Rong Zhao was even more frightened. Not only did he not dare to fight back, he also cried and pulled at Lord Chu's clothes, crying, "Chu Lang, what are you saying? I don't understand..."
Before her hand could pull Lord Chu's clothes, Lord Chu pushed her away and said coldly, "Rong Zhao, you really make me sick. Go away and don't touch me again."
Then, he walked out the door without looking back.
Rong Zhao was angry, scared, and embarrassed. She burst into tears and screamed, "I am a princess. How could you do this to me? How could you do this to me?"
A maid didn't know Rong Zhao's worries and said, "Your Highness, the prince consort dared to hit the princess. This has never happened in this dynasty. If you go to the emperor and the concubine to complain about him, the prince consort will definitely not get away with it."
Rong Zhao slapped the maid in the face and shouted, "Get lost!" After thinking for a moment, he wiped his tears and said, "I need to clean my face and change my clothes, and go to the palace to see my mother and father immediately."
She was not going there to complain, she was going to save her marriage. She didn't want to let Lord Chu go, and she didn't want anyone to blame her and her for what happened that night.
She had never been so scared as she was at this moment. She was afraid that she would completely lose the man she had thought about for many years and had worked so hard to get.
Lord Chu went directly to Wanqing Palace. Because of his previous relationship with the emperor, he had a smooth journey whether he came to the emperor's bedroom, Wanqing Palace, or the office, Ganyang Palace.
At this time, the emperor was reclining on the dragon couch, and the prince was sitting beside him reporting to him on the affairs of the court. There was an early court today, and the prince had just come out of court not long ago.
They were all surprised to see Lord Chu, because he was carrying a branch on his back.
The emperor asked, "Why is Lord Chu like this?"
Lord Chu knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, Your Highness, I deserve death."
The prince asked again, "Why is this happening, Lord Chu?"
Lord Chu kowtowed three times and said, "I was filled with righteous indignation and anger, and I hit Princess Rong Zhao."
The emperor and the prince looked at each other and asked in unison, "What?" They both felt that they had heard it wrong. Not only in this dynasty, but even in the previous dynasty, they had never heard of a prince consort beating a princess.
Lord Chu continued, "Princess Rong Zhao behaved badly as a wife and plotted to murder the families of court officials. First, she instigated Concubine Shu to force my ex-wife, Abbot Liaochen, who was taking refuge in my son's home, out of Dingzhou Prefecture. Later, she had people set fire to Luojiazhuang, and almost burned my daughter-in-law, granddaughter, nephew, niece-in-law, and Abbot Liaochen to death. Fortunately, God had mercy on her, and that night Xuan'er's daughter-in-law suddenly felt very panicked, and fearing that something might happen, she asked people to make preparations in advance, and the whole family was spared. Even so, my granddaughter was frightened, and the maid who rescued her was also seriously injured..." Before he finished speaking, he had already fallen to the ground crying.
After hearing his words, the emperor sat up in shock, and the prince also stood up. They said in unison, "Rong Zhao, how dare she!"
The prince added, "If she did such a wicked thing, it would be intolerable both by the law of the country and by the justice of heaven!"
The emperor also said, "My dear, please stand up and tell me what happened. If she really did this, I will take care of it for you."
Lord Chu did not stand up. He started talking from the New Year's Eve of the previous year, when the Second Prince's followers tried to capture Lechen alive. He then went on to how Concubine Ma Shu sent eunuchs to reprimand Lechen and forced him to leave the Chu household and live in Luo Village. He also told the story of the fire that broke out in Luo Village the next night.
At this time, the third lady came supporting the queen, and Rong Zhao also came supporting Concubine Ma Shu.
Concubine Ma Shu and Rong Zhao naturally denied the accusation of Lord Chu. Concubine Ma Shu first cried to the emperor, "Your Majesty, they said that Rong Zhao and I set fire to people, you have to show evidence. We two mothers don't want to bear this false charge. The group of people who set the fire must be the remnants of the second prince. Everyone knows that the second prince and his party hate Prince Consort Chu. They can't do anything to Prince Consort Chu, so they can only vent their anger on Prince Consort Chu's family... Your Majesty, you have to make a decision for me and Rong Zhao."
She cried to Lord Chu again, "My dear husband, I really didn't send anyone to burn Luo's farm. I'm not stupid. How could I drive Lechen out of the Chu family today and send people to burn her farm the next day? This is obviously suspicious. Don't hate Rong Zhao. I sent people to reprimand Lechen, but she didn't know about it. I did this because I wanted you and Rong Zhao to live a good life. I thought that since Lechen had become a monk, she shouldn't be so concerned about worldly affairs and live in the secular world all the time..."
Madam Chu San sneered, "Madam Shufei has completely pushed the responsibility away. No one is a fool. The one who wants Lechen to die the most is Rong Zhao. You guys set up a trap to harm others, and you still refuse to admit it."
Rong Zhao said, "Huachang, you are accusing people without any evidence. Although I can't stand Lechen, I am not so cruel as to burn her to death. I really care about Chu Lang, and for Chu Lang, I will not do that."
The Queen sighed, "Rong Zhao, don't make yourself sound so innocent. Putting aside this matter, you have harmed the Chu family before. Since you keep saying that you really care about Master Chu, why don't you treat her family well? Alas, God sees what you do. Whoever does such evil things will be punished."
The two women refused to admit it, which was what Lord Chu had thought of beforehand. Lord Chu really couldn't produce any evidence now, but he knew that the emperor and the prince knew what was going on. Not to mention that it was definitely done by Concubine Ma Shu and her daughter, even if it wasn't them, based on the fact that they had worked with the second prince to frame important officials in the court in the past, and the emperor's original promise, the emperor had to deal with them.
The emperor originally wanted to cheat and use Rong Zhao to suppress Lord Chu. But the mother and daughter didn't understand the emperor's thoughts and thought that the emperor still cared about the relationship between father and daughter, so he was reluctant to deal with Rong Zhao. Now that the matter has become so serious, if the emperor dares to continue to indulge Rong Zhao and her daughter, not to mention the Chu family, even other ministers will be disappointed.
The emperor looked at Lord Chu, who was in grief, and then at the women who were quarreling with each other. He felt very angry. He coughed a few times, and after the eunuch wiped his back, he said, "Prince, Lord Chu will stay, and you can leave."
The Third Lady supported Queen Shan, and Rong Zhao supported Concubine Ma Shu, as they saluted the Emperor and withdrew.
In the afternoon, impeachment memorials against Rong Zhao flew into the palace like snowflakes. Not only did they say that she framed the family of an important official, but they also said that the reason why the Empress Dowager was seriously ill was because Rong Zhao had done something bad and angered the "Bird Fairy"...
However, the Chu family in Dingzhou Prefecture was filled with singing and laughter.
After everyone had dinner, Chen Ahfu escorted them out of the main courtyard and took Chu Hanyan to Luomei Temple. Liaochen was still chanting in the small Buddhist hall, and Chen Ahfu and the others didn't see her, so they had to greet her outside the door before returning to the main courtyard.
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