Chapter 119 Confrontation
Cui's expression was solemn, and the look in her eyes when she looked at him was cold, which made him feel panic for no reason.
"Why are you in the palace? What happened in the mansion?"
He left the audience queue, walked up to Cui and asked with concern.
"I will ask for leave from His Majesty right now. We will return to the palace to discuss this matter. We will not delay His Majesty and the officials."
Cui walked around him and continued walking forward.
His heart sank.
Something big must have happened, and it must be something related to him, otherwise Cui, who has always been gentle and virtuous, would never be so abnormal.
She must not be allowed to cause trouble in the court.
He turned around abruptly and reached out to grab Cui's arm, wanting to take her away from the Qinzheng Hall before she could speak.
But he caught nothing.
Cui fell to her knees with a thud and kowtowed, "I, Cui Yunxiu, pay my respects to Your Majesty and humbly beg Your Majesty to allow me to sever my ties with the Minister of Revenue, Tan Qingzhou."
As soon as these words were spoken, the whole room was stunned.
A righteous separation?
If a couple commits acts that violate moral principles and ethics, such as assault, murder, injury, and adultery, they will be considered to have severed their relationship.
In the case of a divorce of righteousness, the government will force the couple to divorce regardless of whether they are willing or not, and violators will be sentenced to one year in prison.
What evil did Minister Tan do that made his wife go to the emperor to beg for mercy?
All the court officials immediately threw the topics they had prepared for today out of the window, held their breath, looked sideways, pricked up their ears, and waited for the next step.
Tan Qingzhou was struck by lightning.
He turned around suddenly and looked at Cui in disbelief.
"What nonsense are you talking about! I've just been a little busy these past two days and haven't been able to accompany you back to the Duke's Mansion to visit your mother. And you want to break up with me?"
"There has to be a limit to your temper. Don't disturb everyone's morning court here. Let's go back home and talk about it."
He bent down, stretched out his left hand to Cui's waist, and his right hand to Cui's face, intending to cover her mouth and take her away by force.
Unexpectedly, Cui suddenly pulled out the hairpin on her head and stabbed him hard in the right hand.
When he retracted his hand in pain, she pointed the tip of the hairpin at her neck and said in a resolute tone:
"Tan Qingzhou, if you dare to touch me, I will immediately splatter blood three feet long, and teach His Majesty and all the civil and military officials to see how you forced your wife to death!"
Tan Qingzhou's body stiffened.
Ji Changqing spoke at the right moment: "Master Tan, your wife came in by beating the drum to report the incident. Let's wait until she finishes her complaint before we go home and settle the matter."
Other court officials echoed this.
"Master Ji's words make sense. As the saying goes, a man of integrity fears no shadow. Master Tan, you act with integrity and honesty. What's wrong with Madam having a few words for me?"
"That's right, since your wife is here, you should at least let her vent her grievances. Otherwise, she'll come back and complain, which would be really bad."
"Don't worry, Mr. Tan. If the truth is on your side, we will definitely support you."
Seeing that he couldn't stop Cui from speaking, Tan Qingzhou could only smile bitterly and said awkwardly, "Yunxiu, we have been married for twenty years. You know me best. You'd better not take what others say seriously."
As soon as the words fell, Cui groaned and said in disgust, "Get away from me and stop disgusting me."
Tan Qingzhou: “…”
He sighed and stood back in the audience queue with a look of forbearance on his face.
The emperor spoke loudly, "Ms. Cui, why did you break off relations with Minister Tan?"
Cui told the whole story in detail how she and her mother discovered the poisonous spices after being reminded by the doctor, and how they calmly found out the maid and the person who ordered the maid to do so.
"...The person who poisoned me and my mother was none other than Tan Qingzhou's eldest sister-in-law, Jiao. Jiao had always been kind to me, so why would she do such a cruel thing? I was completely baffled, so I set up a trap to find out."
Then she said that the show that Feng Qingsui invited her to watch at the East City Land Temple was a trap set up by her.
"...This exploration actually revealed a huge secret."
"It turns out that Jiao and Tan Qingzhou were the original couple. To rise to prominence, one altered the marriage certificate and compiled the family tree, while the other married a noblewoman and married into a wealthy family. They colluded with each other, concealing the truth from the public and deceiving our Duke Qing's Mansion."
"In order to ensure that the Duke of Qing's mansion would be completely devoted to Tan Qingzhou, they even resorted to drugging me, rendering me infertile for years. Deeply grateful for Tan Qingzhou's unwavering loyalty, they painstakingly raised their own son as their adopted son."
"When the adopted son grew up, they wanted him to rise to prominence, and they set their sights on my niece. My mother strongly opposed this, so one of them bribed the maid at the Duke of Qing's mansion to add incense to my mother's incense burner, and the other took advantage of my deep sleep to add incense to my sachet, hoping to kill both me and my niece."
"Tan Qingzhou and Jiao committed fraud and deceit in their marriage, murdering a woman of high rank, deceiving the emperor and his superiors, and completely devoid of conscience. Your Majesty, I beg you to seek justice for me and my mother."
After saying this, he bowed his head again.
The whole room was silent.
Tan Qingzhou looked ashen.
He could never have imagined that the person who kidnapped his two sons and threatened Jiao last night was actually Cui.
But Jiao said that the masked man in black was the one who put the note next to his pillow, ordering him to kill Feng. Could it be that the note was also put there by Cui?
She had long been suspicious of him and Jiao, and had set up a trap on purpose?
When did you notice something was wrong?
How did you notice?
She only knew about his affair with Jiao, or...
The murder of Jing was only Cui's one-sided statement, which he could easily refute; the fraudulent marriage was also not difficult to defend.
What is really dangerous is the gold, silver and account books in the secret passage.
Cui did not mention such a killer weapon. Does it mean that she was not aware of it?
All kinds of thoughts flashed through Tan Qingzhou's mind, and he made a quick decision, stepped out and knelt down.
"Your Majesty, I am guilty."
"I shouldn't have cheated on my wife, but I had no choice but to do it."
"When Cui fell into the water and was rescued by me, her reputation was damaged, which hindered her marriage. When Jiao learned about it, she took the initiative to give in and make it possible for me and Cui to get married. I had no choice but to deceive her into marriage."
"As for Cui's claim that she was drugged to make her infertile and that she and her mother-in-law were murdered with poisonous incense, it's a pure frame-up."
"I do not know who has framed me and caused my husband and I to fall out. I beg Your Majesty to investigate this matter and make a decision for me."
After saying this, he also kowtowed deeply.
Cui raised her head and looked at the man in front of her, her face full of sarcasm.
As expected of someone who has been immersed in officialdom for many years, he can turn black into white, and conspiracy to defraud marriage becomes a righteous act in his mouth.
She came to the court and made a big scene, which only vindicated the adulterous couple.
It's really amazing.
Fortunately, fate took pity on her and allowed Cui Yunxiu to meet a noble person.
"Your Majesty, Jiao not only conspired with Tan Qingzhou to defraud me and the Duke of Qing's mansion, but also opened a restaurant, converting Tan Qingzhou's embezzled proceeds into business income, and purchased a large amount of land and shops, also laundering a large amount of the stolen money through rent from tenants and shops."
"To facilitate their affair and store gold and silver, the two also dug secret passages and secret rooms in the mansion. The gold and silver ingots hidden in the secret rooms are roughly estimated to be worth millions."
“Snap!”
The tablet in Tan Qingzhou's hand fell.
The emperor's dragon eyes suddenly lit up.
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