Fu Xingkai didn't say anything, and didn't even pay attention to her. He turned his head away coldly, not even willing to look at her, as if Concubine Cen was some ugly thing that was not worthy of his attention.
Seeing this, Shi Mingyue sighed and said, "We won't kill you either, because you won't live long."
Concubine Cen didn't understand what she meant, but then someone walked in from outside the palace and said with a smile, "Because your majesty has already been poisoned, the drowsiness and nausea you've been feeling these days are also because the poison is slowly eroding your body."
Concubine Cen's expression changed. She understood everything, but she still looked at the emperor with unwavering determination: "Your Majesty? Is that you?"
Fu Xingkai did not answer, as if he had not heard Concubine Cen talking to him at all.
Concubine Cen was heartbroken. She sat dejectedly on the steps, unconscious, and tears were already falling.
Fu Yueli raised her voice: "My mother's matter has been settled. There is one more thing, which is what happened between me and Concubine Rong that day."
Everyone had already been convinced of Fu Yueli's innocence. Firstly, Concubine Rong wasn't stunningly beautiful, and secondly, Fu Yueli was deeply devoted to Shi Mingyue, having previously rejected the young lady of the Xie family for her, thus offending Prime Minister Xie. Therefore, there was no way he could have had anything to do with Concubine Rong; that day must have been a setup.
"Concubine Rong has hanged herself in the palace, and it seems there's no evidence to prove her wrongdoing," Fu Yueli said, a mocking smile on her face. "Let me just say this: she and I are innocent, and the despicable man who framed us is right here in this palace. To him, a woman's reputation and life are worth less than an ant. Concubine Rong served him wholeheartedly in the palace, wasting her prime years. And yet, some people, completely devoid of empathy, framed and slandered a woman, ultimately forcing her to hang herself, feeling no remorse at all. Are they even human?"
Fu Yueli’s words were clear enough; the person who planned this was the emperor.
"I came to the palace today and took up some of your time. In addition to explaining the previous things, I have something else to announce to you. From now on, I am the new emperor of Zhao Kingdom, and Fu Xingkai is the deposed emperor. If anyone disagrees, feel free to express their opinions." Everyone could hear Fu Yueli's voice clearly, but who would dare to disagree?
They are now cattle and sheep on the chopping block waiting to be slaughtered, can they still bargain with the butcher?
But some people were not afraid of death. Xie Qichang said righteously: "Treason is treason. If I don't agree, what will you do to me?"
Fu Yueli smiled faintly, "Even if Prime Minister Xie disagrees, it won't change the outcome today. I understand your feelings. You've been supporting Fu Xingkai since he was appointed Crown Prince, so your feelings for him are naturally deeper than mine. Therefore, you understand Fu Xingkai better than anyone else. You understand his arrogance, his selfishness, and his cold-bloodedness. Ask yourself, is a man like him worthy of being the ruler of a country?"
Xie Qichang looked at Fu Xingkai silently, and Fu Xingkai was also looking at him with a smile in his eyes. That smile was really chilling. Fu Yueli was right. He knew Fu Xingkai too well. The other party was a cold-blooded python. Although he was powerful, he was indeed not worthy of being a wise and benevolent monarch.
Xie Qichang was speechless. Even if others were resentful, they did not want to become a sitting duck in public.
"Fu Yueli, how will you treat me?" Fu Baiheng couldn't help asking in the seat. The person on the steps was his biological mother, and he certainly knew that she had poisoned Queen Lu and Fu Yueli.
Fu Yueli said calmly, "I don't want to implicate you in the past. After all, you weren't even born when Concubine Cen poisoned her." He then looked at the courtiers below him and said, "I hope you can continue to do your jobs well. If you insist on being restless, then I will have no choice but to take some unkind measures."
Some fence-sitters immediately expressed their loyalty to Fu Yueli: "Long live the new emperor! Long live! Long, long live!"
"No need," Fu Yueli smiled, "Don't say 'Long Live the Emperor' anymore. Also, there will be no more kneeling rituals between the emperor and his subjects. From now on, the red tape of kneeling and kowtowing in the palace will be abolished."
Everyone was stunned, not knowing what he was up to.
During this period, Fu Xingkai never said a word until the guards came over and were about to take him away. He suddenly took action and pulled out the dagger from the guard's waist.
Everyone was shocked, wondering when he had regained his strength.
Fu Xingkai stood up slowly with a dagger in his hand. The guards around him surrounded him, waiting for Fu Yueli's order.
"Li'er, I underestimated you." Fu Xingkai smiled bitterly. "Perhaps I'm truly unfit to be emperor, but it was my destiny." Even though he had been crowned crown prince since childhood, it didn't mean he could live in peace. His half-brothers were unwilling to accept their ordinary fate, and his life before becoming emperor was truly thrilling. Perhaps he was born cold-blooded; in his eyes, all human lives were worthless, as insignificant as grass.
When the Lingzhou earthquake struck, he was assigned to the relief effort. Natural disasters are inevitable, and seeing the ruins wrought by the earthquake, the people's homes torn apart and their families displaced, he felt no emotion. He felt that was their fate, and since it was predetermined, there was no need to cry out in despair.
But the moment he saw Wanzhen in the disaster camp, he felt as if he had seen a fairy, because her purity and goodness formed a complete contrast with his darkness. Wanzhen was like the sun that illuminated his life, and he could not live without the sun.
The moment he noticed the guards were about to move, Fu Xingkai shouted, "Don't come over here!"
He had lived enough. The moment Wanzhen died, his life had already ended. It was only because he had the burden of being an emperor that he had been living a miserable life. After Wanzhen's death, he was left with only a few-month-old Fu Yueli. The baby knew nothing and only ate and slept all day long. Most of the time when he was awake, he would only cry. He had no feelings for the child at all. When he looked at him, he just wanted to strangle him to death. If it weren't for giving birth to him, Wanzhen would not have become so weak. If it weren't for worrying about his eye disease, Wanzhen would not have been worried all day and died so early.
So he cruelly ordered people to send Fu Yueli away. He didn't want to see him again, and even didn't want to see the newborn child again. So he drank the drug that would kill his children and grandchildren, which damaged his body. From then on, there were no newborn princes and princesses in the palace.
At this moment, he could go find Wanzhen. Fu Xingkai used the knife to cut his neck without hesitation. He used so much force that the wound was very deep. When the knife was pulled out, a large amount of bright red hot blood also splashed out, falling on the red carpet on the ground, making the red color even deeper.
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