Hongyu, neglected by the Emperor and mistreated by Prime Minister Kong, naturally had to tell the truth and show her loyalty to Prince Heng in order to save her life.
She looked at Songhua, her eyes also welling up with tears, choked with sobs, unable to speak. "Though you are kind, you have no sense of responsibility. You allowed a treacherous minister like Kong to hold power, corrupting the court, exploiting the people, and wreaking havoc in the harem, leaving me in this wretched state."
Having said that, Hongyu plunged her sword into the Emperor's heart, then turned to Prince Heng and said, "[There is no body of Eunuch Cai here. The Third Prince must have been taken away by Eunuch Cai. Prince Heng, send men to pursue him to prevent any future trouble.]"
[Guards! Issue the order: any eunuchs or children leaving the palace must be killed on sight!]
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Hongyu followed Prince Heng to the Taihe Hall. At this time, the civil and military officials were already standing in order, each with their heads bowed and motionless.
Prince Heng sat on the dragon throne, handed the imperial edict to Prince Li, and looked down at the assembled ministers, saying, "Prime Minister Kong and Zhao Songhua usurped the throne. Here is the late emperor's edict. Zhang Hongyu can verify this."
Hongyu, her face covered by a veil, stood before the assembled officials and announced loudly, "When the late emperor fell ill, he left a will stipulating that the seventh prince, Prince Jin, should inherit the throne."
At that time, Kong Que'er, as a concubine, stayed by the emperor's bedside and secretly gave the imperial edict to Prime Minister Kong. Prime Minister Kong added two strokes to the character "Jin" and changed it to Prince Pu succeeding to the throne.
The title of Prince Pu was bestowed upon Zhao Songhua by the Kong faction at the request of the late emperor after he made great contributions to the relief of the people in Jiangnan.
In fact, this title was something Kong Xiang's faction had been plotting for a long time, solely to usurp the throne.
Before Hongyu could finish speaking, the ministers began to whisper among themselves: "So it's the Prince of Jin who has ascended the throne."
[The Prince of Heng has ascended the throne, while the Prince of Jin is still guarding the southeastern coast. What are we to do?]
The King of Jin is kind and benevolent; if he were to succeed to the throne, it would be a blessing for the people…
Seeing that things were not going well, the King of Heng was already red-faced.
Just then, the sound of a cane clicking rang out. Everyone turned to look and saw the adult walking in, trembling.
Yesterday, a great upheaval occurred in the palace; He Man died protecting Kong Xiang.
Lord He was heartbroken and bedridden, but when he heard that Prince Heng had summoned his ministers to the morning court and that Zhang Hongyu was also there, he forced himself to come despite his illness.
He stood beside Hongyu, took out a scroll, handed it to King Li, and loudly reported:
[Heng Wang, Zhang Hongyu is involved in multiple murder cases, regardless of whether the case committed by Qiu Xueer was instigated by Zhang Hongyu.]
Three years ago, I personally went to the scene of the assassination attempt on the northern frontier and found two strands of hair there. A few days ago, I went to the Department of Torture to retrieve a strand of hair from Zhang Hongyu for comparison, which confirmed that Zhang Hongyu was indeed the female assassin who committed the crime on the northern frontier three years ago.
This woman is highly skilled in martial arts, cunning, and has committed numerous murders. She cannot be allowed to live. I urge Prince Heng to quickly assassinate Zhang Hongyu.
After speaking with the adult, he threw down the staff with a snap and prostrated himself on the ground.
The officials already harbored resentment towards Hongyu's policies on the accounting of official and commercial assets. Seeing that Lord He intended to execute Zhang Hongyu, they all knelt down, pleading with Prince Heng to immediately execute Zhang Hongyu.
[Zhang Hongyu cannot be allowed to live. If it weren't for her instigating the Emperor—no, if it weren't for her instigating Zhao Songhua to implement the policy of statistically analyzing the assets of officials and merchants—how could the court have become so unstable?]
Yes, she aided and abetted the wicked, thus enabling the corrupt official Kong Xiang to rise to power.
Zhang Hongyu is a member of Kong Xiang's faction and should be executed.
Hongyu is not part of Kong Xiang's faction.
Everyone turned to look again, and Prince Jing helped Chen Yu in.
