Chapter 262 Deposing Li Yuanzhao and Establishing a New Emperor
Zheng Wenkai added, "Even if Cui Jiulang and the others have made mistakes, they are still officials appointed by the imperial court and scions of prominent families. How could Li Yuanzhao take their lives for his own selfish reasons?"
"What's even more suspicious is that on the day Cui Jiulang died, the Tibetan assassins hadn't even appeared yet. How could Li Yuanzhao pin the deaths of these people on the assassins? It's clear that either she knew about the assassins beforehand, or she orchestrated the whole thing herself, with the aim of assassinating the emperor and seizing the throne!"
Some of the children who died alongside Cui Jiulang at the autumn hunting grounds began to waver upon hearing this.
Pei Huaijin's heart sank as he pondered the reasons behind Lin Xue'an's betrayal of His Majesty.
It's probably because his name wasn't on the selection list that this narrow-minded person mistakenly thought His Highness disliked him.
Little did he know that His Majesty had later privately instructed him to arrange for Lin Xue'an to be given the position of "Good Attendant," and that an imperial edict would be issued to bring him into the palace after the grand wedding ceremony.
But such a greedy and treacherous person doesn't even have the patience to wait. In order to get revenge on His Majesty, he couldn't wait to side with Zheng Wenkai!
He suppressed his anger, stepped forward, and questioned loudly, "Prime Minister Zheng, Lin Xue'an harbors resentment towards His Majesty because of his own selfish reasons. How can his words be taken seriously? And your statement just now was nothing but a wild speculation based on one-sided words, without even a shred of evidence. How can it be used as evidence that His Majesty plotted to harm the Emperor Emeritus?"
"Your Majesty is the eldest daughter of the emperor, with merits and abilities, and all have witnessed what she has done! If things continue as they are, she should rightfully inherit the throne. Why take such an unwise step and invite criticism from the world? The lies you have fabricated are far too clumsy!"
"Clumsy?" Zheng Wenkai exclaimed, as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world. He suddenly raised his voice, "I'll tell you why!!"
"Because the late emperor never intended to pass the throne to her, Li Yuanzhao!"
"I was a confidant of the late emperor. He told me personally that he favored the second prince as the crown prince! Li Yuanzhao must have realized this, which is why he couldn't wait to poison the late emperor!"
Duke Liang stepped forward and said, "I can testify to this matter; His Majesty himself told me about it!"
“But this morning at the abdication ceremony, we saw with our own eyes that the Emperor Emeritus personally handed the Imperial Seal of the State to His Majesty, without the slightest reluctance!” Pei Huaijin argued forcefully, trying to awaken the officials’ reason. “The abdication edict also bears the imperial seal personally affixed by the late Emperor. How could it be fake?”
"Not even a hint of reluctance?" Zheng Wenkai suddenly pointed at the young imperial physician. "You tell everyone, what medicine did Imperial Physician Lin feed His Majesty this morning?"
The young imperial physician trembled with fright and hurriedly replied, "Your Excellency, two hours before the abdication ceremony this morning, I personally witnessed Director Lin administering a mind-altering drug to the Emperor Emeritus! Once ingested, this drug will cause one to lose their mind and become obedient."
Zheng Wenkai looked at Pei Huaijin and said, "Did you hear that? It was precisely this method that made His Majesty appear to be willingly passing the throne to Li Yuanzhao today. Everyone, please recall His Majesty's performance at the enthronement ceremony. Wasn't that the case?"
Everyone recalled what had happened that morning.
Yes, the Emperor Emeritus was definitely not in a good state this morning. Could it be that he was really drugged and controlled?
As he spoke, Zheng Wenkai looked at Shen Xu, who had remained silent.
"Chen Xu, take a look at this!"
A soldier handed the human skin mask that had been found at Xiao Lingdang to Shen Guojiu.
"This is a human skin mask, found in this witch's residence! Tell me, why did Li Yuanzhao make Chen Yanqing wear this mask to hide his appearance? And why was he so eager to destroy his face before ascending the throne?"
