lu family, is about to be executed by the Emperor, but unfortunately, he is not as dignified as Lord Lu.
He was then taken to prison and subjected to torture.
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