Now, his anger in the court made people feel inexplicable, but he was the emperor, so no one could say anything. They could only stand there and listen!
Wei Yuchen talked for such a long time and found that everyone was quiet. Everyone lowered their heads and didn't even look at him.
This made him feel as if all his breath had hit cotton, and he lost his voice in an instant.
As the ministers were listening, they realized that the lecture had stopped at some point. They were a little surprised and looked over.
It was not a big deal to see this, as Wei Yuchen looked at them with a half-smile in his eyes: "What? Do you want me to prepare a bed for each of you so that you can sleep right here, huh?"
As soon as these words came out, everyone's faces changed immediately, and they all knelt on the ground: "We are guilty of our crimes, long live the emperor."
"Long live? Haha, this is the funniest joke in the world!"
Wei Yuchen raised his lips and sneered, his tone was low and without a trace of warmth.
"Your Majesty, please calm down, Your Majesty, please calm down!"
When the ministers saw this scene, they knew that they had really angered the emperor. They all looked terrified and lay flat on the ground, not daring to get up.
Wei Yuchen glanced at the court officials kneeling on the ground with a bloodthirsty smile, his handsome face almost looked hideous.
But when he saw that although he was kneeling on the ground, he was not kneeling there like the others, but instead had his back straight and was looking at him mockingly, a hint of anger and unwillingness flashed in his dark pupils.
Then he took a deep breath, without even looking at anyone, and left.
Wei Ziheng looked coldly at Wei Yuchen's leaving back, slowly stood up, turned around and left without saying a word.
The ministers knelt for a long time in front of the emperor and the princes who stood in front of them before looking at each other with pale faces.
It’s really suspenseful!
What on earth had they just done?
They actually unanimously treated the emperor as air and let him curse at them, and the reactions of the people below were so weirdly unanimous?
What does this indicate?
When everyone thought of this, they all stood up with pale faces, looked at each other, and left in a hurry.
Prince Rong, who left first, did not expect that as soon as he walked out of the court, a eunuch hurried over and said, "Your Highness, the Emperor invites you."
Prince Rong once again showed a trace of sneer on his face: "Tell him that I am not feeling well and will not go. I will apologize in person in the future. Please take care of yourself!"
"Your Majesty?" The young eunuch was dumbfounded. He didn't expect that Prince Rong would dare to offend the emperor. What should he do?
But when the eunuch tremblingly conveyed Prince Rong's words to Wei Yuchen, he seemed to have anticipated this result. He looked ahead with empty eyes, waved his hand weakly, and ordered him to retreat.
The young eunuch heaved a long sigh and hurriedly left this place of trouble. However, the chief eunuch Liu Shi and the chief imperial guard Qiu Cheng looked at each other, their eyes full of worry.
"Your Majesty? Are you okay?"
Liu Shi stepped forward cautiously and handed over a cup of tea.
At this moment, Wei Yuchen suddenly stood up, and the teacup in Liu Shi's hand fell.
Under his sinister and sharp eyes, Liu Shi shuddered, "Emperor..."
"No one is allowed to follow!"
The powerful words carried unprecedented coldness and murderous intent. Liu Shi shrank his neck and ultimately did not dare to follow.
Instead, he kept winking at Qiu Cheng who was standing next to him. Qiu Cheng glanced at him coldly: "What are you doing?"
"What? You are the chief of the imperial guards. Why are you following me instead of the emperor?"
"You damn eunuch, who followed you? Didn't you hear what the emperor said just now? Do you want me to repeat it again?"
"That's why you should follow him. The emperor is in a bad mood today."
"Even a fool can see that the emperor is in a bad mood."
"You idiot, if you don't go, I will!"
After all, they have been with Wei Yuchen for more than ten years. Even though the emperor has given the order, Liu Shi and Qiu Cheng know deeply why the emperor is angry today.
If they left too, the emperor would really have no one to talk to.
Although they were arguing, they all understood that they only wanted to gain some advantage with words. When something really happened, they all stood behind Wei Yuchen.