Shen Xu's fingers, which were gripping the mask, trembled slightly, and his expression grew increasingly grim.
Before Shen Xu could reply, Zheng Wenkai eagerly revealed the "truth".
"Because! She already knew that she was the bastard child who was switched by Cui Yunyi, while Chen Yanqing was the late emperor's biological son! She was afraid that the truth would be exposed and that her throne would be unstable, so she wanted to ruin Chen Yanqing's face so that he could never be recognized as his ancestor!"
He surveyed the assembled officials, his voice filled with grief and indignation: "Li Yuanzhao, that wicked bastard with wolfish ambitions! First, he arranged for assassins and sorcerers to poison the emperor, then he imprisoned the emperor and forced him to abdicate. To clear obstacles, he even went so far as to burn his own tutor, Grand Tutor Liu, to death, all to frame the Second Prince! Such a disloyal, unfilial, and unjust scoundrel deserves to die a thousand deaths; how dare he usurp the title of emperor!"
To everyone's surprise, even Liu Jinzhang's death was orchestrated by Li Yuanzhao.
Zheng Wenkai's impassioned speech instantly ignited the anger of many people in the hall.
Immediately, voices of agreement arose everywhere, and many people stood up, demanding the deposition of Li Yuanzhao and the establishment of a new emperor!
Even though Pei Huaijin shouted from the side, "This matter is entirely Zheng Wenkai's speculation, without any evidence, and cannot be taken seriously!"
But it was still to no avail.
They would never be so united at any other time.
But only at this moment, because a woman was sitting on top, did they unite like never before.
Li Yuanshu stepped forward at the opportune moment, bowed gracefully to Chen Yanqing, and softly called out, "Royal Brother."
This address of "Royal Brother" was a public acknowledgment of his royal status by the princess.
Li Yuanshu was certainly not doing this willingly!
To her, Chen Yanqing, who was so stupid that he sold out Li Yuanzhao and then helped her count the money, was not worthy of being her elder brother.
But it's precisely these kinds of fools who are easier to control.
Once Li Yuanzhao is dethroned, such a fool will be much easier to deal with. At that time, she will have her own way to make him die "accidentally"!
Zheng Wenkai then proclaimed, "This is the rightful eldest son of the Great Qi Dynasty. From this day forward, he shall revert to his original surname and be named Li Yanqing! He shall inherit the throne of the Great Qi!"
Despite Zheng Wenkai's seemingly logical and impassioned speech, which made him appear to have complete faith in Chen Yanqing's identity, it's hard to believe that he was right.
But in reality, he didn't care whether it was a real prince or a fake prince.
As long as it's a man, it's fine!
More importantly, once this "prince" with shallow roots ascends the throne, he can only rely on himself, the "benefactor" who pushed him to the supreme position.
At that time, although Chen Yanqing will be sitting on the dragon throne, the one who will truly hold power will be Zheng Wenkai!
Apart from Shen Xu, Pei Huaijin, and a few officials who remained standing, the rest of the ministers knelt down and kowtowed, shouting "Your Highness!"
While they acknowledged Chen Yanqing's identity, they didn't entirely believe Zheng Wenkai's story.
Indeed, if they were to actually promote Chen Yanqing to the position, it would be a great contribution to the rise of a new dynasty!
Chen Yanqing was a man, so he would not harm their interests like Li Yuanzhao did.
Besides, he was just a country bumpkin raised in the countryside; how could he possibly be a match for them in terms of cunning and scheming?
They would certainly prefer a mediocre and incompetent puppet to a shrewd and capable monarch like Li Yuanzhao.
Because those in power are incompetent, they can only let things go and thus hold onto their power even tighter!
Everyone was using Chen Yanqing, but he was the only one who couldn't see it.
At this moment, as he looked at the kneeling officials at his feet and heard the thunderous applause, he was deeply moved.
So this is the power that Li Yuanzhao was willing to fight for at all costs...
It's so captivating!
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