Liu Ziqi climbed onto the dragon chariot, followed closely by all the officials. The common people outside Zanmao Hutong saw the chariot coming, lined the streets to greet it, knelt down and kowtowed. The crowd gathered along the street in a long dragon all the way to the foot of the imperial palace.
The dragon chariot entered from Fengtian Gate, and the coronation ceremony could only be officially held after the Ministry of Rites had chosen an auspicious day and made grand arrangements.
Right now, the court was leaderless and no one was taking care of miscellaneous affairs. Zhu Kuang's life or death in Xianyang was unknown, and Ji Wudao was leading the rebels to cause chaos. Therefore, in an emergency, the court made decisions and put aside the formalities. All civil and military officials met with Liu Ziqi in the Fengtian Hall to prepare for discussions.
Liu Ziqi ascended the throne in the Fengtian Hall and was about to discuss the affairs of Xianyang with all the officials.
Rongpin and the fourth prince suddenly rushed into the hall and shouted, "The emperor is unconscious and in Xianyang. You, Liu Ziqi, want to claim to be the emperor under the guise of the orphan of the crown prince Chen, and you dare to claim to be the legitimate heir. Then I would like to ask all the ministers, if Liu Ziqi is the legitimate heir, then my son is not? When the crown prince Chen passed away, he was only the crown prince of the Eastern Palace. The emperor is the heir to the throne. In this way, the fourth prince is the real legitimate heir and should inherit the emperor's cause and go to Xianyang to welcome back the emperor's replacement emperor!"
"Rongpin, the harem is not allowed to interfere in government affairs!" Xiao Ning shouted, "The fourth prince is a concubine's son, and you are just a concubine. How can you talk about the legitimate heir?"
Rongpin was afraid in her heart, and her hands around the Fourth Prince were shaking slightly. But the moment she walked with her son to the hall, she had already made up her mind. Once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back. She could only fight now, otherwise she and her son would not have a good ending.
"Empress Feng's legitimate son has been killed by him. The Fourth Prince is also His Majesty's biological son. As the grandson of the same prince, my son is always closer in blood to His Majesty than he is his nephew. If you, the civil and military ministers, really care about the friendship between His Majesty and his subjects, you should support my son to ascend the throne!" Rongpin said sternly.
Xiao Ning glanced disdainfully at the immature Fourth Prince in Rongpin's arms and sneered, "How dare he expect us to submit to him?"
The fourth prince shrank back in fear and dared not say a word.
Liu Ziqi tapped the Chilong on the armrest with his fingers and gave Yu Qizhe a very indifferent look.
"Rongpin, do you know that coveting the throne is a crime of treason? It is punishable by death." Yu Qizhe looked sideways at Rongpin and her son, and spoke slowly, "It's a small matter that you brought the Fourth Prince to the new emperor and lost your manners, but it's a big matter to instigate the Fourth Prince to fight for power. Your intentions are sinister and ill-intentioned! I'm afraid you want to destroy our Taiyan's century-old foundation and shake the foundation of the country!"
He turned around and bowed to Liu Ziqi, saying respectfully: "Such behavior is truly unforgivable, I hope Your Majesty will not tolerate it!"
Immediately, all the ministers echoed in unison.
Seeing that no one in the court cared about the relationship between the emperor and his subject, and that no one was on her side and was determined to convict her, Rongpin knew something was wrong and she pinched the Fourth Prince's wrist unconsciously.
The fourth prince called out softly, "Mother... I'm scared, I'm scared, let's go back to the palace."
Rongpin was angry that her son was not living up to his expectations. Other people's children were extremely smart and had the appearance of a dragon and a phoenix, but her son was so cowardly, stupid and dull, without any scheming at all, and had no idea of the benefits of sitting on the supreme throne.
"Don't be afraid," Rongpin glared at Yu Qizhe and said loudly, "Your father is still alive, not dead. It's a pity that these officials used to claim to be loyal to your father, but now that your father is just unconscious, they can't wait to serve someone else as their master, and they can't even tolerate your father's own flesh and blood."