Just like now, he is walking in front, and the two of them dare not get close, so they can only follow closely behind and watch.
As the exquisiteness before their eyes became more and more familiar, by the time Liu Shi and Qiu Cheng realized where they were, Wei Yuchen was already standing in front of the gate of Kunning Palace, which had become desolate after years of baptism.
With the passage of time, the plaque of Kunning Palace is no longer as bright and solemn as it once was. Even the once dazzling red gate has now lost all its paint.
No one has set foot here for twelve years. Even all the roads leading to Kunning Palace have been blocked. The bluestone road where they are standing is overgrown with weeds and moss, and it is full of desolation. It is no different from the cold palace.
Standing on this long and quiet path, Liu Shi and Qiu Cheng felt gusts of cold wind blowing towards them. It was clearly a hot summer day, but why were they sweating all over?
Just as Wei Yuchen retracted his desolate eyes and was about to push open the door in front of him that had not been opened for twelve years, Liu Shi's heart tightened and he was about to step forward, but was held tightly by Qiu Cheng from behind.
"What is bound to come will eventually come. Now, twelve years have passed, and the knot in the emperor's heart is getting bigger every year. If this continues, his heart will be crushed!"
Liu Shi's face turned pale: "But, but there was once, there was once..."
His lips trembled. Even those close to the emperor could not describe the tragic scene of "the place was once full of corpses and blood".
Fortunately, Qiu Cheng was not someone else. He easily understood what he wanted to express. There was only a hint of darkness on his cold and handsome face.
"This is the sin committed by the emperor. He should bear it himself. No one can replace him. If he can't get through this, he will be tortured by his inner demons forever. In the future, situations like today will happen again and again. Do you understand?"
Liu Shi's body trembled, and he staggered back a step, his eyes full of complexity. When he looked at the three big words "Kunning Palace", he couldn't help but clench his teeth. How could he not understand?
He is clearly the emperor who is high above everyone else.
He obviously has the final say.
He could have executed those ministers who ignored him.
However, with the tragedy involving the entire Du family and the wealthy families related to the Du family in the past, and the revenge of "Du Zi's death" in the future, these ministers seemed to have less respect for the emperor who was burdened with cruel words such as "suspicious", "cruel", "ruthless" and so on.
It's not that they are brave enough, but because this is what the people want. It would be abnormal for anyone to remain calm after seeing the evidence of the crimes of those ministers who died under the "Du Zi Ming Xing".
No matter which faction these people belong to now, no matter whether they are civil officials or military officials, and no matter whether they are honest officials or corrupt officials, they are all officials, and they are all people who eat the emperor's salary. Who doesn't want to serve a wise emperor?
If the emperor they assisted was the kind who could not tolerate any injustice, did not allow the strong to exist, did not allow those who were stronger than the royal family, did not allow those who were more powerful than the emperor, did not allow...
If this is true, then, are there any ministers in this court who are truly dedicated to the country and the people?
If these ministers have to look ahead and behind for everything they do, have to think about their own future fate, and have to hide their own strength, then wouldn't the future of Siyou Kingdom be dark and bleak?
Are we going to be at the mercy of others?
The Du family did nothing wrong. They ended up like that just because they held a large number of troops and had a queen.
Even though there was evidence of treason later, when people saw that those who had sued the Du family were now dying one by one under everyone's eyes and their evidence of crimes were exposed in front of everyone, this emperor naturally became a tyrant in everyone's eyes.
In particular, the evidence of these people's crimes was deliberately concealed, and these cases were not publicly reviewed.
Although on the surface they were trying to preserve their last bit of dignity, the person was dead and the family was destroyed, so the case ended there.
But in fact, who can't see that this is a foolish act of Wei Yuchen to evade his own responsibility?
Therefore, what Wei Yuchen thought was the best way to deal with the situation actually gave officials more ways to question the Du Mansion tragedy, and made them feel that the emperor was inactive and too selfish.
He could tolerate these corrupt officials, so why did the Du family, a national hero, fall into such a miserable situation?