Oh, the female strategist has arrived.
King Heng was overjoyed. In this capture of the palace, King Heng and King Li had not lost a single soldier, and had even weakened several forces. This was all thanks to Chen Yu's strategy.
Therefore, Heng Wang still treated Chen Yu differently.
He hurriedly got up to greet her, and looked at Shen Yu's dignified and serene face with great fondness. He reached out to touch her, but Shen Yu suddenly turned her head away, still as stubborn and unruly as before.
The Prince Heng smiled wryly. "The Kong faction has been wiped out. The female strategist has difficulty walking; she should return to the Mu family to rest."
Shen Yu shook her head. Putting aside the fact that Grand Tutor Zhang was Liu Deng's savior, even Hong Yu had been kind to the direct descendants of the Liu family.
If it weren't for Hongyu's intervention, she and her child would probably have perished long ago.
She turned to the assembled officials and said, "I was put in the torture chamber by Kong Guan and subjected to 'confinement.' If it weren't for Hongyu's intervention, I would have already lost my life."
Furthermore, it was Zhang Hongyu who personally killed the treacherous minister Kong Xiang today.
How could she be part of Kong Xiang's faction? I implore you gentlemen to spare Zhang Hongyu; her father is the loyal minister Zhang Ruiqi, Grand Tutor Zhang!
thump!
Hongyu knelt on the ground, choking back tears, "Thank you so much, Miss Chenyu, for pleading for me. I was your servant back then, and it was thanks to you that I was rescued from the Bai family. Therefore, I must repay your life-saving grace and naturally protect you."
After pondering for a moment, the Prince Heng sat back on the dragon throne and said sternly, "I am about to ascend the throne and will grant a general amnesty. Therefore, Zhang Hongyu can be spared the death penalty."
Song Hua is dead. Zhang Hongyu has been demoted to a lowly status and given to Mu Chenyu. With Chenyu keeping Zhang Hongyu in check, is Lord He at ease?
Lord He no longer cared about Hongyu's matter. He braced himself on his arms and staggered as he tried to stand up. Prince Jing and Chenyu quickly helped him up.
Lord He, holding his dove-shaped staff, pointed at Prince Heng and asked, "The late emperor appointed Prince Jin as his successor. Why did Prince Heng choose to ascend the throne?"
The hall fell silent instantly as the official asked the question that none of the ministers dared to speak out of anger.
The Prince Heng's face instantly darkened. He slammed his hand on the table and roared, "I am the late Emperor's eldest son, the only Crown Prince he ever appointed! Why can't I succeed to the throne?"
The late emperor had long ago revoked your title of crown prince, naturally because you were unsuitable to inherit the throne. Therefore, he left a will appointing the Prince of Jin as his successor. I urge Prince Heng to abide by the late emperor's will and order someone to bring the Prince of Jin back...
[Shut up! Guards! Drag Lord He away and throw him into jail.]
Shen Yu quickly knelt down. "Prince Heng, please don't be angry. My uncle was utterly loyal to the late Emperor and was acting in the best interests of the court. I will send him back immediately and offer him some gentle persuasion."
After saying this, Chen Yu winked at Prince Jing, and the two of them helped Lord He leave, with Hong Yu following behind.
As soon as they stepped out of the palace gates, Jiu'er helped Chenyu into the sedan chair and quietly reported, "Miss, the Prince Heng's guards are protecting the Mu family; they're not allowing anyone from the Mu family to leave freely."
Shen Yu panicked. Right now, Heng Wang had captured the palace, recovered Xiang Wang's 100,000 troops, Kong Xiang's 50,000 troops, and Jing Wang's 20,000 troops, for a total of 220,000 troops.
Her Mu family only had 60,000 soldiers, which was clearly no match for the Heng King.
Therefore, she and Mu Nanfeng secretly reached an agreement to escape the capital together and join Liu's army.
Little did they know, the tyrannical king had already taken precautions.
At this moment, Shen Lan ran over and whispered to King Jing, "[King Jing, the Prince of Jin has returned ahead of schedule with an army of 80,000. They are expected to arrive in the capital before nightfall.]"
[But have you found out whether the Prince of Jin intends to attack the capital?]
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