She pointed a stern face at Liu Ziqi, "I want to ask on behalf of the people of the world, what evidence do you have for being the so-called legitimate grandson of the emperor and the orphan of the crown prince? Just the words of Elder Liu cannot be used as evidence. There is no guarantee that someone is not trying to pass off a fake as the real thing and steal the country and seize power!"
"Stop talking nonsense!" Yu Qizhe shouted, "Palace guards, take this evil woman down before she can continue to speak nonsense and slander our emperor!"
The guards in front of the palace were about to move, but Liu Ziqi raised his hand to stop them. He smiled nonchalantly, but the smile did not reach his eyes. He looked at the officials and said, "I am very pleased that you are willing to believe me. However, there are doubts about my background, which must be made public to the world in order to reassure the people."
He made a gesture, and a moment later, the secret guard brought an old woman to the outside of Fengtian Hall. After the old woman entered the hall, she knelt down and saluted, saying, "I am the wet nurse that Crown Princess Chen found for the grandson of Emperor Ye. If there are any old people in the palace who served during the reign of the late emperor, please come forward and recognize me. I can testify that the current emperor is indeed the grandson of Emperor Ye."
Liu Ziqi asked the guards to find a few old people from the previous emperor's reign who were still alive in the palace. A few old eunuchs and maids came closer to take a look. Someone pointed at the black mole on the old woman's mouth and said, "I remember this. This is Nanny Su who served Crown Princess Chen."
As soon as these words came out, a minister in the palace who wanted to show off in front of the new emperor pointed at Rongpin and said, "How dare you, a wicked woman, question the identity of Your Majesty? You really have ulterior motives and your crime is unforgivable! Your Majesty, according to the laws of our dynasty, this woman should be demoted to a commoner, beaten with fifty sticks, and exiled for three thousand miles."
Liu Ziqi pondered for a moment and said, "Although he committed a verbal crime, it did not cause any serious harm. It is better to give him a lighter sentence. The Dali Temple can decide the sentence."
At this time, a voice came from outside the hall: "It is difficult to convince the world with only one-sided testimony from witnesses. How do we know if this old woman is driven by profit and is lying?"
As the words fell, Shen Tian, who had never been seen, walked into the hall, and Rongpin let out an almost inaudible sigh of relief.
"So, Lord Shen doesn't believe in my background?" Liu Ziqi stared at Shen Tian, with an imperial sharpness in his eyes.
Shen Tian stood in the hall and said calmly, "I just have some doubts."
He took out a signed confession and motioned the officials to come forward and take a look. He said, "Here is a signed confession from the Right Councillor of the Ministry of Public Administration. You can pass it around. Wu Yi was sentenced to death by beheading because he harbored a traitor and harbored evil intentions. Unfortunately, the traitor he harbored was the little princess of the Princess Huaiyang's mansion. The little princess had a small red mole on her back, and there was a jade button to identify her."
Shen Tian took out another jade button from his sleeve and peeked at Liu Ziqi. His tone was calm but full of doubt: "I am an old minister who has experienced two dynasties. I was the Secretary of the Central Secretariat of the late emperor and often saw the Crown Prince Chen and the Grandson of the Emperor Ye. I remember that this jade button was carved by the Grandson of the Emperor Ye himself and given to the little princess as a birthday gift. The Grandson of the Emperor Ye also has an identical one. I wonder if Your Majesty can take out the one and let me see it?"
Liu Ziqi smiled faintly. Shen Tian was well prepared, but he was not completely defenseless.
Liu Ziqi took off the scent bag from his waist and took out a jade buckle that was exactly the same as the one in Shen Tian's hand. He asked him with a smile, "Is this what Lord Shen was talking about?"
Shen Tian's pupils shrank. He didn't expect that Liu Ziqi could actually take out this jade button. It was common for such small gadgets to be lost after so many years, but Liu Ziqi actually still carried it with him.
His efforts were in vain, and he ended up proving himself.
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