Liu Shi and Qiu Cheng obviously saw through the many problems and understood why Prince Rong hated to mention the Du family. He even pointed at Wei Yuchen's nose and cursed, "You don't deserve it. You don't deserve to mention those words at all."
It would be fine if the reaction of the officials was deliberately created by someone, but it was people's natural reaction. This natural reaction regardless of faction was the real reason that stimulated Wei Yuchen's anger.
Prince Rong, as the prince who initially assisted Wei Yuchen, as the prince who was most qualified to inherit the throne but gave it to him, as the empress dowager's biological son, would rather give up what he had gained and use all his connections to help Wei Yuchen's brother. Today, he completely released his anger.
Originally, he was very opposed to the Du family's case, and now the expressions of the crowd made the prince fall into unprecedented guilt. If it had not been for his selfishness and humility, perhaps so many families would not have been wiped out one after another?
Prince Rong felt very guilty, but Wei Yuchen, for the first time in history, tried to reflect on himself.
Unexpectedly, the first place he wanted to visit was the Kunning Palace, which had been deserted for nearly twelve years.
I wonder what profound truths he can reflect on here?
The dead cannot be resurrected and time cannot be reversed. The former prosperity of Kunning Palace and its current desolation have deeply told him that there is no so-called regret medicine in this world.
If it is wrong, it is wrong. No matter how hard you try to make amends or slander it, I am afraid it is impossible.
The more you escape, the deeper you will sink, until you are completely destroyed!
With a "creak", the door of Kunning Palace was pushed open by Wei Yuchen.
Because it had been in disrepair for a long time and had been neglected, a lot of dust had rolled down from the door frame and happened to fall into his hair.
But Wei Yuchen seemed to have heard nothing of it. He just stood there blankly, staring at the Kunning Palace that was once filled with countless memories. His body inexplicably began to feel cold.
The Kunning Palace under the scorching sun was not as vibrant as the Yongning Palace today. Instead, it was covered with weeds. Even the green bricks and tiles on the eaves in the shade were covered with thick moss. Standing by the door, one could already smell the cold, musty smell coming towards you.
Wei Yuchen slowly released his hand that was holding the door, and his eyes gradually focused on the main hall in the center. He seemed to feel that the peerless and elegant queen doctor was raising a dignified smile at him, welcoming his arrival.
However, after an inexplicable gust of wind swept by, the scene turned to the third day of September in the second year of Emperor Cheng. On the night when the Du family was exterminated, all 123 people in Kunning Palace were hacked to death by his men, leaving no one alive...
Wei Yuchen's tall body stood facing the wind, his white clothes and black hair in the cold palace which was as cold as an ice cellar. His hands in his sleeves kept tightening and tightening again and again, and his black pupils that always emitted a deep light slowly closed after a long sigh.
"Du Yunge, even if you've been dead for twelve years, you're not going to let me go, right?"
Under the blue sky and white clouds, the silent Kunning Palace was filled with an eerie and terrifying atmosphere. Gusts of cold wind blew slowly through the narrow palace passage, chilling the bones.
Just when Wei Yuchen wanted to push away the weeds that were more than one meter high and continue walking inside, he was held tightly by Qiu Cheng and Liu Shi behind him.
"Your Majesty, let's go back!"
“Let go!”
Wei Yuchen's voice was very soft, but it contained a chilling tone that made people shudder.
After Liu Shi exchanged a glance with Qiu Cheng, he firmly held his arm without moving an inch. Liu Shi even tried to comfort him recklessly, "Your Majesty, the dead are gone. If Your Majesty truly repents, it would be better to clear the name of the Du family."
Wei Yuchen's body shook, and a layer of frost suddenly swept across his handsome face. He looked at Liu Shi as if he was looking at a dead person, and his deep pupils were filled with murderous intent.
"What did you say? Innocent? Even you think I killed innocent people indiscriminately?"
Because of anger, Wei Yuchen uttered almost every word one by one.
Although Liu Shi was filled with fear, when he thought of the emperor's self-obsession and the knot in his heart that had been suppressing him for more than ten years, he gritted his teeth and raised his head bravely.
"Your Majesty, I am going to make a bold statement today. Before you kill me, please listen to what I have to say."
Wei Yuchen angrily shook off the two men's arms, his cold eyes filled with a gloom: "Qiu Cheng, what about you? Do you have something to say too?"
Qiu Cheng didn't even look at Liu Shi, he just knelt down and said, "After he finishes speaking, I will add to it."
It was also an indirect acknowledgment of his questioning.
Wei Yuchen lowered his eyes and glanced at Liu Shi, who had also been kneeling on the ground at some point in time. His deep eyes were frozen to a point of three feet of thin ice.
"Okay, today I will listen to what you have to say. It must be very uncomfortable to hold it in for so many years, right? Speak now, I am all ears!"
Liu Shi suddenly raised his head and looked straight at Wei Yuchen: "Your Majesty, I want to tell you the truth. Have you ever regretted anything in these years?"
Wei Yuchen smiled instantly. Although he was handsome, he gave people goose bumps all over their bodies. "Regret? Why should I regret it?"
"Your Majesty, are you unwilling to face this problem? Or are you unwilling to face your own heart? Since you won't admit that you regret it, why are you always awakened by the same scene in your dreams at midnight?"
"Why do you always call the Empress by her maiden name? Why do you love the eldest prince so much, but are so heartless as to let him die in the sea of fire? Why? Your Majesty, can you explain to me why?"
Just one sentence made Wei Yuchen speechless and stared in anger, but he had no reason to refute.
Because he clearly understood that he could hide these things from others, but not from the two people in front of him.
So, even if he wanted to argue here, it would only be a waste of breath. This is a fact, a fact that he cannot deny!
"Yes, I am also very confused. Why have I been having the same dream for so many years? Why no matter what I dream about, I always return to the third day of September? Even when I am standing here, what comes to my mind is the bloody massacre. Am I really wrong?"
"No, I am not wrong. How could I be wrong? Everything I did was for the long-term benefit of the Wei family. I want to build a more solid Wei family for my descendants. What have I done wrong?"
Faced with Wei Yuchen's stubbornness, Liu Shi asked back calmly and coldly.
"As far as I know, the Du family not only has no intention of rebellion, but is loyal to the emperor and the country. The Du family army is the god of war who is invincible on the battlefield. As long as the Du family army is there, our Siyou country will be peaceful forever. How can the emperor be sure that the queen and the eldest prince will destroy your Wei family's country?"
"Could it be that the eldest prince's surname is not Wei?"
"Does your Majesty not love the Queen? Does your Majesty not want Madam Du to help the eldest son become the next crown prince?"
Liu Shi's repeated questioning made the man in white in front of him reveal a sinister smile.
"Let me ask you, do you think that I am where I am today because of the Du family?"
Liu Shi and Qiu Cheng looked at each other and said at the same time: "Isn't it?"
Although he had hope, Wei Yuchen was still disappointed when these words came out of the mouths of these two people.
He looked at the two people he trusted most and smiled coldly.
"Yes, it is true. If it weren't for my brother's humility, the Queen Mother and the Du family's unremitting help, I really wouldn't have a chance in this world."
"Among my brothers, there are many outstanding ones, especially Wei Jie. Although he is young, he is already highly regarded by everyone. But in the end, didn't he still have to assist me? Become my minister?"
"Haha, this is fate, isn't it? But, so what? No matter who the future emperor is, his Du family will support him, right? Since they are all going to support him, then why should I remember this favor for the rest of my life?"
"I am the emperor and they are his subjects. It is only natural for subjects to assist the emperor. Why do you keep mentioning their kindness to me?"
"Why? Tell me, why is this happening? And what about Du Yunge, the virtuous queen?"
"Hehehe... When you praised her and the Du family to the point where I was ashamed, did you ever consider my feelings?"
"I am obviously the true emperor, and I am obviously the king of this country, right? Why do you always associate me with Du Yunge and the Du family when you mention me?"
"Why? I am not an appendage, I am not a dispensable existence, I am also capable and courageous, but who among you saw it? Who saw it?"